Chapter 103: Chapter 103: The Clash Begins (part 4)

It attacked again.

All across the battlefield, more bodies rose.

Men who had fallen minutes ago… now standing again.

Fighting again, but this time, against their own side.

“…No…”

One soldier stumbled back, staring at a familiar face.

“Daren…?”

The man in front of him said nothing.

His movements were slower, less precise, only a fraction of what they once were.

But still enough.

Enough to kill.

“Snap out of it!” the soldier shouted, voice breaking. “Hey, it’s me!”

The blade came anyway.

“They’re using the dead!”

“Those are our people!”

“Kill them—no, wait—!”

Rage spread faster than fear this time.

Faces twisted, and eyes burned.

“Bastard!”

“I’ll tear him apart!”

The formation began to shake, not from fear alone, but from anger.

Because this wasn’t just death anymore.

This was desecration.

Up above, Aiden lowered his hand slightly.

His mana dipped again, sharply this time.

“…Still too costly,” he muttered.

Grave Calling drained him far faster than anything else.

Even now, he could feel it.

Like something was being pulled out of him piece by piece.

He didn’t use it again immediately.

Below, the battlefield had turned even more chaotic.

The revived dead fought clumsily, their strength barely thirty percent of what it once was, but there were many of them.

And they didn’t hesitate.

Didn’t fear.

Didn’t stop.

A Body Tempering practitioner cleaved one down with a single strike, face filled with anger.

“Don’t hesitate!” he roared. “They’re already dead!”

But even he avoided looking too closely at their faces.

Not far away, Rhett kicked Carrion back a step, breathing heavier now.

His arms trembled slightly from the repeated clashes.

“…You’re not the only problem anymore,” he said, glancing briefly at the chaos behind him.

Carrion said nothing.

He simply stepped forward again.

Relentless.

On the other side, Caelus cut through another reanimated corpse, his expression colder than before.

“…This is getting out of hand,” he muttered.

Graveknit lunged at him again, bone limbs snapping forward.

Caelus blocked, but his eyes flicked once toward the rising dead.

“…what kind of being are we fighting?” he said under his breath.

Up on the wall, Aiden watched everything.

The anger.

The chaos.

The slowing advance.

His breathing steadied slightly as Necrotic Sustain fed him from the deaths below, but it wasn’t enough to recover what he was spending.

Not at this pace.

Still, his eyes remained calm.

“…Two hours,” he repeated quietly.

Then his gaze sharpened.

“…More than enough.”

Because the longer this dragged on, the more bodies there would be. And for Aiden, that was all he needed.

—-

Caelus slid back half a step, boots grinding against blood-soaked dirt as he barely avoided another jagged strike.

Graveknit’s arm stretched unnaturally, bones grinding against each other as it lashed out again. The black threads binding it tightened, pulling its frame together just enough to keep it moving, keep it fighting.

Relentless.

CLANG!

Caelus raised his blade and blocked, but the force pushed through his guard, numbing his arm.

“…Tch.”

He twisted his body and kicked off the ground, creating distance at last.

For a brief second, he looked around.

And what he saw made his expression darken.

The battlefield had completely fallen apart.

His men weren’t just dying to the undead anymore.

A soldier took two steps back.

SNAP.

Bone spikes shot out from the ground, piercing straight through his legs. Before he could even scream, a skeleton lunged and dragged him down.

Another group tried to regroup behind a broken shield line, Another group tried to regroup behind a broken shield line, only for a corpse near them to twitch.

“Wait, don’t—!”

BOOM.

The explosion tore through them, sending bodies flying.

“Watch the dead!” someone screamed.

“Don’t stand near—!”

Too late.

And then, the worst part.

Caelus’s jaw tightened.

A familiar face staggered forward, weapon raised.

“…You too?” he muttered.

One of his own men.

Dead just minutes ago.

Now moving again.

Slower. Weaker.

But still attacking.

“My lord—!” the man tried to say, but the words came out broken, hollow.

Caelus stepped in without hesitation.

SLASH.

The body dropped.

This time, it didn’t get back up.

Behind him, his men were shouting.

“They’re everywhere!”

“We can’t hold this!”

“Sir, what do we do?!”

Caelus didn’t answer immediately.

Because at the same time, Graveknit was already moving again.

It lunged forward, both arms snapping down like crushing pillars.

Caelus raised his blade.

BOOM.

The impact forced him down to one knee.

The ground cracked beneath him.

His arms trembled.

“…Damn it…”

He pushed back, barely managing to deflect the second strike as he rolled to the side.

His breathing had gotten heavier. His movements less precise, and he knew why.

“…I’m losing,” he said under his breath.

He hated it.

But there was no denying it.

This thing, was stronger than him. Doesn’t get tired, doesn’t hesitate. And won’t feel anything.

While he, was already reaching his limit.

His expression hardened, he made his decision.

He stepped back sharply and raised his voice.

“Fall back!”

The nearest soldiers froze.

“…Sir?”

“I said fall back!” Caelus roared. “Retreat!”

The word spread quickly, carried by panic and desperation.

“Retreat?!”

“We’re pulling back?!”

“Move! Move!”

Not far away, Rhett heard it.

He blocked another heavy strike from Carrion, teeth gritted.

“…Damnit,” he muttered.

He kicked off Carrion’s blade and created distance, breathing hard.

“Caelus!” he shouted. “You serious about this?!”

Caelus didn’t look at him.

His eyes stayed locked on Graveknit.

“…We stay, we die,” he said coldly.

That was enough of an answer.

Carrion took a step forward.

Rhett raised his weapon again, despite the fatigue in his arms.

“…Don’t think this is over,” Rhett said, voice low.

Carrion didn’t respond.

He didn’t need to.

Behind them, the human army began to break formation.

The retreat had started, messy, disorganized, and esperate.

Some tried to carry the wounded.

Others just ran.

Caelus exhaled slowly, stepping back as Graveknit advanced again.

“…Troublesome thing,” he muttered.

Then he turned, and withdrew with the rest.

For the first time since the battle began.

The humans were no longer advancing.

They were running.

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