“Please!” she begged. “Stop fighting! The real enemy is coming!”But some villagers were still pushing and hitting. One man threw a rock that almost hit a child. Kane blocked it with a bone shield at the last second.The torches were very close now. Cael’s soldiers shouted as they ran toward the camp. Arrows started flying around Kane stood in front. He raised his hand and more bones rose from the ground.“Get ready!” he shouted to Seraphine and Vesper.The villagers finally stopped fighting each other. Some looked scared, some looked angry but now the real danger was here.Commander Garrick stepped out from the trees with many soldiers behind him. He smiled when he saw the broken camp.“Well, well,” he said loudly. “The necromancer and his friends. And look–the villagers are already fighting each other. This will be easier than I thought.”They all stood together. They were tired and hurt but they stood ready. The battle was about to begin.Vesper stepped forward a little. Her voice

The bone wall was cracking. Soldiers were climbing over it. Garrick was coming closer with his glowing holy sword raised high.“End this!” Garrick shouted. “Kill the necromancer!”He felt the Malachar fragment laughing loud inside his head. It wanted blood. Kane’s hand shook as he raised it. Bones shot up from the ground and stabbed two soldiers. They screamed and fell.Garrick broke through the wall. His eyes were full of hate. “You are the monster who took my family!” he roared. “Today you die like they did!”Kane stepped forward. His eyes glowed purple. “You chose this path,” he said in a cold voice. “Now it ends.”Garrick swung his holy sword. Kane made a bone shield. The sword hit hard and the shield cracked. Pain shot through Kane’s arm. Kane pushed the sword away. He punched Garrick in the chest. He flew back but got up fast. They fought close, fist against fist, sword against bone.Garrick was strong. He cut Kane’s shoulder, blood flowed. Kane felt hot pain but the system gav

The dead rose with wet, cracking sounds.Fresh corpses from the battle jerked upright, eyes burning red. Garrick’s headless body stood first, holding its own severed head like a lantern. Black mist poured from the forest, thick and cold. The ground shook as more bodies climbed out of shallow graves.He stood in the middle of it all, chest still burning from the fragment’s punishment. Blood Tithe had healed his wounds, but the power tasted wrong. Like poison wearing the face of strength.Seraphine gripped his arm tight. “We cannot fight them all. Not like this.”The keeper drew her blade, leg still bleeding. “The pact is feeding on every kill. We have to find the Heart Keeper tonight.”A dead soldier lunged at them. He raised his hand. Bones exploded upward, ripping through the corpse’s chest with a wet crunch. Blood and rotting flesh sprayed across the ground. But the moment the body fell, two more rose in its place, stronger, faster, eyes glowing brighter.The fragment laughed inside

Kane stood there covered in blood, chest heaving, as the giant stitched monster finally crashed to the ground like a building. The earth shook one last time. Bones and black pus flew everywhere. For a second, everything went quiet except for the ringing in his ears. Then Death Defiance ran out. The pain slammed into him all at once. It felt like every bone in his body was breaking again. He dropped to his knees, screaming. Blood poured from his mouth. His shoulder where the spike had gone through burned like fire. The world spun so bad he thought he might pass out. Seraphine was right there, crawling over even though she was hurt herself. Her shoulder looked messed up from where the giant had hit her. “Kane! Stay with us!” she shouted, her voice cracking. She grabbed his arm, trying to hold him up. Vesper, groaned as she pushed herself off the ground. Blood ran down her chin. “That thing... it’s not moving anymore but we can’t stay here. The villagers... they’re still hiding. We h

“Talk fast,” Kane said, staring hard at the newcomer. The group stood tense among the ancient bone-carved ruins of the Malachar outpost. Elias kept his hands raised, but his eyes kept flicking to the dark tendrils faintly pulsing under Kane’s skin. Nyra stood close to Kane’s right side, her blood-red eyes calm. Seraphine’s shadows writhed like angry snakes on his left, while Vesper pointed her blade straight at the stranger’s chest. Elias swallowed. “Look, I’m not here to preach or arrest anyone. My Healing Codex can help with that… thing inside your chest. Let me prove it.” Seraphine narrowed her eyes. “And if this is a trap?” “Then kill me,” Elias shrugged. “But you’re all bleeding and that corruption is spreading. I can slow it down.” Kane felt the fragment stir inside him, whispering "More pawns". He pushed it back. “Fine. You’re in but the first sign of betrayal and you become another skeleton.” System Notification: [Unknown Sub-System Detected: Healing Codex (Rare). Po