Chapter 167: Settle the scores (3)

The battle raged on in the depths of the Bloodmire Forest, and as time passed, the influx of Morveth showed no signs of receding. Instead, their numbers swelled until they flooded the battlefield from every direction.

Amidst this chaos, Malrik had already begun experimenting with a few other ideas.

His body plummeted from the sky like a black meteor, hurtling at terrifying speed toward a massive lizard-like Morveth. He didn’t use an offensive skill, nor did he thrust his spear; he simply extended his legs toward the target.

BOOOM!

A colossal impact echoed, shaking the battlefield.

The muddy earth shattered beneath Malrik’s feet, sending clods of dirt and stone flying in all directions, as deep fissures spread out from the point of impact.

As for the Morveth, its body couldn’t withstand the shock; its bones were crushed, and it was torn into pieces that scattered amidst a thick cloud of dust and blood, completely incapable of resisting the crushing weight that had dropped upon it.

This was one of the ideas Malrik wanted to test out on the open battlefield. He had activated the [Weight Alteration] skill embedded within his armor, **[Pride’s Burden]**.

The skill proved terrifyingly effective. It allowed him to increase the armor’s weight to tens of tons at the moment of impact, as long as he supplied it with enough mana, and then return it to its normal weight whenever he wished.

Using the skill felt strange at first. The sudden shift between this crushing weight and near-absolute lightness required intense concentration to maintain his balance. However, after several attempts, Malrik began to get used to it, turning his very body into a weapon of mass destruction.

The dust from the impact had barely settled when a panther-like Morveth lunged from the trees, its glassy red eyes locked onto Malrik.

Even though it had just witnessed its comrade being torn to pieces beneath his feet, it didn’t hesitate to attack. It lowered its body, hugging the ground, and its limbs propelled it toward Malrik at blinding speed.

But Malrik didn’t move an inch.

He merely gave his spear a slight flick. In the next instant, [Broken Yard] suddenly elongated, its blade shooting forward at lightning speed to intercept the Morveth before it could reach him. It struck the beast in the side with immense force, deflecting its charge and sending it flying off course.

Crash!

The panther slammed into the trunks of several successive trees, shaking them violently and breaking some branches under the force of the collision, before its body slumped to the ground.

That was another skill Malrik was beginning to get the hang of [Fluid Extension], one of the abilities of his spear, [Broken Yard].

Although he was starting to get accustomed to using it in combat, precise control over the weapon’s extension and timing hadn’t become instinctual yet. He still needed more practice to wield it with complete fluidity.

Nevertheless, this battle was the perfect environment to master both [Weight Alteration] and [Fluid Extension], until their use became second nature, requiring no conscious thought for every movement.

The fighting continued for hours, and the forest transformed into an open testing ground for Malrik. With every Morveth he brought down, he tested his equipment and skills, honing his control over them.

But after three hours of continuous advancing and fighting, fatigue began to creep into his body. His clothes and face were stained with the dark blood of the Morveth, and his breathing had grown slightly heavier.

Despite his massive mana pool and multiplied stats, the physical exertion and constant focus required to fight in this suffocating environment came at a cost.

Meanwhile, the influx of Morveth never ceased. The monsters surged forward in seemingly endless numbers, ready to sacrifice their lives to overwhelm Malrik’s army. As the pressure mounted, groups of them managed to encircle some of the shadow clones, bringing them down under a barrage of synchronized attacks.

One by one, twenty-five clones shattered under the relentless blows, their bodies dissipating and melting away into threads of shadow. Only five clones remained, continuing to fight coldly, without a hint of hesitation or fear.

Only Malrik’s undead souls maintained their full combat efficiency. They knew no fatigue, and their bodies rapidly regenerated from any wounds or torn flesh, consuming Malrik’s mana to keep them fighting on the front lines.

Yet, Malrik realized that continuing this direct engagement would only serve the unknown enemy pulling the strings from hiding.

For the past several hours, the monster had remained concealed in its nest, flooding Malrik and his army with successive waves of Morveth, as if its numbers were truly inexhaustible. With every new wave, it continued to hide, never revealing itself or lowering its guard.

That was what surprised Malrik the most.

His opponent wasn’t just a monster relying on numerical superiority; it was incredibly intelligent, cautious, and cunning. Even now, it hadn’t dispatched either of the two guards Lilith had warned him about, despite the battle raging for hours.

If Malrik wanted to flush that monster out of hiding, simply killing more Morveth wouldn’t be enough. He had to pressure his opponent and force it to intervene personally, no matter how hard it tried to remain cautious.

And that was why Malrik hadn’t been fighting aimlessly for the past few hours.

While testing his weapons and skills, and directing his shadow clones in the heart of the battle, he had been issuing silent mental commands to the spiders and shadow wolves to gather the torn corpses.

He didn’t leave them scattered where they fell. Instead, he piled them in specific locations—along narrow paths, between giant roots, and within the natural gaps the Morveth were forced to cross to reach him.

The corpses piled up little by little, while the enemy continued to feed more soldiers into the slaughter.

Malrik didn’t need to know exactly where the monster was hiding to initiate his plan. All he needed was to make the path toward him more treacherous, turning the endless rush of its army into something he could exploit.

If that bastard insisted on hiding behind its soldiers, Malrik would turn the battlefield itself into a weapon against those numbers.

Through the mental link, Malrik issued a sudden command.

Instantly, his souls halted their sweeping offensive.

Fenrir, the Spider Queen, and the rest of the souls retreated in an orderly formation, forming a defensive ring around Malrik as they withdrew with him toward an open area, abandoning the ground they had fought so hard to control.

The scene made it look as though the human was finally exhausted, and his army could no longer hold out against the overwhelming numbers of Morveth.

And that was exactly what his enemy wanted to see.

The forest’s reaction was swift.

The waves of Morveth surged forward in a frenzied rage, taking advantage of the sudden retreat.

The monsters poured through the narrow paths and the gaps between the roots, stampeding toward the prey they thought was losing its ability to resist. In the midst of their blind rush, they clambered over the hills of corpses Malrik had left behind, trampling their own kind and shoving each other to reach the retreating army.

Malrik continued to pull back, keeping up the appearance of a commander trying to save his army.

He didn’t rush or allow his souls to reveal their true intentions. He kept retreating until huge numbers of Morveth had crowded into the locations he had prepared in advance.

When most of the attacking wave had been funneled into those passages, Malrik finally stopped.

Every trace of exhaustion he had displayed moments ago vanished from his face, replaced by a cold, composed expression. Then he smiled, a predatory gleam in his eyes.

It was time.

He lowered his spear and raised his left hand. Mana glowed in his palm with a dark, near-black green light. Then, with a small smile on his face, he whispered:

Corpse Explosion