**10 minutes earlier:**
Vorak is fighting against five E rank goblins.
Each of them wore rough leather armor and carried short swords stained with blood.
One goblin stepped forward first, slashing his blade horizontally toward Vorak’s neck.
Clang!
Vorak raised his sword just in time, parrying the strike before driving a heavy punch straight into the goblin’s stomach.
"GRAAK!"
The goblin doubled over in pain.
At that exact moment, a second goblin seized the opportunity and swung toward Vorak’s head from the side.
Vorak quickly sidestepped.
Then—
**Crimson Fang.**
A crimson glow spread across his sword as blazing fire erupted along the blade. In one swift motion, Vorak swung downward.
Shhhk!
The second goblin’s head flew into the air before its body collapsed to the ground.
"KREEEK!"
The remaining four goblins screamed in rage at the death of their companion and charged toward him simultaneously.
Vorak is fighting enemies stronger than himself. Even with his strength, handling four E rank goblins at once is overwhelming.
Blades slashed across his body one after another, leaving deep wounds behind. Green blood dripped down his arms and chest, staining the ground beneath him.
Still, Vorak managed to injure one goblin’s sword arm, forcing it to retreat slightly.
That small opening gave him a brief moment to breathe.
Then Vorak noticed something in the distance.
A large group of E- rank goblins has cornered several wolves.
At the same time, the Deathfang Wolf pack is desperately trying to rescue them, but they themselves were trapped by countless F rank monsters and several E- rank enemies.
They could only watch helplessly.
Vorak’s eyes narrowed.
*I need to hurry... If they die, Master will be sad,* he thought.
"ROAAARRR!"
Another roar echoed throughout the battlefield.
Suddenly, Vorak’s entire body began burning with crimson flames.
### Crimson Lion Berserk [E]
The crimson lion tattoo across his body started glowing intensely as violent flames erupted around him.
Boom!
Vorak exploded forward with terrifying speed, no slower than a true E rank monster.
"Phucchi!"
One goblin died before it could even react, its upper body separating instantly from its waist.
The remaining goblins froze in panic after seeing Vorak engulfed in flames and their companion slaughtered so effortlessly.
"KREEEE!"
They screamed for nearby goblins to come help them attack together.
But Vorak’s aura has already reached its peak.
The surrounding F rank goblins couldn’t even force themselves to approach him. Their legs trembled violently under the pressure.
Even the E- rank goblins felt fear creeping into their minds.
The aura of the Crimson Lion completely overwhelmed them.
Shhhk!
Vorak beheaded another goblin before activating his skill once more.
"Crimsion Fang"
This time, Vorak slashed horizontally toward the remaining three goblins.
A massive crimson arc burst out from his sword in a spreading cone of fire.
BOOOOM!
The glowing slash instantly cleaved all three goblins in half.
But it didn’t stop there.
The burning crimson arc continued traveling across the battlefield for nearly thirty meters, tearing through dozens of goblins in its path before finally fading into the air.
Vorak felt his energy draining rapidly, but he didn’t stop moving.
He immediately charged toward the trapped undead wolves.
But the moment he turned—
He froze.
All ten undead wolves were dead.
Their bodies lay torn apart across the battlefield, black blood staining the ground beneath them.
And standing in the middle of the carnage is a massive black centipede nearly ten feet long.
Its countless legs twitched sharply against the earth while dark purple venom dripped from its fangs.
A savage E+ rank aura exploded from its body.
At that same moment, Luke suddenly felt the connection with his undead break apart one after another.
His eyes instantly snapped toward Vorak’s location.
Then he saw it.
Luke’s expression immediately turned ugly.
"Another E+ rank monster... and this one isn’t a goblin," Luke said through gritted teeth.
"What the hell is going on here...?"
"SCREEEECHHH!"
The giant centipede noticed Vorak staring at it and released a piercing screech filled with killing intent.
The next second, it suddenly dove underground.
BOOM!
The earth exploded apart as the monster burrowed forward at terrifying speed.
Even beneath the ground, Vorak could clearly sense it rushing straight toward him.
At the same time, all the strongest fighters on the battlefield felt the terrifying E+ rank aura spreading across the area.
Fear crept into their expressions.
"Another one?" Ryan Holt muttered with a confused expression.
"Someone is hiding behind all of this... controlling that insect," Mark Stone said, his face turning serious.
"It seems the Kingdom will need to strengthen its defenses," Elena added calmly, as if she already understood what is happening.
"Miss, the situation is getting out of control," Orion said with an ugly expression.
"A fourth party has appeared."
The mage woman narrowed her eyes slightly before pressing a small button attached to the brooch on her chest.
"Don’t worry. I already informed the Master. She should arrive soon," she said.
Orion finally let out a small sigh of relief.
"But... will he actually be able to defeat it?" he asked while staring at the battlefield.
Luke’s monsters were already fighting enemies stronger than themselves.
And now another E+ rank monster has appeared.
