Hero Xignos (4)

"The operation has failed. We're retreating!"

At that moment, the bearded giant's face turned grim. He took a shot to the shoulder, and his battle axe slipped from his grasp. The other two companions at his side had also sustained injuries, especially the young man possessed by Talaga, whose body bore over a dozen wounds. Mutilated and losing a massive amount of blood, he nevertheless gritted his teeth and refused to fall. Such a display of toughness earned him the bearded giant's grudging respect, though the man had no idea that the youth was already dead. The only reason he could still move was that he was a living corpse; the moment Talaga's spiritual body detached, he would instantly collapse to the ground and become a corpse.

Things had reached this point, and any further thought of assassinating Viscount Paul and Vincent was out of the question. The bearded giant made a decisive split-second judgment and prepared to break through and retreat.

Yet breaking through was not so easily done. Green's iron-skinned zombies and hard-skin ghouls were no pushovers. Even if their close-combat abilities could not match the bearded giant in a one-on-one fight, they made up for it with sheer numbers. Backed up by the skeleton soldiers who lurked in the rear and fired continuously, they ground away a major portion of the bearded giant's fighting aura.

"This way! We're charging through—take out the necromancer first!" roared the bearded giant viciously. "Once we eliminate the source, these stinking corpses and piles of bones will be finished!"

Mid-sentence, disregarding his injured right shoulder, he let out a fierce roar. His body rapidly expanded, and black fur grew visibly from his skin as his lips protruded forward. Within a mere few seconds, he actually transformed into a robust giant bear standing