The battle continued turning worse with every passing minute.

Each time one knight fell, another immediately stepped forward to replace it while the shield wall kept adjusting around the battlefield without slowing down. Rusted arrows continued raining from the rear lines while spear users punished every reckless advance from the front.

BOOM!!! CLANG!!! CRACK!!!

The ruined courtyard shook constantly under the sound of colliding weapons and collapsing armor. Broken stone scattered across the ground while black energy leaked from destroyed undead bodies before dissolving into the air.

Not far away, Helen burned through another shield knight with compressed flames before immediately stepping backward again.

A spear thrust passed within a finger’s width of her stomach while two arrows slammed into the ground near her boots hard enough to leave smoking holes nearly the size of bowls.

"These things don’t stop," she muttered while breathing slightly heavier now.

Varok crushed another knight’s skull apart using the blunt end of his spear, but even he frowned afterward when two more immediately moved into the opening. The giant Velhari slammed directly into the frontline several meters away, forcing shield knights backward through pure strength alone, yet spear users instantly shifted angles and stabbed toward the gaps beneath his armor.

The undead formation adapted too quickly.

Nearby, Jayden cut down another knight violently after escaping earlier humiliation.

His expression was cold, but irritation clearly lingered around his eyes while he forced himself deeper into combat again. This time he moved more carefully, though his attacks carried noticeably more aggression than before.

"These are just trained undead," he said while deflecting another spear thrust aside. "Break the formation enough and they’ll eventually collapse."

Zich glanced toward him briefly before looking away again.

Jayden still thought this was simply discipline.

He had not noticed the problem yet.

Slimy bounced beside Zich before spitting poison toward another shield knight’s leg joint. The corrosive liquid melted through the rusted metal almost immediately while Blood Leech burst forward from the side and smashed directly into the weakened target.

BOOOOM!!!

The knight crashed apart against a broken pillar while black particles scattered outward violently.

Several spirit orbs floated from the corpse afterward before entering Zich’s chest one after another. The familiar sensation spread through his body quietly while his summons continued fighting around him.

Still, he deliberately kept Silverback hidden.

After the earlier interaction at the entrance, the Velhari already knew about his Master Shroud persona, and revealing the Silverback grunt here would only give him away. Helen and Jayden might already suspect things after the dragon incident, but he already had countermeasures in place in case questions arose.

Then, at that precise moment, another shield line moved abruptly.

Varok’s golden eyes flashed when he saw this.

"They are repositioning too cleanly."

The shorter Velhari appeared nearby after cutting through two archers from the side flank. Black blood dripped slowly from the curved blades in both hands while the figure glanced toward the battlefield with growing annoyance.

"You noticed it too."

Varok nodded once.

"Someone is directing them."

His gaze slowly moved across the ruined courtyard afterward.

Broken pillars surrounded the battlefield from every direction while damaged statues stood between collapsed walls and scattered debris. The undead formations kept changing perfectly every time pressure appeared somewhere, yet Varok still could not locate what was issuing commands.

Zich heard the exchange quietly.

Instead of focusing on the frontline afterward, his eyes slowly scanned the outer edges of the courtyard. Most people remained focused on the advancing knights, but something else had already started bothering him.

The statues.

Several old stone figures stood positioned around the circular courtyard holding broken weapons and cracked shields. At first they looked decorative, but every time the knight formation shifted, one particular statue near the eastern side seemed to flicker faintly.

Zich squinted.

A weak glow appeared beneath the helmet for barely a second before vanishing again.

’There.’

Another formation adjustment happened immediately afterward.

Shield knights rotated sideways while spear users pulled back from one direction and reinforced another almost instantly. At the same time, the same statue’s helmet flickered again with faint red light.

For several more seconds, Zich quietly observed it.

Every adjustment matched the glow timing almost perfectly.

He finally understood.

Without warning, he looked toward Blood Leech.

"Go around."

Blood Leech tilted its head slightly.

Zich pointed subtly toward the debris piles lining the courtyard edge instead of the frontline battle itself. Unlike the others fighting directly against the formation, he had no intention of charging headfirst toward the obvious trap.

Blood Leech immediately disappeared into the broken rubble afterward.

The creature moved unnaturally fast through the shadows between shattered pillars and collapsed stone chunks while the battle continued drawing attention elsewhere. Nobody noticed it slipping away except Helen, whose eyes briefly followed the movement before returning toward the frontline again.

Elsewhere, Jayden cut down another spear knight.

The kill mark above his head updated afterward.

[Kill Count Updated: 5]

His expression darkened slightly after noticing the Velhari still maintained a higher contribution value despite fewer kills. The realm clearly valued impact over raw numbers, which only irritated him more.

Meanwhile, Blood Leech finally reached the statue.

From the outside, it looked completely ordinary aside from the faint flickering beneath the helmet. Blood Leech stared at it silently for a second before suddenly driving both clawed hands directly into the statue’s chest.

BOOOOM!!!

Stone exploded outward violently. Large chunks of debris scattered across nearly six meters while a hollow cavity hidden inside the statue became fully exposed. The moment the chest area cracked apart, a figure hidden within slowly raised its head.

Everyone nearby froze briefly.

Inside the destroyed statue stood an armored knight far larger than the others surrounding the battlefield. Dark red light burned behind the visor while thick black armor covered its body completely from head to toe.

A massive sword rested across its lap.

A system panel immediately appeared above its head.

[Knight Captain — Lv30]

The atmosphere changed instantly afterward, the expressions of Jayden and Helen becoming pale. Even Varok’s golden eyes narrowed hard enough for visible tension to appear across his face now.

Slowly, the Knight Captain stood up afterward.

CRRRRK...

Its armor produced heavy grinding sounds while black energy spread outward from the broken statue remains. Around the battlefield, the surrounding knight formations immediately shifted again after the captain revealed itself.

This time every undead soldier turned slightly toward the same direction, toward one person.

The Knight Captain slowly raised its sword afterward before pointing the massive blade directly at Zich.

Seeing this, Zich did not know whether to laugh or cry because somehow, by exposing the Knight Captain’s location, he had pissed off the entire undead army!

...

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