“For the all that is holy!” I shouted as I dashed at a speed near my full limits while trying to look heroic —still leaving something in the tank in case the death knights decided to use the opportunity to intervene, whether targeting me or the girls with the hopes of distracting me— and brought down my impressive looking axe to the head of the nearest zombie.

And I cast an undead bane —which I decided to call the useful mixture of light magic and life energy I generated through the biomancy— as I slammed my axe on the nearest zombie, while the explosion killed several more, clearing out a small opening for me.

[-9 Mana]

After that, I started cleaving through the horde of zombies as they barely bothered to attack me, determined to reach the glowing lines of the wards I had created. I responded with another undead bane, forcing the zombies to spread further to avoid the explosions, but ultimately slowing their journey.

[-8 Mana]

I did my best to look disappointed in their strategy journey as I cleaved through the zombies, the axe swinging desperately with its momentum, leaving several zombies in its wake with every swing, their limited mobility making them an easy target.

My desperate defense confirmed the hopelessness of the situation for the necromancers that were responsible for the assault, it seemed, because it didn’t take long for them to add another large group of zombies to the attack, committing further to their strategy.

From the start of the attack addition of the second group, barely thirty seconds had passed, but for me, every second was gold. As my mana refilled, I started to feel more confident. At least, I felt like I had a fighting chance even if they realized my subterfuge.

[Mana: 2141 / 7595]

That didn’t mean that I abandoned my ploy, of course. On the contrary, I decided to commit even further in my desperate defense, feeling comfortable in investing some mana for better returns. I cast a fancy arcana spell on the axe before throwing it on to the army that stood between me and the wounded death knight, and cast another undead bane at the impact point, clearing a large group of undead in the process, and leaving several stronger ones hopelessly wounded.

[-241 Mana]

Then, I dashed forward, grabbing the axe halfway, and reducing the glow of the fake runes that covered its surface, but leaving enough glow to convince them that it still had a few charges left.

For the observers, it looked like I had just spent an expandable ability to force a fight between me and the death knight. Technically, it was a risky move. If the two death knights had pulled out from their hiding place and ambushed me, but I was betting on the fact that Zokras cared more about the death knights than the rest of his army.

Just as I expected, rather than facing me, the wounded death knight pulled deeper into the army, leaving me to face against an impressive number of stronger undead minions, including skeleton knights, monstrous creatures made from disgusting flesh, and occasional bone dragons swooping from the sky, each destroyed with a swing of my axe —which might not be a good weapon, forty-six points of strength that were behind it, swinging it with a merciless speed, was no joke.

I didn’t bother channeling the impact of my kills to Cornelia, as currently, my mana was far too precious trying to do something I could easily replicate with my mana later on thanks to my newest level up.

Just like that, another forty seconds passed as I cut through an impressive number of undead, but not without a cost, mostly in the form of an impressive number of wounds I had collected as I tried to push through the horde with apparent desperation.

[-193 Mana]

[-421 HP]

[Mana: 2716 / 7595]

Unfortunately, as beneficial as my ploy was, it was hard to continue indefinitely. Ultimately, necromancers might be evil, selfish, and reprehensible, but that didn’t mean that they were completely idiotic. Even with their attention on my reckless assault toward the death knights, they soon noticed that the distraction of the runes had little effect.

Luckily, their hesitancy meant that rather than attacking with full force, they decided to send a couple of low-level necromancers to test them from a closer distance —and having a small argument in the process— giving me even more time. Which was welcome, because as I cast another detection spell, I noticed the two death knights finally leaving their hiding spot.

[-14 Mana]

One advantage of having a huge army was that it created a convenient hiding spot for any high-level undead that wanted to reach their target without being noticed. Well, against anyone without a conveniently superior detection spell.

Ambushes were a curious thing. Delivered correctly, they were a strategic miracle, enabling the delivery of extreme destruction, far above the potential the attackers might carry. But paradoxically, once detected, the supposed multiplier turned into a deadly rug around their feet, waiting to be pulled.

And two death knights, hidden inside a huge horde of zombies to conceal their presence fitted perfectly to the situation. If they had been successful in their sneaking attempt, even if I was under the perfect condition, I doubted I could handle them without significant cost.

At least, when they had a perfectly disposable army to back them up.

Unfortunately for Zokras’ precious death knight, the hypothetical was different than the reality. I waited until they were in the middle of the army, both away from any cover that they could use to blunt the damage, and the army around themselves crowded enough to actually prevent them moving efficiently.

