I saw the most pleasant gift. All those bastards were sitting on the ground and just waiting to become my servants.

Looking at my hands, I rubbed the corner of my lips with my thumb, which turned out to be wet. Maybe it was my blood?

Touching the nearest wolf, I began to draw runes. In ten seconds, I was able to draw all the runes and turn the first wolf into undead. Interestingly, as expected, its soul remained. However, the problem was that it was empty, so to speak. I didn't feel the fierce struggle for freedom, as if fighting with a grandmother on her deathbed.

The wolf, getting up, looked at me with dog-like eyes full of anger. A strange combination, like love and hate in a girl.

Getting up to touch the next wolf, I heard a loud howl. It was the pack leader slowly approaching me. At the same time, I accidentally noticed how the birds, instead of attacking with their feathers, swooped down and caught the rats with their claws or beaks. Then they tore the rats apart, and those rats whose souls were still there, the birds ate them.

Every second, I commanded each rat what to do, while at the same time raising the fallen wolves on the ground. The rats attacked the nearest wolves and their leader, while the others distracted the wolves and birds from me.

Those rats attacking the wolves made one strike and then ran away scattered. And this method worked: the wolves were angered by the fact that the rats attacked and ran away like rats. What irony.

But this didn't last long, and at one point the leader made a lunge towards me. I had been feeling his gaze for some time and was preparing for something similar. The wolf was approaching very quickly, and on his way, 13 undead wolves attacked. What I managed to do in that time was to command them to form a semicircle, and to have several such semicircles at a distance.

I know he might have a trick like jumping over my servants, but ignoring that, I tried to attack. He should have done the Divine Leap if he didn't want to fight.

Alpha, already running, wanted to jump over his lost brothers. But with a crack, he realized he couldn't jump far enough and didn't want to jump straight at them. Thinking of retreating, he felt something nearby.

Jumping to the side, he saw rats and one wolf tail emerge from the sand where he stood. "Wait, where did another resurrected brother come from?" he was stunned, having only counted 13 wolves that the enemy had raised. And it turned out there was one more.

"Damn," the angry man cursed. But it passed quickly, he still had to control every rat.

You might think this is terribly difficult. And you're absolutely right. But at the same time, no. I issue orders, for example, to attack those 'scumbags'. After which I copy and send them to others. It's like ctrl+c and ctrl+v. But the trick is that I spend an insane amount of energy and don't know how much is left. Because all the energy is in the book.

As a power bank, she collects all the energy. Well, how she does it is true that I am collecting it without stopping. It has even become a habit, like breathing. Of course, I'm not yet doing it completely unconsciously, but there is progress. And when I need this energy for my tricks, I take the necessary amount of energy, mix it with my own energy source. It's all because, as I understood, I have a small capacity for energy. Where I can save a little energy. And the rest would be lost in vain. And so I can save every drop and spend it without worrying about how much energy is left.

The leader, looking closer, was able to recognize the pitiful state of this wolf. He was the first to enter the enemy's lair. He was the one who cried for help then. Alpha's pupils dilated. "Brother." He understood that his brother's soul had not fallen, but had become a slave to this worthless person. His ego went wild.

Alpha, in anger, began to run towards the black people. But the rats and undead wolves, dressed in the guise of mosquitoes, only hindered him and did not let him pass to the enemy. But he couldn't ask his brothers for help - they were far away and busy fighting other enemies.

These damn rats are even livelier than cockroaches and even the fallen. No matter how many times you tear them apart, they will regenerate and move even if they are left with only half a body. The only way to get rid of them is to capture them with birds and tear them into pieces, and then throw them to the sides. It was very effective.

But Alpha couldn't ask for help from the birds. Two things stopped him: first, it was already said that the rats and undead wolves were hindering their progress, and second, his pitiful pride, which told him that he had to deal with it himself. It was a dilemma.

***

Looking at the Alpha Wolf, I realized that if things continued this way, I would die. My rats were slowly being destroyed and wouldn't be able to recover. However, this moment pleasantly surprised me: I didn't know that as long as there was energy and a circle, the undead would continue to exist.

