The Lightning General, Hansen Von Dorthe, rode upon a well embellished skeleton horse. He was enraged when he saw the destroyed outer walls, the ruined city, and the inner city that was also close to collapsing.

[You fool! I told you to save your forces!]

Before he even saw his opponent, the Lightning General harangued Lee Shin-Woo! Naturally, Lee Shin-Woo had no choice but to exclaim his apology.

“I attempted to save as many of our troops as possible, but the enemy was too strong… I’m sorry!”

[You worthless, pathetic fool! To think that his majesty trusted you and gave you an imperial decree!]

Lee Shin-Woo acted as meekly as possible to appease the general and observed him without giving anything away. This was the first time he’d been so close to a general since he met Arema Steelworker!

He’d caught glimpses of the general from Count Nellopa’s memories, but actually seeing him up close was completely different!

[Lv7 Lighting General - Hansen Von Dorthe]

[Lv5 Powered Bone Steed]

Firstly, his steed looked both large and powerful, but it seemed far inferior to Jin. Jin must have come to the same conclusion as well, if the soft snort he let out was anything to go by. Wait, is he actually feeling proud?

But the Lightning General riding on top of the horse gave off a dignified air; so much so that he conjured in one’s mind the words ‘twelve generals’ at first glance. This power could only be attained through a balance of strength, magic, and agility! If Lee Shin-Woo fought the general one on one, he was sure to lose in 5 seconds.

He’s definitely stronger than Guillotine.

Then again, there was no way a general would be weaker than a general’s subordinate even if they were both level 7s. Unfortunately, that was all Lee Shin-Woo was able to find out about him for now.

The Lightning General’s stats were about three times higher than his, and no matter how skilled he was at manipulating mana, fighting the general would be an impossible task. While he could use the Treasure Eater to his advantage, he suddenly realized how ballsy he had been in calling one of the generals here. If he couldn’t take the general down, that ballsiness would just be foolhardiness.

In any case, that guy…

Neither the general’s power or magic was what had impressed Lee Shin-Woo the most. He was most impressed by how he looked. The general was built large and powerful, reaching about 2 meters in height, and outwardly, he looked so similar to a human that no one would be the wiser about his true nature if not for his lifeless, bluish pale skin.

That was the only evidence of his undead nature. Noticing that made Lee Shin-Woo hate the general so unbearably much!

[Huh? That is…!]

While Lee Shin-Woo was busy assessing the general, the general himself finally saw his enemy. Its body was dozens of meters long, and he could sense an odd magic from it… He could tell it had an unusual level of strength.

[Guaaaaaaaaaaaaah!]

While continuing to charge with the intention to topple the city whole, the Treasure Eater recognized the new challenger and roared. The frustrated cry seemed to be saying, ‘How long are you going to make things difficult for me?’ It had just come for the treasure!

[A Treasure Eater…!? Why would one of those rare monsters be here!?]

Against a similarly leveled opponent, a Treasure Eater would always be a high rank elite! Knowing this, Hansen realized that Lee Shin-Woo hadn’t called him over for nothing.

However, he was a general, and couldn’t show any fear against a mere monster… With that in mind, Hansen raised his sword.

The hilt was rather long, and the blade quite wide; his weapon of choice was a bastard sword! The metal that made up the blade was a radiant blue, which reminded Lee Shin-Woo of the Undead Hero’s sword, Thunder Lasting, before it was transformed into bone.

[Cry out, Thunderbird…!]

The bastard sword vibrated and radiated a blinding blue light. The sound of sparks seemed to almost silence the entire area. That was the general’s magic at play! Since the general was known to specialize in close combat, Lee Shin-Woo had thought that he might not be good at magic, but at the end of the day, a general was a general.

He shuddered at the general’s ability to concentrate all his magic into the sword and the fearsome power that came with it. The Treasure Eater seemed quite nervous as well judging from its shudder. It felt so threatened that it momentarily ignored its target, Lee Shin-Woo, and shifted its attention to Hansen Von Dorthe instead!

[Die, you insect!]

[Guaaaaaaaaah!]

With the skill ready, Hansen lunged at the Treasure Eater without delay! At that moment, the lightning around his sword shot out in a straight line and struck the Treasure Eater like a laser!

It was already too late to dodge the attack the moment Hansen swung his sword. Even Jin didn’t think he would be able to dodge it, let alone the Treasure Eater.

[Hoo…]

The lightning erased everything in its path, and Hansen assumed the Treasure Eater would either be killed or injured critically when its head was hit. He let his guard down, thinking there would be no cause for worry. However…

[Ku… Kuhaaaaaaahk…! Kuoooooooh!]

[What!?]

The moment the attack hit, the Treasure Eater yelled so loudly that it seemed like it would tear the world apart; Steve soon aimed his anger at Hansen instead of Lee Shin-Woo and screamed. Hundreds of lighting spears surged from the ground and flew towards Hansen!

[Can it resist lightning… Keuk!]

He was so flustered that he got hit by the spears directly. His horse, being only level 5, died on the spot, but now wasn’t the time to be worrying about his horse.

[Kuhaaaahk!]

[Why did it have to be… Damn it!]

The skill that Hansen had put his full power into… Heaven Piercing Thunderbird. It was no exaggeration to say it was a deadly move that even the level 8 generals would have a hard time recovering from! Not only did the lightning hold an overwhelming amount of mana, it also paralyzed both the opponent’s body and mana. The attack was only possible because of Hansen’s lightning affinity.

Yet the Treasure Eater had not only recovered immediately, but also counterattacked afterwards! Moreover, its own attacks consisted of lightning, so he was sure that this Treasure Eater was both powerful amongst the Treasure Eaters and had the ability to use lightning.

[How could the rare lightning element be…]

“Go! Go! Lightning General!”

