Chapter 4 : Undead Revival

Undead Revival

Under Serea's gaze, the dried corpse absorbed that streak of gray mist, and then, astonishingly, it staggered to its feet, followed immediately by a series of crackling, tearing sounds as flesh burst open.

Bit by bit, the skin and flesh sloughed off, until only a pristine white skeleton remained. The gray power of death gathered at the skull, then transformed into two clusters of blue soul fire.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The skeleton's body began to twitch and writhe, seeming unaccustomed to its current form, but within mere seconds, it moved freely.

After picking up the longsword it had wielded in life, the skeleton dropped to one knee before the girl.

"Kneeling...before...my... Queen!"

System: Ordinary undead unit acquired. Gains one Death Crystal every 24 hours.

The skeleton uttered a string of broken, intermittent sounds, but its words could more or less be understood.

Serea studied the skeleton carefully when, suddenly, a surge of information flooded her mind.

Character: Skeleton Warrior (Undead)

Level: 11

Status: Loyal

Spirit: E

Strength: A

Agility: C

Endurance: C

Constitution: B

Charisma: F

Luck: F

Skills: Blade Rend (Tier 1), Thrust

Description: Once an infamous mercenary in life, revived by the Sovereign, to whom he swore allegiance.

When she saw the skeleton's status, Serea's expression turned uneasy—she had not expected that even a casually revived skeleton would be a higher level than herself...

"Get up. From now on, your duty is to protect me."

Feeling her own weakness, Serea gave the order.

"Yes...ma'am!"

Stammering out his reply, the skeleton warrior positioned himself in front of Serea, using the soul fire within its skull to scan the surroundings.

At that moment, the two lackeys standing guard outside also noticed something odd.

The rattling noise inside sounded unusual, and snippets of words like 'Queen' could be heard as well—did Boss have those particular interests?

"Boss, are you alright in there?!"

One lackey called out anxiously from outside; he had not yet entered, but upon hearing his voice, the skeleton warrior jerked its head toward the wooden door. With its keen sense for the living, it quickly locked onto the enemy.

Crack!

The skeleton's jaw rattled a few times, then it let out a howl.

"For...the Queen!"

Brandishing its sword, the skeleton charged outside, prompting Serea to shout, "Holy crap!"

Hell, this thing is so fierce! There are three people out there and it just rushed out by itself!

System: All undead revived by the host possess absolute loyalty. Any creature that could threaten you is considered their enemy.

The system chimed in with an explanation.

Hearing the howl from within, the guard outside turned pale, fearing for his boss's safety. He swung the door open—only to find himself face to face with the skeleton warrior.

As the door opened and he was met with the skeleton's blazing soul-fire gaze, the thug froze in shock, unable to react. But this moment of stupefaction gave the skeleton an ideal opening.

With a swift thrust, the sword plunged into the man's chest, and then, with both hands, the skeleton wrenched the blade sideways.

Blade Rend!

Under this tremendous force, the intruder's heart was instantly shredded—he collapsed to the ground, filled with bitter regret, never understanding what had just occurred.

"F... Fourth!"

Seeing their fourth comrade killed the instant the door opened, the remaining two shouted together.

"Bastard, I'll—"

One of them tried to rush inside to deal with the killer, but before they could, the skeleton warrior strode out first.

"Liv...living presence, threa...threat persists!"

Deeming the two before it as enemies, the simple-minded skeleton warrior assumed a fighting posture, preparing to unleash its other skill—Thrust.

Upon seeing the skeleton step out, the two were bewildered. Why would a monster, and an undead at that, be inside?

They could only guess, but facing the sudden appearance of an undead, Fear gripped their hearts, for such creatures were natural enemies to the living!

As fear was born, a wisp of faint purple mist leaked from both men's bodies and surged towards Serea in the wooden hut.

This power is—

System: Fear Crystal in production.

This was the energy required by the Abyssal Altar; as long as fear was generated, it would suffice.

Watching the purple wisps stream into the Abyssal Altar, Serea had an idea.

She wondered just how much fear these two could provide!

Deciding on a plan, Serea stepped out of the hut and stopped the skeleton warrior in its tracks.

Although the skeleton suddenly ceased moving, the two remaining mercenaries dared not let their guard down for even a moment. They stood ready, blades drawn, watching the skeleton warily.

If it had been an ordinary skeleton, perhaps the two of them working together could have managed...

But just as one prepared to attack, a young girl emerged from the hut. Staring at her, both men's eyes widened—something felt very wrong.

A skeleton had suddenly appeared, their fourth was dead, their boss's fate was unknown and likely grim, and yet, this girl had walked out unscathed?

Gazing upon her, her eyes reflected a blood-red light. Witnessing this, the second-ranked mercenary among them finally spoke up.

"You... You're not human. What are you?!"

He voiced their suspicion. Serea responded with a wicked smile.

"What am I?"

Serea activated the skill 'Blood Absorption'.

A stream of blood poured from the fourth man's corpse, gathering into her palm. As she gazed at the thick droplet formed from the extracted blood, Serea smiled with satisfaction.

System: Blood Crystal acquired.

System: Conversion complete. Blood Crystal converted into 8 points of Dark Power.

Devoid of all blood, the fourth became a desiccated corpse—shrunken and rigid, a truly terrifying sight.

Seeing this firsthand, the two mercenaries' faces were etched with terror; the purple mist erupting from within them only grew denser.

System: Fear Crystal acquired.

This confirmed Serea's theory: the greater their fear, the more fear crystals she would obtain—so...

They stared at her in horror, muttering under their breath.

"M-monster!"

As they spoke, the two of them stumbled backward, shaking, clearly ready to flee.

"Monster, is it?... Heh heh."

But it wasn't over yet. Serea activated Undead Revival once more.

To their utter horror, the fourth man's corpse stood up, shedding its putrid flesh to reveal yet another skeleton warrior. After picking up a weapon, another terrifying monster had been born.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

"I quite like your compliment!"

With that, both skeletons rattled their jaws in a cacophony of 'crack crack' sounds that sent chills down the spines of the two survivors.

Then, as the two skeletons advanced step by step, the soul fire blazing in their eyes reflected the deep fear in the two men's hearts.

A thick miasma of purple mist surged from within the two, constantly pouring into the Abyssal Altar, soon condensing into yet another purple crystal.

System: Fear Crystal acquired.

In their eyes, Serea at that moment had become a demon cloaked in human skin.

Draining blood, resurrecting the dead—these were feats only high-ranking demons could perform. Facing such a terrifying being meant certain death.

"M-monster!"

With a scream, the two men turned and ran for their lives, abandoning even their weapons. One found his chainmail too heavy and immediately tore it off, casting it aside as they fled as fast as possible.

But would Serea let go of two ready-made 'soldiers'?

(To be continued)