Ambush, Part One

The entrance to the tomb lay beneath the tree. According to Rhode's plan, he could sneak inside without the Wolf Pack noticing him.

But to Rhode's surprise, just as he reached the middle of the tree, the Wolf King—whether because it had sensed his presence or because wild beasts were extremely sensitive to danger—suddenly raised its head as it fed and stared straight at him.

The Wolf King let out a piercing howl. In the middle of the night, the sound carried incredibly far. The surrounding wolves stopped eating and turned toward it.

As the Wolf King howled, Rhode didn't waste a moment.

Now that he'd been spotted, there was no point in staying hidden. He leaped straight down from the middle of the tree toward the tomb entrance, rolled upon landing to absorb most of the impact, then sprang up and raced deeper into the tomb without looking back.

He hadn't run even ten meters before the Wolf King charged into the tomb behind him.

The Wolf King's howl drew the other wolves together. They hesitated at the entrance, pacing around uncertainly, but in the end they charged into the tomb after their king.

The passage inside the tomb wasn't very long. The first time around, Rhode had needed to watch his footing and deal with Undead Creatures as he went, yet it had still taken him little time to get through.

In a matter of seconds, Rhode, running at full speed, passed the spot where he had killed the Skeleton Warrior earlier. The place where the Walking Corpses lay was not far ahead.

Suddenly, Rhode shuddered as he ran, a chill of dread washing over him. The heightened perception granted by his scouting skill reached its limit. The hair on his body stood on end, as though he were in grave danger.

Rhode whipped around and saw the Wolf King charging after him. It opened its mouth and gathered magical energy, then formed a Magic Arrow and fired it at him at tremendous speed.

Rhode hurriedly took a shield from his Space Ring. To avoid slowing down, he threw it directly into the Magic Arrow's path.

The Magic Arrow struck the shield with a thunderous crash. The shield was knocked away and hit the ground, its surface covered in cracks.

Though Rhode had drawn and thrown the shield as quickly as possible, it had inevitably slowed him down. The distance between him and the Wolf King had clearly narrowed.

Rhode didn't bother conserving his scrolls. He pulled out a Magic Arrow scroll and tore it open. The tattered scroll fell to the ground, useless now.

A Magic Arrow formed in the air and shot toward the Wolf King. Since it had been cast from a scroll, it was neither as bright nor as fast as the Magic Arrow the Wolf King had cast.

Rhode had enough mana to cast a Magic Arrow himself, but he chose to use a scroll instead so he could save his strength for Soul Summoning.

The Wolf King slowed and dodged to the side, evading the Magic Arrow. Its detour was brief, but it gave Rhode enough time to cover a long stretch at full speed.

The Wolf King picked up speed and continued its pursuit.

As Rhode pressed on, the passage narrowed. At last, he saw the Skeleton Warrior ahead.

He realized he had returned to the place where he had first awakened. Corpses were scattered all around him.

The Skeleton Warrior spotted Rhode at the same time and raised its sword to strike.

Rhode fixed his gaze on the Soul Fire in its eye sockets. After mastering Mental Mark, he could read the simple emotions expressed by Soul Fire.

Resentment, unwillingness, bloodlust, a desire to kill... All kinds of emotions burned within the Skeleton Warrior's Soul Fire. Only one thing was missing: a will of its own.

"Using [Mental Mark]..."

"You are attempting to control a first-tier Undead Creature: Skeleton Warrior."

"Resolving will check..."

"You have successfully controlled Skeleton Warrior! Your Spirit attribute is reduced by 0.3 for the duration of Mental Mark!"

Rhode's vision blurred, and he felt as though a small part of his mind had vanished. At the same time, a strange connection formed in his mind, linking him to the Skeleton Warrior before him.

He felt that he could order the Skeleton Warrior to do anything.

The Skeleton Warrior lowered the sword it had raised to strike. Seeing that the Wolf King was about to catch up, Rhode ordered it to hold the Wolf King off.

The other Skeleton Warrior should be in the chamber behind him. Rather than enter the chamber and control it right away, Rhode turned his attention to the corpses around him...

The Wolf King arrived and engaged the Skeleton Warrior. For a time, neither could gain the upper hand.

Unlike Rhode's flesh-and-blood body, skeletal Undead Creatures had a huge advantage against wolves.

The Skeleton Warrior had no flesh and didn't need to worry about being wounded. The Wolf King couldn't bite through the bones in its legs, so it couldn't hinder its movements by injuring it. Instead, it had to dodge the Skeleton Warrior's sweeping sword.

The Skeleton Warrior's base attributes were high, ranking near the top among first-tier creatures. If its sword landed cleanly, the Wolf King would be in trouble.

The Wolf King was a higher tier than the Skeleton Warrior, but their opposing traits kept it from defeating the Skeleton Warrior right away.

While the Wolf King and the Skeleton Warrior fought, Rhode entered the chamber behind him to control the other Skeleton Warrior.

By then, the Wolf Pack had finally caught up and joined the Wolf King in attacking the Skeleton Warrior.

The wolves had a huge numerical advantage. The Skeleton Warrior managed to strike only a few of them before the Wolf King seized an opening left by one of its swings and hit its neck with a Magic Arrow.

After killing the Skeleton Warrior, the Wolf King led the pack over the pile of corpses and toward the chamber behind it.

Rhode stood inside the chamber with his weapon and the other Skeleton Warrior, as if deliberately waiting for the Wolf Pack to enter. There was none of the urgency he'd shown when first entering the tomb. Instead, a faint, cold smile played on his face.

The Wolf King's animal instincts warned it that something was wrong. Before it could howl and direct the wolves around it, the pack had already begun to grow restless.

A large number of Walking Corpses had appeared behind the Wolf Pack.

When it had passed this spot earlier, the Wolf King had noticed the corpses scattered around but hadn't paid them any mind. Just like the bodies outside, they hadn't seemed worth worrying about. A wild beast's intelligence made it difficult for the Wolf King to be wary of corpses lying on the ground.

Now the corpses had risen, their bodies slumped at strange angles as they closed in around the Wolf Pack.

The Walking Corpses had appeared because Rhode had used Soul Summoning on the bodies laid out here. After casting Soul Summoning, he had immediately used Mental Mark to take control of them.

Using Mental Mark, Rhode had ordered the Walking Corpses to remain still. Only after the Wolf Pack had passed them without noticing did he make them rise.

From the start, Rhode had never intended to let a single wolf escape. To keep the pack from fleeing once it sensed danger, he had come up with this plan.

With the Walking Corpses blocking their retreat, Rhode would slaughter the Wolf Pack right here!