Vlad finished dismantling his skeletal army and walked over to join Solomon and Zoro. He looked across the courtyard at Miro. Her undead beasts and resurrected husband were currently tearing the remaining enemies apart.

Vlad turned his attention to Zoro. "Did you push her to use necromancy again?"

Zoro shrugged his shoulders. "I never pushed anyone."

"Maintaining an undead legion consumes a massive amount of mana," Vlad stated. He gracefully sheathed his silver blade. "She needs to save that magic strictly as a last resort." 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Miro finished her battle shortly after the exchange. She dismissed her rotting beasts and her husband back into the spatial void before quietly rejoining the group.

The four of them continued their march through the ruined kingdom. Solomon kept his hands securely on the hilt of Eden’s Penance.

He constantly glanced down every alleyway and across every crumbling rooftop. He stayed completely ready to rush forward and attack at the very first sight of an enemy.

However, they found absolutely nothing.

The group walked through the desolate streets for an entire hour without encountering a single wandering creature.

A normal adventurer would celebrate a peaceful trek through a high-tier dimensional fragment. Solomon felt entirely frustrated. He actively wished to run into a monster. He genuinely wanted an entire army to ambush them from the shadows.

He needed to test his newly unlocked aura to see exactly how much stronger his body had become, and finding a proper target was the only way to gauge those updated limits.

The four of them walked down the desolate streets under the pitch-black sky. The night remained entirely silent until a sudden clattering noise echoed from a nearby alleyway.

Solomon immediately drew Eden’s Penance from his back, a wide grin spreading across his face as he spun around. He fully expected a massive ambush to pour out from the darkness.

A mutated rodent scurried out from under a collapsed barrel and darted into the shadows.

Solomon lowered his greatsword, letting a sigh escape his lips. Frustration boiled in his chest as he kicked a loose piece of cobblestone down the empty street.

Vlad glanced at Solomon from the corner of his eye, shaking his head in complete disbelief before continuing his march.

Solomon holstered his weapon and returned to monitoring his stream interface, answering a few casual questions from his viewers to pass the time.

Zoro matched Solomon’s walking pace. "What is your innate talent, anyway?"

"Convergence," Solomon answered immediately.

Zoro, Vlad, and Miro stopped walking in unison. Zoro stared at Solomon with wide eyes before forcing an awkward chuckle.

"I honestly expected you to dodge the question," Zoro said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Awakened individuals usually guard their talents with extreme caution. You just casually announced yours to thousands of people on a live broadcast."

"Oh, they already know about it," Solomon responded.

’I only announced it because I have no idea what it does,’ Solomon thought to himself, watching the chat scroll by. ’I was hoping someone in the chat or one of you three could actually explain it to me.’

Zoro offered an apologetic smile. "Now I feel terrible for prying. I suppose I have to tell you my talent to keep things fair."

"There is no need for that," Solomon replied, raising a hand to stop him. "I completely understand the general caution surrounding live streams. Most adventurers refuse to interact with broadcasters or form parties with us to protect their privacy. I appreciate you guys sticking around."

Solomon adjusted the strap of his belt as they resumed their trek.

’My progression would have remained exactly the same with or without their presence.’ He quickly reconsidered that thought. ’If Zoro, Vlad, and Miro had bypassed the mountain cave earlier, those thieves would have severed my arms, or worse, ended my life. And for that, I am grateful.’

He resolved to repay his debt to them as soon as he acquired the means to do so.

The group finally reached the last phase of the kingdom ruins, arriving at a massive stone precinct separating them from the main palace gates.

A chorus of clanking armor and grinding bones echoed from the precinct courtyard as a legion of undead soldiers marched directly toward the group.

Solomon had a genuine smile returning to his face. The exact moment he had been waiting for finally arrived.

The stream interface lit up as the concurrent viewer count climbed past five thousand, bringing a wave of bets and specific combat challenges from his growing audience.

[GoonLord: 10,000 Points if you clear them in under ten minutes!]

[SteelFang: Good luck, Solo Man. Prove you belong here.]

[ShadowWalker: I bet 500 Points he gets completely overwhelmed.]

[LazyCat: Show them what you can actually do!]

Solomon stepped forward and securely gripped the hilt of Eden’s Penance. "I will take this one."

As soon as he walked past Vlad, the man grabbed Solomon’s collar from behind and violently yanked him backward.

"This army is larger than the previous three combined," Vlad stated coldly, pointing toward the sprawling undead legion. "There are at least a thousand of them marching toward the gates. You cannot fight a force of that scale. The three of us will deal with it."

Solomon forcefully shrugged Vlad’s hand off his shoulder and smoothed out his coat.

"You do not get to decide that," Solomon replied, meeting Vlad’s gaze directly. "I am incredibly thankful you guys saved me earlier. I genuinely do not want to sound like an ungrateful jerk. Ultimately, your encounter with those stream snipers was just a coincidence. Since I am completely unaffiliated with your party, I have absolutely no obligation to follow your orders."

The floating chat instantly exploded with new reactions.

[User12: bro just rejected a world ranker’s protection.]

[EntertainMe: He is incredibly stubborn. Let us see if he possesses the physical strength to back up those words.]

[StarCatcher: omg he is actually going to fight a thousand monsters alone.]

Vlad frowned deeply at the response. He kept his mouth completely shut and made no further attempts to stop him.

Solomon turned his back on the group and walked ahead to face the massive undead legion still marching in the distance.

It was the sight of a man walking against death.