Earlier that morning, after returning to the ice sculptures, Victor ordered the horde of goblins to set the carriages down. He then had Alice rest inside the old carriage used by the head of the merchants; he also made sure a merchant placed a small portion of jerky alongside a water skin next to her. "That should be enough for now." Finally, Victor disabled his stealth and appeared before all of his minions, "Merchants gather here."

All five dead men nervously glanced at each other before stepping towards the swirling mass of darkness that had magically appeared. Without straining their necks, they could see two thin tree trunk-sized legs of a dense black mist that swirled around randomly as if alive. A few couldn't resist and curiously gazed upwards and saw these mysterious legs connected to a vague humanoid-shaped body that towered over the trees.

Many blue eyes shone through the canopy and gazed into their souls, "You five will be my direct henchmen from now on. Can any of you ride a horse?". Victor planned to find more capable subordinates later, but they were the best he had currently. An awkward standoff with all the merchants casting glances at each other wared on Victor's patience, "Nobody?"

A man with brown hair and a roughish smirk roughly shoved the largest of the men forward, "Go on, Henry!" He cheered his comrade on and gave a rotting thumbs up.

The large man stumbled forward. He nervously gulped as he felt the creature's intense gaze land on him, "Thanks for nothing, Terry. Why the hell did you push me?" Henry hissed over his shoulder as he straightened up.

Alas, the culprit hid his hand behind his back and pretended to be sincerely interested in a grey rock on the floor. "Wow! I don't see one that smooth every day! A scarce find in such a place, how lucky..." Terry bent down and picked up the rock that was neither smooth nor abnormal. It was the same as all the others littering the cursed forest floor. He lifted it and inspected every non-existent nook and cranny before pocketing the thing like a rare treasure.

Henry's shoulders dropped in defeat; with a sigh, he faced back towards his new overlord, took a knee and spoke in a clear voice, "My lord, I can ride a horse; how may I serve?"

Victor looked at the man, and although his new body didn't have human expressions, he frowned, 'He should have volunteered immediately? Under my [Raise Undead] skill's control, the goblins respond to my requests with haste and efficiency. Is the system interfering with me?'

While lost in his thoughts, Henry began to sweat despite the chill in the air. Internally he was berating himself for not stepping forward sooner, sure, he was no master of horseriding, but out of the five men here, he was undoubtedly the best.

Victor understood the man's hesitancy to step forward but didn't appreciate it. "Listen up, humans. I have a purpose for each of you, and I need to find the right person for each job."

'With this body's memories and many months of experimentation, I am sure I can create my own type of undead; I was just missing the final component. The system.'

Henry placed a hand across his chest and bowed, "As you wish. What is my purpose?"

Victor didn't answer. Instead, he used his [Shadow Magic] on a nearby horse. Tendrils of shadows shot out from his intangible hands like elongated fingers and wrapped around the horse's body like a lasso. It yelped in surprise as it was hauled through the air. Victor then repeated the process on Henry, and to the merchant's credit, he remained silent as he was brought mere inches away from Victor's many curious eyes.

Victor then forcefully placed Henry atop the horse's back; the tendrils of shadows bound the two together. Happy with the progress, Victor sent the tendrils into the horse's nose and severed its brain. Its squealing ceased the forest returned to its usual stillness. With the horse dead, Victor activated his maxed out [Raise Undead] skill. To his surprise, a bizarre-looking UI appeared in his mind.

[Undead System User Detected]

[Horse Corpse and Zombie Human Found]

[Merge?]

A part of Victor's brain lept with joy; his hunch had been correct! But, unfortunately, the other half was disappointed. 'Why is the UI so basic? Shouldn't there be more options?' Victor prodded the screen, yet nothing changed; no hidden drop-down menu's appeared nor any secret buttons.

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With nothing else to do, Victor hit the Merge button. Instantly, his body froze in place. The intangible substance that made up his body rushed toward Henry and swirled around him like the milky way.

In a panic, Victor conjured his status and saw his numbers declining fast. Luckily he had over 250 thousand in each category to spare, but it seemed to create his own undead; he had to sacrifice immense power during the creation process. A few seconds passed, and the swirling mass of void mist dissipated, revealing the finished product.

[New undead created!]

[Name: Henry]

[Race: Apocalypse Horseman (Empowered by: UNKNOWN)]

[Level: 23]

[STR: 230, DEX, 160, CON: 170, INT: 80, WIS: 60]

[Description: A living apocalypse, an unstoppable undead fueled by the void.]

Victor read the information and was satisfied. 'Overall, I spent around a thousand stat points to create such a powerful undead. So far, my sample size of stats involving the system is limited to Alice and me, so it's hard to know if these stats rival the other creatures of this forest or not. I wish the Goddess provided me with a darn appraisal skill...'

