Rise Of The Undead King

Chapter 6

"Are you deaf or do you just have a death wish walking towards a zone boss like you're strolling through a garden party?" Elena yelled, her voice vibrating under the weight of her frustration as she fired another glowing arrow at the massive two headed hound.

Marcus didn't respond. He just kept walking, his hands relaxed at his sides, his face carrying an impossible calm that had no business being on someone approaching a creature that could melt him into ash.

Elena was finding it difficult to defeat the beast that was before her, even though she was a B ranked archer. She had trained all her life for moments exactly like this, had spent a fortune more than average household earnings for ten years on her equipment and skills, yet the massive shadow hound barely registered her attacks.

None of her skills were working on it. Every piercing shot and explosive arrow she fired simply bounced off its thick shadow flames like she was throwing pebbles at a wall. Her most expensive skill that drained half her mana left nothing but a scorch mark that healed in seconds.

She knew already that if someone with an even lower rank attempted to fight with this thing, they would be dead in no time. A C ranked tank would be crushed under its massive paws. A D ranked fighter wouldn't even see the attack coming.

Yet here was this E ranked nobody walking toward them like he had somewhere important to be.

"My system already read your pathetic stats back in the forest!" Elena snapped, her face beyond stale as she watched him approach with that infuriating calm. "E ranked Mortician! What exactly do you think you're going to accomplish here?"

Marcus glanced at her briefly, then looked back at the beast. He said nothing.

The silence was worse than any insult. Elena's face twisted with irritation as she realized he wasn't ignoring her out of fear or stupidity. He was ignoring her because he genuinely didn't feel the need to explain himself to her.

"Are you listening to me?" she yelled again, firing two more arrows to keep the beast's attention divided. "This thing nearly killed me and I'm B ranked! What do you think it's going to do to trash like you?"

Marcus stopped walking. For a moment, Elena thought she had finally gotten through to him.

Then she realized he hadn't stopped because of her words. He had stopped because he had found exactly where he wanted to be. He stood completely still, studying the two headed hound with those calm eyes, like everything was going exactly the way he expected it to go.

"Did you hear what I just said?" Elena pressed, the thick sense of disdain arching deeply into her bones. "I am trying to help you! Turn around and run before this thing decides you look like a snack!"

The corner of Marcus's mouth moved. Not into a full smirk, just the smallest shift, like something she said had quietly amused him.

That was all she got.

Elena stared at him, her mouth falling open slightly. She had just told this E ranked nobody that they were both going to die and he had responded with the corner of his mouth twitching.

"What is wrong with you?" she demanded, anger filtering through her veins. "Are you broken? Do you not understand what a zone boss is?"

Marcus finally looked at her properly. His eyes were steady, unbothered, carrying the weight of someone who had been through things that made a zone boss feel like a minor inconvenience.

"I understand perfectly," he said, his voice flat and dragging from boredom. "You shouldn't be bothered about my safety, cause it doesn't look like I am the one doing poorly!”

Elena growled. Just then, the beast had enough of being ignored while they argued.

It moved faster than Elena could track in her current condition. The hound's massive body blurred with dark flames as it lunged at her, both heads snapping as it crashed into her with everything it had.

 She was thrown to the floor, tumbling multiple times like she was hit by a hurricane. Her expensive combat bow slipped from her fingers as she crashed violently against the trunk of a dead tree.

She was injured badly and bood dripped down her combat gear and she coughed violently, struggling to push herself up from the dirt. 

Pain exploded through her ribs and her vision blurred at the edges. Her mana was nearly empty, her system flickering with damage warnings.

The two headed hound turned its massive body toward her, four glowing red eyes locking onto her bleeding form as it prepared to finish what it had started. Acidic saliva dripped from both sets of fangs, burning holes into the scorched earth around her.

Elena forced herself to sit up, pressing one hand against her ribs. She looked up and found Marcus still standing in the exact same spot. He hadn't moved back from the spot he had been, just looking at the beast like was he calculating.

He just watched with that same impossible calm.

"Listen to me," she said, her voice dropping the arrogance and going flat with genuine urgency. "If I wasn't able to defeat this beast with my B ranked class, we are both dead if you stay here. So run while you can."

Marcus looked at her for a moment, his eyes reading her face with an expression she couldn't quite place. Then he looked back at the beast.

He said nothing.

"Did you hear what I just said?" Elena's voice rose again. "I am trying to save your life! Run!"

Marcus tilted his head slightly, like he was considering her words. Then he spoke, his voice carrying that same impossible calm that was driving her insane.

"If you couldn't handle it," he said slowly, "what makes you think running will help either of us?"

Elena stared at him. "What?"

"You're B ranked," Marcus continued, his tone completely unbothered. "Better stats, better gear, better class. If you can't kill it, and I can't kill it, then it's going to hunt us both down anyway."

The logic was sound and that made it worse. Elena's face washed up with disbelief as she realized this E ranked Mortician was calmly explaining why her plan wouldn't work.

"So what do you suggest?" she snapped. "Stand here and die?"

Marcus looked at the massive hound preparing to charge again, then back at her bleeding form. His lips curved into the smallest smile.

"I suggest," he said quietly, "that you stop assuming you know what I'm capable of."

Elena almost choked. "Your system stats don't lie! You're E ranked trash with a garbage class!"

"System stats," Marcus repeated, like he was tasting the words. "You put a lot of faith in numbers on a screen."

The thick sense of irritation arched deeply into her bones. She reached for her dagger with shaking hands, anger filtering through her veins despite the pain.

"I warned you," she said, her voice going cold. "Your blood is no longer on my hands. If you die here because you're too stubborn to listen, I won't give a damn."

Marcus looked down at her for a long moment. When he spoke, his voice was quiet but it carried perfectly over the beast's growling.

"You never gave a damn to begin with," he said. "Don't pretend this is about caring."

She growled "You're right," she admitted, her voice rough. "I don't care about you. But I don't want to watch someone die because they were too stupid to run."

"Then don't watch," Marcus said simply.