"Are they both done now too?" Regrit asked, looking down towards Hikari slowly rising up to his side and at Elizabeth in the distance.

'Yes, they're finished. But I don't have time to explain everything, so I have something else in mind…' Moby replied. 'Let's see what 1000 mind can do,' Moby inwardly thought to himself, and with considerable effort, he attempted to send information to all three of them about the situation, there was no time for heavy talking.

​​

"B-big brother Moby… Your voice is in my head… I-I think I understand everything…"

"So that is your plan… That's how you can talk in our heads and that's how you can just straight up send information into our mind…" Regrit slowly mumbled.

Elizabeth in the corner gradually strode towards all of them. Her face was fairly attractive from before, but now she looked akin to a supermodel. Yet, her change in appearance resulted in no reaction from her team, after all, the same thing happened to them as well.

"Elizabeth, are you good now?" Hikari asked with a hint of concern.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine, those shalkers just really shook me up… But never mind that! I'm good! I want to be the best support that I can be! I feel renewed!" Her face was earnest, and her resolve was clear.

It came as a great shock to them regarding her previous state, yet they all could not help but be relieved that they have her support.

"Well, now that's all settled, let's move, I can guarantee you those two will come to hunt us down soon enough. If you need anything you can communicate through mind-link. Keep everything relayed to you fresh in mind. Understood?" Moby's face was completely serious as he relayed his final orders as the new team leader, and before his team could even say a word, he already knew their response.

♦️ ♦️ ♦️

One by one, they exited the cave and went their own ways yet not too far away from each other. It was an organized formation to both scout and so they would not be as easily spotted as one big group.

The fog was thick in the icy tundra of the outside planet, yet they noticed it to be not as bad as before considering their new demon eyes. From their position, they noticed they were towards the top of a mountain. Yet, it was not the same mountain where the castle at the highest peak resided, no, it was far too low.

But luckily for them, they were not lost, and the shadow of their destination was not too far from where they stood. In fact, it was directly ahead of them, far off in the distance and above the clouds. They seemed to be on an adjacent mountain nowhere near as tall.

After communicating once more through mind-link, they shifted their gaze towards Lord's Peak.

The terrain and footing was just as unforgiving as before, yet there was no time to slow down. However, what was cause for alarm was something else, outside of the nature and terrain.

'Dogs! I see dogs!' Regrit relayed to the rest of the group. 'They're not normal… They're made out of blue see-through mana or something, and they are roaming around in groups looking around at every nook and cranny… What the hell! Do these shalkers have abilities too!?'

' That sure seems to be the case... Those are summoned! Someone must be controlling them! It's definitely the enemy scouting us out! I'm not sure how they're doing it, but it's bad news…'

'They're damn quick! They might not have noses, but they might be able to sniff us out.'

'They're not mindless idiots, keep an eye out and stay low!'

As they moved on, they made sure to keep an eye out for any enemy scout, there seemed to be no end in sight for them. The closer they got to their destination the more that they found. The power of whatever summoner controlling them must have been great, even though he doubted they were much use outside of scouting considering their numbers. But if the same rules applied to those summons as it was to necromancy, the summoner must have not been too far behind.

♦️ ♦️ ♦️

Above the clouds at the gates of the massive, stone-built castle at the top of the highest peak, a single man stood with a spikey black halberd in hand. His skin was pale as snow, and a single horn protruded out of the right side of his head. His face was stern-looking at the snowstorm, and his predator like-eyes were like slits, two crimson lines descending from his right eye to his neck.

And in that distance, several figures emerged from there like shadows, and he could not help but smirk.

"Ahhh… Finally come has thee...My little puppies did not find you, but luckily it is you who have come to me… Smart, but either way, your examiners sacrificed themselves all for naught..." However, as they came closer, he could not help but notice that there was something different about all of them, a new aura to them.

"There's three of you, where is your fourth? The leader? The traitorous man… "

"That's none of your business! We're not the same as before you damn shalker!" Regrit roared.

"Damned shalker you say? You and I are not too dissimilar now actually… You've definitely gotten stronger, but either way, you stand no chance,"

"What have you done with Artorias!? Where are our examiners?" Hikari stepped up and asked.

"Oh, so you really wanna know…" His smile grew even wider, and with a snap of his fingers, the grand, silver door to the castle opened, and out of that door emerged three figures…

Their backs were slouched and their faces bore cracked, filthy masks. The slight areas where skin was seen showed an infested, disgusting green, and the smell of rot taht exuded from them was made even more prominent due to their demon noses.

Without a doubt, those were their examiners. But to them, no matter how hard it was to believe… They seemed to be undead zombies moaning and groaning like little puppets.

"Mhm! Now the numbers seem more even! Are you not happy to see your dear friends again? Hmmmm? Oh wait, It seems like your missing friend has been found sneaking into the castle! As for you all, prepare yourself!" His grin grew even wider as he lifted his halberd up in the air, and an army of magically summoned soldiers emerged out of thin air and surrounded the distressed crowd.