Chapter 49: Chapter 49: New Bronze-Grade Undead

But even as it fell, another took its place.

Bonefist charged from the side, his reinforced gloves aimed straight at Vayne’s ribs. Vayne blocked with his sword, but the impact rattled his bones. He gritted his teeth and shoved back, using his superior strength to force space between them.

He was stronger.

Faster.

More refined.

But they didn’t fight like living men.

They fought like something that didn’t care if they died.

Skullbreaker’s spiked club came crashing down from above. Vayne rolled to the side just in time. The weapon smashed into the street, cracking the stone and sending fragments flying.

Vayne pushed himself up, breath coming harder now.

He could feel it.

Fatigue.

The earlier drain from the brothel. The strange heaviness in his limbs. The wound in his thigh. The constant pressure from all sides.

He couldn’t think about what they were.

Couldn’t think about bone spears or bloodless bodies.

If he did.

He would hesitate.

And hesitation meant death.

Another bone spear flew toward him.

Vayne twisted his torso sharply. The projectile grazed his shoulder this time, slicing through muscle before shattering against the wall behind him.

Pain flared.

Real pain.

He roared and surged forward, aiming straight for Aiden.

If he could kill the one throwing those spear.

It would make things easier for him.

But the moment he took three steps, two basic-grade undead threw themselves at him without regard for their own safety. One wrapped its arms around his waist. Another latched onto his sword arm.

Vayne’s muscles bulged as he flexed, raw Body Tempering strength exploding outward. The undead gripping him cracked under the pressure, bones splintering as he forced them off.

But that brief delay.

It was enough.

Another spear formed in the distance.

Vayne’s vision flickered between the approaching projectile and the tightening circle of silent attackers.

Everything about them was wrong.

The silence.

The cold.

The way their eyes held nothing. Then Vayne saw the spear coming.

It cut through the air in a straight, merciless line, pale against the dark of the night.

He tried to move.

That was his last instinct.

His muscles tensed, every fiber in his Body Tempering physique screaming at him to dodge. He twisted his torso, shifted his weight to his back foot.

However, Bonefist slammed into him from the right, arms locking around his upper body like iron chains. The reinforced gloves dug into Vayne’s shoulders, fingers clamping down with crushing force.

At the same time, Skullbreaker stepped in from behind.

The bronze-grade undead wrapped one thick arm around Vayne’s chest and pinned his sword arm in place. The spiked club fell from Skullbreaker’s grip and clattered against the stone as both arms tightened, locking Vayne in a brutal embrace.

Vayne roared.

Veins bulged across his neck as he struggled. His muscles swelled, straining against the unnatural strength holding him in place. The stone beneath his boots cracked from the force of his resistance.

For a moment.

It looked like he might break free.

Bonefist’s arms creaked under the pressure. Fine cracks spread across the leather covering his forearms. Skullbreaker’s grip shifted slightly as Vayne forced his sword arm an inch upward.

An inch.

But that was all.

The undead did not feel pain.

They did not fear death.

They only obeyed.

Vayne’s eyes snapped forward just as the bone spear closed the final distance.

There was no time left.

No space to dodge.

The spear struck. It pierced through his forehead with a sickening, clean sound. Bone met bone. The tip punched through the back of his skull in a spray of dark blood and fragments.

The force carried through, snapping his head backward.

His body went still.

The strength left him instantly.

The tension in his muscles dissolved like a cut string. His sword slipped from his fingers and clanged against the street.

For a heartbeat, the only sound was the faint drip of blood hitting stone.

Then Bonefist and Skullbreaker released him.

Vayne’s body dropped heavily to the ground, eyes open but empty, staring at nothing.

The night grew quiet again.

The remaining basic-grade undead stood motionless around the corpse, broken pieces of some of them scattered across the pavement.

From the shadows, Aiden lowered his hand slowly.

The bone spear had done its job.

For a few seconds after Vayne fell, Aiden didn’t move.

He simply watched the body.

Blood pooled slowly beneath the head chief’s skull, dark and thick against the cracked stone. The street was silent again, as if the fight had never happened.

Aiden exhaled.

This was the moment he had prepared for.

He stepped closer, boots crunching lightly over broken debris. The undead parted for him without a sound. Bonefist and Skullbreaker stood like silent statues on either side of the corpse.

Aiden raised his hand.

“Lord of the Dead.”

Dark mana gathered around his palm, heavier than before. It wasn’t like summoning basic-grade undead from old graves. This body was fresh. Strong. Its will had only just been extinguished.

He focused.

The skill pulled at something unseen.

For a second.

Nothing happened.

Then a faint ripple moved through Vayne’s corpse.

A thin thread of darkness seeped out from his chest… then faded.

Aiden frowned.

Failed.

He still had two tries left.

He clicked his tongue softly.

“Again.”

He poured more focus into the skill, tightening his control, forcing his will downward like a hook sinking into deep water.

The air around the corpse grew colder.

This time, when the darkness stirred, it didn’t fade.

It gathered.

A small black orb began to rise slowly from Vayne’s body, pulling itself free from the remains like smoke condensing into something solid. It hovered just above the corpse, pulsing faintly.

Second try.

He extended his hand and tightened his grip in the air.

The orb trembled violently, as if resisting him. For a brief second, the street seemed to grow even colder. The remaining undead stood completely still, as though acknowledging the presence of something superior.

“Submit to me,” Aiden said quietly.

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