The experiment with Prince had helped Michael figure out the best way to maximize the value of his undead’s evolution: make them stronger before evolution to create even more powerful undead after.
That was the formula.
Unfortunately, Michael hadn’t had much time in the past few days to dedicate to strengthening his undead. To make them stronger, they needed experience points—something Michael also didn’t have an abundance of.
However, that would change in the future, once he was no longer in constant rush mode and could devote time to other pursuits.
Looking at Lucky and Prince, who were now standing before him, busy inspecting their appearances, a trace of worry flickered in Michael’s eyes.
The brothers were strong, no doubt, and had recovered from their battle with that corrupted creature in the ruins of his initial location in the Land of Origin. But they weren’t yet back to their peak and still carried hidden injuries within their bodies.
Setting aside the current crisis, it would already be a miracle if they emerged from this without worsening their injuries.
Michael suspected that evolution might restore the undead to their peak state—essentially healing them—but it was only a suspicion, not something he could confirm.
So, aside from ensuring they could fully exert their power, he also had to be cautious about preventing their hidden injuries from getting worse.
“Hopefully, the level 4 monsters aren’t too strong,” Michael muttered.
The incoming monsters would be at least level 26, but their difficulty would heavily depend on their race rank.
If they were one-star rare-rank creatures, Prince—who was a three-star rare rank—and Lucky, now a one-star extraordinary-rank creature, would easily wipe them out. But if they matched Prince’s race rank, the battle would become significantly harder.
There was another issue. As poison-type creatures, Prince and Lucky excelled at crowd control with their poison and plant manipulation skills, which covered wide areas. However, their true strength lay in being deployed as solo units.
Whether the battle would be easy like the previous three waves or turn into something far worse would soon be revealed.
If the incoming monsters were all just one-star rare-rank creatures at level 26, Michael would crush them with raw strength.
But if they were higher-rank creatures with higher levels, he’d have no choice but to fight carefully—or escape.
However, Michael wasn’t given much time to plan or organize his thoughts.
The moment he summoned Lucky and Prince, monsters began pouring out of the level 4 cracks.
“What the—? Why is everything so different?”
In the previous three crack breaks, there had always been a period of rest before the next wave. But after the third wave, the fourth one came almost immediately, leaving Michael wondering if something abnormal was happening—like the appearance of the level 5 crack.
“Whatever. Let’s just get this done,” Michael muttered, planting himself firmly in place.
The full appearance of the monsters emerging from the level 4 cracks came into view.
“Are those… Griffins?”
The monsters emerging from the level four cracks truly caught Michael off guard.
He had grown accustomed to crack monsters falling from the sky to the ground, allowing him and his group to immediately gang up on them for a quick first strike. This time, however, no monsters fell to the floor.
Instead, the creatures that emerged were airborne.
Eagle wings, sharp eagle claws, an eagle’s head, and a lion’s body with a tail—Michael’s mind immediately jumped to two possibilities.
The first was a Chimera, a stitched-up abomination of a monster, and the second was a Griffin, a creature often mentioned in fantasy stories both in this world and on Earth.
Taking a closer look at the flying monsters, “Griffins” seemed like the most fitting term to describe them.
However, no matter what they were called, one thing remained certain: they were monsters.
And monsters were creatures of destruction.The moment Michael spotted the monsters in the air, a grimace spread across his face.
“Ugh, they can fly,” he muttered, his tone laced with frustration.
It hadn’t even been a day since the exhausting battle against those winged Gargoyles, and now, another airborne threat was upon him. The sight of these flying creatures did little to lift his spirits. Stay updated with empire
But Michael barely had time to process his frustration before reality set in. Monsters emerging from cracks were bloodthirsty creatures of destruction.
Their nature was simple: attack anything that wasn’t their kind. Specifically, any being not created from negative energy became their target, even if it was another monster.
This universal hostility became evident as soon as the griffins appeared.
The level four cracks weren’t directly over Michael’s community, but they were high in the sky, looming above it. The moment the griffins spotted their targets, they dove toward them without hesitation.
Michael wasn’t their only target—some griffins flew toward other locations, suggesting there were still survivors outside his community. But the largest group of griffins, numbering around 30, charged straight for him.
The creatures weren’t just reacting to Michael alone; they were drawn to the dense concentration of life within his community.
Though a few individuals who had survived the previous waves by luck or Michael’s protection remained scattered nearby, the griffins ignored them entirely, focusing instead on Michael and the largest cluster of life signs.
Seeing the swarm of monsters heading directly for him made Michael’s heart pound.
The aura radiating from the griffins was strong, almost comparable to the winged Gargoyles he had fought earlier. However, there was a key difference between the two groups of monsters.
The Gargoyles had been calculated, attacking from a distance, while these griffins, consumed by their corrupted minds, were reckless, choosing to charge straight into close combat.
This suited Michael just fine.
“Attack!”
Michael didn’t waste a second, his voice ringing out as he commanded his undead to engage the incoming horde.
Though it seemed like Michael had been addressing all his undead, this couldn’t be further from the truth.
From the very beginning, his reliance had always been on Lucky and Prince. The others, while useful, couldn’t compare to the sheer power of these two.