Chapter 172 - 171: Slaughtering the Enemy for a Servant

Chapter 172: Chapter 171: Slaughtering the Enemy for a Servant

The tall figure was now just feet away, its staggering steps leaving a chaotic trail of blood on the fallen leaves.

Hesia gripped the Magic Wand with both hands, put his core into it, and swung it like a sledgehammer.

With a flicker of thought, the invisible force of his Mage’s Hand latched onto the Magic Wand, giving it a second, accelerating push as it came crashing down!

The continuous, high-intensity battle, combined with blood loss and his desperate flight, had already drained most of Gorke’s stamina.

Its legs felt heavier and heavier, and its breathing was as ragged as a broken bellows.

Sensing a vicious gust of wind at its back, it knew it couldn’t run any farther. It could only force a turn, using its last ounce of strength to grip the Long-Handled Blade and hold it defensively.

The moment it turned, a flicker of astonishment flashed through its crimson eyes, immediately followed by a glint of delight.

’It was that guy who’d been hiding in the distance, casting Magic?’

’And the thing in his hands... looked like a Long-Handled Weapon?’

As a Master of Long-Handled Weapons, Gorke could see the human’s inexperience with a single glance.

The posture, in its eyes, was simply laughable.

Its confidence, which had been shaken by its severe wounds, surged back.

It reclaimed the sense of superiority it had felt while toying with that Warrior named Grek.

’Just like before, no need to block it head-on!’

’Just slash upward!’

’I can even slice him open in the process!’

CLANG!

The blade slammed into the bizarre head of the staff!

The feeling of easily batting aside the other’s weapon never came!

A terrifying force, completely beyond its comprehension, surged up the blade like a flash flood!

KRAK!

The webbing of its hand burst open!

Blood dripped down its coarse fur.

The Long-Handled Blade was torn from its grasp.

Its astonished gaze subconsciously focused on the peculiar Magic Wand.

Its tightly shut eyes had opened at some point, and its wide mouth, stretching from ear to ear, slowly gaped open, revealing a deep, dark maw...

CRUNCH!

The Ghost Witch’s head on the staff bit down ravenously, sinking into Gorke’s chest and tearing out a huge chunk of flesh!

A wave of agony made Gorke let out a short howl. The combined force of the impact and the tearing sent its massive body flying backward uncontrollably.

Hesia knew all too well how tenacious this creature’s Life Force was and how terrifying its combat instincts were. He had no intention of giving it a chance to breathe!

The instant Gorke’s body left the ground, Hesia’s Magic Wand was already pointing at the arc of its flight—

Five sharp Earth Spikes erupted from the ground several meters away, reaching out to Gorke in a fatal embrace.

SQUELCH! SQUELCH! ...SQUELCH!

Abdomen pierced! Thigh ripped open! Back impaled! Blood-soaked tips burst through its chest, dragging entrails with them!

"Urk... ghh..."

Gorke hung impaled in mid-air, its body twitching faintly. The last image reflected in its slowly unfocusing eyes was the calm figure of Hesia approaching.

Magic Power gathered once more at the tip of the Magic Wand.

With a soft thud, one last Magic Missile extinguished the formidable opponent’s life.

[Magic Missile Proficiency +8, Level 2 (9/20)]

Hesia stared at Gorke’s mangled corpse, his mind already churning with ideas.

’Should I turn it into a zombie or a skeleton?’

According to the information from the *Manual*, zombies had higher Power and Physique, while skeletons were more agile.

He glanced at the huge hole the Ghost Witch’s head had chewed into Gorke’s chest, then at the leg that had been torn apart by the Earth Spikes.

"With so much flesh missing, I wonder if that would affect its transformation into a zombie. A skeleton is probably better. That way, it can retain more of the swiftness it had in life."

But Hesia immediately recalled Teacher Fevik’s warning: never attempt to reanimate a target whose level was far higher than his own, or he might drain all his Magic Power and still fail.

This Jackal Wolfman Leader was level 22. Hesia wasn’t sure if that qualified as "far higher."

He took out his last remaining Magic Potion.

’With the recovery from my Earth Affinity, it should be fine, right? If worse comes to worst, I’ll just drink this, too. I can restock when I get back to Trout Town.’

It wasn’t that he was stingy. It was just that Magic Potions, like Healing Potions, were ridiculously expensive.

He took a deep breath, clearing his mind of extraneous thoughts.

Hesia aimed the Magic Wand at Gorke’s corpse. Magic Power flowed from his body to the wand’s tip, and a spectral green beam of energy shot toward the target.

Under the spell’s corrosive influence, the flesh on Gorke’s corpse began to rot and peel away at a visible rate, as if the passage of years had been accelerated a thousandfold.

Soon, its muscle, organs, and fur melted into a pool of black sludge, leaving only a blood-stained skeleton behind.

Hesia felt his Magic Power draining away like water from a bucket with a hole in the bottom, the rate of loss astonishingly fast.

If his Earth Affinity hadn’t been constantly replenishing it, he felt his total Magic Power wouldn’t have been enough to even complete half the transformation.

Without further hesitation, he pulled the cork from the potion bottle in his left hand with his teeth.

As the icy liquid flooded his mouth, the drain and the influx finally reached a fragile equilibrium.

The spectral green light continued to envelop the corpse. The bones gradually shifted to a grayish-white, and deep within the eye sockets, two faint motes of the same green light slowly began to glow...

He didn’t know how much time had passed—perhaps only a few dozen heartbeats—but to Hesia, it felt like an eternity.

When the drain on his Magic Power finally stopped, he felt a faint wave of dizziness.

RATTLE, RATTLE...

The sound of scraping bone echoed as the massive skeleton slowly sat up.

Its bones were exceptionally thick, a weathered grayish-white, yet they possessed the hard texture of metal.

Hesia checked the information from his Assessment Skill—level 25.

’Good. Its Attributes have increased again, just as I’d hoped.’

"Pick up that weapon."

The Soul Fire in the Jackal-Wolf Skeleton’s eye sockets flickered. It obediently bent down and picked up its Long-Handled Blade from the mud.

Although its movements still possessed the characteristic stiffness of an Undead Creature, the way it held the blade and the subtle adjustments of its wrist hinted at a proficiency honed over many long years.

’Looks like it retained some of its instincts for using Long-Handled Weapons,’ Hesia thought, nodding to himself.

"WOOF! Show us some moves!"

The abrupt demand came from Bruce, who was standing to the side.

The Jackal-Wolf Skeleton tilted its bare skull slightly. Its jaw clicked, and it stared with some confusion at the small, furry creature at its feet.

As they stared at each other, Bruce snorted in displeasure.

’This big oaf dared to ignore its command! But being a clever creature, it knew just what to do.’

It immediately trotted over to Hesia, rubbing its head against his pant leg while crying out in the most pitiful voice, "Hesia, it’s my turn! Let me try, please let me try!"

Hesia looked at the creature, exasperated but amused. He took the Hand Mirror from his backpack and placed it on the ground.

"Have your Slag possess the skeleton. You should be able to command it then."