The Villainess and I, her Zombie

*SPLASH*

A group of people suddenly appeared out of thin air and fell straight into a pond in the backyard of a large mansion.

"Mika! Are you okay?!"

The white-haired man pushed away from the legs of the ashen undead knight that were wrapping around him and pulled up the ashen-haired confused girl that he was holding hands right before the odd undead jumped at them and they teleported.

"Wh-what happened?! Where is this supposed to be?

The ashen-haired girl shook her head in confusion, but thankfully everything seemed to be alright with her.

"That's a good question - you, who are you and why did you save us?"

Corvus breathed out and nodded at Mika's question and glared down at the ashen undead knight who landed in such an awkward position that her head was under the surface of the water.

"My prince...? My prince?!"

"...?"

The brown-haired girl with a childish face and disproportionally large breast within her small frame managed to shake off the initial confusion - and freed her hair from the grip of the ashen undead knight - started looking around in a panic in search of a certain not very lucky blond-haired prince.

*splash*

"Ghu-huagh...!"

As if the heroine's voice was the trigger, Lovie, the ashen undead knight twitched and pushed all the others aside just to stand up - and as it turned out, she was still holding onto Roan's clothes - and by extension to Roan himself - with her teeth.

"Ptfue..."

"Wh-whoa...?"

*splash*

"My prince!"

Lovie spat out the young man who ended up splashing back into the pond, which in turn caused Mary to jump over to him with a worried expression.

"Thank the fuck, we got back alright..."

*rumble*

"...!"

The ashen undead knight shook her head, clearly recognizing their current location - but once she felt the odd sensation and the water surface trembled even though no one was moving at the time, she immediately turned around just to witness the sky turning red...

"Fucking..."

Lovie groaned making a furious expression and clenching her fists so hard that her armored gloves begin to dent in.

"Heroine, capture targets - how is your special quest status?!"

The ashen undead knight forced herself to look away from the crimson light show and asked the people around her.

"Why would we have to tell you anything?"

"...!"

Corvus scoffed at her and pulled Mika close, hugging her protectively while turning to the side to shield the girl with his own body if necessary - causing the ashen-haired girl to look up at his face and blush, using this chance to nuzzle up to him.

"...the timer is still there - we have a little over forty-five minutes left..."

"!!!"

"Why are you answering her?!"

The brown-haired heroine - who for whatever reason was holding onto the blond prince's face, looked back at the ashen undead knight and answered her question, earning herself a furious frown glare from the white-haired Corvus.

"Maybe because she ended up saving us? And didn't you see all the spells that downed Baron? isn't it normal to think that she is a part of the reinforcements that you have asked for to deal with the griffin?"

"..."

Mary frowned at the young avatar of wrath and crossed her arms defensively - unintentionally shoving Roan's face between her breasts.

...funnily enough, she didn't seem to realize that yet, and the blond prince kept quiet with no intention of stopping her...

"The heroine is right - the avatar of wrath, I don't have a... my name is Lovie, and I am the member of the church of the system's faith."

The ashen undead knight started her introduction as she always did in the past years but ended up stopping and actually using the name that the killed remnant of the abyss god have playfully given her.

"As the avatar of greed can surely confirm, the royal family was in great turmoil the past few days making it impossible to deploy reinforcement but the insightful late queen have turned to the high priest of the church of the system's faith before she was murdered and asked them to lend their help."

Lovie continued talking pointing out at the quiet prince.

"Is that... so...?"

Corvus frowned and glared at Roan but then his expression turned into a surprised one when he saw the rather compromising position that the blond young man was in.

"Eh...? Ah! My prince, I am so sorry!"

The brown-haired heroine looked at the white-haired man in confusion and then glanced down, realizing what she was doing, and released the royal prince while bowing her head repeatably.

"...I can't confirm what mother did before she died, but truth be told asking others for favors doesn't sound like her at all..."

Roan's response proved that he wasn't only enjoying the sensation on his face and was actually carefully listening in on the conversation - and in the end, the blond prince's words weren't supporting Lovie's claim at all.

