Blondie turned in Ritzy's direction to see how far her two rivals had gotten in dealing with the walking treasure trove, only to see that they were held at bay by the white-haired kid's words. He had convinced them that it would be better to watch her fight with the Unholy Avatar first before deciding whether to attack him or not.
"Huh? Is that it?"
Beardy looked at Ritzy with a surprised and disappointed frown. For how dangerous it looked, everyone had expected Unholy Avatar to be stronger. It shouldn't go down to four quick stabs, at least.
Ritzy shook his head with a smile.
"Oh, no. This is just the beginning."
An ominous chill ran down Blondie's spine as she heard what Ritzy said. She hurriedly turned around to look at the undead that should be incapable of moving around. Well, it should still be able to crawl with its arms if it was lucky. But using its legs should be impossible.
The letters around the Unholy Avatar's wounds glowed slightly with the typical sheen of mana. The wounds on the undead's neck and back stopped oozing murky grey blood as they slowly recovered completely. There was not even a scar or blemish left behind when the light stopped.
Ritzy squealed with excited glee as Unholy Avatar displayed his self-regenerative abilities and stood back up.
Although most undead armies boasted infinite stamina and technical immortality, both those properties almost always relied on the necromancer's skills and spells. An undead minion needed their master's mana to be active and their spells to recover quickly enough to be viable in one continuous battle.
However, Unholy Avatar didn't need Ritzy's interference. He absorbed his own mana and, thanks to the corrupted Unholy Codex filling his body with clashing attributes of life and death, the Unholy Avatar could use that mana to restore and strengthen his body whenever it got injured.
Ritzy didn't have to do anything!
Well, he still had to control Unholy Avatar if he wanted his minion to do detailed work. But that was what he had Xiotal and Mognog for and why he planned to expand his army.
Blondie gulped.
"Shit."
The Unholy Avatar didn't have a menacing presence for nothing. If he could heal his injuries that quickly, it would be significantly more difficult to end him and go for Ritzy.
'Unless…'
Blondie glanced at Beardy and Blady.
"You two want to help out? Or are you okay with me defeating this…Cutie, was it?"
Blondie looked at Ritzy.
"If I am the only one doing anything, all your treasure goes to me, right?"
Blondie made it sound as if they had accepted Ritzy's suggestion of fighting the Unholy Avatar and letting Ritzy judge who had earned how much of his treasure.
Beardy scratched his beard while Baldy clenched his teeth. Although things hadn't gone down in a way that anyone would think they had accepted Ritzy's offer, both of them knew that Blondie might have a chance to monopolize the treasure.
But only if Ritzy agreed to it. So, Beardy and Baldy also looked at Ritzy as they waited for an answer.
"Sure. Whatever."
Ritzy shrugged and waved his hand to get the fighting back up again. He was more interested in seeing how much Unholy Avatar could take and recover from than in whatever the three crooks of Benin had to say.
Blondie smirked at Beardy and Baldy before turning around and dashing toward the Unholy Avatar.
That was the final straw.
Beardy grabbed the hatchets hanging by his belt as he built up momentum while moving toward the Unholy Avatar.
Baldy looked at Bladey before slipping a pair of brass knuckles onto his fingers. He didn't say anything. But usually, he would have asked Bladey to have his back. Ritzy's words had sown enough distrust that Baldy couldn't leave his back to the one who had covered him for years without fail.
Bladey glowered at Baldy as the three top dogs of Benin's underworld fought to get as large a share of Ritzy's treasure as possible.
Since no one could be sure about Ritzy giving the promised treasure only to the heads of the factions, the three B's didn't let anyone else interfere. The possible internal strife between Baldy and Bladey had also given everyone a stark reminder that no one was to be trusted.
There was also the fact that they couldn't trust each other, much less each other's subordinates. Fighting the Unholy Avatar while keeping the other two in check was taxing enough. It would be too much to make any progress if they also had to keep track of dozens of enemy subordinates, any one of whom could be an assassin aiming for the target on their backs instead of the Unholy Avatar.
