Cindy cut the link to her flesh puppet with a satisfied smirk.

  “Not a bad performance if I do say so myself!”

  Sadly, the only ones that appreciated it weren’t likely to give good feedback, nor sing her praises.

  She climbed out of the fleshy cocoon and stepped out of the wall in the most elegant manner.

  A quick cleaning spell removed the mucus covering her.

  It was warm and had a pleasant smell.

  She wouldn’t mind keeping it on if not for the fact that its odor didn’t quite hit the same for other people.

  It was just a long walk to the eastern most exit of the spawn zone.

  She noticed that she was alone in the out of the way tunnel.

  “Ahem? Well? C’mon! We’re on a tight schedule!”

  A whirring of gears, scuttling of legs and a gush of fluids heralded the arrival of her strange metallic stone coffin.

  “Follow. We move with purpose.”

  She strode with back straight and head high.

  The key to proper posture was to maintain it at most, if not all times.

  Fleshy surfaces gave way to bare earth then stone then the interior of a bland office building.

  Undead making their way to the surface stood aside for her and her coffin.

  The smart ones paused to bow or salute or clap as their personalities dictated.

  “My minions!” she smiled. “Carry my great will to the living! Bring them their true purpose in undeath!”

  The roars sounded like cheers.

  Even if most of them came from puppets she’d take them.

  A final set of stairs marked her exit from the spawn zone.

  She couldn’t help but reflect on the month long stay.

  First of all, she hadn’t considered staying inside a spawn zone for that long.

  Didn’t think it was possible, nor had it ever seemed worth trying.

  “Totally worth it!”

  She had learned lots from studying and researching the different undead monsters.

  New Skills, new spells, new minions, new combinations of everything and a deeper understanding of her class.

  The only thing she hadn’t gained was a new level.

  She suspected that would come once she officially finished the Quests.

  “So many juicy rewards and potential rewards!” She rubbed her hands together, salivating like a CEO looking at how much he increased the projected quarterly earnings after a round of layoffs.

  Now all she had to do was get to the spire, send off a report to the demigod and finally leave this shithole world behind forever.

  To do all that she needed distance from the city, so she could activate the portal the demigod had given her.

  It wouldn’t do for there to be some last minute fuckery, like her enemies tagging her with a tracking spell or following her through the portal.

  She reached into her robes and pulled out a tiny bag.

  Not much larger than teabag, yet her hand disappeared into it, emerging with a handful of bones. They were dark like iron and vaguely shaped like chitinous fingers.

  She cast the bones on the cheap carpet and said the magic word.

  They began to vibrates, distorting the air around them.

  In a single heartbeat humanoid ants stood in their place.

  “I couldn’t even tell when it happened.”

  The demigod hadn’t deigned to explain beyond giving her the magic word.

  Myrmidons, but mythologically accurate.

  Two legs.

  Four arms and hands bearing multiple weapons and shields that vaguely resembled bronze age Earth weapons.

  Vaguely, because they were made out of chitin and some were connected directly to the limb.

  She suppressed a shudder and tried to maintain her haughty mien.

  It was their faces that made it hard.

  The segmented eyes and mandibles did not look great at human scale.

  Plus, all the hairs on their antennae and body…

  She tried not to gag.

  “Captain Antmerica.” She pointed at one of the shield-bearing ones at random. “Lead the vanguard. The rest of you fall in and protect me at all costs.”

  The 12 arrayed themselves around her as they marched onward.

  Half of what she had available.

  She’d bring out the rest if she needed them once they were topside.

  Once out of the spawn zone she assessed her surroundings, which with her powerful necromantic magic stretched out as far as her undead horde.

  “That…” she gazed up into the night sky, “doesn’t look great?”

  It reminded her of a fireworks show.

  The flashes illuminated the sleek bulk of one of those skyships.

  “Who’s the real baddies here, huh? You people with your Empire ships.”

