Soon enough, my no longer small army butchered the remaining elf soldiers.

  It was not clean nor was it graceful. It was quite literally, slaughter.

  The brute smashed skulls in with bone crunching force, each swing of his massive fists turning armored heads into cracked fruit. The female elf samurai moved like a silver streak, her blade flashing in tight, efficient arcs that opened throats and severed tendons. The upgraded Shielded Spear Elf held formation flawlessly, shield absorbing panicked strikes before answering with precise thrusts that pierced lungs and hearts.

  The enemy had lost their giant.

  And with him, they had lost their fucking spirit.

  They tried to regroup and they tried to shout orders. But fear spreads faster than discipline.

  One of them screamed, “Fall back! Fall ba—” before a spear punched through his chest and the words dissolved into wet choking.

  Another dropped his weapon entirely and ran.

  He did not get far.

  Greed cut him down from behind without hesitation.

  And just like that, it was over.

  The dirt path that had once been a battlefield was now a graveyard.

  Bodies everywhere.

  Armor dented.

  Blood soaking into the earth.

  And standing in the center of it all—

  Me.

  Breathing slowly.

  Watching the final notification windows blink into existence.

  One by one, I added every fallen elf to my army. The system hummed obediently, absorbing soul after soul. My forces swelled. What had started as a desperate handful was now a legitimate unit.

  That was cool.

  Really fucking cool.

  But then—

  One message appeared that made everything else feel insignificant.

  [You’ve killed Rank A Elf Giant. Would you like to consume his soul?]

  I froze.

  Rank A.

  Not B.

  Not some mid tier grunt.

  Rank A.

  “Damn…” I muttered under my breath.

  Have I ever had a Rank A summon?

  I replayed every fight in my head.

  The goblins.

  The mercenaries.

  The elite soldiers.

  The minotaur.

  Ah.

  The minotaur.

  Shit… I never got his soul because I was too weak.

  Back then, I would not have survived the process.

  Back then, the system would probably have rejected me or torn me apart trying.

  But now?

  Now I had grown.

  I had killed a fucking giant.

  I clenched my fists, excitement bubbling up inside me.

  Let’s see if I’m strong enough now.

  “Obviously yes!” I jumped slightly in place, unable to contain myself. “The fuck kind of question is that?”

  The system responded instantly.

  [Processing the soul…]

  The giant’s corpse began to faintly glow, a dim, eerie light pulsing beneath the surface of his massive body.

  [1%]

  [5%]

  I forced myself to breathe.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  This was going to take time.

  And time was something I might not have.

  A distant sound reached my ears.

  Footsteps.

  Armor clinking.

  Voices.

  I glanced down the path and saw figures emerging from the treeline in the distance.

  “Elven patrol!” one of them shouted.

  “Over there!”

  Shit.

  They had seen the body.

  Of course they had.

  A ten meter tall corpse skewered by bamboo was not exactly subtle.

  I immediately commanded the system to hide all my summons.

  One by one, they dissolved into dark mist and slipped back into whatever void they rested in.

  The battlefield suddenly looked less like an army’s work.

  More like a massacre committed by something unknown.

  I sprinted toward a thick tree nearby and pressed myself behind its trunk, steadying my breathing.

  [39%]

  The elves approached cautiously.

  There were several spearmen.

  Disciplined.

  Alert.

  But one of them stood out immediately.

  She walked slightly ahead of the others, posture straight, steps measured.

  Her armor was different.

  Polished.

  Refined.

  Her chestplate was trimmed with a blue mineral that shimmered faintly even in the muted forest light.

  Diamonds, I assumed.

  Or something close to it.

  Her helmet bore a crest of red horsehair that flowed behind her like a banner.

  Authority radiated from her.

  One of the spearmen near her whispered, “Captain… this was no ordinary fight.”

  “I can see that,” she replied calmly.

  Her voice was controlled.

  Sharp.

  Professional.

  She examined the giant’s corpse without flinching.

  Her gaze traced the bamboo impalement from foot to skull.

  “A growth type ability,” she murmured. “But the penetration force…”

  She crouched briefly, touching the hardened bamboo.

  “This was no accident.”

  [Warning! A dangerous elf higher up has entered the field…]

  My heart skipped.

  Higher up?

  Higher than Rank A?

  [67%]

  The air shifted.

  It was subtle at first.

  A pressure.

  Like the forest itself was holding its breath.

  Even the armored spearmen seemed to sense it.

  They straightened instantly.

  One of them swallowed.

  “He’s here,” he whispered.

  The female officer stiffened.

  She turned slightly.

  And that was when I felt it too.

  A presence.

  Cold.

  Familiar.

  Oppressive.

  [89%]

  Footsteps approached from behind the patrol.

  Measured.

  Unhurried.

  Confident.

  And then—

  I saw him.

  The figure who demanded the crystal.

  The figure who killed Jim.

  The figure who claimed to be the captain of the Twelfth Moon.

  Mugyeol.

  He stepped into view with the same composed expression I remembered.

  Dark hair neatly tied back.

  Uniform immaculate despite the forest terrain.

  His eyes scanned the battlefield once.

  Slowly.

  Calculating.

  One of the spearmen immediately knelt. “Captain Mugyeol!”

  The female officer bowed her head slightly. “We detected abnormal mana fluctuations. It appears a high rank entity was killed.”

  Mugyeol said nothing at first.

  He walked toward the giant’s corpse.

  Stopped in front of it.

  Tilted his head slightly as he examined the bamboo.

  Then he smiled faintly.

  Not impressed.

  Not shocked.

  Amused.

  “A Rank A giant,” he said quietly. “Reduced to fertilizer.”

  His gaze lifted.

  Scanning the treeline.

  Scanning the shadows.

  Scanning—

  My direction.

  I held my breath.

  Does he sense me?

  My fingers tightened against the bark of the tree.

  [94%]

  Mugyeol’s eyes narrowed slightly.

  “There is something else here,” he said calmly.

  The surrounding elves immediately shifted into defensive formation.

  Weapons raised.

  The female officer looked around sharply. “Reveal yourself!”

  My pulse pounded in my ears.

  [97%]

  The system bar crawled forward painfully slow.

  Mugyeol stepped closer to the bamboo impalement.

  He placed one hand lightly on it.

  Closed his eyes.

  For a brief moment, the forest felt suffocating.

  Then he opened them again.

  And this time—

  There was no amusement.

  Only interest.

  “A necromancer,” he said softly.

  Silence fell among the elves.

  “A bold one.”

  [99%]

  My breathing grew shallow.

  Come on… come on…

  Mugyeol turned his head slightly toward my tree.

  His gaze did not wander.

  It was fixed directly on me.

  “I know you’re here,” he said.

  His voice was not loud.

  But it was calm, certain, and definitely deadly.

  “Come out.”

  [Processing complete.]

  The notification flashed in my vision.

  And I felt it.

  The soul binding was heavy and massive.

  Somewhere behind me, in the system’s unseen space, a Rank A Elf Giant had just joined my army.

  But in front of me—

  Stood Mugyeol. A powerful mage who could probably kill me in a matter of seconds.