Victor dropped his new creation. Terry took a nervous step back as Henry slammed down in front of him. The Apocalypse Horseman stood over two meters tall with a setup similar to a centaur, except the human torso was further back, allowing room for the horse head. The lower half was a Nightmare with midnight black fur, glowing red eyes like enchanted rubies and a tail of bone similar to a spinal cord. Atop was the human torso that fused with the horse at the waist. Henry now wielded an obsidian spear that gleamed dangerously in the dawnlight; his sandy-coloured hair had followed with the theme and transformed into a raven cape that ran down his bare back.

Dangerous, majestic, downright apocalyptic! Victor could barely hold back his excitement... and neither could the other zombie merchants. All of them, apart from Terry, who seemed a bit lost, took an organized step forward and knelt.

"Henry, you have evolved with my essence; henceforth, you are an Apocalypse Horseman. Serve me well." Victor's ancient voice tickled the ears of all those who listened, and his profound words shook their bones. 'He can evolve things?' they all silently thought, 'Isn't that something only a God can do?'

"I am honoured to oblige." Despite Henry's massive frame that towered over the others, he moved with absolute silence like a phantom through the night as he took his position next to one of Victor's legs.

'Right, what do I need next?' Victor skimmed over the group and singled out a short potbellied man with a magnificent beard wearing an apron. 'Is that a dwarf? Does he cook?'

"I need a chef."

"ME!" The dwarf waddled forward with glee. "Name is Bob, your excellency! Happy to serve!"

Without delay, Victor moved his claw and enclosed the dwarf like a bearded bird in a cage. He then activated [Raise Undead] once more.

[Undead System User Detected]

[Upgrade?]

'Only one option again... but it's a new one? Upgrade?' Victor was curious, so he clicked the button without regret.

[Initalizing Random Upgrade...]

[Option Found... Bone Chef]

[Merging & Upgrading Skills...]

A sudden scream broke Victor's gaze from the interesting screen; his claw cage had transformed into a raging hellfire. Black flames spiralled like a vortex as the mist was rapidly drained from his body.

Seconds later, the smell of burnt hair and earth filled the clearing. Victor removed his claw, and all that remained was a very short and bare-looking skeleton.

[New undead created!]

[Name: Bob]

[Race: Dwarf Bone Chef (Empowered by: UNKNOWN)]

[Level: 14]

[STR: 130, DEX, 400, CON: 80, INT: 0, WIS: 0]

[Description: A dwarf chef immortalized in pristine bone.]

Victor felt... bad. Compared to Henry, the sight of a shivering skeleton no taller than a child was hard to stomach. Without his magnificent beard and burley muscles, he wasn't as imposing. An awkward minute of silence was broken, with Bob soullessly looking at the floor and trudging back towards the chef carriage.

Everyone slowly turned together and watched him leave in silence.

'Okay, it seems merging an undead with another dead creature to make a chimaera brings better results. Although a chef being that pristine is perfect. Wouldn't want a rotting zombie anywhere near the food. I do feel bad for the guy...'

"Anyone else?" Victor asked the group. After the Bob incident, he wanted to save at least two of them for later experiments, but he also needed to confirm if Bob was a one-off case or not. 'Perhaps his non-combat class of chef interfered with the ritual and lowered his stats... Although 400 in DEX is still impressive. He should have amazing reflexes and throwing abilities. Maybe throwing knives? Fits the chef aesthetic...'

Two men stepped back and left the dazed Terry still staring at Henry. Victor suspected the simpleton had missed the whole ordeal, "Terry, step forward."

"Ooo! My turn!" The buffoon excitedly walked forward to potential doom. Victor repeated the process he had with Bob and pressed Upgrade.

[Initalizing Random Upgrade...]

[No Class or Skills Found...]

[Analyzing Users Potential... None.]

[Potential Option Found...]

[...]

[New undead created!]

[Name: Terry]

[Race: Immortal Zombie (Empowered by: UNKNOWN)]

[Level: 5]

[STR: 20, DEX, 7, CON: 999, INT: 0, WIS: 0]

[Description: System deemed target too stupid and reckless to assign a combat class. Offensive stats were reduced and traded for defensive ones.]

Victor was speechless. Terry had a constitution on the same level as a level 1 Netherborne, a godlike creature from the void. Yet he looked so unassuming. Unlike Henry, who had changed drastically and Bob, who had lost more than he could stomach, Terry was still a rotting zombie.

Victor had concluded that the Upgrade feature was a massive scam. 'But this Immortal Zombie does have a use. He would make the perfect guard if he couldn't ever die...'

"Bob and Terry will look after Alice. She is not a hostage and should be attended to with care. She needs training, and some levels once she recovers. The surrounding area is completely cleared of monsters, so you will all be safe now. Only a few critters might appear from time to time; kill those."

Terry did a comical salute and followed after Bob.

Victor then turned to his new cavalry unit. "Henry, we will head north. An undead on my network has sighted a group of humans wearing impressive-looking gear and have some kind of green metal around their necks."

The demonic centaur nodded, "As you wish, my lord."

"The rest of you can rest up for now." And with that, the meeting was adjourned, and Victor rushed up towards the north with Henry following close behind.