"Hahaha! I, Jack, am rich now!"
Jack Williams looked at the seven or eight spatial rings on his fingers, unable to suppress his triumphant laughter. He muttered to himself as he counted, "This one holds gold and silver coins, this one stores food, this one contains magic wands and one-handed swords, this one is for magic beast crystal cores, this one is for Skeleton Squad One, this one is for Skeleton Squad Two, and this one is for Skeleton Squad Three…" The more he counted his spoils, the more excited he became—this was no small fortune!
Through days of relentless effort, his mastery of Death Coil had grown increasingly refined, and his spiritual power had become stronger and purer, no longer as unstable as before when he would flee at the mere sight of a few skeletal soldiers. With Grant's support, his undead army had expanded from an initial force of fifteen skeletons to forty-five, neatly divided into three squads. Their combat prowess had improved significantly under his rigorous training, and three of them had successfully advanced from dull gray skeletons to jet-black skeleton warriors, their strength and defenses vastly enhanced, now serving as captains of their respective squads.
"Death Coil!"
Jack Williams shouted as he raised both hands, sending out a flurry of dark energy arrows imbued with the power of death, hurtling toward the fifteen skeletons of Squad One. At that moment, his mind surged with power, and his unleashed spiritual force was not to be underestimated.
The fifteen skeletal soldiers reacted swiftly, dodging the incoming attack with surprising agility. Four of them instantly charged at him with swords raised, while the others maneuvered around him, launching harassing strikes that kept him constantly on the defensive.
"Oh, come on! Ganging up on me? That's unfair! I object!"
Jack protested indignantly, but he dared not slow his movements. Who knew when one of these mindless skeletons might suddenly land a fatal strike? He quickly executed a rolling dodge, narrowly avoiding a skeleton's downward slash. At the same time, he thrust his left hand forward, launching a black energy arrow straight into the attacker's chest.
"Crash!"
The skeleton exploded into scattered bones, forced out of the battle.
But just then, he sensed a powerful gust of wind rushing from behind. He instinctively ducked, feeling a chill brush past the top of his head. Swiftly retreating several steps, he accidentally bumped into another skeleton soldier that had been creeping up on him. Thinking quickly, he grabbed its hip bones and, with a burst of strength, lifted it high into the air—then hurled it like a battering ram at an approaching enemy.
"Clang!"
The two skeletons collided violently, their bones locking together in a tangled mess. For a moment, they struggled in vain to separate.
"Whoa! Boss, that was awesome! Three down already! Keep it up!"
From the sidelines, Tobs cheered excitedly, munching on a roasted Flame Gryphon steak while watching the fight.
"Hah! Of course! Do you even know who you're talking to?" Jack Williams struck a dramatic pose, exuding confidence.
"Bang!"
Just as he was reveling in his moment of glory, a skeleton soldier slammed a shield into his shoulder from the side. Pain shot through him, and he yelped, "Damn it! That was a sneak attack! I object!"
Had the skeleton used a sword instead of a shield, he might have lost an arm.
Bruno, the skeletal dragon, calmly remarked, "Master, in a real battle, there is no such thing as a sneak attack—only the choice between life and death. Underestimating the enemy is the greatest mistake one can make."
"…You're right," Jack gritted his teeth, acknowledging the lesson. He knew that if he wanted to survive in this world, he had to be ruthless and relentless. Nodding firmly, he once again unleashed Death Coil, diving back into combat.
The intense fight dragged on for over twenty minutes. Finally, exhausted and gasping for breath, Jack managed to shatter the last skeleton's leg bone, forcing it out of the battle. Completely drained, he collapsed onto the ground, groaning, "I'm dead tired… utterly exhausted…"
Bruno shook its enormous skeletal head, its deep voice carrying a rare note of approval. "Master is indeed a prodigy. To have refined such an unorthodox magic to this level in just three days is truly impressive." As it spoke, it exhaled a dark breath, and the fifteen skeleton soldiers reassembled themselves, their bones snapping back into place.
"Damn it! I nearly killed myself fighting them, and you fix them up just like that?" Jack grumbled. "Forget it, I don't care anymore—I need sleep." With that, he let himself fall backward, and within moments, the sound of snoring filled the air.
"Uh… Bone Dragon, do you think Boss will ever be able to leave this canyon?" Tobs asked. He had grown quite familiar with Bruno, and his tone was far more casual now. "I remember there used to be a way out, but now it seems completely sealed off."
"There is a strange power sealing this canyon," Bruno sighed, shaking its bony head. "Escaping would be as difficult as ascending to the heavens."
"…What? The whole canyon is sealed? Who could be powerful enough to do that? Some deity?" Tobs clicked his tongue in awe, adopting Jack's mannerisms without realizing it.
—
"Hahaha! Of course, it was I, the great Beast God! Sealing off a mere canyon is child's play for me. Maybe I should seal the entire world just for fun—ah, but that would be boring."
Suspended in midair, a radiant white figure sneered in annoyance. "That brat has grown far too quickly these past three days! Even his melee skills have improved. I sent all those magic beasts, and he actually ate them?! Unforgivable! I must make him suffer! Perhaps… letting him be swarmed by magic beasts? Hah! Now that's a fantastic idea!"
As he spoke, he raised a middle finger toward the peacefully snoring Jack—a gesture he had undoubtedly learned from the boy himself.
—
"Achoo! Achoo!"
Jack sneezed several times in succession. Rubbing his nose, he muttered, "Someone must be cursing me… It has to be jealousy."
"…Uh, Master, I think they're not jealous of you—they want to eat you."
Bruno's voice carried a rare hint of awkwardness as it stared into the distance.
"…What did you just say?" Jack sprang to his feet, suddenly on high alert.
In the far distance, a pack of fifty high-level Windfang Wolves surged forward like a violent storm, their speed twice that of an Earthquake Bear.
"What the—?! More meat delivery? We haven't even finished the Crimson Flame Tiger from last time! And now you're sending wolf meat?" Jack raised a middle finger skyward and yelled, "Hey, Almighty Whoever-You-Are! Can you at least send rabbit meat next time? Or chicken, duck, even pork is fine! Tiger meat is seriously overrated!"
"That insolent brat dares treat me like a livestock supplier?!"
The white figure in the sky fumed with rage, his voice shaking with fury. With a snap of his fingers, a crimson glow enveloped the two hundred Windfang Wolves, their eyes instantly burning with bloodlust.
"Awooooooo—!!"
The wolves let out a deafening, earth-shaking howl that echoed through the canyon. The very ground seemed to tremble, sending a chill down Tobs and Kons' spines. The two immediately dove into the dirt, hurriedly digging a makeshift foxhole for safety.
"Damn it! What's with these wolves? Did they just take steroids or something?!"
Jack's ears buzzed from the sheer volume of the howls. He quickly backed away, summoning all forty-five of his skeletal warriors, their weapons drawn and formations set.
"Hahaha! You think I'd fall for the same trick a third time?"
The white figure in the sky smirked triumphantly.
Bruno's face was filled with concern as he gazed at the horde of Gale Direwolves before them. "Master, if there were only one or two, maybe three at most, I might still have some way to handle them. But now, with over fifty of them charging at us, I'm afraid I won't be able to fend them off. I think we should retreat while we still can."
The two little moles, Tobs and Cons, were equally tense. Bruno possessed the strength of a Rank Six magical beast, while among the forty-five skeleton soldiers, only three had reached the level of Rank Four magical beasts, with the remaining forty-two barely at Rank Three. In contrast, the Gale Direwolves were formidable Rank Seven magical beasts—an insurmountable difference.