Chapter 77: 77:Undead Knight
Only when they looked at him did Reigns finally realize that they were not monsters taking humanoid forms.
They were actual humans.
Real humans who had come to the funeral hall.
On top of that, he even recognized a few of the people standing there. He had seen them before. They had come carrying the corpses of their loved ones to the funeral hall to mourn peacefully, only to end up trapped inside this horrifying place.
Amidst the crying and mourning, Reigns noticed an old man slowly turn toward him while desperately clutching the casket against his chest.
"Wjwuww... Save us... my soooon! He died... he deserved a proper farewell... Ahhh!"
The old man was completely overwhelmed by emotion and broke into heart-wrenching sobs while tightly hugging the casket in his trembling arms.
Seeing that sight, Reigns subconsciously swallowed.
The others around him looked no different.
Some had collapsed onto the floor while crying uncontrollably. Some continuously muttered apologies toward the caskets they held, while others simply stared blankly ahead as though their minds had already broken.
"Duster... We should move!"
"Duster!"
When he received no response, he looked around, only to freeze in shock.
Duster was lying on the floor, crying heavily.
"No... It wasn’t me... I didn’t cheat on you."
"You are just too simple... I want someone hot and bold. You look good, but you aren’t sexy enough to my liking."
"..."
"The hell?"
Reigns tried to shake him awake, but the guy was completely enthralled.
’Damned!’
’This damned place is amplifying misery!’
But if everyone was affected, why wasn’t he?
’It might be because of Iron Sanctuary acting passively.’
While those thoughts ran through his mind, he suddenly heard a rustling sound.
The massive figure standing at the center slowly shifted its body, causing the chains wrapped around it to rattle loudly across the silent hall.
CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!
The undead monster slowly raised its gigantic sword and pointed it directly at Reigns.
The mere movement sent a chill down his spine.
At the same time, one of the undead skeleton soldiers suddenly snapped its head toward the gathered humans.
Then without warning...
The skeleton drew its rusty sword and charged directly toward the crowd.
But before it could bring the blade down...
FWOOOSH!
A giant vine suddenly shot forward and violently whipped the skeleton away.
BANG!
The undead crashed across the floor while its bones scattered everywhere.
The Dryards immediately moved forward and took their defensive positions around the crowd.
Reigns ignored the fallen skeleton and instead carefully examined the gathered humans near the center.
Awakeners...
There wasn’t a single awakener among them.
That alone made the situation much more difficult.
"BLOOM!"
Several Splash Shooters suddenly emerged beside Reigns.
"Tier 1 ones... Go protect them."
The evolved Splash Shooters immediately surged forward, crawling their way toward the center of the hall.
The undead skeletons finally let out stifled growls after seeing the movement.
Reigns slowly tightened his grip on the scythe and pointed it ahead.
"Let the undead party begin."
The moment his command ended...
POP! POP! POP! POP! POP!
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
A barrage of compressed energy orbs blasted across the hall and slammed directly into the undead skeletons.
Bones shattered instantly.
Several skeletons exploded into fragments while broken armor scattered across the floor.
[You have killed Lv11 Undead Skeleton.]
[You have gained 1050 days of tradable lifespan.]
[You have killed Lv11 Undead Skeleton.]
[You have gained 1050 days of tradable lifespan.]
[You have killed Lv11 Undead Skeleton.]
[You have gained 1050 days of tradable lifespan.]
[Splash Shooter Lv7 >> Lv8]
[Splash Shooter Lv9 >> Lv10]
[Splash Shooter Lv9 >> Lv10]
[Splash Shooter Tier 1 Lv1 >> Tier 1 Lv2]
Reigns blinked slightly after seeing the strange leveling notifications.
"Huh! They didn’t even reach Level 11, yet they advanced to Lv2 of Tier 1."
The sudden discovery left him genuinely startled.
Meanwhile, the stronger undead skeletons were intercepted directly by the Dryards.
BANG!
