Regardless, the Assassins and the Nightshade Panthers had to shift and disappear into the shadows once more as the undead turned on them. The Assassins had only a small energy reservoir to infuse their attacks with unique properties. Thus, they shifted away from using the aether-expensive venom and executed surprise attacks with their newest Artifacts whenever their allies managed to cripple one of the nightmarish horses or centaurs.

They’re weaker than expected—never mind, I take that back. David grimaced and focused back on the battle as the centaurs shifted. Their attack pattern changed.

Blades grew from the centaurs’ arms, and bony spikes sprouted all over their bodies. Their changes weren’t instantaneous, but they were fast enough to take the Classers by surprise. They didn’t expect their enemies to transform and become abominations with far greater strength than before.

The centaurs accelerated and smashed into the nearby Classers, piercing armor and skin with their spike-covered bodies. David watched the spikes shift inside the Classers and considered intervening when the spikes turned into barbs. But he didn’t do anything, his eyes flicking left and right as the centaurs’ bladed arms whipped forward. The Classers tried to evade the incoming attacks, but the barbed spikes restrained them.

Frey was the only one who escaped the blade, yet she also suffered grievous injuries. She pushed herself away, ignoring the fortified barbs anchored in her flesh, and ripped chunks of flesh out of her body to avoid the bony blade coming for her head.

She survived, but was bleeding like a pig that had been stabbed one too many times. A glistening light shrouded her, and a glowing wisp materialized near Frey, healing her wounds slowly. David could have healed her instantaneously, but the wisp containing healing energy was not his [Healing Sphere]. It was the [Healing Light] from one of the Greater Clerics, or was that one of the Holy Priest’s Class Skills?

Not that the origin mattered. What mattered was that the Healers were doing a decent job. Several melee fighters were pushed to the brink of death by the centaurs’ sudden change of tactic, and their lives were still hanging by a thread. They were fortunate to have more than enough allies replacing them.

One of the poor souls stuck to a centaur’s barbs screamed at the top of his lungs until a massive, crimson-glowing figure smashed into the centaur, squashing the undead. The remaining centipedes moved as well, following Lilia’s orders with painstaking precision.

Even though the centipedes were Echos and part of David’s power, he didn’t think it would be fair to leave them out of battle. If anything, they had to fight the undead and defend themselves, given how their form would attract them en masse in the following days. And as long as he did not control them directly, David didn’t have to feel like he was breaking his own rules.

While the other centipedes pushed forward, freeing the remaining combatants who’d fallen victim to the centaurs’ barbs, the other tamed monsters charged ahead as well. They used the paths cleared by the centipedes to reach the weaker centaurs and leaped at them. Some tried hard to evade the centaurs’ bony blades and spike armor, relying on long-range attacks and special means to distract them and create openings for others to use, such as the Titanclaw Bear, who tore through the masses.

No matter how strong the skeletal structures of the undead centaurs and nightmarish horses were, the Titanclaw Bear’s claws were stronger. Its claws, formed from pure, condensed aether, carved easily through bone and the Undead Core, killing a nightmarish horse in one swoop. A moment later, one of the undead centaurs lost its head to a second claw swipe.

But the centaurs weren’t helpless against the tamed monsters. As Nightshade Panthers leaped out of their shadows, the centaurs responded instantly. They killed two Nightshade Panthers with bone spikes that shot out from their armor, impaling the panthers' lungs and piercing their hearts.

David didn’t protect the tamed monsters, even as more fell to reckless attacks. It was the Beastmasters’ responsibility to take care of their monsters and assess their opponents' threat level. They had to understand the consequences of failure, even if it meant the death of their tamed beasts.

Still, he intervened, rescuing the Nightshade Panthers’ riders from incoming bone spikes. Thin, semi-translucent shields conjured before the Classers, blocking the spikes before they could pierce the riders’ skulls. He did not, however, prevent the spikes from ramming through their abdomens and chests—so long as the high-velocity bone fragments missed their hearts.

Screams of pain and suffering resounded, yet it didn’t take much longer before the Classers gained the upper hand. The Greater Clerics used [Holy Empowerment] on Frey and the Berserker’s weapons, giving them the edge they needed. The Holy Priests followed up with [Holy Blessing], while another Classer, focused on support spells, cast [Haste], [Gaia’s Boon of Fortitude], and other augmenting Skills.

Once enough Skills were applied to the melee fighters, it was only a matter of time before the battle ended.

No one died, but many close-combat fighters were wounded. Only a few escaped the undead centaurs’ wrath.

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“We should heal the wounded and rest a little bit before we continue,” the young man with the Commander Class proposed after sending several Steelshroud Eagles and their riders to scout the area. As for the large baboons, they were nowhere to be seen. They’d used the opportunity to escape certain death.

“Or we heal everyone and rest on the centipedes’ backs. They don’t need rest,” Lilia responded, though the Commander didn’t seem to like that.

