Chapter 119: Chapter 119: Attacking Virel City (part 3)

Rhett’s eyes sharpened.

“…They regenerate.”

Another one attacked from the side.

He twisted, barely avoiding it, his counterattack landing cleanly across its torso, splitting it open.

It didn’t fall.

The wound began to close.

More of them stepped forward, surrounding him slowly, cutting off his path back.

Behind them, the weaker skeletons began to move again, filling the gaps.

For the first time since the fight started, Rhett stopped advancing.

Not because he wanted to.

Because he had to.

One of the bronze-grade undead tilted its head slightly, as if studying him.

Then it attacked again.

Rhett met it head on.

The clash echoed louder than anything before.

And this time…

He wasn’t cutting through them anymore.

—

From the back of the battlefield, Aiden watched everything.

He remained seated atop his undead beast, unmoving despite the chaos unfolding ahead. The sounds of war echoed through the night. Steel clashing, bones breaking, soldiers shouting. The city that once stood in order was now in complete disorder.

His gaze was fixed on one point.

Deep inside the broken gate.

On Rhett.

The human stood surrounded, facing five bronze-grade undead at once. Each of them moved with controlled precision, their strikes heavy, their bodies reinforced by the strength of body tempering. They did not rush blindly like the lesser ones. They fought with purpose.

And yet, Rhett was still standing.

Still pushing forward.

Aiden narrowed his eyes slightly, watching as Rhett deflected one strike, twisted his body to avoid another, then drove his blade forward, shattering part of one undead’s torso before it began to regenerate again.

“…Oh,” Aiden muttered, almost amused. “This guy is good.”

Beside him, Carrion stepped forward, its dark armored form reflecting faint light from the fires beginning to spread near the gate.

“I have fought him more than once, my lord,” Carrion said, its voice deep and steady. “He is strong.”

Aiden let out a quiet breath, still watching the fight.

“I can see that.”

Below, Rhett moved again, his attacks growing more aggressive, more relentless. Even surrounded, even outnumbered, he did not step back. Every movement carried intent. Every strike aimed to kill.

Graveknit shifted beside Aiden, its stitched bones making a faint rattling sound.

“My lord,” it said, “the undead without the new equipment are being destroyed.”

Aiden’s eyes didn’t leave the battlefield.

“I expected that,” he replied calmly. “They remember how to fight, but they’re not as strong as when they were alive. Without proper equipment, they’re just numbers.”

As if to prove his point, several lesser undead were cut down near the entrance, their bodies collapsing under coordinated strikes from the defenders. Unlike before, they stayed down.

No revival.

No second chance.

Graveknit tilted its head.

“Then it should be time for us to act.”

There was a brief pause.

Then it added, “Carrion and I can enter the city.”

Carrion did not speak, but its presence shifted slightly, as if already prepared to move the moment the order was given.

Aiden finally looked away from Rhett.

His gaze lifted, scanning the city beyond the gate. Fires were starting to spread. Soldiers were regrouping further inside. Defenses were forming in layers.

Organized.

Resilient.

But already strained.

“…Yeah,” Aiden said quietly.

Then his expression hardened just a little.

“Go.”

Both Graveknit and Carrion straightened.

“Break their formation,” Aiden continued. “Disrupt everything inside. Don’t let them stabilize.”

Carrion lowered its head slightly. “Understood, my lord.”

Graveknit’s stitched body shifted, bone fragments clinking softly as it moved.

“It will be done.”

Without another word, the two of them moved.

Carrion went first.

It stepped forward, then suddenly surged ahead, its speed exploding as it charged straight toward the broken gate. The ground cracked under each step, weaker undead parting instinctively as it passed.

Graveknit followed, not as fast, but no less unsettling. Its uneven body moved in a way that didn’t feel natural, bone fragments shifting and rattling as it slipped through the ranks, its presence cold and creeping.

Aiden watched them go.

Below, the battlefield was about to change.

Rhett was still fighting, still holding against the bronze-grade undead, his breathing heavier now, his movements just slightly slower than before.

Then something shifted.

One of the bronze-grade undead suddenly paused.

Just for a moment.

Rhett noticed.

His instincts screamed.

But it was already too late.

Carrion arrived.

It crashed into the fight like a falling weight, its armored body slamming directly into one of the bronze-grade undead, sending it skidding across the ground before it could recover.

The impact alone forced space into the battlefield.

Rhett stepped back half a step, eyes snapping toward the newcomer.

“…You.”

Carrion straightened slowly, its dark form towering over the others.

“We meet again,” he said.

Before Rhett could respond, something else moved behind him.

Graveknit.

