Your Wish, My Command

"Wolf!" Kuban mumbled a name. Unfortunately, he uttered it in the Fiendkind slang of the War of Fallen Gods era—his native tongue. Not only Du Chen, but even Lucy and Lily, members of the Red Luan Battle Formation from the same period, couldn't make out a single word!

The name was a meaningless jumble of sounds to Du Chen. He scrutinized Kuban. "Is this a Fiendkind?"

Physically, Kuban didn't differ much from a Human Battle God, possessing a tall stature and robust muscles. However, he was now in an Undead form, his face a horrifying display of exposed bone, making his former appearance utterly unrecognizable.

"Phew!" Du Chen let out a slow breath. Ever since entering this dungeon, the profound sensation in his mind had intensified, as if the old monk chanting in his head had suddenly sped up his sutra recitations!

Lucy and Lily suddenly veiled their faces with thin gauze. They chuckled, "This Magic Formation has peculiar restrictions on The Undead, its power akin to the scorching midday sun. We wouldn't want to end up looking like *that*! Especially not for other humans to see!" Lucy gestured towards Kuban's ghastly countenance.

Du Chen nodded in understanding, but a sudden sense of uncertainty welled up within him.

The Lotus Sacred Artifacts were indeed highly effective against The Undead. Yet, he had never truly known how to wield them to their fullest potential against such foes. His previous method had simply been to bring the artifact close, allowing the aura emanating from the Precious Lotus Scripture to automatically purify them.

Would this rudimentary method… truly work against someone like Kuban, a being from the War of Fallen Gods era, who should at the very least be considered an aberrant-grade Undead?!

Pondering this, Du Chen said, "Ladies, I can try my utmost, but I cannot guarantee success!"

"Understood. We'll wait outside. All our sisters will be summoned. If you encounter any trouble, we'll rush back to reinforce you!" Lucy and the others, too, seemed to fear the aura of Du Chen's sacred artifact.

Du Chen circled Kuban a few times, keeping his distance, merely observing the former Fiendkind overlord from afar.

Kuban had been observing Du Chen with an extremely bizarre gaze. After transforming into The Undead, his left eye was gone, and his remaining right eye incessantly swiveled, following Du Chen's movements. An odd expression contorted his face, a grotesque mélange of bone and flesh.

As Du Chen once again stepped before him, Kuban opened his mouth and uttered a sentence.

"What did you say?" Du Chen, not understanding, retorted in the common tongue of the Aethelgard Continent.

"Aethelgardian, is it? Hmph!" Du Chen understood this statement from Kuban, for it was spoken in Aethelgardian, albeit with extremely poor pronunciation. Still, it was enough for Du Chen to grasp his meaning. "What are you doing here!?"

"To purify you!" Du Chen replied calmly.

"You've come to purify *me*!? Ha!" Kuban burst into maniacal laughter. "Who do you think you are? Marshal Margaret? Haha, purify *me*!? Hmph, you reckless little whelp who doesn't know his place! I've devoured more humans than you've ever seen! You want to purify me? You're not even worthy! Even if Margaret were to be resurrected now, she wouldn't possess enough power to cleanse me! Hahahahaha…"

*Clang, clang!* The iron chains around him rattled violently with his maniacal laughter.

Du Chen coldly observed Kuban's arrogant display. He offered no retort, merely summoning a single lotus in serene silence.

Kuban's maniacal laughter abruptly ceased, his ghastly grin seeming to freeze. He stared at the palm-sized lotus in Du Chen's hand for a moment, sensing the divine aura it exuded. But then, his laughter returned, now laced with even greater disdain. "Quite interesting, I'll admit! But you're still not worthy. Go fetch your master! A paltry little wretch like you… Hmph, you're utterly worthless!"

"Fetch my master? You're not worthy enough to disturb him!" Du Chen chuckled, then swiftly flung a lotus onto Kuban's chest.

*Sizzle! Sizzle!*

Kuban's flesh suddenly began to blacken and decay, slowly dissolving into tendrils of black smoke. But the process was agonizingly slow!

"Damn it! Are you tickling me!?" Kuban snarled, opening his mouth wide and flicking his tongue at Du Chen. "You little whelp, this speed is slower than my own regeneration! Stop tickling me! If you like, you can lick my toes…"

Kuban seemed to revel in the Lotus Sacred Artifact's purification, arrogantly cursing, "No, you're not even worthy enough to lick my toes! You paltry wretch, go back to your mother and suckle for another two years! Come back when you can enlarge this Lotus Sacred Artifact! Only then will you be qualified to lick my toes!"

"Enlarge it, you say? As you wish!"

Silently, the lotus's petals and stamen unfurled and contracted in succession. In the blink of an eye, it grew even taller than Kuban's imposing physique!

*Sizzle!* Kuban's purification accelerated, yet he continued to curse loudly, "You little whelp, it's not enough! If you've got the guts, bring out a few more lotuses! Otherwise, you're still not worthy to lick my toes! Ha, can't manage it? Then in my eyes, you're still less than a fart!"

"Ah, since you like it so much, I shall indulge you!"

With two more lotuses conjured, Du Chen gazed at Kuban with a sly smile.

