"Hahahaha~ Did she actually say that? In front of everyone? That’s so embarrassing; I have no clue how you didn’t chew her head off right then and there!" "You look down on me if you think I would let her go that easily!" "Hahaha! That’s my boy! I knew you wouldn’t disappoint me." "Mhm, as they say, the fiercer they are, the tastier they taste." "Especially her, she looked so fierce when she jumped at us with her swor—" "Oi, I won her fair and square. We had a deal." "Oh, come on, I’m not trying to steal her from you. Why are you acting so defensive, anyway? You’d be bored within a month, anyway." "I doubt she’d last a month." "Hahaha! What do you plan to do with her?" "I don’t know. I’ve kept her in the Cage of Samsara for now. I’ll decide when we return." "Cage of Samsara? Kakaka, you sick fuck! She wouldn’t even last a week! Hahahaha!" A group of six-foot-tall monstrous beings laughed as they casually strolled together. These beings had humanoid bodies, but their appearance was nothing short of grotesque. Their skin was rough and grayish, plated like armor. Their eerie orange eyes glowed faintly in the dim light. They had long faces with mouths filled with jagged teeth, as if they were created solely to tear flesh. Horns jutted from their foreheads, and their clawed hands clutched large weapons crafted for brutality. They were Drakkars. *Picture* The Drakkars came from a low-level world named Gorath, a world at war with another low-level world, Secra. Secra housed one of the most densely populated races in the entire universe: humans. A year ago, Gorath had launched an all-out attack on Secra, and today, the long war was finally over. The result? Gorath’s victory. Yes, despite Secra’s Will blessing the humans, while they were able to put up a resistance at first, they eventually fell to Gorath’s cruel might. The atmosphere stood in stark contrast to the Drakkars’ joyful mood. The once-vibrant plains were now coated in blood and ash. The air reeked of iron and death, and the cries of the wounded had long since faded into an unsettling silence. There was blood and corpses all over the place, corpses that didn’t just belong to the Humans but also to the Drakkar soldiers. It was clear from the sight that the war was a brutal one. The human soldiers who were left alive knelt in neat rows on the bloodied ground, their faces covered with blood, mud, and despair. Their armors, once bright and strong, were now dented, torn, and stained. One of the Drakkar from this group, who saw the human soldiers in such a state, laughed out loud. "So much for the ’proud Secra warriors,’ look at them kneeling with their heads down. Hahaha! Fucking cowards." He cursed. "Hahaha!" The rest of the group laughed out loud as well. The human soldiers, however, kept their heads down, their mouths clenched. There was nothing they could say against those words. Yes, they were cowards. Instead of choosing to die like their allies, they decided to kneel and surrender… willingly. It was humiliating, but the fear of death bent even the strongest of wills. Another Drakkar stepped forward, tapping the flat of his blade against the chin of one kneeling human. "Tell me, little soldier, how did it feel to watch your allies being executed while you knelt on the ground and lowered your head in shame? I wish to know, since, you know, I’ve never felt such a thing before. Hahaha! Come on, come on, tell us. Did you cry for your king? Or did you scream for your mother?" "…" 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺 The human soldier said nothing. "YOU DARE IGNORE ME!!?" The Drakkar screamed in rage as he swung his blade. The human closed his eyes, his body trembling continuously. "Don’t kill me! Don’t kill me!" He shouted. Then, with his face covered in desperation, he stared at the Drakkar. "I-I cried! I screamed for my mother! But no one came to help me! I was helpless! I was weak! Humans are weak! We were born weak!" The soldier spoke, his body trembling without stop. "Pathetic," A female Drakkar snorted as she turned around. She had no intention of getting involved with these weaklings. But then, her eyes fell on something strange. On the bloodied ground, she saw a thin wisp of black mist curling through the air. It looked like smoke emitted from flames, just very… dark… No… Something was wrong. There were no flames in this region. However, before