Darkness, and nothing but darkness could be seen for miles, upon miles. The only thing that revealed the fact that there was more than just darkness, were the sounds of destruction, which came from a pair of men, who looked like ants, compared to the great, infinite void.

"Negative Lightning Bolt!"

Following the shout, a flash of dark purple and a large 'boom' echoed through the darkness. The spell, which had been cast, was of the fifth tier of Dark Magic. Its user was dressed in a black, hooded ceremonial robe, which obscured his facial features.

The man beside the hooded one, wore a plain theatrical mask with a crudely drawn smiley-face on it. He was observing his apprentice carefully. The apprentice was following directions, given to him by the masked man, who was making sure that his instructions were followed to the letter.

"Very good, dear apprentice." He said, while clapping at his hooded apprentice's accomplishments.

"You have succeeded in reaching the fifth tier of Negative Magic. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you how long this has taken you, since the concept of time doesn't quite apply here. It might have taken years for you to get this far... Maybe only a few minutes."

Uninterested in the praise, he was receiving, the hooded man simply fired another Negative Lightning Bolt .

"I do not care for your praise." He said, as his spell exploded in front of him.

"You always did have quite the sharp tongue, when you were alive. Back then, I might even have tolerated it, but now you have to understand that we are somewhat equals. The fact that you were a living person with the ability to use Negative Energy made your worth greater than mine. But now... Now things are different. Right now, you are studying under me, as your apprentice, so for the time being, I am not someone you can talk down to, dear Ash.

The elf looked up at Evitagen. He only now realized, how tall that demon was. Ash had to bend his head all the way backwards, in order to get a clear look at the masked man's obscured face.

"I understand, however, I will not apologize. You got me killed, for god's sake!" He said.

Surprised at his sudden outburst, Evitagen started laughing. The demon was laughing so hard, it bent backwards leaving ninety degrees between his head and feet. It looked insane, but then again, was that really surprising with this masked creature?

"You always are quite the good laugh, Ash. It amuses me greatly that you should mention God, while being in my presence. I know you do not exactly see me as a being of divinity." Evitagen said, after calming himself down.

"Oh well, I suppose you deserve it, my dear apprentice. There is something, I would like to show you."

The masked demon started wandering into the depths of the void with steps that indicated that he knew exactly where he was going.

Ash followed him, and for a while, none of them said a word. Then, after walking for some time, Evitagen stopped. He was looking at something in front of him. Something that completely captivated the thing that had never shown any interest in anything, for as long as the elf had known him.

After having stared at it for a while, the demon gave way to Ash, who saw what his master had been looking at so intently.

A massive ball, of what appeared to be condensed mana. That would be the initial impression, anyway, but shortly after concluding that he was looking at a huge concentration of mana, the ball changed color. Now, it was orange. A few seconds later, it was purple.

Ever shifting, the ball of condensed power kept changing color and shape. It was the most dynamic thing, Ash had ever had the pleasure of looking at. It was beautiful.

"Do you know what this is?" Evitagen asked.

The elf knew exactly, what he was looking at.

"Negative Energy." Ash said, turning towards the demon, who, once again seemed to be smiling so wide, you could practically hear the sides of his face tearing by the second.

"We may have business to discuss in the future, dear Ash."

The Bishop's Perspective

"Your excellence, I really do think we should reconsider this course of action. I don't think a mere twenty-five priest can do away with a lich. Shouldn't we pull back the missionaries for now?" The bishop, who had just entered the Archbishop's study, asked the elderly man in front of him.

"No." The Archbishop answered, as if he was talking about the weather.

The old man was reading a book about the adventurers, who defeated The last Necromancer. He had paused at a page, regarding the law of the jungle, which the adventurers largely lived by.

"If we defeat this lich, which we assume that it is, we will successfully have separated the men from the boys. The ones who die would not be of any use to us, anyway. The only ones that have futures within the holiest of organizations are the ones with the potential to become like me, one day."

Astonished by his superior's ultra-pragmatic way of doing things, the bishop frowned. The old man in front of him was truly a scary individual, but while he was a cold one, he also kept the balance in the world. Kept it at peace.

"But just in case, I shall mobilize the army, if we need a rescue operation to be performed." The bishop said.

"No. If we lose, I want you to take the field, personally. If they ask for anything, don't give it to them. They need to learn how to learn how to do things themselves." The Archbishop said, finally moving his gaze from his book to the bishop.

Once again, surprised, the bishop took a step back. It wasn't unusual for the old man to make decisions that didn't exactly make logical sense, but this was on a whole other level.

