Saki

  Tama continued cheering at the attack and Usaki's soon-to-be new body. I don't know why I agreed... Okay, I did know and I didn't want to admit it.

  I walked over to Tama and nodded. She nodded back and grabbed me. We vanished and appeared over one hundred feet in the air. I grabbed Tama tightly but looked around, finding the perfect spot. I pointed the laser pointer with my free arm and pushed the button.

  Seconds later, we were back on the ground, and I turned to watch the show. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, a massive explosion rocked the area I had marked, killing hundreds of undead and clearing the area.

  If that was all, it wouldn't have been a full-fledged attack though. After a moment, a massive creature that was larger than the Drestor Town Gate flew over our heads and landed perfectly in the open area.

  It looked like a massive wolf, but it had three heads and four tails. The head on the left opened and a beam of destructive energy poured from its mouth, disintegrating the zombies and skeletons alike in swaths.

  The middle head began eating the zombies in large bites that ate a dozen at a time. The far right howled, and all the zombies around them simply fell over dead.

  Tama suddenly vanished, then reappeared a moment later holding David. He was ecstatic. He looked over at the large wolf and yelled out, "Woot, finally get to see the Annihilator in action!"

  Tama cheered with him, because of course she did. I watched as the Annihilator lived up to its name. I still have no idea how on Earth the goblins had captured that thing.

  After a moment, large fiery boulders began raining down into the undead horde, four at a time even!

  Wherever they landed, dozens of undead were crushed instantly and the surrounding landscape was set on fire.

  I wanted to watch more, but I had a promise to keep. One that would take me out of combat for the next three days.

  I honestly can't believe Tama is making me do this... sigh.

  I nodded at Usaki. What a ridiculous nickname for an undead version of me and together we went to an empty tent. Tama followed in behind us.

  I sighed as I held out my arm and drew a mark across it near the shoulder. This was going to hurt. I looked at Tama and said, "Please cut it off right here."

  Tama stared at me, confused. "Nya, why does Saki want to cut her own arm off?!" She looked shocked and I rolled my eyes.

  "You wanted me to make another body for Usaki, Tama. To do that it costs me an arm and a ton of fatigue! You begged for thisjust do it!" I said angrily.

  Tama looked uncertainly between me and Usaki. "Tama didn't know it cost an arm!" she said weakly.

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  "What did you think a full body clone of myself would cost, Tama? Hopes and dreams?!" I snapped at her, causing her to wince and look away.

  I sighed after a moment and smiled at Tama. "It's okay, Tama. You can just regrow my arm with your water magic. It's not a big loss. The bigger issue is that I won't be able to help you fight for a while after this. You will need to rely on Usaki to help you. Do you trust Usaki to do that?"

  Usaki stepped forward and said, "Must... always... protect... Tama..."

  Tama looked at Usaki for a moment, then drew her dagger. She stepped forward and looked at me for a moment. "Is... is Saki sure this is okay?"

  I nodded at her and looked away from my left arm. I felt her blade touch my arm. It was so fast, the pain didn't catch up at first. Then it hit and I fell to my knees, holding the stump where my left arm had been.

  Tama tried to heal me but I shook my head and spoke through clenched teeth. "Not... yet... ritual first."

  I grabbed my severed left arm with my right and put it in the circle I had set up. Then I touched the edge and began chanting. The lines began to glow one by one until the full circle was lit up.

  I reached the end of the chant and took one last deep breath before activating the skill. My left arm vanished and a shape began to form. As it did, blood poured out of me in large quantities, flowing into the circle as it slowly built my clone body.

  My vision dimmed as my blood loss became significant. I held still and waited even as my body began to shake.

  Then it was over and a clone of me stood before us, completely nude with blank eyes staring back at me. I smiled and nodded weakly to Tama.

  She instantly began to heal me and I felt my left arm beginning to regrow. It was extremely painful.

  Usaki looked at the clone body excitedly. I smiled at her, and as I did, I activated my shift and entered my new body and waved at her. She paused, confused at the sudden shift.

  "What? I said I would do itI didn't say you were getting the new shiny body!" I grinned at her as I spoke. "After all, my old body might take time to recover, but you will be living again, and after the battle you will be super useful to Tama. If that's all you truly cared about. Not just weakening me, this shouldn't be an issue!" My new tail snapped back and forth as my ears curled in amusement.

  I expected Usaki to get angry and attack me, to screech like the undead she was, to prove to everyone she was really a monster. To my surprise, she did none of that. She simply nodded, looking at me puzzled, and a moment later, my old weakened form began to move.

  I watched as the undead body went limp for a moment, then suddenly attacked Tama. Me and Usaki were too slow to respond, but neither of us even tried. Tama had it tied to the ground with water chains before we could even blink.

  "Nya! Don't attack Tama, Usaki!" Tama said in amusement at the undead body. I sighed and shook my head.

  "That's... not me... Tama," my old body, now controlled by Usaki, said. "I... have left... the old... form... new form... now."

  She still seemed to have trouble speaking, but it was better. It made me realize she was slowly getting smarter. It wasn't just her undead form, it seemed, that limited her. She must still be a new essence.

  Which led to a whole different series of questions, like how she came to be? Was she truly a full copy of me?

  In either case, I filed that away for later. Right now, she was harmless in my old body, and as for my old undead form? I brought my hand up to it and summoned a ball of void. I didn't like using it, but my body deserved to be erased. It deserved peace.

  In the very back of my mind, the voice spoke. Usually silent anymore, me summoning the ball of void brought it joy. For once, I indulged the void and gave it what it wanted. I erased my undead body.

  YES, it moaned in pleasure. I nearly gagged from the visceral joy it felt. But instead, I remembered Tama's words. Don't fight it, use it. I would, Tama. I would indeed.