The sky had long since darkened, the hour slipping well beyond dinnertime.
The sun had retreated past the horizon, quietly surrendering the heavens to its pale counterpart, the moon.
An ordinary truck, the kind that blended seamlessly into the rhythm of everyday life, rolled steadily along a vast coastal road, its cargo sealed tight and the nature of its contents unknown.
The road lay far from any residential areas, stretching wide and open beneath the dark sweep of the night sky, as if it existed apart from the rest of the world.
Countless vehicles moved along its length, their headlights carving pale paths through the darkness, yet the road's sheer breadth and distance prevented any hint of congestion.
There was no chorus of impatient horns, no clamor of city life to fracture the silence.
Instead, the air carried only the gentle, unbroken rhythm of waves crashing against the distant shore on the far side of the road.
The tranquility did not last.
Without warning, a thin thread of light tore through the heavens.
It descended in absolute silence, cutting straight down until it struck the ground directly in front of the truck.
Then it exploded.
Fire burst outward in a brutal bloom, flooding the darkness with light and making the night vanish for one terrifying moment.
"Fuck!"
The truck driver barely had time to register the flash before his world exploded.
A deafening blast erupted just a few meters ahead, detonating directly on top of the car driving in front of his truck.
The vehicle vanished in a burst of fire and twisted metal, the people inside killed instantly, without even a chance to scream.
The shockwave slammed into him like a physical force.
Flames and debris spread outward in every direction, blinding the truck driver and the surrounding vehicles.
Tires shrieked against the road as drivers lost control and swerved wildly.
One collision followed another in rapid succession, metal crushing metal, until the highway turned into a graveyard within moments.
"God help me…" the truck driver muttered as he instinctively wrenched the steering wheel.
The truck veered violently.
He lost control completely and smashed into a nearby car.
The impact jolted the truck to a sudden halt.
The rollover airbag deployed with a violent hiss, his head slamming into it and narrowly sparing him from certain death.
All around him, vehicles crashed into one another, the air filled with the sounds of shattering glass, screaming engines, and blaring horns.
"Aghhh…"
He groaned and clutched his head.
Even with the airbag, pain throbbed through his skull, and he could feel injuries spreading across his body, sharp, aching, unmistakable.
For a brief moment, he thought the worst was over.
Then a sharp crackling sound cut through the chaos.
It stood out against the screech of twisted metal and blaring horns, growing louder with every second.
It sounded as though someone, or something, was making its way toward his truck, moving through the wreckage of the pileup.
His breath caught.
Another explosion erupted.
Then another.
And another.
Detonations tore through the area around the truck, obliterating nearby vehicles in bursts of fire and shrapnel, killing everyone in the vicinity.
"Aaahhh…"
"W-What is that?"
The truck driver's ears rang with the echoes of screams, but they were cut short almost as soon as they began.
It was as if some invisible hand had snatched the sound from the air, leaving only a heavy, suffocating silence in its wake.
"What's going on? Did a bomb explode or something?" he panted, fumbling to unbuckle himself, to pull free.
Then the sharp reality hit him.
His leg was pinned.
Worse, he could not feel it at all. It was as if it had ceased to exist.
"We got what we wanted. Let's go," a man's voice said coldly.
"You are no fun. I was just getting started," came another reply, tinged with disappointment.
Through the thick, choking smoke, the driver spotted them.
Two figures were approaching, each cradling several globes of energy that shimmered like tiny, captured stars, glowing in different colors.
"Hmm? The driver is still alive?" said the first, a short, blonde-haired man.
"And he's looking straight at us," the second said, his voice dripping with malice.
The man was tall, with long red hair and a grin that was as crazed as it was sadistic. "Let me kill him."
The driver's pupils dilated in terror as the red-haired man raised his hand.
It began to glow, a fiery red energy spiraling outward, threatening to consume everything in its path.
In the next instant, unimaginable pain tore through him as everything above his waist was incinerated along with the entire truck and everything within that horizontal line, erased as if struck by an annihilating laser.
He died without ever knowing why or by whose hand, but at the very least, his death was swift.
The two men responsible for the carnage vanished after retrieving whatever they had come for.
Minutes later, news of the pile-up spread.
Officials secured the area, tended to the wounded, and began their investigation into what had transpired.
...
Meanwhile, Ethan was still inside the [Dwelling of the Snake Lord] dungeon.
He had just completed his final run and acquired the last skill he needed to fill his skill slot.
[You have acquired the Passive Skill: Herald of the Fallen]
He stood there in a daze as the information of the new skill rapidly etched itself into his mind.
Slowly, the brightness in his eyes returned, filled with renewed vitality.
"I can't believe such a skill exists…" Ethan muttered, immediately pulling up the skill's information.
