Although his fight with the trolls had originally been done with the condition of them submitting to him if he won. The fight had still ended a little too sudden for the trolls to understand what had happened. It was hard for them to believe that someone had taken the full brunt of their attacks head-on and still came out unscathed.

The red troll especially, had not been able to accept his defeat and had almost ran wild demanding a rematch so Tyler was forced to sent Albert to beat some sense into them. After that, the two unique trolls had been quiet the entire time they’ve been here. It was a bit of a surprise for Tyler to see them being so active here.

He didn’t remember handing out any assignments to the ogres and beastmen recently so they were free to do whatever they wanted in their spare time. Which meant technically, there was nothing here for him to be mad about as he had also permitted the settlement to freely move around the castle, with the exception of his chambers and the throne room.

However, he still felt annoyed seeing this group being so carefree while he had almost been turned into an undead. Perhaps what he felt was a side effect from being corrupted so many times. but even he did not understand why that simple annoyance rose to anger so quickly.

“And this is?”

At his words, the room froze for a good minute as everyone stared at each other in apprehension and slight confusion. It took a while for Azar to gather himself and approach him to explain.

“Apologies my Lord, we had planned to inform you earlier but the red troll was recklessly trying to stir trouble so I decided to put an end to that.”

“Red Troll.” Tyler’s gaze was shifted to the Berserker Troll and the massive body of the troll flinched. Even after receiving a beating from Albert, the guy must’ve still been bitter about his loss. Perhaps this was the general trait of a Berserker Troll after all the name did not sound like that of a calm and rational species.

Tyler sighed in exasperation but immediately used Placate to calm his rising nerves which seemed to return the flow of air inside the hall to normal. He still felt a bit annoyed but he was able to move past it and focus on the reason he came here.

He was interested in finding out more about the two unique trolls species especially their evolution paths but even with their high intellect for trolls, there was no way they would be able to tell him anything about that.

He had just planned to observe them for a while to make sure they were willing to obey him before finding something for them to do in the castle. Although he had wanted them to lead him to the moron of a Lich that had sent them here, that would have to wait until he was ready. Right now he needed to focus on himself and also the supplies for the castle.

Returning his attention to Azar he nodded and sighed. “I see… Well since y’all want to fight so badly, there’s no need to be so reserved.” A devilish smile crept across Tyler’s face as everyone in the room including Albert who stood beside him, took a step back.

“There’s also no need to fight each other, you can’t go all out… I’ll provide your opponents.”

As those words left his mouth the shadows in the room moved around weirdly as three beautiful female figures clad in raven black rogue’s outfit appeared in the hall around them, weapons drawn.

“I just created these three and I had wanted to see how they fare against the trolls but since y’all are eager for a fight, why don’t you join in.”

Azar’s brows furrowed, it wasn’t that he didn’t care for a fight, if anything he welcomed it. However, the aura these shadow creatures exuded seemed strange. It felt unnatural and unstable but they were by no means weaker than him.

Most of the ogres and beastmen in the room were apprehensive about fighting these creatures and that included the Battle troll. However, Rekaz the berserker troll refused to be intimidated and was even eager to accept the challenge which made the smile on Tyler’s face grow even wider.

••••••••••

••••••••••

Tyler stood by the side with Albert as he watched the two unique trolls and the ogres and beastmen prepare to fight his new undead trio. Frankly speaking there wasn’t much he would gain from this fight. He already knew the skills of his undead and he didn’t plan on pushing the group too far.

So there was no real reason to do this and he knew that. Basically, he was just being petty but he needed the satisfaction of making this bunch of slackers actually sweat a bit to make up for him almost being corrupted. It may also be the corruption talking but who cares, he was bored anyway.

The battle was bound to be interesting as the fighters did not match well with each other. His undead were rogues and two of them even wielded crossbows which put them at a disadvantage against so many warriors and the few mages.

‘I suppose this will be a good test on how intelligent the shadow rogues are.’ It would be a good thing if the undead he planned to use for the gathering of information were smart enough to survive being in a predicament like this even though they were clearly stronger than everyone they were up against, based on tier only.

“Begin!”

Albert commanded after everyone had gotten into position but before Rekaz could even activate his charge, the three shadow rogues disappeared. Azar tried to locate them with his eyes when he suddenly felt something move behind him.

Azar swiftly turned around while swinging the blade of his Hamaxe at the space behind him. However, the opponent wasn’t there and his eyes narrowed when he saw the blackish-green haired shadow rogue appear before two of their only five rangers and immediately knocked them out with some kind of black aura.

