Demonic Skeleton God

Flain turned his eyes to Tank. "Tell me your unique abilities," Flain said.

"These crystals on my shoulders are additional mana sources. I can also form massive shields from my arms. Then, of course, I still have the same techniques and fire spells I had when I was alive," Tank said.

Flain preferred abilities that undeath naturally possessed, like Tank's arm-formed shields, because those grew stronger along with him. Spells and techniques also grew stronger alongside him, but once they reached the limit of their Stage, the growth slowed considerably, making it more worthwhile to replace the skill with one from a higher Stage.

"Describe to me all the spells and techniques you have," Flain said.

"I have two spells and two techniques, all at Stage 3. With one spell, I can set any part of my body or anything I touch on fire, allowing me to ignite a small area. With the second, I can manipulate fire in the air, which means shooting fireballs, sending fire from the ground, and similar things, but no creation can be that large.

The first technique practically increases my speed and strength, recognizable by my body becoming blurred. The second allows me to enhance my eyes up to three times, letting me see much sharper, farther, and also giving me slightly faster reflexes," he explained.

"That's quite good. Especially the second fire spell, which, according to your description, can be used well on the battlefield because of its versatility," Flain said.

Itai recalled all undeath, and with Flain, they headed to Dungeon 31. It didn't give much EXP since most of the monsters there were Stage 1, but it was quick EXP that would be foolish not to use. Plus, Itai's army would expand considerably.

On the way, Flain checked something that unpleasantly surprised him. Since the system update that changed the currency Flain needed to evolve to a higher Stage—in the past, it was Evolution Shards, but now it was Souls.

Flain opened the system and clicked on [Spine Stalker]. When he read how many souls he would need for Stage 4, he could hardly believe his eyes.

He needed 50,000 souls, and he had only 120. Fifty thousand just for Stage 4 was ridiculously high; if Flain fought alone and didn't have Itai and his army, he would probably be collecting them for an eternity.

Mortals were easy to kill, and even killing several thousand at once wouldn't be a problem for Flain. The issue was that with such a large number of Mortals, there were always many powerful Enlightened, since Mortals were the foundation of every faction.

They were responsible for producing food, mining resources, and contributing to population size. Without Mortals, there could be no Kingdom, and without a Kingdom, there could be no Mortals, as no one would protect them.

Flain thought about the possibilities of where he or his soldiers could kill the greatest number of beings. The best option would be to find weak monsters nearby—or perhaps some wild, weak tribes.

But Flain had a much better opportunity right in front of him—Dungeon 31.

Dungeons expand by killing monsters; the deeper you go into a dungeon, the stronger the monsters become. At the end of a dungeon, there is a Boss, which serves as its final defensive mechanism. When the boss dies, the dungeon itself dies, and the area turns into normal space where monsters no longer spawn. Each dungeon has a specific type—in one, the monsters might all be humanoid, and in another, all of them might be capable of using fire magic.

After killing the boss, there is a guaranteed chance that an artifact will drop. An artifact can also drop from a normal monster, but the chance is minimal—almost nonexistent.

Flor had told him all of this, though Flain already knew much of it. And one such dungeon was right in front of him.

Flain stopped. "Itai, the plans are changing," he said.

"We're not going to Dungeon 31?" Itai asked.

"We are, but the plans for what we will do with it are changing. As far as I know, the two generals guarding the gate are both Stage 2, so they can communicate. According to reports, one Stage 2 died—was that one of them?" Flain asked.

"No," Itai replied.

"Then summon the two of them to me," Flain ordered.

Hands began to burst from the ground, and moments later, both generals stood before Flain.

"Describe to me how the guard at the gate operated," Flain asked one of the generals.

"The soldiers on guard rotated shifts, and most of the time we had different soldiers every two weeks. But the two of us were assigned there indefinitely," he replied to Flain.

They then went on to describe other things, such as how the soldiers were arranged, how food was supplied, and so on.

Flain removed his helmet, took off the Necklace of Deception, and handed it to one of the generals, ordering him to put it on.

"I'll tell you later what you'll use this for. In any case, since you have a more important role, you'll get names," he said.

He pointed at the first. "You will be A1." Then he pointed at the second. "You will be A2," he said.

"Alright, you can hide them again," Flain said to Itai, which Itai then did.

"Flain, you're not exactly in the best mood for naming. A1 and A2? That doesn't even sound like a name," Itai said with a smile.

"There's no need to give them more elaborate names. Their role will be special, but in the army they're not that important," Flain said, continuing onward.

A few minutes later, they arrived at the gate. As Flain expected, there were only two generals present.

According to A2, soldiers would go into the village at lunchtime, but the generals had to remain at the gate because it was their order. Soldiers could be allowed outside the gate, but the generals themselves had to stay.

It was now exactly 12 o'clock—lunchtime.

Flain and Itai jumped down, and without the generals even noticing, Flain broke both their necks in a way that no blood spilled.

"Resurrect them," Flain ordered.

[Tip: Your Master cannot resurrect beings that have already been resurrected by him.]

Flain looked at the system message...