  Her heart went out to the harpies.

  She had spent a bit of time speaking to some of them. She didn’t have a bad thing to say about them.

  Once she got past the wing arms and taloned feet they were just like her.

  Women trying to make their way in a male-dominated world or something like that.

  “Well, sisters, I wish you luck and a better tomorrow.” She focused on her minions. Just a brief touch to get a full picture of the battle against Rayna’s Rangers. “God! The ego on whomever that woman is.” She rolled her eyes.

  Who names something after themselves while they’re still alive?

  A narcissist, that’s who.

  “Well, well, a pleasant surprise! Can you believe my ant-vengers? My minions have actually breached the airport walls. Hmmm… lots of losses though. Probably, won’t be able to get the base on the peninsulas. Annndddd… yup. Not happening.”

  The bridge to Coronado was piled high with undead, the dead kind.

  Not unexpected.

  Funneling her minions on a relatively narrow bridge meant it was easy shooting and bombing.

  Something, something, fish in a barrel… something.

  The base at Point Loma likewise had the advantage of a narrow approach to defend.

  She had left instructions to take to the water, but—

  “Yeah… saw that coming.”

  Aquatic life had bogged down her undead.

  The living hated the undead as much as the undead hated the living.

  They were anathema to each other.

  It was a mindset thing that she sometimes noticed bled over into her own perspective.

  “It’s not a bad thing to admit,” she mused. “One should be rational about these things. It’s a good change. I should be spending more time with people— with thinking beings I have more than contempt for.”

  That was an important distinction.

  Things looked to be proceeding close enough to the terms of her contract with the demigod so she activated the rest of her myrmidons and told her coffin to open up.

  She focused on the mental image of the route she wanted to take to imprint it on her loyal soldiers.

  Then she thrust a map into her designated captain’s hand… pincer?

  It sorta looked like both.

  She shrugged.

  “It is time we departed this battle, my loyal antmen.”

  They were as smart as people in terms of following directions.

  What they lacked was initiative.

  A few hours walking to her destination awaited.

  With luck the monsters out in the wilderness would have already been drawn to the battle.

  Even if a few remained her soldiers could handle it.

  And she could always pop out and blast some spells.

  Soon, so very soon.

  She could already taste the sweet air of a new world.

  A new life in which she could live without always looking over her shoulder at the sky.

  A life to pursue her dream and perhaps, chase new ones.

  “Goodbye Earth!” She waved vaguely. “I won’t miss you one bit!”

  Bone Wall.

  To seal off the left side or at least to buy some time.

  Ranger Vess’ spellbook flipped to the next spell, responding to his hurried thoughts.

  Bone Dart Cloud… again.

  To replace the one he had just expended.

  Nails hammered into his head, but he was determined to not fall back on the easy crutch of shouting his spells like some low level mage.

  The rain of bone darts forced a cluster of traps to switch from desiccating offensive spells to defensive ones.

  Monsignor was to his right holding off a much larger area and concentration of undead with holy light that turned the weaker ones instantly. The stronger ones slowed and burned, but kept moving.

  To his rear was Brylee.

  The jaguar warrior fought with macuahuitl and shield, switching between taunts and cleaving strikes to deal with massed skeletons and zombies.

  They had hoped to use the wall as an extra defender, but that plan fell apart as soon as the undead started squelching out of the fleshy sacs.

  “I lost the target.”

  Dancessassin sounded upset.

  A far cry from her usual flat tone.

  “Some kind of flesh puppet spell. Ranger Vess, I need you to track her.”

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  He wanted to answer, but couldn’t spare the brain power.

  If he stopped concentrating on his spells, he was almost certain he’d pass out from the strain.

  Right now he was moving purely from momentum.

  Like those old endurance training runs.

  He did them by keeping his legs moving because once they stopped there was no starting them again.

  “Negative,” Monsignor chimed. “Ranger Vess needs to focus on the battle.”

