The [Undead Lord] raised one gauntleted hand into the air.
Almost immediately, the shadowy aura pulsing behind its body erupted like a storm.
From within that veil of darkness, a mass of bone-white shapes emerged, dozens at first, then hundreds.
Each one resembled a floating skull, their hollow sockets and gaping jaws spewing eerie blue fire, as if they were crying out in agony from whatever afterlife they’d been ripped out of.
The air grew colder. The pressure heavier.
The floating skulls hovered in place, surrounding their master like a swarm of obedient spirits waiting for his command.
Then, the [Undead Lord] slowly extended one arm forward, his armored hand rising until a single finger pointed toward the field of enemies ahead.
And in that instant.
Fwish! Fwish! Fwish!
The horde of fire-wreathed skulls surged forward like missiles.
It wasn’t chaotic either, there was precision in their movements, a ruthless clarity.
They weren’t just flying aimlessly, they were each locked onto a specific target.
Fire Skulls.
Alex didn’t even need to look at the system panel to know that the [Undead Lord] had used one of its skills.
But the panel still helpfully blinked in front of him anyway.
[Fire Skulls]
Description: Summons 300 projectiles shaped like skulls.
If they meet a target, they detonate in an explosion of blue fire.
And just like the description said, three hundred skull-shaped projectiles carved through the air, with frightening accuracy, each locked onto one of the 200 skeletal soldiers that Alex had summoned earlier.
Not a single one was spared.
The Undead Lord didn’t just have power, it had control.
The moment a skull collided with one of the skeletal soldiers, it exploded.
Not in a flash of normal flame, but with an eerie blue inferno that burst out in waves, setting off a chain reaction.
One explosion triggered another. And then another. And another.
Within seconds, the battlefield became a canvas of blue fire and shockwaves, each blast consuming multiple enemies at once.
Bones shattered, smoke filled the air, and the ground itself cracked from the repeated detonations.
Then… silence.
As the fire faded and the thick blue mist cleared, the result became painfully clear.
Not a single soldier had survived.
Every one of the 200 skeletons had been completely annihilated.
Alex blinked, genuinely surprised.
“Oh wow…”
It had been insanely strong, and the most shocking part was that the [Undead Lord] hadn’t even moved.
It had simply pointed, executed the command, and let the skill do the work.
Intrigued, Alex brought up the information panel related to his newest set of summons.
There was more to them than just raw power, he needed to know the extent of what each could do.
[Undead Reapers]
[Skills: Undead Slash, Shadow Orb, Rain of Dark Spears]
He nodded slowly.
Those were the mid-tier summons, definitely powerful in their own right.
But his eyes drifted down to the real centerpiece.
[Undead Lord]
[Skills: Fire Skulls, Undead Sword, Skeletal Control, Crown of Undead]
Four distinct skills.
One had already proven its worth.
But if that was just a quarter of what this thing could do.
“Well,” Alex muttered to himself, raising one arm, “Let’s put it to the test.”
The air distorted slightly as 200 more [Undead Skeletons] erupted from the ground at his command.
Bones shot up from the earth and reassembled mid-air before landing on their feet in perfect formation.
Five [Undead Reapers] joined them, their scythes gleaming with a shadowy edge.
Alex folded his arms.
“Alright, new test. The [Undead Skeletons] and [Undead Reapers] will fight the [Undead Lord]. 205 versus 1, basically.”
Astolf tilted his head slightly.
“That’s… kind of unfair, isn’t it?”
“Exactly,” Alex replied, “If he can win against this kind of pressure, I’ll know for sure how useful he’ll be when I go up against gods.”
And then it began.
The fire in the [Undead Lord]’s eyes shifted.
It deepened from violet to a violent, glowing purple.
His stance changed too, no longer relaxed, but rigid, powerful, like a predator that had just been given permission to unleash everything it had.
His black armor, already terrifying, shimmered with a faint blue hue as if it had been awakened from a dormant state.
The [Undead Reapers] reacted as well.
They stepped in front of the skeleton soldiers, spinning their scythes as tendrils of darkness wrapped around the blades.
The small white lights in their eye sockets narrowed, lines of energy cracking across their faces.
And then— They charged.
All 205 undead rushed toward the lone figure in black armor.
It should’ve been overwhelming, a hopeless clash.
But the [Undead Lord] didn’t even flinch.
The aura around it thickened, and the earth beneath its feet began to tremble.
It raised both hands skyward.
Fwish! Boom!
Undead Sword!
Purple cracks spread across the battlefield like spiderwebs, originating from beneath the [Undead Lord].
And then, with an explosive roar, a massive sword burst forth from the underworld below.
It wasn’t a typical blade, it was constructed from bone and skulls, each piece stitched together by dark energy.
[Undead Sword]
[Description: The Undead Lord uses its aura to summon a massive sword from the depths of the underworld. Forged from bones, it is infused with destructive power.]
He grabbed the sword with both hands.
And in the very next instant—
SLASH!
A single swing. That’s all it took.
One [Undead Reaper] was instantly cleaved in two, and 20 [Undead Skeletons] were reduced to nothing more than scattered limbs and shattered ribs.
Alex’s jaw dropped.
“Holy shit…”
The [Undead Lord] moved like a blur, dodging the swarm of weapons that came his way and countering with flawless strikes.
And he hadn’t even used another skill yet.
Fwish! Snap!
With his off-hand, he snapped his fingers, and the battlefield responded immediately.
[Skeletal Control]
[Description: The user can summon and manipulate skeletal hands from the ground, shaping them into weapons, barriers, or tools of destruction.]
Giant skeletal hands erupted from the earth like beasts awakened from slumber.
Dozens of them. They twisted and warped mid-air, clawing their way toward the nearest enemies.
Some slammed down like hammers, crushing skeletons in an instant.
Others grabbed and twisted, tearing apart the Reapers mid-swing.
The field quickly turned into a massacre.
Within a minute, all 205 of the summoned enemies had been destroyed.
The [Undead Lord] stood at the center of it all, untouched, not even a scratch across his black armor.
Alex let out a low whistle.
“It might actually be stronger than you,” he said, looking over at Astolf.
To his surprise, the [Undead King] didn’t deny it.
“Yeah,” Astolf admitted, arms crossed, “Some of its abilities are… well, they feel familiar.”
Alex’s eyes narrowed.
“Like [Skeletal Control], right?”
Astolf nodded.
“Exactly. That’s definitely based on mine.”
If the [Undead Lord] shared a portion of Astolf’s powers and had 95% of Alex’s stats, then it would be useful.
Alex quickly pulled up the final skill.
[Crown of Undead]
[Description: When the Undead Lord is on the verge of death or receives a fatal blow, the crown grants it a second wind by drastically enhancing its power and stats.]
“Oh, damn…” Alex muttered, “It’s a buff skill.”
Astolf raised an eyebrow.
“Wait… if it’s already this strong, and then gets buffed again… wouldn’t it technically be stronger than you?”
Alex blinked, then looked at the [Undead Lord].
He thought for a moment.
“Nah,” he said, waving it off with a grin, “I’d still win. Besides, it follows my orders.”
“Fair,” Astolf admitted, though he still looked impressed, “So… you gonna try to trigger that last skill?”
Alex scratched his chin.
“No. I’ll save that for when it happens naturally. Might as well see it in action when it really matters.”
With a nod, Astolf faded into a mist of black smoke, returning to the [Undead Space] nestled within Alex’s core.
That was it. All the skills had been revealed.
And Alex was more than satisfied.
The [Undead Lord] was an extremely powerful summon.
And that meant only one thing remained on his list: time to conquer the [Tower of Nightmares].