[Kira’s POV]

As her team pushed straight toward the boss monster, Kira glanced back over her shoulder at the boy once.

Alen was actively engaged with the lesser undead, handling them easily.

’It seems I don’t have to worry about that brat,’ she thought.

She moved forward with her team. Bram broke through the final wall of the undead horde, and the squad dove directly into the center clearing, stopping just a few dozen meters in front of the armored knight.

"Take your positions, everyone!" Kira yelled.

Everyone fell into formation, maintaining their stances and preparing for battle.

’Why is the monster sitting so still?’ Kira thought, her eyes narrowing.

’Why hasn’t it reacted, even after we reached so close? I have never heard of any undead remaining silent when facing an opponent.’

’Undead usually have highly aggressive behavior, but it’s just sitting there calmly, as if we are completely insignificant.’

She clutched her sword tightly.

’If you won’t move, then we will.’

"Everyone, attack!"

[Moon Flow Art: Severing the Gale]

She dashed forward, and everyone followed suit behind her.

Lina gathered her mana.

[Wind Magic: Wind Cutter!]

A massive current of wind materialized above her head. She fired the sharp blade of compressed air straight toward the sitting undead knight.

Beside her, Alfred also lunged toward the undead.

[Beast Art: Crazy Fang!]

Siar grabbed his spear and rushed in.

[Shining Spear Art: Roaring Thunder!]

The spear shot forward, golden thunder roaring around the metallic tip, boosting his thrust to several times its normal speed.

Maira stood still for a moment at the back of the formation and then cast her spell.

[Shadow Art: Dark Claw!]

A massive, shadowy claw launched forward toward the undead.

As every single attack shot toward him, the undead knight remained completely still. He didn’t even try to dodge.

As the attacks closed in to strike, a pair of dark purple eyes suddenly shone from within the darkness of his heavy helmet.

Instantly, he vanished from his position.

*BOOOOOOOOOM!*

The team’s massive combined attacks blasted into the empty rocks where the knight had just been sitting. Debris and dirt flew everywhere, and a large crater formed on the field, kicking up a thick cloud of dust.

As the dust slowly cleared, the field was completely empty. There wasn’t even a hint of the monster’s presence.

*Whoosh~*

Suddenly, the undead appeared directly behind Kira’s back. He swung his massive greatsword without making a single sound. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

*BOOOOM!*

Kira didn’t even have the time to react to the sudden attack. The flat side of the massive sword hit her squarely in the chest. Her body flew backward for hundreds of meters, crashing through trees before she fell to the ground, completely unconscious.

The undead knight stood calmly in the center of the formation. He didn’t move an inch after his swing, standing perfectly still as if he were frozen in time.

Everyone just stared at him, completely paralyzed with fear. Their captain—who was the strongest among them—had lost after a single impact.

"Haah... Haah..."

Lina looked at the undead with a dreadful expression, her hands beginning to shake uncontrollably.

Bram couldn’t hold back his rage after seeing his captain fall so easily. He lunged forward.

The undead monster’s gaze shifted to Bram. His purple eyes shone brightly behind his dark iron mask.

*Whoosh~*

The knight appeared before Bram instantly. Bram stared wide-eyed at the undead who had suddenly teleported right in front of him out of nowhere.

A drop of cold sweat fell from Bram’s chin.

The massive greatsword swung swiftly, slicing smoothly through the falling bead of sweat—and right through Bram’s neck.

Lina stared in absolute horror. Bram stood perfectly still for a split second, and then his head slid off his shoulders and fell to the ground.

*Thud!*

The undead stood calmly as Bram’s headless body collapsed, completely lifeless.

Lina looked down, tears spilling from her eyes as she stared at her fallen companion.

"You f*cking bastard! I’m going to kill you!" Alfred roared.

[Beast Art: Half-Beast Transformation]

Alfred’s body suddenly started to change. His skin turned yellow, and black spots grew rapidly as he transformed into a half-human, half-leopard hybrid. He lunged wildly toward the knight.

The knight simply turned his head toward the charging beast.

"Noooo!..."

Lina screamed at the top of her lungs, trying to stop Alfred from rushing to his death. But it was too late.