"First of all, the church of the system's faith is well known for condemning undead, your claim to be working with them is ridiculous."

Roan declared while standing up and helping the heroine do so as well.

"My thoughts exactly."

Although Corvus didn't particularly like the idea of agreeing with his supposed younger brother, he ended up nodding his head and glaring at the ashen undead knight as he clearly decided that Roan wasn't his enemy - at least at the moment.

"...you are correct when it comes to the official stand of the church BUT it was made for a very specific reason - which he none of you young avatars know because you both received your titles recently and the messengers from the church weren't dispatched yet to inform you about the hidden truth - the truth that is connected with the secret quests that started activating recently as a part of the global event."

Lovie looked around as if looking for a backup, but their little group was the only one in the backyard of the mysterious mansion - although a few of the rooms ere lighted up, no one seemed to notice them yet - so she started backing off cautiously while explaining.

She had to be careful - although she felt reasonably confident in her ability to put up a fight - the three out of four people she brought were extremely important and the fate of the world literally depended on them - she couldn't risk angering them and starting up a fight in which they could get hurt or worse.

"That sounds like some empty excuses."

Corvus frowned and his body started shining with vibrant red light.

"Miss, it was nice of you to save us, but as someone from the Greed family, I am fully aware that there is nothing more expensive than a free favor. Everything has a price. You better tell us what is your real goal, or there will not be a reason for us to remain civil."

Roan made sure that Mary is standing safely behind him and his body started glowing with a vibrant yellow light with a golden tint.

"She is telling you the truth, though."

"!!!!"

Another voice joined in, startling the four humans.

"Fuck... took you long enough! Don't you remember that I am necessary for the Lust secret quest?!"

Lovie seemed to be angry but stealthily breathed out in relief once a tall tanned muscular man with wild black hair that had an orange tint to them snuck up on them coming from the mansion and called out with a serious expression.

"And who might you be? You are clearly her accomplice, what makes you think that your words change anything?"

Corvus glared at the much taller man and the red light surrounding him grew in intensity to the point of looking more like smoke than actual light.

"Lord Corvus, please relax, this really isn't any scam. The same goes to you, lord Roan - I can assure you all that the undead knight is speaking the truth."

The man whose outer appearance would suggest that he would be wild and ferocious like some sort of a monstrous wolf, spoke in a calm and composed manner, looking all the humans in the eyes as if that was supposed to convey anything.

"You seem to be purposefully making me angry, have you not heard what I just said? Why would I or anyone else here care about the words of some nobody?!"

"..."

The white-haired Corvus scoffed and turned around to face the taller man and got even angrier once he realized that he had to look up at the black-haired man's face - but he got no answer as the newly arrived man was looking at the brown-haired heroine standing by the blond prince's side.

"...?"

And he was doing so intently enough for Mary to flinch and step back hiding behind Roan and grabbing onto his shirt - the man's eyes seemed familiar but she had most definitely never seen the stranger's face before.

"That's it - you had your cha...!"

"My name is Arion Gluttony..."

"!!!!"

Corvus had enough of being ignored and he stepped forward, fully intending on teaching the stranger his place - but then the wild-looking man spoke up, shocking the others and straight up making Mary flinch and clench her fists on Roan's shirt.

"...and just like the two of you, I have become the new avatar of sin. The avatar of gluttony, of course."

Arion who was clearly no longer a wolf, activated his skills which made him shine with a vibrant orange light as he smiled, looking at both Corvus and Roan before focusing back at the brown-haired girl whose face was steadily twisting from anger and disgust the more she glared back at him.

"With that in mind, considering the close connection my family has to the church of the system's faith, I think that my word serves for enough of a proof."

Arion declared calmly nodding toward the brown-haired girl.

"It's good to see you in good health, master, I was worried whether you were eating enough."

He added in a friendly, almost familiar, manner.

"Shut the fuck up, pervert!"

"!!!"

Mary responded spitefully, shocking everyone except Arion - yes, even Lovie was taken aback by the amount of hatred in the short girl's voice.