Limitless Undead System! I can Copy all Undead attributes.-Chapter 60: Three Awakened Vs Disaster

The newly formed Cohort continued on their way toward the grey dots marked on the map, their believed path to freedom. At the lead was none other than Silva, the awakened with the most experience within the Fallen Bastion. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

She moved with precision and trained expertise, navigating through the corridors as though she herself owned the castle, or perhaps as if she had once been an inhabitant of it.

At first, Steven was suspicious of how effortlessly she analyzed the pathways, instantly determining the best routes and detours to take. But after recalling her ability, it made sense.

She wielded the power of fate.

And from how she moved, this power was far superior to that of the Honourable Fatso, Drake.

Silva could see paths that allowed them to evade the notice of monsters entirely. Every now and then, they would glimpse Blood Bursts roaming the halls—sometimes in pairs or trios, some already warped into their blood-formed abominations, others still appearing eerily human.

Each time, Silva would immediately guide them toward a safer passage or conceal them within a nearby chamber. Because of this, they made remarkable progress without wasting time battling the Disaster-ranked Shadow Eaters that infested the citadel.

Throughout the entire journey, none of the three spoke to one another. They followed Silva’s initial instructions strictly once they began moving.

Not a single peep.

And the Grey Knight was to be dismissed entirely from consideration, stealth was not his forte, thanks to his metallic body and heavy presence.

So Steven had nothing to occupy his thoughts but Silva herself. A relative of someone who had once tried to kill him. Another individual who could peer into fate. And from what he had observed, she didn’t merely glimpse destiny, she predicted the future itself.

That made her far more dangerous.

’My only saving grace is that I’m Fateless,’ he reasoned internally as they ascended a broken staircase slick with dried human blood and scattered chunks of flesh. ’She can’t read my fate. Because of that, she’ll remain cautious.’

A battle had clearly taken place here.

And it hadn’t ended well for whoever had fought it.

"Blood Bursts are creatures that do not interfere in the affairs of one another," Silva explained quietly, her voice low and controlled.

It seemed they were safe enough to speak now.

Still, the two boys dared not respond immediately. After what they had endured in the earlier Blood Burst battle, they preferred not to tempt fate.

"Those that move in pairs consider themselves a single being. Some can speak... others are profoundly stupid," she continued.

After a moment, Steven finally spoke. "What do you think happened to this place? It’s like one day everyone in the castle was corrupted by the Cursed Mark, only they all turned into husks."

Silva let out a frustrated sigh. "I don’t know. But we’ll eventually find out... If we live long enough."

Shawn swallowed hard at that comment.

Steven tensed as well. He knew what they were, Historians. Marked individuals tasked with uncovering the ties between Deities and the moments in the realm where they were spawned. Discovering the origin of the Blood Bursts terrified him. He doubted that truth would be anything less than dreadful.

Finally, the group reached the next flight of stairs.

And unexpectedly, standing there was a mundane old fat man.

He was shirtless, his massive stomach hanging freely, overgrown hair covering the sagging flesh. He wore nothing but dark trousers. His bulky face held nothing but an empty, vacant expression, his mouth hanging open while his eyes twitched aimlessly from side to side.

"No mistake... that’s another Blood Burst," Shawn whispered as they crouched low enough to avoid detection.

"That’s the only path through," Silva said, her voice laced with stress and resolve. "I guess a fight is inevitable."

Steven clicked his tongue. Surprisingly, he wasn’t as nervous as before. If anything, confidence welled within him—his boosted stats filling him with reckless courage.

But he suppressed it immediately.

’When a man grows too confident in his strength, he loses his sense of thought,’ he reminded himself. That sense alone had kept him alive this long.

"I’ll push forward," Silva instructed. "Steven, you and your summon provide support from behind. Shawn, release as many spiders as you can."

She formulated the plan swiftly, based on the information they had shared with her earlier.

Hopefully, this new party would prove far stronger than the ones she had encountered throughout the cursed citadel.

Steven glanced at Shawn and grinned. "Don’t fat people get along? Why don’t you act as bait?"

Shawn blinked, stunned by the joke at such a moment. "You have a terrible sense of humor."

Steven shrugged. "Better now than never."

Silva frowned sharply, snapping their attention back to the threat ahead. She nodded once, and then sprang from their hiding place, sprinting forward at full speed.

In her grasp, sparks of blue light wove together, forming a jagged azure blade. She clenched it tightly as she charged toward the Blood Burst.

She was fast.

Before the grotesque creature could even register her presence, she was already upon it, swinging her blade toward its throat.

A gust of wind wrapped around the sword, coating it thinly. When it struck the Blood Burst’s thick neck, the blade cleaved halfway through before the monster reacted, violently jerking its head back just in time to avoid decapitation.

Silva did not relent.

Before it could recover, she opened her palm and thrust it forward. A torrent of compressed wind erupted, slamming into the Blood Burst’s body and sending it staggering backward, its flabby flesh rippling grotesquely.

She advanced for another strike, but the morbid disaster recovered faster than expected.

Its stomach peeled open like a gaping mouth, revealing tendrils of blood and jagged bone. All three launched forward with horrifying precision.

She couldn’t dodge.

The attack was too fast and completely unexpected.

"Fuck!" she cursed, raising her blade to block one tendril while bracing herself for the others.

Then the strangest thing happened.

{Mana Burst skill used}

Steven appeared beside her in a blur, gripping her and pulling her clear at the last possible moment. His immense speed carried them past the first two tendrils.

The third was stopped by the Grey Knight.

Nott stepped forward furiously, planting himself between them and the Blood Burst, his thick grey shield absorbing the impact. The shield reverberated violently, but did not break.

Nott summoned a longsword into his grasp and assumed a defensive stance.

At the same time, the Blood Burst began to transform, its body twisting into a monstrous form similar to the one Steven and Shawn had faced before. Only this one remained grotesquely fat, its stomach still a maw lined with two-foot-long teeth, blood-soaked tendrils, and jagged bone.

Steven gritted his teeth. "Your plan to kill it early was a good one. I wish it worked."

Silva narrowed her eyes, settling into a battle stance. "I wish it did too."

Steven mirrored her stance, while Shawn, positioned at the rear, prepared his spiders for another brutal assault against a Disaster-ranked Shadow Eater.