Chapter 55: Chapter 55: Running For His Life

His eyes scanned the formation ahead.

There, a weaker section near the left wall.

“Break through,” he ordered.

Undead Vayne and Bonefist charged together, smashing into the shield line with brutal force. The formation wavered.

Aiden pushed forward behind them, and he broke through.

The moment the shield wall collapsed on the left side, he slipped past the fallen guards and sprinted into the main street. Behind him, his undead clashed violently with the city forces, buying him seconds he desperately needed.

But it wasn’t over.

Not even close.

The moment he reached the open road, horns began to blare from the watchtowers.

Deep. Urgent.

More torches lit up ahead.

Another group of people poured into the street from the next intersection. Practitioners mixed among them. Body Tempering practitioners. Veteran fighters. Even mercenaries he recognized from the underground circles.

It felt like the entire city had been mobilized.

“They’re sealing the northern route!”

“He’s heading for the main gate!”

“Don’t let him reach the walls!”

Shouts echoed from every direction.

Aiden didn’t slow down.

He ran.

Boots pounding against stone, cloak snapping behind him. His breath remained steady, but his mana was anything but. It churned violently inside him as he continuously repaired his undead.

One of his basic-grade summons was split in half by a blade.

Aiden gritted his teeth and forced mana into it.

The bones dragged themselves back together, knitting under a thin layer of necrotic energy.

Another lost an arm.

Repaired.

Skullbreaker took a direct hit from a spear and shattered at the shoulder.

Repaired.

Each restoration drained him.

His vision flickered for half a second.

Too much.

But he couldn’t afford to let them fall. They were his moving shields, his walls.

Arrows rained from rooftops.

He raised Bone Shield again, fragments forming around him just in time to deflect a volley aimed at his back.

He turned a corner sharply, cutting through a narrower street.

More fighters emerged.

It was as if every person in the city capable of holding a weapon had joined the hunt.

Wip was somewhere behind him, he could feel it. That suffocating pressure hadn’t disappeared.

Aiden summoned two undead ahead to crash into a charging group, slowing them just enough for him to slip through a gap between buildings.

His mana was draining fast now.

Too fast.

He could feel the strain in his limbs. Even at Level 11, even with reinforced flesh, he wasn’t built for prolonged physical escape against dozens of fighters.

The city gate came into view at the far end of the road.

Closed.

Guards packed the entrance.

“Stop him!”

“Archers!”

Aiden didn’t hesitate.

“All of you,” he commanded through clenched teeth.

The remaining undead surged forward at once.

They crashed into the gate guards like a wave of bones and broken steel. Some were cut down instantly. Others latched onto shields and dragged men to the ground.

Aiden followed right behind them.

He didn’t look left.

Didn’t look right.

Just forward.

An arrow grazed his shoulder. Pain flared, but he ignored it.

Bonefist grabbed a gate guard by the throat and hurled him aside. Vayne slammed into the wooden bar that’s locking the gate, cracking it.

“Close it!” someone screamed from the wall above.

Too late.

With one final surge of strength, Aiden forced mana into the Vayne and Bonefist.

They struck together, and the bar splintered.

The gate burst open just wide enough.

Aiden slipped through.

Outside the walls, the night air was colder.

The open road stretched ahead, leading into dark woods beyond the cleared fields.

He didn’t stop.

He ran straight toward the tree line.

Behind him, the pursuit continued. Guards poured out of the broken gate. Torches bobbed in the darkness.

Inside the forest, visibility dropped sharply.

Branches whipped against his face as he pushed deeper between the trees. Roots and uneven ground slowed the heavier armored pursuers.

But they were still coming.

His undead were falling one by one now.

A Body Tempering practitioner crushed one’s skull.

Another split Skullbreaker down the spine.

Aiden repaired what he could, but his mana was nearly dry.

His breathing grew heavier.

This won’t last.

He reached a small clearing inside the woods and stopped for half a heartbeat.

Then he made a decision.

Aiden turned.

His remaining undead gathered around him, damaged, cracked, but still standing.

“You stay,” he said quietly.

With the last of his mana, he used Undead Reinforcement skill on them all one final time.

He left them there as a wall.

A last line of resistance.

When the first wave of pursuers broke through the trees and entered the clearing, the undead charged them without hesitation.

Aiden didn’t watch.

He turned and ran deeper into the forest, alone now.

Behind him, the sounds of battle echoed through the trees.

Then, gradually.

Silence.

He kept running until even that faded.

Only when the city lights were no longer visible through the branches did he finally slow down.

He didn’t know how long it had been.

Minutes.

Maybe an hour.

The forest stretched endlessly in every direction, branches clawing at his clothes, roots threatening to trip him with every step. His breathing grew heavier, rougher, each inhale burning his lungs.

His mana was almost gone.

What little remained flickered weakly inside him, like the last ember of a dying flame.

His vision started to blur.

At first, it was subtle. The edges of the trees looked softer. The shadows moved strangely. Then the ground beneath his feet seemed uneven in ways it wasn’t.

He stumbled and nearly fell. But he forced himself upright.

Don’t stop.

If he stopped in the open and they caught up.

No.

He clenched his teeth and kept moving.

His shoulder throbbed where the arrow had grazed him earlier. Dried blood stuck to his sleeve. His legs felt heavier with every step, like iron weights had been chained to them.

The sounds of pursuit were gone now.

No more shouting.

No more clashing steel.

Only the distant cry of night insects and the rustling of leaves.

Still, he didn’t trust it. Until he saw it.

A dark opening between jagged rocks at the base of a small hill.

A cave.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep