9

**New Chapter – The Black Knight's Challenge**

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**Several Hours Later**

The city, once eerily silent, was now filled with sounds that didn't belong to its usual stillness. In the streets, small squads of skeletons were battling each other, reclaiming mana stones and scavenging through houses and other locations throughout the city.

Dave watched with satisfaction as his number of subordinates continued to grow. The skeletons he had evolved into Skeleton Soldiers were now capable of converting others, effectively increasing the size of his army.

As more and more skeletons joined his small horde and as evolutions occurred, his numbers began to spread throughout the city.

"Although I can't control the skeletons that my subordinates convert, it doesn't seem to be a problem for now," Dave mused. His assessment was accurate; his subordinates had only just gained self-awareness and were like newborns, obediently following his orders.

Several hours later, Dave stumbled upon what appeared to be the city's forge, or at least the one used by the common folk. He also discovered an underground sewer system, which he didn't dare explore at the moment. Soon, a third of the city was under his control, and his skeleton army had swelled to 120.

"Indeed, a small army," Dave remarked, pleased with his growing force. He rearmed his skeletons before deciding to continue eliminating the enemy skeleton soldiers. But not before absorbing the thousands of small mana stones his subordinates had collected throughout the city.

(Warning: Your mana has reached the current race's limit. Evolve to increase this limit.)

"So, 800 mana is the cap," Dave murmured as he set the mana stone aside and instructed some of his most trusted subordinates, including Larry and the skeleton priest he had nicknamed Sebas, to absorb the remaining stones.

Despite the constant evolutions, Sebas remained the only priest in the army, which was indeed surprising, but having a single support unit for an entire platoon was too much to handle.

"Alright, let's do this," Dave gathered his newly formed troops and decided to continue their conquest of the outer walls and cleanse the city of enemy skeleton soldiers. However, to his surprise, when he returned to the wall, the patrols he had previously killed had been replenished. Moreover, there was a new figure—a skeleton exuding a dark aura, clad in heavy armor and wielding a massive longsword. "That's definitely a mini-boss."

The moment Dave spotted the undead Black Knight, it also noticed him. It let out a sinister, spectral roar before pointing its sword in Dave's direction. Instantly, the surrounding skeletons turned towards him, raised their weapons, and charged at his group.

"Shit, positions!" Dave issued the command, but he was too slow. Before the first defensive line could form, the enemy skeletons were upon them, attacking.

TING!

CLANK!

The sounds of clashing swords and weapons echoed everywhere as skeletons tore into each other. "Damn it! Are you kidding me?!" Dave cursed, seeing that he had lost several skeletons in the first wave of attacks. He quickly struck at two nearby enemy skeletons.

Slash!

His blade easily sliced through the first skeleton, splitting it in half. With a swift kick, he knocked the second one to the ground and finished it off with a quick decapitation.

"Come on, you damned bone bags!" Dave mentally roared as sacred energy flowed through him, drawing more skeletons to attack him ferociously, but it was all in vain.

With rapid movements, Dave easily dodged the simple attacks from the skeletons, severing their heads and limbs, leaving his allied skeletons to finish them off.

The battle's chaos grew louder, but thanks to Dave's momentum, his group managed to regain a basic battle formation. Under his command, they gradually pushed the enemy skeletons back.

"The battle doesn't seem too problematic now. Despite the initial losses, we have the numbers, and we've got a cleric on our side," Dave thought of Sebas, who was constantly healing severely injured skeletons in the rear and sending them back to the front lines.

However, their momentum soon waned when the Black Knight moved. The undead knight raised its sword high and charged directly at Dave's position in the formation, making him feel an extreme sense of impending death, triggered by his instinct.

"I need to dodge!" Dave immediately judged, leaping to the side, just as the Black Knight's blade slashed through the air where he had been standing. The next moment, the blade fell, releasing a dark wave of mana that obliterated 10 skeletons near his previous position, leaving a crack in the ground 2 meters deep and 3 meters wide. "Monster!" Dave immediately proclaimed. Without wasting time, he ordered his soldiers to surround the Black Knight and attack.

CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!

Swords and spears clashed against the Black Knight's armor, but to no avail. As if mocking their efforts, the Black Knight swung its longsword in one direction, cutting down more than six skeletons in a single blow.

"This is bad!" Dave thought immediately. Without giving the Black Knight a chance to recover, Dave activated all his buffs and charged at it with sword and shield in hand. A bluish-golden aura enveloped Dave as he leaped into the air and struck at the Black Knight.

CLANK! BAM!

The two blades collided, and the ground beneath the Black Knight cracked, but the knight itself didn't even budge before swinging its sword, sending Dave flying backward. "He's tough." As he was thrown back, Dave felt his sword trembling, sensing the Black Knight's strength. He realized he couldn't defeat it in his current state.

"Should I retreat?" Dave considered, but in the next moment, the Black Knight did something that enraged him deeply. "Kukuku, HAHAHAHA!" The Black Knight let out a malevolent laugh, seemingly mocking Dave and his skeleton army. It grabbed the skull of one of Dave's soldiers, who had not yet died, only having been cut in half.

CRACK!

The Black Knight crushed the skull, killing Dave's subordinate right in front of him. It was a simple gesture of provocation that anyone with a keen eye could discern, but these actions infuriated Dave to the core, causing his mana to surge uncontrollably.

"Alright then, you son of a bitch, I'm going to split your head in half, and we'll see if you laugh after that!"