After hesitating for a moment, Orion spoke again.
"Should we help them, Miss?"
"No need," she replied normally.
"He wants to swallow whole army himself, so this problem is his to handle."
### Luke POV:
"Vorak, hold on and focus on defense!" I shouted through our mental link.
Vorak turned toward me briefly and nodded before tightening his grip on his damaged sword.
I needed more power.
I immediately checked my skills.
### Grave Strength (F)
A buff that converts nearby death energy into raw physical enhancement.
Not enough.
I quickly opened the system shop and searched through the available skills. Soon, I found three abilities perfect for this situation and purchased them instantly.
Without hesitation, I activated all of them at once.
### Necrotic Veil (F)
A thin layer of death energy surrounds the caster.
* Slightly reduces incoming physical damage
### Death Mark (F)
A cursed sigil is placed on a target.
* Slightly increases damage taken from undead and necro skills
And finally—
### Hollow Body (F)
The body becomes partially undead-like for a short duration.
Hollow Body is exactly the kind of survival skill I desperately needed right now.
With my current mana reserves, I could maintain all these buffs simultaneously for around ten minutes.
The moment I activated them, death energy began wrapping around my body like black mist.
Even my bone armor slowly darkened.
My skin turned pale—almost corpse-like—as if I have suffered massive blood loss.
Boom!
I burst forward at terrifying speed.
I am now faster than a normal E rank monster, though still slightly below an E+ rank.
At the same time—
BOOOOM!
The giant centipede suddenly erupted from the ground beneath Vorak.
But Vorak has already reacted.
He leaped sideways just before the creature’s massive jaws burst from the earth.
The centipede screeched violently as Vorak counterattacked, slashing his sword against its black exoskeleton.
CLANG!
A metallic sound echoed across the battlefield.
The monster’s shell is as hard as steel.
The centipede retaliated instantly, swinging its enormous pincers toward Vorak.
Vorak raised his sword to block.
CRACK!
Cracks immediately spread across the blade.
After all, he is still using an F+ rank weapon. The fact it has survived this long is already a miracle.
I raised my hand.
"Death Mark."
"Necro Curse."
Dark mana gathered around my fingers before shooting toward the centipede.
A small skull made entirely of death energy appeared above the monster’s head.
It let out a sinister laugh before diving straight into the creature’s forehead.
"SCREEEECH!"
The centipede screamed in pain as death energy invaded its body.
But it isn’t over yet.
Black curse marks spread across its massive body like parasites clinging to flesh, slowly weakening it from within.
Still, because the monster is a higher rank than me, both debuffs have their duration reduced significantly.
Vorak finally gained a moment to breathe.
Flames ignited around his damaged sword once more.
### Crimson Fang
This time the flames were weaker since he couldn’t afford to pour too much mana into the attack.
Shhhk!
His blade sliced through one of the centipede’s pincers.
"SKREEEECH!"
The centipede smashed through the battlefield in agony, overturning corpses and sending shattered rocks flying everywhere.
Vorak barely managed to dodge the attacks.
I immediately tossed him a mana potion and a healing potion.
Sadly, because of my True Core, ordinary mana potions barely restored any of my own mana at all.
After drinking the potion, Vorak charged back into battle.
At the same time, I joined the fight directly with my Ivory Spear.
Thanks to all the debuffs weakening the centipede, my attacks were finally capable of piercing its exoskeleton.
The battle continued fiercely for nearly five minutes.
Again and again, the monster tried to overwhelm us with brute force, but its movements gradually slowed under the effects of my curses.
Finally—
BOOOOM!
The centipede collapsed to the ground.
Dead.
"Huff..."
I immediately deactivated all my buff skills.
The strain they placed on my body is becoming unbearable.
Without wasting time, I stored the centipede’s corpse.
Then—
"ROOOARRR!"
An exhausted roar echoed nearby.
I turned and saw Vargan standing alone over the corpse of the Hobgoblin Warlord.
He has won.
But the price is also brutal.
One of his eyes was gone, and a massive gash tore across his stomach so deeply that parts of his internal organs were visible.
I quickly used some mana to stabilize his condition, barely managing to stop the bleeding.
As I looked around the battlefield, I noticed the remaining goblins fleeing back into the forest.
The stragglers were being hunted down by my undead.
My expression relaxed slightly.
Still... that centipede continued bothering me.
Something about this entire situation felt wrong.
"We have to move," I said immediately.
"Start throwing the corpses into the portal."
Everyone hurried to obey.
If another enemy attacked us now, we would be forced to retreat and abandon all this loot.
That would be unbelievably painful.
An entire hour passed before the undead finally cleared the battlefield completely.
Fortunately, no one attacked during that time.
Before leaving, I gave the village one final glance.
Two E+ rank auras were still present there.
But neither side made a move against us.
*Are they wary of my hidden cards?*
A faint smile appeared on my lips.
I mounted an undead wolf and headed toward the forest.
It is finally time to check my gains.
"I’m rich—"