---
[Passive Skill: Herald of the Fallen]
-Grants you a special state called [The Undead Herald].
-While in the [The Undead Herald] state:
-You inherit all skills from every undead summon currently active on the battlefield or stored within your summon-storage skills.
-All inherited skills become your own, fully usable and controllable.
-If any inherited skill is incompatible with your physiology, its effects are automatically adjusted to make it compatible with your body.
(Note: While in the [The Undead Herald] state, the effects of the [Death Link] skill are temporarily suspended.)
---
"This is an overpowered skill."
Ethan could not control his excitement.
He could feel his hands shaking, his breathing rapid, and his heart beating faster and faster.
"Let's go back to my room and check out the skill," Ethan said, dismissing his summons as he returned to the dungeon hall.
Upon entering the hall, Ethan noticed that only a handful of people were present.
A few others were still clearing dungeons, visible on the monitor above the dungeon gates, which displayed both the number and names of those inside.
Glancing at the time, he realized it was well past dinner.
"It's so late..." he muttered, scanning the room for familiar faces. "I guess Sasha and Tasha finished for today as well. I hope they got the skill."
A twinge of guilt crept in.
Unlike the others, Ethan had it easy, acquiring skills in a single run with certainty and even being able to request specific ones, something impossible for everyone else.
"Maybe I could help," he thought. "Since my trait seems to manipulate probabilities according to my wishes, raiding dungeons with me might improve their chances of getting skills, like Jonathan and the others who got all the equipment in a single run."
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully and then shook his head.
"Maybe I shouldn't offer help. It could come off as disrespectful, like I'm looking down on them. But that's not true. They are Awakeners with powerful professions. They can handle themselves. I shouldn't intrude on their business."
"Or should I? I mean, friends help each other in times of need, right?"
After some pondering, Ethan decided to head home, finding it unusually quiet.
Only a few of his housemates had returned, while the rest were still diligently clearing dungeons.
Back in his room, Ethan lazily dropped onto his bed for a few minutes before sitting cross-legged and beginning to summon his undead, one by one.
Moments later, four undead soldiers of different classes stood before him.
His gaze first fell on his Undead Knight, now six and a half feet tall, with an impressively sturdy physique.
---
[Undead Knight]
[Level: 10]
[Skills]
-Frenzy: Increases Strength, Dexterity, and Stamina by 80%.
-Savage Edge: Covers the wielded weapons with a layer of dense energy, enhancing their effectiveness. Cutting and piercing weapons gain increased sharpness and cutting power, while blunt and smashing weapons gain increased weight and smashing force.
-Poison Coating (Passive): All attacks are imbued with poison-attribute, causing weakening effects to targets.
---
Then he turned his attention to the Undead Mage.
The Undead Mage was as tall as the Undead Knights.
Their entire figure was covered in a robe, their head hidden beneath a hood, and their face concealed by a mask, revealing only their white eyes.
A staff was clutched in their hand.
---
[Undead Mage]
[Level: 10]
[Skills]
-Fire Creation: Creates projectiles of various forms made of Flames. Deals fire elemental damage to targets.
-Ice Creation: Creates projectiles of various forms made of the Ice element. Deals physical damage upon impact.
-Lightning Creation: Creates projectiles of various forms made of lightning. Deals Lightning elemental damage to targets
-Poison Coating (Passive): All attacks are imbued with poison-attribute, causing weakening effects to targets.
---
Next came another brand-new summon.
The Undead Tank was even taller than the Undead Knight, standing seven feet tall, with a massive, burly body covered in thick armor that seemed built for defense rather than speed or agility.
It wielded a long black spear and a shield in each hand.
---
[Undead Tank]
[Level: 10]
[Skills]
-Charge: Dashes toward the target, enveloped in energy. During the skill, defense and movement speed increase significantly. Upon impact, it deals serious physical damage.
-Energy Shield: Creates a wall of transparent energy that blocks both magical and physical attacks.
-Poison Coating (Passive): All attacks are imbued with poison-attribute, causing weakening effects to targets.
---
The last summon was the Undead Healer.
It closely resembled the Undead Mage in appearance, but instead of a staff, it wore gloves with strange markings on both hands.
---
[Undead Healer]
[Level: 10]
[Skills]
-Healing Shower: Summon a shower of healing rain that continuously boosts healing to designated allies, while the enemies will continuously take Poison attribute damage
-Undead Support: Increases the overall effectiveness of skills of the allies by 25% within a range of area. (Note: The Effects of the cannot be stacked.)
-Ghost Stand: The spirit becomes invisible while standing still. Movement cancels invisibility. Casting other skills also cancels the effect.
---
...
[A/N: If you enjoyed the chapter, please consider adding it to your library and supporting it with some Power Stones. Arigato!]