Chapter 176: Chapter 176: March Towards Valen City

This one looked far smaller compared to the others.

Several black launch rails rested side by side while smaller bone bolts were loaded into rotating chambers.

Aiden immediately understood its role.

Anti-personnel suppression.

Perfect for keeping defenders pinned down during the assault.

The final blueprint appeared last.

[Corpseflare Mortar Blueprint]

[Cost: 3,000 Gold Coins]

[Type: Siege Weapon]

[Description: Launches condensed corpsefire shells infused with unstable necrotic energy. Upon impact, the shells explode violently and ignite nearby targets with pale corpse flames that continue burning flesh and mana.]

Aiden immediately sat up straighter.

"...Now that’s nasty."

The image alone looked terrifying.

A large dark cannon-like structure rested atop a reinforced platform surrounded by necrotic runes. The ammunition resembled glowing pale skulls packed with unstable death energy.

And unlike ordinary fire...

Corpsefire was much harder to extinguish.

Aiden tapped the armrest of his chair quietly while thinking.

Three thousand gold coins.

That would leave him nearly broke afterward.

But...

Tomorrow night was the siege.

This wasn’t the time to save money.

Aiden looked over every blueprint again carefully.

The Bonecrusher Ballista offered precision destruction.

The Gravetide Catapult spread fear and chaos.

The Iron Tomb Ram broke gates.

The Widowmaker Scorpion suppressed defenders.

The Corpseflare Mortar caused massive destruction.

Honestly...

All of them were useful.

Aiden stared at the floating blueprints for several more seconds.

Then he slowly shook his head.

"...No."

The Corpseflare Mortar was powerful.

Terrifying even.

But after thinking carefully, he realized something important.

Valen City’s greatest defense wasn’t the soldiers.

It was the gate.

As long as the gate remained standing, the defenders would have time to organize, reinforce weak points, and slow down the undead advance.

He needed speed.

Brutal speed.

The faster the gate fell, the faster chaos would spread through the city.

Aiden’s eyes slowly returned toward the Bonecrusher Ballista.

Then toward the Iron Tomb Ram.

A faint smile appeared on his face.

"...I’ll take both."

The system immediately reacted.

[Purchasing Bonecrusher Ballista Blueprint...]

[Cost: 1,200 Gold Coins]

[Purchase Successful.]

[Purchasing Iron Tomb Ram Blueprint...]

[Cost: 2,000 Gold Coins]

[Purchase Successful.]

[Remaining Gold Coins: 643]

The floating blue screen vanished afterward.

The floating blue screen vanished afterward.

Then—

KRRRRRRR—

A loud metallic sound echoed from outside the fortress.

Followed by another.

Aiden immediately stood up.

Even Duskveil turned his head slightly toward the courtyard outside.

Aiden walked toward the doorway calmly while dark torchlight flickered across the stone hallway.

The deeper he walked into the fortress...

The louder the sounds became.

Aiden stepped out into the courtyard calmly.

Then stopped.

Even he looked impressed.

The newly purchased siege weapons had already materialized near the center of the fortress.

The Bonecrusher Ballista stood first.

Massive, dark, and deadly.

The weapon towered nearly fifteen feet high, its reinforced black frame wrapped with thick iron bands and pale necrotic runes carved along every support beam. The enormous launch rail pointed toward the night sky like a giant spear ready to pierce heaven itself.

Beside it rested several massive bolts.

Each one looked large enough to impale multiple people at once.

Their sharpened black tips gleamed faintly under the torchlight while necrotic symbols pulsed slowly across the shaft.

Aiden walked closer quietly.

The pressure this thing gave off didn’t even feel like an ordinary siege weapon.

It felt made for slaughter.

Several normal undead stood around it motionlessly.

Aiden lightly touched the side of the ballista.

Cold.

The moment his hand made contact, the system interface appeared briefly.

[Bonecrusher Ballista]

[Status: Ready]

[Ammunition Capacity: 12 Heavy Bone Bolts]

[Special Effect: Armor Piercing]

A faint smile slowly appeared on Aiden’s face.

"...Good."

Then his eyes shifted toward the second siege weapon.

The Iron Tomb Ram.

Even Dragmar looked smaller standing beside it.

The massive breaching weapon resembled a moving fortress more than a ram. Thick layers of black iron plating covered the entire structure while sharpened bone spikes lined the front.

At the center hung the battering ram itself.

A gigantic blackened bone reinforced with iron rings and necrotic runes.

The tip alone looked capable of tearing through solid stone.

Heavy metal wheels rested beneath the structure while layered bone plating protected the sides from arrows and attacks above.

Aiden slowly circled around it.

This thing was monstrous.

More importantly...

Perfect for undead soldiers.

Humans would eventually grow tired pushing something this heavy.

Undead wouldn’t.

As long as their bodies remained intact, they would continue pushing forward endlessly.

Aiden suddenly imagined ten thousand undead advancing beneath the night sky while this massive ram smashed repeatedly against Valen City’s gates.

The image alone felt oppressive.

Nearby, Dragmar slowly approached the Iron Tomb Ram.

