Lewd skill in a filthy world

A twitching corpse lurched forward, its flesh bloated and sloughing from the bones, a five-day-old mess of congealed gore and decay. But it moved, jerkily, and unnaturally under the will of Gegee.

Controlling a body that wasn't hers was no easy feat. Each step was uneven, as if the corpse still resisted its puppeteer. But Gegee was adapting and evolving in the heat of battle, every moment of using the body honing her control.

Her ragged boots slammed into the soil as she staggered into the fray, slipping between Lilian and Sylvia, who were now locked in a savage brawl like two rabid dogs tearing at each other's throats.

"Will you two knock it off?! We're being tricked! Something is—"

Before Gegee could finish, a fist came flying.

Crack.

The punch slammed into the side of her undead face, snapping the neck grotesquely sideways. The corpse collapsed to the ground with a sickening squelch. Lilian stood over her, breathing heavily, rage still brimming in her wide, bloodshot eyes.

"Who the hell are you?!" Lilian snarled, her knuckles still trembling.

But Gegee, whose consciousness lay within the corpse felt nothing. The pain receptors were long gone. She grinned up at her attacker, blood leaking from her puppet's lips.

Wrong move.

In a blur, she swept her rotting foot across Lilian's ankles. The girl's body twisted mid-air before crashing to the dirt. Gegee wasted no time—she straddled Lilian, pinning her with the decaying weight of the corpse.

"Tch. I hate dealing with thick-skulled NPCs," she spat, her voice rasping through broken vocal cords. "Snap out of it! Whatever dream you were fed—it's a lie! None of it happened! This place, this entire thing—it's a fabrication!"

Lilian writhed under her, disgusted and enraged. The corpse atop her reeked of death, half its jaw was missing, and a rusted sword jutted from its chest. How could something so foul still speak?!

Sylvia's eyes glinted. An opening.

With Gegee preoccupied, Sylvia dashed forward, blade in hand. She drove her sword deep into Lilian's thigh.

Squelch.

Lilian screamed, a raw and guttural wail that echoed through the cherry blossom trees. Sylvia yanked the blade free, only to drive it back in, deeper.

Blood poured out like syrup.

But that moment of triumph was short-lived. Gegee's corpse snapped its arm back and smacked Sylvia with such force that her weapon flew from her hand, clattering across the clearing. The blow wasn't just physical—it was unnatural, jarring her nervous system, making her entire arm go numb.

Lilian used the distraction to push Gegee's undead vessel off her. She rolled, grabbed the blade buried in the corpse's chest, and ripped it out. Black ichor sprayed.

She didn't hesitate—she rammed the blade into the zombie's neck. The puppet dropped like a sack of meat, limbs twitching.

Lilian scrambled toward the axe on the ground, gasping, dragging her blood-soaked leg. "You... fucking bitch!" she snarled. "You stabbed me! You killed the master! You want me dead too?!"

Sylvia stumbled, clutching her side, the world spinning around her. Her wounds bled freely now—rips and bruises across her arms and ribs. But pain was bringing clarity. The dream... it was breaking apart. Memories were rearranging themselves. Something didn't add up.

"I never killed him..." Sylvia whispered, lips trembling. "You really think I could kill Master Shade? He'd break me in half. He's... way beyond my level."

"You did kill him!" Lilian roared, madness still clinging to her voice.

Gegee's main body, hidden somewhere nearby sighed with relief when she realized Sylvia was regaining control, one mind at a time.

Her zombie vessel twitched. And stood.

She ripped the blade from its throat. A fresh gout of foul-smelling black liquid splashed across the ground.

"Stubborn idiot," Gegee groaned. "Your loyalty to that brat is blinding you. You're so emotionally compromised, you've lost the ability to think. I wonder—do NPCs even have brains?"

She turned her grotesque head to Sylvia. "You sit down. You're barely holding on. I'll handle this."

Sylvia, half in shock and half in awe, nodded and backed off.

Gegee gripped the sword tightly, and lunged.

Steel clashed with iron as her blade met Lilian's axe. They spun and danced through the clearing, weapon to weapon, rage against willpower, instinct against control.

"Soul Split," Gegee muttered under her breath.