The undead suddenly appeared directly beside him. Before Alfred’s claws could even get close, the knight swung his greatsword horizontally.

The massive blade passed cleanly through Alfred’s stomach, completely severing his torso in half. The top half of his body fell forward into the dirt.

*Thud!*

Lina’s legs gave out, and she collapsed to her knees. Tears streamed down her face uncontrollably. She suddenly remembered all the time she had spent with Alfred—the times he had annoyed her, the times they had bickered until late at night. She had grown so attached to him. She didn’t know what was left for her in this life now.

The undead’s purple eyes slowly turned toward her.

He appeared calmly right in front of her. He just stared down at her broken, sobbing form.

Suddenly, Siar came rushing up from behind the undead.

[Shining Spear Art: Thrust of Death!]

Siar thrust his spear at the knight’s exposed back with every ounce of his strength. The undead simply stood there calmly.

The moment the spear hit the knight’s armor, the weapon shattered into pieces like fragile glass.

Siar stared at his broken weapon with a ghostly pale face.

The undead didn’t even bother to turn around to look at him. He simply swung his greatsword backward, his arm moving at a highly irregular, impossible angle.

Siar’s body fell backward as a long, deep cross-cut slashed open his entire chest. He fell to the ground, staring blankly up at the undead. Slowly, his life faded away, and darkness swallowed him.

Lina didn’t even react to Siar’s death. Her mind was already completely broken. She just looked up at the armored monster standing right in front of her.

The knight looked down at her and swung his sword.

Lina looked over at the spot where Alfred’s bisected body lay and closed her eyes.

As the sword cleanly slashed her neck, her head fell to the ground. It rolled slightly, stopping right next to Alfred’s face. Her dead eyes stared at him as a single, final tear fell onto the dirt.

The undead stood still in the center of the bloody clearing for a second.

Suddenly, he turned around.

Standing a few dozen meters away was Kira. She had one hand pressed tightly against her stomach, holding her sword in her other hand just to support her weight.

She looked at her massacred companions. Her bloodshot eyes locked onto the undead.

"I will make your soul suffer in hell..."

[Moon Flow Art: Silverwing of the End!]

Her body suddenly started to float into the air. She began to shine radiantly as massive, ethereal silver wings formed behind her back. Under the intense flow of her mana, her internal wounds temporarily stabilized.

She stared down at him with freezing cold eyes.

"You are going to die... monster."

She lunged straight down toward him from the sky with blinding speed, launching her sword, which was heavily coated with silver mana.

The undead smoothly raised his greatsword to parry her attack.

*BOOOOOOM!*

As their two swords clashed, the undead knight was suddenly overpowered by the sheer force of her dive. His body was launched violently backward.

But Kira wasn’t done.

She flew toward him with incredible speed and attacked again.

*BOOOM!*

The undead’s body was slammed straight down into the ground, creating a giant crater in the ground.

As the undead slowly began to stand up, his broken chest armor revealed the rotting bones inside.

[Moon Flow Art: The Final Price - Piercing the Darkness!]

A giant projectile of silver mana formed over her sword, growing as large as a four-story building. She slashed downward, dropping the massive attack directly onto him.

The undead didn’t have any time to defend himself. As the blinding silver projectile shot toward him, he remained perfectly still.

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!*

A massive, earth-shattering blast erupted where the undead had just been standing. Every rock and piece of debris was instantly vaporized into dust by the impact. The shockwave of the blast instantly killed any remaining lesser undead in the surrounding area.

Dirt and debris flew everywhere as a thick cloud of dust filled the field.

Kira slowly floated back down to the ground.

Her body began to shake as she panted heavily, completely exhausted of mana. As the dust cleared, she looked at the crater. There was nothing left in it. There wasn’t even a single piece of evidence that the undead knight had ever existed.

"Haah... Haah... It’s over..."

Suddenly, tears started to fall from her eyes uncontrollably as the adrenaline faded and the reality of her dead team set in.

*Sob...* *Sob...*

Maira slowly walked out from the edge of the woods. She stood beside Kira in the ruined clearing, completely silent, without saying a single word.