"But they will cool down if their energy runs out. If only they had more energy or if there was a way to recharge them... What if...?"

I focused my mind on the threads connecting me and the undead, and tried to direct my energy through them straight to the undead.

"Yes. It works," I fell into a momentary ecstasy of happiness. But I quickly came to my senses when the Alpha Wolf attacked one of the undead wolves. "If I want to survive, I need to deal with you," I said.

Again, focusing my mind on all the threads, I began to give orders. At first, the wolves surrounded the Leader and attacked him. When I hooked onto someone, others helped me. It was very difficult.

At the same time, I tried to figure out what else I could do with these threads, but it wasn't the best time for that.

The rats, who were no longer moving because they had run out of energy or their bodies had been torn to pieces, began to move their limbs. Those that were more or less intact stood up and attacked the wolves, and even a few birds.

Those that were only partially intact began to move their parts towards the bodies of the dead wolves and birds. These pieces clung to the enemy corpses like leeches. On a magical level, the circle began to slowly enter the new body, where it then began to work.

When the circle fully entered, the previous piece of the body did not fall, but began to merge with the corpse. The eyes of the corpse opened after this, and the wolf stood on its three legs. One leg was missing, but it did not pose a problem.

A bird stood up next to him, spread its wings and flew away. Approaching another bird, it tore a rat to pieces. Startled by the sudden attack, he dropped the rat. Turning his head, he saw another bird grabbing onto him. As he realized where he was, he fell to the ground, where rats attacked him. And that torn rat was getting closer to him. Feeling the rough skin, the rat grabbed on and started to merge.

***

Alpha was furious and caught one of the rebels. Others attacked and tried to free him from her grasp, but they couldn't do anything. It was unpleasant.

He felt a strong blow coming towards him. He jumped to the side, while three tails with needles at the end struck him.

The first tail was blocked with his left paw. He dodged the second one, using his mouth and tail to avoid the attack. Looking at the empty eye sockets of his former brethren, he felt anger and pity. Anger because they had become like this, and pity because this end awaits everyone, whether human or animal. But even he would someday fall and lose his mind, as happened with his beloved and daughter.

He felt the danger again and wanted to jump aside, but this time something was different. This danger came from above.

He barely had time to understand who attacked when the bird's claws entered his flesh. Alpha was surprised. How could they betray us? Did these puppets think of treachery from the beginning?

Thinking about all possible scenarios, he avoided the other enemies while trying to get rid of this annoying bird. It wasn't that dangerous, at least not now. But you never know what to expect later.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Jumping from side to side, he also tried to detach the bird that wounded him with its beak using his tail. It didn't hurt him badly, but it angered him.

The needle entered the bird a few times, but it continued to strike its beak so actively as if those attacks didn't affect it at all. "What kind of bird is this? As if it doesn't feel pain? Really?"

Jumping away from another attack by the enemy, he heard the cry of the Main Bird, but there was no time for him to react. After he jumped, he did a few somersaults, and at the same time, hit the creature's legs with his tail. After doing this a few times, he finally managed to detach himself from this leech.

***

"Hmm... Mmm... Yes, leave me alone," he said, striking a wolf that had managed to get close to him while he was concentrating on his threads.

Looking at the cursed wolf, he began kicking it, then touched its head.

"What a dog, just getting in the way. Calm down... I can't believe I was able to replenish my energy circles through the threads. Well, it was expected, but the threads themselves are made of energy. And the fact that the circles can move from one corpse to another is a surprise. But, to be honest, it's not moving, it's connecting the old corpse with the new one. But, even more energy is spent on all of this."

Watching his new rat-birds fly into the sky to attack other birds, he chose one and ordered it to approach him. When they were near the Wolf Leader, he ordered them to hide in the darkness of the sky. Or rather, in that dark veil that surrounded the whole world and didn't allow the sun to illuminate this world.

Seeing the Wolf Leader, who was always looking for a way to get close to him, he ordered the undead wolves to be more active. And that means a new set of orders. Darn it.

