Ambush

A group of ghouls blocked the retreat path behind them, causing the wolf pack to become agitated.

There were only ten ghouls, and behind them, some corpses remained.

These corpses were no different in appearance from the ghouls; the only difference was the absence of soul fire. Rhode had activated the soul fire of these corpses using necromancy, thereby transforming them into ghouls.

It wasn't that Rhode didn't want to activate the soul fire of all the ghouls, but rather that he had run out of Mana.

Before activating the ghouls' soul fire, Rhode had first switched his equipped title to [Necromancer], which increased his Necromancy skill level by one, equivalent to adding an extra Skill Point to Necromancy.

Thanks to Intermediate Necromancy, Rhode only consumed 1 Mana per ghoul when summoning them.

Originally, creating Undead Creatures using Necromancy required a large amount of Mana. Most of this Mana was used to modify the corpses' physical bodies, transforming them into undead species, with only a small portion used to activate the soul fire.

However, here, due to the sufficient Death Energy within the tomb, the physical modification of these corpses was nearly complete. They only needed their soul fire activated to be transformed into ghouls.

Rhode speculated that this was also the reason Alot had so many Undead Creatures. With the Death Energy provided by this tomb, which helped complete most of the Necromancy process, Alot only needed to provide the corpses and activate their soul fire.

Of course, the transformation within the tomb required a certain amount of time. That's why, after Rhode first woke up, he only saw a pile of nearly completed transformed corpses, but no Necromancer Apprentice.

The soul fire of low-level Undead Creatures couldn't produce any special effects; it only provided the instinct to kill the living. Coupled with the improved effects from Intermediate Necromancy, Rhode was able to awaken a ghoul by consuming only 1 Mana.

Even so, after awakening ten ghouls, Rhode's Mana was completely depleted.

If the corpses were to generate soul fire on their own without using Necromancy, even if their physical bodies reached the standard for Undead Creatures under the nourishment of Death Energy, it would take a long time to generate soul fire.

Amidst the agitated wolf pack, the wolf king quickly observed the surroundings. After confirming certain matters, the wolf king's gaze returned to Rhode. It sensed that the enemy before it was the one orchestrating all of this.

The wolf king let out a howl, and the wolf pack immediately ceased its commotion. As if understanding the wolf king's intent, the pack's gazes all turned to Rhode, and then they charged towards him.

The wolf king wanted to take this opportunity to kill Rhode. If they could kill Rhode, they still had a chance to escape the tomb.

Seeing the wolf pack's actions, Rhode issued a command through his mental imprint. The Skeleton Warrior beside him immediately stepped forward, raising its shield to face the approaching wolf pack.

Rhode himself stood behind the Skeleton Warrior, sword in hand, looking for an opportunity to strike.

Rhode certainly wouldn't choose to charge forward and clash head-on with the wolf pack. Having Undead Creatures and still engaging in a frontal assault was no different from fighting the wolf pack outside the tomb.

According to Rhode's estimation, excluding the wolf king, ten ghouls would be enough to deal with the remaining wolves. Rhode only needed to hold off the wolf pack here until the ghouls from behind arrived.

In the rear, the ghouls were left behind by the wolf pack due to their Speed and could only follow slowly, with no telling how long it would take them to catch up.

As the main tomb chamber was not spacious, the wolf pack had to defeat the Skeleton Warrior in front if they wanted to attack Rhode.

Originally, the Skeleton Warrior fought purely on instinct, and its instinctive reactions often gave enemies openings. But now, with Rhode's control and its own powerful stats, the Skeleton Warrior's strength had improved by more than a notch. The advantage of its strong stats could finally be utilized.

Upon initial contact, the Skeleton Warrior in front effectively blocked the wolf pack's attack.

Under Rhode's control, the Skeleton Warrior constantly kept its shield in front of its body, focusing on defending vital areas. Its sword only struck when the wolves tried to bite its leg bones.

The Skeleton Warrior was fearless of pain and injury. The damage from the wolves biting its leg bones alone would not be enough to kill it in a short time.

When facing the Skeleton Warrior, although the wolf pack had a numerical advantage, due to the narrowness of the tomb, only a few wolves could attack the Skeleton Warrior simultaneously to leave space for dodging.

The remaining wolves could only crowd at the entrance of the tomb. Although they desperately wanted to attack the enemy before them, they were unable to do so for the moment.

As the ghouls gradually approached, the wolves at the rear began to become disorganized, unsure whether to continue obeying the wolf king's command or prioritize attacking the enemies before them.

Rhode's attention was fully focused on controlling the Skeleton Warrior. With the combat experience provided by Rhode, the Skeleton Warrior seemed like another fearless Rhode, holding off the wolf pack in front.

Under Rhode's control, ordinary wolves not only failed to threaten the Skeleton Warrior but were instead repeatedly struck and injured.

Seeing the ghouls surrounding the wolf pack from behind, the wolf king knew it couldn't delay any longer and had to quickly find a way to deal with the enemy before it. Thus, it began to gather its magical abilities.

Seizing the opening after the Skeleton Warrior swung its sword, the wolf king spat out a Magic Arrow, shooting towards the Skeleton Warrior in front.

The Skeleton Warrior didn't have many vital spots. Since its skull contained the Skeleton Warrior's soul fire, the only fatal spot was its skull. Rhode had always made the Skeleton Warrior hold its shield to protect its upper body, preventing the wolf king's magic from hitting its cervical spine. Even if other parts were damaged, the Skeleton Warrior could still fight for some time.

In the beginning, Rhode had dispatched a Skeleton Warrior to block the approaching wolf pack, but it was quickly killed because the wolf king's magic hit its cervical spine, which was similar to how Rhode would kill a Skeleton Warrior by decapitation.

If it hadn't been hit in a vital spot by magic, the Skeleton Warrior could have held off the wolf pack for a long time with just their biting attacks.

The wolf king perhaps saw this as well. As the Skeleton Warrior's Iron Shield tightly defended its cervical spine, this Magic Arrow was not shot at the cervical spine but at its lower abdomen.

The Skeleton Warrior couldn't retract its attack in time and was hit by the Magic Arrow. If it were Rhode himself, he might have had a chance to dodge, but controlling it solely through a mental imprint did not allow the Skeleton Warrior to evade promptly.

Due to the nature of skeletal creatures, the Magic Arrow passed through where flesh and blood should have been, directly hitting the lower part of the Skeleton Warrior's spine.

With an explosion, the Skeleton Warrior fell to the ground. The spine connected its entire lower body, and upon being hit, it snapped directly, rendering the Skeleton Warrior immobile.

With just one spell, the wolf king had heavily injured the Skeleton Warrior.

As the passage was somewhat narrow, a single Skeleton Warrior could block the wolf pack outside the tomb. However, at the same time, the Skeleton Warrior also blocked Rhode, preventing him from attacking the wolf pack together with the Skeleton Warrior.

At this moment, the Skeleton Warrior fell, its health almost depleted. Seeing the wolf king's magic hit the Skeleton Warrior, the other wolves immediately attacked the downed Skeleton Warrior.

Just as a wolf was about to bite the fallen Skeleton Warrior's neck, a silver light flashed, a wolf's head fell, and blood splattered, dyeing the gray-white bones on the ground red. Rhode had made his move.