the Drakkar could think too much about it, the ’smoke’ dispersed, vanishing into nothingness. "What the hell was that…?" She muttered out loud. "Hmm? Grania? What’s wrong?" Another Drakkar soldier questioned. Enjoy more content from freewebnovel Grania, the female Drakkar, glanced at him. Then, after thinking for a second, she shrugged. "It was nothing." The war was over, she was tired, and she wanted to return home. She didn’t have the energy to think too much about something so small. Yes, she decided to ignore it. It was a mistake. Well, not that she could have done anything to stop what was going to happen anyway. It didn’t matter if it was her, her fellow comrades, her leaders, or the forces she was linked to, they were all helpless, oblivious to what was about to come. The ’End’ had begun. The atmosphere shifted. The laughing Drakkars stopped as their eyes fell on a single figure standing among the kneeling humans. The figure was a human male, wearing torn and bloodied armor. His head hung low, and his body stood like a puppet. At first, they thought it was just a soldier who, for some reason, had lost his mind and had risen to his feet. "Huh? What’s this? Hey! Who bound them!? How did this one manage to set free!?" A Drakkar shouted as he then turned towards the standing soldier. "You! Kneel!" He ordered. However, seeing that the human didn’t listen, he narrowed his eyes before a wide grin appeared on his face. "So eager to have your flesh torn into pieces, eh? Well, then don’t blame me." He laughed, but as he was about to rush towards the human, "Wait." Grania stopped him. "Huh? What’s wrong?" The Drakkar questioned. Grania, however, ignored his words as she stared at the human and narrowed her eyes. She could sense it now. Something was wrong. The human’s skin was pale, almost gray. Grania also saw dark veins all across his exposed flesh. The normal humans… they didn’t look like this. And as if on cue, the human soldier raised his head. Grania froze. The human’s eyes were lifeless, a milky white devoid of pupils. There were dark veins all over his face, just like his body. It was then Grania realized it. He was not alive. "He’s… he’s a corpse," She muttered, instinctively taking a step back. The zombie tilted its head, a cracking sound accompanying the motion. Then, without warning, it lunged forward with a sword in its hand. A giant Drakkar kicked it away before he tore its head off. "What the hell is happening?" He questioned, confused. But then, "WATCH OUT!!" Grania shouted as she tried to rush towards him. However, it was already too late as suddenly, six more zombies jumped on top of the giant Drakkar, overwhelming him with numbers. "W-What are these things!? How are the dead soldiers moving!?" The Drakkars screamed in horror. The horror, however, had just begun. Suddenly, Grania saw that dark mist again. This time, it was much, much denser than before. And before she could make sense of it, "Grrrr…" One by one, the lifeless corpses on the ground rose, their eyes pale and lifeless, their flesh covered in dark veins, and their bodies now driven by some otherworldly force. What’s worse? It wasn’t just the human corpses that were moving. The Drakkar corpses were the same. More and more corpses stood up as the dark mist around the area became denser and denser, enshrouding everything. At first, the soldiers of Secra saw this as hope. They didn’t know what was happening, but they sure knew the Drakkars were going to have a bad day. Whoever was behind this, it was their ally. And as if to prove that theory, one of the corpses walked toward the kneeling soldier. "T-These chains! Free me from these chains and I will be able to jo-" The soldier tried to explain, but before he could do so, Pierce A sword pierced through his heart, killing him in an instant. And as his body fell on the ground, it rose up again, this time as one of the undead. The Drakkars stared at the scene in horror. "SOLDIERS OF GORATH!!" Suddenly, they heard a loud cry. It was one of the Drakkar army commanders. "Prepare for battle!! Crush the enemies, no matter what they are!!" BOOOOM The order was given, and in an instant, the Gorath soldiers prepared themselves. Their Auras burst out, ready to instantly overwhelm whatever those things were. But then, Suddenly, something even more horrifying happened. The soldiers’ Aura… It was canceled out.