Undead Beast Master: Living Solely for My Desires

Unwilling to play the statue's games, or whatever it wanted from him, Zaroth swung his odachi with enough force to crack the cave walls, the sheer impact sending tremors through the stone.

Yet the statue stayed whole, unmoving, uncaring, it hadn't even flinched from Zaroth's attack.

Next he tried using his fire skills, yet they too didn't even put as much as a dent in the statue's body.

"Eldros!" Zaroth roared, causing the Unholy Judger to come out of his shadow. Without further command needed, he swung his two swords in an X formation.

Yet even that didn't faze the statue at all.

It stood tall, unblinking, its gaze locked coldly on Zaroth.

"Is this some kind of twisted joke?!" he hissed, stepping backward while keeping his eyes fixed on the statue and nothing else.

After putting some distance between them, he shifted his gaze for just a moment.

The instant his eyes returned, it was obvious, the statue had moved toward him

"So it moves toward me when I am not looking directly at it, worse any attack I throw is rendered useless. Is this some kind of magic, rune, or is the material just simply that powerful?" he muttered, mind racing with possible ways to get out of the situation.

'There must be a limit to its speed,' Zaroth reasoned, using his Shadow Travel skill.

With dizzying speed, he dashed out of the cave, but after barely a second, he was forced to emerge.

In shadow form, he couldn't watch the statue, letting it move unchecked.

The statue was next to Zaroth, fist about to strike where his shadow was. Had he been a heartbeat slower, his shadow would have been hit.

But there was nothing to worry about, in his shadow form he was invincible…

…Right?

Something deep in his heart told him that he shouldn't test that out.

"What are you?" he roared, eyes studying the frozen statue.

It didn't move, nor did it react; it just stayed silent.

With a groan, Zaroth tried to reason with it, if there was a way to do that in the first place.

"What do you want from me? It's not like I'm responsible for your grave being desecrated, aren't you supposed to be resting in peace?"

Again the statue remained silent.

"Look, I know your gravestone says 'greed is the greatest sin,' but I'm not the one who looted your grave, you know?!"

Zaroth's logic was simple: if the statue only moved when he wasn't looking, it must have some form of awareness. Even if it wasn't alive, it had to be enchanted, some form of rune or elven magic.

Maybe he could convince it he meant no harm?

The statue's face remained unmoving, like a monolith, without a single emotion or reaction.

But then—

Its lips curled into a menacing smile, so wide it reached its ears and revealed its teeth in full display.

"I know," the statue spoke.

A primal fear seized Zaroth, this thing wasn't just enchanted. It was aware.

A heartbeat later it moved, despite that Zaroth's gaze was still upon it.

By instinct, the Beast Master used Darkveil, using the nearby darkness to wrap himself in a protective armour.

It didn't seem to do much, however, as the statue's fist easily broke through the defense. Zaroth tasted iron, his insides screaming from the blow. The impact launched him like a ragdoll, bones rattling as the cave walls blurred past.

*****

After washing themselves in the pleasantly cold water of the lake, the girls were engrossed in their own little chat which was a nice change of pace.

"Are you sure you're not an elf?" Ari asked in disbelief, staring at Luna's flawless skin.

Just like Ari, Luna's skin was the embodiment of perfection, smooth as glass, without a single flaw.

Luna chuckled softly, "No, I am not… you could say that I am just a bit unique." Luna answered with a subtle smile, the elf still didn't know that she was a dragon and that was for the better.

"You two are… stunning." Vera muttered from the side, she too like them was naked showing her full body on display, with the exception of her face that was still hidden behind her mask.

Ari and Luna had curves to die for, their skin as perfect as one could hope. Vera, with her lean frame, didn't appear quite as alluring.

"Don't say that," Ari shook her head, stepping closer. "You have your own charm."

Vera scoffed sarcastically. "Really? Then what is it?"

Luna smiled mischievously and cut in, "You're actually quite cute."

Ari nodded in agreement.

The oracle lowered her head, a little embarrassed. "Well, if you say so…"

As if enchanted by the sight, the elf approached the oracle and gently took her into her embrace. She was so cute that she appeared like a doll, which made the elf's heart melt.

Vera didn't seem to like the idea at first, but after the elf began scratching her head, she gradually calmed down despite her initial disapproval.

However, the smile on Ari's face didn't last long. A realization passed over her, causing her to quickly hide her exposed breasts with her right hand.

"Hey, now that I think about it, shouldn't Zaroth be back by now?" she asked, her eyes scanning the waterfall where the man had disappeared.

While she was mostly fine showing her body to women, revealing herself to men was considered wrong… This was one of the lessons elves were always taught from a young age: never expose their naked bodies to the opposite sex unless it was for the very rare occasion of procreation.

This was one of the reasons the elf population never exploded. It simply went against their deepest values.

"No, he is busy," Luna said confidently. "I felt earlier that he called upon Eldros, they're probably just playing some kind of man's game or whatever."

Having spent every day with him, she figured it was better to leave him alone with his thoughts for some time. He wasn't weak anymore, he could take care of himself.

"Never mind that," Luna's eyes narrowed as she inspected Ari's body. "Humans have thought that only white elves existed. Why does no one in the human continent know that brown ones do too?"

Ari scratched the back of her head, which made her breasts rise slightly. "It's a long and complicated history, so long, in fact, that I don't know all the details."

"Well, just tell us what you know," Vera urged, eager to learn more about other cultures.

With a sigh, Ari sat on a rock by the lake, the oracle and the dragon following suit.

Parting her lips, she began, "As I said, my knowledge is limited. The elves lived somewhat peacefully for a long time, but everything changed about a millennium ago when—"

A thunderclap drowned her words.

A bloodied male figure shot past the waterfall several times faster than an arrow, and collided with the rocks on the shallow lake.

With his vision blurry and countless curses in his mind, he lifted his hand and shot the strongest fireball he had ever created toward the waterfall.

It instantly exploded, revealing the statue that had delivered the devastating attack.

"Zaroth?" Ari was the first one to speak, still a bit stunned since he had just appeared next to her.

Zaroth raised his head, crimson trailing from his eyes. His gaze met Ari's, then drifted lower—to her exposed form.

He coughed blood, then whispered hoarsely,

"I hope you know how to deal with that."

He pointed.

The statue stood beyond the waterfall, still smiling.