Modern World Warlock

Somewhere in the necropolis, a humble but slightly expansive house had been overtaken by the death's ichor.

There were no undead nearby, and the inside of the building was wholly empty, except for the underground basement, where Megan and Lindsey opened their eyes to find themselves chained to a wall.

The brunette opened her eyes and saw a single light bulb illuminating the room. Beside her, Lindsey was unconscious and covered in her own blood, with her arms bound to the wall behind them.

Megan's eyes were sharpened as she looked down at her own torso, seeing that she was also bleeding after being struck by the flying debris in the wake of Radeon's explosion.

"Hmm, that was faster than I expected…" said a woman in the basement, prompting Megan to raise her gaze and find the Death Knight she had been searching for.

Vesnia stood tall in front of Megan, her body clad in tight obsidian armor while her helmet was placed on top of an old, corrupted table.

Similar to the other undead, Vesnia's complexion was pale grey, her eyes had a bright aquamarine color, and her long white hair had a few black highlights.

When Megan gazed to the side of the room, she spotted her pistol and dagger beside Vesnia's helmet. On any other occasion, Megan would have believed that she was about to be tortured.

However, she had a strange feeling that Vesnia wasn't planning on hurting her, so she didn't try to escape from her situation.

"Are you surprised? I thought I heard you say you were looking for me…" Vesnia said.

"I'm mostly surprised you came to me first," Megan replied. Her volume was low, but her tone was confident.

The Death Knight clenched her fists and lowered her gaze as if her thoughts were conflicting with each other, explaining that she was curious about Megan, but she didn't clarify her intentions.

Even though Megan didn't have the same ability as Dante to see people's umbra and determine their intentions easily, she could clearly tell that Vesnia didn't want to fight them.

"It's all because of that warlock…" Vesnia muttered, clenching her teeth in anger.

Megan, who was trying to undo the chains around her wrists, stopped trying to free herself when she realized that Vesnia wasn't planning on hurting them and simply listened to the undead, who told the story of how she became a Death Knight for Netherius.

In the world of Terra, there was an organization called the Shadow-Blade Assassins, who were known for their unconventional combat stance, their great prowess, and, of course, their stealth abilities.

When Vesnia was a child no older than eight years old, she fell ill with a supposedly uncurable disease, prompting her older sister, Valeria, to look for someone who could heal her.

In her desperate quest, she decided to visit a church to look for a priest. However, she was ignored due to her connections to the Shadow-Blade Assassins.

Valeria was enraged and disappointed to the point she considered killing all of the priests at the church until a woman approached her, whispering something in her ear.

"I'll heal your sister…" The woman said, and when Valeria turned around, she met with Beatrice.

At the time, Beatrice was still an "Acolyte," which was one of the lowest ranks in the church to denominate the newcomers and rookies. However, Valeria wasn't a high-ranked assassin either, and seeing that no other priest wanted to lend a hand, she accepted Beatrice's help.

When Valeria brought Beatrice to their hideout, the assassin asked if the woman wasn't scared to enter a place filled with assassins, but Beatrice laughed it off.

"How could I be scared of someone who is trying so hard to save their family?" Beatrice said with a soft smile on her face.

After Beatrice entered the cave, she walked by different groups of assassins sharpening their blades, raising their heads to peek at the stranger before returning to their duties.

Inside a small room, Vesnia was lying on a bed, fully covered and burning with fever. Her breathing was heavy and fast, and her body kept producing sweat every second.

Vesnia's memories of this event were hazy, but she could still clearly remember the kind touch of Beatrice on her forehead, the warmth she felt when she used her power, and the soft expression on her face that said, "Everything will be okay."

By the time Vesnia fell asleep, her illness was completely cured, which prompted Valeria to search her treasure room and bring back different relics to pay for the treatment. Nevertheless, Beatrice didn't accept the payment.

"A-are you trying to trick me? Will the church demand something of us now that you helped us?" Valeria pondered, suspecting that Beatrice had played them.

"The church will never know what transpired here, so I doubt they'll give you any problems," Beatrice replied, winking at the assassin with a cheeky smile.

After that moment, Beatrice and Valeria became close friends, and the assassin even became the first person that Beatrice asked to join her party. However, Valeria had been rising in the ranks of the Shadow-Blade Assassins and couldn't leave her position.

Vesnia never saw Beatrice again, but Valeria did stumble upon her and her whole party a few times during their adventures.

"I remember my sister returning from her missions and telling me she had encountered Beatrice… I was always happy to hear her stories, and I even heard about the warlock who joined," Vesnia explained, still telling the story to Megan.

"But then…" Vesnia continued, clenching her fists with anger and halting her speech.

Megan kept a serious expression, attentively listening to the Death Knight, and suspected that she knew what would come after.

"We received a notice that said that Beatrice had died, and her party suddenly disappeared…" Vesnia explained.

"My sister planned to look for them as a way to repay Beatrice for her friendship through all those years, but we were caught first…" she continued, looking down with a more saddened tone.