Across the sprawling shadows of the Umbra Expanse, Baek Hye-na watched from a ridge as her forces clashed with those of a High Orc Lord named Gareth. The air was thick with the scent of iron and pine, the two sides locked in a struggle for a Rare-rank scroll Hye-na had secured.
While other lords obsessed over the quality of a high-grade summons, Hye-na chose a different path. She prioritized a disciplined, uniform military.
Her legion was composed of thirty soldiers- a mix of Humans, Demi-humans, and two Beastkin scouts. Every one of them was outfitted in standardized leather gear. There was no decorative excess or unnecessary weight; it was a military built for utility.
Gareth led only five warriors, but as a member of a race bred for war and blessed with D-grade talent, he had managed to stall her advance.
But the stalemate ended the moment Hye-na descended. Picking up a common-grade spear from the blood-soaked earth, she channeled her S-rank talent and activated [Burst], a skill she had mirrored from Gareth himself.
She lunged, a blur of motion that caught the orc completely off guard. He could not comprehend how a human girl could replicate the violent, explosive acceleration of an Orcish Vanguard.
''Impossible!'' Gareth bellowed, swinging his massive obsidian axe in a wide, desperate arc.
BOOM
The common spear slammed into the axe head. The [Burst] skill ignited a surge of power that leveled the playing field, and the sheer force of the collision drove Gareth back several meters, his boots tearing deep furrows into the soil.
''How... how do you know my clan's secret art?'' Gareth stammered, his reptilian eyes wide with a dawning terror.
Hye-na offered no answer. Her eyes were cold, vacant mirrors that reflected nothing but her enemy's panic. Even a seasoned war-chief like Gareth felt his spirit crumble before the chilling impossibility of her existence.
Within minutes, the clearing was littered with the bodies of his elite guards. Hye-na stepped forward and pressed the tip of her spear against Gareth's throat.
She spoke for the first time, her voice as sharp and cold as the iron in her hand. ''Submit or die.''
Behind her, the beastkin scouts felt a shiver run down their spines. They watched as their lord brought a High Orc to his knees, forcing a creature of his stature to tremble in the dirt. Gareth's tusks rattled against his teeth before he finally lowered his head.
"I… submit."
Hye-na didn't celebrate the victory. She didn't even look at the Rare-rank scroll that her soldiers were now retrieving. She turned away, her interest already moving toward the next conquest, her mind already calculating the resources she would gain from Gareth's territory. To her, this was merely a step in a much larger ladder.
As she walked back toward her territory, the sounds of the camp fading behind her, her mind drifted to a face that didn't belong in this violent world. A face that made her heart beat with a rhythm she couldn't control, that made her feel alive in a way that combat never could.
'Leo, I hope you are safe,' she thought, a rare softness touching her features for a fleeting second.
'The origin is a graveyard for the weak, and I don't know if you were ready for this. We didn't even have a chance to get to know each other back at the university. And I still didn't find the reason why watching you smile excites me so much. You are the only variable in my life that I cannot calculate.'
Baek Hye-na was a storm moving through the dark, and the Expanse was beginning to learn her name with every territory she claimed. But even a storm has a center of calm, and for her, that center was a boy with silver hair whom she might never see again.
***
At Leo's territory, the dark mist parted to reveal a grim masterpiece. A structure of blackened stone and bleached bone had risen, radiating a cold, necrotic pulse that made the grass around it wither.
[Construction Complete: The Eternal Ossuary (Lv 1)]
Leo approached the heavy, dark wooden doors. ''Let's see what kind of power you hold.''
[ The Eternal Ossuary (Lv 1)]
Unit 1: Bonewalker Infantry
(Grade: 1 Star | Rank: F)
A frontline unit that knows neither pain nor fear. Equipped with rusted blades and shields of reinforced bone.
Trait: Deathless Frame(Does not feel pain or fear)
Trait: Reassemble (Can be repaired using bone fragments)
Cost: 10 Bone Fragments, 1 Death Essence.
Unit 2: Ossuary Laborer
(Grade: 1 Star | Rank: F)
Tireless workers dedicated to construction and the grim task of corpse processing.
Trait: Tireless Worker.
Trait: Corpse Preserver (Increases resource yield from dismantling).
Cost: 5 Bone Fragments.
[Upgrade requirement : Woodx2000, Stonex2000, Death Essencex50]
Leo reviewed his inventory. With 150 bone fragments and the death essence he had secured from Richie Rich, he made his move.
He summoned 5 Bonewalkers and 20 Laborers. The structure groaned as the doors ground open, and the undead marched out from the obsidian dark.
The soldiers were draped in tattered brown garments, their hollow eye sockets fixed forward. The laborers followed, their white bones clicking as they shouldered bone pickaxes. Twenty-five silent servants stood in a perfect, eerie line.
Leo nodded, a sense of dark pride swelling in his chest. 'I like them. No complaints, no fatigue, no baggage. The perfect workers.'
From the safety of the warehouse, the camp's lone goblin watched the scene with wide eyes. He looked at the ghoul, then at the skeletal laborers, scratching his bald head in confusion. 'Bones... no bones.'
Suddenly, a system notification flared in the sky.
[Regional Announcement: Race-Lord Gareth of the Ashfang Clan has submitted to Human Lord SilentMarch.]
'SilentMarch... I wonder how strong he is' Leo mused, storing the name in his memory.
As he pondered the future, a human worker approached him tentatively. Malphas shifted in the shadows, his presence a silent warning.
''My lord,'' the worker whispered, offering a wooden skewer. ''We prepared this for you.''
'Their intelligence is evolving alongside the territory,' Leo noted. He looked at the cooked meat and offered a small, regretful smile. ''Thank you, but I am afraid I cannot eat this.''
'You can try it, my lord. It will not offend your palate,' Malphas's voice echoed in his mind.
Leo was skeptical but trusted his commander's wisdom. He took the skewer and took a small, cautious bite. Instead of the ash and copper he expected, a burst of tender, savory juice flooded his mouth. The aether within the monster meat made it palatable even for his vampiric tongue.
Malphas gave a soft chuckle. 'The creatures of this world are saturated with aether. We can enjoy the hunt in more ways than one.'
With the meal finished, Leo set to work. He completed the construction of four watchtowers at the corners of his domain and upgraded the residential quarters to house eight people. His resources, so carefully gathered, vanished into the foundations of his growing fortress.
Current Population: 34/50.
As the moon rose, Leo retreated to his hall. The air grew cold as a shadow flickered near the entrance. He looked up, his crimson eyes narrowing. ''Vesper. Report.''