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Monarch Chapter 89

Chapter 89

You have slain Arcspiders x7.

You have contributed to slay Undead Lord x1.

You have slain Undead x6.

You have gained adequate experience.

Skill Stealer Activated.

+1 point in Agility.

+2 points in Arcane.

As Rayne expected, he hadn't gotten a lot of gains since entering the dungeon, as he had kept moving, not pausing to fight any prolonged battles. The strongest opponents he had faced had been arcspiders, and he guessed the Agility po...

Monarch Chapter 88

Chapter 88

Rayne knew he wouldn’t reach them in time.

The stairs were clogged with soldiers pushing upward, shields scraping stone as the warband forced its way out of the chamber. Rayne shoved through them anyway, heart hammering as he locked eyes on the death elemental pinning Nate and Bran against the wall at the base of the steps.

He was still too far.

But then, he saw Jason move.

The burly soldier was still on the lower steps, undead blood covering one sid...

Monarch Chapter 87

Chapter 87

The arcspiders were truly just the beginning.

Rayne realized that grim truth soon enough, and so did the rest of the army. Even that first ambush had cost more lives than it should have, and the ones that had died wouldn’t even be getting funerals. Casper and the other fire mages burned their bodies to make sure they didn’t turn into undead due to the death mana in the air.

And then they moved again.

The dungeon didn’t give them time to recover.

...

Monarch Chapter 86

Chapter 86

The meeting didn’t drag on much longer.

Once Commander Evans explained the objectives and dangers, he dismissed Rayne, the other deputies, and the squad leaders. The captains stayed behind, their discussion shifting toward strategies for engaging the master necromancer directly, something they didn’t need to hear about.

But before they left, Captain Edran stopped them and told them to explain their role in the battle to the soldiers under them, so they could p...

Monarch Chapter 85

Chapter 85

There was one thing the army had taught Rayne.

It wasn’t the battle itself that weighed on a soldier—it was the waiting. The long, drawn-out anticipation before the battle began, when nothing happened and everything felt like it might.

And now that they had reached the dungeon, it settled over the camp like a suffocating fog.

They were ordered to make camp and rest while a few members of the Crown’s Hand, alongside scouts, stepped through the shimmerin...

Monarch Chapter 84

Chapter 84

The three days passed in a blink.

Rayne barely felt them go by, even though every hour was soaked in tension. He had no idea what the Crown’s Hand had uncovered during their scouting, but he heard rumours of them coming back all bloody to the camp, and one of them had even died.

By the evening of the third day, everyone knew—whether they were told or not—that they would be moving at dawn.

When the fourth day arrived, the camp stirred before the sun did...

Monarch Chapter 83

Chapter 83

The next two weeks passed faster than Rayne expected.

He didn’t know whether it was Captain Edran deliberately giving him rest or simply circumstance, but Rayne was barely deployed outside the camp. Most days, he was assigned guard duty, and even then, it rarely lasted more than a few hours before another soldier showed up to take his place.

At first, he found it strange.

Guard rotations in the camp weren’t usually flexible, and certainly not generous, s...

Monarch Chapter 82

Chapter 82

As it turned out, even simple mana manipulation was beyond Rayne.

Every time he tried to call mana into his palms, it scattered almost instantly, dissolving into the air like mist under sunlight. Casper had warned him that death mana was volatile, but this wasn’t just death mana. Even unaspected mana refused to stay.

It pooled in his palm for a heartbeat at most before slipping away, bleeding into the atmosphere as if it had never been there to begin with.

Monarch Chapter 81

Chapter 81

The march back to the army camp was quick and silent.

After Rayne had finished explaining every detail about the battle, Captain Edran wasted no time issuing orders. The necromancer’s body was carefully lifted and wrapped, then placed onto a stretcher and carried by a rotating pair of soldiers. Rayne had no idea what they intended to do with her body, but he doubted she would be getting a funeral.

Her artifacts were taken over by Selene.

The woman collecte...

Monarch Chapter 80

Chapter 80

There wasn’t anything else of note in the core room. Beyond the books and the signs of habitation, the chamber was empty.

No weapons or potions. Nothing that told them what the necromancer was even doing in the Pascar Plains.

Rayne closed the research diary and exhaled slowly before tucking it under his arm along with the other two books. Then he turned and led the way back into the ruined chamber.

