The Battle Begins!
"Garut will eat you all!"
The massive ogre charged forward as well, and seeing this, Celia stepped up to meet him!
Divine Grace!
With the blessing of Divine Grace, Celia's attributes were greatly enhanced. However, at level 24, she was still at a disadvantage against the level 28 gold elite ogre.
Clang!
Celia's knight's sword was knocked aside as she blocked, but Garut was also counterattacked and pushed back.
Someone supported Celia, but at that moment, several more ogres rushed forward, swinging their clubs. Celia prepared to block them again, but Serea spoke up.
"Leave them to me!"
Hearing this, Celia turned and saw Serea with long gray hair—her form was...
Death Decay!
Gray mist coiled around Serea. After consuming a Death Crystal as a catalyst, Serea activated Death Decay.
Death Decay (Tier 2), activate!
In an instant, the scarlet in Serea's eyes shifted to a demonic red; her skin grew even more pale, and her body temperature dropped rapidly. Feeling the chill of her own body, Serea felt as if "Death" itself gripped her heart.
But the sensation faded as quickly as it came. As she gradually adapted, Serea gained full control of her new power.
Facing the ogres' swinging clubs, Serea unleashed a power of the Undead.
Witherbone (Tier 3)!
Activating the Dark Power within her, a gray magic circle appeared at Serea's feet. Countless bones emerged through the magic circle, encircling Serea and the others at the center. As the ogres charged, the bones formed a giant skeletal claw.
The claw seized an ogre and hurled it with immense force. Two ogres were flung out, smashing through the wooden walls.
"What the—!"
Seeing the massive skeletal claw emerging from the bone pile, the Shortie goblin sensed danger, ordering the ogres to attack, while he hurriedly escaped through the back door.
Fearless and unafraid of death, the ogres charged in. With Witherbone (Tier 3), the bone pile protected Serea and her allies, while the giant skeletal claw repelled the ogres one by one.
Inside the framework of bones, Serea no longer needed to worry about ordinary ogres' attacks.
System: 'Death Decay' skill activated.
System: Revenant Form enabled. Gained skills: Gate of the Underworld (Tier 2), decay Curse (Tier 2), witherbone (Tier 3), undead Dirge (Tier 3), summon: Warbeast Bone Dragon (Tier 4)
System: Revenant Form continuously consumes Dark Power—twenty points per minute.
After entering Revenant Form, all of Serea's attributes and potentials were boosted to A. In this state, her self-preservation was fully secured.
Meanwhile, the house, battered by violent impacts, began to totter.
"It's dangerous here. Let's get out."
Serea drew a dagger and cut the rope binding Auna's hands. She then activated the Witherbone skill, turning the bones into a bony wall to block the ogres in their way, though this drained a good amount of Serea's Death Power.
"Don't leave! Let Garut eat you!"
The giant ogre gave chase, but Serea and the others escaped the wooden house first. Before the giant ogre could catch up, the house collapsed, burying him underneath.
Outside, what immediately caught the eye was the towering form of the Bloodfiend Treant, senluoluo. Upon seeing it, Serea knew that Lola had again used the Blood Frenzy ability.
Vines surged up, pulling down the camp's wooden walls and opening up a path for the cavalry's charge.
"Wolf riders, charge!"
"Ura!"
With Senluoluo's buffs unleashed, Aruka led the wolf riders straight into the camp. Their tactics were clear: cooperate with the blood slave troops to swiftly kill goblins, then use the direwolves' magic to harry the ogres.
The Skeleton Cavalry did the same. Rather than attacking the ogres directly, they harassed them from the flanks, diverting the ogres' attention.
"I'll smash you to smithereens!"
The ogres, infuriated, chased the Skeleton Cavalry to the camp's edge. There, they were met by ranks of blood elf archers stationed on Senluoluo's massive form.
"Loose arrows!"
Bloody Harassment!
Bleeding Shot!
Blood Toxin!
Power Shot!
Now awakened as blood elves, the elven archers displayed their full might. A crimson rain of arrows fell, turning the charging ogres into hedgehogs.
Meanwhile, Little White flitted like a ghost across the battlefield, instantly supporting any wounded werewolves or skeletons.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it! You insolent wretches, stop at once, or Lord Maregof will make you pay dearly!"
Shortie the goblin shouted, but no one paid him any mind. Seeing this, he resorted to his last gambit.
"Bastards, you forced me to do this! Big guys, take them out at any cost, at any cost!"
As the Shortie goblin finished, the ogres collectively paused. Suddenly, a faint red blood mist shrouded their bodies.
Rage (Tier 2)!
After use, they lost all reason, but gained power far surpassing their normal limits. However, once the effect faded, the user would fall into a state of exhaustion.
Watching the ogres all simultaneously enter Rage, Serea's eyes narrowed.
"So, it's finally come."
She spoke, and Aruka, also realizing something was wrong, still chose to lead his troops in a charge.
"All cavalry, fall back!"
However, at that moment, Serea issued an order. Aruka only hesitated a second before immediately leading the werewolf clan to retreat.
"Retreat!"
This decision saved them from disastrous losses—an advantage gained from Appraising the enemy beforehand.
Knowing the foe possessed the skill 'Rage,' Serea ordered the cavalry to withdraw and left only the archers to continue the attack. But with the current situation, who would stop the enraged ogres?
"Ah! Garut is hungry! Garut will eat all of you!!!"
The wooden roof was torn off, and the four-meter-tall giant ogre, his whole body shrouded in red blood mist, led the ogre charge toward Senluoluo. Ogres with anti-beast abilities could deal massive damage to the Bloodfiend Treant, so Senluoluo could not stop them.
"Looks like I'll need to use that move."
Serea said, turning her gaze onto a skill icon.
Gate of the Underworld (Tier 2): Consumes Death Crystals to open a gate to the underworld and summon underworld Undead. The quality and quantity of underworld Undead summoned depend on the number of Death Crystals invested, but the result is unpredictable. At this skill's current level, a maximum of 50 Death Crystals can be invested. The summoned Undead last for one hour. The skill has a two-hour cooldown.
A luck-based summoning skill. This made Serea a bit anxious...
Was it really okay to entrust victory to her own luck? After all, her—
While pondering, Serea suddenly shook her head.
She firmly believed she had European-level luck: just gamble, and if it failed, direct-summon the "Bone Dragon" to battle the giant beasts—what's there to fear?
With that, Serea unhesitatingly chose to use 50 Death Crystals to summon.
"Undead of the Underworld Abyss, heed my call! In the name of the Undead Queen, fight for me!"
Gate of the Underworld (Europe), open!
(To be continued...)