Sovereign of the Ashes

The first Rank One creature to emerge from the gray fog was an undead knight mounted on a white skeletal warhorse.

A dense, deathly aura enveloped them, manifesting as a thick, swirling gray mist.

Nourished by this sinister mist, the skeletal warhorse shimmered silvery-white, as if it were clad in shiny silver armor.

The undead knight, a formidable force in its own right, rode a warhorse that itself rivaled the strength of a Rank One creature.

As for the undead knight itself, the oppressive power it radiated was nearing the late stage of Rank One.

Together with its white skeletal warhorse, their combined strength could rival a peak Rank One creature.

The graveyard, rich in necrotic elements, had cultivated extremely high-quality but low-level undead creatures.

Superior undead creatures, such as the undead knight, undoubtedly derived even greater benefits from this environment.

Wielding a black lance that emitted a chilling aura, the undead knight aimed it directly at Leena, who hovered above the graveyard. Its menacing stance made it clear that it was greatly displeased by her audacious harvesting of souls.

The white skeletal horse began galloping toward Leena, carrying the undead knight on its back.

They ascended directly into the air as if climbing an invisible staircase amidst the noticeably thinner, grayish-white fog.

Before Leena could do anything, Sein launched toward her, intent on confronting the formidable undead creature threatening her.

However, Sein had underestimated the situation. As even more powerful undead creatures emerged, he had to fend off more than just one undead knight to protect Leena.

As the undead knight charged toward Leena, three additional Rank One Necromantic creatures materialized from the gray mist, each exuding a menacing aura.

First, a mummy with rotting flesh emerged, brandishing its ten sharp claws that gleamed chillingly amidst the gray fog.

The other was a grotesque purple eyeball floating in mid-air, surrounded by writhing purplish-red tentacles—a type of undead creature Sein had never encountered before.

Lastly, a worm with a black shell appeared. Though only half a meter tall, it stretched over three meters long. Its numerous small, black eyes fixed on Sein and his companions, sending a shiver down their spines.

These three Rank One creatures advanced toward Sein’s group, albeit at a slower pace than the undead knight.

They also began to coordinate the movements of the surrounding undead horde, strategically herding them to surround Sein and his group.

Sein noticed that a few undead creatures had managed to slip behind them, attempting to cut off their retreat.

Such strategic behavior was beyond low-level undead creatures; clearly, it was directed by the four Rank One beings.

Before Sein could fully assess the movements of the lesser undead, the undead knight was already charging toward him.

Its features were completely hidden beneath his armor, making him a faceless enemy.

With a swift motion, the undead knight thrust its black lance directly at Sein’s face.

In retaliation, Sein unleashed three explosive fireballs in rapid succession. The first was shattered by the knight’s lance, the second extinguished by a burst of fire from the skeletal warhorse’s mouth, and the third hit the knight squarely in the chest!

The undead knight’s ability to withstand the impact of Sein’s verdant flame-enhanced spell attested to its immense strength.

In that moment, red and green elemental sparks flew everywhere.

Sein heard a muffled grunt emanating from the soul of the undead knight, yet the speed of its lance did not falter!

CLANG!

A metallic sound echoed as a series of magic shields, each a different color, materialized around Sein, protecting him from the undead knight’s attack.

Neeeeeigh!

The skeletal warhorse emitted a hoarse cry. With ghostly white flames burning beneath its hooves, it reared up and stomped down hard toward Sein’s magic shields.

Sein was technically battling two foes simultaneously.

The white skeletal warhorse and the undead knight, united in their assault, proved that their combined force was more formidable than anticipated.

As the warhorse’s hooves pounded at Sein’s magic shields, the undead knight raised his lance again, aiming for a vulnerable spot in the elemental shield.

Despite the multiple layers of magical shields surrounding him, their defensive capabilities had limits.

Under the relentless assault from both the undead knight and his skeletal warhorse, the two outermost shields shattered.

This encounter highlighted the vulnerability of pure mages when facing melee combatants.

In an interplanar war, the front lines—guarded by legions of knights and swarms of expendable creatures—typically prevented most enemies from reaching the mages.

Melee attackers were usually doomed to fall to the mages’ long-range spells.

It was unfortunate that Sein could not summon Yuri and Sev to assist him here.

Had they been present, Sein and his group could have relied on them as defenders.

In their absence, Sein, having tempered his body, found himself assuming the role of a meat shield.

As the undead knight raised his black lance once more, charging up to breach Sein’s magic shields, Sein moved.

Choosing not to wait for the knight to shatter them, he strategically deactivated the outermost layers of his faltering shields, leaving only two core layers for personal protection.

From within these shields, hands enveloped in verdant flames reached out.

The ghostly flames flickered in the undead knight’s eye sockets as Sein caught the full force of its downward thrust with his bare hands.

Hiss!

Verdant flames surged around Sein’s body, transforming him from a mage under two meters tall into a towering pyro elemental giant.

The intense heat from Sein’s verdant flames caused numerous low-ranking undead creatures nearby to collapse almost instantly.

The undead knight confronting Sein was not spared either. As Sein gripped the lance, the strange verdant flames rapidly climbed along it and swiftly engulfed the knight’s body in fire.

HISS!

The white skeletal warhorse beneath the undead knight shrieked in alarm.

The unintelligent warhorse appeared to be innately averse to fire.

Despite the undead knight’s efforts to calm it, the warhorse was visibly agitated and began to panic.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

More than ten gray Necromatic Air Bombs flew out from the rear of the undead horde, pelting down upon Sein and Leena’s magic shields.

This time, Sein managed to clearly identify the source of these projectiles.

They were launched by a group of “undead plants” resembling ferns, standing less than thirty centimeters tall.

No, they were not plants at all! They were undead creatures!

After launching the air bombs, the roots of those fern-like creatures writhed. Those hairy tentacles appeared to be drawing necromantic energy from the environment, recharging for another assault.

Rustle! Rustle! Rustle!

The unsettling noises had never stopped since the battle began.

In this graveyard of the undead, one could only guess what other strange and bizarre creatures might emerge next!