The Zombie System.

"Time to end this."

Leon launched forward, Shadow-edge blazing in his grip. The spectral army moved with him - warriors born from sacrifice, their forms crackling with hybrid energy that made reality bend around their presence.

His enhanced perception swept the battlefield. Among the corpses scattered across broken concrete, he found what he needed. A Wind Runner lay twisted between chunks of rubble, silver armor cracked but intact. The hunter had died protecting civilians three blocks away, his body thrown here by the commander's earlier assault.

Leon's new abilities reached toward the fallen warrior. Power flowed through connections that transcended death itself.

[UNDEAD ASSIMILATION ACTIVATED]

The Wind Runner's essence merged with Leon's necromancy. Speed magic that had taken years to master flooded his system in seconds. His muscles remembered techniques he'd never learned. His bones felt lighter, more responsive to aerodynamic forces.

Wind currents gathered beneath his feet like compressed springs. Leon shot into the sky, his body wrapped in velocity that belonged to someone else's lifetime of training. The ground fell away as he climbed toward the commander's position.

His system interface blazed with cascading notifications:

[NEW ABILITY UNLOCKED: UNDEAD ASSIMILATION]

[UPGRADE TO DEATH DOMINION DETECTED]

[SENSING ALL DECEASED HUNTERS IN 5KM RADIUS: 247 SIGNATURES]

[TEMPORARY CLASS INFUSION AVAILABLE]

[IRON-FANG ENHANCEMENT SPECIALISTS: 23 AVAILABLE]

[SANCTUARY DIVINE HEALERS: 15 AVAILABLE]

[ASSOCIATION STORM CALLERS: 8 AVAILABLE]

[DURATION: 8 MINUTES REMAINING]

The commander reacted to Leon's ascent with speed. Its void blade swept upward in an arc that could split mountains. Black energy crackled where the weapon met air, leaving trails of darkness that made reality scream.

The blade moved faster than sound. Faster than thought. In the split second before impact, Leon triggered one of his ability.

[DIMENSIONAL TETHER ACTIVATED]

Reality folded around him. He stepped between dimensions, existing in pocket space where physics operated by different rules. The void blade passed through empty air while Leon watched from spaces between worlds.

Time moved differently in the dimensional gap. He could see the commander's attack frame by frame - the entity's surprise as its weapon found no target, the slight widening of cosmic eyes that burned with starlight.

Leon emerged behind the commander's position. Wind Runner speed carried him through the dimensional exit faster than the entity could turn. Shadow-edge carved toward its exposed flank with killing intent, the blade trailing hybrid energy that made the air sing.

The commander's cosmic reflexes were faster than mortal perception should allow. Its void blade snapped backward, intercepting Leon's strike with an impact that sent shockwaves through both weapons. Sparks exploded across the sky like dying stars.

"Impossible," the entity hissed while they locked blades mid-air. "Mortal magic cannot achieve dimensional manipulation."

"Watch me," Leon replied through gritted teeth.

The commander broke the blade lock with brute force, sending Leon spinning through the air. Before he could recover, the entity retaliated with dimensional rip that tore space itself.

The sky cracked like glass. Through the fissure, chunks of buildings launched toward Leon like artillery shells. Each projectile was wrapped in force that could level city blocks. The air filled with debris moving at impossible speeds.

Leon wove between the projectiles using Wind Runner agility. His enhanced reflexes tracked multiple trajectories while his body moved in patterns that defied physics. A concrete slab whistled past his left ear. Steel beams spun through the space where his torso had been milliseconds before.

But the barrage was distraction. Leon's enhanced perception caught the commander's true attack - void blade slashing toward his sword arm from his blind spot. The weapon moved with precision, aimed to cripple rather than kill.

The blade connected before Leon could dodge. It severed muscle and bone with sharpness. His right hand separated from his wrist in a spray of blood that painted the sky crimson.

Then it reattached.

Green light flowed along the wound like liquid starlight. Elise's Life-Death Balance healing worked faster than the commander could process. Bone fragments flew back into position. Arteries reconnected themselves with precision. Within seconds, Leon's grip on Shadow-edge was stronger than before.

"What?" The entity's cosmic confidence wavered for the first time since manifestation. "Void energy negates all healing magic."

"Not this kind," Leon said while flexing his restored fingers.

His healed hand blazed with power that made the void blade recoil. Life force balanced with death energy created something beyond the commander's understanding. The weapon that had devoured countless civilizations couldn't comprehend magic that transcended its programming.

Desperation drove the entity to abandon aerial superiority. It flowed downward like liquid shadow, seeking melee range where cosmic strength could overwhelm mortal technique. The commander's form condensed, becoming more solid and less ethereal.

Leon was ready.

[SOUL ANCHOR ACTIVATED]

His consciousness split across multiple anchor points scattered throughout the battlefield. The moment the commander's blade began its descent, Leon's awareness shifted to a dead Iron-fang hunter three hundred meters away.

The void weapon struck empty air. Leon's body had vanished, replaced by nothing but static that confused the entity's enhanced senses.

"Clever," the commander admitted while scanning for his target. Its cosmic eyes swept the battlefield, searching for energy signatures that no longer existed at that location. "But finite tricks cannot…"

Leon materialized directly above the entity's position. Soul Anchor had transported him through death's domain, using fallen hunters as stepping stones across the battlefield. His boots connected with the commander's skull before it could react.

The impact drove the entity earthward while Leon spun through the air. Shadow-edge traced killing arcs through dimensional barriers, each swing leaving trails of hybrid energy that made space-time ripple.

The commander recovered mid-fall, void blade whipping toward Leon's exposed position. But speed magic made him faster than cosmic reflexes. He could see the attack coming, predict its trajectory, respond before the weapon finished moving.

[DIMENSIONAL TETHER ACTIVATED]

Leon stepped between worlds again. The commander's strike met empty space while he emerged behind the entity's guard, Shadow-edge blazing with accumulated power from every hunter whose essence he'd absorbed.

The blade punched through dimensional armor like paper. It carved deep into the commander's torso, sending golden ichor spraying across the sky. The entity's scream shattered windows throughout the district while its form flickered between states of existence.

Leon's strike sent the commander tumbling through the air. The entity spun end over end, its composure shattered by mortal steel that shouldn't have been able to harm it.

It crashed into the street below. The impact created a crater fifty feet wide while shockwaves toppled nearby buildings. Dust and debris exploded outward in expanding clouds that obscured the landing site.

Leon didn't give it time to recover. Wind Runner speed carried him earthward like a diving falcon, Shadow-edge raised for the killing stroke. His blade blazed with every power he'd absorbed - enhancement techniques from fallen Iron-fang warriors, tactical genius from dead Association strategists.

All of it focused into one perfect strike.

The commander's golden eyes widened as it realized what was coming. For the first time since manifestation, cosmic entity faced mortality.

Leon descended toward the crater like divine judgment, Shadow-edge aimed directly at the entity's heart.