Behind Lilian, another corpse rose from the dirt—a bald, eyeless man with entrails dangling from his chest cavity. He wrapped his arms around Lilian, pinning her in a tight, choking embrace.

Gegee struck.

Punch.

To the face.

Punch.

To the ribs.

Crack.

To the jaw.

Lilian choked on her own spit, her eyes bloodshot. Every impact broke more of the illusion.

Gegee slammed her forehead into hers.

"This is fake! You hear me?! An illusion! Your precious master isn't even here!"

Lilian's breath hitched. Her pupils dilated. Something clicked.

Master Shade...

The gate...

Yes. She remembered now. The gate closed before he could even enter. Sylvia... didn't kill him. The whole thing was a lie.

Her body trembled, adrenaline giving way to pain. She turned, staring at Sylvia, who lay bloodied on the ground.

"I... I hurt her, didn't I?"

Her voice cracked.

"Dwarf girl... Sylvia... I'm sorry. I didn't... I didn't mean to—"

Then—

A breeze.

A fragrant wind swept over the battlefield like perfume poured into rot. Petals stirred. Gegee made her undead holding Lilian to let go as it collapsed to the ground.

Soft footsteps.

They turned to look and from behind a blossom tree stepped a woman. No... something like a woman.

She was divine.

Long white robes trailed behind her, brushing the grass. Her lavender hair flowed like liquid silk, eyes glowing like amethysts. A crown of blooming flowers rested atop her head. She walked barefoot, untouched by the carnage around her.

"Why?" she asked gently, pausing before them. "Why do you reject my kindness?"

Gegee narrowed her eyes. "Kindness?" she scoffed. "Dragging us into delusions? Twisting our memories? Making us kill each other? You call that kindness?"

The woman tilted her head slightly, as if pondering the question from an angle no one else could see.

"Have you ever stood beside someone you love," she asked softly, "and watched them die... not in glory, not in peace... but broken? Alone? On a filthy floor somewhere, bleeding out, crying for someone who never comes?"

Gegee stiffened.

"Do you know how many die that way?" she continued. "Don't humans long for happy endings? You honor the dead with flowers, do you not? Graves adorned with roses... death romanticized. I only offered you a place to die, peacefully... in beauty. That is the gift I bring."

Gegee took a step forward, sword in hand. "You forced us into a lie! A beautiful garden built on delusion. That's not mercy—that's murder!"

The woman held up her hand. A single rose rested between her fingers.

"If I do not guide you, you'll die horribly, thats the bitter truth. Crushed by others in dungeons. Skewered in back alleys. Alone. Forgotten. But here, in my garden... you'll rest forever. Painlessly. Satisfied."

"Is she okay?" Lilian muttered.

"She's completely unhinged," Gegee growled.

The woman's expression didn't shift. Still calm. Still gentle. Still maddeningly patient.

Her voice took on a melodic softness. "You're slaves to suffering. To war. To pain. But why? Why must life be cruel to have meaning?"

She took a step closer. The grass beneath her feet flourished into blooms.

"What if I offered you a way out? A sleep with no nightmares. A quiet with no guilt. A garden where the dead are finally happy."

Sylvia, bruised and bleeding, stirred behind Gegee. "You make it sound so... right," she murmured. "But... if it's so beautiful... why does it hurt?"

"Because," the woman said, smiling faintly, "you're not ready. No one truly is. Not until they've been broken enough to stop lying to themselves."

Her gaze swept over all of them.

"You don't fear death. You fear lonely death. You fear the unmarked grave. The silence after the scream. You want your death to matter. And I understand that. That's why I built this place."

She motioned to the garden around them—flowers everywhere, soft petals falling through the air like snow.

"This is where you matter. Where you are seen. Where your death is acknowledged. Honored. And my purpose is to ensure everyone dies satisfactorily. Even if I have to help them get there."

Her amethyst eyes darkened.

"I will give you peace. Whether you want it or not."

Gegee turned to her teammates. "Brace yourselves. This bitch is nuts."

With so many wounds already, Sylvia collapsed unconscious

Gegee's true body, hidden behind a moss-covered rock in the grass, twitched.

Lilian, though wounded in the thighs, and limping, she stood firm again.

The illusion that was forced into her mind was gone now.

But a new nightmare was just beginning.

To Be Continued.