Damien chanted the spells he had memorized from the Book of Death. The bead slowly sank into the gravel. As it disappeared, the gravel began to shake and slowly form a human shape. Damien kept chanting while using his mind to guide the golem's shape.
When he noticed the figure was turning out shorter than he wanted, he changed his plan. Instead of a human, he shaped it into a lion. The gravel shifted as the body, legs, and tail formed, until a majestic gravel golem in the shape of a lion stood before him.
When the creation was complete, Damien fell to the ground, exhausted. The process of making the golem had drained his energy.
Damien decided to rest at the construction site for a while to regain his energy. He ordered his undead to check the building and clear a spot where he could relax.
The undead quickly followed his command. Headless Horseman 1 and 2 rode their horses around the site, while the other undead searched every corner to make sure it was safe.
From the Book of Death, Damien had learned that the undead were ranked not only by strength but also by intelligence. They could sense the living, but their low-level minds kept a kind of balance in their existence.
Now, with two intelligent undead under his control, their work had become far more efficient and quick.
After the undead finished their inspection, Headless Horseman No. 1 came toward Damien and said, "Master, there is no presence of any living being inside."
After saying this, Headless Horseman No. 1 stepped aside, allowing Damien to enter the under-construction building. Damien, clutching his head, slowly walked inside. Seeing their master's condition, Headless Horseman No. 1 and Headless Horseman No. 2 carefully carried Damien and took him to an almost completed room that was now cleaned up and ready as a resting place. They gently laid him down, and Damien soon relaxed and fell into a deep sleep.
Seeing their master sleeping, Headless Horseman No. 1 and Headless Horseman No. 2 quietly left the room and ordered two armored skeletons to guard the room's entrance while they led the other skeletons to hunt more zombies.
Headless Horseman No. 1 and Headless Horseman No. 2 could sense that many faint life signatures were gathering at the place where they had previously been fighting. These almost-living beings were what their master called zombies.
Although there were zombies in the undead plane as well, those were completely dead, had much stronger body muscles, and walked very slowly.
Headless Horseman No.1 and Headless Horseman No.2 came out of the under-construction building and went to the place where they had left their horses.
They mounted up and galloped forward, quickly gathering the normal skeletons that Damien had provided with bone weapons and armor.
Although the armor Damien had created was decent, it was really just an extra layer of protection for the skeletons. If a skilled blacksmith had seen the weapons and armor Damien made with such ease, he would surely have been angry.
After rallying the skeletons, the group moved toward the location where the zombies were gathering.
The zombies were drawn there by the loud noise caused by the fireball that Jack had fired. While the survivors' group was coming down and almost at the exit of the building, Jack had accidentally shot the fireball in the wrong direction, hitting the kitchen. Because of that mistake, the fireball caused heavy damage and made a huge sound.
At this moment, only Jack and a few members of his survivor group were still alive, but they were badly injured. Jack was the only one capable of walking, while the others were suffering greatly from burns and serious wounds.
Jack and his remaining group slowly moved away from the explosion site. The blast had torn a huge hole in the wall, and they headed toward it, hoping to escape.
As they walked, deep roaring sounds of zombies filled the air. The noise made every survivor freeze—not only because it was loud, but because many more roars joined together, forming a terrifying chorus. It meant a large horde was coming.
They were right. Zombies were gathering from every direction, their numbers growing into a moving tide. With so many of them, escape would soon be almost impossible.
The group reached the hole and looked outside. A massive wave of zombies was already rushing toward their location.
"Shit," Jack thought, his heart pounding. Even if he used his strongest skill, he knew he wouldn't be able to create a single chance to escape this nightmare.
The remaining survivors pushed out of the rubble that had blocked their way and stopped when they saw what waited for them. A sea of zombies filled the street, and it felt like death was already on them.
When they stepped closer to the hole in the wall, the smell of blood made the zombies go wild. The tide of undead began to move faster, pulled by the heavy scent.
It was not just a few drops of blood. The injured survivors were bleeding, and the dead bodies from the blast were leaking blood onto the ground. The smell was strong enough to drive any zombie mad.
Jack looked at the body of his close friend John. The sight cut deep, but he forced himself to turn away. He glanced to the right and saw that side had fewer zombies.
A hard thought formed in his mind. With a few more sacrifices, he might be able to break through and escape this nightmare.
Jack formed a plan in his mind and pointed toward the weak spot in the zombie tide.
He said, "I can use my power to clear a path there. We can escape through that side." The others looked where he pointed and quickly agreed.
Their only thought was to run and escape this nightmare. The group started to move in the right direction.
Jack was also ready to fire up his fire blast skill, an upgraded version of fireball.