36 Crystallce

'Shit... Why are they all so fixated on me?' Dhruv thought as he erected a metal barrier to shield himself from the onslaught of ice spikes. His initial attempt to assess the durability of their skin had backfired, leading all of them to target him relentlessly.

However, this situation wasn't as dire as it seemed. In fact, it might prove beneficial for him and costly for his opponents. Concentrating their attack solely on him wasn't the wisest strategy, given that seven other formidable adversaries were looking for openings in their defense.

With all the attacks directed at Dhruv, Alaric saw this as an opportune moment to turn the tables. He unpacked himself, leaving Azarex and Vexar vulnerable to the attack. The worst didn't happen, as the enemies are still focused on Dhruv.

Using his skill, Alaric vanishes into Azarex's shadow, only to reappear from the shadow of one of the ice monsters. The moment he appeared in the middle of their ranks, the monsters were fast enough to notice him. But Alaric was faster; he quickly decapitated one of them, and without any time wasted, he disappeared once again. Successful in his plan, He began to wreak havoc by repeating the same thing over and over again.

With all the monsters now fixated on Alaric, their coordinated attack was interrupted. This brief disruption provided Dhruv with the opportunity to shift from a defensive stance to an offensive one. Surging towards the monsters, he picked up the spear from the ground and swiftly activated [Tempest Charge]. A mere second after employing the skill, he found himself positioned in front of one of the monsters.

The monster turned around, now looking directly into his eyes. For a while, Dhruv and the monster were locked in a contest of eye contact. But that didn't last long, as Dhruv lifted his hand and touched the cold surface of the monster's head. Before the monster could even defend himself, he cast the elemental bolt spell, obliterating the monster's head. Now, covered in blue blood, he looked at the notification, where the name of the monster was mentioned…

[You have killed the monster: Lessar Crystallce.]

[You h…]

[You h…]

In a span of just ten seconds, the monsters' long-range advantage was nullified. As their ability to attack from a distance vanished, so did their power.

Now that the battle had turned into melee combat, the eight of them managed to quickly turn the battle to their advantage. Crystallce's physical attributes were truly the worst among the three types of monsters they had fought. This made it relatively easy for them to defeat these monsters, especially for Dhruv, who could obliterate them with his devastating punch.

Despite their strategic advantages, the battle didn't proceed as smoothly as they had hoped. The ice spells wielded by the Crystallce  proved to be a significant nuisance, requiring a sturdy defense to prevent serious injuries.

Vexar's fire affinity proved to be incredibly advantageous against the Crystallce  as well. Harnessing his fire abilities, he enhanced his sword with flames, allowing him to effortlessly slice through the icy creatures as if they were made of tofu.

It still took some time for the squad to finish them due to their defensive approach toward the fight. But in the end, they won, with two giant goblins as casualties. Which wasn't exactly a bad deal.

Not bothered by the deaths of his two goblins. On the contrary, he seems quite satisfied with the fact that they gave their lives for his master, and now he could create undead from the corpses of Crystallce. And these ones seem practically more promising for fighting, considering that they could use magic.

Azarex approaches the Crystallce corpses and revives four of them. After reviving them, he looked at the dhruv with his lightless, hollow eyes and spoke in a supplicating manner.

"Master… I beseech you, bestow upon them the strength to serve you for all eternity,"

Dhruv found it quite surprising that Azarex was able to communicate so smoothly. Drawing nearer to the undead creatures, he used his fusion ability. After a while, all four of them began to merge together.

The new fused monster is quite beautiful, to say the least.

'Fusion seems to enhance every aspect of the monster—making the ugly even uglier and the beautiful even more attractive,' Dhruv mused with a hint of irony.

The newly formed undead beings appeared even more frozen; their height hadn't undergone any significant change akin to that of the goblins. Rather, it seemed that the ice within their bodies had become denser, with the crystals that were previously scattered now concentrated over their vital areas.

After crafting the first one, he proceeded to create another of these undead creatures. Then, addressing Azarex, he inquired,

"Azarex, how many of these can you control simultaneously..?"

This was a question that had been lingering in his mind since the moment he witnessed Azarex resurrecting the corpses.

Azarex thought for a moment, then said, "If the task is complex and needs precise control, like fighting or... or anything like that, then I can control up to five at a time after leveling up my necromancy. And If the task is simple, then I can command as many as ten at once."

Processing the response, Dhruv contemplated for a moment before asking, "So, moving objects from one place to another, is that considered a complex or easy task?"

Azarex pondered the question before replying, "If the undead is just required to perform simple lifting and moving, then the task would be considered simple. If I'm not crossing the limit, I would like to ask the reason behind your inquiry, my lord."

"Oh, no worries. And I must emphasize, never hesitate to ask anything you find challenging. The reason I was inquiring is because I intend to seal off the prison entrance before the next wave of monsters arrives," Dhruv explained.

Azarex appeared puzzled for a moment before asking the question once more, his expression reflecting confusion, "But why do we need to block the prison entrance?"

Dhruv gazed into Azarex's hollow eyes and stated, "Azarex, we were fortunate that the 'Crystallce' didn't assault us while we battled the goblins and spiders. But just consider this: What if we were to be surrounded on all sides by them?"

He paused, allowing Azarex to reflect on the scenario. After brief contemplation, the necromancer responded, "The likelihood of us losing would rise significantly."

"Exactly! That's precisely the point. To prevent such a scenario, I want to secure the prison entrance so that we don't have any surprise attacks from the rear," Dhruv affirmed.

Satisfied with their discussion, Azarex proceeded to create more goblin undead. Dhruv followed up by employing his fusion ability. In a short while, a line of ten powerful undead emerged, composed of eight mega goblins and two Crystallce.

Following the plan, Dhruv ordered the eight goblins to transport heavy materials from the prison and place them in front of the gate.

After an hour or two of work, a significant amount of material had accumulated by the gate. The stack primarily comprised beds. Satisfied with the result, he picked up a rod from the pile and lodged it in the middle of the handles to obstruct the easy opening. Then, the entire stack was heaved in front of the gate.

With the preparations completed, Dhruv and the ten undead commenced extracting cores from the defeated monsters. Meanwhile, the trio began consuming parts of the monsters to absorb their essence for body mutation.

To expedite and streamline the process, Dhruv merged many corpses into one so they could absorb more essence points in a shorter amount of time.

Following this, the group divided the cores into equal portions and initiated the absorption process to saturate their cores.

Observing the group diligently at work, Dhruv also took the opportunity to access his status screen to do some skill upgrades he had postponed for a while.