The Ruined Death Knight

Once a few drops of blood fell on top of the rune, one of the paper's words lightens up with a dark green light.

And on the next moment, the words flared up with dark green flames, engulfing the whole paper.

"Wow! What happend!?" Kayn and the other two screamed out of surprise.

They were obviously confused as they didn´t expect the paper to catch on fire.

Looking worried, they turned to Danzel who was staring at the ashes of the paper in silence.

"We didn´t do it! It just caught on fire by his own!" Kayn tried to explain but felt stupid from the inside.

`How can a paper get caught up in fire by itself.´ Kayn thought internally.

As if remembering something, they turned their eyes on the contract only to sigh in relief.

`At least this one is still intact.´

Danzel who was still staring in the ashes, was in fact comparing the current event with the description of the rune.

[Rune of Uzal]: A rune that was invented by a forgotten warmonger who once ruled through a whole continent. Named by a part of his name, the rune of Uzal was invented in his early years on conquest in an attempt to bind the very souls and bring endless torment to the soul of his allies wishing to betray him behind his back. Unfortunately, though his inexperience led to only managing to make the contract burn by itself if the contractee were to break the contract. The contractor needs to inject mana while the contractee needs to inject blood on the rune for it to work.

`It works!´ Danzel cheered secretly to himself.

For a moment he was worried that the quality was so bad that the rune wasn´t even able to work in the first place.

But upon seeing the dark green flames devouring the paper, he felt relief.

Danzel imminently saw the hidden potential of that rune, to pointed he doubted that it even was an uncommon rune.

In short, the rune only burned the paper if the contractee broke the contract.

Contracts are usually used as evidence that a deal has taken place and burning your own evidence would usually be stupid.

At least that would think a shortsighted person.

The rune effects could basically be seen as a lie detector depending on how you worded the content of the paper.

And for Danzel's current situation, that alone would affect all his plans based on the trade of runed items.

If he were to convince someone to trade with him while signing this contract, he wouldn´t have to worry about being betrayed.

Since once the guy breaks the contract he would be fully be aware that he broke the contract and once he knew that he was exposed he could imminently make a run for it. 

And that was only a fraction of the run's capabilities.

As ideas of how that rune could be used were streaming through his mind, he became all the most impressed on the guy who invented the rune.

The rune did not only give him a glimpse of how dead mana could otherwise be used, but the complexity of it was a new experience for him.

But what made Danzel feel somewhat awkward was what the guy aimed to create with his rune.

Like, binding one's souls?

Endless torment?

Jeez.

Here I thought I was ruthless!

He couldn´t even imagine what kind of rank that rune would be placed at.

"Hey~"

Hearing a voice, he quickly dismissed all other thoughts and glanced at the brats in front of him with annoyance.

"Don´t worry about what just happend." Taking the contract away, he solemnly looked at them.

"So? What do you want from me?"

"We..." With hesitation showing on his voice he replied.

"Want to live in this church."

"Taking that you read the contract...do you mean by any chance to live together?" Danzel said with an ice cold voice.

Gulping nervously, all three nodded their heads as if they were just caught doing something bad.

Danzel was about to imminently reject their request.

But after thinking about it he decided to think about it before answering.

He knew that he had to give them something to keep their mouth shut, that was the current situation he was finding himself with.

"I am taking it that you want your friends to stay here too or is it just your three?"

"Huh? Of course, we mean the others too!" Marcus said as if he was suddenly offended.

"Then what would be stopping me from killing you all and making that this deal never had existed in the first place."

As if a bucket full of ice-cold water fell to his face, Marcus stared at the ground.

With a frown on his face, Kayn walked forward.

"It´s not only us knowing your secret... If we were to be found to be missing we told that person to reveal your secret." Kayn said trying to appear unfazed.

Seeing that look, Danzel went closer and bent his back slightly as he stared at Kayn.

That imminently made Kayn nervous.

"You are quite cheeky for a brat of your size don´t you think?" Danzel said slowly as he moved his hand towards Kayns cheek.

While the three of them were getting all the more nervous, Danzel continued talking.

"I have been wanting to ask you something ever since you came back with your little friends."

Activating the gauntlet's runes, dark green mana sipped out.

Kayn who saw that imminently was drenched with cold sweat behind his back as dread was crippling through all this body.

Stopping a few centimeters from touching his cheek, the dark green light brighten both Kayn´s and Danzel´s faces.

Making the latter look all the more terrifying.

"Don't you value your life?"

"H-Huh?"

"Coming here, to this dark place owned by someone who yourself saw what he was capable of. Didn´t you think what would possible happen to you?"

"Did you tell them what you saw on those two?"

"What if I killed you without carrying of being found out?"

"What if I showed those two beside you something much worse than death?"

"What about those children outside?"

"Did you ask them if they want to die?"

"Are you capable to hold responsibility for the death that you will be leading into?"

"I am asking you?"

"Did you?"

"Did you ever think of all those things?"

"Kid..."

With this voice continued to grow deeper and louder.

De-activating the runes, he grabbed Kayn´s mouth tightly and dragged him closer to his eye level.

"THERE IS NO SECOND CHANCE IN LIFE!!!"

Danzel yelled so loud that Anna and Marcus fell to the ground shaking in fear and tears on their face.

His voice was so loud that all the other kids outside managed to hear it, albeit slightly.

"I *Mfgh. I just *Mfgh. I just wanted" Unable to stop these tears, Kayn wept while still being in Danzel´s grasp.

*Baahm

Throwing to the ground, Danzel stared at the ceiling in silence.

To those three, he looked terrifying.

But the current Danzel.

Felt never so weak as of now ever since he came out of the cursed lake.

This bloodlust wasn´t coming from his undead instinct.

He just felt...

Tired.

Something that undead shouldn´t feel.

He wasn´t sure why he said all those things.

It was just, the moment he saw Kayn´s determined face.

He didn´t see Kayn.

But the face of a man he never saw.

The moment he saw the mans face a wave of uncontrollable anger came into him,

It was as he was blaming the man for something that he didn´t know.

Alas, he didn´t know who that man was.

Wanting to cool his mind, he stayed silent.

"You know you could even done better, don´t you?" A quiet voice of the same man came from the location of the statue.

Danzel who by his enchanted attributes, captured what the man said.

Turning swiftly in one motion around and he stared intensely at the statue with his eyes searching for the one who talked.

Though there was none to see, he clearly heard that.

"Not again..." Danzel grumbled to himself.

He thought those voices vanished upon leaving the cave.

It has been months since he heard of those voices.

In the cave, it was of a woman.

But now it was of man.

Danzel was feeling overall mentally shit.

Just looked at the three crying kids.

"You guys go out and tell your friends to come in. As long as you don´t reveal anyone my secret and don´t go to the underground. I will let stay here for now."

Moving towards the trap door as he was dragging this whole body. He gave them a last look.

"Don´t come to find me. I will be staying for an hour- No, maybe days down there." Closing the trap door, he went down the stairs.

The three who saw that quickly tried to calm themselves down before moving towards the exit.

"Let´s call the others in..."

"But..." 

"Anna, I know. But we got no choice.." Kayn said bitterly.