"Damn it, what kind of power is this!?" Kuban was utterly shocked. The purification speed brought by three massive lotuses now surpassed his regeneration rate. Gritting his teeth, he challenged, "Hmph! If you've got the nerve, bring out *another* sacred artifact! I refuse to believe you can possess so many radiant sacred artifacts simultaneously!"

*Sizzle…* Kuban felt as if his back were engulfed in flames, a large swath of his flesh seemingly charred.

An invisible Lotus Shield also manifested.

"Satisfied yet? Want more?" Du Chen continued to smile affably at him.

"Not enough! You little bastard, if you've got the guts, bring out one more! I refuse to believe it…" Kuban's jaw dropped, unable to close.

It turned out Du Chen had reached behind him and pulled out "Old Five."

"I've always believed I have plenty of 'guts' to spare. Since you like it, here you go!" Du Chen, unsure how to properly wield Old Five, simply kneaded and mashed it into a pancake-like shape. Then, with a *whoosh*, he flung it, and it landed squarely on Kuban's forehead.

"Aargh!!!"

Kuban shrieked in agony, thick black smoke billowing from his body. "No, you can't do this to me! I am a Marshal, Marshal Kuban! I cannot die at the hands of a nameless nobody like you!"

Du Chen scratched his head, pouting, "My regrets!"

The proximity of death sent Kuban into a frantic terror. "To think I would die at the hands of a paltry wretch… What a regretful end…"

"Lord Kuban, I believe you've misunderstood my meaning!" Du Chen performed a perfectly standard noble's bow, smiling faintly. "When I said 'my regrets,' I meant *I* regret this. I regret that I should have purified you ten years from now. By then, I certainly wouldn't be a nameless nobody!"

As he spoke, Du Chen, guided by some inexplicable inspiration, instinctively opened his mouth, following the increasingly intense chanting in his mind, repeating words in a language he himself did not comprehend!

"No, don't kill me!" Kuban felt the surrounding divine aura swell with incredible intensity. The rate at which his body was being purified seemed to accelerate countless times over!

"Please, don't! For the sake of my brother Wolf! In those days, Brother Wolf and I were the best of friends before the war! Friends as close as brothers!"

Du Chen looked at the Marshal, whose attitude had shifted so starkly, with disdain. He coldly stated, "Wolf? Unfortunately, I don't know him!"

"You don't know Wolf? Then you…"

Before Kuban could finish his sentence, his head drooped, and he fell silent. His body, amidst swirling plumes of black smoke, vanished completely!

*Hey, buddy, at least finish what you were saying before you die!*

Du Chen was utterly bewildered. "What the hell is a 'Wolf'? What does he have to do with me!?"

Staring blankly as the dungeon's chains and cage dissolved into ash alongside Kuban, Du Chen walked out of the crypt in a daze. In the corridor, all one hundred and two Red Luan Valkyries stood, heads bowed dejectedly, some softly weeping.

*A millennium has passed. Our mission is finally over. Lieutenant-General Julie died on the battlefield, unable to return and free us. Marshal Margaret vanished without a trace, failing to arrive as planned to purify Kuban… A thousand years later, we are finally liberated! But the General is dead, the War of Fallen Gods long over. Where do we, Undead Valkyries who are no longer tolerated among the living, go now!?*

"Stop crying!" Lucy suddenly barked, then snapped a sharp military salute to Du Chen. "Francis, thank you!"

This was followed by a chorus of synchronized salutes!

"No, it is all of humanity who should thank you. Without your millennium of sacrifice, who knows what state the Three Continents would be in!"

Du Chen glanced back at the ruins within the dungeon. "Let's go up. I imagine you'll never want to see this place again!"

***

In the distant sea opposite Julie's Ancient Castle, the water suddenly churned with surging waves. Yet, deep beneath the surface, an incredibly bloody scene was unfolding.

A horde of filthy Merfolk swarmed around the gargantuan corpse of the Merfolk King, gnawing at it. The king was dead, his Soul Crystal gone; thus, his body was now delectable food!

"Damn Merfolk, get lost!"

Following an enraged roar from the seabed, two silver water arrows shot into the Merfolk throng. Instantly, the Merfolk dissolved into thick bloody water, vanishing into the azure depths. Two figures arrived beside the Merfolk King's corpse, glancing at the mutilated remains. One cursed angrily, "Damn it, Experiment Subject No. 6 is dead! We're too late!"

"Yes, we're too late, and these filthy Merfolk have ruined the corpse!" Though the voice was calm, it seethed with endless fury. "'Number Six' is also gone; we don't know if it was eaten by the Merfolk or fell into someone else's hands!"

One figure moved, swiftly swimming into the deep sea, but the other grabbed him. "Let's search separately. You comb the ocean, and I'll take people to search the coastal lands! Remember, do not report this matter to Lord Philip. If he finds out we were negligent in guarding the experiment subject, he will surely execute us!"

Meanwhile, inside the ancient castle, the students were all sound asleep. However, in Annie's room, Beibei was pouting on the bed, murmuring as she watched Annie's sweet slumber: "Beibei is unhappy. Little brother knows about yucky stones, but Beibei doesn't…"

At this moment, Du Chen was oblivious to his daughter's complaints; he was busy recruiting the Red Luan Valkyries!