Chapter 37: Mutated Undead

Screech!

The APC came to a halt at a walkable distance away from Master Abraham and Roy.

And Donald jumped out with a high-tech shotgun slung across his shoulder.

Right then, Master Abraham and Roy were still engaging the weak undead. With no leader to lead them, the hard part was behind them.

Now, all that was left was to reap EXP.

Donald approached cautiously and began to shout from a distance, “Abe! Roy! We need to leave NOW!”

“The gate is problematic! We have to leave!” He added. Undead were particularly problematic for regular humans, so Donny had to be careful.

Master Abraham and Roy glanced back at him but were still engaged in their battle choreography, so they couldn’t pay him much mind.

But both knew that for him to come to the battlefield, there was surely an issue on the ground.

’What’s wrong?’ Roy thought after decapitating another abysshound.

The remaining undead numbered less than fifteen at this point, and it didn’t take long before…

[You have slain the weak undead, Reanimated Weredeer.]

[+60 EXP.]

The familiar monotone voice announced, followed immediately by the more lively one:

[Congratulations! You have reached Level 4!]

“Finally…” Roy breathed out heavily, a weak smile cracking across his exhausted face.

“Master Abe, I’m at Level 4 now,” he said and collapsed to one knee, panting heavily. His stealth suit was torn in several places, and blood, both his and the undead’s, splattered across the fabric. His right arm throbbed where a Homunculus had managed to claw him before he had punched it away.

“Good.”

Master Abraham calmly unlocked the cuff that held them together, and in a black flash, the remaining undead were decapitated.

He stood a few feet away, his chainsword still whirring as he surveyed the battlefield. His clone had already dissipated. The ground around them was littered with undead corpses in various states of dismemberment. Some were still twitching, their unnatural vitality refusing to completely fade. The stench of rot and decay was overwhelming.

’The job of an executioner is a vastly disgusting experience,’ Roy lampooned inwardly.

Donald finally ran up to them and repeated while using his hand to cover his nose, “Get up, let’s get out of here. Border control contacted us. The gate’s energy signature is going haywire. They’re sending an emergency executioner team, but—”

“I know,” Master Abraham said, making Donny freeze in confusion.

“You know what?” Donald asked.

The C-Class Executioner simply answered, “The gate has more in store for us.”

“Master… what do you mean? It’s not over?” Roy asked, fear and fright settling on his face. If this executioner wanted them to stay and continue fighting, then he might really have an issue upstairs.

Master Abraham tightened his grip on his chainsword and straightened his back, facing the gate about fifty metres ahead.

“I have been given a second chance,” he said, making a chill run down both Donald and Roy’s spines.

’I’m sorry… WHAT?!’ Roy took a large gulp.

At that moment, however…

CRACK!

The sound was like reality itself splitting apart.

All three of them had their attention on the Rank 1 Gate.

The gate, which should have been closing after the death of its boss, was instead pulsing with violent red lightning. The white particles that usually drifted lazily across its surface were now swirling in a chaotic vortex. The tear in reality was widening, expanding like a wound being forcibly ripped open.

“No…” Donald breathed, his face going pale. “No, no, no…”

Master Abraham’s expression darkened, but to Roy’s shock, a slight smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

“M-master? Don’t tell me..”

“Roy,” Abraham said calmly, “you might be able to reach Level 5.”

Donald’s head whipped toward the executioner. “Are you out of your MIND?! Look at you, look at him.”

He gestured frantically at Roy, who was barely standing, covered in blood and grime, his eyes hollow with exhaustion.

“He can barely lift his weapon! The battle is over, already. You guys have won. We need to get out of here before—”

Unexpectedly, the gate expanded and grew in size, letting out a wave of dark energy that rippled across the battlefield. Roy felt it wash over him, a cold sensation running up his spine, followed by an overwhelming sense of wrongness.

And then they emerged.

Three Nightwraiths came out from the expanded Rank 1 Gate!

As they floated through the widened gate, their black cloaks billowed.

And behind them came over ten White Ghouls, their gazes searching intensely for something to tear and eat.

Roy froze in place, while Donny unknowingly took a couple of steps back.

“I-It’s a false gate…”

The undead army that stepped through was unlike anything from before.

And at the center of it all, stepping through the gate with measured, deliberate steps, was something that made Roy’s blood run cold.

He didn’t need Master Abraham to tell him the threat level of this abyss creature, but he already knew.

It stood over fifteen feet tall, with a grey fur coat draped over its shoulders and even touching the ground. It resembled the Reincarnated Weredeer from before, but had massive antlers that branched out like a crown of bone, each tip wickedly sharp, and a deeper hollow gaze filled with an inscrutable hunger.

Roy couldn’t help but stammer, “Mu… Mutated Undead…”

“Master…” he whispered. “That’s a Mutated undead.”

“I know what it is,” Abraham said, his voice steady. His grip on the chainsword tightened. “And I know what we need to do.”

“Roy! Come on! Let’s go!” Donald screamed, already sprinting toward the APC.

Master Abraham’s jaw clenched at that, but he didn’t move.

“Roy,” he said quietly, “kill that Elder Weredeer, and you’ll gain enough exp to reach Level 5 in one go. That Mutated Undead should be 6,000 EXP. And then there are more Nightwraiths and White Ghouls than ever.”

Roy oscillated his gaze between the two grown-ups, unsure what to do next, but then stared at his mentor in disbelief. “Master, I can barely stand…”

Master Abraham summoned a system item, a red box with a simple plus sign on it, and then activated [Circle of Order].

To Roy’s surprise, the aches in his body all vanished, his stamina recovered rapidly, and the cuts around his body mended themselves. However, the mental fatigue still remained.

“Woah,” he muttered.

“Put your stat points in your body stat. Now.”

Master Abraham ordered, but Roy hesitated.

“Abraham!” Donald’s voice had gone from panic to cold fury. He screamed from behind. “You’re letting your ego cloud your judgment. I’ve seen you do this before. Don’t put Roy through what happened to—”

“Don’t,” Abraham cut him off, shouting too, his tone sharp as a blade. “Don’t you dare bring that up.”

Roy looked between them, then at the approaching undead horde. The three Nightwraiths had spread out, coordinating the attack with frightening intelligence. The Elder Weredeer stood at the back, its hollow gaze fixed on the three humans.

The undead didn’t attack yet because the new Gate Boss, the Mutated Undead, could surely sense that the C-Class Executioner was a problem. It was smarter than the former Gate Boss (the Nightwraith) and knew Master Abraham was not to be trifled with, and sought to watch for a few seconds. However, one thing was sure, its twisted intelligence would never permit it to back down from raining down destruction.

“I…” Roy began, his voice trembling. “I can’t, Master. I’m sorry, but I can’t.”

He had pushed himself beyond his limits today. His mind was foggy with exhaustion, and the bone-deep, primal fear of facing that Mutated creature was overwhelming.

Master Abraham’s expression was unreadable. For a long moment, he said nothing.

Then he summoned his Array, grabbed a scythe, and stepped forward.

“We kill the Elder Weredeer, and call it a day.”

Roy grit his teeth and muttered, “System…”

That was all the time the Mutated Undead gave them. In the next second, the Elder Weredeer let out a blood-curdling wail.

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