[You have defeated a member of the twelve generals, the Lv7 Vulture General, Bureuche Von Golden Eagle! All contributing heroes have acquired 30,000,000 Perium, and all stats have increased by 100. You have acquired 10 permits to Goddess’s Secret Shop. Proficiency in all combat related skills has increased dramatically!]

[High Rank Bursting Thunder is now Lv5. Strength and Magic have increased by 10.]

[Intermediate Shadow Horn has reached Lv10 and evolved. Intermediate Horn Gigantification and Low Rank Shadow Extension have been absorbed. You have learned the special passive skill, Thorn Shadow Lv1. Agility has increased by 30. Strength and Magic have increased by 10.]

[You have received the goddess’s grace. The max level of Invisible Heart has increased by 10.]

The Vulture General fought desperately, but he was ultimately killed. His immense power, despite being unable to fight on his own terms, was a reminder that he was indeed one of the twelve generals. However, his opponent had too much of an advantage against him.

Retadane was not only level 8, but a wielder of light magic, which was fatal to all undead. Not to mention that all the heroes had been attacking the Vulture General simultaneously. It was amazing that he'd even lasted as long as he did.

"I knew this when the Beast General was defeated, but...the rewards really are quite incredible."

"All my stats have increased by 100... Moreover, my combat skills that had been stagnating leveled up twice."

"Hoo... I'm satisfied."

"Junior! Why did you leave me with this crazy woman... Explain now! Hey!"

When fighting the Vulture General, all the heroes had been focused on nothing but the battle, but once the general died, and the rewards were given out, their anxiety faded away, and they began to talk amongst themselves.

Lee Shin-Woo softly sighed and said calmly, "The battle's not over yet, Seniors. We have to take out the remaining soldiers."

"Y-Yeah, you're right."

"That's not all," Seira Von Retadane added firmly once she'd collected all the loot from the Vulture General. "We may have to face the Heaven Defying General as well."

"That's right... They're killing the other undead right now, but eventually, they'll come for us..."

"...Seniors." Lee Shin-Woo knew this was his chance.

"They saved me."

The mood turned chilly. All his seniors remained silent except for Prince, who looked at him most favorably amongst the group. She accepted what he said as truth and muttered, "...They... saved you?"

"Yes. I was going to die, but the Heaven Defying General saved me, allowing me to survive. I'm surprised and flustered myself, but...the general told me this: our enemy is the same; there's no reason not to work together."

"Our enemy is the same..."

Lloyd interjected this time. He realized that the only reason they had been able to focus entirely on the Vulture General was because the Heaven Defying General's corps were fighting the undead forces in their stead.

"...How can this be? All undead should be completely loyal to the Emperor."

"He said that they'd escaped his control. That there was a way to do so. Apparently, that’s what has happened to his corps, and they have been going against the Emperor since then."

"There's no way..."

Erian and Lloyd were dumbfounded and speechless. Due to their personal experience in the Empire, they saw the undead as an absolute enemy, but now that they had witnessed the Heaven Defying General's forces crushing the other undead, they couldn't deny what Lee Shin-Woo was saying.

"Lee Shin-Woo, don't be fooled."

However, there was one person who shot him down without hesitation. As expected, it was Retadane.

"They're all undead. They're not sane. You cannot believe what they say. It's an ironclad rule for heroes."

"But Retadane, they're really..."

"It's foolish to believe them just because they're on our side now… Lee Shin-Woo, they're 'fundamentally' different from us. They're existences that you cannot communicate with or understand. Even if it seems like you can trust them for now, it's nothing more than an illusion..."

"..."

She was firm in her stance, and Lee Shin-Woo smiled bitterly. He knew she'd come out like this, but...she was far more aggressive than he'd expected, and he was a little hurt.

"There must be a reason for them to save you. Perhaps they want to analyze us, or perhaps they're aiming for the goddess. You can't do what they want. All undead must be exterminated. That’s the end of it. We cannot work together."

"...Ha."

A sharp refusal, coupled with such hatred. He suddenly realized just how lucky he'd been. Kratia had treated him and Jin fairly, being kind and genuine with them without any prejudice. Lee Shin-Woo let out a despondent laugh. Then...

"You won’t believe what someone says if you don't trust them. That goes for both undead and humans. In fact, humans can be much worse."

Kratia countered Retadane’s argument.

"Think rationally. Make your decision based on what's actually happening as evidence. It's a fact that they're helping us right now. They're not attacking us, so there's no point in being hostile. Above all, we don't even have the strength to do so right now. Am I wrong?"

"You're not wrong. If they're fighting against each other, there's no point in putting ourselves in unnecessary danger. A wiser choice would be to use them. Of course, we should analyze them now to prepare for the future..."

Even though she agreed with Kratia, Retadane remained suspicious of the Heaven Defying General's motives and rejected him. As a hero, a representative of mankind, it was perhaps only natural that she would act like this.

Lee Shin-Woo was relieved that he hadn't appeared in front of her in his undead form. He had to think of a way to convince her. It seemed that Kratia could sense what he was thinking, and she said something unnecessary, probably to console him.

"...I believe there are undead that are trustworthy."

