2 Holy Knights
The lack of muscle mass meant movement would have almost been impossible, even more so fast and complicated ones such as jumping around and avoiding sword attacks. Not only was Adam able to parry against the squad leader but also counter him with moves of his own. 'How is this even possible!?' Sweat dripped down the squad leader's forehead. He was definitely having a hard time facing an undead monster that defied logic and common sense.
Adam was cautious of the squad leader. He kept checking his remaining health points before parrying an attack. He could shield using his own flesh all he wants, but he had to stay mindful of how much health an attack consumes and if doing so was any sustainable; The above-average strength of the squad leader told him otherwise, 'I can't just take hits all day.'
"You're not a summoned monster, are you?" From out of the blue, the squad leader asked. Adam could not answer. He technically couldn't. But even if he could, he did not feel like answering either. A slight nod would have sufficed, but he'd rather not. Instead, outside the squad leader's expectation, Adam started self-mutilating: scraping off his flesh.
"Wh—What are you doing?!" the squad leader had a bad premonition after seeing the monster abrade its flesh.
[Health - 0] Charges - 3. "A Life Charge will now be consumed..."
He stripped off his own remaining health points — Adam was now indistinguishable; his bones dominating over his flesh. "Life Charge successfully consumed..." Adam's body suddenly collapsed on the ground. His bones shattered. What little flesh he had left instantaneously rotted away. The sudden turn of events left the squad leader utterly confused.
"Something's not right here," he muttered, looking at the pile of broken bones.
"Where's the undead?" someone asked. It was one of the holy knights he requested. A pair of them arrived just in the nick of time.
"It's gone…" the squad leader answered, pointing at the remains. "It suddenly killed itself. I've never seen a monster do something like that before." the squad leader added. One of the holy knights inspected the area.
"Perhaps the necromancer controlling it got killed? That's a possibility," the knight shrugged. "It's already dead, so the reason doesn't really matter at this point—"
[Health - 240] Charges - 2
Adam's lifeless body writhed, just like before. Pieces of bones started reassembling themselves—another ungodly miracle was occurring. Unlike the previous revival, Adam resurrected with all his limbs intact this time, arms and all. Adam's new skeletal form brandished pearly white bones shimmering under the bright sunlight. Some thin skin and flesh remained, holding innards undisposed during the use of Life Charge.
"Heurgh!" Adam growled.
Both holy knights immediately braced themselves after seeing the undead resurrect.
"No point in holding back... That monster is a self-conscious undead. There's no one controlling it. Eliminate it as soon as possible!" One of the holy knights instructed, "I'll kill it with purification magic to make sure it won't revive again." he iterated. An array of golden magic circles appeared high above the sky. "Attack, now!"
---
Becoming an undead felt more like an unforeseen blessing than a cruel curse. The supposedly agonizing feeling of death was nothing more than a simple pause for me. It was technically my second time dying, but it felt invigorating rather than depressing. I somehow got both my arms back, which was a pleasant surprise.
'This is me now. And I am not disappointed at all.'
I took it by heart that this was a boon draped in a bane wrapping. I knew that I could not live a normal life from here on out, but the awful one I had was not even worth mentioning. I had everything in my life go against me for the past five years. From this point forward, nothing could go downhill anymore. I had to change my fate — starting with the challenge in front of me…
---
Rays of divine power started spewing out of the magic circles, each attack aiming towards Adam. The nimble undead, however, quickly moved back and forth, avoiding the much slower magic with ease. Clouds of dust puffed up, leaving shallow craters on the ground. Adam smirked, though it wasn't at all visible because of his boney face.
'Years of forced military training has finally paid off,' Adam thought.
If it wasn't for the militia training, Adam would have been fighting clueless against knights who could use divine magic. Fortunately, he took the training back then seriously, hoping it would eventually pay off. Such blind faith finally bore some tasteful fruit. "Gavin, conserve your mana! Let's restrain it first." the other holy knight advised.
The holy knight, Gavin Arkwright, halted his assault.
