Resurrect, My...

In the pitch-black mine shaft, Erich walked ahead, carrying Isa in his arms. Her body felt incredibly light, far lighter than a living person should weigh. The bone spine was still impaled in her chest, and dark red blood continuously seeped from the edges of the wound with every step Erich took.

“Hang in there, Isa. Once we get out of here, I'll find you the best doctor.”

No one answered. The only sounds in the mine shaft were the footsteps of Erich and the little princess, Leonora.

“Wake up, Sister Isa. Please don't sleep,” Leonora said, her voice trembling with tears.

Erich spoke again. “Did you hear that? Even the little princess is calling you 'big sister.' Haven't you always wanted to be an older sister?”

Isa opened her eyes, her pupils nearly dilated. The bone spine gleamed with a dark red luster in the darkness, as if mocking their futile efforts.

“Don't die, Isa. Think about your dream,” Erich urged, his pace hurried, not daring to stop. “Didn't you tell me you were going to save up enough money to study magic at the academy? If you die here, I'm taking all your money!”

She had told him this shortly after they first met. Back then, they were still traveling across the Ash Plains. Sitting by the campfire, Isa had shown a rare look of yearning. She said she had been saving money for a long time, and once she had enough, she would go to Morningstar Academy to become a respectable mage.

Leonora nodded frantically beside him. “Yes! Once we get out, I'll give you more money than you could ever spend! I'll even hire professors from the academy to tutor you personally! Please don't die, big sister!”

By the end, she was sobbing, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Isa opened her eyes a fraction wider. She looked at Erich, her lips twitching into a faint smile.

“Our money... a sixty-forty split...”

“If you... steal my share... I swear... even as a ghost... I won't let you off!”

Erich felt a surge of hope and leaned down to say more, only to see Isa's pupils completely dilate. Her head slumped limply to the side.

“Hey, Isa... Don't scare me.”

Erich knelt on the spot, freeing one hand to check her breathing.

There was no breath.

To make matters worse, Isa's body suddenly burst without warning. Flesh, bone, organs—everything that was Isa shattered in an instant. Warm blood splattered all over Erich's face, and fragments of flesh clung to his cloak. The crimson bone spine fell from her chest, standing out with eye-searing redness amidst the pool of gore.

Erich remained kneeling on the ground. His hands were still shaped as if he were holding her, but his arms were empty.

Leonora's legs gave out, and she collapsed beside Erich, burying her face in her hands and weeping.

Erich stared down at the pool of flesh and blood, a profound sorrow welling up from deep within.

Isa was the very first person in this world to show him genuine kindness. During his first few days in the Abyss, when he was at his most lost and confused, it was Isa who had patted his shoulder and said in her casual, carefree tone, “Hang with me from now on.”

He had considered her a friend—one of his very few friends, and perhaps his only one.

But now Isa was dead. She had died in this underground cavern where even sunlight could not reach, dying like an insignificant minor character.

Erich suddenly realized that this was not a game.

In a game, you could reload a save if you died, use resurrection potions, or even directly modify the game data without worrying about getting banned. But not here. Here, death was final.

This was reality, a perilous world where death could claim you at any moment.

Death! The word exploded in Erich's mind, and he snapped his head up.

The Silent Order.

It was the sect in the game that worshiped the Lord of Death. The classes they offered were extremely powerful and were one of the mainstream choices in the late game, which was why Erich had some recollection of them. They possessed the power to influence death itself.

Did the Silent Order in this reality possess the art of resurrection?

No, it wasn't a question of whether they did. They had to.

Erich wiped his face, brushing away the mixture of blood and tears. He began to gather Isa's remains from the ground, picking up the pieces one by one and putting them into his inventory.

Leonora looked at him with red, swollen eyes. “What are you doing?”

“Taking her with us. We can't leave her here.”

Leonora's tears began to fall again. Weeping, she knelt down to help Erich gather the remains.

Once the last tiny fragment was safely in his inventory, Erich stood up and gently patted Leonora's head.

“Let's go.”

“But Sister Isa...”

“We are bringing her with us. We can't all stay here. We must live on for Isa's sake, and make those men in black and whoever is behind them pay.”

Leonora wiped away her tears and nodded. The two of them set off once more.

The mine shaft remained pitch-black, but Erich's steps no longer faltered.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, light appeared ahead. The silhouette of the exit grew clear in the darkness, and a fresh breeze blew in.

However, two men in black were standing at the exit. Spotting the two figures in the tunnel, shadow mana instantly condensed in their hands, and several black crescent blades tore through the air toward them.

Erich stepped forward, shielding Leonora behind him as his longsword leaped from its sheath.

Blade clashed with shadow, and mana erupted in the narrow mine shaft. But Erich did not take a single step back. Standing in the center of the explosion, his cloak whipped wildly in the turbulent air.

The men in black charged forward.

Erich rushed to meet them.

His rage demanded blood.