Undead Beast Master: Living Solely for My Desires

Even though Night had healed him, Zaroth still felt exhausted beyond belief.

"Now that my mana core has reached the Epic-tier, I can start learning Nightshade's Shadow skill," he realized, still lying on Luna's back.

Usually, he would have started to theorize on what was the best way to learn the skill. He had met a man being able to use the same ability, so he was certain it was doable — the question was how he would go about mastering it himself.

But, considering his condition, he decided to leave it for another day.

After some time, Luna spoke in his mind, advising him to observe the view.

With a grunt, Zaroth stood up, his eyes widened at the scene.

They were close to the city, yet it didn't look like it. The terrain had changed significantly. There were thousands of corpses lying on the ground, trees felled, ground shattered.

"We have been attacked?" he hissed, his eyes becoming darker.

He was sure that he had killed uncountable amounts of soldiers and civilians going through the whole frontline, possibly causing millions of people to immigrate.

'Was I too naive to think that the Crimson Sun Empire would prioritize care for their people rather than attacking my city?' his mind began to race, commanding Luna to go faster.

Soon the city came into view.

Immediately, Zaroth's muscles relaxed, letting out a sigh of relief. The city was still standing — no, from the looks of it, most of the infrastructure had been fixed already!

"So they have successfully managed to defend the city. That is good. It must be the work of Eldros," he mused.

'There are still some left,' Luna transmitted, prompting Zaroth to squint his eyes.

She was right — there were a few hundred soldiers dressed in the enemy armor, fleeing with all they got.

After making sure that they were indeed the enemy, Zaroth commanded Luna to burn them, which she did immediately.

The dragon descended slowly into the city, landing in a clearing that had been specially prepared as Luna's landing zone.

"The savior has returned!" the few people nearby began to shout in excitement, their expressions full of hope as they gazed at their leader.

"You are back."

Eldros, being the one to sense his owner returned, was one of the first to greet him.

"Yep. Caused some serious damage on the frontlines," Zaroth replied. "But I have to admit—I'm impressed. The city looks like it's been through hell and back. I presume I should thank you for keeping it intact."

A sly smile appeared on Eldros's head.

"Honestly? It wasn't me. About a day after you left, some people claiming to know you showed up, searching for you. Thanks to them, the battles became a breeze."

Zaroth arched an eyebrow, a suspicion coming into his mind. Before he could ask any questions, a familiar voice called out to him:

"I told you to return, didn't I? So why the hell did you force me to come to you instead?"

Zaroth's eyes shot up, "Midnight?"

The vampire scoffed. "It's not just me. Come on—follow me."

*****

The best place for a reunion? A bar, of course.

Thanks to Zaroth's influence, the biggest bar in the city had been cleared out for their private celebration. They'd all agreed to set aside thoughts of war—tonight, they were just friends celebrating a rare moment of peace.

"For fuck's sake! If you're going somewhere, at least have the decency to say goodbye!" Roran yelled, slamming down an empty glass and proceeded to fill it up.

"I have to agree. Even if we know you're strong, we were still worried sick," Lily nodded, agreeing with her boyfriend.

With a laugh, Zack put a hand over Zaroth's shoulder, "But man, you reek of death! It's clear that you've returned from a recent battle, so I won't hold it against you," his voice was sluggish, clearly having had too many drinks.

Grace blushed a little, seeing the immature way her boyfriend acted, prompting her to remain silent.

With a hiss, Midnight tore Zack off Zaroth, put a hand over his mask and lifted it off his face.

"Now stop acting like a jackass and drink!" she insisted, practically forcing the alcohol down his throat.

Zaroth groaned a little but complied.

'It's funny,' Luna spoke inside his mind.

'What is it?' he asked, trying to break free from Midnight's monstrous grip.

'They've all come together—just for you—on this particular day.'

His expression was one of confusion, until a lightbulb lit on in his mind.

Eldros was the first one to catch on to his owner's expression, "What is it?" he asked.

Zaroth stared at the cup of strong liquid in his hand before muttering:

"My birthday… it's today."

It had completely slipped his mind—he was officially 19 years old now.

"THEN!" Roran shouted, slamming more bottles onto the table. "This calls for celebration! We drink!" He tossed off his shirt with no shame.

Zaroth seemed to share his enthusiasm as he ripped off the clothes on his body above the waist, following the tradition.

Zack grinned seeing the gesture and did the same.

Eldros's eyes quickly scanned the place, realizing that he was the only male still formally clothed.

"Fuck it," he muttered softly, tearing his shirt as well.

One by one, the bottles vanished as the drinking game escalated.

"You are all pathetic," The one that was in the lead was Midnight — having drunk more than a dozen bottles. Being of the Ancient Blood apparently boosted her alcohol tolerance by a lot.

Lily and Grace were the only ones that seemed to be on the normal side, as they drank in moderation.

Lily because she knew if she went overboard, she would start to crave for Roran's attention once again, and she didn't want to mess with the reunion of him and his friends.

While Grace was still a bit embarrassed to drink so much that she would start to act irrationally. The bar was full of extremely strong people, after all. She didn't want them to see an embarrassing part of herself.

Thanks to the heavy drinking session Zaroth had with David about a day ago, his tolerance seemed to have been boosted, allowing him to drink much more than he normally could.

"Okay, I think I will stop here," Eldros admitted, defeated, letting the half-empty cup on the table.

Zack soon followed, and surprisingly, for the first time, Roran stopped as well.

Either the man had lost his edge in drinking, or Zaroth had simply gotten much better at holding his liquor.

That left him sitting before Midnight, who had a smug look on her face. She barely looked affected at all.

"God dammit!" Zaroth groaned, blushing from the heat of intoxication. He, as well, had reached his limit.

The vampire was the one that won the drinking game.

With a sigh of defeat, Zaroth observed the state of the bar they were in. He almost felt bad that the nearly restored place looked so trashed… almost. The people that he saved from slavery would surely not mind if their savior had a wild celebrating party.

One thing to note, was that no one had passed out yet — even if they had all drunk a lot. No one wanted to miss even a second of the celebration.

"I am sorry. If I had known it was your birthday, I would have brought a gift or something," Lily apologized, bowing her head.

Zaroth was about to reassure her—it wasn't like he remembered his birthday either

Had it not been for Luna, he would still think he was 18.

"Don't mind it!" Before he could voice his thought, Eldros came, putting his hand over Zaroth's shoulder.

"Thanks to you, the city still stands. I'd say that's gift enough."

Zaroth simply nodded, showing that he agreed. It was the truth — had they not come, Eldros wouldn't have been able to keep the city without any casualty alone.

The night carried on in laughter and conversation. The girls chatted on one side, while Zack and Eldros began arm-wrestling to settle who was stronger.

Zaroth watched, amused—until Midnight tugged at his arm.

"Come with me," she said.

With a raised eyebrow, he followed. The second they entered the backroom of the bar, she swept off his feet, leading him to fall to the ground.

"What are you doing?" he groaned, startled by her move.

She moved her hands to his pants, beginning to take them off.

A mischievous smile found its way onto her face, her eyes glowing intense crimson.

"Giving you your birthday gift."

Zaroth's eyes widened. 'Holy shit, this is the best birthday ever!'