Chapter 106: Chapter 106: Retreat And Scattered

No response.

Rhett still stood there, eyes locked somewhere far away, like he couldn’t even hear the battle anymore.

Caelus didn’t hesitate.

He grabbed Rhett by the shoulder and yanked him hard.

“Get a hold of yourself!”

Rhett staggered, barely reacting.

“Let go of me,” Rhett muttered hoarsely, still staring past him.

Caelus followed his gaze for half a second, saw the situation clearly, then snapped his head back.

“She’s gone,” he said sharply. “You stay here, you die too.”

Rhett didn’t answer.

Didn’t even blink.

“Damn it,” Caelus growled.

Another presence rushed toward them. The enemy Rhett fighting was closing in fast.

Caelus shifted his stance, still holding onto Rhett with one hand, and kicked off the ground.

His leg shot out, slamming into the enemies torso and sending it skeeding back several steps.

He didn’t wait for it.

Instead, he tightened his grip on Rhett and dragged him along.

“Listen to me,” Caelus said, voice low but forceful. “You can break later. Not here.”

Rhett’s fingers twitched slightly around his weapon.

That was enough.

Caelus turned his head and shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Everyone, retreat!”

His voice cut through the battlefield, sharp and commanding.

“Scatter and retreat! Don’t group up!”

Some soldiers hesitated.

Others were already backing away.

“We can’t hold this!” someone shouted.

“Fall back!”

“Move!”

The order spread quickly, carried by panic and desperation.

Caelus kept moving, pulling Rhett with him, forcing him step by step away from the center of the chaos.

Behind them, the undead pressed forward, relentless as ever, cutting down those who were too slow to react.

Caelus didn’t look back.

He couldn’t afford to.

“Stay alive,” he muttered, more to himself this time, his grip tightening slightly on Rhett.

“Just stay alive.”

—-

The moment the order to scatter spread through the battlefield, whatever fragile structure the human forces still held together finally broke apart.

They ran.

Not as an army anymore, not even as a formation, but as individuals trying to survive.

Some fled into the darkness without looking back. Others tried to drag the wounded along, only to be slowed down and overtaken. A few turned and fought in desperation, hoping to buy time for the rest, but the result was always the same.

They were swallowed.

Aiden stood in the middle of it all, unmoving, his gaze calm as he watched the retreat unfold. He didn’t give another command, didn’t waste another skill. There was no need.

“…Chase them,” he said quietly.

That was enough.

The undead surged forward, spreading out across the broken battlefield, hunting down those who were too slow, too injured, or simply too unlucky. The night echoed with scattered screams, cut short one by one as the distance between life and death closed without mercy.

Not far from that, a group tried to regroup, thinking they could push through together, but before they could form anything close to a line, a wave of undead crashed into them and tore them apart in seconds.

Carrion walked through it all, steady and unstoppable, his cleaver rising and falling without pause, each swing ending another life. There was no wasted movement in him, no hesitation, just quiet, efficient slaughter.

Graveknit moved differently, slipping between fleeing soldiers, its twisted body bending and stretching in unnatural ways, bone shards piercing through backs and chests before being pulled free again by those black threads.

The night stretched on like that.

Slowly.

Relentlessly.

Until there was no one left running.

Silence came just as suddenly as the chaos had.

The crackling of fire softened, the screams faded, and what remained was the sound of wind passing through a ruined camp filled with bodies.

Aiden stood still for a moment, taking it all in.

Then he spoke.

“Carrion.”

The undead knight stepped forward immediately, lowering his head slightly in acknowledgment.

“My lord.”

Aiden’s gaze swept across the battlefield, stopping at several fallen figures that still carried a different presence even in death.

“Gather the bodies of the Body Tempering practitioners,” he said calmly. “Bring them to me.”

Carrion didn’t question it.

“It will be done.”

He turned without another word, moving through the field with heavy, deliberate steps, lifting corpses one by one, those stronger bodies that had once stood at the peak of human strength. Some were still intact, others damaged, but all of them carried value now.

Graveknit followed silently, helping in its own way, dragging bodies with its mismatched limbs, its stitched frame twitching as it worked.

It didn’t take long.

One by one, the bodies were placed before Aiden.

Five of them.

Even in death, they looked imposing.

Warriors who had once led others.

Now nothing more than still flesh waiting for purpose.

Aiden stepped closer.

Then he raised his hand.

“Lord of the Undead.”

—

In the end, he got four.

Their eyes opened slowly, faintly glowing, their movements steadier than the others he had raised before.

Stronger.

More complete.

He turned away from the ruined camp.

“We’re leaving.”

Graveknit nodded. “As you wish, my lord.”

The undead began to move again, forming around him as they prepared to return.

—

Back in his room in the villa, Aiden finally allowed himself to sit down.

The door closed softly behind him, shutting out the noise of the town, leaving only silence. The faint scent of dried blood still clung to his clothes, and his body felt heavier now that the battle was over, as if everything he had been holding back was starting to settle in.

He leaned back slightly and exhaled.

“…Finally.”

Then, with a small flick of his fingers, the familiar translucent screen appeared before him.

His eyes moved across it slowly.

And then they stopped.

“…Level 30.”

Aiden let out a quiet breath, almost like a short laugh.

From level twenty six to thirty.

Four levels in a single battle.

Even for him, that kind of jump was not something he saw often.

“…Not bad.”

The screen hovered in front of him, steady and clear.

[Name: Aiden (Level: 30)]

Class: Necromancer (Death God — Locked)

Basic-Grade Summon: 19

Bronze-Grade Summon: 20

Iron-Grade Summon: 0

Silver-Grade Summon: 0

Gold-Grade Summon: 0

Legendary-Grade Summon: 0

Mythical-Grade Summon: 0

Summon Slot Available: 39/58

Active Skills: Lord of the Dead, Bone Shield, Bone Spear, Undead Reinforcement, Undead Sight, Possession Command, Fear Pulse, Bone Armor, Grave Calling, Bone Prison, Corpse Explosion

Passive Skills: Mana Channeling, Necrotic Sustain, Necrotic Reservoir, Undead Dominion, Death Aura

Skill Points: 4

Subordinate: 2

Gold Coins: 2539

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