David didn’t listen much longer to their discussion. He moved to the remains of the undead and considered storing them, when a familiar stir interrupted him. There was nothing wrong with his heartbeat, yet every beat released a pulse of Vitae through his body.

“I’ve been neglecting you for a while now, haven’t I?” David snickered and released Vitae Nihilum to devour the remains of the undead.

The undead were not as nourishing as normal monsters, let alone Voidlings, but they were as much of a pest as Nihilum and the Voidlings. Nobody in the cosmos would miss the remains of the undead if they were to go ‘missing.’

Thus, he consumed the undead, expanding his storage of Vitae by a trickle. That wasn’t enough for the Corrupted Divine Heart, let alone the Vitae he’d been storing unused for months. If anything, consuming something again after so long opened something he should have kept shut, if he wasn’t willing to commit to the growth of Vitae.

There may not be any Voidlings nearby or wastelands to patch, quenching the thirst of Vitae Nihilum, but he had an entire land filled with creatures that shouldn’t roam the Earthen Union. Creatures whose existence was as devious as that of the End.

“They’re strong enough to take care of themselves,” David muttered, licking his lips at the thought of roaming the land of the dead without any baggage. With no one holding him back. That sounded like a blessing, so he did just that.

Once the group continued their journey to the land of the undead, they encountered more undead. Using Beast Wards to repel them was not feasible. The undead ignored the wards and attacked. Not even the Infected they encountered near the border of the land of the dead seemed to care about the Beast Ward. The Mages, on the other hand, used some of the Skills they had discovered and bound to deal with the undead occupying Kamia.

They cast [Lifeshroud] to mask and dim the group’s lifeforce. It was only a Tier-1 Skill Rune and would likely camouflage their presence much more effectively at Tier-2, but that was not feasible yet. Therefore, the Death Mage had to help out and access death’s presence once they reached the land of the dead. He tapped into the energy that seemed to permeate every inch of the land and shrouded the group in death.

The presence permeating the land of the dead nourished the undead, but it also created them. Living in the land of the dead would slowly but surely eradicate any lifeform and transform it. That was also why Orhain’s residents were believed to be the last survivors of Kamia. Everyone thought the rest had died and become Infected, or worse. But some had survived, avoiding the presence of death underground. Surely not all could have made it, and David was certain many had been affected by death’s presence. However, he hoped he could help them.

As long as their spirit remained intact, he could heal them.

But that was a matter he would have to attend to later. Now that David knew the Classers were somewhat safe, he could leave them.

“Inform me if something happens,” David said, and spun around to leave. “Or… don’t inform me. The Echos will send me an emergency signal if something happens.”

“Wait…what?!” Lilia shouted in exasperation. “Where are you going?”

David raised an eyebrow at the flustered woman.

“Roam the land of the dead. Don’t worry. I will kill the strongest undead on your path and in your surroundings, so you’ll only have to take care of a bunch of Bronze and Silver-ranked undead.” His head flicked to the left, [True Sight] and Bloodthrone Dominion unleashed to their fullest. “Oh, that is interesting. There are even Iron-ranked Infected.”

He turned back to Lilia. “The centipedes are stronger than you think. They can kill Rift Bosses at the Silver Rank, and, as long as you use them properly, they can fight Gold-ranked undead as well. Neither you nor the others actually need me. If anything, you will be better off without me. Every undead in a radius of 100 kilometers can sense me, [Lifeshroud] and Death Mantle or not.”

David’s presence pierced the shroud of death, whereas Tier-1 [Lifeshroud] did little to hide his life signal. Sure, he had suppressed his life signal drastically this whole time, but… he was also tired of holding back. Plus, the others would benefit from his carnage. The strongest undead would either retreat, if they awakened sentience, or they would seek him out for power. They would ignore the Classers’ pathetic attempts to hide from the living dead.

“But…”

He tuned out Lilia’s words and cast [Phantom Rush] before she could annoy him anymore. Several men and women called out to him, but David didn’t stop. He charged through the land of the dead, circulating pure Blood and Vitae through his body. He stopped only when he found a suitable target.

The surrounding land was almost as bleak as the Voidlings’ wastelands had been. The plant life had withered, and there was no sign of life in his vicinity. Not even streams of air reached the land of the dead, which was something that would have terrified David to the bones if he hadn’t gone through worse before. The land of the dead was nothing compared to the terrors of the Naughtrealm.

He was used to similar places and was actually happy that death’s presence was everywhere. It permeated the structures, ground, and even the space around him. [Radiant Expulsion] was enough to remove death’s presence, but so was Vitae. Vitae Nihilum reacted to death’s presence much like it had to the wastelands’ nothingness. It consumed everything and spread out to devour it all.

If permitted, Vitae would have consumed the dead soil, the structures, and the wilted plant life, filled with the aspect of death, at once.

David didn’t grant the permission at first, but it was not like anyone was in need of crumbled structures. The farms were empty and wouldn’t be used for a long time. Even if they managed to reclaim the land of the dead and occupy the cities, they would destroy everything to build it anew using more durable, aether-infused materials.