The Ruined Death Knight

It took Danzel several hours to finish the runes of those two sets of armor. Usually, he manages to finish runes of the [common] and [rare] runes in 15-25 minutes depending on how many times he made a certain rune.

But for the more advanced runes such as [Epic] runes, it would naturally take longer as they were more complex. But trying a rune at such rank for the first time would naturally take longer with the end result being rather...faulty.

And the following rune that he tried now was the [Rune of Living Legion].

He was a level above a major rune as the rune letters went through the whole armor.

If he carved the rune when he was still a Wight, then the single rune would occupy the whole armor, making carving any more runes pointless. But now thanks to his new talent [Carving Fate with Death], he was capable of squeezing the rune letter to be much smaller without making the original rune any weaker.

In fact, the talent alone boosted the rune by a total of 25% while also leaving a spot for a few minor runes.

"You finished?" Shiro said the moment Danzel deactivated his [Rune Vision].

Danzel stared at her for a moment before focusing back on the two armor sets.

'Let's see...' Danzel thought as he activated the runes.

Once he did, the rune letters litten in dark green light and let out bits of dark smoke before starting to shake.

The loosely set armor then suddenly thighed together before starting to move.

"Huh!? Bad fish! Those things move!" Shiro yelled in shock as she jumped from her seat.

Ignoring her, Danzel looked closely at how the armors started to move and how exactly it was done.

"It's as if an undead is being born, but without a body..." Danzel mumbled, faintly remembering the wraiths of the tower he once resided in.

Seeing the armors slowly rise from the ground with the help of dead mana reminded him how skeletons or other undead would rise naturally, but as the armors had no body, Danzel guessed that the process was more similar to how wraiths are being created.

'I wonder if the armor itself will be the undead or an ethereal undead will be wearing the armor.' Danzel through internally.

Hoping that it will be the former than the latter.

And soon enough, the two sets of armor stood on their feet in front of Danzel, the rune still glowing from inside the armor and letting bits of dark smoke out while also radiating an aura of death suitable for undead of the 3rd-tier.

Though it was more of the faint side of aura.

In the next moment, Danzel brought 2 swords out of his storage ring and hold them in front of the living armor.

'If you can understand, pick up the sword.' He gave them an internal command.

And without hesitation, the living armors did as commanded.

"It seems like the connection is fine..."

"Are they undead?" Shiro asked.

Danzel nodded his head while examing the bodies of the living armors.

"It seems like it's the former..." Danzel mumbled, somewhat relieved.

'Those runes have potential...but first I will need to see the knowledge of the swordsmanship mastery that they had received.' He thought internally.

"You two, start sparing with each other, The first one that hits the other with their swords wins."

As soon as his command was voiced out, the two living armors immediately swung their swords to cut the other head.

*Ting!

Their swords clashed with each other, creating a small echo to travel in the cave.

They contested their difference of strength before the first created living armor jumped back to create distance from the other living armor.

The second created living armor followed the first and clashed once more with their sword.

*Ting!

They continued clashing with their sword with little waste of movement.

Danzel could see some small faults in their movement, but what fascinated him was the fact that they moved as if they were able to see through the other swords and intent.

"A-Aren't you going to stop them." Shiro asked as she watched how the two living armors were fighting at the speed of a 3rd-tier master swordsman.

"There is no need to. It's just a spar and nothing more. And if one ends up being destroyed... I can create another one." Danzel said with a cold voice, his gaze not leaving the two living armor clashing none stop with their swords.

Their fighting lasted for over 15 whole minutes, with the winner being, by Danzel's surprise, the first one that he created.

As by rule the first rune will always be the worst, Danzel expected the second created living armor to win as it should be stronger.

Though the first living armor only managed to scratch the body of the second, technically winning the spar, in a fight, such a wound would be nothing.

"For a first try, it isn't that bad." Danzel nodded his head before turning towards Shiro.

"That's an order, from now on, you two will be her bodyguards of her, Shiro. If you understand nod your heads."

The living armors nodded their helmets while gazing at Shiro with their hollow eyes.

"Bodyguards?" Shiro of course was surprised by that turn of events.

"Yes, those two are the strongest of undead that I am capable of making currently. See them as some kind of insurance in case something happens. But even then, you shouldn't rely on them for your safety. Now pack your stuff, we are leaving." Danzel said with his cold voice that left no room for discussion.

"Shouldn't we stay a bit longer here in the cave?" Shiro said as she remembered the first day they arrived here and how she almost froze to death.

"It has to be now, the winter storm has stopped." Danzel said while lowering the stone wall that hid the cave.