Varrick was crouched near the necromancer’s body when th...

Monarch Chapter 79

Chapter 79

Rayne had no idea what his one move was going to cause.

The moment the arc of death mana struck the ceiling, the dungeon itself seemed to scream.

Stone cracked like thunder. Not just above the necromancer, but everywhere. The jagged protrusions shuddered, then shattered, and the shock rippled outward through the chamber.

The ceiling began to fall.

Chunks of stone tore free in a violent cascade, slabs slamming down with enough force to crater the floor....

Monarch Chapter 78

Chapter 78

Rayne barely had time to react.

He brought his shield up just in time as the blast hit. The impact was like being struck by a charging beast. Dark energy detonated against the shield’s surface, sending a jolt through his arms and into his spine before he was hurled backward.

He slammed into the wall hard.

His helmet clanged against the stone and left his ears ringing. Hot pain lanced through his shoulders before dulling into something manageable. He slid d...

Monarch Chapter 77

Chapter 77

Rayne cut an undead down in a single motion.

His blade took the creature’s head clean off before it could even raise its rusted dagger. The second lunged from the side, jaw unhinging in a silent scream, and Rayne stepped into it, shield smashing forward. Bone cracked. The monster slammed onto the ground, and he crushed its head with his boots before kicking it towards the wall.

The undead didn't even twitch as a notification confirmed the kill.

He didn’t...

Monarch Chapter 76

Chapter 76

Varrick reacted instantly.

The force shield vanished with a soft crackle, the light dying as if snuffed out, and he stepped back without a word. Rayne mirrored the movement at once, both of them retreating just far enough to slip into the shadow of the corridor’s edge while keeping the chamber in view.

They even held their breath as they watched the woman step fully into the room.

She was tall and lean, draped in a long, dark robe that barely brushed the b...

Monarch Chapter 75

Chapter 75

They kept moving.

Varrick remained at the front, [Force shield] flared and steady, greatsword rising and falling with ruthless efficiency. Every time another pack of dungeon wolves rushed them from the shadows of the walls, he met them head-on—shield first, blade second.

Bone and blood littered the stone behind them in short, brutal intervals.

Rayne followed a few steps behind, sword loose in his grip, his attention taken by the prickling sensation of deat...

I'm sick

Hello everyone, I got sick with a bad fever and weakness from the last two days so I won't be posting today or tomorrow but hopefully I start putting out chapters day after tomorrow.

I'm sorry!

Monarch Chapter 74

Chapter 74

The duel with Varrick only added to his growing lore as a spellsword.

According to Nate, he had stood against him for over three minutes before Serene had come to take the man away. And he had done it alone.

Rayne doubted Varrick was actually using his full strength which also was true for him. He also hadn't sensed mana coming out of his body, but he might be wrong about that since by all terms, Varrick's mana control would be much better than his.

Still...

Monarch Chapter 73

Chapter 73

Nate spat into the dirt and winced as he shifted his weight, one arm wrapped tight around his ribs.

“I’m a fucking idiot, you know that?” he muttered, eyes still fixed on the training ring ahead.

Rayne didn’t look at him. “That’s not new information.”

“I’m serious,” Nate went on, voice low but sharp. “You said he's an apprentice in the Crown's Hand, and if he's like this, then I can't imagine what kind of monsters the rest of them are. ...

Monarch Chapter 72

Chapter 72

Three days passed after the arrival of the Crown’s Hand. And no one managed to get more than a fleeting glimpse at them.

They mostly stayed in the tents with Commander Evans, with the captains joining once in a while, probably discussing the dungeons and the necromancer. Even when they came out, they wore helmets over their dark robes, only talking among themselves.

That only gave more fuel to the rumours and speculations about them.

Every man in the kingd...

Monarch Chapter 71

Chapter 71

The night always reminded Bran of his past when he had been a completely different man.

The darkness stretched wide around the small fire he had created to take a little rest. He had already sent the other scouts in different directions, in pairs, to find the signs of the female stonefur bear. Till now, they have found nothing, but Bran didn't want to spend more than a night in this part of the forest.

He always worked the best alone either way. Though, having n...

Monarch Chapter 70

Chapter 70

Rayne blinked, not understanding the question for a second. He hadn't used [Death Strike] in the battle, and there was no way anyone would know of [Lesser Regeneration]. Then, what was Casper talking about?

