Deep within the pitch-black cave, a hideous monster let out a low, guttural growl.
Black, filthy blood and pus continuously seeped from the stitched wounds across its body, spreading a nauseating stench through the air.
An Abomination.
This creature was typically formed by stitching together numerous fragmented corpses.
Its appearance was grotesque, its intelligence low, and its movements crude and violent.
Even among Undead units, it was a particularly distinctive existence.
Its strength varied depending on the level of the corpses used to create it.
As a creation carefully cultivated by the leader of Zurrernorn, the Abomination before them was clearly no ordinary one.
Its body included the corpse of an Adamantite-class adventurer, infused with dense negative energy.
In addition, a portion of blood taken from the sealed creature underground had also been incorporated into it.
With all those factors combined, its strength had reached an astonishing level fifty-five.
Under normal circumstances, the old man would have admired his masterpiece with pride.
But today, something unexpected had happened.
"This… is a Skeletal Dragon?!"
A long slender neck, a body composed entirely of white bones, and ghostly blue flames burning inside its eye sockets.
A Skeletal Dragon.
The old man was not unfamiliar with this creature.
What confused him was that the one before him was drastically different from the Skeletal Dragons he remembered.
Its size alone was on a completely different level, and the aura it emitted was far more powerful.
Although it still could not quite compare to the Abomination he had summoned, it was extremely close.
"Teacher, you seem quite surprised."
Khajiit spoke calmly.
He was not foolish.
He understood very well how terrifying his opponent was.
Without some hidden cards prepared in advance, how could he possibly dare to confront him directly?
Khajiit valued his own life very much.
Until he achieved his goal of resurrecting his mother, he had no intention of dying.
"I truly am surprised."
"Khajiit, my student, you have given me quite a shock. I almost feel reluctant to kill you now."
The old man sighed, his tone filled with regret.
This time it was not false sentiment.
He genuinely felt it was a pity.
Perhaps there were unknown circumstances behind it, but the fact that Khajiit had managed to create such a Skeletal Dragon was proof enough of his talent.
"Enough talk."
"Skeletal Dragon Lord, attack!"
Khajiit had no interest in continuing such meaningless conversation.
He raised the Orb of Death and issued his command.
The Skeletal Dragon, which had been standing still until now, suddenly trembled. The blue flames in its eyes burned brighter.
Raising its massive bone claw, it lunged straight toward the old man.
Facing the sharp claw, the old man did not move.
The Abomination beside him stepped forward and easily blocked the Skeletal Dragon's attack.
It then swung its massive fist and smashed it into the dragon's skull.
Among the Undead faction, the Abomination was an extremely powerful ground combat unit. Not only did it possess enormous vitality, but its offensive power was also terrifying.
Although Khajiit's Skeletal Dragon was strong, its physical defense remained a weakness.
Against an opponent of similar level, it would have almost no chance in a purely physical battle.
Of course, Khajiit was fully aware of that weakness and had already prepared a countermeasure.
[Trait Exchange]
The Orb of Death began to glow as magic was activated through it.
The Skeletal Dragon roared, and a layer of light began to appear across its body.
When the glow faded, the Abomination's attack landed directly.
A dull impact echoed.
However, the result was minimal.
The jade-white skull remained completely intact.
Its health had only dropped by an insignificant amount.
The Skeletal Dragon, knocked back by the blow, shook its head.
Dark purple flames suddenly ignited around its body, and it charged once again toward the Abomination.
The two massive monsters began fighting each other without holding anything back.
"Did you swap the Skeletal Dragon's magic defense with its physical defense?"
Watching the Skeletal Dragon abandon defense and attack with everything it had, while the Abomination was gradually weakening under the burning Undead flames, the old man quickly understood what had happened.
Because of its nature, a Skeletal Dragon was naturally immune to magic below the sixth tier.
Due to that unique trait, its extremely high magic defense was usually wasted.
Khajiit's Skeletal Dragon was even more unusual. The old man suspected it might even be able to ignore seventh-tier magic.
Anything below the seventh tier would be completely ineffective, while anything above that would be impossible to block.
That created a rather awkward situation.
Yet Khajiit had used magic to cleverly exploit that flaw, turning what should have been a weakness into an advantage.
"Interesting. This is truly fascinating."
"I am curious. How did you learn such a rare spell?"
"Could it be…"
The old man paid no attention to the Abomination gradually falling behind in the fight.
Instead, he stared intently at Khajiit, a crimson glow flashing repeatedly in his eyes.
A possibility came to mind.
"You awakened the bloodline of the Six Great Gods. Your bloodline returned to its ancestral state, turning you into a God-kin. This magic must be an inheritance from that bloodline."
"Am I right?"
The old man spoke slowly while Khajiit stared at him with a stunned expression.
An Undead awakening a bloodline sounded absurd.
Yet it somehow seemed like the only explanation.
Are you thinking way too much?
Khajiit felt speechless.
It was true that he came from the Slane Theocracy.
But he was now an Undead. His blood had long gone cold.
Talking about ancestral bloodline awakenings at this point was truly ridiculous.
"Believe whatever you want."
Khajiit shook his head, too lazy to argue.
This old man had lived for several centuries. There was a good chance something had gone wrong with his mind.
It was better to put an end to him quickly.
At that moment, the battle between the Skeletal Dragon and the Abomination was reaching its conclusion.
With its immunity to magic, the newly converted physical defense, and the constant burning of Undead flames, the Skeletal Dragon had pushed its opponent into a corner.
Even though the Abomination's level was higher than the Skeletal Dragon Lord's, it had still been dragged into a desperate situation.
"You think you have already won?"
Even now, the old man had not made a move.
The crimson light in his eyes intensified.
Then, under Khajiit's gaze, thin streams of blood suddenly shot out from the old man's body and rushed into the Abomination.
A strange wave of energy began spreading outward.
"Hahaha! Witness it. This power of the gods!"
The old man's expression twisted into something grotesque. He shouted wildly like a madman.
Crimson light wrapped around the Abomination. Through the dark silhouette, its body could be seen rapidly swelling.
Even its aura began rising at an unbelievable speed.
Fifty-five… fifty-six… fifty-seven… fifty-eight…
The old man lifted his head, clearly expecting to see fear on Khajiit's face.
But to his disappointment, Khajiit showed no reaction.
He simply stared at him quietly.
That gaze looked as though it were observing a corpse.
Before the old man could understand what was happening, a pair of skeletal hands suddenly appeared behind him and gently rested on his shoulders.
[Control Undead]
"Apologies for the interruption."
"I originally had no intention of interfering in the battle between you and your student."
"But the Abomination seems to have something rather interesting stitched inside it. That makes me very curious."
"Would you mind explaining it to me?"
Momonga stepped out from behind him.
The old man tried to turn his head, but discovered that he could not move his body at all. He could only look sideways with the corner of his eye.
The battle on the other side had already ended. Several figures lay on the ground, their condition unknown.
Even the Abomination, whose aura had been rising just moments ago, had gone completely still.
"On second thought, you probably would not tell me anyway. I will just see it myself."
Momonga spoke casually.
Then he raised his long skeletal hand and covered the old man's face.
A flash of emerald green light flickered.