Slaughter Blossoming in the Dark

Slaughter Blossoming in the Dark

Under the cover of night, Raul led the Mutated Skeleton along a road through the wilderness.

Amber Xiu's Ancient Castle stood far from any town. There was not even any starlight tonight, so Raul could only navigate by the ghostly flames in the Mutated Skeleton's eyes.

He walked slowly along the way, not only because he could not see the road clearly, but also because he was conflicted.

He did not want to help the lich capture living people as experimental materials, especially not those townsfolk fleeing disaster. The Lord's sudden Tax Increase had ruined countless families. Raul himself was one of the refugees, so he understood their suffering. How could he bear to do such a thing?

But if he did not, what would happen to his sister, Isabelle?

Just as he hesitated, hoofbeats sounded ahead, accompanied by the flickering glow of torches.

Raul immediately hid by the roadside. He did not even need to get closer to know that this was the Lord's army, sent out to capture people.

Sure enough, a Knight in soft Leather Armor approached with several armed retainers. By the light of the torches, Raul could see them clearly. There were ten people in total, and they had brought hunting dogs.

Raul lay in the grass beside the road, barely daring to breathe. There were ten of them, including a mounted Knight. Though the Knight was not wearing heavy armor, even without armor, a Knight was not someone a commoner like Raul could handle alone. All he could do now was pray that the hunting dogs had not picked up his scent.

The wilderness was filled with all kinds of smells. They might not necessarily find him.

But things did not go as he wished. The hunting dogs seemed to have fixed on Raul's location. They veered off the road and headed in his direction, gradually letting out low growls.

Raul knew the Lord's dogs well. He knew those beasts had noticed his presence. Soon, they would rush over with the people behind them. Then, unarmed as he was, Raul would surely be captured—or even killed on the spot.

Wait. He did not seem to be completely unarmed.

Raul gripped the gem-studded bone in his hand and pressed the Attack Gem while the vicious dogs were still more than ten meters away.

Two faint green lights appeared in the darkness. The hunting dogs that had been growling low as if they had encountered something terrifying suddenly stopped in their tracks. Before their handler could figure out what was in the dark, the green-glowing thing had already pounced onto one of the dogs with astonishing speed.

In the shifting firelight, a strangely shaped, demon-like creature could be seen crouching atop the hunting dog. The scythes on its arms slashed wildly, disemboweling the dog in the blink of an eye.

Just as the dog handler was about to cry out, he saw the monster pounce at him, moving nearly as fast as the hunting dogs he had raised himself. He hurriedly dodged aside, but the monster was smarter than a dog. After missing its leap, it charged directly toward the others behind him.

The night was too dark, and a few torches were nowhere near enough to reveal the monster's movements. Before long, some unfortunate man was caught by it. Its scythes sliced from trouser leg to chest and abdomen. Thin cloth could not stop the blades from piercing through, and though the monster was small, it was stronger than a human. One strike could even punch through ribs.

The monster was clever as well. It never lingered in a fight. After pouncing on someone and stabbing them a few times, it immediately moved on. Once it caught someone, it would climb up from their trouser cuffs. Its sharp scythes stabbed into flesh like ice picks striking ice, becoming supports for it to climb higher.

Such simple, repetitive movements dealt enormous damage to the human body. Once someone panicked and fell to the ground, they died even faster, because the monster would swiftly find the throat and slit it in a single stroke.

The mounted Knight tried to pursue it, only to realize that the longsword in his hand could not reach this creature, which was even smaller than a hunting dog.

Before he could dismount, three of his retainers had already died. The torches dropped to the ground quickly went out, making the surroundings even darker.

In the darkness, the two green points of light seemed like the gaze of the God of Death. The Knight lost the courage to dismount and fight, turning his horse and fleeing instead.

But the slaughter continued. The Knight could escape on horseback, but people on two legs could not outrun a Mutated Skeleton as fast as a hunting dog. People could lose their way in the dark, but the skeleton would not. The perception of Soul Fire was completely unaffected by light.

After scream after scream, this seemingly formidable group was utterly defeated.

Raul rose from the grass and looked at the corpses strewn across the ground, his hands trembling.

Having lost its target, the Mutated Skeleton automatically returned to follow mode and slowly walked toward Raul. But it frightened the man into retreating several steps, and he nearly fell to the ground.

Looking at the Mutated Skeleton drenched in blood, Raul trembled all over.

Undead Creatures were this powerful? Then how terrifying must the lich who could create such skeletal monsters be?

What exactly had he gotten himself involved with?

Raul was filled with regret. He should never have climbed over that damned fence. Isabelle had tried to stop him then, but he had not listened at all.

It was too late for regrets now. If he wanted his sister to live, he had to carry out the lich's orders. But when Raul looked at the corpses on the ground, another idea came to him. Corpses could be used as experimental materials too, could they not? These lackeys of the Lord would do just fine. There was no need to find other refugees.

But only six had died so far. He was still short of the required number.

Raul looked down at the Mutated Skeleton, now dark red in color, clenched his teeth, and said, "Isabelle, wait for me. I'll definitely come back and save you."

Inside the Ancient Castle, the girl named Isabelle was intently preparing Alchemical Potions. Amber Xiu watched for a while and discovered that she truly was an alchemy apprentice. She was not carelessly wasting his materials, so he was reassured and began studying the footage he had just received.

The controller in Raul's hand could not only command the Mutated Skeleton; it also had the effects of a Memory Crystal, allowing it to transmit footage to Amber Xiu in real time.

This had been a practical combat test. The genuine battle results proved that this Mutated Skeleton was stronger than ordinary skeletons. Still, several strokes of luck had contributed to such a clean victory. First, visibility had been low at night, putting humans without Darkvision at an innate disadvantage. In addition, the mounted man had been cowardly. Otherwise, if he had simply ridden around a couple of times, the force of the horse's hooves would have been enough to crush the Mutated Skeleton. It might not have had a chance to leap onto the horse's back.

But no matter what, a win was a win.

"Practical testing has proven that reducing unnecessary bone structures can significantly lower the consumption of soul energy. Fewer joints can produce better results. Although my Mutated Skeleton lacks the evolutionary potential of an ordinary skeleton and cannot gradually grow into a powerful individual like a Skeleton Knight, undead evolution was already an exceptionally rare miracle. Besides, the key feature of my creation is that it is cheap.

"Everyone has seen the entire experiment. With low-level souls of the same strength, it saves more than half the corpse materials while producing an individual with vastly greater combat power. In the current environment of inflated Magic Materials prices, this kind of Mutated Skeleton should have very broad market prospects..."

Amber Xiu re-recorded his introduction, then opened the Necronomicon and sent the footage into the chat group behind the tome.

[Tiga Ultraman: Custom orders accepted. Favorable prices available.]

(End of Chapter)