CHAPTER 36: GALE

"Gale of the Fallen Order!" Zephyr mumbled.

His eyes scrutinised the man. The striking metallic mask instantly triggered memories of his past life.

In the game, there was an organisation called the ’Order.’ They were a group bound by duty to eradicate Godspawns.

The undead standing before him was Gale, one of the strongest knights of the ’Order’ and its last known leader.

’He is a friggin seven-star knight—a master.’

As the revelation struck, Zephyr felt energy drain from his body.

There were two kinds of bosses in the game. One bore the blood of the God race. The others aimed to eliminate humanity and dominate the world.

The Godspawns that Gale hunted were the bosses with God race blood flowing through them.

They were incredible creatures with immense mana pools. They primarily used mana through imagination and instinct. These creatures were hard to defeat and came in all forms and shapes.

In the game, he had to use a specifically designed strategy to beat these bosses.

Gale was someone who did the same. He was a well-known character, revered for his heroic deeds. However, one of his heroic acts involved killing the duke of the kingdom, which turned him into an enemy of all nobles.

From what he heard from the lore tablets, Gale disappeared from the world after that. The Order later ceased to exist due to infighting. Still, many revere him for his deeds.

Gale was such a person. Zephyr never thought he would meet someone like that in real life.

’He is an impossible foe to defeat.’

For a moment, his mind wavered. But immediately after that, his survival instincts took over. While the odds seemed insurmountable, his mind resisted the thought of giving up.

’I need to see this through.’

’If I die, so be it,’

he thought, grasping the machete tighter.

Zephyr was anything but a quitter. He was not going to give up halfway.

"Hm? Fallen Order?" The knight stared at Zephyr and asked. "Is that what you call it now? Quite the befitting name if I say so myself."

Zephyr took a deep breath and nodded.

He felt like he was in front of a predator, but he was still unwilling to be its prey.

"And you seem to know me?" Gale asked again.

"Yes."

"Then, you must be scared."

"A little bit."

"That’s normal. But don’t be scared," the knight said reassuringly. "My strength is not even one-hundredth of what it used to be. I am still killable," he added.

"Because of being an undead?"

"Yes, but not exactly. The main problem for those who turned me into an undead is my consciousness."

Zephyr relaxed a little.

While he couldn’t entirely trust what the other person was saying, he could feel the mana waves coming off the undead. As Gale said, the intensity was way less than that of a seven-star knight.

If he had to guess, the person must have four-star strength.

’Similar in strength to an intermediate knight.’

An intermediate knight was strong, but not strong enough to fill him with dread.

There was still hope.

"How strong are you?" Zephyr asked directly.

"My mana level is that of a low-level intermediate knight. But with my experience, I could still fight those who have higher mana levels but are still in the same rank."

"Is that what you call one-hundredth of your strength? How can a beginner mage hope to kill you?" Zephyr asked, exasperated.

"I have high expectations for you," the knight said as a matter of fact.

Zephyr chuckled.

"Why? Even my parents didn’t have that."

"Hm...Then they failed to understand you," the man replied after a short pause.

Zephyr was taken aback. The dead man he had just met was showing more trust in him than anyone he had met before. It was a little disturbing.

’Did I have no one good in my life?’ He wondered.

"Anyways, you want me to kill you, right?"

"And for you to live," the knight added. "Once you have killed me, you must take my sword and mask with you."

"Care to explain why?"

"Can’t, because of my situation."

There were certain limitations placed on him. As an undead, there were certain things he couldn’t talk about. At the same time, he knew his master’s master was a voyeuristic psychopath. To conceal some information, it was better not to talk about anything important.

Zephyr nodded understandingly. Then he shifted to asking something else.

"Can you tell me how strong the necromancer is or how many people are with you? If possible, anything about what you are doing?"

Zephyr had an inkling that something major was happening on the islands, so he wanted to know more about it.

"My master is an intermediate mage. Everything else, you can know after you defeat me."

"Can I leave without defeating you?"

"No."

"Will you be going easy on me?"

"No."

"Then, this is a battle of life and death, right?"

"Yes."

"Who would answer my question if I kill you?"

"..."

The knight didn’t answer.

Zephyr shrugged his shoulders.

"Anyways, I expected nothing less from the psychotic necromancer. He is trying to toy with me by sending you here, right?" Zephyr asked, realising something was wrong with the way the knight was behaving.

It was as if the knight feared someone else might hear their conversation. Considering the ghoul and the messengers were being controlled, it was certainly possible. So, he steered it in another direction.

"No. Not this time," the knight shook his head. "When you destroyed the lighthouse to signal the storm tower, he was petrified. Fearing that you might disrupt his plans again, he asked me to come kill you."

"Oh! Destroying the lighthouse worked."

Zephyr was happy to hear that.

Destroying the lighthouse was a gamble. What Gale said reassured him.

"Did you ask everything you need to ask?" The knight asked as he gazed at Zephyr, who was immersed in his thoughts.

Zephyr shook his head.

"There are a few more questions."

"What is it?"

"Why did the dark fog disappear?"

"He is using it to control the villagers and bring them to the island."

"Why?"

"..."

"Are there a lot of you on the island?"

"..."

The knight seemed to be incapable of speaking about certain topics.

Zephyr thought for a while and finally asked a question that was haunting him.

"Is everything that’s happening related to a godspawn?"

The moment the word godspawn came out of Zephyr’s mouth, something changed within the knight.

Suddenly, he grasped the sword hanging by his waist.

Zephyr knew it was about to begin.

While talking with the knight, he had silently replenished his mana and was making moves to gain the upper hand.

The moment the man held the sword, Zephyr kicked the ground. A pulse of mana went into the ground and travelled towards the knight.

Immediately, a large rock spike drilled out of the ground, threatening to pierce the knight.

To avoid it, he jumped up.