"So defeating the enemy is not your immediate goal?"

"You have guessed correctly. However, if you want to know my true intentions, you will have to keep guessing."

Knowing that reading the Archbishop's mind was an impossible task, the bishop stepped down, although it still didn't sit right with him. He had personally trained most of the priests, who had been sent to Elcrada, and right now they were likely to get killed.

"Can I at least go to Elcrada for now?"

"You may, but you are not to interfere with their battle. You may not interfere before they're either dead or victorious."

Less than satisfied, the bishop went out of the office to calm his nerves.

'What is the Church coming to..?'

Will's Perspective

The many priests were passing through the supremely beautiful gates of Elcrada. It was captivating to see the depictions of the many victories, humanity had achieved. There were carvings of brave adventurers, fighting the undead, goblins, and even dragons.

One thing that especially appealed to Will, about Elcrada, was how it was kept alive by the monster-hunting mercenaries, known as adventurers. They were a shining example of the model human. Sacrificing themselves for a case they believe in. The young priest too, wished that he could be like that, but alas, he was a priest, so he had his duties to the Church.

"Priests, why have you come?" The gatekeepers asked, as they drew their weapons.

The relationship between the Church and the adventurers was a strained one. The Church firmly believed that everyone, who wanted to exterminate evil on sight, should join them. That was the polar opposite of the freelancing mercenaries, who fought for their own reasons, wanting to be free of any and all control.

"We have been sent to investigate the increase in monsters, specifically undead, around the area of this town. Now let us through." The high-priest, who was in command of the squad demanded. He was holding the documents required to enter the town.

"Yes, yes. I suppose I cannot stop you. But don't expect us to keep quiet, when you start fights, like last time!" The same man shouted, as the priests were let inside the walled city.

When the twenty-five members of the squad had arrived just outside the inner town, the high-priest called for a quick briefing.

"I expect you all to find out if anything strange has happened around here lately. Don't go around flaunting your status as priests, since that would cause unnecessary trouble for us. Briefing over. Come back, when you know something."

It was a short briefing, but the high-priest, Gerald, wasn't exactly used to commanding a group. On the contrary, he kept to himself, reading books that touched on the topic of world peace. It was quite strange that he had been chosen as the leader, when there were so many more competent people to choose from.

'His excellence probably has his reasons' Will thought to himself, as he headed towards an inn, which seemed to be quite popular with the locals.

The young priest pushed the door to the inn open, and was greeted by the smell of newly-baked bread, and alcohol of different kinds.

As Will closed the door behind him, some gazes were thrown in his direction. They quickly moved away from him, when they saw the insignia, which clearly showed on the chest of his robes.

'Ah... I forgot to take it off.'

"Priest, this isn't a place for you. Leave, unless you want to get hurt!" Someone shouted from the back of the room. It was the voice of a girl, not that much older than himself.

Will turned his head, and saw a girl around his own age. She was sitting at her table along with two others, who seemed to be in the same party as her. The young priest could clearly see that she was an elf, but since his teacher had been a woman, who wasn't against elves, he was not disgusted, like some of his fellow priests might have been.

Without letting her unconventional greeting bother him, the priest headed in the direction of her table. Not a single pair of eyes didn't follow him, as he moved towards the girl.

"I'm sorry if my presence offends you, but I would like to ask you a few questions." Will said. He had reached the party of three's table.

Someone grabbed his shoulder with great force. The young priest turned around to see a tall, muscly, and quite ugly man, who was holding his shoulder tightly.

"The miss told you to leave." The man said. While one of his hands was on Will's shoulder, the other was grabbing the handle of his battle-axe, which was hanging on his back.

If the man wanted to, he could easily separate the former monk's head from his shoulders, using the massive ax. It was quite scary, but fortunately, the young priest had been in similar situations before. This wasn't the first ruffian, who had wanted his head over some petty matter.

"Remove your hand." Will said, and grabbed unto the mans hand, with strength that made the adventurer's strength look like that of a child.

"What?" Was all the man could utter, as immense pressure was applied to his wrist, ultimately resulting in him letting go of Will.

"Thank you. Now, if you would excuse me. I have business with this woman."

Strength was the only thing that mattered to adventurers. Authority meant nothing, if you didn't have the strength to back it up. Will knew this, and exploited that fact to the fullest. It was the law of the jungle, which, unfortunately for the former monk, didn't apply in the Church. Here, he held power and authority.

The inn's guests, who had been staring Will down, now looked at him with interest, rather than spite.

