An hour later, Merin watches as Ben slays the last white skeleton.

He surveys the group that had joined the fight—some familiar faces, others new.

Without a word, he walks over, picks up a hip bone, channels his true energy into it, and shatters it.

A silver orb of light forms in his palm, and he absorbs it.

Jane watches, brows furrowed. “What are you doing?”

He glances up. Curious eyes are all on him.

He explains, “Bones left behind—if you infuse them with true energy, they crack. A silver ball of light forms. Absorb it, and your true energy recovers.”

Black, eyes wide, crouches down and picks up a thigh bone with his left hand, bow still in his right.

“Really?” he asks.

In response, Merin grabs a spine, infuses it with energy, and lets them watch it splinter apart. The silver light appears. He absorbs it.

The others start collecting bones scattered across the ground.

All except three—two girls and a young man.

The girls stay inside the car, silent, while the young man stands by the door, gripping his weapon.

Merin steps forward. “I’m Adam Taylor.”

The three freeze.

Their eyes widen in recognition.

Merin hesitates. “Do you… Know me?”

The young man steps forward. “I’m Samuel Manford.”

From the car, the two girls speak in turn.

“I’m Elisa Manford.”

“I’m Eve Manford.”

Merin immediately pieces it together. “How are you related to Evelyn?”

Samuel answers, “We’re her younger cousins.”

Merin nods slowly. “How did you end up here?”

Elisa says, “We came to Greenview Town to meet our martial arts teacher. Later, Sister Evelyn mentioned the Floating Stone Forest, so we went sightseeing.”

Eve adds, “But just before we reached it, a purple fog rolled in—and then we were here.”

Merin frowns. “So Evelyn’s here too?”

Samuel crosses his arms, tension in his voice. “I hope not. But her car was ahead of ours. If we ended up here, then she probably did too.”

From behind, Black mutters, “We should’ve left when those other two rhinos appeared.”

Ben shrugs. “Jane said no.”

Jane, shattering a ribcage, scowls. “I said that based on what we knew then. How was I supposed to predict this?”

Ben sneers. “Jamie was involved.”

Merin and Black exchange knowing nods.

Merin lowers his eyes to his sleeve—green camouflage now stained with a single red spot.

Jamie’s blood.

Before Merin can sink into the memory, an unfamiliar voice breaks the silence. “What should we do next?”

Merin turns to see a man in plain tactical gear—one of Evelyn’s cousins’ bodyguards. Judging by his aura, he’s the only Unification Realm martial artist among them. Three others, clearly lower realm, linger nearby.

Merin doesn’t respond. He doesn’t have the answer. No one does.

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But before anyone can speak again, a sudden ripple of energy hits his senses. Merin snaps his head toward it—

A bone spear hurtles through the air, straight toward one of the lower realm martial artists from the hunting team.

“Watch out!” Merin shouts, thrusting out his palm.

An energy construct forms midair—his palm strike doesn’t block the spear, but it slams into the man’s side just in time, knocking him out of its path.

The spear misses him by inches and slams into the tire of a nearby car with a loud crack.

Merin’s eyes narrow.

From the distant ridge, a wave of bone monsters pours forth—white skeletons surging in numbers, and behind them, six grey ones moving with eerie precision.

Ben curses under his breath.

Black squints. “The grey ones… they look even stronger than before.”

Merin nods grimly. “They’re on par with us. But there’s a trick—Ice and fire combined can injure them faster.”

Ben shoots him a look. “That’s a move only you can pull off.”

One of the bodyguards turns toward Merin in surprise. “You’ve already reached the upper Unification Realm?”

Merin shakes his head. “No. I’m still low on Unification. That’s why it hurts like hell to use it.”

Before anyone can reply, a warning cry breaks out—

“Incoming!”

Jane steps forward, slamming her palm into the ground. A thick ice shield erupts before them, just in time for the bone spear to slam into it and shatter in a burst of cold shards.

As the shield crumbles, Black speaks. “We need to wipe out the white skeletons first—before we take on the greys. The others can’t help us if they’re busy surviving.”