Seeing how the enemy always jumps from one side to the other, trying to avoid every blow, he waited for the moment, observing around and feeling someone's gaze. But seeing that perfect moment, he ordered the undead birds hiding in the clouds to attack the Wolf Leader.

The bird descended at high speed, right onto the enemy. And at the moment when the enemy was preparing to dodge again, he caught him from behind, piercing his flesh with his claws to avoid falling, and began attacking with his beak.

Closing his eyes, he focused his mind on the thread that connected him to the bird, attempting to direct energy through it and into the bird. Then he tried to draw a circle around the bird. Madness? Perhaps. But he had to try. Maybe he could make it work.

But before he began, he commanded the parts of the bird to defend him, but not to fly together and wait, but to continue attacking. Only when the enemy approached him, should they attack the enemy to protect him.

Then he directed his energy through the bird and tried to draw runes... but it didn't work. He couldn't control that energy so far through the bird. It was like trying to control another computer through a phone without installed software and no connection between them. Only a hacker could do that, and even then, not always successfully.

Furthermore, the bird attacked with its beak, which hindered him. But it was his fault.

"If I can't do it now, then I'll be able to in the future. I must not forget that. And now..." he looked at the parts of the bird that were supposed to defend him and ordered them to attack the enemy.

The parts of the bird turned around and flew towards the Leader, but they didn't fly for long. Soon a loud cry was heard, and all the birds gathered together to attack groups of undead birds or rat-undead birds. He didn't know who they were.

"Those scoundrels!" the hero thought, watching what was happening. "The ugly birds were less active in battles and didn't hinder me directly. They were more aimed at the rats." Maybe all of this happened because their kin had also turned into undead? Or maybe he was just overthinking?

Watching the fighting birds, the hero decided to leave them and think about how to get rid of them or possibly turn them into undead to use in battle against the Main Wolf.

"Hmm... This is hilarious!" he thought, watching what was happening. "He's smart. He managed to get rid of the bird. But what if...?"

Once again, focusing his attention, the hero ordered the wolves and rats nearby to attack the Alpha Wolf, leaving only a small group for defense. First, the rats surrounded the wolf, and then pounced on him.

Furious, Alpha Wolf wanted to jump towards the human again. But one of the rats managed to get close to him and, deciding to strike, then jumped off. Alpha Wolf was surprised when the rat, instead of attacking him directly, jumped on his paw and bit it. It looked stupid and slowed Alpha down for half a second. After that, he tried to strike with his other paw, but then another rat attacked him, biting the paw he was going to strike with. This continued - rats and wolves didn't attack the undead, but bit his paws and tail, and Alpha couldn't do anything. He didn't have time to run away or strike back. Who would have thought they would try to catch him, not kill him.

At the same time, while the wolves and rats were holding the Alpha, several rats began cutting the muscles of his legs and tail.

***

Some time earlier...

The main bird, along with the other birds, began creating a tornado. It was not as strong as the previous one, because this one was large, and the previous one was small.

At first, nothing happened, but at some point, several rats were caught in the wind and flew up. Unfortunately, when one of the rats was flying next to the bird, it pounced on her and killed her. It was very risky, and the main bird did not want to waste her own strength and the strength of other birds. It was still unclear who would dominate. Because of this, she ordered the birds to stop and attack the rats.

"Let them fight among themselves. And for now, we will kill rats," said the main bird, watching as the wolves dealt with the rats at the beginning, while the birds shot feathers where there were many rats.

But at one point, all the rats became more scattered, which greatly hindered the main bird's plans. Because of this, she ordered the birds to catch the rats and tear them apart. It was riskier than flying from a distance and shooting, as sometimes the rats could attack the bird and kill her. But it was not as important as the fact that they could fall and become losses. The most insulting thing was that their energy and souls became food for these rats. It would not have been so insulting if they had become my food.

"I cannot kill my subjects without reason. Otherwise, I will lose my status as a leader, which can lead to many problems," thought the main bird.