[Is he making fun of me right now!?]

“Do your best, general! Oh, it’s coming from the left!”

Hansen was tense from his realization that his opponent was more formidable than he had expected, but then he heard Lee Shin-Woo’s loud cheers. Lee Shin-Woo was actually yelling in genuine hope that the general would come out on top; moreover, the general couldn’t get pissed right now.

[Lightning General, please do your best!]

[I trust you, sword of the Empire!]

Influenced by their lord, the surviving undead raised their voices and cheered the general on. They were greatly appreciative of Hansen’s timely appearance just as they thought it would be the end of them, but sadly, their sincere feelings weren’t conveyed to Hansen properly.

[You incompetent and loud-mouthed brats… I’ll punish you once I’m finished with this annoying thing!]

Nonetheless, it wasn’t enough to be fully focused on fighting the Treasure Eater. Since he couldn’t use his lightning against the Treasure Eater, even a general like him would be challenged!

The Lightning General, Hansen Von Dorthe stomped his feet on the ground and grabbed his sword with both hands. His sword was infused with an overwhelming magic once more. It was a move befitting one of the twelve generals.

[Even without my lightning, I’m still one of the twelve generals. Insignificant creature! I’ll show you the price of your ignorance and interference!]

[Kuaaaaaaaahk!]

He fought the ‘insignificant creature’ that couldn’t understand what he was saying and found it impossible to get into a proper form. He gritted his teeth and lunged at the Treasure Eater. And thus commenced a bloody battle between two high-rank elite level 7s.

Nice. Really nice.

Lee Shin-Woo spectated the battle and smiled in delight. His estimation of the Lightning General’s power was spot on.

Of course, Hansen was still stronger than the Treasure Eater even without his lightning as one of the twelve generals. Even so, it would take a considerable amount of time before the battle would come to an end.

With this, all my preparations are complete.

Lee Shin-Woo grinned at the Drake Horn Lance rising secretly from beneath his feet. He’d infused as much mana into the lance as possible, but he hadn’t stopped at one; he had five of them charged.

That was right. He hadn’t spent his time only on commanding the undead to their deaths. He’d summoned weapons beforehand and filled them to the brim with mana in preparation for his fight with the general!

Now all that’s left is the Lightning Tooth in my hand.

Because the lord didn’t normally wear armor, Lee Shin-Woo was, unfortunately, unable to equip his armor at the moment. However, he believed that to be a boon instead. One hit of those level 7 elites would’ve smashed his armor to bits anyway.

[My lord. What are those?]

“I’ve prepared them just in case the general is in danger.”

[Ooh, as expected of you, my lord!]

Perhaps due to them being under the influence of Instigate for so long, his undead subordinates were not the least bit suspicious.

At first, he’d considered brainwashing them even further and accepting them as Pauls, but the fact that they had so much faith in the Empire and the general made him think it would be impossible to change who they were fundamentally.

If that’s the case, I should start killing them.

If they wouldn’t turn on the general, they had no use to him anymore. They could actually get in his way if he left them be. Now that the situation was different, he had to take care of them.

“Focus on the Lightning General. He is the sword that represents the Empire. He is the shield that protects us!”

[Oooooooooooooh!]

With Instigate, Lee Shin-Woo incited them again and again until the undead stopped thinking altogether. The Drake Horn Lances, which were fully charged and radiating a gentle light, began to move. He needed to be careful so that the general wouldn’t notice.

Lee Shin-Woo was indeed talented in manipulating mana; if not, his Instigate must’ve gotten stronger, ridiculously so in fact; the undead didn’t even realize what their lord was doing until death was at their very doorstep!

[Kuheok!]

[Kureuk…!]

Soon, the death throes of the undead resounded throughout the city; frighteningly, several undead didn’t even notice, as they were completely enraptured by the battle between the Lightning General and the Treasure Eater. Then again, the two level 7 elites were making an incredible amount of noises as well.

[Guahk…]

[W-Why…]

Lee Shin-Woo controlled the five Drake Horn Lances as they flew through the air freely; the Drake Horn Lances mercilessly shattered the level 5 elites’ heads and crushed their bodies. With a little bit of acid, he was able to melt them as well in the same blow.

[Huh…?]

Only after everything had gone to hell did the level 6 Knight Leader Selloin, who had been watching the Lightning General and cheering for him, notice what was going on and turn around. He realized it had gotten quiet all of a sudden. Then he saw that all of the knights at his side were gone.

[They weren’t able to even protect you, so how… My lord?]

“Haha. As I thought, you’re loyal.”

Lee Shin-Woo was already in front of him. Five Drake Horn Lances were floating in the air, and despite them all aiming for the completely brainwashed Knight Leader’s head, the Knight Leader didn’t suspect him in the least and just tilted his head. Before his eyes… Lee Shin-Woo finally released his Disguise and revealed himself.

[...What!?]

“So I’ll send you to your lord now. Aren’t you happy?”

Needless to say, the disturbed Knight Leader’s eyes shot wide open, and when he was about to say something, five Drake Horn Lances simultaneously struck his head and body.

An herring is still an herring even when it’s rotten. The level 6 close combat elite had survived the attack and was still holding on, but then Lee Shin-Woo thrusted his Lightning Tooth into the Knight Leader’s face, and the six weapons began to spew out high-rank acid poison simultaneously. The Knight Leader couldn’t do anything as it melted away.

[You have acquired 174,880 Perium.]

[You have acquired the Kadinan Knight Leader, Selloin’s arm bone.]

[You have acquired the Kadinan Knight Leader, Selloin’s sphenoid bone.]

“Awesome.”

“You’re really…”

With this, all of the undead in Kadinan were completely taken care of.

Now, it was time to deal with the two happily rampaging level 7 elites.