«N-No way...» Shin murmurs, still leaning against the window.
His eyes go wide with terror as he stares at the scene outside.
Hundreds of concentric circles ripple through the ground around the house, like stormy waves on a lake.
«How did they already find us? It’s only been four months...» he mutters, clearly shaken.
«Dad, what’s going on?!» Hakuto asks, panic rising in his voice.
But Shin doesn’t respond.
He keeps speaking to himself, lost in thought.
«And yet... this isn’t Velshekar’s magic. This is necromancer magic... and high-level at that!» Shin mutters, scanning the area.
«A skilled necromancer usually summons twenty, maybe thirty undead at once...»
He glances around quickly, trying to count the circles spreading across the ground.
«...but these are at least a hundred! What kind of monster are we facing now?!»
He turns sharply.
«Kagura, Yuzu! Stay inside the house, keep watch from there, and be ready to heal us! The rest of you, co with !»
The urgency in his voice leaves no room for hesitation.
Everyone nods imdiately, silenced by the panic behind his words.
Shin rushes outside, followed closely by Hakuto, Rika, and Chantal.
It takes only monts before dozens upon dozens of undead begin to rise from the concentric circles, creatures of every kind.
Among them are low-level demons like imps and goblins, but also vampires and twisted, feral beasts.
All of them share the sa corpse-like pallor, their bodies showing clear signs of decay.
But one creature, in particular, draws Shin’s attention.
A bipedal, winged reptile, about ten ters tall, with brown scaly skin and a hooked, serpent-like tail.
It looks like a miniature dragon.
A wyvern.
One of the most feared and dangerous creatures in all of N’Raeth.
It hovers above them, circling slowly, as if analyzing its prey from the sky.
«AHAHAHAHAHAHAH!»
Velune’s diabolical laughter echoes across the steppe, filled with pride and madness.
«Did you see how strong I am, Zhurvak?
More than a hundred undead raised all at once! Now do you understand why that grumpy old Cassian was so insistent on recruiting into the Cult of the Primordial Shadow? I’m number one!» she shouts, overly flamboyant.
«Y-You’re right, Miss Velune! You’re absolutely amazing! I’ve never seen anything like that!» Zhurvak exclaims, just as excited.
But then, a small undead breaks off from the group surrounding the house.
It scurries toward Velune and Zhurvak.
It’s a Shiba Inu.
Recently reanimated, completely untouched by decay.
Only a wound on its back and head.
It wags its tail and licks Velune’s ankle affectionately.
«And who’s this...?» Zhurvak asks. «It doesn’t exactly look like a threatening creature...»
«Oh, silly ! That’s Tama!» Velune says, chuckling. «He was a pet of so human I reanimated out of boredom. And also because... co on, just look at him! He’s way too cute! I couldn’t let him die!»
Velune smiles proudly.
«I had completely forgotten about him. But since I summoned all the undead I had, he ca along too!»
She crouches in front of the puppy and gently strokes his head.
«This isn’t a place for a sweet, beautiful little pup like you, you know? Want to go back to your owner?» Velune asks softly.
The puppy nods.
Blue flas ignite from his paws and engulf his small body.
Then, a magic circle opens beneath him and pulls him in.
«Miss Velune, forgive for asking, but... was it really necessary to use all the undead you have? I’m sure your loyal Drakhul would’ve been more than enough to take care of them...» Zhurvak comnts timidly.
Velune glares at him.
«Do you take for an idiot or sothing?! I know damn well my beloved Drakhul is unbeatable, but what if soone ambushed from behind? Who would’ve protected then? You?! Don’t make laugh!»
Zhurvak lowers his head, ashad.
«My apologies...»
anwhile, the battle against the undead legion erupts with fury.
Everyone releases their full power at once.
Hakuto, clad in diamond armor and wielding a diamond sword, is wrapped in a Sacred Fla so intense that Chantal is left speechless.
It’s the result of months of intense training under Shin.
Chantal fights in her hybrid form, combining the Sacred Fla with Sanguis energy.
An aura of white fire streaked with crimson flows around her, glowing in a bright pink hue.
Rika stands in her awakened demonic form.
A thin mist of shimring particles surrounds her, shifting between purple and red like her eyes.
Two large red wings unfurl from her back.
But their positions on the battlefield are anything but random.
Shin wasn’t the most powerful Monster Reaper of his era just because of brute force.
His knowledge of enemy tactics and counters is what made him a legend.
That’s why Shin knows exactly what they’re dealing with.
