I can evolve everything

Renn took a half step back with his left foot, sinking it deep into the mud as a fulcrum. His core muscles tightened instantly.

He held the longsword horizontally in front of him, its spine facing the direction of the attacking claws, the tip slightly lowered, and the hilt pressed tightly against his chest and abdomen, forming a defensive triangle.

"when!"

The ghoul's claws struck the spine of the sword.

A shock traveled along the sword, making Renn's arm slightly numb. But his entire body didn't even sway.

The force was guided by the power-dissipating technique of the [Iron Wall Stance] and flowed through the body into the ground beneath the feet, splashing up only two clumps of mud.

The moment of successful defense is also the best opportunity for a counterattack.

Just as the ghoul in front of them was slightly stiffened by the recoil of the impact.

Renn moved.

His eyes were cold, and he made no unnecessary movements.

The longsword, which had been blocking the way, flipped over, and using the reaction force from the previous block, he gripped the hilt with both hands and raised it high above his head.

[Downward Slash]

It was just a very simple straight chop.

But this sword strike was fast, accurate, and ruthless.

The sharp longsword sliced ​​through the heavy, humid air, striking the ghoul's bare skull with perfect accuracy!

The next second, it was like splitting open a rotten watermelon.

Blood splattered everywhere.

The ghoul's roar abruptly ceased as its head was split in half, its body instantly stiffening before collapsing into the muddy water, twitching twice before going still.

"call……"

Rein maintained the slightly sunken posture after the downward slash ended, and slowly exhaled.

Clean and neat.

One for defense, one for offense.

Even in a muddy swamp, this combo remains incredibly stable.

Meanwhile, on the other side, the battle had already ended.

As for Ella, the moment the ghoul pounced, her body seemed to lose its weight, and she inexplicably leaned backward, almost sliding across the water's surface to escape the attack range.

The ghoul missed its target, its body lurching forward due to inertia.

Before it even hit the ground, Ella's longsword had already pierced through, precisely entering the back of its head and exiting through its mouth.

As for the third ghoul that pounced on Karen...

While it was still in mid-air, the old knight casually swept it away, sending it crashing into a dead tree five meters away and turning it into a puddle of mud.

"good."

Karen glanced at the corpse on the ground and gave her assessment.

"Raine, your defensive stance, you called it the 'Iron Wall Stance,' right? You're getting more and more skilled at using that move."

He walked over to Raine and kicked the ghoul's corpse with the tip of his boot.

"But remember, ghouls are covered in toxins. Killing them requires a clean and efficient approach. While decapitating them is effective, it's easy to get splattered with blood. Next time, try slicing their necks or stabbing their hearts."

Raine flicked the black blood off the blade, sheathed the sword, and nodded: "Understood, Sir."

He looked at his hands; his palms were slightly warm from exerting too much force.

He seems to be getting closer and closer to becoming a true knight.

What will his strength be like when he learns another part of the Black Rock Breathing Technique a few days later?

"Stop spacing out." Ella had finished packing and came to Rein. "Based on experience, the presence of ghouls around here means the situation is already quite serious."

"And didn't you notice?" Ella pointed to the thicker fog ahead, "These ghouls don't look like they're hunting; they're... running away."

Ryan and Karen were both taken aback.

Upon closer inspection, the three ghouls had come from the depths of the swamp.

"Logically speaking, ghouls usually hide in swamps, so why are they brazenly charging towards us?"

Upon hearing this, Renn's expression hardened.

His gaze returned to the corpse for a closer examination.

Sure enough, the backs and sides of these three ghouls were covered with not only fresh wounds, but also many scratches that were not from sharp weapons.

"They were driven out by something." Karen's face darkened.

He gripped the greatsword tightly, his gaze piercing through the mist as he looked ahead.

"It seems there's quite a commotion ahead, it might just be Barron."

"Let's go."