The giant undead placed one massive hand against the reinforced frame.

Then slightly pushed.

KRRRRRK.

The enormous siege weapon moved several feet immediately.

Aiden raised an eyebrow slightly.

"...You’re really built for this thing."

Dragmar’s pale-blue eyes flickered faintly.

"I can break the gate faster with it, my lord."

Aiden nodded slowly.

"That’s the plan."

Behind them, Kael quietly stepped into the courtyard while observing the siege weapons silently.

Even he paused briefly while looking at the Iron Tomb Ram.

"...The city gates won’t survive long."

Duskveil finally emerged from the fortress hallway afterward.

The moment he appeared...

Several nearby undead instinctively moved aside.

Not because of intelligence.

Instinct.

The pressure radiating from Duskveil naturally suppressed weaker undead around him.

His pale-blue eye studied the siege weapons briefly before landing on Aiden.

"The attack is ready."

Aiden crossed his arms while staring toward the distant direction of Valen City far beyond the forest.

The night wind blew through the fortress quietly.

Torch flames flickered across thousands of undead soldiers standing motionlessly below.

Ten thousand undead.

Multiple body tempering undead.

Four powerful intelligent subordinates.

And now, siege weapons.

Aiden slowly smiled.

Tomorrow night...

Valen City would face a nightmare.

------

Night completely swallowed the forest.

Cold wind passed through the ruined fortress while thousands of undead stood silently beneath the darkness like an endless sea of corpses.

No breathing.

No movement.

Only pale-blue eyes glowing across the courtyard and beyond the fortress walls.

The entire undead army had assembled.

Aiden stepped out from the fortress entrance slowly, dark cloak swaying lightly behind him.

The moment he appeared...

Every undead immediately became still.

Even the torch flames seemed quieter somehow.

Rows upon rows of undead soldiers filled the surroundings. Skeleton warriors carried rusted swords and shields while armored undead stood near the front lines holding long spears.

Behind them rested the siege weapons.

The Bonecrusher Ballista.

The Iron Tomb Ram.

Dozens of undead already positioned themselves around the massive weapons, waiting motionlessly for orders.

Aiden’s eyes swept across the army calmly.

Ten thousand undead.

An army large enough to bury a city.

Then his gaze shifted toward the commanders waiting nearby.

Carrion sat atop a skeletal warhorse, black cloak flowing behind him while his hollow eyes quietly observed the army.

Beside him is Graveknit.

The undead commander looked horrifying beneath the torchlight.

Its body was stitched together from mismatched bones of different sizes. One arm looked too long compared to the other while fragments of broken ribs covered its torso like crude armor. Thin strands of black necromantic thread wrapped around its entire body, holding the unnatural skeleton together.

Several loose bone shards dangled from its arms and spine, lightly clacking together whenever it moved.

And despite looking unstable...

The pressure coming from it was immense.

Graveknit rested one hand against the hilt of its sword while staring toward the distant direction of Valen City.

Then there was Kael. Silent, and cold.

The undead swordsman sat atop a skeletal horse near the front of the army, one hand resting near his blade while the wind moved his dark cloak slightly.

He looked less like a commander...

And more like an executioner waiting for permission to kill.

Vermis stood nearby as well.

The undead woman rested quietly atop a skeletal horse covered in dark chitin-like armor. Several black insect legs protruded faintly from her back, twitching occasionally beneath her cloak.

The ground around Vermis constantly moved.

Tiny black insects crawled through the dirt endlessly around her mount. Spiders, centipedes, and black beetles.

Thousands of them.

The insects moved like a living tide beneath the undead army, disappearing into the darkness surrounding the fortress.

Anyone watching the scene would immediately understand one thing.

This was not a normal army.

This was a plague.

And standing near the very center of it all...

Was Dragmar.

The giant undead sat atop an enormous skeletal warhorse almost the size of a monster beast. Thick black armor covered both rider and mount while the massive tower shield rested against Dragmar’s back.

Even sitting down, he towered over nearly everyone.

The skeletal horse beneath him pawed heavily against the stone ground.

Thunk.

Thunk.

The sound echoed deeply across the silent courtyard.

As for Duskveil he moved at the edge of the formation.

Then Aiden’s eyes slowly shifted toward the darkness beyond the army.

Nyxveil was already gone.

Or more accurately...

Hidden.

Aiden couldn’t even sense exactly where the assassin undead was anymore.

Somewhere out there, hidden within the shadows and forest, Nyxveil was already moving ahead of the army.

Aiden stepped toward the black carriage waiting near the center of the formation.

Unlike ordinary carriages, this one had been reinforced heavily with dark wood and iron plating. Necrotic runes were faintly carved across the surface while two skeletal warhorses stood at the front motionlessly.

The horses had no flesh left on them.

Only bone.

Yet pale-blue flames burned quietly within their empty eye sockets.

Aiden climbed inside calmly.

The moment he sat down, the interior became silent again.

Outside, the commanders waited.

No one spoke immediately.

The tension in the air felt heavy enough to crush weaker men.