Tetsuya slowly felt the paralysis wear off as his body regained its mobility. He cautiously brought his hands underneath himself and slowly started pushing his torso up. Then, he carefully brought himself off the ground. Next to him, Marsha had risen from the ground as well, and the two of them slowly walked over to Loganel, who held onto the armored man after defeating him in their short duel.

"I don't think I'll ever be ready to shoulder the responsibility that you placed on me," Loganel whispered with tears rolling down his eyes. His hair hid his face from Tetsuya and Marsha, making it so that they couldn't see his weeping face as the armored figure slowly dissipated into ashes and disappeared.

"You alright?" Tetsuya placed a hand on Loganel's shoulder.

Feeling his touch, Loganel slowly got up from the ground. He didn't look at Tetsuya or Marsha in fear of them seeing his crying face and walked over to where the Zweilgr stood embedded in the ground where the original Loganel had place the blade as he fell in battle. Loganel pulled the blade out of the ground and held it in his right hand.

"You're gonna take that with you?" Tetsuya looked at Loganel with a surprised look. He couldn't see Loganel's face or did Loganel say anything to him. However, from the slight nod of Loganel's head, he could tell that Loganel was intending to bring the blade along with him. "I don't know what to tell you." Tetsuya shook his head.

Slowly, the coliseum door that was closed earlier began to slowly open. The sound of the metal door frames rubbing against the ground created an unpleasant noise, but the three endured it. The sound of battle from the outside world seems to have died out and all is quiet.

"Looks like it's all over," Marsha sighed. She glanced over at Loganel, who appeared oddly moody. The gloomy aura that he emitted made it so that she dared not question him on his actions during his battle with the armored figure.

"Madam!" Knights gathered in a crowd before Marsha as she emerged from the coliseum.

Marsha immediately looked around, surveying the aftermath of the battle. There were numerous piles of bones laying about on the floor due to the deaths of hundreds of Undead Skeleton Warriors. In addition to that, there were also many corpses of adventurers and her knights. Her apathetic facade didn't crumble despite the fact that only a small portion of the original expedition team had survived.

"The hell's with her attitude," an adventurer spat on the ground.

Marsha ignored the derogatory words of the adventurers and walked over to her knights. "Report."

"Yes Madam," a knight responded. "It would appear that these Undead are controlled by an Elder Lich."

"Elder Lich?" Marsha's eyes wavered ever so slightly, reflecting her uncertainty. However, this was only visible for a fraction of a second, causing one to wonder if they did see it or not.

"Yes," the knight continued on. "This Elder Lich is the reason for our mass casualties."

***

"Sorry for leaving you guys," Tetsuya apologized, walking over to his party and sheathing Exflage after Loganel had returned the holy blade to him a few moments earlier.

On his face was an apologetic smile that he used as a mask to hide his wavering emotional state. He was confused as to why Loganel was able to wield his blade and why the blade responded to Loganel more than it responded to him. Why is it that the blade decided to lend Loganel more of its power? That question disturbed him, and it caused him to wonder if he truly deserved the title of the Summoned Hero. However, he knows that this uncertainty should be concealed deep within him. That is the reason why he forced a smile and approached his party members.

"We're fine," Sheriel immediately said in order to alleviate any guilt that Tetsuya might've had for abandoning them for Loganel. "The knights and more experienced Adventurers took care of us."

"That's great to hear," Tetsuya let out a sigh of relief.

Meanwhile Sheriel chatted with Tetsuya with Kaz and Marilin quietly observing with a grim look on their face, Juliana and Azura looked over in the direction of Loganel who stood on top of the staircase that led to the coliseum.

***

It's...over? No. I've lived for thousands of years. This can't be the end. Despite me only being a weak Undead, the original Demon King granted me power and control of these brethren of mine. But...they're so easily dismantled by these puny humans? Impossible.

A single complete skeleton laid in amidst the pile of bones. The light in its eye sockets flickered but that didn't bother the Elder Lich for it knows that it is nearing destruction.

It's all his fault. All his fault.

The Elder Lich could sense the familiar aura of the armored man coming in the distance by the stairs that led to the coliseum. It didn't question why the aura came from the boy that was now slowly walking down the stairs due to the intense hatred it felt for the armored man.

It's all your fault, the Elder Lich repeated. I don't care about sustaining myself anymore. I shall curse you so that your soul vanishes from this world. I shall curse you with all I have, all knowledge that I had gathered from these thousands of years that I've been alive. I shall curse you.

***

"Loganel," Sheriel smiled as she saw Loganel return to the group. "You're alright!"

Loganel responded with a frail smile and a faint nod. "Yeah..."

"It's finally over," Tetsuya smiled and looked around. He was glad that no one in his party had lost their lives, but when he witnessed the gloomy look on Kaz and Marilin's face, his smile was immediately suppressed in consideration of the sorrow that they felt.

"We could now finally go home," Juliana smiled and whispered, clutching her hands together in a praying gesture.

"Yeah," Tetsuya nodded.