One Dryard threw a devastating punch and blasted an undead skeleton completely apart with a single hit.
The brutal battle between the undead and the Dryards quickly filled the hall.
Although honestly...
Calling it a battle almost felt unfair.
The undead skeletons were being brutally beaten apart from every direction.
On top of that, the continuous support fire from the Splash Shooters kept destroying them before they could even regroup.
The entire hall had descended into total chaos.
Meanwhile, Reigns quickly jumped down toward the group of crying humans.
He carefully grabbed a middle-aged man by the shoulder.
"Hey... Uncle... are you alright?"
The middle-aged man froze for a moment before suddenly grabbing Reigns tightly.
"AHHHHHHH! My daughter... She was killed brutally..."
"Uwuww... Why... Why is the heaven above so cruel..."
"I told her... No, I begged her not to accept the reckoning of the zones..."
His words immediately made Reigns stiffen.
Because he suddenly remembered his own parents pleading him not to enter the zones.
But the allure of power...
The desire to grow stronger...
It was honestly difficult to resist.
Soon, more and more people around them began crying heavily after hearing the man’s grief.
One woman continuously screamed while hugging a small child’s shoe tightly against her chest.
"My baby... My baby wanted to become a healer..."
Nearby, an elderly couple sat together holding an empty school bag, crying so hard that their voices had already turned hoarse.
A young mother repeatedly begged for someone to return her son while clutching a bloodstained jacket tightly to her chest.
The despair inside the hall only grew heavier and heavier.
It honestly felt suffocating.
Amidst the cries, the middle-aged man beside Reigns suddenly slammed the casket violently onto the floor.
BANG!
The lid slowly opened.
Reigns immediately froze when he looked inside.
There was no dead body.
Instead...
The casket was filled with girlish belongings.
Hair clips.
Books.
A torn stuffed toy.
A school ribbon.
"The boooodyyy!"
The moment the words left Reigns’ mouth, the middle-aged man broke down even more bitterly while his body trembled violently.
"Body... Ahaha... where can I even find my child’s body..."
"She managed to come out of the zone safely... She said she was strong enough to help people evacuate after the gate opened..."
"But a Tier 2 monster blasted everything apart and left nothing but scraps of her..."
Reigns silently stared at the weeping man, trying to process his words.
Then, slowly...
He understood.
Apparently, the man’s daughter had successfully survived the zone.
But afterward, she had gone to help during a dungeon gate incident...
And ended up being blown apart so badly that not even her body remained.
Reigns slowly clenched his fists.
For a moment, he didn’t know what to say.
But suddenly...
Another voice echoed beside his ears.
"What are you getting angry for? Aren’t you the same asshole who abandoned your friends?"
"Who?!"
Reigns’ legs trembled slightly as he immediately turned around, searching for whoever had spoken.
But there was nobody there.
Only crying humans and the fighting summons filled the hall.
Then suddenly...
"Wait..."
"The voice... why does it sound so familiar..."
BAAAAM!
A loud explosion suddenly snapped Reigns out of his thoughts.
[Dryard Tier 1 Lv1 >> Lv2]
[Dryard Tier 1 Lv1 >> Lv2]
[Dryard Tier 1 Lv1 >> Lv2]
[Dryard Tier 1 Lv1 >> Lv2]
[Dryard Tier 1 Lv2 >> Lv3]
[You have leveled up.]
The sudden leveling of the Dryards caused all four giant creatures to look toward one another proudly before letting out deep grunts.
For a brief moment, Reigns could have sworn that one of them stretched its face into a wide grin.
He immediately rubbed his eyes.
When he looked again, most of the undead had already been wiped out.
Barely any remained standing.
But just as Reigns thought the battle was about to end...
A thick dark mist suddenly erupted across the hall.
The ground cracked apart violently.
Then, one after another...
More undead skeletons slowly began rising from beneath the floor.
"WHAAAT?!"
Reigns’ eyes instantly widened as he saw the new creatures emerging from the darkness.
[Undead Knight Lv15.]
