The Ruined Death Knight

Staring at the withered corpse of the ice troll in front of him, he dragged his hand away from his head before drawing his ominous sword and with a swift swing, cutting its mummified head.

The surviving ice trolls who watched the powerful Merloun'gurak having his head cut and his body turned to such a state, had long snapped out of the illusion of the tallest Anabast and were now shivering in fear.

Danzel looked at the corpse of Merloun'gurak before scoffing at it.

"Hmpf. you lasted even less than I gave you credit." Danzel said before making the corpse disappear inside his storage ring, making the ice trolls behind him yelp in fear and shock.

'Forget about regenerating a head, you couldn't even regenerate an arm.'

Although what he asked could be considered absurd, Danzel couldn't help but compare the ice trolls with the self-proclaimed king of trolls, Sartan.

Though he hadn't the best relationship with Sartan, he also didn't have the worst one.

And one thing that he respected about the high troll was his strength and regenerative capabilities. He saw more than once the reason why humans gave him the title of the Immortal Juggernaut.

Although he knew that he couldn't possibly support such regeneration forever, the high troll sure made it seems like he was truly immortal.

He originally wanted to keep the leader of this group of ice trolls alive because he thought he would have more information and be smarter than others, but once he saw how full of himself that ice troll was and ignorant of the situation, he didn't even bother with him and instead chose to gain his XP and use his body for his means.

That was the main truth, but a part of himself was dissatisfied with his claim.

Albeit he didn't know the Deathfull Skulls for considerable long and that he mainly was there for business. He still built friendly relationships with them.

He wouldn't go as far as saying that they were his friends, but also the word "friends" wasn't so far off of what he considered them.

'Though it's a bit waste of blood, I guess using him as an example will make it easier for those guys to talk.' Danzel thought as he stared at the 3 ice trolls who were shivering in fright.

"I heard that you were exiled from your main home..." Danzel said before gazing at Anabast, who nodded in confirmation.

"So take this and draw a map of where that home of yours is." Danzel said as he threw each of them a large plate-shaped from bones together with 3 runed daggers to scribble on the bone plate.

"Also, tell me more about that...beast? What was it called again?"

"They seem to refer to that beast as The Thousand Screaming One, Creator." Sylas said from the said.

"Right, tell me more about that. If you satisfied my request, I might let you live." Danzel said with his ice-cold voice and his flaring eyes staring at the ice trolls.

"I-Isn't that a bit too much?" Shiro said hesitantly to the side.

He shook his head.

"Not at all, I originally planned to kill them all before extorting them from their information, though that screaming beast sounds interesting enough to let one of them live." Danzel dismissed Shiro's blatant request.

He wanted to make her realize that being nice doesn't the job done and could be considered dangerous. The sooner she fully realized this point, the better in his opinion.

Also, his words were also for the ice trolls to hear.

They went from relief, to pale and in the end desperation as soon as they understood that there was only one slot in the surviving spot.

"I-I haven't seen The Thousand Screaming One personally! B-But I heard that he has more eyes that in both hands!" One of the Ice trolls yelled in hurry.

"It's said to be bigger than the whole mountain!" Another said.

"His scream echoes through all the lands!"

"So you haven't seen it yourself and just spew hearsay from others?" Danzel stared at them with killing intent, which made them flinch and go to draw a map.

Danzel shook his head before staring at the Draugrs.

'You all, go and gather their supplies, from food to weapons, bring everything that seems useful." Danzel commanded them with an internal command before staring at the Anabast.

"As for you all, I am quite satisfied with your quick performance, so I reward is a must...first, the three of you. I will give your names." Danzel said while mentioning the tallest and the two one-eyed Anabast.

Hearing that, the 3 Anabast felt excited were Danzel was feeling somewhat anxious.

He had thought long and hard for a few names that would suit them and he came up with a few.

Though the most trouble that he had, was with the one-eyed Anabast.

He had no idea if they were female or male...

Their corpses were of those female fox people, but as they turned into Anabast, he had difficulties choosing a name from them.

As it would be weird to give them a male name when they considered themself female or the other way around.

So in the end, he decided to go with a unisex name for both of them.

Though he first started with the tallest Anabast.