A sudden bolt of realization struck him as he hadn’t expected this from the undead, but it appeared that they were going after the ranged fighters first. “Protect the Rangers!” Azar yelled as Kazko immediately understood the situation and lunged at the shadow rogue using his skill. °Roaring Boost°

With the flash of red, his figure was flung forward like a projectile shot out of a slingshot as he swung the new blade he received at the shadow rogue. However, she must have used a skill as the shadows around her moved and her body had instantly melded with it and his attack struck nothing but air.

several arrows were suddenly fired at the remaining three rangers from the side. The rangers had tried to defend themselves or get out of the way but the strike was too sudden and had struck all their vitals.

Contrary to expectations though, there was no blood splattered everywhere from that attack, instead, as the arrows struck home, they disintegrated like watery shadows and the rangers had all simply been knocked unconscious.

Azar could barely believe his eyes. To think they had lost all their rangers so quickly made him a bit nervous. It was one thing to go head to head against an opponent but he wasn’t adept at fighting opponents like these that fought sneakily and avoided any direct confrontation.

The red troll charged at the two shadow Rogue wielding crossbows and Azar joined him while the other ogres and beastmen tried to back up the Battle troll as much as possible.

Tyler watched the battle in satisfaction at the teamwork of the trolls and ogres. The only people that could match up against his undead were Azar and the two unique trolls. Against a normal opponent, the strategy they had employed would’ve been effective but keeping your only rangers in the back when going up against assassin-type opponents was just asking for trouble.

Rekaz charged at the two rogues with his new spear raised high. However, they easily moved around him and fired multiple arrows at the other ogres and beastmen. The rogue Kazko was going up against also did not fight back and occasionally found the opportunity to attack the weaker opponents.

Azar realized what the shadow rogues were trying to do but there was nothing he could do to stop them as he could not even touch them. The battle went on like this and soon only the three of them were left standing against the shadows.

Turning their heads to the side they saw the wide smile on Tyler’s face and it almost drove them insane. There is no way they would give him the satisfaction of losing like this.

For some reason, their thoughts seem to resonate with each other as they all acknowledged what they needed to do next. Without hesitation, they all activated their berserk skills, and charged at the shadows with reckless abandonment.

Albert sighed with reservation at their line of thinking. Who would’ve thought those three would make such a decision at the same time. However, just like Lord Ty, they had let their emotions get the better of them and all they were doing was prolonging the inevitable.

With a Savage burst of energy, all three of them had a drastic increase in their abilities and they charged at the three shadow rogues with their various other skills.

With the increase in speed, they closed in on their opponent faster than they had even done before and prepared to land their attacks before the shadow rogues could escape. However, the Shadow rogues did not try to escape, rather they also charged in.

Azar, Rekaz, and Kazko all sneered at this foolishness. The only advantage the shadow rogues had against them was their speed and their shrewd ability to merge with the shadows and escape. Choosing to take a frontal attack from three Tier 4 warriors such as themselves was a foolish decision.

With their rapidly increasing confidence, they all used their strongest attack skills without hesitation.

°Mountain Smash°

°Lacerating Slash°

“One Spear Six Strikes.”

Each attack aimed at a different shadow rogue and with a multitude of colorful auras. Their strikes were true to their targets, destroying both the shadow rogue’s feeble attempt to block and the shadow rogues themselves.

Smiles blossomed on their faces as they all turned to look at Tyler with confidence in their faces. However, the same evil grin that had been on his face from the start of this fight still remained plastered on his face, and immediately, the confidence drained from their souls at the same time.

Shadows grew from the ground behind them rapidly as the bodies of the shadow rogues formed and they instantly launched a devastating barrage of attacks on them.

Skill – Shadow Assault

The undead had an unlimited supply of stamina so the attacks continuously descended upon them like a meteor shower. Their precision and coordination were without flaws and their strikes did not miss.

Even when they managed to get an attack in, the shadow rogues just turned into shadows and appeared behind them again. In less than 5 minutes all three of them fell to the ground unable to withstand the strike anymore.

Seeing them finally aware that all Tier 4 were not built equal, Tyler halted the rogues with a satisfied expression on his face. He approached the exhausted trio and congratulated them. “Good job, that was indeed entertaining… The next time I’m chanced, let’s do it again with more rogues alright.”

The color seems to drain off the trio’s face as they struggled to catch their breaths and Tyler just briskly walked away and out of the room. The shadow Rogues had already disappeared without him even giving them the order.

He felt strangely satisfied after practically torturing an innocent group for no reason at all. Perhaps he was slowly joining the dark side. Here’s hoping otherwise. Tyler walked out of the hall with no plan in mind.

He didn’t have anything he needed to do urgently so he thought he would just hang out with everyone and relax his mind before he visited Bungo for his new weapon.

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