Undead Beast Master: Living Solely for My Desires-Chapter 373: An Unexpected Ally

Ash continued to fall from the sky like snow, Zaroth was still lost in his mindless laughter. Eventually, after a few minutes had passed, his laughter faded, eyes studying the magma serpent.

As if unbothered by his gaze, the beast lifted its head, eyes locking onto Zaroth’s. Several seconds of tense silence followed until Zaroth parted his lips.

"Can you speak?"

It was a natural question. The serpent was a beast of the Mythic tier—just like Luna. If she had the ability to speak to him, then in theory, the serpent could as well. That was simply how beasts worked. Excluding his Mythic-tier beasts, the next strongest was Nightshade of the Epic tier. She wasn’t able to speak just yet, but could, to some extent, convey her emotions to her master.

The mighty serpent flared its nostrils, letting out hot smoke. Its gaze never shifted from Zaroth. It tilted its head slightly, and then it spoke—directly into his master’s mind.

’Perhaps.’

It was the same method Luna used to communicate with him, though there was a clear difference in their tones. While Luna’s voice was gentle and soothing to the soul, the magma serpent’s was far more menacing—causing one’s guard to raise instinctively in wariness.

"So it’s a male..." Zaroth muttered, eyes widening momentarily in understanding. He noted that the beast didn’t seem like one fond of speaking unless necessary.

"It seems I’ll have to name you later."

He waved off the thought and dismissed the colossal serpent. If the beast could communicate, there was a high chance it could also take on human form. However, with Zaroth’s mana core so drained, he didn’t want to keep the beast summoned longer than necessary.

’Oh? We have a visitor. So in the end, you submitted after all,’ came Luna’s voice, startling Zaroth. Her words, however, weren’t directed at him, but at the newly acquired beast.

’You...’ the serpent replied, its voice lowering into a dangerous growl. ’The reason I am dead is because of you.’

Luna burst into laughter. ’What fault do I have? I only wounded you a little, then, following my master’s orders, I left the area. You’re the one who abandoned your natural habitat because you couldn’t keep your emotions in check.’

’You injured me. For that crime, there was no way I could let you live—you had to pay with your life,’ the serpent replied calmly.

’And what did that bring you? In the end, you died—not me. Had you controlled your temper better, you’d still be in that volcano,’ she mused, clearly trying to provoke a reaction.

A grunt resonated in Zaroth’s mind. It seemed the serpent acknowledged she was correct and didn’t want to continue the conversation further.

With a sigh, Zaroth placed a hand over his head. "Now that I think about it, Luna always said she resided in my core. It’s only natural that with the serpent now there too, they’d begin to speak to one another. What I didn’t expect was that I’d have to listen to their bickering..."

A troubling thought flashed in his mind, forcing him to chuckle despite his stress.

"Great. If I wasn’t insane already, I’ll be hearing voices constantly arguing with each other..."

Shaking his head and pushing the matter to the back of his mind, Zaroth scanned the area, searching for Eldros.

Once he spotted him, he approached the man, wondering what he was looking at so intently on the ground.

"Ah..." a gasp escaped his mouth upon seeing Eldros’s head lying on the ground. It was certainly a strange sight—Eldros staring at his own head while still alive... if one could call his condition "alive."

With silent steps, Eldros moved forward and picked up the head, trying to place it back where it belonged. But it only slipped from his hands and fell to the ground again.

Shaking off his own head—if he still had one—Eldros decided to strap it to his waist.

From the outside, it might have looked like a pointless action, but no one could truly know what the man was thinking. After all, he had died only to come back to life. It was obvious that some actions wouldn’t be rational but driven by impulse and inner desires. Perhaps he simply wanted to keep his head with him—not forgetting how he looked when he was still alive.

Watching the scene, Zaroth didn’t intervene until Eldros moved his body to signal he was ready.

"Now... what to do with you?" Zaroth muttered, resting a hand beneath his chin. Eldros hadn’t summoned the Unholy Eye, so he wasn’t a significant drain on mana—but he still consumed a noticeable amount. In Zaroth’s current wounded state, even that posed a risk he couldn’t afford. It was wiser not to keep any mana-draining entities active longer than necessary.

Eldros shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly as if to say, "Do you expect me to reply?"

After several seconds, a light gleamed in Zaroth’s eyes, his gaze stopping at his shadow.

He could only store intimate objects in it—or in other words, things that weren’t alive... but was Eldros truly alive?

"Can you enter it?" Zaroth asked, pointing to his shadow.

Eldros’s shoulders dropped slightly as if sighing, then obligingly moved forward, stepping silently into the shadow and vanishing from existence.

Immediately, Zaroth let out a sigh of relief. While Eldros was in his shadow, he didn’t consume any mana.

"Now that I think about it... doesn’t that mean I can use Nightshade to transport him as well? Maybe she can also carry my other beasts. That could be another tactical advantage," he mused, preparing to leave the capital.

After burning the Great Tree, the smoke and falling ash had made the air thick and hard to breathe—only worsening Zaroth’s condition.

"Shit!" Pain screamed through his legs, causing him to collapse.

"What the hell happened?!" he roared, eyes scanning down—only for his heart to stop.

His skin... the muscles underneath... had begun to rot.

"Huh?" He was stunned, flashbacks of his mother’s condition and Althea’s suffering flooding his mind.

"The muscle rot curse?" The words left his mouth in disbelief. What had happened? Why had he contracted it? He had been fine a minute ago! Sure, he was broken, bleeding, exhausted—but not cursed! What triggered it?!

His vision darkened as his breathing turned ragged. He, of all people, was having a panic attack. The confidence he’d felt minutes ago had been ripped away by despair and fear. This curse had taken two people dear to him—his mother directly and Althea indirectly. Contracting it himself was the last thing he expected.

"It can’t be!" he roared, eyes locking on the burned tree, its ash still falling from the sky and polluting the atmosphere.

"Did this all happen... from a damn plant?!" He slammed his fist into the ground beneath him.

"Oh, fancy meeting you again, mate."

Before Zaroth could spiral into deeper despair, a gentle male voice pulled him from the brink. Lifting his gaze, he saw a figure dressed in black robes with a mask covering his face—the male elf known as Night, who had already saved him once, appeared again as if knowing he was needed.

He wasn’t alone this time. Another figure stood beside him. Zaroth hadn’t spoken with her much before, but he instantly recognized her strong figure, her pointed ears, the silky blonde hair resting over her shoulder, and her stunning emerald eyes.

Sira—the elf he had gone to the slave city to save, only to learn she didn’t need saving at all. She had called him weak, enchanted his odachi, and vanished without a trace.

"What... are you two doing here?" he asked, raising his guard. While the two elves had indeed helped him before—and greatly so—their perfectly timed appearances made it feel like everything had been planned.

If his suspicion was correct... were they here to harm him?

"No," Sira said flatly, catching the look on his face. "Sure, you might have become stronger..." her emerald eyes drifted over the ruined capital, "a lot stronger, in fact. But don’t think you’re so important that we’d plan all this just for you."

"Then..." he said cautiously, "Why are you here?"

"Her," Sira replied nonchalantly, pointing behind her.

Zaroth followed her gesture, eyes widening as he finally noticed the woman he had somehow neglected.

Her shoulder-length blonde hair and white mask made her unmistakable to anyone.

Vera.

What stunned Zaroth wasn’t just her sudden appearance—it was what echoed in his mind the moment he looked at her:

[A Fragment detected]