The Skal’s Wilderness sat north of Helgan’s Keep; its region resembled segmented circles like layers of an onion. Skal’s Wilderness was mostly flat, filled with scattered stone pillars and ruins from the ancient era.

  Ulrich had passed through this area before with the trio of mercenaries: Snezana, Borik, and Mason. Following Borik's guide, they avoided most of the beasts in the area, only fighting a few that couldn’t be avoided. Further up north would be an abandoned graveyard.

  Yet, he did not recall any signs of this monstrous, fleshy creature. His breath haggard, growing shallow as the bleeding and pain from his pierced thigh caught up to him. Using the piles of scattered ruins, he attempted to obstruct the golem’s vision and avoid being caught in proximity to the cannonballs of flesh flying on his side. As his figure jumped behind a giant stone pillar, an explosion sound followed.

  He glanced back to see the flesh ball's outer layer peeled, the muscle fiber had torn apart from hitting the thick stone pillar. Who knows what kind of stone those people used in ancient times? What was surprising was the fact that none of the flesh was destroyed, only scattered in all directions.

  At the same time, the flesh ‘projectile’ seems to become unresponsive after exceeding a certain range, only recovering when the Flesh Golem comes close. And it takes a second or two for the flesh to recover and join back together.

  I just need to keep my distance and buy time with the environmental structures!

  Having noticed such a crucial detail, Ulrich recalled the pile of scattered ruins and a rather familiar graveyard further up north and continued running. The golem, determined as it continued to toss the giant flesh ball at him in interval, giving him no time to catch a breather. Fortunately, his danger sense as well as enhanced vision from Blessing of the Shadow allowed him to narrowly dodge each attack at the cost of slower pacing.

  As he did, the scattered ruins of pillars and stone came before him. The ground, which was dirt, was now mixed with yellow sand. His heart thumped with each step, what should’ve been light steps for him gradually grew heavy.

  No doubt, his blood was pumping overtime, and his adrenaline was on overdrive to reduce the pain that stems from the hole in his thigh. The blood lost from his wound should have knocked an ordinary human unconscious, but it was manageable through a combination of enhanced physicality and willpower.

  Boom!

  The explosion came again, putting holes through several giant pillars. As the foundational support shattered, the top quickly fell to the ground, kicking up a storm of sand and dust in the air with resounding tremors.

  Ulrich didn’t have the time to look back or think too much about the situation. His danger sense, stemming from his own spiritual body, constantly buzzed in his ear, inflicting him with mental weakness.

  A Great Class Monster? Myriad Class Monster? He wasn’t sure, and couldn’t be bothered to care about that right now.

  By this point, Ulrich had run north for almost an hour, approaching what was a giant graveyard of ruins. As he stepped inside, a familiar horde of undead greeted him. Damn, he couldn't believe for a second that he felt relieved seeing these bonehead!

  “Hey! Boneheads! Someone is entering your graveyard!” He shouted with a deep breath, hoping to attract their attention. The worst sin that anyone can commit in the shadow realm is no doubt shouting and being obnoxiously loud in any graveyard!

  The skeletons, despite having no ears, heard the human’s shout as they all turned their head, their crimson eye socket flickered with malice. Even if it wasn’t for his voice, they had certainly noticed the rampaging Flesh Golem in the distance. As for Ulrich? He was reminded of the first descent in the Shadow Realm, back when he arrived in Margrave, having to run away from the giant horde of undead. For one reason or another, undeads are more territorial than dogs.

  Ulrich hid behind a tilted pillar, concealing his presence in the shadow as he gathered his breath.

  The golem explosion intensified as it let out a deep roar that he had never heard since their encounter.

  Did it realize the cunning human’s tactic of luring it into the graveyard? Either way, Ulrich grinned widely as he reached into his rucksack and pulled out a healing ointment. Having learned from his past encounter with Knight Henrik after falling down the ravines, he made sure to carry some himself.

  The ointment came in a glass jar, the same green substance that Borik had given him. As he applied it to the wound, the searing pain came, causing the veins on Ulrich’s face to protrude as he winced in agony.

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  For a moment, a group of skeletons not far from his position almost noticed his presence, but they didn’t. It didn’t take long for the healing ointment to take effect when the bleeding stopped; though that itchy feeling bothered him greatly, so did that strong medicinal scent.

  Given that he was safe, Ulrich returned his attention to the ongoing battle in the graveyard. The Flesh Golem, large as it was, attracted more undead by the second with its thunderous movement.

  I heard that most graveyards are filled with an uncountable number of undead… They are right.

  This graveyard had no particular name, just a common ruin among countless others in the wilderness of the shadow realm, yet, as he watched the battle unfold with a focused gaze, he couldn’t help but grow astonished.

