'That is disgusting!' The monstrous rodents began to ravenously devour the corpse of the creature that Noah had slain, gnawing into its flesh.

"Kid, raise that corpse." Silas' voice echoed inside of Noah's mind.

"Huh? What for? It was pretty weak."

"Just do it, you'll see."

"Fine..." Noah's gaze locked onto the lifeless creature.

'Rise!'

The monsters were momentarily caught off guard as the carcass that they were feasting on began to levitate off the ground. Its flesh that they were chomping on, disintegrated into glowing green embers until only a skeleton, missing half of its skull, remained.

'Kill!' Noah commanded his new minion.

A sickly green glow emanated from the skeleton's shattered skull, as it slashed its claws at the neck of one of the monsters that had been feasting on it, moments before. The monster clutched its throat and staggered backward, streams of blood gushing from the wound.

The remaining rodents snarled and lunged at the skeleton. However, lacking flesh to rend, the undead creature proved more resilient, grappling with the monsters on the ground as they tore into each other.

"There is more to our power than simply raising powerful dead." Silas explained. "By strategically turning former enemies into allies, you can influence the ebb and flow of the battlefield."

Noah observed Steve cutting down another monster, as it collapsed to the ground with a deep gash on its torso. A cloud of shimmering essence left the slain creature's body and floated towards Noah.

'Hmm, it didn't take a lot of effort to raise that vermin and I already absorbed more essence since.'

Farther in the distance, Jeffrey remained entrenched in the heart of the horde, wreaking havoc as monsters piled on him, mauling and clawing at his tough skin. Meanwhile, Steve skillfully evaded a charging rodent, before severing the arm of another monster that clawed at him. With a another precise swing of his Greatsword, he sent its head rolling through the air.

'Huh?'

Noah could feel the instant when the monster he had just raised was vanquished. The shattered skeleton crumbled into a heap, as the green glow emanating from its skull had faded away.

'It's almost like being blinded... but not quite.' Noah couldn't see what his minions were seeing, or feel it, as much as he simply knew it. With the skeleton defeated, what it was perceiving, was also cut off from Noah.

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The monstrous rodents, bloodied from their struggle against the skeleton that they had bested, growled before charging towards Steve, who was battling more monsters.

Concerned that his undead guardian might be overwhelmed by the increasing number of monsters targeting him, Noah took action. He intercepted the charging rodents, slamming his shoulder into the one at the forefront of the charge, throwing the creature backwards, rolling into the ground, kicking up dirt and dust in the process.

The other two monsters stopped and turned, redirecting their attention toward Noah. They clawed and chomped at him, yet to Noah, it seemed as though he had all the time in the world to evade their attacks.

'I keep getting stronger all the time...'

Noah unleashed a devastating uppercut, his fist connecting with the chest of one of the monsters, with bone-crushing force, causing it to cave in and sending the creature flying through the air, a trail of blood gushing in its wake. Next, he delivered a swift knock to the top of the remaining rodent's head. As a result, the creature had collapsed to the ground like a sack of potatoes, its eye bulging grotesquely from the impact.

'Holy...' The brutality of his own strength, shocked Noah.

More monsters continued to trickle from the main horde, towards Steve and Noah. As the newcomers passed by the corpse of the rodent that had been sent flying earlier, Noah seized the opportunity and raised the lifeless body, commanding his new skeletal minion to attack the unsuspecting, advancing monsters, clawing and biting at them.

By now, it was becoming evident that the swarm of monsters had underestimated the strength of their intended prey. Some hesitated, their confidence wavering, while others chose to cannibalize their own dead, rather than face their foes.

An ear-splitting growl had put an end to all of that. It was the larger specimen, with furious red eyes that had launched the horde's onslaught on Noah's group. Seizing a smaller monster attempting to flee the carnage, the monstrous rodent unleashed its fury, tearing the smaller one apart with its powerful arms. This brutal display of dominance reverberated through the rest of the horde like a crack of a whip, eliciting growls and screeches before they resumed their assault on their prey.

'Now, go!'

Astoundingly, this unfolded precisely as Jeffrey had predicted, while planning out the ambush. Noah issued a mental command, and, in an instant, Claws erupted from the earth, scattering dirt in a chaotic whirl, and mercilessly lashed out at the face of an unsuspecting rodent. It was as if the skeletal lizard was furious at being sidelined from the battle for so long.

Claws streaked forward with blinding speed, aimed directly at the apparent leader of the horde, slashing through any monster unfortunate enough to stand in its path. As the undead reptile's claws clashed with those of the massive rodent, they both savagely tore into each other. Bloody gashes covered the loose skin of the monster, while glowing green cracks formed across the exposed bones of Claws.

As Claws and the monstrous alpha clashed, the rest of the horde seemed almost hypnotized by the duel, halting their actions to observe. However, Noah had no intention of being a mere spectator. With a mental command, he sent Steve charging towards the fray. The skeletal warrior cleaved his way through the horde, cutting down any rodent on his way.

Simultaneously, Noah unleashed his power, raising a number of slain monsters and transforming their corpses into skeletons. These new minions lunged at the swarm of monsters, effectively keeping them occupied. As Jeffrey had explained earlier, with the leader defeated, the will of the horde would be shattered, and they would retreat.

However, fate took an unexpected turn—a blur of black shapes descended swiftly from the sky, crashing into the monstrous rodents, one after another. Noah's gaze rose up - the sky teemed with flying monsters, resembling giant ravens with deformed, almost human looking heads.

The tumultuous clash and the scent of spilled blood had evidently drawn the attention of another pack of monsters.