After a few seconds, all the Undead Archers were subdued by Dred.
By subdued, it meant Dred had broken the bones in their legs and arms, shattering their skeletal frames.
Now, they were crawling like worms, trying to reattach their broken bones for reconstruction.
Seeing this, Igaris didn't delay.
He quickly stepped forward and touched them with his hand, enveloping them in platinum energy.
[Acquisition Successful!]
[Acquisition Successful!]
[Acquisition Successful!]
One by one, he used Acquisition on all seven Undead Archers.
As the radiant light faded, the Undead Archers now stood obediently before him, fully restored, with bows and arrows in hand.
Then, in perfect unison, they knelt on one knee, pledging their allegiance to their king.
They couldn't speak, but their loyalty was unmistakable.
Igaris named one of them, but immediately felt the drain. It was clear he lacked the energy to name another for now.
Acquisition was easy, but naming them required a lot of internal energy.
The lucky Undead Archer, now named Alpha, had evolved into a Warrior with 7th Rank power.
She was already far stronger than Igaris himself, though still beneath Dred, who held the strength of an Elite Rank.
Nevertheless, with her newly reinforced skeletal frame and gleaming armor, Alpha stood ready to carry out any order Igaris gave.
Igaris commanded, heading straight toward the center.
Dred and the other seven undead followed closely behind, like an army marching behind their king.
Igaris moved with long, purposeful strides, each step radiating the newfound confidence of someone no longer alone, but leading eight loyal Undead Skeleton Soldiers.
But he suddenly changed his route, heading toward the left flank amidst rubble and broken buildings where the sunlight was less, allowing his skeleton army to follow in the shadows.
He chose this path to recover his energy and gradually grow his army.
Today, his main goal wasn't securing food. His goal was to increase the number of his Acquisition Army.
After walking unhindered for five minutes, more undead knights crept closer, accompanied by the noise of rusted armor and zombie-like growls.
Another squad of undead knights approached in uniform rhythm through the shadows.
Igaris grinned and ordered his skeleton army to charge forward.
Alongside them, he also rushed ahead, eager to test his new blade, Doom, on their bones.
With a single strike of the sharp blade, one skeleton knight was disarmed with two clean cuts.
Without its arms, the skeleton quickly became a fish on a chopping board.
Igaris immobilized its restless skeletal frame by pressing his body on top, then touched its chest and used Acquisition once again.
As the radiant platinum light enveloped it, Igaris was already moving toward another immobilized undead knight.
, he gradually increased his Acquisition Army to 14 in numbers, their power ranks ranging between Warrior-3 to Warrior-7.
He watched his growing Acquisition Army with satisfaction.
He also noticed that his Power Rank had increased to Warrior - Stage 3.
Maybe as the number of Acquisitions increased, his physical strength was also growing.
He could feel the newfound power with every movement.
He flexed his muscles, enjoying the sensation. But if he could have named a few more, his power and internal energy would have increased even further.
Shaking his head, he continued his hunt.
Other hunters were after food, while he was here to hunt undead.
If Blaze and the others had seen this, they would have been struck speechless. But that could also bring unwanted attention to him.
So, Igaris wasn't expecting them to meet here so soon.
But it seemed fate wasn't listening to him today.
In front of the ruin's entrance, Blaze and his team stood with furrowed brows.
"Someone's already here, Leader!" a sharp-nosed man announced, sniffing the area where Igaris had encountered the archers earlier.
Blaze's sharp eyes also spotted footprints on the sandy ground. It meant his underling's suspicion was correct.
"Who could it be, Leader? We shouldn't be seeing other groups here today," Gabriana muttered, looking puzzled.
"Could it be Igaris?" Barefoot asked, unsure.
"Haha... Why do you say that, Barefoot? You think he got displeased with the share yesterday and came hunting alone? That's ridiculous."
"Even if he did, he'd be doing nothing but courting death," one of them snickered.
Barefoot lowered his head, glancing at Osama and Nagi with an unreadable expression.
"Well, no point arguing over it. We'll see who dares to steal food from our mouths," Blaze growled, his sword already blazing with fiery energy.
With that, the group of eighteen headed toward the Sacrifice Altar, while Igaris was clearing the undead from the outskirts.
But eventually, their paths were bound to cross.
At the moment, however, Igaris was obstructed by an Elite Knight.
The Elite Undead Knight was almost identical to Dred in build and frame.
Alone, Igaris couldn't match it no matter how much he wanted.
So naturally, the duty of subduing it fell on Dred's shoulders, while the other thirty undead from Igaris's Acquisition Army clashed with enemy undead.
As for Igaris, with his increased Stage 4 power, he assisted Dred in taking down the Elite Knight.
Igaris's Doom Blade struck the Elite Knight's armor, but it couldn't even make a dent. Barely a scratch marked the surface.
Feeling its hollow, eerie eyes locked onto him, Igaris felt a chill crawl up his spine.
He immediately bounced backward, barely escaping as the Elite Knight's massive sword came slicing down in a 45° arc from the right.
Seeing its target miss, the Elite Knight charged at Igaris.
Igaris tensed, but quickly exhaled in relief when Dred chopped down the knight's leg bones at that exact moment.
The Elite Knight crashed to the ground with clanking sounds, but Dred didn't pause.
He broke its arms too, fully immobilizing it.
Igaris didn't waste the opportunity.
Subduing this Elite Knight had been real hard work after all.
Wiping the sweat from his face, he stepped forward to Acquire it.