  “Understood.”

  To his front their circle shrunk as Jaguar Knight Nikola swept aside undead by the handful with strikes and bashes despite being on one leg.

  Vess hadn’t seen it, but a spectral undead had managed to come out from the floor to lay a paralyzing touch upon the knight’s left leg before he had been able to disperse it.

  The werejaguar twins, Paz and Pilar, fought back to back.

  Greater zombies and skeletons threatened to swamp them with sheer weight of numbers.

  They cut with claws and fired built-in weapons in the armor until the ammo ran out as the mound surrounding them grew into a small hill.

  An undead flesh monster in the vague shape of a bull charged, scattering meat and bones in a grisly rain.

  Pilar leapt, grabbing the base of its bone horns to wrench and twist in an effort to break non-existent vertebrae.

  Vess saw it coming, but couldn’t call out a warning.

  The flesh bull’s back opened like a birthing canal.

  Out of which leapt another fleshy undead that defied description.

  It leapt on Pilar’s armored back, cutting with saw-like bones and sucking with leech-like tendrils.

  Paz swiped through the gooey umblical cord connecting the small abomination to the huge one.

  The undead monsters howled silently in pain.

  Vess loss sight of them as the bull-like undead charged off through the growing mounds.

  On the ceiling, Black Cat slipped and slid across a tree-sized tentacle of oozing muscle and sinew.

  Undead monsters chased him as he left burning trails in the thick flesh even as it writhed and whipped, attempting to slam him into the fleshy ceiling.

  Traps hovered in Black Cat’s path.

  Dark orbs of magic oozed out of their gray fingers, dripping ichor in their wake.

  Twinkling stars flew from Black Cat’s armored back as he raced forward on all fours.

  Dark and light collided with a blinding flash.

  Black Cat leapt, flying through the suddenly clear air.

  Dark green light gathered in the traps’ hands.

  Black Cat suddenly burst forward with a loud boom as the jets in his armor fired.

  Crackling claws lashed out in blinks of an eye as he flew through the hovering traps like a missile.

  In his wake gray flesh fell like grisly rain as Vess lost sight of him.

  Technology and magic together proved superior to the horrid denizens of the Gaslamp Necropolis.

  Olive zoomed around the cavern, simply running over undead like an out of control car.

  Vess sighed relief.

  So long as she kept moving she would be safe.

  Even if her Threnium armor was somehow broken or breached her own natural invulnerability grew more powerful the faster she ran.

  Hungry-Hungry continued to batter the huge boss monster.

  Its many mouths hadn’t ceased their wailing.

  If not for their protections that would’ve caused problems.

  The shield the size of a wall held up underneath flailing limbs as thick around as trees.

  Crimson-drenched flesh came off in great chunks on the spikes and blades on the shield’s surface.

  Hungry-Hungry drew a handgun the size of a small cannon and shoved it into the boss minion’s main mouth.

  Gore sprayed the fleshy wall in a wide cone from the back of its misshapen head.

  It sagged for a moment, but then rose with a roar and slammed bodily into Hungry-Hungry’s shield, driving her back.

  All around, undead continued to emerge out of seemingly every flesh-covered surface in the cavernous room.

  A sudden blow chopped the back of Vess’ legs out from under him.

  The armor took it, sparing him injury and pain.

  A dark shadow fell across his vision.

  Fleshy dangling bits between the undead flesh abomination’s legs dripped creamy red fluid on his faceplate.

  Much, much to close.

  He pointed.

  A spear of bone impaled the undead, sending a rush of fluid all over him.

  He couldn’t smell it, couldn’t feel it, yet, he still gagged.

  Scrambling to his feet, he cast whirling shields of bone to his left side.

  His wall had been breached.

  Wriggling flesh worms the size of his arm oozed through the holes alongside ugly spells.

  Ivory shards plinked off his armor as he desperately wiped his faceplate.

  Vess hit the fleshy ground again.

