Alaster wrapped himself in condensed Mana moments before he crashed through the wall and through the next. Four buildings collapsed. Homes and businesses, gone.

  Laying on the rubble, Alaster stood up, throwing away a brick that had fallen on him.

  He didn’t have a moment’s rest before he threw himself to the side, through the last remaining wall of this building. The area he had just been at exploded with such force it decimated the buildings around.

  Two hundred feet from him, tearing through his Undead, was a Demigod. A Demigod who proudly, and quite loudly and repeatedly, proclaimed himself to be Sordos, the strongest Demigod.

  When the battle had first begun, he had tried to fight Sedall, but had been pushed aside by Evros, who told him to kill the arrogant Alaster. Evros decided to fight Sedall himself. The third Demigod, a middle aged man who had not yet spoken, was wrecking through the ranks of the Golden Thousand.

  Alaster charged forward. His Undead took a step to the one side or another, allowing him to through with ease.

  A large Iron Guardian held its shield up, using its body to block Sordos’ vision. The next moment, the Demigod’s fist speared through the Undead’s shield and chest. The Iron Guardian dissolved just in time for Alaster to break through the black mist and deliver a Black Mana infused fist straight to the Demigod’s chin.

  In the last twenty minutes they had been fighting, Alaster had quickly learned that he was unable to harm the Demigod with his physical power and only able to scratch him if he used his Mana. But if he used the Black Mana, the Anti System, he could harm Sordos.

  Each hit Alaster delivered with the Black Mana, caused Sordos’ own Mana to revolt, causing damage within.

  In just a short amount of time, Sordos had sustained such internal damage that he spat out blood with each additional hit.

  But it was not a one sided fight, not even close. Even with Alaster’s Undead holding kernels of the Black Mana, therefore allowing them to deal minimal damage to the Demigod, they were still much too weak. Despite being in the thousands, all targeting one man, only two had managed to actually land a blow.

  Sordos had been surprised the Undead could actually prove a threat, however minimal, but he could still wipe out dozens with even attack. Instead, the Demigod targeted Alaster, largely ignoring the Undead.

  Every blow the Demigod delivered threw Alaster around like a doll.

  Alaster bled from multiple wounds, and even his left harm was slow to react.

  Far to the East, Alaster spotted the battlefield between Sedall and Evros. He could see the debris and rubble flying over the buildings.

  Even though the battle had begun several miles outside Zolis, it had quickly moved to within the walls through one way or another.

  In order to protect each other, the Golden Thousand worked in perfect teamwork, constantly moving to only be grazed by the Demigod’s attacks. The King’s own attack pushed the Demigod through the open gates and into the city.

  Alaster had failed to react in time to Sordos’ fist and been launched over the wall, or more accurately, through the tops of the battlements. An entire section was in disrepair from the damage Alaster’s propelled body had caused. Sordos had charged through his Undead in order to chase after him.

  Meanwhile, Sedall had kicked Evros through the wall, at ground level, the most densely packed and reinforced part of the wall. A massive hole had been created, which in turn caused much of that section to sink in and crumble.

  Alaster refocused on the Demigod before just in time to avoid the retaliatory elbow, delivering a counter knee to the Demigod’s face. Stunned, he instead pulled his Mana and created a shockwave around him, disintegrating the Undead around him in a ten-meter radius and throwing Alaster back twenty.

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  Sliding back across the paved stone road, Alaster glared at the Demigod, who was slow to get to his feet. Alaster was also slow to stand up.

  Both were exhausted, both were injured, but one thing had long since been made clear to Alaster. As he was, he was in no condition to defeat the Demigod.

  ‘This isn’t working.’ Alaster thought, ‘Any ideas?’

  Belgroth, the sole mental guest now, was quick to respond, ‘None. It was still too early for this fight.’

  ‘I didn’t exactly have much choice. Your people are coming. We all knew this fight was going to happen, and that it would be hard. We needed time to recover from it and to properly recover before the Argalon arrived.’