“About time,” I cried in exultation even as I threw the axe once more, this time without bothering to charge the axe. More importantly, I started channeling a devastating, overcharged another undead bane spell, much stronger, but didn’t let go immediately, because the wounded death knight stopped escaping, and stood its ground.

The army around itself pulled away, bestowing it with a movement range to dodge. From my previous experience with them, I was well aware that death knights were deceptively fast enough to dodge any ranged attempt from my part without obstruction, and it was preparing to dodge.

I raised my axe, letting the axe shatter as I pointed the remains toward the third one, giving every indication that I was going to aim at him as I used the majority of my mana, once again, at the risk of depleting myself.

[-1492 Mana]

But the spell went the opposite direction.

To their credit, the ambushing death knights reacted the reversal even better than I expected. Rather than trying to push away through the horde of zombies —which was something certainly in their power, but the fraction of a second they would lose in the process made dodging impossible— they got even tighter in a defensive pose, trying to maximize their defense.

Still, even with the defensive effort, their fate would have been sealed if it wasn’t for the intervention of the other necromancers. They were smart enough to wait in preparation, and my sudden spell forced most of them to shield the death knights from the sudden rush of light energy. Due to the nature of their mana, it wasn’t the most effective way of spending mana, especially in a hurry, but considering the number I was facing, it was still enough for the death knights to get away from my spell relatively unscathed.

I would have loved to take both of them with one spell, of course, but failing that wasn’t the end of the game for me. Not even close. Ignoring the flare of mana behind as the necromancers tried to form an offensive spell to prevent me from attacking the two death knights as they recovered, I pushed forward toward the third one, alone and wounded, exposed deliberately to enable an ambush that was conveniently disabled. More than happy to educate my enemies against the perils of strategic commitment. The damaged death knight tried to retreat, but with the extensive damage it suffered earlier, it was noticeably slower.

I caught him before it could disappear into the rest of the army. Its sword whipped fast like the deadly threat it was, streaking toward me, leaving a dark afterimage, but I met it with a glowing sword of light forcing it to solidify.

[-154 Mana]

It was an expensive way of creating a weapon, certainly, enough to drain me in less than a minute even if I was fresh. Luckily, I didn’t need a minute.

I didn’t even need a second.

After parrying its sword, its momentum reversed uselessly, I plunged the sword of light through its armor, into where its heart had been when it was alive, but now, housed the core of the necrotic array that sustained its unnatural unlife. I forced the sword to explode, finishing the death knight in the process.

[-219 Mana]

I would have loved to watch as the death knight disintegrated slowly. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to do so, not when I could feel two other death knights rushing toward me, the damage they received relatively small, both still very much a threat.

Rather than facing them directly, I cast an earth spell, raising a huge wall between us.

[-21 Mana]

It was a pointlessly weak spell, one that could barely resist the assault of a zombie, but after an attack that delivered great damage despite their impeccable defense, they were naturally wary of my tricks.

I continued to retreat back, creating a dozen earthen walls between, but just as they started breaking through them, I injected the fifth wall with some light magic as well, forcing it to destabilize, making them retreat. Therefore, I managed to safely arrive next to the girls, most of my mana depleted once more, but most importantly, the undead army in total chaos.

They played their trump card, only to fail spectacularly.

“That was amazing,” Cornelia gushed with a worshipful expression, impressed by the widespread destruction I committed with almost no visible cost. “Should we help as well,” she offered despite her depleted status.

“Nope,” I said even as I grabbed their waists and jumped with them, before spending most of my remaining mana to conjure a faux air elemental, forcing it to move as fast as possible before their spellcasters were too distracted with checking whether my earth constructs were trapped or not, too occupied to dispel it.

[-1229 Mana]

“I’m out of bluffs, it’s time to retreat…”

[Level: 31 Experience: 489893 / 496000

Strength: 46 Charisma: 58

Precision: 40 Perception: 42

Agility: 40 Manipulation: 45

Speed: 39 Intelligence: 49

Endurance: 39 Wisdom: 51

HP: 1477 / 6324 Mana: 312 / 7595 ]

SKILLS

Master Melee [100/100]

Master Tantric [100/100]

Master Biomancy [100/100]

Master Elemental [100/100]

Master Arcana [100/100]

Master Subterfuge [100/100]

Expert Speech [75/75]

Expert Craft [75/75]

PERKS

Mana Regeneration

Skill Share

Empowerment (1/1)

Teleportation

COMPANIONS

[Cornelia – Level 21/25]

[Helga – Level 17/21]