Free Web NovelChapter 110: _A-Rank Army
"I’ve got you!" Gabriel shouted, pulling Ambrose down with a sharp tug. He wiggled the fingers of his other hand, creating a field around the group, untouched by the dungeon’s unstable gravity.
Ambrose had his heart in his throat as he panted hard. He stole a glance at Gabriel’s face, realising that the SS-Rank still had his fingers clutched around his wrist.
His cheeks flushed red when Gabriel finally let go, eyes sliding to Devon and Viktor. Both S-Ranks appeared to have been seconds away from darting toward him but were apparently too slow.
Valentine snapped his neck just then, gaze scouring the path ahead. "Looks like we have company."
Everyone turned their heads in the direction he was staring. All they saw were clusters of coral, bits of some of them getting uprooted by the unstable gravity.
But Ambrose noticed something... off.
Without spatial awareness, he was able to notice one of the giant corals’ ruffling. And that was neither because of the gravity nor the wind.
"Crap." He cursed, subconsciously grabbing the handle of his frost dagger.
SCREEREKK!
Bone-curdling screeches resounded from the corals, bouncing off each other in a distorted cacophony. The earth trembled—glowing veins around the corals reaching a brighter peak.
Then—a red coral with spikes like a cactus emerged from the ground, dust and debris crumbling off its lower body. Once it stood upright, a stubble at the top of it revealed rows of glowing black eyes.
It was at least ten feet tall with four tentacle-like limbs.
[ALERT! New dungeon beast type detected.]
[Coral beasts — higher A-Rank creatures, buried in the soil of the dungeon so long that they’ve been collecting the aether energy from the veins. For sustenance.]
Higher A-Rank beasts...
Yeah—there’s no way in hell he’ll be able to survive these things alone. Fortunately, he wasn’t.
More corals emerged, some appearing larger or more twisted than the first. One of them even had an elongated snout, jagged shark-like teeth carved within.
There were at least twenty of them, towering above them like small trees.
Devon and Viktor spread out their hands, preparing to launch attacks—until Valentine stepped forward with a crooked smile cracking his lips.
"Save your aether," he murmured, his shadow elongating behind his feet. "They’re mine."
Ambrose blinked with confusion, watching the Necromancer raise a hand leisurely. His shadow expanded until it covered a radius of over twenty meters around them.
All of them except Gabriel shielded their faces instinctively with their arms. Ghostly howls echoed around them, phantom figures slowly clawing out of the shadows.
"Awaken—my legion."
A chill ran down Ambrose’s spine as he inched a step back. "Gods..."
Tens of bipedal orcs stood around the group now, humanoid and wielding weapons. They appeared to be forged from shadows and death, their eyes hollow orbs of spectral blue light.
The once confident coral beasts paused, showing signs of hesitation.
Too late.
The moment stretched for a fraction of a second—then shattered as the phantom orcs moved.
They didn’t charge like mindless beasts. There was coordination. Precision. Like a well-trained army that had fought together for years.
One lunged forward, its blade cleaving clean through a coral limb. Another ducked low, hacking at the base of a towering beast before rolling away as its comrades surged in to finish the job.
"Damn..." Devon muttered under his breath.
Ambrose’s eyes darted everywhere at once, trying—and failing—to keep up.
[Scanning targets...]
[Phantom Orc Legion — A-Rank entities.]
[Aether signatures are stable. Bound to the summoner: Valentine.]
A-Rank...
All of them.
Ambrose felt something in his brain short-circuit.
A whole army... of A-Rank monsters?
His gaze snapped toward Valentine, who stood there like he was watching a mildly interesting play, hands tucked casually into his coat pockets.
That wasn’t just strength. It was absurd. Utterly terrifying too.
A guttural screech ripped through the air as one of the coral beasts attempted to retaliate, its tentacle whipping out wildly. It caught an orc square in the chest—
—and passed straight through it.
The phantom didn’t even flinch.
"Can they turn intangible?" Viktor murmured, eyes narrowing.
"Not entirely," Gabriel corrected calmly, watching as another orc drove its weapon into the beast’s core, causing it to convulse violently. "They exist between states."
Ambrose didn’t fully understand that—but he didn’t need to.
Because within seconds it was over.
The battlefield fell eerily silent.
Fragments of coral bodies littered the ground, twitching faintly before going still. The glowing veins beneath them pulsed, as if reacting to the sudden loss.
Ambrose exhaled shakily, only just realising he’d been holding his breath. "...That was fast."
Valentine stepped forward then, boots crunching lightly against the broken remains. His shadow stretched once more, darker and hungrier.
With a flick of his wrist, the shadows beneath the fallen coral beasts rippled.
Then they rose. Not their bodies. Their shadows.
Twisted, distorted versions of the coral beasts peeled away from the ground, dragging themselves upward with unnatural, jerky movements. Their forms were darker, hollow—yet unmistakably alive.
Ambrose’s stomach turned.
"Yeah... I’m never getting used to that," Devon muttered.
The newly formed shadow-corals let out low, warped screeches before bowing, their massive forms lowering toward Valentine in submission.
Satisfied, Valentine gave a small nod. "Return."
As if pulled by an invisible force, every single one of them—the orcs and coral shadows—collapsed inward, sinking back into his shadow like droplets into a void.
And just like that... gone.
Ambrose blinked, staring at the now-empty battlefield.
Only the original coral bodies remained for about three seconds.
Then they began to dissolve.
Their forms broke apart into glowing particles, seeping into the ground, drawn back into the veins beneath the sand. The aether pulsed brighter for a moment before stabilising.
"Recycling," Ambrose whispered.
Gabriel glanced at him briefly. "Mmhm."
No one spoke after that.
They simply continued forward, step by step.
The deeper they went, the quieter it became.
Even the air felt heavier.
Then—a low, deep sound echoed throughout the dungeon.
Ambrose’s entire body went rigid.
Above them, the inverted ocean trembled.
One of the massive whale-like creatures had stopped moving. Its enormous form loomed within the floating waters, casting a shadow that swallowed the light beneath it.
Then it roared.
The sound wasn’t just heard—it was felt. It vibrated through bone, through blood, through the very air itself.
Ambrose’s breath hitched.
Slowly, the creature turned. And its eyes—those vast, glowing orbs—locked directly onto them.
