Alaster stared at his enemies as he conjured three volleys of [Necrotic Bolt]. Alaster did not see the Soldiers as people as his pale green bolts became infected with inky black. He couldn’t allow himself to. But it was all too easy to imagine them as just another Monster to kill. He had plenty of experience doing that.

His bolts hovered above him, dripping with volatile Mana. It dissolved harmlessly against the stone battlements, but none of the Onigarian Soldiers on the Inner Wall believed the same would apply if the drips touched their skin.

Something about the black liquid repulsed them.

The Tarians came into range.

‘Let’s begin, shall we?’

The black bolts shot through the air, leaving behind a trail of black ink that quickly dissolved into the air. [Necrotic Bolt] had always been as fast as an arrow. But these black bolts streamed through the air easily twice that speed.

They slammed into their targets, throwing them off their feet as their injuries quickly spread. The original bolts had dissolved flesh, and later evolutions caused it to jump to different targets upon physical contact. The black ink seemed to actively carve through flesh and armor alike and even jumped from to different targets.

Alaster had released fifty-one bolts, but nearly twice that number were effected, falling to the ground with blood curdling screams.

Yet the army continued to charge forward.

Next, Alaster conjured three [Dead Bombs]. They appeared with black mist that quickly condensed to form large reflective orbs two feet in diameter.

They shot through the air, whistling as they went, though the sound was drowned out by the war cries of both sides as well as countless explosions caused by their Mages.

The Bombs exploded upon contact, but it wasn’t the spherical ball that left nothing but bones. But a violent and ugly explosion of power that tore through the earth and man alike. The radius was also more than double.

Each bomb left dozens dead and dozens more cradling missing limbs. The injuries were not smooth like one would expect from Void Magic, but bloody and jagged, leaving shards of bone within.

After that, the first Tarians reached the siege engines still latched onto the wall while even more propped ladders against the wall.

Alaster’s Undead met the screaming soldiers in utter silence. An eerie display that unnerved the soldiers. Individually, the Undead were not as strong as the soldiers, but on the battlements, the defenders always had the advantage.

The soldiers could only come in very small numbers. They clambered over up their ladders and over the walls one by one. Four Blackguards met every soldier that came up the ladders. The Minotaurs clogged the Siege Tower, preventing the soldiers from running onto the battlements. But they were taking a lot of damage quickly and weren’t dealing much in return.

Alaster emotionlessly walked towards the Siege Tower. His Undead parted before him effortlessly. Announcing his presence, Alaster launched another [Dead Bomb]. The original would have left anything that wasn’t flesh alone, but this black version exploded, ripping the top of the Tower off and sending the debris flying.

With the front rank of Tarians on the Tower clear, Alaster stepped past his Minotaurs with twin inky tails flicking around, desperate to dig into a foe.

The Soldiers hesitated to advance. They had just watched a dozen of their own have their broken bodies thrown away in an instant. And now a large man in cruel black armor with black inky Mana radiating from him appeared in front of them. But the Soldiers behind them kept pushing, unaware of the massacre they were rushing towards.

With no other choice, the Soldiers charged forward, desperate to survive.

Alaster met them with a vicious swing of his Halberd, tearing through four while his Tendrils speared another two.

Their bodies crumpled to the ground, soaking the splintered wood in blood. But Alaster did not wait for the next rank.

He dashed forward, carving his way through. The few who survived a direct blow wished they didn’t as their Health and Mana was sucked out of them, leaving blackened veins as the only evidence.

There was no room for corpses atop the Tower. They fell with sickening crunches, a few not quite dead.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Alaster felt the death quickly rise in number. When they reached an adequate number, they stood back up, roughly shoving and yanking their broken bodies back into shape. They grabbed their weapons and charged into the ranks of the living.

Dozens were cut down before the Tarians truly noticed their own dead raising against them.

They stopped climbing the ladders and Siege Tower, too preoccupied to advance.

At that moment, the Dread Knight arrived atop the Battlements. Without any prompting, it sprinted off the tall walls and crashed onto a group of Tarian Soldiers, carving into them with its serrated blade.

Blood flew, adding to the mud, and decorating the armor of the bloody thirsty knight. Faster than the blood could coat the armor, it flowed into the grooves, faintly glowing, but increasing in brightness as more was added.

As more blood was absorbed by the Dread Knight, it grew increasingly faster and stronger, cutting through metal armor like cloth, dashing from Soldier to Soldier, eager to add even more blood to its collection.

Alaster watched from the top of the Siege Tower passively, content to allow the Knight rampage to its heart’s content. The [Horde Legion] fell in large numbers, but there was even more to raise, keeping their numbers topped off.

