Dead Man Walking: Living By Day, Dead By Night

Chapter 285: Eternal Blade

Zane woke up in the middle of the night to a startling sight. Hovering above him was none other than the ghostly Horde King, Evilyn. Who was staring at him with a concerning expression on her face? He immediately reacted to this, rolling out of his bed and equipping his armor and weapons.

An action which appeared to have alerted Evilyn who immediately began trying to apologize to Zane for waking him and scaring him in the process.

"Wait! Wait! Wait! Hold on! I'm not here to harm you! Please listen to me, my prince!"

Though Zane was still cautious of the Ghost, after all she was not yet under his complete control. He did not move a muscle, and instead stared coldly at her. He knew he alone did not possess the strength to take her on.

Whereas Gwen was downstairs, keeping watch, apparently failing at her job. Because Evilyn had infiltrated the Mansion and gone straight up to his room without being noticed. Because of these suspicions actions, Zane was quick to spit out his response, albeit hesitatingly so.

"You have five seconds to explain yourself before I call for Gwen, and she's powerful enough to take you on now!"

Honestly, Zane didn't know if that was true or not. He had no idea what Tier Evilyn was. But he was just saying that in an attempt to intimidate the ghost. Who was quick to prostrate herself before Zane, and thank him for his benevolence.

"Thank you, my prince. I am sorry for startling you. I just… I had no idea where else to go…"

Evilyn would go on to tell a tale of how, over the last week, she had slowly lost her mind. Suffering an intense mental breakdown. Her entire worldview had been shattered by Zane. And the fact that Death really existed as an individual entity was frightening to her.

After all, she had denied this for a long time. And her denial had led her to become increasingly paranoid about Death's retaliation. After explaining that she had wandered aimlessly through the desert until coming to an epiphany that to gain Death's forgiveness, she was best suited to serving Zane. Zane simply stared at the ghost as if she had completely and utterly lost her mind.

"You've gone crazy? Is that it? I mean, here you are submitting before me, and I have no idea what to do with you? I can't kill you, which means I can't resurrect you into my service. And if I can't resurrect you, then I can't trust you, as it means you still have a mind of your own.

What exactly do you want me to say, that my mother forgives you? I highly doubt she is so petty as to care about whether or not you recognized her existence for 8 months. I already told you how useful you can be. I need you to keep the other Horde Kings off my back through any means you can think of.

You being here defeats that purpose now doesn't it? If the Horde King in charge of the area finds out you infiltrated his domain, he's going to fucking want to know why? Are you sure you can give him that answer?

Because I'm sure as hell not. So just go, get the fuck out of here, and keep spreading falsehoods about my whereabouts. If you keep doing this, I'm sure my mother will forgive you eventually. That is assuming she actually gives a damn in the first place!"

Evilyn however was not content with this solution to her problems. No, she needed to serve Zane far more directly. And she was not going to take no for an answer. Because of this, she held something out to him. It was a sickle, much like the ones he carried.

But there was something strange about it. This sickle had a shiny translucent texture to it. Almost as if it were a ghostly weapon. When she presented it to Zane, Evilyn explained what it was.

"This is a special weapon. It's one of the few things that can harm a being like me. Not only that, but normal weapons cannot deflect its blow. It is wholly indestructible, and can cause damage not only to the physical form of corporeal beings such as yourself, but also to their spirits as well.

Take it and end my life. Then you can resurrect me into your service as you see fit! I would rather be a slave bound to your will, and in doing so earn your mother's forgiveness, then I would be out there walking on eggshells around the likes of Lilith and the others. Please, do me this kindness!"

Zane instinctively grabbed hold of the blade. Where it was immediately registered by the system as an special item.

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[Eternal Blade]

[Quality: Legendary]

[Item Level: 30]

[Damage: 15-22]

[Damage Type: Slashing/ Spiritual]

[Inscription: None]

+15% Damage (while Health is above 50%)]

+30 Health

[Description: A sickle of spectral origin. Capable of dealing deadly blows to beings both physical and spiritual in origin. Note this blade's attack cannot be stopped by normal means. One would require an enchanted weapon of their own, or some other form of supernatural means to halt its attack.]

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Inscription? What was that? Either way, it dealt more damage than his other sickles, and it could be wielded in the primary or offhand like the other two. Still, Zane would keep his other sickle, despite replacing one of them with this one.

After thinking about it for a long while. Zane sighed heavily as he lifted the Eternal Blade and sliced towards Evilyn's neck, thoroughly severing her head in the process, and dissipating her spiritual form.

After doing this, Zane raised his hand and ushered the same command he had always done to raise the dead as his servants.

"Rise…"

It took a while, but Evilyn's form re-manifested itself after having thoroughly dispersed as if it did not exist in the first place. Zane was slightly surprised that he could even raise a spirit from the grave even after he had dealt it a mortal blow.

As for Evilyn, she looked around, as if she was surprised that she was back in the land of the living. She wanted to say something, but she was compelled to kneel before Zane and bow her head immediately after.

"What is your command, my master?"

Zane's expression was cold as he ushered a single command. Taking thorough advantage of this opportunity to go back to sleep now that he had another powerful helper by his side.

"Get the fuck out of my room and join the others for watch duty!"

Evilyn responded by doing exactly as Zane had instructed, leaving him alone in his room to gaze upon his newest weapon. It was a truly a remarkable tool, one that allowed him to combat spiritual enemies, even if he had not been able to do so in the past.