The Holy Court is currently short on manpower, and each force they dispatch is just enough to overpower the opposition. They wouldn''t send a King level warrior to deal with a force that only has Monarch levels—it''s overkill and they simply don''t have the numbers.


    Thus, the Holy Court sent Sir Rnd and his men to the hobgoblin kingdom. Most of them were Monarch level, with a few Commanding level apprentice knights, but they were more than enough to handle the hobgoblin kingdom.


    "Edwin, gather intelligence. The rest of you, attack!" Rnd ordered immediately. They had no reason to hide; the moment theynded, the undead in the fortress had already noticed them.


    Rumble!


    The ground began to shake, and a massive magic circle glowed. Sir Rnd then noticed a buried magic circle not far ahead.


    A giant skeletal hand burst from the ground, followed by the massive head and body of a colossal skeletal creature.


    Roar—


    A deafening roar shook all nearby creatures, even causing the hobgoblins in the royal city to hide in fear.


    The wind howled, forcing the temr knights to shield their faces.


    Rnd was shocked. He hadn''t expected to find a Monarch level among these undead. He hadn''t seen a Monarch level undead in years and had assumed someone was controlling them. Now it seemed these undead had their own consciousness.


    With the skeletal creature''s roar, a terrifying beam swept across, and the skeleton descended like a meteor, destroying everything in its path.


    Just this one colossal skeletal creature could cause such massive destruction.


    Rnd stepped forward, his shield glowing with golden light, blocking the skeletal creature''s beam without flinching. He raised his silver sword, sending a massive golden sh toward the skeletal creature, then charged at it.


    The skeletal creature was toorge, trading agility for destructive power. It couldn''t dodge the golden sh.


    It could only cross its massive hands to protect its head, where its soul fire resided.


    Boom! Even the colossal skeletal creature was pushed back, its massive hands severed and falling to the ground.


    With its hands gone, the skeletal creature''s vision cleared, and it saw Sir Rnd leaping higher than itself.


    Rnd gripped his sword with both hands and plunged it downward.


    The skeletal creature had no time to defend or counterattack.


    Bang!


    Rnd''s sword pierced the skeletal creature''s head, the powerful golden light prating its entire body.


    The mes in the skeletal creature''s eyes dimmed, and its bones scattered. Rndnded gracefully behind it.


    Though he had easily dealt with the skeletal creature, Rnd didn''t rx. He saw more Monarch level undead emerging from the fortress, engaging the other temr knights.


    At that moment, the knight named Edwin approached Sir Rnd.


    "Sir, there''s a teleportation array inside the fortress. This isn''t their base!"


    "What?!"


    With so many undead here, and this not being their base, where were theying from? How advanced was their origin?


    "Edwin, I order you to return to the branch immediately and report this!"


    "Yes, Sir!"


    ...


    Countless undead leaped from the fortress walls, stumbling toward the enemy. Swarms of airborne undead took to the sky. Six turrets and the fortress''s attacks swept the battlefield.


    The undead outnumbered the temr knights a hundred to one, with tens of thousands of undead surrounding them.


    In contrast, the temr knights numbered only about a hundred, most of them Commanding level.


    Soon, some Commanding level apprentice knights couldn''t hold out and were in by the undead.


    Facing the overwhelming number of undead, Rnd expanded his domain, exterminating the ordinary undead around him. He thought, thankfully, they were Holy Court knights; otherwise, they would be overwhelmed by sheer numbers.


    He recalled the ancient texts in the Holy Court about the horrors of the undead apocalypse.


    "No wonder the angels want to exterminate the undead race."


    Rnd muttered to himself, momentarily lost in thought.


    "Sir, there are too many undead, and there doesn''t seem to be a leader. What should we do?"


    A knight shouted to Sir Rnd. They couldn''t waste their lives fighting these undead without purpose.


    The knight''s words snapped Rnd back to reality. These Monarch level undead had no leader, indicating the one controlling them wasn''t here.


    "Destroy the fortress and retreat, quickly!"


    Rnd surged forward, heading for the undead fortress. Any undead in his path were obliterated by his domain.


    The Monarch level undead tried to stop him but were intercepted by other knights, who fought with all their might to clear the way for their leader.


    Among the temr knights, Rnd was the strongest, so the task of destroying the undead fortress fell to him.


    The undead fortress, being sentient, sensed the approaching threat and focused all its attacks on Rnd.


    But these attacks couldn''t stop Rnd. He shattered undead projectiles with his sword and blocked energy sts from the fortress''s Essence Shard with his shield. He soon reached the fortress.


    With a single strike, Sir Rnd shattered the fortress''s shield.


    Facing the towering bone wall with no gate, Sir Rnd leaped to scale it.


    At that moment, a white figure appeared on the wall, wielding a massive scythe. Sir Rnd quickly raised his shield to defend.


    ng!


    The force knocked Sir Rnd back, but hended steadily, taking a few steps back. He looked at his shield, seeing a long ck scratch.


    Sir Rnd looked at the white figure. Alex had jumped down from the fortress, standing opposite him with a massive ck and red scythe.


    Of course, Alex wasn''t alone.


    As they faced off, dozens of undead flew out of the fortress, all Monarch level.


    Sir Rnd was shocked. The enemy''s numbers were far greater than he had anticipated—there were over thirty Monarch levels!


    The Monarch levels quickly spread out, forming a circle to surround the temr knights, preventing their escape.


    Damn, these undead were far more powerful than he had imagined!


    Sir Rnd gripped his weapon tightly and charged at Alex without hesitation. Though the girl before him was an extraterrestrial visitor, he didn''t know what role she yed among the undead.


    Rnd had his suspicions. He thought this girl might be the undead lord, but he quickly dismissed the idea. He believed that no extraterrestrial visitor could have developed to such an extent at this stage.


    However, given her formidable strength and unique presence, killing her might be the key to breaking the deadlock.