Karen started walking, and this time, his pace noticeably quickened.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Several hours later, the afternoon misty swamp did not succumb to the sun overhead; instead, the mist deepened, reducing visibility to less than twenty steps.

"Click."

The probing stick in Ryan's hand struck a hard object.

He stopped and used the tip of a stick to clear away the layer of mud.

A human skeleton, half-buried in the mud, was revealed, seemingly not at rest.

Its hand bones were gripping a rotting tree root tightly, as if struggling to crawl out of the mud. A broken arrow was stuck in the skeleton's chest cavity.

"Are these the adventurers who came in?" Renn asked in a low voice.

Ella crouched down, used her dagger to pick up the piece of hand bone and examined it. "The finger joints are large; he was probably a warrior or something like that when he was alive. Judging by this, he's been dead for less than a month."

Raine didn't speak, but simply gripped his sword tighter.

As you go deeper, you'll see such scenes more and more often.

This swamp is like an unnamed giant tomb. Not long after you walk, you can often see either ancient corpses or fresh bodies half-submerged in the silt.

Renn wasn't particularly afraid.

He constantly observed and analyzed his surroundings.

This is not normal.

Logically speaking, even in a place like this, corpses shouldn't be exposed on the surface so frequently. Otherwise, this place would have long become a no-man's land, and how could pedestrians or adventurers be allowed to enter and exit at will?

"The dead rise from the dead, necromancer." Renn silently recited the two words he had heard before setting off.

In the real world, such beings are often associated with desecration and control of corpses. They can manipulate souls. If a necromancer truly lurks deep within the swamp, capable of creating so many corpses, their power must be formidable.

Ryan looked up at Karen, who was walking at the front.

The old knight's back remained upright, the greatsword slung behind him like a walking shield, giving people a sense of security.

There's some noise.

Karen suddenly stopped and raised her left fist.

Without him needing to repeat himself, Ryan and Ella quickly separated and found cover. Ryan curled up behind a huge, dead tree root, his breathing gradually slowing.

From the mist ahead came the sharp clang of metal clashing, mixed with a few desperate screams.

"Help! What the hell is this thing?!"

"Don't retreat! Retreat means death! Hold on!"

Those were human shouts; the voices sounded like those of adventurers from nearby.

"Save people."

Karen uttered only two words before taking the first step, crashing through the bushes in front of her.

Ryan followed closely behind, but kept his distance, walking on the edge while ensuring his own safety.

After taking a few steps forward, the view suddenly opened up.

This was a slightly dry, raised area where several large rocks formed a temporary camp.

But now, this place has become a battlefield.

Four adventurers stood back-to-back in a circle, while around them, seven or eight swaying skeletons brandished iron swords and shields, relentlessly attacking the group of adventurers.

Those look like skeleton soldiers.

The lowest level of undead creature, though its individual combat strength is even less than that of a strong farmer.

But they feel no pain, know no fear, and are numerous. If you don't know the correct way to handle them, no matter how many times you break them apart, they will recombine into skeletons.

Renn witnessed one of the adventurers smash a skeleton's breastbone with his shield, shattering it on the ground.

However, just a few seconds later, the broken bones on the ground seemed to be attracted by something, and then they gathered together again in the air and pieced themselves back together.

The skeleton stood up again as if nothing had happened, picked up the longsword from the ground, and slashed at the warrior once more.

"It's over...we're all going to die here..." The mage in the gray robe seemed to have run out of magic power, and leaned against the rock, shouting in despair.

Those four adventurers had clearly reached their limit.

"Damn it, get out of here!"

The warrior roared and slammed his shield down, knocking one skeleton back, but another skeleton's rusty sword was already piercing his ribs.

"Get down!"

A loud shout came from afar.

Before the adventurers could react, Karen had already been drawn into the battle.

Karen swung her greatsword across the room with a whooshing sound.

[Slash with the momentum]

"Snap—Splash!"

