Chapter 296 Challenged

Dave rode through the thick vegetation of the Deep Wilds heading toward the Tomb of Ashkar. The trees were eerie as ever and the atmosphere in the Wilds never changed even when the black dragon no longer terrorized the endless jungles.

For some reason, Dave didn't encounter any hostile monsters or any life in that matter. The Wilds were quiet, but this didn't calm him in any way. It only increased his tension.

After riding for a while, Grumpy hated, he was growling low. There was something moving in the bush in front of the two.

Dave took the Great General Glaive out from his inventory, equipping it. The bush in front of them parted revealing a large green creature.

Dave smiled ruefully. This was the last thing he wanted to meet right now. It was the giant praying mantis Kurukuru. The mantis looked at Dave menacingly, it rubbed its large claws against themselves.

"Supp, ugly thing. Looks like danger kitty did a number o you," Dave said. He had noticed the deep gash on the mantis's belly.

The mantis shirked at Dave, it disliked being ridiculed, especially by weak prey.

"Just hold your horses, listen up, I'm not planning on fighting you or hurting you. Even if you were an ass," Dave said.

The praying mantis tilted its head, it was comical how its triangular head twisted in confusion at Dave's words.

"I dislike that cat as much as you do. He wanted to use me to get you, and I hate being used." Dave rummaged through his inventory, finding a red vial, he threw it to the praying mantis saying, "Here."

The mantis jerked back like a scared cat from the object.

"That's a health potion, drink it, it should help you recover your wounds," Dave said and nudged Grumpy away from the mantis.

Kurukuru was hesitant at first, but the pain coming from his side made it 'trust' Dave. It went to the vial, carefully picked it up with its sword-like claws and crunched it in its mouth, glass, and liquid at once.

The wound on Kurukuru's side healed at a noticeable rate. After a moment, Kurukru was perfectly healthy.

***

In your action, you have aided Kururkuru. This had made you a mortal enemy to Leonard the Pride Stalker.

Be careful as you roam the wild, as long as Leonard is alive, you shall be hunted.

***

"Well, that's one more nasty enemy added to my plate," Dave shrugged and nudged grumpy to a trot leaving a confused green praying mantis alone in the Wilds.

Grumpy ran through the wilds without encountering any problems. But Dave was still occasionally looking over his shoulder, he didn't know if Leonard had picked up on his scent or is currently chasing him. But it was better to be careful about any situation.

As Dave was mounting, he came across an area that had a huge pile of rotten orc bodies. Grumpy slowed down at Dave's request. His [Death Vision] from the [Battle Lich] class ability gave him a perfect view of the deceased in this battle.

Hid vision showed him the corpses as white piles of bodies on top of each other, and in between them was a body that glowed yellow akin to gold.

Dave approached the golden body and hopped off Grumpy. The owner was that of a High Orc, much bigger and larger in stature than the rest. There was even a dead battle boar with barbed tusks and armor.

'This guy looks like the High Orc leader.'

The piled corpses meant that a powerful enemy came and razed the whole orc army to the ground. Dave didn't know what did this, but he realized that he couldn't miss this opportunity to revive a powerful leader and add it to his ranks.

Most of the High Orcs wore leather armors, but this one was particularly well equipped. He had some iron chain mail, and a steel belt and steel greaves. He also wore a horned Viking helmet. The items on him were a mismatch, but that's understandable coming from an Orc. He probably obtained these from enemies he killed and wore them.

Dave pressed o the corpse and muttered "Rise Undead."

Black death aura exploited from Dave's hand, coiling around the High Orc's corpse. The corpse vibrated a little then stopped moving.

"Tsk, a failure."

Dave tried again, but this time the revival worked.

***

Congratulations, you have revived your first Named Undead.

Singund the Conqueror {High Orc} level 450

As a named undead, Singund the Conqueror will be added to your undead ranks without the need for you to supply it with mana to keep it in functional.

Singund the Conqueror is currently a higher level than you.

Permission to add it directly to Doom Knight rank has been denied.

Singund the Conqueror has been downgraded to Death Knight.

As a Death Knight, Singund can lead 1,000 Unit.

