"Oh~?"
When Madina heard Kurose Akira's proposal, a complex expression surfaced on her face. She felt no resistance toward the idea of being freed from the undead lord's control over her body. After all, that so-called "husband" who had refined her into a demon undead was never someone who could earn her loyalty.
What truly puzzled her was how Kurose Akira intended to temporarily sever the undead lord's control.
Even she herself had been unable to do it—so how could this seemingly ordinary little brother possibly succeed?
And yet…she wanted to try.
"Alright~"
Madina smiled and nodded, a tentacle gently hooking under Kurose Akira's chin.
"But I have one condition."
"I want you to purify my corpse with holy magic. It's just too ugly. As long as it still exists in this world, my heart will never find peace."
Deep sorrow surfaced on Madina's face, as though she were pouring out the pain and fury buried deep within her soul.
Kurose Akira nodded silently. He understood her request completely.
"And also~"
Madina leaned close to his ear and whispered softly,
"After all of this is over… there are some things I want to talk to you about."
"Can't you say them now?" Kurose Akira asked curiously.
"No~"
Kurose Akira fell silent for a moment, then reached a mutual understanding with her.
—
At that moment, the center of the battlefield reached a boiling point.
"Insignificant insects! None of you will leave this place alive today!"
The undead lord roared. Its armor had already shattered beyond repair, exposing pitch-black bones beneath.
Within its hollowed body, the Demon Cavern Core pulsed with eerie green light, continuously pouring magic into it. Yet even with such overwhelming power, facing the siege of five high-level adventurers still pushed it to its limits.
Especially Honglian's flames—those that burned even the soul—forced the undead lord to realize that only by going all out could it hope to defeat these intruders.
"Awaken, my beloved!"
The undead lord bellowed. A ghostly green iron chain condensed instantly in its grasp and was yanked violently.
In the next instant, the tombstone beside it shattered. The ground split apart as a desiccated corpse burst forth from beneath the earth, appearing before everyone.
"What… is that?"
The moment the corpse emerged, everyone's expressions turned grave.
It was a female body over eight feet tall. Her torso had long since weathered into dry bones, yet her limbs remained disturbingly flexible—twisted into the shapes of tentacles.
On those four jet-black tentacles, strange suction cups slowly exhaled ghostly green bubbles, releasing an aura of death that seeped into the surrounding air and sent chills down everyone's spine.
"Damn it! That's a second boss!"
"Is that the rumored hidden boss?! This is bad!"
"Two level-50-plus bosses—how the hell are we supposed to deal with this?!"
"There's still hope! Trust in the adventurers' strength!"
"..."
The players' faces were grim. No one had expected the hidden boss to be buried right at the center of the battlefield—much less that it would be personally controlled by the undead lord himself, instantly overturning the situation.
As panic spread, the undead lord's eyes flared with dazzling green light, and it roared thunderously:
"You insignificant insects will sleep here forever!"
With those words—
It tugged lightly on the iron chain. The floating female corpse immediately erupted with deep green light. From the suction cups on her tentacles, ghostly green bubbles poured out and drifted toward the adventurers.
Information about the bubbles instantly appeared in the players' vision.
[Deadly Poison Bubble: Inflicts the Poisoned status on targets. (Ineffective against non-living entities.)]
[Poisoned: All attributes reduced by 30%. Loses 0.1% of current HP per second. (Can be removed with Antidote Potions.)]
"They're poisonous! Everyone be careful!"
"Fall back! We can't handle this kind of poison!"
"It's over! Adventurers can't fight under these conditions—but it doesn't affect the undead at all!"
"Damn it! How can a medium-danger Demon Cavern be this hard?! What the hell is going on?!"
"It's the Demon Cavern Core! Look at her heart—there's another core there!"
Everyone focused on the corpse's chest.
A deep green Demon Cavern Core glimmered where her heart should have been.
Only then did the players realize—
This Demon Cavern contained two cores.
With the poisonous bubbles flooding the field, the players had no choice but to order an immediate retreat, planning to return only after finding a solution.
"This is really bad~"
Honglian forced a smile. Blazing flames surged around her, forming a fiery barrier that kept the poisonous bubbles at bay.
But only she could resist them.
All other adventurers had already withdrawn. Alone, she stood no chance against two level-50-plus bosses.
Just as Honglian prepared to retreat, she noticed something unexpected—
Loserine was still standing her ground.
She hadn't taken any protective measures at all, allowing the poisonous bubbles to strike her armor directly. Yet strangely, she seemed completely unaffected. She merely glanced at the green residue clinging to her armor, then fixed her gaze once more on the undead lord.