"Don't think we'll give you priests what you want, just because you have a little strength." The elven girl said.

Around her neck hung a silver plate that showed her status as an adventurer of the fourth rank. Silver Rank. Will had had his level estimated by the guild, once, just for the heck of it, and the test had proved him to be among the upper Gold Ranks. To him, this girl was small-fry. But those weren't the kinds of thoughts he was having.

Will was generally a nice person. He didn't think judge people, based on first expressions, and in his optic, everyone deserved another chance. In a way, he was the ideal priest. Strong, passionate, and forgiving. That was why he didn't feel anger because of the provocations of the elf before him.

"Will you have a chat with me, if I beat you in a duel?" Will asked.

"You're gonna fight bare handed, huh? Sure, but don't expect me to hold back. I am Silver Rank, you know." She said, and pointed to the plate, the young priest had noticed earlier.

"Yes, you do. Oh, while I remember it, what does your father think of your adventuring, miss De la Pole?"

Will wasn't ignorant or stupid. He knew of the elven child of the noble family, De la Pole. They were sworn enemies of the Church, since they embraced the race that was deemed enemies of humankind.

But then again, Will did not discriminate.

"Clear the floor!" The elven girl shouted, gesturing for the bar-guests to move their chair and tables.

Almost instantly, on her command, the rowdy adventurers moved their belongings, until they had formed a circle around the two, who were standing still the entire time. While Will was completely calm and collected, Robinia, on the other hand, wasn't able to stay completely cool. Her hand that was holding her sword, was shaking, and her breathing was heavy.

"Then let us begin." Will said, still calm.

Instantaneously, the De la Pole girl used Gap Closer , followed by Cross Cut .

Will knew of both of those abilities, since the guards at his local church used them as well, so he simply jumped back, as soon as the first ability was used, dodged the next in order to ricochet back, kicking the elf's sword out of her hand.

However, she wasn't done. The girl threw herself after her sword, managing to grab it by the held and standing up in the same movement. She was fighting in a very unladylike manner. Will disliked that. A noble should fight as one, in his opinion.

"Triple Slash!" Robinia shouted, but once again to no avail.

Will simply moved with her blade, dodging all three bursts of air that came from her sword, which had become a blur because of the speed it was moving at.

So far, the priest had made no attempt to end the battle. To him, this was a matter of earning respect, by making his superiority clear to all the onlookers, who were currently cheering for the swordsman.

Still without moving an inch, Will picked up a chair, threw it into the air, and kicked it at Robinia, who was still in shock after having every single attack, she could manage, dodged.

A loud thud resounded, as the chair hit the elven girl in the gut, sending her flying through the air, just like the chair had before.

Slowly, but surely, it was becoming clear that the bare handed priest was toying with his opponent, who was having trouble standing up, after having been sent flying by the chair, which had completely shattered upon hitting her.

"Would you like to give up? Save some face by admitting defeat. If not, I shall start fighting a bit more seriously."

Will received no response, which he could only take as a sign that she had declined his proposal. He sighed externally, but internally, he was content with her answer. This way, he would be able to further improve his standing among the adventurers.

'I am truly sorry for using you as a tool.' The priest thought to himself.

Still bare handed, the devout priest picked up another chair, and kicked it after the elf, who had only just succeeded in standing up.

This time, she managed to cleave it in twain, but she did lose her balance, though. Using that as his cue to attack, Will ran at her and jumped in the air, managing to kick her in shoulder. Still with his foot on her, he smashed her into the ground, still with his feet as his only weapons.

The fight was over. Robinia was on the ground. Her sword was lying on the ground, meters away. It was quite the tragic scene, actually. The before so confident swordsman was defeated and lying on the ground. Her honor had been tattered by the bare handed priest whose challenge she had accepted, confident that she would win.

"You have lost. I believe we had a deal?" Will said, as he stepped off of her, offering her his hand.

She refused his help, but nodded stubbornly.

'At least you somewhat accept your defeat. Your honor remains, lady Robinia' Will thought.

The mood was heavy. Having their leader-like figure beat up, by a priest, was a stain on the adventurers' reputation. Their self-worth was determined by whether or not they could their own in a bout', and just now, one of their best had been utterly destroyed by the people they hated the most. The people of the Church.

'Agh... I have to lighten the mood a bit' Will thought to himself, pulling out his pouch. He filled his lungs with air and shouted.

"Drinks on me!"

It was successful. The stiff onlookers lightened up at the promise of beer, and slowly turned away from the scene. Shortly after, the inn was filled with the merry laughter of semi-drunken adventurers.