  Flesh worms had burst from beneath and swarmed him.

  Razor-sharp teeth in a circular mouth clamped on his faceplate. It sucked like a vacuum and whirled like a blender.

  He felt others pulling his limbs.

  Concentration fled him.

  He thrashed like an animal in a trap.

  Instinct over rational thought.

  He even forgot to activate his armor’s last ditch defenses.

  Despair hit him like a rogue shore break, filling his metaphorical lungs with the salty water of all hope lost.

  “Remember your training, ranger!” Monsignor said.

  His vision began to darken around the edges.

  The long, dark tunnel pulled him in.

  “I’m on my way,” Dancessassin said.

  Vess didn’t know how long he drowned, but he knew the instant his lungs could draw metaphorical air.

  The worms covering him flopped off in pieces.

  He gazed up.

  A lich floated.

  Its withered hand glowed green.

  He noticed he was in its focused light.

  The spell weakened the living’s will to live. Allowed the undead to feast without resistance.

  Dancessassin slipped in and out of the shadows, dodging the bolts of ugly magic from lich’s other hand.

  No matter what the undead monster tried, unerring spells always flew an arm’s length wide to the shadow-cloaked woman’s right and left.

  She dived into the lich’s long shadow, emerging a moment later in the huge shadow cast by the giant tentacle over a wide swath of the battle.

  Just behind the lich.

  She whirled like a top.

  The edge of her inky black cloak unfurled into ten long, thin strips with a monster claw attached to each.

  They turned the lich into ribbons of dry, desiccated flesh.

  Vess sucked in a lung full of air as the ugly green light around him vanished.

  Like the first breath of fresh air after a day in the undead spawn zone.

  “We’re retreating,” Dancessassin said as she emerged out of Vess’ shadow.

  The eyes of her monster hood glared at the exit tunnel.

  “Hungry, we’re going to need a bulldozer.”

  Undead poured out of the tunnel without signs of stopping.

  “Sure, let me kill this thing first.”

  “In the next ten?”

  “Seconds?” A laugh. “Make it minutes… maybe.”

  “Portal stones?” Black Cat said, out of breath.

  “Not enough space to guarantee no interruptions. I’m not leaving anyone unless there’s no other option.”

  “I have an idea.” Vess voice broke.

  He acted before he could properly think and before they could realize his plan.

  His faceplate opened with a hiss of sweet, sweet clean air.

  The stench of all the undead air rushing in nearly knocked him out.

  Before that could happen he hurriedly gulped down mana potions until he felt that he had gone too far.

  “What are you—”

  Dancessassin tried to stop him, but was forced to defend their left side as his bone wall finally collapsed.

  The words fought him with a body’s instinctive desire to keep itself alive.

  “Breath of Thuzara the Soul Shepherd.”

  Vess’ world exploded into magic.

  He saw nothing, heard nothing, felt nothing beyond the mana in his frayed body turn into the spell vomiting out of his distended mouth.

  …

  Vess blinked up at a fading yellow light.

  Monsignor’s lined face looked down upon him.

  “Thank God! You’re alive, Ranger Vess.” Her smile was as weak as her voice.

  “What happened? Where are— Did we?”

  “Stupid kid,” Paz growled down at him.

  He tried to stand, but his body didn’t listen to his brain.

  They were in a brightly lit store with clothes on racks and mannequins in the window.

  He could only move his eyes and he saw the others.

  Happily, no one was missing!

  Even the fallen Zayaan, who Nikola carried over one shoulder.

  They either looked at him with hard eyes or not at all.

  Monsignor tried to rise then nearly fell had not Olive rushed over to catch her.

  The older woman seemed diminished for some reason.

  Bent over, not the straight-backed bearing he was used to seeing.

  Her lined face was covered in a sheen of sweat.

  A lock of stark, white hair had fallen over her face from beneath her helmet.

  It clicked for him at that moment.