Due to your rank being similar to Singund, the units Singund cannot agree to follow your command unless you show your capabilities.

You will be shortly transported to the Undeath Ascension battle arena!

***

"Oh, that was unexpected." Dave backed away from the shaking corpse.

Singund the conqueror rose up, roaring to the world his return for conquest.

"GRAAAH! Brought back from the dead to slay some more!" Singund thundered. The blue color of his eyes showed his allegiance to the legion, but not his loyalty to Dave.

The two of them were instantly covered in a dark aura and were teleported away from the location they were in.

Dave's vision swam and returned to normal, he was once again in the undead Ascension Battle Arena.

Its walls stood tall and surrounded the square platform.

Dave listened to the shouts and howls of tens of thousands of undead, screaming and glorifying the Undead King. It filled him with ecstasy and excitement, this arena reminded him of many battles that he fought and won. He wasn't intending on losing this fight anyway.

The tower of the Undead Palace stood behind the arena, looming over everything. From it, a loud horn blew signaling the start of the ascension match.

***

You have been challenged by the Death Knight Singund the Conqueror.

All of your skill cooldowns have been reset to 0.

You cannot use Legacy Skills in this battle!

Forfeiting or losing the battle will demote you from Death Knight to Undead Captain.

All of the units you upgraded will be downgraded to lesser undead and the number of troops you control will be shortened by 90%.

Winning in the challenge will award you the servitude of the Death Knight Singund the Conqueror and 1,000 undead under him.

***

"Oh shit, that was unexpected," Dave said.

"Draugr! You brought me back to this form. I am thankful, for we orcs only relish in battle and as undead, I can fight without restrains! But don't think I will go easy on you just because of that!" Singund whirled his cleaver in front of him.

"Aren't you being a dick now. You just came back and try to take my boyz? You need to be taught a lesson." Dave switched from his glaive to his gauntlets. This pig face needed a beating.

Dave inspected Singund.

***

Singund the Conqueror

Level: 450

Tier: Epic

Base damage: 85,000-90,000

Danger Level: ☠☠

HP: 1,500,000

PD: 150,000

MD:150,000

Skills:

[Wrath of the Giants] (Passive) increases Singund's attacking power by 20% for every 10% HP lost.

[Blood of the Giants] (Passive) Increases Singund's HP regeneration by 1% for every 10% HP lost. (Effect is lost when Singund Reaches 1% HP)

[Madness of the Giants] (Passive) increases Singund's attacking speed by 10% for every 10% HP lost.

[Will of the Giants] (Passive) Singund becomes immune to damage when his HP reaches 1% for 180 seconds.

Lore:

Singund the Conqueror said to be descendant of the race of the giants. He was the greatest leader of the High Orc tribe to ever live. He had controlled every tribe and banded them to one cause, to rule the Wilds and for him to become its king. Though the Wilds proved a dangerous location to start his conquest, its dangers made him the mighty orc he is.

***

'Looks like I can't mess around with this guy.' Dave thought.

He knew that he could easily down Singund to 1% HP by using his [Zealot], [Chaos Imbalance] combo. But that will only make Singund immune to damage for 3 minutes where Dave will need to be careful about fighting him.

Not only will Singund be invulnerable, but he will be in his strongest state with all the passives he has.

Singund charged at Dave roaring.

Dave met the High Orc's charge with his own fists, flames exploded out from the Sworn Stalwart gauntlets on Dave's hands.

But Singund wasn't affected in the least, his cleaver had already blocked all of the splash damage from Dave's gauntlets and stopped his fist in mid-punch.

"This is all you got? You don't deserve to lead!" Singund laughed then kicked Dave all the way to the other side of the arena.

Dave tumbled on the floor, for a few times then scrambled up to his feet. The knock back effect made Dave realize that the difference in the two's strength was unimaginable.

'The fuck was that? This guy's strength is stupidly monstrous and his HP has yet to drop for his damage to increase? Why is his damage this low?" Dave wondered.

Dave's eyes then landed on Singund's cleaver. It was a rusty, dull weapon. Fought and used so many times, the cleaver was more like a club than a sword.

'I guess he has yet to find a better weapon that can show his true strength. Shit, this fight's going to be really hard.'