Loganel remained silent as he looked on at the pleasant atmosphere among the party. He hasn't decided completely what his next steps shall be. That was the reason why he merely watched on as the others expressed their gratitude on life.

"I'll curse you!" Loganel suddenly heard a ghastly voice echo in his head and a bad feeling drowned out all of his positive emotions.

Immediately, his eyes widened and he frantically looked around in search of the threat. This cultivated a look of surprise from the others but Loganel didn't care.

Where is it? He frantically scanned his surroundings. Where is it?!

Then, from the corner of his eye, he saw it: a dark blue orb of light that formed on the fingertips of a Skeleton. Loganel wasn't completely sure but he could tell that the skull of the Elder Lich was exhibiting a twisted smile. The others, seeing the abnormality in Loganel, looked in the direction he was staring at.

Suddenly, the orb of light shot towards Loganel as if a laser and time itself seemed to have slowed down as Loganel eyed the incoming attack. He wanted to evade it, but his body wouldn't respond due to the fatigue that he had accumulated.

Move! Move! You're my legs so listen to me! Loganel's eyes widened in desperation as the laser closed in on him.

From the corner of his vision, he could see long flowing hair moving in the air as its owner leaped in front of Loganel.

Why, Juliana? Loganel made eye contact with her smiling eyes despite the tears that formed in them.

The time that the two made eye contact didn't even add up to a single second, but it felt longer due to Loganel's brain working at overdrive and thinking at a speed greater than normal. This was more of a curse than a blessing. Due to this, the scene before him is burned into his memories. How her hair flowed in the air, how her lips were slightly upturned in a faint smile, and how her weeping eyes exhibited unconditional loyalty and love, these features of hers that Loganel would never be able to see again burned itself into his memories.

Finally, the scar formed in his mind as Juliana was struck by the attack and fell towards the ground, limp. The flow of time in Loganel's brain returned to normal as Loganel reached out to catch her falling body before it made contact with the agonizing cold of the ground. However, Loganel knew at the moment he made contact with Juliana that she wasn't there anymore. What rested in his arms is the living corpse of this girl that accompanied him since his childhood. Her eyes, lifeless yet still beautiful, extracted an uncontrollable stream of tears from Loganel as he cried out in sorrow and agony.

"WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU'VE DONE?!" Loganel lunged towards the Elder Lich after gently placing Juliana's body on the ground. As Loganel moved towards the Elder Lich at a rapid speed, his brain stopped thinking. All that was contained in that organ of his was the command: "AVENGE HER."

Loganel unsheathed his old blade and brought the tip down on the Elder Lich's skull, fracturing it before the metal was able to penetrate the bone. He used all his energy and all of his anger to fuel this attack. Fatigue didn't bother him anymore as the adrenaline pumped throughout his entire body and the raging fire of anger burned in his mind. Due to this, he was able to completely obliterate the Elder Lich from ever existing.

After killing the Elder Lich, Loganel was supposed to be content. Or at least that was what he had always felt. However, this time he felt empty inside, like there is a gaping hole in his chest that could in no way or form by plugged.

As he approached Juliana's living corpse, his eyes were desperate and cold. He understood the cause for the emptiness within him: he had lost something valuable to him. He had lost Juliana.

"It's a curse," one of the more experienced Adventurer dressed in priest armor muttered with a sigh and a shook of his head. "Something I've never seen before."

"Where can we find a cure?" Azura asked. She appeared visibly shaken and disturbed by the sudden loss of her friend.

"You can always try the Church," the man said and looked over towards Tetsuya. "Your friend over here should know. But...the chances are slim..."

"So there's a cure!" Sheriel knelt over Juliana's soulless body and wept. "Please tell me there's a cure."

Loganel stood there, hands trembling as he looked over the others at the living corpse of someone who had accompanied him throughout his life. Immediately, his brain began to think back, and images of Juliana plagued him. Every single memory of his, she was there. No matter what role she played, either a major character in the memory or just merely someone in the background, she was always there standing by and watching over him. Her existence characterized his life. Now, she's gone...

****

Four hundred and thirty-seven people had walked out of this same gate five days ago, and now, only sixty-seven of them returned.

The survivors, as they marched through the opened city gates of Astalan, had a gloomy look on their face as they entered. Many wept upon realization that they had finally escaped the living hell of the Ekeletas Ruins, breaking down in front of everyone. Not only did the remaining members of the expedition team weep, many in the crowd dropped to their knees and cried after unable to discover the familiar face among the crowd.

Avelin pushed through the crowd and leaned over the guard rail and looked down at the main road that led into the city with a worried and serious look on her face. She scanned the returning survivors and quickly discovered Marsha, who rode on a horse with a stern and serious expression on her face. Avelin's facial expressions immediately lightened up upon her discovering Loganel marching with the crowd and a smile appeared on her face. However, that smile of hers immediately vanished when she saw what Loganel carried in his arms: a white cloth wrapped around the body of a girl...

Author's Note:

Please vote and comment.

We're finally back from the expedition and the story of this book is slowly winding down. Don't worry, there'll be a book 2 so it won't be over anytime soon.