No one liked the fact that Keith went in alone to shatter the crystal. But no one dared to stop him or to take his place.
Even Nigel, who protested Keith's alone entry was quiet when it came time to accompany Keith inside.
It was deadly quiet in the hallway, with no signs of zombies anywhere. But Keith did not let his guard down and he kept his shield up. It consumed a considerable number of stamina he had but it was also better for his protection.
There was no sound when the zombie jumped out and toward Keith. Keith's sharp reflexes saved his life and he was able to dodge in time. The zombies crashed into his shield and growled in irritation.
One, two, three, and so many more followed after the first one was out. Keith could not see where these things were emerging from. But they were multiplying like insects.
Keith held his shield up even when the pressure from the other side increased. He was not going to let these undead things cause him harm.
"You things do not get to look down upon me anymore. I will not let you harm me and my mission."
Keith promised himself as he strengthened his shield. His vision went in and out of focus but the scope of his shield increased.
But as a downside of this, Keith was still not able to see anything. He could only guess where he was going at this rate.
What Keith knew was that the main crystal was held in a place that had a lot of zombies. And to get the crystal, he needed to focus and cut through them. But the number of zombies pressing against Keith's shield was massive.
"Oh, for fucks's sake. I will help you out."
Lune yelled as her doll landed between Keith and the zombies. Those undead had no fear of death. But even their instincts caused them to back down when a predator bigger than them stood in front of them.
The doll Lune had used was huge, and it barely fit into the hall. Even Keith had to squeeze himself to run past the doll.
"Hey, we will help you this time. Your confidence in shattering the crystal gives us all hope. So, you need to hurry up and fulfill your duty."
Nigel ran into the hallway as well. He also helped clear the way for Keith.
And then there was Sara. She looked grumpy and annoyed. She did not want him to be here and she did not want to be here as well. But there were things she needed to do.
And no matter how sorry she felt for Keith, this town was her priority she could not neglect it.
"Hey Noah, do not die. I won't know what to tell Amelia if something happens to you, alright? So come back alive."
Sara looked away when she said that. There was a small blush on her face that indicated how hard it had been for her to say all this.
Keith did not verbally reply to Sara's words. He just nodded in thanks and ran toward his destination. He was close to the central room.
Keith was beginning to feel the bare amount of otherworldly magic this room had. The crystal shined gold and had divinity in it. The more Keith looked at it, the more his senses were attracted by that power.
Keith was also unable to hear a single thing around him once he was faced with that golden glow.
'I need to hold that power. It will allow me to do anything.'
Keith's mind was enchanted. His hands moved on their own and he grasped the crystal. He wanted to see its power, to rule with it. The desire ran rampant in his mind.
"Keith, destroy that crystal. Hurry up and throw it down."
Sara yelled as she faced off against more zombies. She had managed to crawl her way into this place all by herself.
Keith looked at her with an annoyed expression. He did not want to destroy something this beautiful crystal was amazing and brimming with power.
If Keith had it, he would be able to do anything - even find a way home.
"Oh shit. He's intoxicated by the divine power. We should have never trusted him to begin with."
Him and intoxicated? Keith did not understand what those words meant.
He was just appreciating something beautiful and powerful in his hands. He did not want anything to happen to this crystal if he was alive.
'No, snap out of it Keith. This is not why you are here. You need to destroy this crystal.'
The other, non-intoxicated part of Keith reminded him and he ended up remembering what he had to do.
He looked at the crystal in his hand with a mournful look on his face. It was something he needed to destroy at all costs. But Keith was not happy with the outcome.
'I guess it's time to say goodbye for real.'
Keith raised the crystal with a heavy heart and smashed it down. It was a fragile thing so it broke apart into pieces.
All the dead zombies around Keith fell. They behaved as if their strings had been cut and they could no longer move.
"T-They are all dead. And they also stopped moving. Is that it? Have we succeeded in freeing everyone of this curse? What about Noah? Is he alright?"
Nigel was still in shock over what happened. But he was the first one to ask about Keith's safety. Mainly because he was the responsible one.
He looked up, only to see Keith panting hard as he clutched his chest.
"Hey, are you alright? Did you get cursed by that?"
Nigel asked with a careful tone. He did not want to agitate Keith if this person ended up getting cursed for real.
But as Keith had expected, he was alright. The impact of the crystal had knocked the wind out of Keith's lungs and that was why he was panting. It had nothing to do with his curse.
"I am fantastic. I don't think the curse affected me at all. See, I am still not in any additional pain."
Keith raised his hands and moved them around in demonstration. His body felt light and cured after this small outing.
"It's nice to know that you are healthy but you should rest. You still took a big risk."
Sara offered this and she looked away. It was the first time she had openly expressed her desire to help Keith.
Every time this happened, Keith found himself shocked by Sara's behavior. She was a far cry from the selfish girl Keith had first met.
While all these people were saying these nice things, there was one person who was on alert and looking up. That was Lune and she was waiting for the last part of the curse.
As soon as she felt the massive magic build-up she froze. She remembered what the last condition of the crystal's destruction would result in.
"Everyone, hurry up and take shelter. A god is about to descend here."
Her words caused everyone to stiffen. They had forgotten that destroying the curse was supposed to drag its caster here. It had been such a joyous time that no one remembered that to be the case.
The light of the god stretched and then expanded into an animal shape. It formed arms and legs before showing the silhouette of a dog.
When the light faded, it was a white dog in front of them.
A giant white dog that looked as if it could crush cities. But a white dog nonetheless.
"Who dares to trample all over my mistress's magic? I shall not forgive you."
The giant dog spoke that sentence directly in everyone's mind. The anger and upset emotions it felt were being conveyed to Keith and the others through its power.
Keith could feel the massive build-up of divine power this dog had. If it wanted to, it could kill anyone without lifting a paw of his.
"I am the one who broke the curse. But I felt I needed to live."
Keith raised his arm and stepped forward. Everyone else looked shocked at Keith's decision to go against a god's familiar but Keith did not care.
He was not going to back down and be a coward.
"Hmm, so you were the one who caused this problem for me? Then you deserve death. Get ready to face judgment, boy"
The divine being raised its head and gather magic. It; let out a beam of divine magic at Keith and Keith quickly raised his shield.
It did not protect him from the dog's 100% power, but it was able to offset quite a large amount of it.
When the light faded, Keith had some minor injuries but he was not dead. He counted it as a win in his book.
"I am sorry but I have no desire to die here."
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