SS Awakening: My Monster Merging System!

The moment the Knight Captain pointed its sword toward Zich, the entire battlefield shifted again.

Shield knights rotated immediately while spear users abandoned several nearby targets entirely. Farther back, every bow knight slowly raised their rusted bows toward the same direction at almost the exact same time.

Toward him.

"So much for luck." Zich’s eyelid twitched slightly while glancing briefly toward the Lucky Handband wrapped around his wrist. Ever since obtaining the thing, his life had become increasingly absurd in ways he genuinely did not appreciate.

A second later, the Knight Captain lowered its blade slightly.

Every undead unit moved!

BOOOOM!!! BOOOOM!!! BOOOOM!!!

Heavy armored footsteps shook the ruined courtyard while three shield formations immediately advanced toward Zich’s position simultaneously. Spear knights followed behind them in perfect coordination while the rear archers adjusted their angle carefully.

Jayden noticed it almost instantly. For the first time since entering the realm, a faint expression close to satisfaction appeared across his face. Seeing Zich become the center of attention after constantly outplaying everyone else strangely improved his mood.

"He finally attracted something he can’t scheme around," Jayden muttered quietly.

Helen immediately glared toward him.

"This really isn’t the time."

Flames exploded around both of her hands again. Unlike Jayden, she moved toward Zich after seeing the knights shift attention completely toward him.

Varok’s expression darkened as well.

The white haired summoner had exposed the commander hidden inside the statue, and losing him immediately afterward would cripple their ability to understand the battlefield properly. More importantly, the Captain’s reaction alone already proved Zich had become a priority target.

"Protect the summoner," Varok ordered coldly.

The giant Velhari looked visibly unhappy after hearing that.

"The slime boy?"

"He located the commander before any of us," Varok replied while smashing apart another advancing shield knight. "That alone makes him useful."

Right ahead, Zich calmly exhaled once.

Panic would not help him here.

The Knight Captain clearly possessed some form of battlefield authority skill, and exposing its hidden position probably triggered whatever passed for command aggro inside this realm. Every undead adjustment now revolved entirely around pinning him down first.

’Annoying.’

The first arrow volley launched toward him immediately afterward.

FWHHHHT!!!

More than twenty rusted arrows tore through the air simultaneously while shield knights accelerated from the front. Zich activated Blink without hesitation.

FWOOSH!!!

His body vanished instantly.

The arrows crashed into the cracked ground where he had stood less than a fraction earlier, leaving smoking holes nearly the width of fists across the stone floor. Before the archers could readjust properly, Slimy suddenly expanded outward protectively.

"Silk Barrier."

BOOOOM!!!

A translucent wall erupted across one side of the courtyard just as another spear formation closed in. The impact forced several knights backward nearly two meters while cracks spread through nearby stone pillars from the collision alone.

Blood Leech immediately rushed the opposite direction afterward.

Instead of attacking aggressively, the summon deliberately sprinted sideways across broken debris piles while dragging part of the undead formation away from Zich’s main position. Several spear knights rotated instantly to pursue it.

Zich finally understood the pattern properly.

The Captain was marking threats.

Anyone interfering directly with formation control attracted focused aggression from nearby units. By exposing the commander earlier, he had essentially painted a target onto himself.

’So this realm uses battlefield hierarchy.’

Another arrow volley shifted toward him again.

Without warning, Zich suddenly sprinted sideways directly toward the giant Velhari’s position instead of retreating away from the battlefield entirely. The giant noticed immediately afterward and frowned hard enough for visible veins to appear near his temple.

"Why are you running here?" he growled.

"Because you looked sturdy," Zich replied calmly.

The giant’s face twisted instantly.

Before he could respond properly, the knight formations already redirected toward their new path. Arrows rained downward while shield units crashed aggressively toward the giant Velhari’s side of the battlefield.

CLANG!!! BOOOOM!!! CRACK!!!

The giant barely raised both arms in time before rusted arrows slammed into his armor nonstop. At the same time, three shield knights smashed directly into him while spear users attacked through the gaps immediately afterward.

"You little—!"

Another spear thrust interrupted him.

The giant had no choice except defending himself now that the aggro pressure partially shifted toward his position. Zich quietly Blinked sideways again while the frontline collapsed violently around the massive Velhari warrior.

Helen accidentally laughed after seeing it happen.

The sound escaped before she could stop herself.

"You really dragged the entire army onto him," she said while burning apart an approaching spear knight. Even now, despite the pressure surrounding them, amusement lingered visibly around her eyes.

Varok watched the exchange carefully. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

For several seconds, he genuinely did not know whether Zich was incredibly shameless or simply terrifyingly practical. Using battlefield mechanics against allies this naturally required a certain type of personality.

Unfortunately...

It worked.

The giant Velhari absorbed the focused assault through pure toughness while Zich escaped the center line again using Blink and Slimy’s barriers repeatedly. Several archers tried correcting their aim afterward, but Blood Leech suddenly burst through their rear formation and tore one directly off its feet.

SKRRRRK!!!

The undead archer crashed across broken stone while black blood sprayed nearly three meters outward. More formations immediately shifted again after the disruption.

"Keep moving!" Varok shouted.

The pressure across the battlefield kept increasing.

More undead knights emerged continuously between ruined pillars surrounding the courtyard while the Knight Captain slowly advanced from the rear without hurrying. Unlike the ordinary units, it did not waste movement unnecessarily.

Its burning red eyes stayed locked onto Zich the entire time.

A bad feeling crawled up Zich’s spine.

The Captain had stopped relying purely on his knight battalion now.

Slowly, the massive armored undead raised its sword upward while black energy gathered around the blade itself. Nearby undead soldiers immediately moved aside afterward as though instinctively clearing a path.

Varok’s expression changed instantly as he shouted,

"Move!"

The Knight Captain disappeared right at that moment.

BOOOOOOM!!!!

The ground exploded apart where it had stood less than a second earlier while shattered stone scattered across the battlefield like shrapnel. Zich’s eyes widened slightly after realizing the thing had crossed nearly twenty meters in one movement alone.

It was coming directly for him.

’...I’m fucked.’