Merin nods. He understands exactly what Black means: the lower realm martial artists might not be strong enough to face grey skeletons, but if the white ones are gone, they can at least offer support or cover.

One of the bodyguards steps forward. “We’ve got the perfect tool for that,” he says, and heads to the back of the SUV.

Ben watches with interest. “What else do you guys have stashed back there?” he whistles, following after.

Merin watches as the bodyguard shoulders the missile launcher, aims at the swarm, and fires.

The explosion rips through the battlefield, a shockwave roaring outward, kicking up dust and bone.

He shields his face from the blast, barely able to see through the cloud, when a voice shouts, “Adam, catch!”

Something round flies toward him—he catches it on reflex.

A grenade.

Before he can speak, five purple glows pierce the dust.

Merin’s eyes narrow. “They’re coming.”

From the haze, five grey bone monsters burst out, charging with terrifying speed.

He yanks the pin from the grenade and hurls it—not at the greys, but at the white bone monsters behind them, now partially visible as the dust begins to settle.

Their numbers are already reduced.

He intends to reduce them further—ideally, to zero. Another explosion rocks the field, and a fresh cloud of dust rises.

Before he can count how many white bone monsters were destroyed, Merin steps forward alongside his three teammates and the bodyguard.

Five against five.

This time, Merin knows exactly how to kill a grey bone monster—but using Iceflame Palm takes time.

So, he focuses on dodging, defending, and waiting for an opening.

He feels the familiar clash of cold and fire inside him, two opposing forces grinding together.

Then he strikes—an explosive palm to the ribs sends the grey skeleton staggering.

His next move is faster, more precise.

Iceflame crashes down on the monster’s skull. The head shatters.

The body crumbles—and this time, nothing is left behind.

Merin breathes out and looks to the others.

Only the Unification Realm fighters are engaging the grey bone monsters; the last of the white skeletons are gone.

But the lower realm martial artists can’t assist.

Not yet.

The others are locked in fast-paced, close combat, evenly matched against their undead opponents.

There’s no opening to safely intervene—and no margin for distraction.

Merin doesn’t rush in. Instead, he steps back, focusing on recovering from his injuries while closely observing the ongoing battles for insight.

Each of the four continues their fight against the grey bone monsters, showcasing powerful techniques.

Ben’s arms blaze with white fire, his fists encased in burning gauntlets. Every strike leaves flames clinging to the monster’s bones, forcing it to expend extra energy to extinguish them.

Jane dances through the fight, her palms glowing cold blue. With a sharp breath, she summons multiple ice palms that slam into her opponent from every angle—Merin can hear the cracking of bone with each impact.

Black abandons his bow and draws twin knives, each crackling with lightning. He darts in and out, carving arcs of electricity with every slash. Sometimes, the blades fuse into a lightning-forged sword, its strikes staggering the undead.

The bodyguard uses a long spear, green flames flickering along the tip. Each thrust is precise and burning, pushing his opponent on the defensive.

Merin watches carefully, memorising patterns, admiring their strength—but then a shout from Samuel snaps his focus.

He turns.

A new threat is emerging from the other side—a grey bone monster, different from the rest. It’s armoured at the chest, bone spear in hand, and it’s marching straight for the car.

The bodyguard with the missile launcher doesn’t hesitate. He lifts the weapon, locks onto the target, and fires.

Merin watches the missile streak toward the armoured grey bone monster. The undead creature doesn’t flinch—it just keeps walking toward the car, spear gripped tight.

Merin starts toward it, thinking, Even if it survives, it’ll be badly damaged. One or two moves—I’ll end it.

The missile strikes dead centre on its chest plate. A thunderous explosion follows, flames and debris bursting outward.

Merin slows to a halt, confident. “Guess I won’t need to fight after all,” he mutters.

He doesn’t turn to watch Ben and the others—just waits for the dust to settle, certain no monster could walk away from a direct missile hit.

But even before the cloud thins, his expression darkens.

A black silhouette shifts in the smoke.

Then, from the swirling dust, a grey bone leg steps forward.

Merin curses under his breath and breaks into a run, charging straight toward the monster.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep