Chapter 31: Mutation (Please Add This to Your Favorites)

Standing before the great trench were no longer ordinary porters, gang members, or hired bodyguards, but a pack of bizarre hunting hounds.

These hounds were larger than normal dogs, their skin withered as if they had been dead for a long time. A black liquid oozed from their eyes, and their fangs were still stained with fresh flesh and blood. Most importantly, they were strapped into strange armor—a steam-powered exoskeleton of sorts that covered only their backs. Pipes and chimneys protruded from the plating, making it look as if the creatures had been forced to carry burdens far heavier than their own bodies.

Yet, the hounds showed no signs of encumbrance. The exoskeletons significantly boosted their speed and strength, but their agility was what made them truly lethal. Ryuji’s skeleton soldiers were perfectly countered by these beasts. The hounds didn't even need to launch a full assault; they simply clamped their jaws onto a skeleton’s leg bone and jerked, shattering the limb into fragments. Once crippled, the skeleton was rendered useless. Even if it continued to flail its arms, the hounds were far too nimble for the slow-moving undead to strike.

Seeing this, Ryuji pressed his fingers against the badge on his chest. "Emergency, Mr. Wilder. Stop watching from the sidelines; the situation has taken a turn for the worse."

"What, hit a wall?" Having granted Ryuji authorization, Wilder had been keeping a close watch on the situation. After all, if the mission failed, he would be implicated as well.

"The enemy is attempting to pull this area into the Netherworld," Ryuji stated flatly.

Before Ryuji could finish, Wilder interjected sharply, "Are you certain?"

"Undead hounds, a hybrid of the Netherworld’s Gloom and mechanical technology, have appeared. They’ve disguised themselves well, but the seeds of the Gloom Netherworld are unmistakable."

As he spoke, Ryuji pulled the badge from his chest and aimed it at the hounds currently tearing through his skeletons. The badge possessed a recording function, operating much like a smartphone intended for players. Ryuji focused the feed on the hounds' mouths. Had one not been looking closely, it would have been impossible to notice the mud-like masses lodged in their throats—masses that pulsed with blinking, hidden eyes.

Ryuji’s discovery was transmitted to Wilder. "Hold them off. I can be there in fifteen minutes. Listen, commit all your available forces to the front. And where is the local police chief? Tell him to evacuate the area; do not let the enemy complete the integration with the Gloom Netherworld."

As a superior among the city’s morticians, Wilder understood the gravity of the situation. Preventing the overlap was the top priority. If the Gloom Netherworld were to merge with this plane, it would be a catastrophe. The necrotic energies of the Gloom would flood into the world, allowing both wild and organized undead from that realm to manifest in reality.

All necromancers in this plane were players whose primary battlefields were in the Netherworld. Only those who possessed their own cities within the Netherworld could command endless legions. In the physical world, they were limited to summoning only a small fraction of their forces using their own mana. Even a veteran like Wilder could only pull out a force of less than a thousand at a time, and only low-level, cannon-fodder skeletons at that; higher-tier units were impossible to deploy directly. Fighting the main forces of the Gloom Netherworld under such conditions was simply unrealistic.

No matter the cost, the overlap had to be stopped.

Following Wilder’s orders, Ryuji realized the severity of the crisis. He glanced at the hounds, which were growing increasingly ferocious, took a deep breath, and raised his Death Staff. He drew a circle in the air above his head. The ring looked magnificent, composed of countless shimmering starlight particles. With a flick of his finger, the circle flew toward the battlefield, expanding as it traveled until it reached a diameter of fifteen meters.

As the ring hovered over the hounds, Ryuji slammed his staff down. A deluge of silver starlight erupted from the circle, raining down like meteors. Each bolt of light, trailing a brilliant tail, struck the hounds with lethal precision.

The hounds finally realized Ryuji was casting a high-level spell. They let out a howl and lunged toward him, but the skeleton soldiers, having received Ryuji’s orders in advance, acted as human—or rather, bone—shields. Even those with shattered legs threw themselves onto the hounds, refusing to let go no matter how violently they were torn apart.

Ryuji’s *Starfall* spell had reached level 4; its power and strike duration had significantly increased. Within fifteen seconds, every hound had been struck by at least eight waves of starlight. Most were blasted into fragments, with only a few of the sturdier ones remaining.

Ryuji did not give them a chance to retaliate. He pulled the thin rapier from Sean’s skull and slashed at the survivors. Unlike the starlight, which was a heavy spell powered by his mana, the wind blades were a byproduct of the high-speed motion of his Indigo Wind-Chasing Swordsmanship, requiring almost no mana as long as his wrist could handle the strain.

After unleashing a flurry of wind blades, Ryuji charged into the fray, finishing off the remaining hounds one by one. He took special care to crush the eyes hidden within their throats, only feeling at ease once those abominations were destroyed.

By this time, Chief Ralph had received the orders from Wilder. What began as a mere verbal dispute had escalated into a major conflict between the Southern Swamp plane and the Gloom Netherworld. Realizing this was far beyond his jurisdiction, Chief Ralph immediately mobilized his officers to evacuate the civilians and seal off the perimeter.