Its stitched form slipped through the chaos and into the inner line of defenders, its presence almost unnoticed until it was already too close.

Then it attacked.

Not with brute force, but with disruption.

Bone shards lashed out. Threads of necromantic energy wrapped around weapons, pulling, tangling, breaking formations apart. Soldiers stumbled as their footing was disrupted, their coordination shattered in an instant.

“Watch your backs!”

“What is that thing?!”

Panic started to spread again.

The brief confidence the defenders had gained began to crack.

Aiden watched it all from afar, his expression calm.

“…That should do it.”

His army continued to press forward.

Aiden’s gaze slowly shifted away from the chaos below.

The clash at the gate had already turned in his favor. Carrion had entered the fight, Graveknit was tearing apart their formation from the inside, and the pressure on the defenders was building with every passing second.

There was no need for him to keep watching that part.

Instead, his eyes lifted.

Up.

Toward the top of the wall.

There, standing above the battlefield, was a man who had not moved much since the fight began.

Calm.

Observing.

Even with everything happening below, his presence did not waver.

Aiden narrowed his eyes slightly.

“…So that’s him.”

He studied the man for a moment, watching how he carried himself, how the soldiers around him unconsciously followed his presence even without direct orders.

He studied the man for a moment, watching how he carried himself, how the warriors around him unconsciously followed his presence even without direct orders.

Then Aiden let out a quiet breath.

“That guy should be the leader of the Zephyr Clan.”

The undead beast beneath him shifted slightly, as if sensing his intent.

Aiden leaned forward just a little, resting his arm on his knee as he kept his eyes locked on Caelus.

“At first, I was just going to wipe this place out,” he muttered.

His tone was casual, but his eyes remained sharp.

“But thinking about it…”

His gaze drifted briefly across the city. The walls. The structures. The movement of people inside.

“…this place has value.”

He tapped his fingers lightly against his knee.

“I need gold if I want to keep growing. Resources. Equipment. Expansion.”

A faint smile formed on his lips.

“So destroying them would be a waste.”

He straightened slightly.

“Better to make them work for me.”

The decision settled just like that.

Simple.

Cold.

Aiden patted the side of the undead beast beneath him.

“Let’s go.”

The beast responded instantly.

Its massive body tensed, claws digging into the ground for a split second before it moved.

Then it leaped.

The force alone cracked the earth beneath it as it launched forward, its enormous frame cutting through the air as it headed straight toward the wall.

The movement was so sudden that even the battlefield seemed to pause for a fraction of a second.

On the wall, one of the soldiers shouted.

“Something’s coming!”

Caelus turned immediately.

His eyes sharpened as he caught sight of it.

The massive undead beast rising from below, carrying a single figure on its back, heading straight for the wall without slowing down.

“…So you finally decided to move,” Caelus muttered.

The beast landed.

Hard.

Its weight slammed against the stone wall, claws gripping into the surface as cracks spread from the impact point. Dust and fragments fell as it held itself in place, its massive head lifting slowly.

Aiden remained seated for a moment, completely unfazed by the height, the danger, or the dozens of weapons now pointing toward him.

Soldiers immediately surrounded the area, forming a loose circle, though none of them dared to step too close.

“Stay back!” one of them shouted. “Don’t let him move!”

Caelus raised a hand slightly.

“Hold.”

The soldiers froze.

Aiden finally stood up.

He stepped forward on the beast’s back, then lightly dropped down onto the wall itself as if the height meant nothing to him.

For a brief moment, the two of them simply looked at each other.

Both still.

Both measuring.

Aiden spoke first.

“You’re the leader here, right?”

His tone was calm, almost casual, like he wasn’t standing in the middle of an enemy stronghold.

Caelus didn’t answer immediately.

His eyes moved over Aiden once, taking in everything. The lack of fear. The control. The fact that this entire army below was moving under his command.

“…And you are thier leader,” Caelus replied.

Aiden gave a small nod.

A short silence passed.

The sounds of battle still echoed below them, but up here, it felt distant.

Contained.

Aiden tilted his head slightly.

“I didn’t come up here to fight you.”

That alone made several soldiers tense even more.

Caelus didn’t move.

“Then why are you here?” he asked.

Aiden’s faint smile returned.

“To talk.”

That answer clearly wasn’t what anyone expected.

Caelus narrowed his eyes.

“…Talk.”

Aiden nodded once.

“At first, I planned to destroy your city,” he said plainly. “Kill everyone. Take whatever’s left.”

Some of the soldiers stiffened at his words, anger flashing across their faces.

But Aiden continued like it was nothing.

“But I changed my mind.”

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