Chapter 45: One-Sided Slaughter
The next morning, Malrik left his room with Eliza and Lilith. The elegant noble gown from yesterday had been replaced by the same servant’s uniform Eliza wore.
He glanced back at her, then looked away before glancing again.
A Saint-ranked demon. A former demon princess.
Following him around in a maid’s outfit.
...No matter how many times he saw it, it still felt absurd.
This had to be a dream.
They made their way toward the training hall.
At the entrance, Malrik turned to her. "Lily.... stay with Eliza and follow whatever she asks of you. Don’t draw attention."
Lilith offered him a small, well-mannered smile. "Of course, Young master. Don’t worry."
She was clearly trying to copy Eliza’s manner of speaking.
Maybe she thought it would make her seem more like a proper maid.
Unfortunately, all it did was convince Malrik that disaster was just around the corner
He wasn’t entirely reassured, leaving her alone within the palace like this, but he decided to trust her anyway and stepped inside.
Kael was waiting in the hall, as always.
"I’m starting to think you actually live in here," Malrik said.
Kael didn’t answer right away. He was too busy studying Malrik — trying to determine whether his student’s strength had increased again, or whether the density of the aura surrounding him had simply changed shape.
"Usual training. Ready?"
"Enough with the pretending." Malrik crossed his arms. "You know my strength is well past this by now. Killing ants isn’t doing anything for me anymore. I need to be ready for the Banner Bearer Trial."
"So you’ve chosen to stop hiding your strength. A wise decision. Such tricks are meaningless in the Banner Bearer Trial."
Kael laughed. "Then let’s raise the difficulty."
The familiar pull of mana wrapped around them, and before Malrik fully registered the shift, they’d already relocated.
He found himself standing in a dense forest, thick with trees and the low, constant hiss of something moving unseen through the undergrowth.
"Mortal-Rank monsters, mostly Level 50, live here," Kael told him. "You might run into an Awakened-Rank one occasionally, so stay sharp." A pause. "This place could push you all the way to Level 50 and trigger your promotion quest into Awakened Rank."
"If you can reach the Awakened Rank before the Banner Bearer Trial, your chances will improve considerably. So far, only the First and Second Banner Bearers had achieved the Awakened Rank before taking the trial. The twins were on the verge of doing the same, but their Promotion Quest delayed them." "Good luck. Try not to die."
He vanished.
The instant Kael disappeared, Malrik felt movement behind him — a low, dry hiss slithering through the underbrush.
A massive snake emerged, scales black as pitch, its shape genuinely unsettling. It wasn’t alone. More followed — five, at least — and the notifications stacked up one after another.
[ Name: Venom Snake ] [ Rank: Mortal ] [ Level: 49 ]
[ Name: Venom Snake ] [ Rank: Mortal ] [ Level: 50 ]
[ Name: Venom Snake ] [ Rank: Mortal ] [ Level: 47 ]
Malrik’s face lit up.
This place really will push me and the entire army toward Level 50.
He decided immediately to manifest everything he had except the Spider Queen — certain Kael was watching, and unwilling to invite the kind of questions her presence would guarantee.
He raised his hand.
"Come out."
Mana surged out of his body, spreading across the clearing like a dark tide. One after another, wolves and spiders emerged from the shadows, their emerald eyes glowing beneath the forest canopy. Fenrir was the last to appear, towering over the rest as if announcing the arrival of their true leader.
Malrik climbed onto Fenrir’s back and rested the Blackstar Spear across his shoulder. His calm gaze swept across the endless forest before him.
"Kill anything that crosses your path."
The command had barely left his mouth before the pack exploded forward. Wolves rushed across the ground with astonishing speed while the spiders disappeared into the trees, silently weaving through the branches. Their coordination was flawless, as though they shared a single mind.
The first Morveth never even realized it had been discovered.
A Venom Snake slithered between the roots, its tongue flickering through the air as it searched for prey. Before it could react, three wolves burst from different directions, tearing into its body with savage precision. Its scales split apart beneath their fangs, and moments later, two spiders descended from above, driving their razor-like legs straight through its skull.
The corpse had not even hit the ground before the pack had already moved on.
Every few moments another beast appeared.
A giant boar charged through the undergrowth with enough force to uproot young trees, only to collide head-on with Fenrir. The impact echoed through the forest, yet Fenrir didn’t retreat a single step. His claws flashed once, carving a deep crimson line across the beast’s neck before its massive body collapsed at his feet.
