Undead Ambush

The house, framed in white bones, looked like a simple thatched hut or wooden shack. Its roof was made from undead remains resembling human or beast hide. The house had two entrances, but no structure resembling a door at all. Civilization here apparently had not advanced to the point of producing privacy or personal space.

The walls were not completely sealed, so from outside, they could roughly make out the intelligent undead's figure.

—It sat motionless in the center of a platform made of corpses, holding a strange pose. Several clumps of gray-white flame drifted around it, making it look evil and mysterious.

For some reason, the mages who had quietly approached immediately thought of the scenes when they meditated.

"...That undead may be meditating. This is a good opportunity." The male mage lowered his voice and whispered, "In this state, its guard must be at its loosest."

Drawing on their own experiences while meditating, the other mages nodded as well, agreeing with this assessment.

Miles showed no reaction. He merely drew his dagger without a sound.

Their plan was simple. Miles would make the move, sneak in, and kill the undead creature in a single strike. If this undead was as thick-skinned and tough-fleshed as some corpse-aggregate monsters they had encountered before, then the mages waiting outside would attack and blast it to death with magic.

In short, they were still extremely confident. A battle group made up of top-tier dark mages and legendary mercenaries—even against the Pope, they vaguely felt they had the strength to fight.

"Collection of materials from the thirty-fourth undead... begin!"

And so, with that whisper, the mages used a massive boulder as cover, hiding behind it and constructing runes with their mental power, ready to strike at any moment.

At the same time, Miles