Chapter 177: Chapter 177: Ren Kai Vs. Vermis (part 1)

Aiden sat inside the carriage in silence.

The wooden interior creaked softly as the skeletal horses in front shifted their weight. Pale-blue flames flickered inside their empty eye sockets, illuminating the faint necrotic runes carved along the carriage frame.

Outside, the entire army was still.

Ten thousand undead.

Not a single one moved without command.

Aiden’s gaze lowered slightly as he rested his hand on the armrest.

Then he spoke.

"...It’s time."

The words were quiet.

But they carried clearly through the dead silence of the place.

Outside, every commander reacted instantly.

Carrion lifted his head slightly from atop his skeletal horse.

Graveknit’s twisted body of mismatched bones creaked as it straightened.

Kael’s hand slowly tightened near his sword.

Vermis tilted her head, insects around her mount suddenly growing more active, as if sensing blood was near.

Dragmar didn’t speak.

He simply raised his massive tower shield a few inches off his back.

And Duskveil...

The pale-blue glow in his single eye sharpened.

Then, one by one, they responded.

"As you command, my lord."

The voices overlapped. Low, cold, and unshaken.

Aiden leaned back slightly inside the carriage.

Then gave the order.

"...March."

A moment of stillness.

Then, Dragmar’s skeletal warhorse took the first step forward.

That single sound was like a signal breaking a dam.

Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.

One by one, the entire army began to move.

Skeleton warriors advanced in tight formation, rusted weapons clinking softly under the night wind. Armored undead followed behind, spear lines aligning perfectly as they shifted into marching order. Even the Bonecrusher Ballista creaked as its wheels began to roll, dragged forward by dozens of undead pushing in silence.

Behind it, the Iron Tomb Ram began to move.

The massive siege weapon groaned under its own weight, iron and bone scraping against stone as it slowly rolled forward like a moving fortress.

The ground trembled faintly with every step.

Above them, the night sky remained dark and empty.

No moonlight broke through the clouds.

Only the glow of necrotic blue scattered across the army like distant stars of death.

Carrion rode slightly ahead on his skeletal horse, cloak trailing behind him like a shadow stretched too far.

Graveknit followed beside him.

Its stitched-together body swayed unnaturally with each movement, bone fragments clicking together softly.

---

The undead army continued marching through the night.

Endless rows of skeleton soldiers moved across the dark plains like a tide of death swallowing everything in its path. Rusted armor clinked softly beneath the cold wind while pale-blue flames flickered inside thousands of empty eye sockets.

The earth itself trembled faintly.

Hours passed.

Then finally... Valen City appeared in the distance.

Massive stone walls stood beneath the night sky while countless torches burned along the battlements. The city looked tense even from afar.

They were prepared.

The undead army finally stopped several hundred meters away from Valen City’s walls.

Silence spread across the battlefield.

Cold wind swept through the plains while thousands of pale-blue eyes stared toward the city like an endless sea of death.

Then the city bells began ringing violently.

CLANG!

CLANG!

CLANG!

"THEY’RE HERE!"

"TO THE WALLS!"

"READY THE ARCHERS!"

Torches lit up rapidly across the battlements as soldiers rushed into position. Practitioners leaped onto the walls one after another while armored guards tightened their grips around spears and shields.

The massive city gates remained shut tightly while hundreds of practitioners gathered along the walls with weapons drawn.

And at the very center of the defense line...

Sect Master Fuing stood calmly beneath the torchlight.

But the moment his eyes landed on the approaching army...

Even his expression hardened slightly.

Thousands.

Far more than before.

Endless rows of skeleton soldiers marched forward in complete silence. Unlike the scattered corpse creatures from previous raids, these ones now carried proper armor and weapons.

Shields.

Spears.

Swords.

Some even marched in formation.

That alone made the scene far more terrifying.

Because it meant organization.

Control.

Fuing slowly narrowed his eyes.

"...So this is your real force."

Beside him stood multiple elders from the Clear Water Sect along with leaders from various clans and mercenary groups.

All of them looked tense.

One elder swallowed slightly.

"How are there this many..."

Another spoke grimly.

"They’ve been gathering bodies this entire time."

At the front of the defenders stood the strongest practitioners available.

Forty-five body tempering experts.

Fifteen among them had already reached peak body tempering.

And now...

Ren Kai was among them too.

The young man stood silently near the front lines gripping his sword tightly. Compared to before, his aura had become much sharper.

He had broken through the Peak body tempering.

Fuing glanced toward him briefly.

"You stabilized your breakthrough?"

Ren Kai nodded.

"Yes, Master."

His eyes never left the approaching army.

"...She’s here too." He is looking at Vermis.

Meanwhile...

Far across the battlefield. The undead army finally stopped moving.

Ten thousand soldiers stood beneath the dark night like an ocean of death.

And standing before them...

Aiden slowly stepped out from the carriage.