Malrik didn’t interfere.
He simply watched from Fenrir’s back while notifications continued appearing one after another. His contracted souls had already developed instincts of their own. They surrounded every enemy with frightening efficiency, cutting off every escape before delivering the killing blow together.
At one point, Fenrir suddenly raised his head and released a low growl.
Dark mana flowed from his shadow, spreading across the ground before taking shape.
One wolf became two.
Then four.
Then ten.
Shadow Clones silently emerged from the darkness, each carrying the same predatory gaze as the original. Without waiting for another command, they scattered throughout the forest, expanding the hunt in every direction.
From that moment onward, the massacre accelerated.
The screams of dying Morveth echoed endlessly beneath the towering trees. Blood stained the earth while broken corpses accumulated wherever the pack passed. No creature managed to survive for more than a few breaths once it entered the range of Malrik’s army.
By the time the hunt came to an end, the forest had fallen eerily silent.
It wasn’t difficult to understand why.
Every soul under Malrik’s command had already evolved far beyond the ordinary Morveth roaming this forest. Thirty-eight of his thirty-nine contracted souls had reached Rare Rank, with many already standing at three or even five stars. Against such opponents, the Morveth never stood a chance.
It wasn’t a battle.
It was a one-sided slaughter.
Fenrir, meanwhile...
Had long since stepped into Epic Rank.
The one frustration gnawing at him was the Spider Queen’s absence.
Bringing her along would’ve cut the hunting time roughly in half. But drawing that much attention this early wasn’t worth the risk, not with Kael somewhere nearby, watching everything.
The hunt continued for four hours straight. Malrik’s level climbed steadily alongside his army’s, each gain coming a little harder than the last, until he finally reached Level 46.
If we find an Awakened-Rank nest — something newly formed, still weak — this pace could double again.
He wasn’t arrogant enough to think his current army, all Mortal-Rank souls, could take down a Awakened Morveth the way they’d taken down the Spider Queen. That victory had belonged to Lilith, not to numbers.
But something newly Awakened, still weak, still barely past Level 20? He was fairly confident his army could handle that much on their own.
By the time exhaustion started dragging at the edges of his focus — the strain of sustaining the summon skill for this long finally catching up with him, his mana running dangerously close to empty — he dismissed every soul at once and called the training session finished.
A few moments after dismissing his undead, Malrik heard slow footsteps approaching.
Kael emerged from the trees, as calm as ever.
"So... that’s the true extent of your army."
Malrik’s expression remained unchanged.
Kael stopped a few meters away, his gaze sweeping over the battlefield littered with Morveth corpses.
"I watched the entire hunt."
A faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
"I have to admit... your undead are remarkable. If it weren’t for their glowing eyes and the mana surrounding them, I wouldn’t have been able to distinguish them from living creatures."
His eyes met Malrik’s.
"And judging by what I just witnessed..." He paused briefly. "They’re far stronger than ordinary undead should be."
Malrik simply smiled.
The silence lingered for a moment before Kael let out a quiet chuckle.
"I see."
He gave a slow nod.
"Everyone is entitled to a few secrets."
Raising a hand, he released a stream of mana. The transparent barrier surrounding the hunting grounds rippled before dissolving into countless particles of light.
Kael waved his hand, and the barrier surrounding the training grounds dissolved into countless motes of mana.
"That’s enough for today."
He looked at Malrik for a brief moment before adding,
"Your training ends here. I’ll see you tomorrow."
Malrik inclined his head.
"I’ll be there."
Without another word, he left the training hall.
The corridor outside was quieter than usual.
Eliza was waiting patiently by the entrance, her posture as flawless as ever. Beside her stood Lilith, who greeted him with a bright smile and an enthusiastic wave the moment their eyes met.
Then Malrik noticed the third person.
An elderly man stood a short distance away, dressed in a perfectly tailored black tailcoat embroidered with the crest of House Vesperion. His silver hair was neatly combed back, and despite his advanced age, his posture remained impeccably straight. His calm expression and dignified presence were enough to reveal his identity before Malrik had fully taken in his face.
Cedric.
The Chief Butler of House Vesperion.
Malrik stopped in his tracks.
His eyes slowly shifted toward Lilith.
She merely smiled innocently, as if she hadn’t done anything wrong.
A bad feeling immediately settled in his stomach.
...Please don’t tell me she caused another disaster.
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Author’s Note:Daily updates are back!Now... please throw some gifts at this poor author before he starves. ❤️😂
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