Chapter 19 – The Roar of the Undead

The sword-wielding skeleton warrior covered over five meters in just two steps. A black afterimage flashed through the air as it closed in on Punk in the blink of an eye. The death-tainted longsword was already raised high, waiting for one final charge to deliver a vicious slash at Punk.

But Punk’s magic was completed first. The Apprentice Rank Summoning Magic—Summon Beast—was precisely cast. A massive brown bear, already constructed within his soul, leaped out from the dazzling magical circle, perfectly blocking the skeleton warrior’s charge path. Standing three meters tall, the enormous brown bear possessed thick fur that looked capable of withstanding cannon fire. Its gleaming fangs and razor-sharp claws stood out prominently, with blocky muscles visible even through its skin. Combined with its savage, brutal roar upon appearance, its imposing presence was truly magnificent.

Though the skeleton warrior retained some muscle memory from its former life, its low-level soul and intelligence resulted in reaction speeds that couldn’t keep up with its physical movements—essentially poor coordination. When it suddenly saw the massive monster appear before it, the skeleton visibly hesitated. Its unstoppable charge caused the bony frame to crash directly into the blocking brown bear. Under the tremendous recoil, it was thrown backward rapidly, tumbling head over heels several times.

The giant bear, endowed with an artificial soul, grew excited at seeing its “prey” fall to the ground and roared eagerly, preparing to charge forward for the “finishing blow.” Punk quickly issued a command to stop this suicidal behavior. “Can’t you see all those other skeletons over there? Charging in for the kill now would just draw unnecessary aggro!” Punk felt genuinely frustrated by the summoned creature’s intelligence. Without its master’s commands, it would only act on instinct. While it might be an excellent meat shield, it certainly wasn’t a “reliable” assistant.

Punk cast another Minor Catapult at the fallen skeleton warrior. This time, the skeleton—which had just sat up from the ground, still confused about what happened—failed to dodge the spell again. The projectile, its trajectory corrected by the System, accurately shot through the skeleton’s eye socket glowing with green flames. The low-level soul flame, unprotected by the skull, proved extremely fragile. Under Punk’s triple-enhanced attack—combining incantation, gestures, and material components—the sickly green soul flame instantly dissipated. The longsword in the skeleton’s “claw” and the black aura surrounding its body quickly vanished—this undead had once again become an immobile pile of bones.Meanwhile, the priestess used the Holy Light, which restrains undead creatures, to form numerous ornate little hammers. Like a blacksmith, she struck the skeleton from all directions, quickly reducing it to a pile of bone fragments. However, the armor on the skeleton couldn’t withstand the repeated blows and became dented and misshapen. Watching from the side, Punk felt waves of heartache—what was being smashed by the Holy Light wasn’t just armor; it was Gold Coins waving goodbye. The armor, now so distorted and damaged that its original form was unrecognizable, could no longer be sold and could only be broken down for raw materials. But the value of the recycled materials would be lucky to reach one-fifth of the price of a complete set of armor.

“That wasteful woman!” Punk gritted his teeth at the violent priestess. As someone who firmly believed that “waste is a crime,” he was now witnessing a deranged priestess continuously “committing crimes” with an aura of “purifying everything.” No wonder his anger was boiling over.

But Punk soon had no time to fume. The skeleton “purified” by the priestess clearly wasn’t content to accept its role as cannon fodder so easily.

Just as the last remaining cracked skull of the skeleton warrior was about to be “purified” by the Holy Light warhammer, its soul flame, which had been dim and flickering like a candle in the wind, suddenly erupted with an unnaturally bright, sickly green radiance. A roar, inaudible to the ears but clearly perceptible to the soul, echoed from within the skeleton warrior’s spirit. The despair and fury contained in that final soul wave instantly resonated with all the undead in the forest.

Such is the nature of the undead: at times, their internal conflicts are as fierce as the brawls of Devils from the Abyss, while at other times, they display incredible unity and cooperation. Now, stirred by the dying roar of one of their own, all the undead in the forest were awakened. The green lights in their eye sockets ignited one after another, and hundreds of undead emitted soul waves brimming with rage. The sheer intensity of these soul-piercing sounds even gave Punk the illusion of being “deafened” on a mental level.

Hordes of undead turned their heads in unison, fixing their eerie, hollow green gazes directly on Punk and the priestess. For a moment, the entire forest fell into an unnerving silence.

But as the first undead charged silently toward the priestess, all the others began to move. They advanced on Punk and the priestess!

“For now, I shall retreat, but this is far from over. I, Nimia, swear by the Lord of the Dawn that I will return to purify these evil undead!” Seeing the large number of undead, led by four skeleton warriors, beginning to encircle Punk and herself, the priestess finally abandoned her plan to attack and decided to retreat temporarily.

However, things didn’t go as smoothly as the priestess had hoped!

“My brave priestess, as a follower of the Lord of the Dawn, how can you retreat in the face of evil? Allow me to help you ‘stand firm’ on the front lines against wickedness.” Just as the priestess turned to flee, Punk’s eerie voice seemed to drift from the icy depths of the netherworld. Simultaneously, numerous vines shot up from the ground, tightly binding the priestess’s legs.”You’re insane, to act at a time like this…” The priest staggered as she was tugged by the vines, and in those few seconds of delay, a third-tier skeleton warrior had already closed in on her. The female priest had no choice but to activate a defensive divine spell woven into her priestly robes to block the attack. She never expected Punk to strike during such a critical moment, but when she caught sight of him—his face half-hidden in the shadow of his hood—her expression of disbelief swiftly shifted to shock, then rapidly morphed into fury.

Under the cover of a strange, rippling aura, Punk and his summoned brown bear now emanated an undead presence so flawless it left no room for doubt. The once-clear mage aura had vanished entirely. Because of this, no undead creature paid Punk any mind—all of them swarmed toward the priest in a frenzy, not a single one pausing even briefly near him!

“Apprentice Rank Conjuration spell—Aura Disguise. Truly, it lives up to its reputation as the most effective disguise spell at the Apprentice Rank!” A cryptic smile curled at the corner of Punk’s lips. Clad in his dull Mage Robe, his silhouette appeared even more sinister and terrifying than the undead around him. Even the bulky brown bear, after a sidelong glance at its master, instinctively ducked its head and froze in place, not daring to move a muscle!

(End of Chapter)