Cold wind moved his dark cloak lightly.

Behind him stood the commanders. Carrion, Kael, Graveknit, Vermis, Dragmar, and Duskveil.

The pressure radiating from them alone caused several defenders on the walls to pale.

One clan leader muttered nervously,

"...Those six again."

Another man’s face turned ugly when he spotted Duskveil.

"...There’s another one now."

Because even from this distance...

They could feel how dangerous Duskveil was.

Aiden calmly looked toward the massive walls of Valen City.

Then toward the gathered practitioners.

Forty-five body tempering experts.

Fifteen peak body tempering.

Strong.

Very strong for a city like this.

But...

Aiden slowly smiled faintly.

His side wasn’t weaker anymore.

Forty-six body tempering undead.

Ten peak body tempering undead.

And unlike humans... His soldiers felt no fear, no exhaustion, no hesitation.

He raised one hand slowly.

Behind him, the Bonecrusher Ballista creaked upward.

KRRRRRK.

Massive black bolts were loaded into place.

The defenders atop the wall immediately reacted.

"Incoming!"

The shout had barely left the defender’s mouth when the Bonecrusher Ballista fired.

BOOOOM!

The massive bolt tore through the night air with terrifying speed.

The giant bolt slammed directly into the city wall.

BOOOOOOM!

Stone exploded violently.

Several guards were thrown backward screaming as debris blasted across the battlements.

One unfortunate practitioner took the bolt head-on.

The massive projectile pierced through his torso and continued through two more men before embedding itself deep into the wall.

Blood sprayed across the stones.

The defenders’ faces immediately changed.

That thing could kill body tempering practitioners directly.

Another elder shouted angrily,

"Destroy that siege weapon!"

Aiden calmly lowered his hand.

"Fire again."

KRRRRRK.

The second bolt loaded immediately.

BOOM!

Another shot exploded forward.

This time, several body tempering practitioners jumped directly from the wall.

Their physical strength alone allowed them to leap absurd distances.

One of them roared while gripping a heavy axe.

"Break it apart!"

But before he could reach the ballista.

Shhk.

Kael appeared in front of him instantly.

The practitioner’s eyes widened.

Fast.

Too fast.

Clang!

Their weapons collided violently.

Sparks erupted into the darkness.

Suddenly, a thin line appeared across the man’s chest.

The practitioner staggered backward.

Then blood exploded from the wound.

His armor split open.

"So sharp—"

Before he finished speaking, Kael stepped forward again.

One clean strike.

The man’s head fell from his shoulders.

Nearby, the battlefield had already descended into chaos.

The Iron Tomb Ram smashed against the gates again.

BOOOOM!

The giant wooden gates trembled violently.

Cracks spread across the surface.

The undead pushing the ram didn’t slow down at all, even while arrows pierced through their bodies.

They simply kept walking.

One city guard stabbed his spear through a skeleton’s skull.

The skeleton still grabbed him by the throat before another undead hacked into his shoulder.

Meanwhile, Ren Kai landed hard on the broken road outside the city walls.

Dust scattered around his feet.

His thin sword was already out, its blade so narrow it almost looked fragile under the torchlight. But the way he held it wasn’t fragile at all. Steady. Precise. Like every movement had been drilled into his bones through endless nights of training.

He stared at Vermis.

Not the army behind her.

Not the chaos on the battlefield.

Just her.

Vermis tilted her head slightly from atop her skeletal mount. The insects around her moved faster the moment Ren Kai appeared, crawling in restless circles across the ground like something alive and hungry.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Then Ren Kai finally did.

"I trained for this," he said quietly.

Vermis didn’t answer.

Ren Kai’s grip tightened.

"Every day... every night... I told myself I wouldn’t be like before."

A faint tremor passed through his body.

Peak body tempering.

He had broken through only days ago, pushing his body beyond its limit just to stand here today.

"I’m not running anymore."

Vermis slowly raised one hand. "Let’s see how strong you’ve become."

The insects around her surged forward instantly.

A black tide rushed across the ground.

Ren Kai exhaled once, then moved.

His thin sword flickered. Not a heavy strike, or a flashy technique.

Just clean motion.

Shink.

The first wave of insects split apart mid-air.

He stepped forward again.

Shink. Shink.

Two more precise cuts.

His sword didn’t waste movement. Every swing was efficient, sharp, aimed directly at killing paths. The insects kept coming, but his blade carved a small empty space around him like a bubble of survival.

Vermis watched silently.

Then she smiled faintly.

"Not bad."

Ren Kai didn’t respond.

He couldn’t afford to.

Because the moment his breathing shifted even slightly, the insect tide changed direction again, circling him like they were learning his rhythm.

Thousands of them.

Spiders, centipedes, beetles... all crawling over one another in a living black wave.

Ren Kai adjusted his stance.

Feet apart. Low center. Sword angled slightly downward.