Besides, tonight's invasion wasn't over yet—there could still be other intruders out there.
That was why Hel had every reason to grow stronger, no matter what kind of power he had to use, even if it was the kind others would shun.
Just then, something strange happened to the undead scouts he'd sent out earlier.
One of the zombies he had dispatched toward the main hall suddenly went silent—connection lost.
Hel froze for a moment before alarm bells rang in his head.
As a proper "cautious player," he didn't hesitate—he grabbed Lily's hand and ran straight back toward the dungeon without looking back.
At the same time, he ordered his other undead to rush toward the main hall to investigate.
Once they were safely back underground, Hel told Lily to guard him while he cast [Basic Death Magic: Undead Vision] to observe the situation.
[Name]: Eck Durant
[Power]: Rank 4 – Earth Knight, 9 stars
[Attributes]: Strength 156, Magic 41, Knowledge -25
[Traits]: Dragonborn Bloodline (Gold), Dragonblood Knights (Purple), Advanced Spearmanship (Purple), Death Aura Affinity (Purple), Mindless (Black), Death Servant (Black), Hatred of the Living (Black)
As expected, anyone who could travel with two magisters wouldn't be weak.
This wasn't some half-baked guy like Nethershade—this was a true monster.
And Hel couldn't be sure he was immune to that knight's physical power either, so he couldn't afford to rush in.
His [Lord of the Undead] trait should work on the knight, but with such strength, the man could easily kill Hel before Hel even got the chance to give a command.
After all, this was a Great Earth Knight—someone with the strength to split mountains and shatter rivers.
Even in the entire Mandora Principality, there were fewer than ten knights of that rank.
In the Heim County, where most warriors were only Intermediate or Beginner Knights, an Earth Knight was basically a walking nuclear weapon.
And Hel? He was just a fledgling novice mage.
But if he didn't deal with this problem…
Squelch.
A blur of motion flashed before his eyes. Before Hel could even process what happened, his vision abruptly shifted back to his own body.
The undead he had been using as his eyes was gone—completely destroyed.
"Troublesome…"
Hel scratched his messy hair in frustration. The [Lord of the Undead] trait only worked if he could issue commands—whether verbally or through telepathic link.
But his mental power was too weak to project thoughts over distance.
That meant… he had to shout.
And after sacrificing a zombie to test it, he'd confirmed one very important fact:
Having a zombie "shout" for him didn't work.
Because zombies… couldn't talk.
That left only one option.
As the saying goes, "You can't catch a tiger if you don't enter its den."
If he didn't act, who would?
So, Hel cautiously crept his way toward the main hall. With the intel gathered by the earlier undead, he already knew roughly where the target was.
If he was careful, he might be able to sneak close.
But apparently, the enemy had predicted his prediction.
Just as Hel reached the doorway and peeked inside, a black knight's spear shot toward him like lightning.
He had no time to react—the spearpoint pierced straight through his chest.
"Kneel!"
He managed to shout the word in reflex before—thunk!—the spear fully impaled him.
The next moment, his vision went black. When he came to, he was already back in the dungeon.
In the main hall, the body that had been pierced was now just another corpse—an undead decoy.
A heartbeat later, it exploded into bloody chunks under the impact of the knight's death-charged aura.
[Advanced Death Magic: Death Substitute]
When receiving a fatal blow, the caster can instantly swap places with a subordinate undead of similar strength, transferring all damage to it.
The spell had a long cooldown—the stronger the caster, the longer the wait.
For Hel, that meant twelve hours before he could use it again.
It was his final trump card, but at least it had given him what he needed—
a rare chance to either recruit or destroy this undead knight.
Now forced to kneel under the command of [Lord of the Undead], the knight had lost all his terrifying speed.
If Hel could just send another minion to disarm him, the knight would be a tiger without fangs—no longer a threat.
However, when Hel once again used Undead Vision to look into the hall, he went silent.
In the center of the hall knelt a heavily armored undead knight, one knee to the ground, his proud head bowed.
The black spear that had impaled Hel earlier now pierced straight through the knight's own skull—from front to back.
Apparently, the undead knight had sensed the aura of [Lord of the Undead] upon Hel and, realizing resistance was futile, chose to die rather than submit.
"So this is what they call a knight's loyalty… Even stripped of reason, he still chose death over disobedience?"
Hel couldn't help but feel conflicted.
Other men had knights who died with honor; his own knights had all been traitors.
Was this what they meant by "charisma"?
He didn't even know how to describe his mood anymore.
But dead was dead—no point in pity.
Shaking his head, Hel walked over to the corpse of the Undead Knight and stripped him of his armor and elemental core.
He might admire the knight's valor, but that didn't mean he'd skip looting the body.
He'd bury him properly later—after making sure it was safe.
With that decided, Hel carefully removed the elemental crystal—
and the knight's already brittle body crumbled instantly into countless bone fragments.
[Trait Extraction Complete]
[Dragonborn Bloodline (Gold)] acquired.
[Dragonblood Knights (Purple)] acquired.
Dragonblood Knights?
Hel frowned and examined the new trait.
[Dragonblood Knights]: Knowledge +30, Luck +20. Elite royal guards of the Kingdom of Freedom.
If he remembered correctly, the Kingdom of Freedom lay south of the Mandora Principality, separated from Heim County by a vast monster forest.
The terrain there was harsh, and few dared to cross it.
Anyone traveling from the Freedom side usually went around through the Marquisate of Gold to the west.
"So that means Nethershade's group must have come from the Freedom Kingdom's side.
They even killed a royal guard and turned him into their lackey?"
That could only mean one thing—the Kingdom of Freedom was in turmoil.
And if that was true…
"With a kingdom's resources, even magisters aren't a big deal to them. Let's just hope they don't send someone stronger next."
Hel sighed and stored away the newly obtained traits, a heavy sense of urgency settling deeper in his heart.