  The number of undead was truly unending, seemingly made in a giant factory. After the tenth horde was trampled to death, a horde of Great Undead arrived. They wielded large war bows, two-handed swords, maces, and various weapons of all kinds.

  Facing this horde would mean certain death for Ulrich, though he would resort to running away first at the sight of trouble. If he didn't praise the goddess, the seer would worship this ancient tactic religiously.

  The Great Skeletons met the Flesh Golem like a tide of bone and malice, their crimson eye sockets burning with fury at the intrusion into their domain. The first wave struck with coordinated precision, arrows whistled through the air, their metal tips biting into the golem's flesh with wet thuds. Two-handed swords carved deep gashes across its misshapen form, while maces crushed into its bulk with sickening crunches.

  Yet the Flesh Golem did not falter. It had recalled all of its flesh on the 9th skeleton horde, turning it into a dense pack of armor that renders most physical attacks ineffective.

  Its massive arm swung wide, and a Great Skeleton wielding a war axe shattered into fragments of bone that scattered across the yellow sand. Another met its end as the golem's fist came down like a hammer, pulverizing the undead warrior into dust. The flesh projectiles launched in rapid succession, each tearing through multiple skeletons' skulls at once. Muscle fibers peeled and scattered, only to crawl back moments later, reforming into deadly spheres.

  The Great Skeletons fought with relentless determination, hacking and slashing at the towering abomination. But their weapons, effective against lesser creatures, seemed merely to inconvenience the golem. For every chunk of flesh they carved away, more writhed and regenerated.

  The battle devolved into brutal attrition, the golem trampling, crushing, and blasting the undead into bone fragments that littered the graveyard like snow.

  Within minutes, the first horde of ‘Great’ Undeads lay in ruins.

  Ulrich watched from his concealment as silence fell over the graveyard. His breath had steadied somewhat, though the itching from the healing ointment still bothered him. He wondered if the golem would simply leave, having cleared the immediate threat.

  Then the ground trembled.

  A second horde emerged from deeper within the graveyard ruins. These Great Skeletons appeared more weathered, their bones darker, carrying weapons that gleamed with an unnatural sheen even in the Shadow Realm's dim environment. They moved with even more frightening coordination, forming a defensive line as their archers took position on elevated ruins. Ulrich suspected that these skeletons were no doubt powerful warriors before their death.

  The volley came first, dozens of arrows rained down upon the Flesh Golem from multiple angles. The creature ‘mouth’ roared, its voice a wet, gurgling sound that echoed across the wilderness.

  It charged forward, but the second horde had evidently learned from watching the first horde fall. They struck at the golem's joints, targeting the seams where flesh connected. Great swords bit deep into its legs, attempting to cripple its movement.

  For a moment, Ulrich believed they might succeed.

  The golem stumbled, one leg buckling under coordinated strikes. It was the first he had seen it taken any substantial damage. But then it did something unexpected; it stopped launching projectiles and instead grabbed a nearby Great Skeleton, crushing it in its massive hand. The bones crumbled, and the golem absorbed the fragments directly into its flesh, turning the hard bone shards into surface armor.

  It had adapted, using the environment against its attackers just as Ulrich had used it against the golem. The golem toppled ancient pillars, crushing undeads beneath tons of stone. Its flesh projectiles now came embedded with bone shrapnel tip, and each arrow pierced through even the tough Great Undead skull like porcelain glass.

  One by one, the second horde fell. Their superior tactics and coordination meant nothing against the golem's overwhelming power and horrifying adaptability. As the last Great Skeleton collapsed into a heap of broken bones, the golem stood amidst the carnage, its flesh writhing and pulsing, incorporating the scattered bone fragments into its form.

  Ulrich's heart sank. If two hordes of Great Skeletons couldn't stop this thing, what chance did he have? He pressed himself deeper into the shadow, considering whether to flee while the golem was distracted.

  Then the air changed.

  A pressure descended upon the graveyard, heavy and suffocating. Even from his hiding spot, Ulrich felt it in his heart, a presence that made his spiritual body scream in warning. His danger sense, which had been merely intense before, now flared with such ferocity that he nearly gasped for air.

  From the deepest reaches of the graveyard, where the ruins grew densest and the shadows darkest, a single figure emerged.

  It was an Awakened Myriad King Undead.

  Unlike its lesser brethren, this skeleton moved with purpose and intelligence. Its bones possessed a dark, almost metallic luster, and its crimson eye sockets burned with something more than mere malice. In its skeletal hands, it gripped a massive greatsword that seemed to devoured in the surrounding light.

  The Flesh Golem turned toward this new foe, and for the first time since Ulrich had encountered it, the creature hesitated.