The priest took the elven girl to the table, she and her party had been sitting at. The two other members of her party looked at Will with great suspicion showing in their eyes.

"What do you want?" The girl, who looked like a mage asked. Her tone was firm and cold, as if she was used to telling people off.

Slightly surprised at the coldness of her voice, Will briefly forgot what he was supposed to say.

'...Well, I guess I did just beat up their party leader, so this is to be expected' Will thought to himself, trying to give off a friendly vibe by smiling.

"I simply wish to inquire about the large increase in undead around here. Do you have any idea as to what could've caused this?" The former monk asked. He was going for a submissive approach to the conversation, since it appeared that the sharp-tongued party members preferred to be dominant in any situation.

As soon as he finished his sentence, silence descended upon the three adventurers. It was very clear that they knew something. The question was "what".

"The problem has been dealt with." Robinia said. The stubbornness that had been so clear in her voice, before, was now completely gone.

"May I ask what that means?" Will asked. He was aware that this a sensitive topic, but he needed to know, so he could report back to the high-priest.

When the young priest got an answer, it wasn't from the elven girl, who had gone completely quiet, but the silver-haired mage next to her.

"If you absolutely have to know, I don't see any point in keeping it from you. A few months ago, we recruited a new party member. He went by the name of Ash."

Knowing of the elves' tradition of naming their kinsmen after trees, Will assumed that this man was of elven heritage. But he knew of the elf, Ash. The murderous slave, Ash Tsuga, who had killed the priest in charge of the monastery in the eastern forest.

No-one from the Church had known whereto he had run, but to think he had been hiding out in Elcrada. In a way, it was perfect. A place where people went, to get a new start, was the perfect place for a wanted criminal to hide. There wouldn't be a single wanted-poster, due to the Church's lack of influence there, nor would anyone question your background.

"Go on." Will said, thinking that it wouldn't be wise to let the others know that Ash was his target for elimination.

"We were all suspicious of Ash, who one day saved our mistress, Miss Robinia, who was fighting an unfair battle against the undead. Because of his heroic efforts, we accepted him into the party, and for a while, everything was good. But everything changed, when we learned his secret. He was selling slaves in the western part of town."

'For some reason, that doesn't sound very likely. He, himself was a slave, so keeping them himself shouldn't yield him any pleasure.' Will thought to himself, skeptical of the story he was being told. But nevertheless, he continued to listen.

"When we learned of his side-business, we hunted him down. He finally showed his true colors by killing two of our veteran adventurers, who had gone out of their way to stop him. Even though we hadn't planned for it, initially, we decided that killing him was for the best, so I rushed after him, after he had escaped into the forest. There, I caught him, so I could bring the mistress to judge him. We decided to execute him in an honorable duel. Him against the three of us."

'Not very honorable, is it? It hardly sounds like he had a chance. Did he escape? Oh well, let's keep listening.'

"We thought it would be easy, but he proved to be more difficult than any opponent we had ever faced before. He knew of the Dark Arts."

'The Dark Arts? That would explain the increase in the undead. Don't tell me... They didn't kill him, did they?!'

Will was panicking. Killing an undead released the Dark Magic, which kept them alive. It wasn't a big problem, since the concentration thereof was quite small. But a live person... The amount of corruption it would spread...

"Fortunately for us, he didn't get to use a lot of it, since our teamwork is impeccable with Robii around." The mage finished.

"You... You killed him?!" Will shouted. Panic was showing clearly on his face, despite his efforts to suppress it.

"Of... Of course. He was a criminal..." Robinia said quietly.

She was shaking. The memory of killing the man, who had saved her, was probably not a pleasant one.

Will had found out everything he needed to know. More than he wanted to. The reason was a complicated one, and one which might affect the entire world, if left unchecked.

When Dark Energy would leave a being, it would go somewhere else. Nothing disappears. Never. That was also true for emotions. If one died with hate, regret, sadness, or any other negative feeling being the dominant one, it would manifest as Dark Energy. If the concentration was great enough, the Dark Energy would eventually retake its body of old, and if that body was somehow missing, the consciousness of the deceased would take over another body.

But what would happen, should an obscenely large amount of Dark Energy be released at once? Say a lich, a national-scale threat, gets killed. The killing of such a creature would release anything from a hundred to tens of thousands times the amount of energy, a normal undead would release. Therefore the consequences of such an action was easy to understand, but unfortunately, near impossible to deal with.

A veritable army of the dead.