A decaying hand groped at Piper’s mouth, stifling her screams. Only one of her arms remained free, and she clawed at anything she could reach. When she tried to lift her tail, she found it pinned under the press of bodies.

  For a second, she froze, considering the unthinkable. If she activated [Demonic Fury], she might be able to escape from her current predicament. But if she did, she would lose total control. And she might hurt someone she cared about.

  With another primal scream, she used every ounce of strength she had against the ever-growing pile of zombies. The mass of bodies shifted slightly, while her muscles burned with exertion. With another supreme effort, she ripped her other arm free and began to shred the undead.

  Dreadful juices splashed against her face, making her splutter. But she ignored the disgusting ooze coating her body. All that mattered was fighting her way free. A space opened above her for a moment, giving her a tantalizing glimpse of sunlight. Her face twisted with confusion as she watched a zombie being blasted off the pile by a stream of mud.

  Piper heard cries from outside and then the weight lessened for a second. She used the reprieve to redouble her attacks. Like a mole burrowing through the soil, she dragged herself through the decomposing bodies. Many of them had ceased moving, while others groaned with gaping wounds.

  Finally, she lifted her head free, gasping for air. As she did, she continued to kick at the grasping hands.

  Wriggling out of the mass of writhing undead, she threw herself clear and rolled on the ground. Rising to her feet, she spotted a mud golem hammering a nearby zombie with both fists. The undead crumpled under the assault.

  Piper glanced over to see Lukas hurling globs of mud at the undead. Behind him stood Ophelia, who was braining any zombies who approached the earth mage with a thick log. Apparently, she’d graduated from fighting with a stick to a club.

  Piper used [Infernal Recall], her bow reappearing in her hands. As she retreated, her tail lashed out at any zombies who approached. During her brief battle, she honed her striking ability to hit them in the eye. Soon, she was surrounded by twitching undead with holes in their brains.

  Lifting her bow, she pulled an arrow from her quiver. While she would have liked to have concealed herself behind illusions, she doubted Lukas could handle any more pressure from the undead horde. As it was, he was barely holding his own against the zombies. Luckily, she’d dealt with two of the undead aspirants, and he was mainly facing peasants.

  Continuing to withdraw, she loosed arrows as fast as she could nock them. Many of them struck non-vital parts, but a few penetrated brains or severed spines. Strangely, her [Demonic Mark] wasn't activating. But after enough arrows, even a zombie stopped moving. And that worked for her.

  A huge zombie clad in full plate armor dragged itself out of the pile of bodies. His face was hidden by a helm, and he had golden stags inlaid on his armor. In his hands, he gripped an oversized warhammer. If this giant had been on top of her, she now understood why she’d had so much trouble escaping from the mound.

  Piper immediately drew and loosed at the hulking aspirant. The arrow bounced off the thick armor. With a frown, she shot another one. Like the first, this one bounced away. With a look to confirm Lukas and Ophelia were out of range, she loosed the final one.

  She flinched as the third arrow struck the armor, expecting the [Demonic Mark] to activate. But again, nothing happened. Clearly, he had some sort of aura protecting him. She huffed slightly, almost feeling like he was cheating.

  Another zombie charged past the aspirant and raced at Piper. Dressed in a simple hat and linen peasant garb, she doubted he was any threat. As her attacker swung a club down, she caught it and twisted it from his grip. The undead peasant stared at her dumbly as her tail shot forward. With a wet squelch, it plunged into his eye, and burrowed deep into his brain.

  The peasant zombie convulsed before she ripped her tail free. Then it fell forward, making Piper dance to the side.

  Before she could regain her footing, the huge zombie wielding the warhammer charged forward. She ducked under the ponderous swing and sprang back to give herself some space. The zombie wasn’t fast, but there was tremendous power behind his attacks.

  They circled each other warily, like two prizefighters sizing each other up. She launched a flurry of arrows, only to watch them bounce harmlessly off his armor. His skill must have a time limit. All she had to do was wait the zombie out.

  But the towering undead wasn’t making it easy. He swung his warhammer tirelessly, constantly forcing Piper to give ground. After an overhead swing, the weapon sizzled with power as it struck the ground.

  Piper’s eyes widened as the earth beneath her feet detonated. The force of the blast sent her soaring through the air. She landed a few paces away and rolled until she struck the skeleton wall.

  Groaning, she pushed herself back to her feet. She’d lost her bow, and as she searched for it, she had to retreat as the huge zombie stomped in her direction.

  Raising her claws, she prepared to face the huge man. A silver badge was pinned to his chest, indicating that he had a rare class. She quickly used [Identify] to see what she was fighting.

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  Zombie, Level 165

  “Oh great,” she muttered to herself. “How did you even lose to the necromancer?”

  Piper jumped back, narrowly missing a swing of the war hammer. As the weapon whistled past, she decided to test her strength. She grabbed onto the metal shaft and planted her feet. With a gasp, she used all her strength to pull on the weapon.

  For a second—to both of their surprises based on the zombie’s widening eyes—she held her own. She let out a triumphant cry as she halted the weapon. But then the zombie pivoted and thrust the warhammer forward. The spiked tip slammed into her sternum, driving the air from her lungs. She let out a yelp and dropped to her knees.

  When the zombie raised the weapon over its head, she surged forward. She scrambled through his legs and spun around. Then she grabbed onto his armor and scaled his back like she was climbing a tree.

