After a grueling month of relentless hunting, Ande experienced a sudden surge in his soul fire on the night the twin crimson moons turned full again. The black-red yin-yang fish within his soul fire unexpectedly released a flood of pure energy. The energy was so intense that Ande, who had grown used to letting his soul fire absorb the moonlight naturally, blacked out without warning. This time, his transformation resembled a common skeleton upgrade—the appearance of a dark mist that wrapped around him, and when it dispersed, his frame looked more refined, while his old staff had taken on a new form, its tip now featuring the skull of an unknown carnivorous beast.
When Ande came to, the first thing he saw was, of course, his five clueless followers, which gave him a sense of relief. Upon inspection, he noticed that his soul fire could now store at least three times as much mental power, and the number of undead minions he could command had similarly tripled.
After much hesitation, Ande finally steeled himself and set off for the nearest Skeleton Mage temple with his minions. It wasn't that he wasn't afraid of the death god Heideh, but rather, he was terrified—he dreaded that deep, soul-wrenching pressure. But fear wouldn't help him; Ande knew that if the death god Heideh truly wanted a "chat," he wouldn't be able to avoid it anyway. Better to learn the new spell now and leave quickly, he thought, hoping Heideh was too busy to constantly monitor him.
And it turned out he was right: even after leaving the Skeleton Mage temple, Heideh's will never made an appearance. "Maybe he's forgotten all about me!" Ande tried to comfort himself… hoping for the best.
This time, he learned Bone Shield, one of the survival spells of a Skeleton Mage. The shield's diameter was about one meter and two centimeters thick. He ordered Dagama, now a level-three skeleton, to hack at it with full force, and only after five or six swings did it shatter. Ande immediately fell in love with this new spell.
Though he still didn't know if the Bone Shield would block the mysterious energy that had killed all those skeleton war elephants, Ande's imagination took off. Whatever could have created those fist-sized holes… it wasn't an arrow or bolt. And the strength required would exceed that of any giant crossbow, as the war elephants' skulls were as dense as steel. Maybe a Bone Spear spell? But even that would require someone of lord-level strength.
In the past month, Ande had circled the forest's edge many times without encountering anything as powerful as a lord-level entity, whose presence would come with a natural pressure. Yet, aside from the seven fallen skeleton war elephants, nothing else of particular strength seemed buried around the forest perimeter.
Despite feeling nervous about entering the forest, Ande decided that once he'd gathered a full squad of fifteen skeleton minions, he'd… at least take a look inside.
And so, every level one or two skeleton axeman that crossed Ande's path met a swift and unfortunate end, as he perfected a battle technique with his five skeletal axemen. They would surround the target, pinning down its limbs, while the merciless Ande bombarded it with "Skeleton Control" spells until it submitted.
Perhaps due to his increased mental power, it eventually became easier to command the skeleton axemen, though there were fewer of them nearby. After eight days, Ande finally managed to gather ten skeleton axemen minions.
Now, with his five skeletal axemen leading the way, five more circling him as protection, and five others following behind, he felt like a highborn lord surrounded by menacing guards.
But as the forest came into sight, Ande instantly reined in his group of "feral goons" and had them behave. He did not want to provoke any powerful undead that might be lurking inside.
Ande positioned his skeletons to guard the perimeter and transferred the majority of his consciousness into one skeleton axeman. Through its eyes, he cautiously maneuvered it step by step into the forest. Based on his current mental power, Ande estimated he could safely explore up to a hundred meters within the forest.
As he proceeded deeper into the woods, Ande's unease grew with each twisted, blackened tree he passed. He felt a chilling presence, as if he were being watched by countless cold, lifeless eyes. Yet when he stopped to investigate, there was nothing to be seen.
This eerie sensation nearly sent Ande retreating in panic, but a flash of white light caught his eye ahead, pulling him forward. What lay ahead?
With his mental power almost drained, Ande forced the skeleton axeman to run, surging toward the glimmer of white light like someone who had found the light at the end of a dark tunnel.
And there it was.
A mountain of bones—endless piles of skeletal remains. Skeleton war elephants, death knights, liches, bone dragons, giant skeletons… heaps of recognizable and unrecognizable remains, crowned skulls scattered about.
Ande's mind went blank in shock. Who could be so powerful as to single-handedly slaughter so many undead rulers?
A piercing scream suddenly shattered his thoughts as a fierce soul-devouring wraith appeared right beside him, severing his control over the skeleton axeman with one final, blinding shock.