Before he could ask, Casper crouched in front of him, close enough that he could smell the faint ozone of burnt mana still clinging to her robes. “I know you used one during the battle.”

He barely stopped himself from frowning. “Mana skill?” he repeated...

Monarch Chapter 69

Chapter 69

The world narrowed to the space between Rayne and the charging monster.

The male stonefur bear came at him like an avalanche given flesh—eyes burning red, mouth open in a bellow so deep it seemed to vibrate inside Rayne’s bones. For a heartbeat, everything inside him screamed the same warning.

Death was coming for him.

His legs moved anyway, muscles coiling to spring, but he knew it wouldn’t be enough. Even if he jumped, his party would be the victims,...

Monarch Chapter 68

Chapter 68

The roar tore through the clearing like a physical thing.

Rayne’s breath locked in his chest as the stonefur bear exploded into motion. The ground trembled under its charge, massive paws churning soil and shattered roots into the air as it barreled straight toward Casper’s position.

For a second, everything slowed for him.

She was still mid-cast, mana flaring around her hands, and had no way of getting out of the way. The soldiers guarding her were also ...

Monarch Chapter 67

Chapter 67

Rayne found it easier to think while he walked. Maybe it was just a way to distract himself from the upcoming battle.

The forest stretched wide as moved westward, the trees thinning and growing taller in strange, uneven clusters. The Pascar Plains didn’t end cleanly here. They frayed. Grass gave way to knotted roots and rocky soil, and beyond the treeline, the land slowly rose toward the distant mountains.

He glanced up through the canopy.

Far beyond the ...

Monarch Chapter 66

Chapter 66

Hobbs slowed half a step and looked at Rayne as if he had grown a horn on his head. “How do you not know them?” he asked quietly.

The question landed heavier than Hobbs probably intended.

Rayne’s stride faltered for a fraction of a second before he forced himself to keep moving. His mind raced with confusion. In the memories he had received, there was only a brief mention of them, and he had never really given it too much thought.

Even his predecessor ...

Monarch Chapter 65

Chapter 65

Three days passed after the revelation of a necromancer lurking in the dungeons of the Pascar Plains.

And nothing happened.

The captains kept the information to themselves. Only a report was asked of Rayne, and Captain Edran told him to be quiet until Commander Evans came to a decision. The army didn’t move, didn’t panic, didn’t change its rhythm.

If anything, the camp grew quieter.

The only change was that the scouts being sent to the dungeons d...

Monarch Chapter 64

Chapter 64

Rayne stiffened as the words settled into the tent. He felt his spine go cold.

Commander Evans spoke after a stretch of silence, leaning against his chair. “Hundreds of them. Packed into the boss chamber and the tunnels leading to it. Common undead, revenants and whatnot—moving corpses that attacked the party as soon as they opened the chamber. Two of my best war mages nearly lost their lives.”

Captain Clark nodded, a little colour draining off his face. “...

Monarch Chapter 63

Chapter 63

The dungeon core room was half as big as the boss chamber. A purple-coloured orb sat in the middle of a stone podium, pulsing softly with light. The core that ran the dungeon, but Rayne’s eyes didn’t linger on it.

Instead, he stared at the bedroll that sat at the edge of the room. Pieces of charcoal were spread beside it, and there was even flattened straw. None of those things belonged in a dungeon.

“Do you think that—”

Rayne began, and Bran cut h...

Monarch Chapter 62

Chapter 62

The door creaked open.

And in a single heartbeat, all of them froze as two glowing hollow eyes looked at them.

They were like empty pits of absolute black that seemed to swallow the pale light bleeding in from the moss-lit chamber behind them.

Rayne's breath hitched as he recognised where he had seen eyes like that before.

John took a reflexive step back.

Something moved from inside the room and took a step into the boss chamber.

An undead ...

Monarch Chapter 61

Chapter 61

Rayne had seen a lot of strange things since finding himself in this world. But dungeon plants with the hobby of latching onto one’s face easily took the top spot.

He raised his shield just in time as a patch of moss jumped from the walls, aiming for his throat. A moss creeper. One of the most annoying monsters in this dungeon.

It dropped to the ground the next second, and Rayne crushed it with his boot before raising his head and taking a look around.

The...