  ‘I know, so does Sedall. But your chance of victory was already would have been small if you have been a Master. You are still just an Expert. It’s a miracle you are still alive, let alone actually fighting back, but you are smart enough to realize that the damage you are doing to this man is not equal to the damage he is dealing to you. Nor can you sustain nearly as much damage as him.’

  Belgroth had not told him anything that he did not already know.

  ‘If you didn’t have the Anti System, or if your Undead were not touched by it, you would have long since died.’

  Alaster’s eyes widened with recognition, ‘I have an idea, but I need your help.’

  ‘Anything. After all, if you die, so do I.’

  Alaster smiled, his teeth red with his own blood, ‘How would you like to stretch your legs for a bit?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘I am going to create a link between you and my Undead. That way you can possess them. With your Soul empowering them, they will be much stronger, at least until they overload. But so long as you hop between the Undead before they are destroyed, you should at least be able to delay him.’

  Sordos took step forward with murderous intent.

  ‘If the Undead is destroyed while I am still possessing them, my soul will go into revolt. It will take several days before I will be able to get it back under control. So I only have one chance at this. What will you be doing? Because at most, I will just delay him a bit.’ Belgroth said, not sure what Alaster was planning, but preparing himself nonetheless.

  ‘If my Undead can scratch him when they are touched by the Anti System, I wonder what an Undead who has been infused with a part of it could do?’

  ‘Risky, but we don’t exactly have a choice. Do it.’

  Alaster opened the link between the Demon and his Undead. A simple process that took less than a second. The only reason he had not done so before was because it weakened his own link with the Undead and Belgroth did not have any interest using a body that was not his own.

  But neither of them had much of a choice.

  Immediately, a Dread Knight standing a few meters behind Sordos roared, its blood red lines turning a pale gray as it grew several feet to accommodate the soul possessing it.

  Sordos turned around just in time to be batted into the building to the side by the Undead’s powerful swing of its sword.

  Alaster immediately got to work.

  Less than thirty seconds later, the Dread Knight rapidly shrunk down before it exploded. Another Undead grew and continued the attack on the Demigod. Belgroth didn’t bother trying to defend himself, and merely transferred to another Undead whenever Sordos managed to counter attack.

  Alaster summoned forth one of the Forgotten he had claimed as his own personal Legion, each one being a Forgotten that had risen from Novice to Expert. Alaster only hoped they would be strong enough to withstand the powers he was about to shove into them.

  Drawing on the Anti System, it seemed hesitant to imbue the Forgotten, until it realized that it was only a Minion, and not another person. Realizing that it would still inhabit Alaster, it allowed itself to be infused with the Forgotten.

  As it did, the Forgotten changed. It’s body grew larger, no longer a thin and lithe man, but into a large man who had grown up throwing large sacks of grain around. Its robes transformed into black plate armor. Its hood changed from white to black to match its plate. Its purple featureless mask molded itself like clay into the face of a blood red demon.

  Alaster watched as the changed Forgotten looked at itself, still in control of itself. After a moment of self-examination, it looked at its Master and nodded. Within his Soul Domain, he allowed the Anti System to imbue the rest of his personal Legion.

  As the last one changed, he was stunned to see a Notice from the System, the first one in many months.

  [Warning! Warning! Use of Forbidden Technique!

  The System will not stand in your way of this Ability, but know that it has been Forbidden for good reason.

  We sense the coming Demons. We, better than any, know your potential and ability.

  You will stand against them, but you are much too weak to do so.

  For the first time, we will bestow a power before the User has earned it.

  Please, use it to protect Humanity.]

  Alaster froze, the System spoke to him as if it had its own personality, as if it wasn’t just some mindless, emotionless, creation. But the next Notice made his heart skip.

  [Ability Granted: Humanity’s Champion

  An Ability only given once before. An Ability given to the Champion of Humanity, one who has pledged to protect and nurture Humanity.

  The Ability molds itself to its User, changing to best suit them.]

  [Humanity’s Champion

  Level: N/A

  Absorb all Active Minions, enhancing one’s own power.]

  This was it. This would allow him to fight back. But at the same time, Alaster could not help but feel as if the System was asking him not to use the Anti System. As if the System was begging him not to use the Legion of the Black.

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