The young man ordered his Summoned Undead forward into the fray. They were much easier to recreate than his Custom Undead.

Belgroth watched everything unfold with interest. The Blackness was strange to him and was having quite the effect on the boy’s Magic.

But only Sedall noticed the effect it was having on Alaster’s mental state.

After losing his family, Alaster had consistently grown darker. His morals looser, if it meant accomplishing his goals. His willingness to kill becoming more of an afterthought. To the point that his personality had split in two. One warm but practical, build to blend into society and manipulate it. While the other was cold, emotionless, and cruel.

But each minute the Inky Mana coated Alaster, the darker Sedall could feel the boy’s heart becoming. Alaster’s cold personality had been cruel, but practical. It would do whatever was needed to reasonably win. But now, Alaster seemed to elicit joy from the Soldier’s cries of horror and agony.

Sedall had no idea what the Blackness was, or where it had come from, but he knew that it seemed to feed off Alaster’s negative emotions, amplifying it.

‘Alaster! Calm down!’ Sedall ordered.

‘Why? They are the ones attacking.’

‘That’s not the issue! You have to keep calm.’

Shaken from his own curiosity, Belgroth was able to see the larger picture.

‘Sedall is right lad. Calm your heart. Save your wrath for those that deserve it.’

Several moments passed as another full volley of Black Bolts sought targets before Alaster took a deep breath, steadying his rapidly beating heart.

Slowly, as Alaster’s heart and mind calmed down, the Blackness dissolved, leaving not a trace. As it did, Alaster could feel his emotions return, when before they had felt muted. Similar to how [Death Embrace] worked, but more harshly. Alaster could still feel his emotions and empathy while in his Skeletal form.

But when the Blackness fueled him, it had completely stripped him of them.

Alaster felt weak, like he had just sprinted ten miles. His strength quickly refilled him over the next few minutes as Alaster watched the effects of his attacks.

His devastating blows had crippled the Tarian morale. While they had only had a small effect against the much larger force, the mental effect they had spread.

Coupled with his impromptu sally out, the Tarians were on the verge of routing, barely an hour into the battle.

The Onigarians felt it, and pushed back even harder. Their Mages released their strongest spells. The Warriors pushed against the Tarians, striking harder, advancing, striving to repel them off the Battlements.

And it was not just the Onigarians that noticed it. The Tarian Commanders also felt it. In just a few minutes, a loud horn cut through the din of battle, signaling retreat. The Archers and Mages attacked the retreating forces while the Tarian Mages attempted to protect their forces backs.

Cries of triumph and celebration erupted from the Battlements.

Alaster noticed that while his Undead Legion stopped chasing after fifty meters, the Dread Knight continued to cut down the retreating soldiers for another twenty meters before it stopped, looking at the fleeing prey with a sad expression evident by its body language. It returned to Alaster slowly, sad that it had already ended.

The Knight’s grooves were glowing brighter than a bonfire. It had no doubt killed dozens and absorbed the blood of even more. And yet, it was like a child who had its candy taken away.

Alaster only shook his head as he dismissed his Undead, sending them into his Domain to slowly repair. Alone in the Section once more, Alaster stared out at the Tarian camp.

He had struck a significant blow, that much was obvious, even if he had no clue how. But he could not help but feel like they had still retreated too easily.

‘This was just a probing attack, wasn’t it?’ Alaster asked his guests.

‘Without a doubt. They wanted to gauge your power. It was quite fortuitous for that weird Mana to happen then. They are now much more warry than they otherwise would be.’

‘What was it anyway? I barely even felt it, and even when I did, I did not care, only appreciating of its effects.’

‘They were spectacular effects. Completely changing some aspects, while amplifying others, of each Spell you used.’

‘Sedall?’ Alaster prompted, ‘You have been strangely quiet. And when you woke me from that haze, you sounded quite worried, perhaps even scared.’

Silence filled Alaster’s mind as the Demigod attempted to form words, ‘That because I was. That Blackness? I have seen it once before, countless centuries ago, and yet, it still haunts my dreams.’

Alaster scowled from under his helmet, ‘What is it?’

‘I don’t know. I don’t think any of the Demigods know. Have you ever heard of the Golden Era?’

‘Yeah, it was a period in Human History of expansion. Countless Nations formed while even more fell. Monsters hid themselves away. And Humans spread to every corner of the continent. It’s even suspected that during that era, more people were Experts than Adepts. It was quite possibly the strongest Humanity have ever been.’

‘That Mana was the reason for its collapse.’