The sword-wielding Skeleton Warrior covered more than five meters in just two strides. A black afterimage flashed through the air, and in the blink of an eye, it was before Punk. Its longsword wreathed in black Death Qi had already been raised high, waiting only for one more charging step to slash fiercely at Punk.
But Punk's spell was completed first. The Apprentice Level summoning spell—Summon Beast—was cast with precision. A Great Brown Bear, long constructed within his soul, leaped from a brilliantly glowing magic circle and landed directly in the Skeleton Warrior's path. The enormous bear stood a full three meters tall, covered in thick fur that looked capable of taking a cannonball without much trouble. It had gleaming fangs, razor-sharp claws, and bulging muscles visible even beneath its hide. As it appeared, it let out a savage, ferocious roar. Its presence was truly imposing.
Although the Skeleton Warrior retained some physical memories from its former body, its low Soul Level and intelligence gave it reaction speed that could not keep up with its movements. Put simply, it was clumsy. When it saw a massive monster suddenly appear before it, it clearly froze for a moment. Its charge, which had never paused, sent its entire skeleton crashing straight into the Great Brown Bear blocking its way. Under the powerful recoil, it staggered rapidly backward and tumbled head over heels several times.
The giant bear, endowed with a simulated soul, saw its "prey" fall to the ground and actually let out an excited roar, ready to rush forward and "finish it off." Punk hurriedly ordered it to stop its suicidal behavior. "Can't you see all those skeletons over there? Rushing in to finish it off now—are you afraid you won't draw enough aggro?" Punk was genuinely distressed by the intelligence of this summoned creature. Without its master's commands, it could only act on instinct. It might have been a decent meat shield, but it was certainly not a helper "worth using."
Punk cast another Minor Telekinetic Projectile at the fallen Skeleton Warrior. This time, the skeleton had just sat up and still had no idea what had happened, so it failed to evade the spell again. The flying stone, its trajectory corrected by the system, shot precisely into the skeleton's eye socket, where green flames flickered. The low-level Soul Flame, lacking the protection of its skull, was incredibly fragile. Under Punk's attack, enhanced threefold by incantation, gestures, and casting materials, the sickly green Soul Flame was immediately extinguished. The longsword in the skeleton's "claws" and the black aura around its body quickly vanished as well—this undead had become nothing more than an unmoving pile of bones again.
Meanwhile, the priest formed magnificent little hammers from holy light, which was particularly effective against undead creatures, and struck the skeleton's body from every direction as though forging iron. Before long, the skeleton had been reduced to a pile of shattered bones. At the same time, however, its armor had become dented and warped from the repeated blows. Watching from nearby, Punk's heart ached. That armor smashed apart by holy light was not armor at all—it was clearly gold coins waving goodbye to him! Armor damaged and twisted beyond recognition certainly could not be sold anymore. It could only be broken down and recycled as raw material, but if those materials were worth even one-fifth of an intact suit of armor, that would already be fortunate.
"What a wasteful woman!" Punk gritted his teeth at the violent female priest. Punk, who had always believed that "waste is a crime," was now watching a deranged priestess commit crime after crime with the momentum of "purifying everything." It was no wonder his anger surged.
However, Punk soon had no time to be angry. The skeleton being "purified" by the female priest clearly was unwilling to die as mere cannon fodder.
Just as the last remaining shattered skull of the Skeleton Warrior was about to be "purified" by a holy light warhammer, its Soul Flame—already dim and flickering like a candle in the wind—suddenly erupted with an abnormally brilliant sickly green radiance. A roar that could not be heard by the ears, yet could be clearly sensed by the soul, spread from within the Skeleton Warrior's soul. The despair and fury contained in that final soul fluctuation instantly stirred resonance among the undead throughout the forest.
Undead were such creatures. Sometimes, their internal slaughter was no less savage than the vicious clashes of abyssal devils. Yet at other times, they displayed unbelievable unity and cooperation. Now, with that final roar before death, the undead throughout the forest were awakened. The green lights in their eye sockets ignited one after another. Hundreds of undead released soul fluctuations filled with rage, and the sound that struck directly at the soul even gave Punk the illusion of deafening noise at the spiritual level.
Large groups of undead turned their heads, staring fixedly at Punk and the priest with eerie, hollow green gazes. For a moment, the entire forest fell silent.
But as the first undead silently roared and charged toward the young priestess, all the undead began to move. They marched against Punk and the priestess!
"I will leave for now, but this is absolutely not the end. I, Nimia, swear before the Lord of Dawn that I will return to purify these evil undead!" Seeing a large number of undead, led by four Skeleton Warriors, beginning to encircle both herself and Punk, the female priest finally abandoned any thought of attacking and decided to retreat for the moment.
But things were not going to be as smooth as the young priestess imagined!
"My brave Miss Priest, as a follower of the Lord of Dawn, how can you retreat before evil? Let me help you stand 'steadfastly' on the front line of Resisting Evil!" Just as the female priest turned to withdraw, Punk's gloomy voice seemed to drift from the frigid underworld. At the same time, large numbers of vines suddenly burst from the ground and tightly bound the priest's calves.
"Are you insane? At a time like this..." The priest staggered as the vines tugged at her. In the few seconds of delay, a level-three Skeleton Warrior had already closed in on her. The female priest had no choice but to activate a defensive divine spell on her priestly robe to block it. She had never expected Punk to turn on her at such a critical moment, but when she saw him with half his face hidden beneath the shadow of his hood, the disbelief on her face immediately became shock, then swiftly turned into fury.
At this moment, Punk and his summoned brown bear were enveloped in strange ripples, giving off a flawless undead aura without the slightest defect. The mage's aura that had been so distinct moments ago had vanished without a trace. Because of this, no undead came looking for trouble with Punk. Every one of them swarmed toward the priest, and not a single undead even paused beside Punk!
"Apprentice Level conjuration spell—Aura Disguise. As expected, it truly is the spell with the best disguise effect among Apprentice Level spells!" A sinister smile curved Punk's lips. His figure in a dull mage robe looked even more grim and terrifying than the undead around him. After glancing at its master, even the hulking brown bear could not help shrinking back, lowering its head and remaining completely still!
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