"Understood!"
Luca gripped a large, heavy greatsword with both hands and roared as he charged toward the restrained Evan.
When he was about two meters away from Evan, Luca began adjusting his steps, preparing to leap with all his strength and bring the sword down from above to decapitate Evan.
But then, something strange happened!
Just as Luca was about to jump, his original movement suddenly slowed down, and his whole body seemed a bit sluggish.
This caused his footing to falter, and he didn't jump at all—he almost twisted his own waist!
"Luca! You bastard! Hurry up!"
Chris shouted loudly at Luca, already struggling to hold down the fiercely struggling Ghoul.
"I don't know either..."
Luca instinctively wanted to explain, but then felt it was pointless, so he braced himself and prepared to charge again.
But this time, just as his foot moved slightly, there was a sharp psst sound!
A sharp white bone dagger pierced Luca's back!
Behind him appeared the shattered face of Chunk of Flesh.
The smell of fresh blood in the air suddenly grew stronger. Evan seemed to be triggered by the scent and let out a savage roar. Then he violently shook his body, knocking all the knights off him!
"This is over!"
That was the first thought flashing through Bart's mind at that moment.
Then Bart saw Evan's sharp and massive claws reach out right in front of him!
Just as Bart thought he was about to die under Evan's claws, Evan roared again, lunged at another knight, and bit off that knight's head!
Blood sprayed out from the unlucky knight's neck like a fountain, instantly covering the ground!
These elite warriors of the Duchy were brave enough, but when their comrades died so brutally right before their eyes, fear filled their hearts.
Evan chewed loudly on the unlucky knight's head while his blood-red eyes scanned the knights lying on the ground.
All the knights were terrified out of their minds, but Bart reacted the fastest. He flipped himself up from the ground with a sudden somersault and shouted one word from his mouth.
"Run!"
After saying this, Bart was the first to sprint wildly in the opposite direction.
Chris hurriedly followed, and seeing this, the other knights snapped back to their senses and quickly fled without looking back.
Chunk of Flesh watched their backs as they ran away, a cold sneer curling on his lips.
"Heh, trying to escape?"
Then Chunk of Flesh raised one of his broken hands, and suddenly a flame appeared in his palm, rapidly growing larger.
At that moment, Zane's figure appeared right in front of Chunk of Flesh and Evan.
"Enough, Chunk of Flesh. Let them go."
Zane smiled as he looked at his two subordinates.
He had to admit, the current combat performance of these two was quite satisfying to him.
Especially Chunk of Flesh—this kid's strength was even greater than Zane had originally thought.
Seeing Zane, Chunk of Flesh quickly extinguished the flame in his palm, and Evan spat out the half-chewed head from his mouth. Then the two respectfully bowed deeply to Zane in unison.
"Master, are we really just going to let them go?"
Chunk of Flesh asked with some reluctance.
"It's only temporary. Didn't you notice the direction they ran off in?"
With Zane's reminder, Chunk of Flesh realized that this group was fleeing blindly and had run toward Howling Castle.
The mouse had run right into the cat's den; their being eaten was only a matter of time. There was no need to rush now.
Zane had made a huge profit from this battle—not only had he gained another ten Negative Emotion Points, but he also tested his new skill.
Most importantly…
Zane casually walked over to the unlucky guy he had cursed with the Curse of the Black Wizard and began to observe closely.
He saw the ordinary corpse on the ground undergoing a startling transformation!
The man's flesh was melting away like a snowball, rapidly breaking apart and dissolving! In just a minute or two, the corpse was completely unrecognizable—only a puddle of bodily fluids and a blood-soaked skeleton remained!
Chunk of Flesh and Evan naturally noticed this horrifying change and crowded around.
Chunk of Flesh frowned deeply and said in a confused and surprised voice,
"Is this… the Master's Black Magic? Ah, now I understand why this guy's movements slowed earlier—it was because he was hit by the Master's curse!"
"That's right." Zane nodded. "Even more importantly, our castle is about to welcome its first soldier."
As soon as Zane finished speaking, the blood-soaked skeleton began to tremble violently, as if it had been given life again, and then stood upright stiffly!
This Skeletal Soldier slowly walked over to Zane, dropped to one knee, and saluted him, pledging loyalty.
"Good! Now, go pick up that armor and weapons and get ready to fight!"
Zane gave his first command to the Skeletal Soldier.
Without hesitation, the Skeletal Soldier immediately picked up the weapons and armor he had used in life, and in the blink of an eye was fully equipped again.
Zane could feel that this Skeletal Soldier's strength was far weaker than monsters like Evan and Chunk of Flesh—creations of the castle's Slaughterhouse—but having even one more subordinate was not a bad thing for Zane right now.
After all, the cost to make this thing was low. All it required was a single spell and ten Spirit points.
"Not bad."
Zane nodded with satisfaction, then spoke to Chunk of Flesh.
"From today on, all Skeletal Soldiers I create will be under your command."
Chunk of Flesh, who had always obeyed Zane without question, surprisingly showed some disagreement with this order.
Chunk of Flesh's face showed a look of shame as he quickly lowered his head and stammered out.
"Master's orders, Chunk of Flesh dares not disobey. But Chunk of Flesh must remind Master... Chunk of Flesh... Chunk of Flesh is Master's servant, serving Master is second nature, but if it really comes to managing an army, Chunk of Flesh fears Master will be disappointed..."
Hmm, that was true.
Chunk of Flesh's manner was distinctly strange and sinister; asking him to build and manage a disciplined force would indeed be difficult for him.
Professional matters still needed professionals!
For some reason, Zane suddenly thought of that guy named Bart from the squad just now.
Bart was quick-thinking, experienced in command, and quite a capable fighter—he really looked like a talent. If Zane could recruit him, then handing over his skeletal troops to Bart for management would be perfect.
Zane thought for a moment, then nodded and said,
"I understand. Then for now, have him manage this one soldier. As for the squad leader, I will find someone else."
After saying that, Zane glanced again at Evan.
Evan looked pitifully at Zane, his eyes darting constantly toward the corpse he had half eaten, clearly craving more, but without Zane's order, he dared not act rashly.
"Eat, go ahead and eat."
Zane generously nodded to Evan.
Evan snorted lightly in thanks, then immediately began feeding on the corpse on the ground.
He ate very quickly, finishing the entire corpse in no time.
At the same time, Zane noticed that after finishing his meal, all the wounds Evan had suffered in the recent battle had completely healed, and his body seemed noticeably more muscular. His claws and fangs also looked sharper!
What a terrifying rate of evolution!
Zane couldn't help but silently marvel. He now had a clear understanding of the strength of monsters created by the Slaughterhouse.
According to the game's terminology, undead creatures created by Curse of the Black Wizard were just ordinary minions, but those made by the Slaughterhouse were genuine elite monsters—and these elites could keep improving, eventually possibly reaching the strength of a BOSS!
If Zane could create more underlings using both the Curse of the Black Wizard and the Slaughterhouse before the righteous armies arrived, he might even be able to stand up against the armies of the various kingdoms head-on!