“Sorry Simon! This'll only take a minute.” you said, struggling to keep his arms in place.

“Cindy! Turn him around!” Young shouted.

You did exactly that. At the same time, Mercy retracted her bandages from around his chest, where the amulet still rested against his gray, necrotic flesh.

By the time you spun him around, Young was on the other side of the building, muttering the end of her incantation. She reached out, and an inky black tendril stretched from her fingers and launched itself directly at the amulet. The tendril's tip splayed out to portray what looked like a row of four fingers as it latched onto the magical artifact. Young had called this curse “The Black Hand”.

Young was still connected to the other end of the tether, her abyssal chant growing in intensity. You found her pronunciation of the demonic language to be quite fluent. Maybe you'd ask her for lessons later.

Pushing that thought aside for now, you leaned away from the Zombie Prince, but kept your feet firmly planted against his back, all while maintaining your grip on his arms. They were currently wrapped over the upper part of his chest. Sort of like a mummy. You wanted to mention it to Mercy, but you had a feeling that she wouldn't entirely appreciate that comparison.

More zombies rose up to defend their master, their sheer number and combined weight threatening to collapse this tower. A quick glance back at the Monster Council showed you that they had their hands full dealing with the majority of Simon's army. And if they brought their half of the problem over to your side, then the tower would collapse completely within seconds.

“We won't be able to finish in time!” you called out.

“I agree!” Young observed. “You must take over!”

“Me!?”

“I walked you through the incantation! You said your memory is good, right?”

“Yeah, but my Abyssal pronunciation is garbage!” you argued, feeling a little embarrassed to say it out loud like this.

“But mine isn't…” Mercy hissed. And before you could question her on that, black letters started to appear on your arm. Upon closer inspection, you realized that they were a phonetically friendly spelling of the Black Hand's incantation!

“That still looks difficult…” you hissed back.

“You chose a difficult path. One that our god warned you against.”

You let out a frustrated grunt.

“Yeah…I did.”

“Grandma, let go!” you yelled, detaching yourself from Simon. “I'm ready!”

Young nodded and relinquished her connection to the tether, rushing to combat the zombies that were threatening to surround you. With a wave of her arms, she unleashed another chi pulse, reducing a good chunk of them to ash in mere moments.

At the same time, you flipped over Simon's head, caught the tether with your bare hand and picked up the chant where Young had left off. A numb sensation began spreading through your fingertips and up your arm. It was only a mild distraction, though.

(Cont.)