"It will not be easy," Gavin said, wiping his sweaty forehead. "It seems to know how divine magic works," he added, looking terrified. "Being fast won't make much of a difference, but that monster avoided my attacks flawlessly. It even did so lightly." Gavin gave his partner, Aero Bullard, a knowing look. "You know me well, so you know I'm not exaggerating."
"Not that I would say anything about you getting slower, old man, but whatever." Aero jested, "I can see how this undead's a problem. It's not a mindless monster. From the looks of it, it's still gauging our strength." he concluded after seeing how passive the reaction was when Gavin's assault ceased. A wild monster would've immediately retaliated.
Adam probed the surroundings, looking for a weapon he could use. He couldn't just haphazardly go with a sword; It has too short a reach for him to fight well while thinking about the range attacks coming from the pair of holy knights. At the very edge of the encircling, a weapon glinted. Adam hurriedly rushed towards it, catching everyone else off guard.
"He's escaping?" Gavin thought at first until he saw Adam reaching for a discarded weapon. To say, the encircling wasn't watertight. Soldiers were wary of the undead amongst the enemy, but they were still more worried about the ongoing war behind their backs. Put, none of them were taking the fight against one undead monster too seriously. If anything, the Order of the Holy Knights could take care of the issue by themselves for all they care.
Adam slid smoothly out of the flank.
"Equip 'Common Glaive' as your primary weapon?" a prompt appeared as soon as Adam took hold of the weapon.
'Yes,' Adam responded. Immediately, the polearm felt more comfortable in his hand. He had no time to check whether it was just some ambiguous feeling he had as enemies were rushing over. Adam held the tail end of the pole, assisted with his right hand placed on the midrib. He then spun, blade facing outward, towards the surge of opponents.
The blade clashed against armors and bodies alike. It formed an unstoppable arc of death. If an ordinary soldier did the same maneuver, the recoil from the collision alone would be enough to make him or her flinch and stop. The undead Adam, however, pushed the weapon and himself to the limits.
"Gained + 3 EXP"...
"Gained + 2 EXP"...
"Congratulations, you leveled up!"... "Level - 8"
Two of the twelve soldiers that came rushing died immediately. They were the more unfortunate ones, having to receive the initial brunt of the attack all the while not having any armor to protect their vital parts. They were relatively weaker than the rest of the bunch, yielding little experience points.
Adam went on fighting against the remaining ten. Gripping the pole's neck, the part under the metal blade, gave Adam leverage against sneaking opponents as he could use the tail-end of the pole itself as a blunt weapon. Fending off ten trained soldiers was amazing enough on its own, but to kill some as well was an unthinkable feat even for the most dangerous and fearsome of monsters.
Suddenly, a hissing noise resounded. Adam noticed the sound a little too late. A beam of divine magic found its way towards him. *Boom!* A loud explosion echoed. Adam couldn't avoid the attack, especially not when it came from a direction he least expected — From high above the sky.
[Health - 0] Charges - 2. "A Life Charge will now be consumed"...
The overwhelming attack not only "killed" Adam; But also the Cyrus soldiers around him. The squad leader looked at the holy knights in disbelief, "How — how could you?!". Contrary to Gavin's solemn expression, Aero did not care much and just shrugged, "Don't waste your breath on us. It's your duty to take care of your squad. But it's ours to kill the undead. Our interests differ, so beat it."
"Life Charge successfully consumed..."
From the mist came an unscathed undead. Adam felt lighter than before; His bones, once riddled with pasty remains, were now spotlessly clean. The clouds of dust gradually settled. Gavin and Aero were confident enough that an undead could not revive under the influence of divinity. Both of them were not paying much attention to the aftermath. It was a fatal mistake to do so—
Adam inverted the broken glaive, turning it into a disproportionate but deadly javelin, and hurled it towards the direction of the holy knights. *Schlink* Aero Bullard, oblivious on what was happening, did not see the attack coming. He slowly looked down his chest. There, a sharp blade pierced through his golden chest plate. Both Gavin and the squad leader had their mouths wide agape.
They turned their heads back in horror.
