Tears fell onto the pillowcase. The room was what you'd expect for an eighteen-year-old girl obsessed with anime. There were four bookcases, three of which were filled with volumes, a mix of light novels and manga. The last one was empty, probably still being set up.

  The rest of the room had a television, a computer, and a large bed. On that bed lay Almodea, reduced to tears after Fiora's death. That girl had quickly become a great friend of hers. She had few people she considered friends. Hirashi was her sister, not biologically speaking, but she didn't care about details- that giant woman was her best friend.

  Why is everyone around me dying? Why?

  In the past, she had made friends with some undead, but they had been destroyed for one reason or another. She had also had pets- zombie dogs- but they too had died.

  What is wrong with me? Why am I not like my father?

  If the dead ones couldn't resist her friendship, why not try the living? Because they wouldn't last too. Almodea would live forever; everyone she took as friends would die before she was even a century old. This was the same problem she'd had with love. To be honest, she had never been really in love. Being a Princess, many noble demons had asked for her hand in marriage when she was in the old world, but she had always refused. Almodea had never liked any of them.

  Even if I fell in love, she would die sooner than expected…

  Fiora's death had been the straw that broke the camel's back. Now she couldn't shake the thought that one day she would be alone. Almodea would have her parents, but no one she could love or consider a friend. She didn't feel that kind of romantic interest for Fiora, but it was something she couldn't replace. She even wanted to reveal her true identity to the other woman. She really wanted to be a good friend to her.

  -But she fallied.

  What a drag, being an immortal demon. I'm powerful, but it's useless.

  It was then that she heard a knock at her door.

  “Mom! Go away! I said I don't want to talk to anyone!”

  She shouted. Almodea had nothing against her mother, but now she was in a foul mood. She didn't want to be seen like that. She was supposed to be an adult, but now was acting like a child.

  “It's me, dear sister.”

  “Hirashi?”

  Almodea raised her head from the soaked pillow.

  “Yes. Can I come in?”

  For some reason, Almodea felt unable to send her adoptive sister away. Hirashi was the only one who had seen her in that pitiful state. She trusted her so much.

  “Come in…”

  She heard the door open and someone sit down next to her. It must have been someone very large, because the bed sagged under their weight. A large hand touched the back of her neck, massaging it gently.

  “I heard about Fiora and the others.”

  “…”

  “I'm sorry, dear sister.”

  “You can stop being formal. I don't understand why you have to talk to me like that!”

  "Forgive me…"

  Almodea sighed. Her sister was always like that. Hirashi was the better of the two in everything, but was always humble and submissive to her; as if she considered herself inferior.

  “My dear sis...Almodea. If I could resurrect them without the risk of turning them into Eldritch Horrors, I would have done it. I know it's wrong to alter the rules of reality, but for you…I'm willing to do anything.”

  "Why?"

  “Because you are my little sister. It is my duty, as the eldest of the two to—”

  “-You don't have to do anything at all!”

  Hirashi ignored Almodea's response and continued.

  “Forgive me if I can't help you. If I weren't a defective clone, maybe…”

  “Defective? Clone? What are you talking about?! You're always the best at everything you do! I'm the sad one here, so spare me the self-pity!”

  Almodea stood up and sat down next to Hirashi, resting her head on the other girl's shoulder, her eyes still dripping. Her last complaint had been made in an ironic tone. She was grateful for Hirashi's presence

  “Sister…I- “

  “Thank you for coming to comfort me. You shouldn't have.”

  Almodea smiled at her older sister, hugging her.

  “Sister, I’m not here to support you because I have to, but because I’m happy to help you.”

  Hirashi began to wipe away her tears, cuddling the smaller girl gently.

  “I know you're in a lot of pain. I'm here if you want to talk.”

  “I'm just tired of not being able to get close to anyone! Anyone who becomes my friend dies!”

  “It happens. Except for you, I have no friends either.”

  "Real…"

  Silence fell in the room.

  “Then…Shall we watch an anime, when I’m in a better mood?”

  “Of course, dear sister. Whatever you want.”

  “Thank you! You're the best!”

  She pressed herself closer to the larger woman.

  “Forgive me, Hirashi…”

  “For what?”

  “I know you're also feeling unsure about Nikusa. I should have asked how you were, but I assumed you were fine. You are always so badass! I am...Sorry.”

  “It's nothing…”

  The silence fell further, broken by laughter.

  This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

  “You know…Knowing that I have you here with me gives me security.”

