Whether it was confidence or stupidity, the first Bone Claw moved before any of the other monsters could. Its chains snapped toward his backpack again, clearly caring more about the soul stones inside than his life.

Zich moved half a step to the side, and the chain passed within a handspan of his ribs. He cut three chains apart with one Blood Arc, and the slash was much stronger than before. So strong, in fact, that the shockwave tore through the Bone Claw’s front line and split several weaker skeletons behind it apart at the waist.

The Elite Undead Knight reacted to the cloak’s command aura at the same time. Crimson lines lit brighter beneath its armor joints, and its movements became faster and heavier, as though its entire body had been pulled tighter by the same force burning through Zich.

The undead ring started losing shape at once.

He moved forward with the knight beside him, and the two of them pushed the front line back step by step while the enemies ahead lost ground faster than before.

Because the monsters only wanted the soul stones inside, not just his body, it made the whole fight easier to read.

"Stupid things," he muttered under his breath.

He did not throw the bag away. Instead, he held it just enough to keep their attention fixed on it, and the Bone Claws followed exactly the way he wanted.

Several of them committed too hard to one side and fired their chains toward the same spot on his body. He let their focus narrow, waited until they were fully committed, and at the last second, his body vanished with Blink.

FWOOSH!

He appeared behind them in one clean motion, and the Elite Undead Knight stepped forward at the same time to block their retreat. The summon planted its sword low and wide, forcing the Bone Claws to turn back into a wall of black armor and crimson light.

He pulled in a breath and poured mana into his blade without wasting time. Blood Arc thickened under Crimson Overload, the red line around the edge becoming darker and wider than before.

"Very well then..." he said quietly.

He swung.

BOOOOOOM!!!!

The overcharged Blood Arc tore across the Bone Claws from behind and cut through several chain covered undead at once. Their rib cages split open, their hooked arms flew apart, and the impact ripped a clean path through the square that had been closed only a moment ago.

The undead ring broke for the first time.

Broken chains and black dust scattered across the stones, and the monsters that had been pressing him from the front suddenly lost their balance. Some stumbled back, some turned too late, and the rest started hesitating because the line had already been cut open.

He did not run at once.

His eyes moved down, and he bent over to pick up one more soul stone from the ground before the next wave could fully gather.

The cloak still tightened over his shoulders, and the blood on his sleeve kept feeding the dark red lines. He tucked the soul stone away with a calm face. His breathing was a little harder now, but his expression did not change.

The moment he straightened up, the red lines across his cloak started thinning.

The pressure in his body dropped at the same time, and for half a second, his vision blurred so badly that the square in front of him looked split in two.

His stamina fell hard, fast enough that his legs felt weak. The blood on his left sleeve began flowing again, and the soaked cloth became wet enough to drag against his wrist.

He clicked his tongue softly and forced his eyes open wider.

The undead had been pushed back enough for a path to appear, and the Elite Undead Knight stood a few steps ahead, its crimson lines still glowing brighter than before.

"Move," he growled.

The summon bolted forward like a moving train, far faster than something of its size should have been capable of.

The Bone Claws tried to close in again from the sides, but they had already been broken apart enough that their chains landed short, and the knight’s sword kept smashing the front line away with blunt force.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

For the first time, the square did not feel completely crowded anymore.

An opening stretched ahead through the broken market street, a narrow path between collapsed stalls and cracked walls. It was blurry from Zich’s perspective, and for a moment he could not even tell whether the road was real or only his eyes failing him.

He forced one more breath into his chest and moved anyway.

His body was heavy now, and the cloak that had felt powerful just moments ago had already reached its duration and entered its cooldown period, while the wound beneath his sleeve continued leaking blood more freely.

A Bone Claw lunged at him one last time, but its chain came too slowly. He tilted his body just enough to avoid it, and the Elite Undead Knight cut the chain apart with one heavy swing before the Bone Claw could follow through.

The path ahead was open for a little longer.

He took one more step.

Then his knees buckled, and blood gushed from his wounds.

’Fuck.’

Zich did not even know when the curse left his mouth.

Just when he thought he had dealt with one problem, another immediately presented itself.

Zich’s breathing grew more labored.

The city, the square, the undead, all of it started slipping into a gray blur. The only thing he could still make out was the small opening ahead of him.

’Dammit... I can do this... Fuck, I refuse to fall here.’

His thoughts were chaotic. The only thing still keeping him awake was the intense urge to survive this and shove a middle finger at those who had left him to die.

He glanced down.

His mana was dangerously low. Even if he wanted to, he would not be able to bring Tiamant out.

The blurry path ahead was the last thing he saw.

His knees gave out.

His shoulders dropped.

Darkness came down fast as he collapsed and lost consciousness right in the middle of the battlefield.