  He hoped it was a trick of the light or his, undoubtedly, addled state of mind from overloading himself to cast the spell.

  But, the lines had multiplied and deepened.

  The hair had been gray.

  She had been old, but now?

  Now, she looked ancient.

  “Captain Monsignor, what—”

  “Never you mind it, ranger. You did what you had to to clear us a path out of there. And I did what I had to heal you.”

  He didn’t know what to say, so he nodded and closed his eyes.

  “The shuttle’s on its way,” Dancessassin said. “We’ll drop off the injured first. Then we’ll search for the Necromancer. Hungry pick up Vess and let’s get out of here.”

  Day 1,

  Dear Journally,

  =)

  I made it!

  New world! New life! New beginnings!

  Vasparan!

  Suiteonemiades was legit all along!

  Ha!

  I’ll need to send him a thank you basket.

  He’s a good contact to keep.

  Got to build bridges not burn them.

  Unless there are assholes on the other side.

  So, things couldn’t have gone more smoothly.

  I stepped out of the spire with my coffin— I think I need to give him a name— maybe… Coffiny? Eh… I’ll workshop it later.

  Anyways, I stepped out of the spire and found myself in the middle of a killbox, lol!

  No, seriously.

  There was some serious magic and tech pointed at me.

  I want to call it archeotech’… has that been used before? Did I make it up?

  It’s like the coffin and those automatons the demigod keeps in that underground bunker of his.

  Like, high-tech Bronze Age, I guess.

  So, a bunch of guards came out.

  They didn’t all start shouting contradictory instructions while pointing their weapons, so that’s already a plus compared to my old world.

  Nope, a friendly looking woman stepped forward and gave clear, concise instructions.

  All I had to do was show them the passport-thing the demigod gave me and the welcome mat rolled out!

  Most of the day was spent being interviewed and tested with all sorts of devices and magic.

  It was crazy fun!

  Like, for the first time since the spires appeared, I got to experience the magic and wonder I always imagined from the stories I used to read and watch without all the horrible nightmares.

  I arrived at dawn—

  Wait!

  I forgot to mention that the people on this world are basically human.

  I mean, at least from what they said about the tests they ran on me.

  Not that it’s just humans on this world.

  I didn’t get a full breakdown, but from chatting with the many people I met there’s a whole bunch of different sapient species… actually, ‘sapient’ is kind of a loaded word since many of the species aren’t of human origin.

  So, humans… the ones in this region look different from me and what I’m used to on account of their skin color.

  Blue!

  I’m not shitting you!

  Different shades of blue!

  How does that even work?

  I need to study some biology.

  I was a theater nerd and all I’ve picked up since then was what I needed for my necromancy.

  There are more natural, at least from my perspective, skin tones in other regions on this world as well as other weird colors.

  I’ll get a chance to visit, basically, everywhere.

  Vasparan is a mostly united world and generally safe unless you want to find danger.

  They have a good system to keep the challenges and zones under control in a way that keeps the populated areas safe, while giving plenty of opportunities for those that want it and earn it to go get levels and rewards =P

  But the best part of all is the magical university system!

  There are so many all over the world and they sound like big deals!

  Like, the university basically controls the city it’s in and professors are like a combination of movie star, politician and, uh, professor.

  That was part of my contract with the demigod.

  I had always wanted to be a professor.

  Sure, it was after a long acting career and it was to teach acting, but better later than never.

  I’m going to be the best necromancy teacher!

  They’re going to give me a tour of the local university once I’m done with the immigration process.

  Full citizenship instantly!

  I can live in any city, town or village on this world.

  Apparently, I’m considered a regional power at my level.

  Which means I earned most of this opportunity.

  It wasn’t purely networking.

  Apparently, I can get tenure at the snap of the fingers.

  That’ll be all for tonight, my friend.

  I need my rest.

  Busy days are ahead of me!

  It’ll be nice not to have to look over my shoulder!