  "I'm glad to hear it."

  Hirashi smiled slightly.

  “Listen, sister…You have all eternity to make more friends. I'm sure there will come a time when you'll have plenty of those. Maybe you'll even have a lover.”

  “Are you serious? Maybe more than one?”

  “Let's not rush too much…”

  “Okay, okay!”

  Almodea laughed. She was still sad, but was definitely feeling better.

  “Thanks again, big sis!”

  "You're welcome...Dear sister."

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  "Here we are. Come in, Master Almodeus. Master Shockwave awaits you."

  Foth bowed briefly and stood beside the lab door, which, being automatic, required no one to open it manually. Almodeus entered the lab and his eyes fell on the table in the middle of the room; Fiora's corpse was lying on it, and Shockwave had just finished examining it.

  "I hope there is good news..."

  He said, approaching. He really hoped that his scientist and the most intelligent mind in the Fear Tower had something useful for him.

  "The answer is twofold, my lord. Unfortunately, Anxy has confirmed that the bodies are too damaged for the lower-level resurrection spell."

  “And for the higher-level ones?”

  "It appears the two women's bodies have been completely drained of every drop of lifeblood. This renders higher-level spells useless. Bringing them back to life would require too many resources, and there's no guarantee they wouldn't die shortly after resurrection."

  “So…Will Almodea have to suffer?”

  "Yes."

  The robot's cold response made his master sigh. Almodeus had given up hope. He could have used Absolute Resurection, but as Shockwave had said, the two could die even seconds after the resurrection for whatever reason.

  “However, I managed to locate the culprit you were looking for."

  He looked at his subordinate and raised an eyebrow.

  "Really? Where is it?"

  Shockwave pressed a button on his left arm. The bionic eye began producing a 3D hologram of what appeared to be a cemetery, with a wall separating it from the city.

  "In the cemetery of the city of Arel, more precisely in the central mausoleum."

  Almodeus was surprised by the revelation. He still had many questions and wanted answers. His daughter was suffering, and he wasn't going to sit idly by.

  "How are you so sure?"

  The other one didn't flinch at the question, not that he could have done so. He remained as cold and unemotional as ever and proceeded to explain his investigation.

  "While analyzing the bodies, I found traces of magical energy on the wounds, especially on Fiora and Annie's ones. They were struck by an enchanted weapon, so I tried to find a magical signal similar to that of those weapons..."

  The robot moved to a control console to its right and began typing, displaying a sort of scanner currently active across the entire city of Arel. It pointed to a darkened area, indicating the massive magical presence.

  "Are you sure it's the same magical source?"

  "Yes. By isolating various interferences, I've determined that the magical weapons are in the city cemetery-"

  "-And with them the killer. Great work, Shockwave!"

  Almodeus began to clap his hands, happy with the result, but above all with the fact that he could finally let his daughter vent her sadness.

  "There is also another piece of information, my lord."

  Shockwave interrupted, remaining as unemotional as ever.

  "Tell me everything! What is it?"

  The subordinate again pointed to the previously highlighted spot, that is, the cemetery of the city of Arel.

  "One of the interferences involved a second beam of magical force, much more powerful than the first one."

  "How powerful?"

  Shockwave looked at the data, as if to make sure he was giving the correct answer.

  "The magical energy is raw and unstable, with random increases and decreases. However, I can confirm that it is equal in power to a monster between level 60 and 65."

  Almodeus opened his eyes, slightly surprised. Energy at level 60-65? It was on par with a mid-tier monster—certainly fearsome for those native to that world, but nothing too complex for him and his more powerful subordinates. Almodea could defeat a monster of that level without even trying too hard.

  "Do you know what generates it? A monster or multiple entities?"

  Shockwave shook his head, having no concrete answer.

  "Unfortunately, the data is too unstable to give a 100% accurate answer. Only one thing is certain: the killer you're looking for is in the cemetery, along with this magical anomaly and-"

  The drone paused, as if slightly confused by the data it was currently reading.

  "Strange…"

  "What?"

  “This…Defies all logic.”

  The drone's tone remained cold and unemotional, but his sentence made it clear that something had surprised him, albeit slightly.

  "What do you mean?"

  "It appears there are about ten humans in the cemetery, some likely guards defending the surrounding wall. However, the system detects numerous movements beyond the wall, impossible for only ten people..."