"I came with the decision to call you Talon as for now..." Danzel said while observing the Anabast reaction.

Luckily, he seemed satisfied.

"I, Talon, will honor the name that thee Creator has bestowed upon me. And I will work to live up to this name." The tallest Anabast, named Talon as of now bowed his back to Danzel.

Danzel nodded at Talon despite feeling quite awkward about how guys bowed to him.

"Now you two..." Danzel stared at the one eyed Anabast, which were...overly excited to gain their names.

The left eyed Anabast's flaring eye was so large that Danzel couldn't help but get distracted.

Though those flames were ethereal and wouldn't burn their skulls, it made one question wherever they were flames for a brief moment.

"As for your name..." Danzel looked towards the left eyed Anabast.

"It will be Leyone."

"And for you, it will be Rayone" Danzel said at last to the right eyed Anabast.

"W-We thank thee Creator, for such names!" Both now, Leyone and Rayone said excitedly while bowing their backs.

'As long as they are happy with them...' Danzel thought internally, feeling somewhat guilty.

If one looked at the names carefully, one could call him lazy, as Talon was similar to "tall one", while Leyone and Rayone were "left one" and "Right one".

Though to him, he found them really suited for them.

If Leyone and Rayone considered themself as female in mind, they could be referred to as Leya and Ray at worst.

With his worries unfounded and all the Anabast now named, Danzel looked towards Baron and Sylas.

It was their time to be rewarded.

"I am also satisfied with your performance, Sylas, Baron. Though compared to the others, I have already given you a name. So I wanted to ask you what kind of reward you want. As long as is within my capabilities, of course. I can give the respective reward."

Baron and Sylas were surprised to be asked for a reward and they both fell silent for a moment.

But shortly after, the first one to come up with something was Baron.

"Creator, would it be possible to be taught you swordsmanship with the shield?" Baron asked with his cold and confident voice.

Danzel was confused for a moment upon such a request, but after taking a better look at Baron, he notice that he had a shield made out of stone similar to his own shape vise together with a stone sword that albeit was a bit bigger than his, it very much was a long sword.

'Heh~is that guy trying to imitate me?' Danzel would have a wry smile if his face wasn't just a skull.

"Swordsmanship, huh? Wouldn't you be more interested in a shield or a sword with my best runes?"

Baron in turn shook his head.

"I would like to use my magic to create my equipment. And I found thee Creator's swordsmanship to hold more value to my future improvement."

'So he isn't blatantly asking and excuses his request to achieve my orders to grow stronger. Not bad.' Danzel nodded internally.

Though of all the Anabast, Baron was quite straightforward and didn't speak much in his lessons or generally. But his words alone show that he was smart.

Which was a satisfying point in his opinion.

"My swordsmanship isn't something that can be learned, but I might be to bring you to the level suitable for your strength. Although I ain't promising a schedule, your request is accepted."

"I thank the Creator." Baron said while bowing his back, though his words were indifferent, Danzel knew that he was happy based on his connection with him.

Danzel next stared at Sylas.

"And what will it be for you, Sylas?"

Sylas stayed a bit silent despite being asked.

But after a few seconds, Sylas hesitantly pointed his shadowy finger at Shiro's staff.

"Would it be possible to gain something similar to Shiro's weapon, Creator?"

"Hmm..." Hearing his request, Danzel felt in his thoughts.

'Now that's a difficult request...'

"I do have some in my possession, their quality is rather lacking. And I personally can't carve runes as they are made out of wood."

Hearing that, Sylas felt quite bitter internally.

"But...I might work something for you. Sadly, your request will have to be pushed back."

"I thank thee Creator for such consideration." Sylas answered, feeling less bitter than before.

There was a moment of awkwardness between them, but such a moment was broken the next moment.

The flask that Danzel had hanging on his armor suddenly exploded in dark green flames.

*Ting!

"Hiie! R-Rue? What was that just now?." Shiro asked surprised by the sudden flask exploding.

Danzel blankly stared at the broken glass falling to the ground full of ice before he drew [Death Hunts Dagger].

Danzel briefly stared from where they came from, before walking towards the 3 ice trolls and finishing what he promised with the dagger in his hand.