But Blondie, Beardy, and Baldy were still experienced crooks in their own right. They wouldn't have risen to their current positions if they didn't have the prerequisite skills. All three of them were at varying degrees of mastery at the rank of Acolyte. They also knew how to prioritize.
At the moment, Ritzy's treasure was more alluring than getting rid of a competitor. Ritzy's loot could practically guarantee they could take over Benin and get rid of the other two. But attacking one of the others wouldn't guarantee their success in acquiring a passing grade and accompanying rewards.
Blondie and the other two were also aware of the other two's skills, at least on the surface. Thus, they could, with reluctant ease, work together to suppress the Unholy Avatar while their subordinates remained on standby.
Of course, the goal was to eradicate the Unholy Avatar completely and take Ritzy's treasure for themselves. No one had any intentions of sharing. But the three of them agreed that getting rid of Unholy Avatar first and showing Ritzy their superiority was the best way to get the treasure, at least some of it, before moving toward monopolizing it.
Beardy and Baldy took the front, shifting the Unholy Avatar's focus between them like they were juggling a hot potato. Beardy chipped away at the Unholy Avatar's flesh and limbs in an attempt to cripple it. Meanwhile, Baldy interfered with its movements and attacks by meeting its punches or striking its head and torso before it could retaliate to Beardy's attacks.
Those two's attacks and cooperation staggered the Unholy Avatar, creating openings for Blondie to land deeper strikes at critical weak points, such as his spine and head.
However, the Unholy Avatar recovered from all the damage they inflicted on him with a flash of his carved letters. Sometimes, he was slow enough that they could all unleash a chain of attacks and damage him even further. But his skin was resilient, and his flesh was sturdy. The three of them had trouble inflicting serious damage that would last longer than a couple of minutes.
"Hey, can't you leave your sticks inside? It won't heal if something is blocking it, right?"
"You want me to give up my weapons?"
"You can just buy new ones using the treasure."
"Hmph."
Blondie snorted at Baldy's suggestion.
If she gave up her daggers to try and stunt the Unholy Avatar's regeneration, she would lose her only way to defend against or attack Beardy and Baldy after the Unholy Avatar's defeat. Even if she got the most credit from Ritzy for doing so, she would be done for unless there were a pair of daggers in her hands before those two could attack her and take her share for themselves.
But at the same time, they weren't making any headway mucking about like this. They either needed to go all out and start burning through their mana to deal some real damage. Or they could do as Baldy had suggested, and Blondie could stick her daggers deep into the Unholy Avatar's spine.
"Fine. Get me an opening."
Blondie decided to take a risk and gritted her teeth before agreeing to Baldy's idea. Pinning the Unholy Avatar down was their best bet.
"But may the gods help you if either of you try anything."
Blondie glared at Beardy and Baldy before putting some distance between her and the Unholy Avatar so she could build up momentum and really drive her daggers deep into the Unholy Avatar's sturdy flesh.
Beardy and Baldy exchanged a look before diving in and forcing the Unholy Avatar into a situation where it could only defend itself against their onslaught.
It didn't take long for them to force it backward with enough of a shove to make it stumble. It stomped back, refusing to fall. The Unholy Avatar lashed out at Beardy and Baldy, deciding to go for an offensive defense.
Even if it would lose a limb, the Unholy Avatar was determined to land at least one solid blow on either of them.
But in doing so, the Unholy Avatar's back was wide open, and it was caught in a stance that made it impossible for it to react in time as Blondie shot forward like a cheetah, her daggers ready to pierce the Unholy Avatars spine and once again cripple him.
Blondie's daggers arrived at the Unholy Avatar's skin unimpeded. They also punctured it and entered the Unholy Avatar without problem. There weren't even any interruptions when Blondie's daggers severed the Unholy Avatar's spine and spinal cord.
Blondie's attack was a complete success. Now, she just had to let go of her daggers and step back to let the Unholy Avatar collapse to the ground again.
However, the Unholy Avatar didn't collapse.