'It changed again!'
Claudius exclaimed internally as he watched the new and more menacing form of the Compound Corpse that eerily stood before everyone.
Did this mean that his suspicion was correct? Was this thing learning?!
"A Compound Corpse evolves upon each death so that it doesn't suffer it again. This adaptability depends on the material used for its creation, though…" The black-suited man looked at the creature before it and sighed.
"As you can see, it is largely incompetent as a result of the inferior flesh that it was formed from. There's nothing I can do to improve trash, it seems."
'Inferior? Incompetent? That thing… is trash?!' Claudius' eyes were widening far more than he thought was possible.
'What am I hearing?!'
Claudius had never heard of an Undead with multiple lives. If such a thing existed, he was certain that he would know of it.
'It's unbelievable…' Yet such a thing was happening right before his eyes.
It was every Necromancer's dream to create a true undying Undead.
This meant they had to either be virtually immortal, which wasn't possible, or they had to be able to grow and learn so they wouldn't die.
'If his Undead keeps evolving at this rate, it'll become unkillable.'
A more terrifying thought entered Claudius' mind.
'What if… he uses even more people as a sacrifice? Just how powerful will the Undead become?!'
It was a question that was too scary to answer.
"Well… I've rambled on for long enough. Why don't we continue from where we left off?"
Claudius instinctively knew his two Knights would not be enough to handle the current enemy.
As a result, he used [Abyss Call] once again, creating three more black circles on the ground.
Proceeding out of them were three Mage-looking Undead—all of them wearing tattered robes with rotting flesh for skin.
'Killing it would only escalate the problem. To properly handle this situation, it's best I restrain it!'
He would use his two Knights as guards while making the Liches in his command subdue the enemy with Binding Magic.
'I never thought a day would come when my best warriors would be treated as standby disposables…' Claudius made a wry smile as he began his command.
In response to his words, the undead creatures began to chant, their loose jaws making unintelligible words as Spells.
"Do you really expect the Corpse to just stand still and let them cast their Spells?" The black-suited man asked.
In a split second, the Compound Corpse appeared before the three Mages, its four arms ready to pummel them to pieces.
'It's fast!' Claudius' thoughts echoed.
Much faster than he had anticipated!
However…
~WHUUSH!~
A dark barrier, like a semi-sphere surrounded the Mages the moment the Corpse sent his attack towards them.
~ZTTTZ!~
Purplish black electricity crackled forth in retaliation, burning the fists of the Corpse, causing it to stagger back in recoil.
'I expected you to go after my Mages. That's why I made preparations.' Claudius grinned internally.
No matter what how powerful the Corpse was, or what it did, there was no way it could win against an experienced Necromancer!
"I see. So the barrier came from that weird skill at the top of your staff."
'H-huh…?!'
Claudius' found his eyes twitching as he cast his gaze on the black-suited man.
"To think it was actually Undead. I dismissed it earlier because it was too weak, but…" The man smiled even more, causing Claudius to shiver.
'How did he know?!'
Claudius' staff was indeed an Enchanted Item, but the skull affixed on top was one of his creations.
It only had one function—making a powerful barrier that couldn't be penetrated for a minute.
Unfortunately, it took a few seconds for the barrier to become active, which was why Claudius couldn't use it earlier when the Corpse surprised everyone and nearly killed him in its march.
The second problem was that the barrier—while very effective—
had a very long cooldown period.
'I can't use it for a few hours, but that's fine.'
Even if it only lasted for a minute, and its cooldown wasn't going to allow such a perfect defense any longer, Claudius wasn't worried.
After all…
'Their Spell is complete!'
~FSHIIING!~
Bright chains made of fiery energy rushed from the massive Magic Circle that floated in front of the extended hands of the three Liches.
They instantly wrapped themselves around the stunned Undead, surrounding its body in searing hot constraints that tightly cling to its body.
The Compound Corpse fell with a heavy thud, completely paralyzed due to the pain and extreme bondage it suffered from.
It didn't scream or groan, but the conclusion was obvious.
The Compound Corpse was done for.
'Capture Complete!' Claudius grinned as he watched the colossal thing suffer a terrible downfall.
He cast his gaze on the black-suited man, a gleam of confidence now flowing through his aged eyes.
'You made an error in judgment. By revealing the abilities of your Undead, you allowed me to figure out a way around it.'
If all of that had been left as a mystery, Claudius imagined he would have struggled even more against it.
'I suppose I should be grateful for his hubris.'
Despite having this thought, Claudius found himself being unsettled.
One look at the opponent and he could tell why.
'Even though we just beat his Undead, he appears unfazed.'
Claudius remembered how the man had called the Compound Corpse trash earlier, which meant there was a chance that he had other tricks up his sleeve.
'Or maybe he was just bluffing…'
Either way, Claudius couldn't get rid of his unease, and so he remained on his guard.
"You used the information I gave you to create a plan that involves binding and not direct killing. Not bad…"
The black suited man placed both hands in his pocket as he stared casually at the people that surrounded him.
He seemed to be enjoying every moment of the event, contrary to the majority of those who stared back at him.
'I won, but what is this feeling?' Claudius shuddered as he looked into the eyes of the enemy
His calmness was too unnerving.