Once, in what felt like an eternity ago, Lydia and I had reached the boss room of Mina’s Dungeon. We had faced a Necromancer who had used the curse of the zombie to turn Lydia undead. He used her undead status not only to gain control of her but also to keep me from being able to heal and help her. As a white mage, I had never felt more helpless than at that moment.

I realized that the zombie queen likely could cast such a curse too. The dwarf king might be a boss, which is why I felt that direct contact was needed if we wanted any hope of the curse working. To my relief, his skin changed color, and the signs of the undead curse overtook him. He was now temporarily undead. Since he didn’t show me a weakness I could exploit, I decided to create the weakness instead.

“Strong Heal!” I cast as I jumped back so that he couldn’t hit me with his hammer.

The spell took him and he shook slightly. He should have been taking on a bunch of damage right now. Furthermore, as soon as he was under the curse, the zombie queen could use her puppet abilities. Even if she couldn’t seal his movements, she could slow him down. For a few moments, everything was working out properly.

However, the stunned expression on his face quickly melted into anger. He let out a roar and slammed down his hammer at the zombie queen. She jumped away, but a massive pressure wave erupted out, catching her and flinging her away anyway.

“Harm Undead! Sanctify Land. Seal Undead!” I started rolling off spell after spell, taking advantage of the situation to trap him and damage him.

The shockwave from his strike hit me, but I managed to stand my ground. However, before I could throw out any more spells, his body erupted in movement. The Seal Undead was broken in an instant, and he appeared in front of the zombie queen, furious rage on his face. My heart sank, and this time I attacked without being provoked. He pulled her head and feat, ripping her in half, even as I slammed my blade into him. He ignored the clear strike.

“Moderate heal...” Blood fell out of my mouth.

I could use stronger heals, but they would also take longer to cast. Unfortunately, the amount of healing was only enough to get passed my shocked nervous system and allow me to feel the intense pain. My consciousness started to wane as King Diorite moved toward me with a dark and slightly crazed look.

I had thought myself power at this point. Even if I got into trouble, I could get myself out of it in an instant. That’s what I believed. I knew the Hero King Aberis was more powerful than me, but I had thought after all my upgrades if I had encountered him again, we’d probably be on even footing. It was only at this moment I realized just how powerful a king could be. They were far more than I had imagined.

“Master!” Alysia appeared, turning back into her human form and wielding a blade from my soul world.

She raced at King Diorite in a desperate attack.

“Hmph... swords!” He made a fist, and her body for some reason shifted back into a sword, clattering to the ground alongside the other one.

He stopped over me, looking down at me with pitiless eyes. “Goodbye, young fool. If it makes you feel any better, once I consume your soul, I will use it for a good cause. I might even buy your surface another twenty years with what I’m about to do. As for your story, it ends here! Absorb!”

As my life energy started to be pulled from me, I lost consciousness.