Necromancer-summoned undead might have only half the strength they had in life, but they’re still war machines.
They don’t get tired.
They don’t feel pain.
They attack non-stop, without hesitation.
The resurrection process, done through powerful demonic rituals, makes them especially vulnerable to the Sacred Fla.
And that’s exactly what Shin plans to exploit.
He orders Hakuto and Chantal to form a triangular formation with him, placing Rika at the center.
Since Rika doesn’t possess the Sacred Fla, she can’t seriously damage the undead, so her role is to cover their rear.
«These undead are pretty fragile. More scary than strong!» Chantal exclaims.
With every slash of her pink fla sword, the undead crumble, their bodies instantly incinerated and carried away by the light breeze of that afternoon.
«Don’t lower your guard!» Hakuto scolds, slashing just as fast.
«And don’t act like a know-it-all with ! I know how to fight too—»
But Chantal doesn’t get to finish her sentence.
A bolt of lightning crashes down on her.
It barely grazes her.
Not thanks to her reflexes, nor because the enemy missed.
Shin pulled her away at the last second, saving her just in ti.
«Never thought I’d say this, but... Chantal, maybe you should take a lesson from my son!» Shin snaps.
He clearly heard the argunt between the two just monts before.
Where the lightning struck, there’s now a deep crater.
Hakuto imdiately looks up at the sky.
The wyvern.
That creature was the one who launched the lightning bolt.
It hovers high above them, no less than a hundred ters in the air.
And yet, the precision of its lightning attack is terrifying.
If Shin hadn’t intervened, that strike would have hit Chantal directly.
Even with how fast she was moving.
Hakuto looks at the crater and the blast radius.
That lightning bolt was way stronger than the one Ana used on Chantal.
The one that nearly ended her fighting career.
~Just how fucking strong is a real, living wyvern...?~
The question flashes through Hakuto’s mind.
But he doesn’t have ti to think.
His brief hesitation, shaken by what just happened, makes him lower his guard.
Only for a mont.
But it’s almost enough to get him killed.
At the last second, he blocks a massive axe.
It was aiming straight for his skull.
The one wielding the axe is an ogre, nearly six ters tall, with a monstrously developed body.
Even with its strength cut in half, Hakuto struggles to keep the blade from cleaving his skull.
He trembles for a mont.
Fear.
Even after all these months, he still rembers the ogre called Frank—Velshekar’s subordinate.
The raw power of that thing left a scar in his mory.
Now he’s facing another one of its kind.
Even if it’s undead, the fear cos back.
And this one...
It’s even bigger than Frank.
More muscle.
More danger.
In their species, size always ans strength.
Hakuto tightens his grip.
He channels everything he has into his arms.
Then he swings.
The ogre’s axe flies from its grip.
Disard too easily.
Much more than Hakuto expected.
Even he’s surprised by how quickly it happened.
~Even with halved strength, an ogre this big should be stronger than the one who attacked us at the Ashiya Rock Garden... so why does this one feel so weak?~
The ogre starts growling fiercely and pounding its chest like a gorilla.
Geysers of purple smoke burst from its mouth and nose.
Its body grows even larger.
Hakuto steps back, eyes wide with fear.
The ogre raises its fists to the sky.
Then slams them down toward Hakuto with terrifying speed.
A thick cloud of dust shoots up.
The ground beneath Hakuto’s feet shatters like in an earthquake.
Then...
The ogre’s upper torso starts sliding off.
The lower half remains planted in place.
The cut is clean.
Right through the abdon.
Scorch marks spread from the wound across its body.
In seconds, the ogre crumbles.
Its entire form dissolves into ash.
Hakuto stands behind the ogre.
Just before its fists could crush him, he launched forward and cut the massive demon in half with a single sword strike.
The creature turned to ash before even hitting the ground.
Once again, Hakuto is stunned by how easily he brought it down.
~...there’s no doubt. That ogre was way stronger than Velshekar’s minion. So maybe... maybe I’m the one who’s gotten way stronger since that night?~
Suddenly, another bolt of lightning crashes down from the sky.
This ti, it’s aid at Rika.
Hakuto prepares to leap, ready to intercept it with his sword.
But before he can reach her, Rika raises both hands to the sky.
The mist around her thickens.
It condenses into a solid energy bubble.
The barrier blocks the lightning right before impact.
A violent explosion shakes the entire area.
When the energy bubble that Rika created dissolves...
She’s lying on the ground.
Motionless.
Surrounded by a pool of blood.
A massive hole blown straight through her stomach.
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