"..."
Honglian was utterly confused.
Why was this adventurer from Kurose Akira's guild…?
Before she could think further, voices from Lu Bo and the others snapped her out of it.
"Honglian, move! We're pulling back for now—let's find a solution!"
Honglian hesitated.
And in that brief moment—
Loserine charged straight at the undead lord.
"Hey!"
Honglian instinctively moved to stop her, only to realize something even more shocking—
None of Kurose Akira's adventurers had retreated.
They were still on the battlefield.
"What are they doing…?"
Honglian was completely baffled. She couldn't understand what Kurose Akira was planning.
Then, in her mind, the guild master's voice rang out.
—
"Help them."
—
"Understood!"
Honglian answered immediately and charged alongside Loserine toward the undead lord.
"Honglian?!"
Lu Bo and the others froze. They turned toward where Kurose Akira had been standing—only to find that he was already gone.
"Where did Kurose Akira go?!"
"He's lost it! Absolutely lost it!"
Lu Bo rubbed his beard hard, speechless.
"Let's retreat more slowly—at least cover their escape!" Shen Jun said. Unable to approach the poison-covered zone, they could only provide long-range support.
"These people are insane!"
Lu Bo cursed under his breath, then ordered his level-50 mage to begin constructing a magic array in preparation to support Honglian and Kurose Akira.
—
Meanwhile, Honglian and Loserine had already closed in on the undead lord.
"What exactly is your guild master trying to do?" Honglian asked.
"I don't know," Loserine replied flatly. She had only received one order—attack the undead lord.
"You…"
Honglian froze for a moment, then burst into a bright grin.
"This is interesting! My flames might have a pretty wide blast radius—watch yourself."
"..."
Loserine said nothing, merely nodding lightly.
Unless the flames could damage the soul, they wouldn't hurt her anyway.
As Honglian finished speaking, blazing crimson fire erupted from her body. A firebird formed behind her, spreading its wings as it soared forward with her toward the undead lord.
"Foolish insects! None of you will escape today!"
The undead lord roared, commanding its undead army to pursue the retreating players while raising its massive warhammer. Ghostly green mist poured out, condensing behind it into a gigantic skull, ready to meet Honglian and Loserine head-on.
"Fire Lotus Divine Wings—Bloom!"
With a sharp cry, the firebird behind Honglian dove straight at the undead lord.
Scorching flames ignited the magic particles in the air, leaving a burning trail in its wake.
At the same time, Loserine's sword art activated.
A crescent-moon arc of blade light tore toward the undead lord's head, aiming for a decisive blow.
"Foolish!"
The undead lord growled. The skull behind it opened its gaping jaws and swallowed the sword light whole.
At the same instant, the warhammer slammed down at the firebird.
Two overwhelming forces collided, causing the surrounding space itself to tremble.
"Too weak!"
Green light flared in the undead lord's eyes. With a violent swing, the hammer shattered the firebird into ashes.
A thunderous roar echoed across the battlefield.
"You insignificant insects—be buried here forever! Become part of this land!"
The undead lord roared in fury, intent on tearing the two apart. At the same time, it used the Demon Cavern Core's authority to seal the cavern entrance entirely—determined to bury all players and adventurers here for eternity.
—
Kurose Akira seized the moment and issued a decisive command to Alice.
"Now!"
"Got it!"
In that split second—
Unnoticed by the undead lord, the Soul Cutter, remotely controlled by Alice, slipped into position and snapped shut on the soul-iron chain controlling Madina's corpse.
Crack!
The chain shattered cleanly.
"Insignificant insects! You think this can defeat me?!"
The undead lord roared, rapidly condensing soul energy to reform the chain and regain control over Madina.
But in that critical moment—
A deep blue soul surged into Madina's corpse.
Her hollow eye sockets flared with chilling blue light, and a cold, furious voice burst from her mouth:
"Norland… you deserve to die!"
As her words fell, overwhelming ghostly green magic erupted from the suction cups on her tentacles, forming chains that wrapped tightly around the undead lord, immobilizing it completely.
"You… you betrayed me!" the undead lord screamed in rage.
Madina did not answer.
She only stared at him coldly.
At the same time, sacred magic from Ivsha and Lucia blazed across the sky, condensing into hundreds of radiant swords suspended overhead.
"Go to hell."
Madina sneered, resolve burning in her eyes.
"No—NO—!"
Before the undead lord's unwilling scream could fully ring out—
Shhk! Shhk! Shhk!
Golden blades rained down like a storm, piercing their bodies in an instant…