There was no suspense whatsoever. The three skeleton soldiers who were about to attack the warrior had their fragile bones shatter the moment they touched the greatsword, flying everywhere.

One strike to wipe out the entire area.

But Karen didn't stop. The experienced veteran knew, of course, that wasn't enough.

The old knight strode forward and, before the pile of broken bones could reassemble, stomped hard on the skull.

"Bang!"

That was the sound of a skull being crushed.

Even in the muddy swamp, the force of that stomp was enough to crush the skull deep into the soil, shattering it into pieces.

As the skull shattered, the remaining bones, which were still trembling and trying to come together, instantly lost their momentum and turned into a pile of real bones.

"Watch them!" Karen roared, turning around. "After you knock them down, crush their skulls completely! They're the containers for the soul fire!"

At that moment, Raine, who had just arrived, also drew his sword.

A skeleton soldier spotted him and charged at him, brandishing a rusty and chipped battle axe.

This skeleton was clearly a strong warrior in life, with a broad frame and stiff yet powerful movements.

Raine did not back down and once again adopted an "iron wall" stance.

The battle axe struck the sword heavily.

The power was released into the soil beneath their feet.

Without giving his opponent a chance, Rein used the rebound force of the parry to slide his longsword down and cut into the gap in the skull's cervical vertebrae.

With a flick of his wrist, Raine used the lever principle of the longsword to pry it open.

"Click."

The skull attached to the spine was forcefully ripped away and rolled to the ground at his feet.

And Ryan followed Karen's example, crushing the head. Without a head, the tall, headless skeleton stood blankly in place before collapsing to the ground, never to rise again.

With the addition of the three knights, and Karen revealing the solution to the skeletons' constant reorganization, the situation instantly reversed.

In less than five minutes, the ground was covered with a layer of bone fragments.

The four surviving adventurers collapsed to the ground, looking at the three saviors who had suddenly appeared, especially the old knight who had killed three skeletons in one blow. Their awe was palpable.

"Th-thank you... thank you, Knight." The warrior struggled to his feet. "If it weren't for you, we would definitely be several corpses by now."

"These skeletons are strange." Karen ignored their thanks and just frowned at the broken bones on the ground. "The magic concentration here is too high. Ordinary skeletons wouldn't revive this quickly."

Raine sheathed his sword and walked over to the pile of broken bones to examine it.

"Did you see anyone else?" Ryan asked. "A man dressed like a knight with a rope around his waist."

Upon hearing this description, one of the thieves, who had been covering his arm and remaining silent, suddenly raised his head, a strange fear flashing in his eyes.

"I see...I see it." He swallowed hard and pointed towards the deeper part of the swamp.

"It's less than two miles ahead. That man is like a madman."

"A madman?" Ella raised an eyebrow.

"We met him while we were running away," the thief said, trembling. "We encountered a group of zombies that could only move. We begged him for help, and he helped us."

The soldier, pale-faced, added, "He glanced at the zombies behind us, pulled a tattered book from his pocket, and read something to them: 'Unauthorized resurgence is illegal.'"

"and then?"

"Then he grabbed one of the zombies." The soldier seemed unsure how to describe the scene. "He didn't use a sword, but a rope. He seemed to want to hang the zombie. Hang it from a tree, saying it was for 'public display'."

A hanged zombie?

The warrior continued, "Then we thanked him, but he ignored us, so we left. Who knew we'd run into a whole bunch of skeletons here again."

Ryan and Ella exchanged a glance. The scene was both absurd and somewhat humorous just to imagine.

"It seems he's up ahead."

Karen's expression turned serious.

He glanced at the sky; the dim sun was sinking into the mist, its afterglow like blood. Time was running out for them.

"Raine, Ella, you two stay here and watch them. Don't let them die. I'm going to check ahead."

"No, we're going too," Ryan said immediately. "Just let these guys hide behind the rocks. If we come back, we'll take them with us."

Karen paused for a second, then nodded.