Chapter 164: DEATH MONARCH

The city loomed in shambles, a smog of death hanging over it like a thick shroud, curling through shattered alleyways and creeping up crumbling walls.The air was heavy with decay, each breath pulling in the rotten stench of the battlefield.

And then, in the heart of this carnage, it emerged—a towering figure that seemed to crawl up from the deepest pits of some forsaken abyss.

Its skin was a diseased shade of green, stretched taut over its grotesque form, mottled with dark, oily patches of rot that oozed a sickly black ichor.

This monstrous undead stood impossibly tall, casting a massive, warped shadow over the surrounding ruins.

Its limbs were twisted and unnaturally elongated, ending in skeletal, clawed fingers that scraped and gouged at the earth with each heavy step.

Jagged pieces of bone jutted out from beneath its flesh, tearing through the green, necrotic skin in places as though it were barely containing the malignancy festering within.

The most horrifying feature was the creature's head.

At the center of its forehead, a single, twisted horn spiral outward, black as midnight and ridged with sharp, jagged edges.

Its mouth, filled with rows of broken, rotten teeth, hung open in a perpetual gape.

Drool, thick and foul, dripped from its maw, sizzling as it hit the ground with an audible hiss.

The creature's eyes—if they could even be called that—were hollow pits, deep wells of blackness that seemed to devour the faintest hint of light.

Suddenly, its mouth opened wider, the sound a sickening, wet SQUELCH that cut through the city's silence.

From the depths of its throat, a vortex of greenish death energy began to swirl.

The air around it seemed to ripple as waves of decay poured into its open mouth from every corner of the city.

The energy was drawn from the corpses scattered across the battlefield, seeping out of the ground and the bodies like a rising tide.

A thick mist of sickly green and black pooled, spiraling into the creature's maw, condensing into a writhing orb that pulsed with malice.

Then came Volk.

He stood massive and hulking, his muscles knotted and bulging with unrestrained power.

His eyes narrowed as he glared at the undead abomination before him.

This creature wasn't one of his own.

He didn't recognize it—he didn't care to. Sёarᴄh the nôᴠel Fire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

All he knew was that it dared to stand against him.

His recently regrown hand flexed, thick sinews straining, and with a low, rumbling growl, he threw himself at the beast, his feet thundering against the ground as he charged.

With a guttural roar, "GRAAAAAAA!!" Volk swung his arm like a hammer, aiming to crush the creature into dust.

His fist collided with the undead's chest, KABAAAMM!! and for a moment, the creature staggered, its form shuddering under the blow.

However, just as quickly, its head snapped down, those hollow, pitiless eyes staring directly at Volk.

The creature opened its mouth wide, and with a revolting GULP, it released a concentrated blast of decaying energy right in his face.

FWOOOOOM!

The blast hit Volk like a tidal wave, a seething eruption of decay that slammed into him with the force of a boulder, sending him skidding backward.

His skin seared under the assault, melting and peeling away in patches. But even as the necrotic energy tore into his flesh, Volk's body shuddered and mended itself, muscle fibers knitting back together with a painful, twisted resilience.

Snarling, Volk lurched forward, undeterred.

He hurled himself at the creature again, his massive hands swinging and smashing in an unrelenting barrage.

WHAM! CRACK! THUD!

His fists landed over and over, each strike reverberating through the broken streets like distant thunder.

Yet, every time Volk managed to land a blow, the creature countered with a fresh surge of decaying energy, splattering him with waves of toxic, festering rot.

The creature lashed out with one of its long, bony arms, the skeletal claws slicing through the air.

Volk barely dodged, but the claws still managed to rake across his shoulder, tearing deep gouges into his flesh.

He grunted, biting back the pain as he twisted, bringing his elbow down like a sledgehammer onto the creature's arm.

A sickening CRUNCH echoed as the bone shattered under his blow. But the creature only shuddered, and its fractured arm seemed to realign itself, the bones shifting back into place with a wet, snapping sound.

Before he could react, the undead opened its mouth once more, its jaws widening far beyond natural limits.

Another orb of death energy gathered, pulsing with a sickly green light, condensing until it was almost blinding. Volk's eyes widened as the orb swelled, knowing he had no time to dodge.

BOOOOM!

The blast hit him full-force, sending him flying back, tumbling through the air before he crashed into a crumbling building.

Rubble collapsed around him as he staggered to his feet, his skin already mending but his patience wearing thin. Rage twisted across Volk's face, his chest heaving as he fixed his gaze on the undead monster.

He let out a deafening roar, GRRAAAAAAAHH!!! his voice filled with fury as he charged once more.

Each time he approached, each time he swung, the creature would counter, blasting him with concentrated blasts of decaying energy.

FWASH! BOOM! KRASH!

His body was wracked with the relentless assault, chunks of his skin burned and torn away, only to regenerate moments later. His roars grew louder, more feral, as his frustration mounted.

Every blow he landed seemed to have little effect, every strike met with another debilitating blast that left him battered, raw, yet still standing.

Realization crept in slowly, a gnawing feeling that gripped Volk as he observed the creature's attacks.

It was sparing the two women who lingered nearby, ignoring their presence entirely.

This thing—this abomination—was not here for them.

It was targeting him, focusing all its malice on him alone. And then the pieces began to fall into place, like fractured shards of memory piecing back together.

A twisted grin spread across Volk's face, his fangs glinting under the sickly light cast by the creature's death energy.

His chest swelled as he let out a booming, mocking laugh that echoed across the battlefield.

"SYSTEM USER..." he growled, his voice dripping with contempt. "YOU... MAKING VOLK... ANGRY!"

The undead abomination paused, as though the words struck something deep within its hollow, soulless form.