At some point, he noticed several birds taking off from the ground. "Did they recover that quickly?" he wondered, watching them. However, he noticed that they were flying like rookies, limping or assuming the wrong position for flight, which reduced their speed and efficiency. "Did they fall?" he thought.

But, watching them, he realized that they were not attacking indiscriminately, including their own kin, like the fallen, but were attacking other birds, tearing them apart.

And then... those birds that had fallen to the ground rose up and began attacking the enemy. "This is abnormal. They did not fall. They returned to the sky too quickly... Are they undead? But how?" wondered the main bird.

He carefully watched as one of the birds was attacked and fell. Examining the body, he noticed a piece of meat, rat meat, touching the bird's corpse, began to merge with it. After that, the bird recovered and flew into the sky.

"So this is how he turns my birds into undead. I wonder what happens to their souls after they become undead. Never mind... Will these undead be ready to attack Alpha and the wolves? Well, it can't be the way you want it, human."

Shouting, the main bird ordered all the birds to gather and attack the enemy.

***

Waiting for the leader to be neutralized, he heard him let out a powerful howl. All the wolves turned towards them. Sensing danger, he ordered all of his undead army to come to him immediately.

The wolves looked at them, and then all of them pounced on the leader... No, they all pounced on me. Without hesitation, I ordered my entire army to surround me and attack the wolves. Alpha, who was released when all the undead gathered around their master, watched as his entire pack gathered to attack the human.

So be it, the more of my brethren become undead. But suddenly he turned his head towards where a noticeable rumbling was coming from. "Did we make too much noise?" This rumbling grew stronger and stronger, as if something heavy was approaching.

Within seconds, the undead and wolves clashed in a brutal battle. The wolves tried to reach the human, but the rat and wolf undead got in their way. Some wolves fell to the ground, as did the rats and undead wolves. But pieces of flesh, if the undead corpse was torn to pieces, mingled with the corpses of wolves and even birds, which rarely fell to the ground, creating new undead for the battle.

Suddenly a loud rumble sounded out of nowhere, and then the scream of a monkey echoed across the battlefield. From behind the trees came a five-meter-tall gorilla. It had stone front paws, a tail like a monkey, and black fur, only the stone paws were gray.

The gorilla looked at the entire battlefield with disdain. Its gaze stopped at three targets: the Alpha, the main bird, and the black human.

After that, he struck the sand four times. When it was over, four stones about two meters in size appeared from the sand, which began to take the form of gorillas. They were smaller in size.

When the stones stopped breaking apart, the gorilla pounded its chest, and the stone gorillas mimicked its movement. Then they slowly moved onto the battlefield.

***

"What the hell is going on?" He was ready to fight wolves and birds, but suddenly this gorilla appeared, and it seems like she even summoned servants or golems, I don't know.

Suddenly, the tattoos on his body started moving. "Attention! A strong enemy has been detected. You will not be able to defeat it with your current strength. We advise you to run."

"Is it really that strong? But how do I run?... Well, I have to try if I want to survive."

The stone gorillas approached the wolves and undead, and when they reached them, they attacked them all. Their strikes were fast, powerful, and possibly as strong as stone. Their only downside was their slow movement. Although in some ways this could be their advantage.

The stone gorillas attacked everyone indiscriminately - wolves or undead, it didn't matter, as long as they were moving, they were enemies.

***

Alpha was furious at the amount of casualties, all in vain. He let out a strong howl, ordering everyone to retreat. At the same time, the black gorilla, which had been watching, jumped straight onto Alpha.

Falling on him with its right stone hand, and then grabbing him by the neck, it began to slowly squeeze. Alpha tried to fight back as much as he could, but it was all in vain. There was a loud crunch, and a gray mist came out of the wolf, which then entered the gorilla.

When it was all over, the gorilla threw the body straight at the wolves, who were already ready to run away. Seeing the Leader's body, they went crazy and, forgetting the order, rushed at the hideous gorilla. The first wolves to reach it jumped onto the gorilla, but like mosquitoes, it hit them with its left paw, and they fell onto the sand and didn't get up again.