Shiro sighed out loud, before following Danzel out of the cave, with the 2 living armors following behind her steps.

Outside was cold, but now with the leather cloth that Danzel made, it wasn't as bad as before.

"Hey, bad fish. What are the names of those two?" Shiro asked while gazing at the 2 living armors.

"Didn't I tell you to call me by my name? As for those two, they got none." Danzel said with an ice-cold voice.

"Aren't you going to name them?"

"No."

"Why?"

"There isn't a reason why I should, I just don't."

"Then...can I name them?"

Danzel shrugged his shoulders at her request.

"If you start calling me by my name, you can."

"Mhm, alright." Shiro nodded after thinking about it.

"My grandpa called you Danzel the whole time, but which one do you prefer? Rue or Danzel?"

"Suit yourself, I just find being called bad fish annoying." Danzel said indifferently.

"Then Rue it is! It's much easier to say that Danzel."

"..."

Danzel stained silenced by her choice as he continued walking through the snow, and almost like a whisper, he could hear a female voice constantly blaming him.

But upon using [Grasp of the Undying], at the figure that was slowly manifesting in front of him. Making her disappear.

"If I may ask Rue, since you are an undead, who granted you the current name that you have?" Shiro asked out of curiosity.

In response, Danzel answered with only 2 words.

"I did."

***

At the same time in the frozen valley where the haired buffalos were resting, they were many fewer of them socializing with each other.

Among them, the guardian of the herd, which usually socialized the most and was always on the lookout for danger, it was laying on the ground while ignoring the female-haired buffalos who circled around him in worry.

The guardian stared in the direction where this "entity" came and claimed one of their own.

And suddenly, from that very direction, he saw two lone shadows coming their way.

The guardian's eyes instantly widen and risen up as fast as they could, before warning the herd.

*Boooooughh!!!!

The guardian's aura spread as the ice of its horns started to spread, while from his body a cold radiating aura escaped.

*Booooughh!

*Boooooughh!

*Booooooughh!

The other-haired buffalos stepped behind the guardian while making a circle and making a circle around the children of them.

And soon enough, the two figures came closer.

They both wore leather from the white wolfs.

One of them based on their body shape and long hair suggested that they were a woman with the other being a man.

The woman wore a white wooden mask that resembled a fox head while the man was without a mask but instead held a wooden shepherd's staff.

What was most unique of them, or at the very least of the woman, she had a long fluffy golden tail coming behind her butt.

The two figures quickly noticed the hostility of the haired buffalos.

"Why are the Bekai'mou so hostile?" The woman with the white wooden mask asked with a gentle voice at the man, who only showed a frown.

"One of their own is missing..." The man said as he recognized the signs of fear from the haired buffalos, who were called Bekai'mou.

"Might have been a wild beast or that they lost one while wandering, but by their reactions...I would say it's the former."

The woman nodded as she and the man walked closer to them.

*Boooooughh!!!!

"Shou~you poor thing~ we don't hear to hurt you~" The woman said with a serene voice that traveled through the whole herd, making the Bekai'mou start to calm down.

Those two arrived in front of the guardian who started to relax and feel safe in front of those two people, but despite that, its body couldn't stop shaking.

"What possibly could have happened for the guardian to continuously shake like that?" The woman said with a bitter voice.

Though the moment she said those words, something clicked inside the guardians heard.

"Continue~" the cold voices from the "entity" echoed through its mind.

"Please be careful." The man said as he gazed at the woman and the guardian.

"It's just scared." The woman said as she stroked the fur of the guardian to calm it down.

And as she did, she noticed a white line on the guardian's fur.

"This is..." The woman reached her hand to touch the white line on the guardian's fur.

But once she did, the echoes on the guardians became like a scream of urgency.

"~protectic the heard."

The guardian visioned, the touch of the woman reminded of this "entity" and the man turned to look like the figure with the dark armor, coming to claim one of their own once more.

*Boooooughh!!!!"

Enraged, the guardian gathered his mana and raised its feet, and stopped the ground to crush the woman.

The man reacted fast enough and dragged the woman a few meters away as the stomp of the guardian released cold air.

*Boooooughh!!!!"

"My lady! Step back! It's too dangerous!" The man yelled as she dragged the woman behind him.

But despite the aggression of the guardian, his shaking body didn't allow it to attack the two of them.

"It's scared." The woman said as she looked at the guardian with bitty.

"The guardian...has a mark of death on his body."

Hearing that, the man's eyes widen.

"Let's go, If that really is the case, we have to tell the others." The man said, with urgency.

The woman only nodded as her eyes were gazing at the guardian with pity.