  Once she reached his shoulder, she forced herself to ignore the pain wracking her body and tore into the straps holding his armor together. If she could just open a gap to attack through, she could end this fight.

  But the zombie had no intention of letting her do that. He twisted around, trying to get a grip on Piper. When that failed, he spun around and ran backward toward the skeleton wall. Reaching the twisted barrier of bones, he hurled himself against it.

  Piper gasped in pain, being crushed between the armored man and the unyielding wall. She felt her ribs crack, and her vision frayed. She knew that her body couldn’t take much more abuse.

  Wrapping her legs around his torso, she grabbed onto his helmet. She tried to rip it off, but something held it in place. Instead, she reared back and punched it with all her might. The metal dented under the assault.

  She kept punching, her bones cracking against the hardened metal. With each strike, she activated [Demonic Blood], healing her mangled hand. Finally, the helmet crumpled inward, and dark ichor poured out from inside. With a squeal of protesting metal, she continued until she’d pounded it nearly flat.

  Congratulations! You have slain a Zombie, Level 165.

  A significant bonus to experience has been granted for slaying a higher-level creature.

  The rest of the notifications she ignored as the zombie slumped to the ground. She threw herself free, rolling for a few metres before coming to a rest in the gore-soaked grass. Each breath in her throat burned, and her hand felt like a mammoth had stepped on it.

  But at least she’d defeated the zombie.

  Staggering to her feet, she took in the battlefield. Lukas had managed to kill most of the undead peasants, and she couldn’t spot any other aspirants. Meanwhile, Ophelia was busy beating a zombie’s head to a pulp with her club.

  Through some miracle, they’d won against the horde of zombies. The aspirants had proven particularly challenging, showing her how much difference a rare class made. However, the battle wasn’t over yet. She still needed to rescue the others and defeat the necromancer.

  Piper used [Demonic Blood] again, her mana dipping to dangerous levels. She would only be able to cast another spell or two before she ran out. Maybe she could cast [Wraithskin] and snipe the necromancer before he realized he was under attack.

  Scooping up her bow, she shook off some of the dark ichor coating it. She was completely covered in disgusting zombie juice, along with dozens of bites. Was she going to turn into a zombie now?

  For a second, anxiety flared inside her chest. Then she realized the necromancer wouldn’t have captured them if it worked that way. Instead, he would have just made the zombies bite them. At least she hoped that was the case.

  Piper limped over to Lukas, avoiding the piles of bodies. He nodded wearily at her approach.

  “Didn’t I tell you to take Ophelia back to the city?”

  Lukas grimaced. “I’m afraid your sister refused to accompany me. She insisted quite forcefully on coming back to help you. As an aspirant, I didn’t think it would be appropriate to physically restrain her.”

  “Whatever the reason,” Piper said, giving him a weak smile. “I’m glad I had your help.”

  Ophelia finished beating on the downed zombie and then rushed over to Piper. She stopped short a few paces away and wrinkled her nose. “You smell disgusting!”

  “That’s what happens when you’re stuck under a pile of corpses.”

  Ophelia gave her a broad grin. “Did you see me? I killed a zombie on my own! Me!”

  “I saw it,” Piper said. “But there’s still a necromancer hiding in the town.” Then she remembered the man’s words about a master. “And maybe something much worse.”

  “We should retreat,” Lukas said. “A group of adventurers would be better suited to dealing with this threat. However, I suspect you’re going to ignore me.”

  “Why would you say that?”

  “Simply a hunch based on your past reckless behavior.”

  Piper’s eyebrows rose at his words. She wasn’t the reckless one. Ophelia was the one always hurling herself into danger. She’d only done what was required to keep them alive.

  How can anyone call me reckless?

  With a scowl at Lukas, she turned to head toward the village. None of her group members had stirred during the battle. The poison used to incapacitate them seemed incredibly potent. She really hoped none of them had any permanent damage, because she doubted any of them had anywhere close to her Vitality.

  Piper paused when she reached the closest hut. Like on the farm, they were constructed of daub and wattle. They were made by weaving sticks together to form the wall. Then, a mixture of mud and animal dung were smeared on the outside for insulation. If the necromancer launched a spell in her direction, she doubted the thin walls would give her much cover.

  She waited until Lukas and Ophelia had caught up. When they reached her side, she pointed at Ophelia. “Stay here!” she said firmly. “The necromancer has ranged spells that are brutal. I don’t want you getting hit.”

  “I’ll stay here…” Ophelia said, lifting her chin slightly. “Unless you get into trouble.”

  Piper sighed. She probably wasn’t going to get much better from Ophelia. For now, she just had to hope the young woman had the sense to stay out of the fight. Though with the wound she’d inflicted, the necromancer may already have bled out. But from her past experiences with high-level casters, she knew that was probably too optimistic.

  Peering around the side of the building, she inhaled with shock at seeing a skeleton standing next to the necromancer in the center of the village. She knew immediately that this was no normal skeleton. The undead creature wore armor as black as night and had a crown of bone perched on the top of its skull. Runes glowed on the breastplate, emanating a sickly green light. And in its hand, it clutched a massive axe.

  The moment the skeleton locked eyes with her, she sensed incredible power. There was no way she could defeat this undead in a fair fight.

  Which was why she wasn’t going to fight it fairly. She cast [Wraithskin] and disappeared from view. She would take it out from a distance, and they could all be home in time for lunch.