The leading knight slowly raised his head.
His aura was heavy as an abyss; he was actually a Mid-tier Legendary.
He pulled back his hood, revealing the face beneath.
Pale, stiff, and lifeless. His eye sockets were empty, and his pupils were dilated.
Like a... walking corpse suspended by invisible threads.
If Lin Gui were here, he would have recognized him at a glance.
It was one of the Four Pillars of the Carter Royal Capital who had mysteriously vanished.
The Mid-tier Legendary knight, John.
But the one before them was no longer a living person. Nor was his Holy Knight order.
Now, they had become the Undead Knight Order composed of corpses.
Battle erupted in an instant.
The Undead Knight Order's siege method was eerie and efficient.
Corpses appearing as scouts, mages, and warriors entangled Hugh recklessly.
They used their bodies, residual instincts, magic, and even self-detonations just to hold him back for a split second.
Meanwhile, Knight John swung his sword indifferently.
Pitch-black sword energy tore through the air, slashing down indiscriminately!
One blast of sword energy grazed Hugh's shoulder and crashed into the ruins behind him.
A stone wall collapsed with a roar, debris falling like rain.
Another strike hit a summoned corpse knight.
That knight's body was severed in two, spraying black blood.
Yet, its upper half still clutched Hugh's leg tightly.
John's eyes showed no emotion as the next strike arrived.
Hugh's body twisted like a specter.
Protective qi flowed over his skin as he pushed his speed to the limit.
He dodged three pincer attacks and spun to kick apart the skull of a chanting Transcendent mage.
He thrust his piercing blade backward, precisely puncturing another knight's heart.
His movements were fluid; every strike was lethal.
Ordinary Transcendent knights usually couldn't last a single exchange before being cut down.
But the true horror only now manifested.
The flesh of the mage whose head was shattered squirmed on the ground.
It quickly gathered and reconstructed.
In less than ten seconds, the mage stood back up, swaying.
The knight whose heart had been pierced saw buds of flesh grow wildly at the wound.
Black blood flowed backward, and in the blink of an eye, he was restored to his original state.
They lunged again, their eyes hollow and untiring.
Hugh's eyes twitched, a chill gradually rising in his heart.
This wasn't a battle.
This was a war of attrition against a group of undying monsters.
He had to lose them!
His gaze sharpened, and his protective qi suddenly contracted inward.
He vanished into thin air, reappearing behind John.
Black light flickered on his piercing blade as he delivered a full-powered strike!
John reacted quickly, turning back and blocking with his sword.
Clang—!!
A shockwave exploded, shattering three surrounding corpse knights.
John's protective qi fluctuated violently, and cracks appeared.
Hugh seized the opportunity to advance, striking the same crack seven times in succession with his piercing blade.
On the seventh hit, the protective qi shattered completely!
The piercing blade sank into John's neck and twisted.
His head flew off.
The headless body stood frozen.
The surrounding corpse knights' movements all stalled.
Hugh panted heavily as he grabbed Hannah.
"Go!"
The two turned into blurs, crashing through a low side wall and fleeing rapidly.
Ten seconds later.
The headless body bent down and picked up the head from the ground.
He firmly pressed it back onto his neck.
Black blood squirmed, and the wound healed.
Knight John rolled his neck, the ghostly fire in his eye sockets reigniting.
He raised his hand and waved forward.
All the corpse knights turned simultaneously, silently pursuing in the direction Hugh had fled.
Hannah's face was pale, her bat wings instinctively tightening.
Dragged by Hugh, she was forced to dash through the ruins at high speed.
The scenes from a moment ago were branded into her mind, impossible to shake off.
A crushed heart could regenerate.
A severed head could be reattached.
This simply wasn't a battle.
"The Church of the Final Reincarnation..." Hannah's voice was dry. "Are they... all monsters like that?"
Hugh didn't look back, his voice icy.
"Otherwise..."
He coughed, blood froth spilling from his mouth.
"How... could they be the organization the Demon God fears most?"
Just as he spoke, dark figures suddenly appeared at the alley mouth ahead.
Three corpse knights stood there silently, blocking the way.
Hugh's gaze turned sharp. Grabbing Hannah, he abruptly veered and crashed into a half-collapsed shop.
Amidst the spray of old, rotten wood chips, he burst through a rear window.
When he landed, his body swayed imperceptibly.
Hannah immediately noticed his arm trembling.
"Your wound..."
"Shut up," Hugh interrupted her, continuing to flee.
But the Undead Knight Order always seemed to anticipate them.
No matter how they circled or hid, new corpse knights would crawl out of the shadows.
It was like a net that was constantly tightening.
Hugh's breathing grew heavier.
Black blood seeped from the gray-black wound on his chest.
The edges of the flesh were being slowly corroded as if by invisible acid, refusing to heal.
His speed was noticeably slowing down.
"At this rate..." Hannah grit her teeth. "Neither of us will get away."
Hugh suddenly stopped.
He pushed Hannah behind a section of broken wall.
"Listen."
His voice was hoarse but resolute.
"I'll hold them back."
"You go north, out of the city, and don't look back."
Hannah's pupils shrank.
"Are you insane?! We'll go together—"
"Together means dying together!" Hugh roared, his red eyes suppressed with a resolute fury.
He gripped Hannah's shoulders, his fingers nearly sinking into her skin.
"You must survive."
"Just as you said."
"Wait until you ascend as a Demon King... then come back and avenge me."
Before he finished speaking, the surrounding shadows began to squirm.
One, two, three... more and more dark figures emerged from all directions, surrounding them completely.
Knight John slowly stepped out from a street corner.
There was only a faint black mark on his neck.
He raised his hand, and all the corpse knights took a step forward simultaneously.
The ground shook slightly.
Hugh took a deep breath, gripping his piercing blade in a reverse hold.
His protective qi flowed again, but it was no longer as solid as before.
He looked back one last time at Hannah.
There was no farewell in that gaze, only an unquestionable command.
"Go—!"
With a roar, Hugh's form exploded!
Not forward, but outward in all directions.
Countless afterimages lunged toward knights in different directions simultaneously.
The black light of the piercing blade lit up the gloom like a grand firework of death.
The corpse knights' formation was disrupted by this sudden eruption.
Knight John swung his sword indifferently, the pitch-black sword energy sweeping across but only shattering several afterimages.
The real Hugh had already cut into the center of the knight order like a specter.
The piercing blade flew, and with every flicker, a head flew off or a body was shredded.
He was tearing open a hole in the most frantic manner possible.
Hannah bit her lip hard, the metallic tang of blood spreading in her mouth.
She took one last look at Hugh.
Her bat wings snapped open, demon energy erupting.
She turned into a streak of blood-red light, hurtling toward the north!
A ghostly fire flashed in Knight John's eye sockets.
He raised his hand, pointing in the direction of Hannah's escape.
More than ten corpse knights immediately turned, intending to give chase.
But they were held fast by even more afterimages.
Hugh was covered in blood—whether it was his own or the enemy's was unclear.
He bared his teeth in a blood-stained grin.
"Come at me! I can kill you a hundred times more!"
On the piercing blade, the black light flared more intensely than ever before.
Rate on N.U.
