Born in apocalypse

Azarex kept his distance from Dhruv so as not to disturb him during the battle... but even with this distance, he could feel the temperature decreasing rapidly. He was about to get worried for his master but after noticing the fire rising all his worry melted.

Looking at the spectacle, a smile appeared on his face. He had expected nothing less.

Following orders, he had already killed hundreds of monsters, and now there were even a few tier II undead under his control. Everything was going well for him... there was no opponent that could pose a challenge... but soon he found his target.

The air shimmered with frost as Azarex saw three monsters approaching him from a distance. The moment his gaze landed on them, an old memory played in front of his vision.

They were the same monsters who had attacked the island once. They were the once to attack when his master was going through an evolution. To make it worse, they had even reached the egg... but fortunately, nothing had happened.

’I will not let them get past me this time,’ Azarex thought as his grip tightened on his staff, the bone-white wood creaking under his fingers.

Even with confidence, Azarex knew that the odds were against him. Despite his mastery of death magic, the raw power these monsters possessed over ice couldn’t be taken lightly.

Azarex could feel the icy tendrils of doubt creeping into his mind, but he pushed them away. There was no room for doubt now. He had to take this step to prove his worth.

One of the monsters summoned an icy mist to clear all the remnants of Death’s aura, while the others began to summon a barrage of icicles... each one a lethal spear. The third was there for defense.

Azarex reacted quickly as a shield made of darkness appeared, shattering all the icicles upon impact.

Giving a command to his undead, he whispered, "Ethereal Grasp"!

Ghostly hands erupted from the ground as they attempted to bind the legs of the standing Crystallce. His attack didn’t have any effect as the monster quickly turned even the semi-ethereal hands into ice, shattering them in an instant.

Azarex cursed under his breath, barely dodging a blast of icy wind that froze the ground where he had stood moments before. He could see their synergy... while one focused on defense, the others went on the offense.

After just a few more seconds of exchange, Azarex understood a crucial point. If he wanted to win, he had to break the coordination between them. He knew what to do... but the problem was how.

His mind raced, trying to find a new strategy as soon as possible. But the fight required his uninterrupted attention. He didn’t have much time... certainly not enough to think anything thoroughly.

To get a few seconds of thinking, he surrounded the crystallions with all his undead. He was going to sacrifice them for as many seconds as he could get.

Looking at the hollow corpses of their brethren, a hint of sadness appeared on their faces... but the Crystallions were undeterred. They had their Highness’s order, and it was to kill the intruder... no matter the cost.

Manipulating the mana, one monster quickly summoned ice breath, freezing most of them in place. Another one summoned a barrage of ice, breaking them to pieces.

"Aura of death"

While they were busy handling the undead, dark energy, spreading from all directions began to swallow them. The very essence of death seemed to thicken the air around them. Summoning a misty wind, they fended off Death’s aura but were tainted by some of it nonetheless.

While the two of them were busy, the third Crystallions raised both hands as a murmur began to resound in the area. Suddenly, a swirling vortex of snow and ice appeared out of nowhere, threatening to envelop Azarex.

Azarex felt the temperature plummet dangerously, his bones burning from the hellish cold. Summoning all his strength, he cast [Death’s Embrace].

A wave of necrotic energy pulsed from him... it instantly began to move in the opposite direction of the vortex, driving back the storm momentarily.

Azarex couldn’t help but click his teeth, feeling the toll on his body. He was powerful, yes, but these monsters were relentless. He knew he had to change his approach if he wanted to survive.

Remembering the plan he quickly manipulated his mana. In just a matter of seconds, the blueprint filled to the brim as Azarex whispered,

"Soul Tether."

The moment his whispers left his mouth, the light in his eyes dimmed as his soul left his body.

One of the crystallions that was handling the undead stopped its attack and froze in place. Before the others could pay attention to its abnormalities, black mana began to flow through its veins... trying to reach the core.

Before the mana could achieve anything, a blue fire ignited inside his vein clearing all the taint. In just a matter of seconds, the monster had freed itself from the invader.

’Aggggghhhh!’

The soul transferred back to its body as a pained sound arose from Azarex’s mouth. During the invasion of the monster’s body, something had attacked him.

"Arghhh!" he cried in pain as he realized this was exactly the reason he was afraid of using this spell.

Using the spell, he could transfer his soul to the target body and had a chance to corrupt it from the inside. However, if he were to be forcefully removed from the body, the backlash would be severe.

On top of that, during the soul invasion, his body was left without any protection. Due to the backlash, he would be stunned for a few more seconds after returning to his body.

The longer the damage, the more time he would be stunned. And this time, along with getting backlash, his soul was attacked as well, giving plenty of time to the Crystallions.

This was exactly the reason that despite being a very powerful ability, Azarex rarely used [Soul Tether].

Crystallions didn’t wait for any ceremony as their attack continued.

Boooomm!

Azarex’s right arm shattered into multiple bone fragments as he couldn’t dodge the incoming icicles properly.