Chapter 96: Chapter 96: Going To Dustwind Town (part 2)

Steel slid free from its sheath.

In an instant, the air filled with the sharp sound of weapons being drawn.

Rhett’s group moved on instinct, blades up, stances set, eyes locked on the enemies closing in from all sides.

Across from them, the figures didn’t hesitate.

Carrion stepped forward, his hollow gaze fixed on Rhett. Up close, the details were clearer—his skin was pale and tight over hardened muscle, his movements too stiff and too smooth at the same time. In his hand, he held a massive cleaver, its edge chipped and stained dark.

Then, He spoke.

“Kill them all.”

His voice was low. Empty. Like something dragged up from a grave.

The moment the words fell.

The undead moved.

They surged forward all at once, their speed explosive, their steps heavy enough to crack the dry ground beneath them.

“Here they come!” Kellan barked.

The clash erupted instantly.

Bram met the first attacker head-on, his blade slamming against the incoming strike with a loud clang.

“…Damn it, they’re quite good!”

Lira spun to the side, narrowly avoiding a strike before slashing across her opponent’s chest. The blade cut deep, but the figure didn’t even flinch.

“They don’t react!” she shouted.

Doran ducked low, sweeping one off its feet, only for it to twist unnaturally and grab at him even while falling.

“…Tch! Creepy bastards!”

Kellan drove his weapon into one’s shoulder, forcing it back, but it stepped forward again like nothing happened.

“Yeah… I don’t like this at all!”

At the center.

Carrion moved.

His grip tightened on the cleaver as he stepped into range.

Rhett didn’t move.

Their eyes locked for a split second.

Then, Carrion swung.

The massive cleaver tore through the air with a heavy whoosh, aimed straight at Rhett’s side. The force behind it was brutal, enough to split a man in half.

Rhett reacted instantly.

He raised his weapon.

CLANG!

The impact rang out like a bell.

The ground beneath Rhett’s feet cracked as he absorbed the blow, his muscles tensing as he held his ground this time.

“…Not bad,” Rhett muttered, pushing back.

Carrion didn’t respond.

He pulled the cleaver back and swung again, faster this time.

Rhett stepped to the side, the blade missing him by inches before slamming into the ground with a heavy boom, sending dust and debris flying.

“…But you’re not the only one who’s strong,” Rhett added.

He countered immediately, his strike aimed cleanly at Carrion’s neck.

The blade connected.

But instead of cleanly cutting through, it met resistance.

Rhett’s eyes narrowed.

“…Tough.”

Carrion didn’t stagger.

Didn’t slow.

He turned his body unnaturally fast and brought the cleaver up again.

Rhett blocked once more, but this time, the force pushed him back half a step.

Just half, but enough.

“…Yeah,” Rhett said under his breath, his grip tightening.

“This is going to be a fight.”

—

The fight dragged on longer than it should have.

Steel clashed again and again, dust rising with every impact, the ground cracking under the force of their blows.

Rhett’s group was stronger, there was no doubt about that.

Every exchange proved it.

Bram smashed one of the undead back with a heavy strike, sending it tumbling across the ground. “They’re weaker than us!” he shouted.

Kellan drove his blade clean through another’s chest, twisting it before kicking the body away. “Yeah, but that’s not the problem!”

Because the moment the body hit the ground, it moved again.

The undead that Bram knocked away pushed itself up like nothing had happened, joints snapping back into place with a sickening crack.

Lira sliced through one’s neck, clean, precise.

The head flew off.

For a split second, it looked like victory.

Then…

“…What the hell…?” she whispered.

The severed head didn’t fall lifeless.

It hovered.

Slowly, unnaturally, it lifted into the air and drifted back toward the body.

The body itself stepped forward, reaching, and the head reattached with a dull thud.

The eyes flickered.

And it moved again.

“…You’ve got to be kidding me!” Kellan snapped.

Doran cursed under his breath as one he had just crushed lunged at him again. “They don’t die! No matter what we do!”

“Break them apart!” Rhett ordered. “Don’t give them a chance to recover!”

But even that wasn’t enough.

Pieces twitched. Limbs dragged themselves. Bodies reformed if given even a moment.

It was like fighting something that refused to acknowledge death itself.

At the center, Rhett clashed with Carrion again.

CLANG!

The cleaver came down hard, and Rhett blocked it, their strength colliding with a shockwave that cracked the ground beneath them.

Rhett pushed forward this time, forcing Carrion back a step.

“…You’re not like the others,” he said, eyes sharp.

Carrion said nothing.

But unlike the others. His movements were sharper. Cleaner.

More controlled.

Carrion swung again, faster, more precise.

Rhett dodged, countered, and forced him back once more.

“…But you still bleed,” Rhett muttered, noticing the damage he’d managed to deal.

Carrion paused for just a fraction of a second.

Then attacked again.

—-

Far away, inside his villa. Aiden sat calmly, resting against his chair.

The room was quiet. Undisturbed.

He frowned slightly.

“…Hmm?”

A faint pull.

A familiar sensation.

His mana… was being drained.

Not fast, but steady.

Aiden straightened a little, his eyes sharpening as he focused on the connection.

“…So it started.”

He could feel it clearly now. Multiple points of strain. His undead… were fighting.

And not just anything. Something strong.

A faint smile formed on his lips.

“Looks like Carrion and the others found strong opponents.”

—-

The fight kept going.

Too long.

What should’ve ended in minutes dragged into something else entirely. The sound of steel clashing had lost its rhythm, turning uneven, slower, heavier.

Rhett noticed it first.

Kellan’s swings weren’t as sharp. Bram’s breathing had grown louder. Even Doran, who never stopped talking mid-fight, had gone quiet, focused on just keeping up.

“…Damn it,” Kellan muttered, stepping back after knocking one away. “This isn’t working.”

“They just keep getting back up!” Bram added, slamming his blade down again, only to watch the same enemy twitch and rise once more.

Lira moved with them, still precise, but there was a slight delay now. A fraction of a second slower than before.

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