"You're thinking along the same lines as Lee Shin-Woo. It's truly unfortunate, but... This is no place to chat. I'll keep the Vulture General's loot for now. I'll divvy it up once the battle is over."

And thus their conversation came to an end. Retadane’s uneven breathing, a result of the intense battle, had somewhat evened out, and she brandished her flail, charging into a gap between the monsters. She crushed anyone in her way, startling the heroes.

"Lee Shin-Woo, I believe Retadane is right on this. There's a high chance that an intelligent undead will try and trick us..."

"Senior Lloyd..."

"However... No, never mind. Let's go fight too. I have no idea what's going on, but...I know what we have to do right now. We have to fight and come out alive."

"Lloyd..."

Lloyd really was amazing. Lee Shin-Woo had to acknowledge his fortitude, considering the fact that he remained so pretentious despite everything he had gone through. Lloyd even had the mind to console Erian, who was clinging to him. Seeing that, Lee Shin-Woo inwardly applauded.

‘I'm going to give him a rougher time next time.’

‘Your true feelings are showing.’

"Hey, Junior!"

Lee Shin-Woo and Jin quietly joked around, and then someone plastered onto his back. It was Prince, who for some reason hadn't followed Lloyd.

"Explain! Why did you send me away with this woman, and why did you not let me receive Senior Ethan's buff!?"

"I'll explain all of it to you later. Please go help Senior Lloyd for now. I would help, but it seems that Lloyd has gone through a hard time. So..."

"Hmph. It's fine since that elf's still clinging to him. He expects me to help him, but he doesn't realize how valuable I am. I'll just leave him to suffer..."

"If you just leave them be, wouldn’t he develop feelings for Senior Erian rather than realizing how precious you are to him? I believe your best bet is getting between them and stopping that from happening."

"..."

Prince was silent. She realized that Lee Shin-Woo had read her like a book. In a quiet voice, she asked, "Does...it show?"

"Are you serious?"

"Guaaaaah."

Prince blushed. Her necklace allowed her to disguise herself as a man, but she was still slender and beautiful enough that even he was affected. Lee Shin-Woo left out a soft groan. Seriously, she was so stunning that not even an elf could outshine her...

"Why do you disguise yourself as a man?"

"There's something I need to protect even if I were to lose my life... Hm."

"You have it tough."

Lee Shin-Woo thought it wasn't any of his business and decided to drop it, but Prince went on to ask for his help.

"...Could you give me some tips? Once the battle's over."

"Of course. So please get off."

Since Prince was still clinging to him, he picked her up by the nape of her neck like a cat and lowered her next to Kratia, who had gone up to them briskly.

"Kratia, look after her until the battle ends."

"Okay. Leave it to me."

"Keuk, don't toss me around like baggage... Ah, by the way, Junior, you said you met the Heaven Defying General. Are you really okay?"

"Yes,” Lee Shin-Woo replied in a light tone. “He was a good skeleton. So much so that I can trust each and every one of his soldiers."

"..."

Although Prince looked displeased, she reluctantly nodded.

"I don't trust the undead, but I do trust you... Since you trust them, I'll keep an eye out for them. You still have to be careful, though, okay? At the end of the day, they're still undead."

"Haha. Let's do our best for just a little while longer."

Maybe the more he stayed in contact with Prince, the less she'd consider the undead enemies? Unlike Retadane, Prince’s response had been a lot more positive, and Lee Shin-Woo was a little pleased.

He casually swung his blade and cut down the slowly approaching undead. Leaving Prince and Kratia behind, he turned to go into battle.

"Let's keep at it for just a bit longer."

He wanted to test Thorn Shadow out, the special passive skill he'd gained after the Beast General's death.

Considering that it didn’t have a rank attached to it, it was most likely an incredible skill, just as Pleine had guaranteed. Lee Shin-Woo realized then how genuine Pleine's recommendation had been. She had robbed him; that was for sure. But the skill was worth ten times, no, a hundred times more than the Perium he had paid for it.

Moreover, the skill's effect changed a lot. Shadow Horn was a special passive skill which buffed all my lunging attacks, but this...

A special passive skill possessed the traits of several passive and active skills simultaneously, and unlike other skills, it could be applied in a variety of ways... Essentially, they had no limitations. And Thorn Shadow was an amazing skill that could be used for offense.

The ability's simple. I can manipulate any shadow and turn it into thorns. I can use it even without mana, but the more mana I use, the more powerful the effect. Moreover, I can also apply the skill on a single, concentrated point and create a giant horn lance...

If a 'shadow' element existed, this skill would be the perfect embodiment of the element. That was how amazing it was.

Lee Shin-Woo converted his and Jin's shadows into thousands of thorns and fused them together, shocking Jin. Shadow Horn had been a good skill, but its evolved form was on a whole other level. Thorn Shadow would improve both Lee Shin-Woo’s offensive and defensive capabilities significantly.

"You're already so strong, yet you obtained another cheat skill like nothing..."

"Let's try it out, Jin."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm going, boss."

Lee Shin-Woo dragged their shadows around himself and Jin to cover the two of them with countless thorns before charging forward. It didn't take long for the battlefield, which had been filled to the brim with undead, to become silent.