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  One of the soldiers was shaking like a leaf from the cold. He grabbed his spear and shrugged—the leather armor with a few metal plates didn't help keep him warm, not in this cold.

  "Lazy night, huh, Jack?"

  His colleague Eimen asked him, trying to heat up the atmosphere with his bad jokes.

  "Yes. There's no sign of any soldiers from the Ashen Kingdom..."

  Jack replied, sighing. He wanted to laugh it off, but he couldn't. He was tired from the cold, not to mention the fact that he'd already worked for over five hours and had three more to go. After a few minutes, Jack sighed again. Being a cemetery guard in the city of Arel was anything but a pleasant job. It was poorly paid and freezing.

  Damn fucking mayor!

  He gritted his teeth in irritation.

  "True, I wonder why they ask us to guard the cemetery. I know the empire has a large army, but what's the point of spending soldiers to guard the graves of some nobleman?"

  Jack blurted out, while his colleague yawned and rested his spear on his shoulder, as if bored by the answer he was about to give him.

  "Because many important nobles are buried behind here, buried by their families with highly valuable possessions. Without guards, tomb raiders would come and plunder the treasure!"

  It was true. It was customary for an Imperial noble family to bury their deceased with some small fortune; the lack of guards would be a heavenly situation for Hunters, or treasure hunters. From what Jack knew, Hunter was a very popular profession in the Kingdom, even more so than adventurer.

  "Not counting the undead. Their race spawns when there are many corpses nearby, or so they say..."

  "You're right! I always forget about them...Anyway, you-"

  "Hey! You two!"

  Jack was interrupted by Captain Balik, a man in his thirties, with a mustache, green eyes, and brown hair.

  "Enough slacking off! We must be alert! The Emperor said the Kingdom could attack us at any moment!

  Jack nodded, for him Captain Balik's concern was more than legitimate, the Ashen kingdom was known for making surprise attacks, yet the empire had always managed to repel them with difficulty.

  They may have fewer soldiers, but those kingdoms are strong.

  "Well, we need to change positions. You two—"

  The Captain didn't have time to finish his sentence when noises could be heard on the other side of the door.

  What the hell are they?

  "What happened?"

  Jack wondered too, it would be unfortunate to be attacked right now.

  "Come! Spears ready!"

  The Captain roared, making them follow him onto the walls. They scanned the horizon, but there seemed to be nothing there, only a very thick fog and the usual graves. They looked at each other and tried to understand what was happening.

  "Do you see anything?"

  The Captain asked, but no one could answer. Jack shook his head, then moved to Eimen and asked the same question, but the man didn't answer, paralyzed with terror.

  "Hey buddy? What's up?"

  "Too many! There are too many of them!"

  The other replied, terror written on his face.

  "But too many what?!"

  Jack turned to face the direction his partner was looking and could see how the fog was spreading slightly, not by much, but enough to make them both paralyzed with fear.

  "Th-Those are undead! There must be hundreds of them, if not thousands!"

  Jack commented in terror, looking at what looked like an army of skeletons and zombies. He began to stammer in panic, but Captain Balik punched him in the head to calm him down.

  "Silence, you sissies! It is our duty to defend this gate to prevent them from reaching Arel! Raise your spears and draw your swords!"

  Jack obeyed orders and began killing the skeletons and zombies that were climbing the walls. Those monsters had no brains, but they knew how to climb over each other. The walls were barely five meters high; it wouldn't be difficult to reach the top with such a tactic.

  "There are too many! We'll never make it! We have to...Ahhh!"

  Eimen shouted, making Jack turn toward him. He had been bitten by zombies. The Captain tried to help him, pushing the undead down and causing them to fall from the walls, but unfortunately one of them managed to grab the wounded soldier and drag him down with him. If Eimen hadn't died from the fall, he soon would be, at the hands of the undead.

  "Retreat! There are too many of them! We must ask the soldiers in the city for support!"

  The Captain shouted, finally convinced that their resistance was nothing more than futile. Jack immediately turned toward him and followed him down the stairs, ready to run for his life. At that moment, however, the man saw a shadow rising toward them and froze in terror. He watched in astonishment as what appeared to be a giant skeleton, about eight meters tall, was climbing over the wall and there was nothing he could do.

  "We won't be able to save ourselves...We're finished!"

  The monsters were advancing. Some were already on top of the wall and would soon be with them.

  I can't die! I don't want to! Someone saves us!

  The time stopped when a noise pierced the cry of the undead in the night.

  Then...Silence fell.