The statue had sensed something. Its head turned slightly toward the fortress gates, but Luke was already hidden behind the warhorn, heart pounding. From his position, he could see the backs of the countless stone soldiers lined up before him, all facing the city streets in perfect stillness. They were frozen. But there were so many of them.

Even if they're just level 45... if they all wake up, I'm dead.

He understood the stakes now. If that thing, the Angel, reached the warhorn and sounded it, it would be over. The smaller horns carried by the knights weren't just alarms. They were there to alert the Angel. The Angel was the one who triggered the army.

For a second, Luke considered sneaking up and destroying the statues while they were dormant. But the risk of waking them was too high. And the warhorn itself? He doubted he could even crack it, let alone destroy it. Peeking around again, he saw the Angel had returned to her praying posture, head tilted toward the sky like before.

Wide open space, hyper-aware of anything nearby… Yeah, stealth's not going to cut it.

He exhaled sharply, weighing his options. First, he needed to clean up the remaining patrols circling the fortress. He couldn't afford to have any of them rushing to the Angel's aid, or worse, somehow triggering that damn horn by sheer system madness. Knowing his luck, that kind of nonsense was possible.

As he sprinted away to set his plan in motion, thoughts raced through his mind.

"Was it just me, or was that angel kinda hot?" Artemis whispered. "You noticed the statue was naked, right?"

"Seriously? That's what you were thinking about in a life-or-death situation?" Luke asked.

"Come on, man. You totally looked at those stone boobs. Don't lie."

"Maybe I glanced," Luke muttered, "but that's not the point. This is serious."

***

A stone knight was sprinting through the trees, sword drawn, chasing movement he'd caught out of the corner of his eye. His head snapped toward a noise, a clatter of stone on dirt. Another small rock dropped from above. He looked up. All he saw was a figure hanging upside down from a branch. Then it dropped on him.

[You have slain a Watcher Knight – Lvl 45]

Luke hit the ground and broke into a sprint. As he vaulted over a fallen log, he flung his second kukri. The black blade spun through the air just as another knight emerged from the brush and exploded into chunks of shattered stone on impact.

[You have slain a Watcher Knight – Lvl 45]

That one had been the partner of the first.

The kukris snapped back into Luke's hands, but before he could catch his breath, a third knight burst from the opposite direction, charging fast. Luke didn't hesitate. He activated Dark Dash, blinking forward. Just as the knight whipped his head to the side, roots erupted from the ground, tangling around his limbs. Then Charlie dropped from a nearby tree and drove her fist straight into his head.

*The [Pugilist] 2nd Class of Princess Charlie has reached Level 18! (+3 Strength, +2 Endurance, +2 Agility, +2 Vitality, +2 Perception, +2 Intelligence, +2 Free Points.)*

**[Princess Charlie has reached Level 19! Skeleton (Rank F)] (+1 bonus point to all attributes, +1 free point)**

Another notification chimed.

*Your profession [Botanist of Mother Freya] has reached Level 35! (+2 Str, +2 Agi, +2 End, +2 Vit, +2 Per, +2 Int, +4 Free Points)*

[New Profession Skill Available!]

They'd cleared the last of the knights patrolling the perimeter. Luke dropped to the ground and sat back in the grass. It was still dark. And he was stuck at a crossroads. He could double back and grind more levels by clearing out the other camps. That would strengthen both him and Charlie. But the risk? Too high. It would take only one Watcher blowing a horn to wake the Angel and trigger the army, and then it was game over.

So that was the dilemma. Play the hand he had now, or gamble for more power. His stealth was good. Solid. But all it took was one slip.

"We've stalled as much as we could. I'm out of delay tactics," he muttered to Princess Charlie.

It wasn't just about fighting the Angel. Beating her meant triggering the appearance of the Beast Lord. The second this challenge ended, that serpent bastard would come straight for him. No matter how this played out, the odds were stacked against him.

He sighed and pulled up Charlie's newest skill, the one he'd selected when she hit Level 30 as a Death Knight.

[Mark of Doom (Rare)]: Touch a target to apply an invisible seal that increases damage taken by 10%. Marked enemies become prioritized targets, making it easier to focus them down. Ideal for eliminating high-risk threats quickly. The mark remains until it expires or the target leaves your perception range.

Ten percent didn't sound like much at first, but in a real fight? That kind of boost was huge, especially for conserving HP, stamina, and mana. And Luke would need every scrap of it if he planned to face the Beast Lord alone and keep the promise he'd made to Samael.

He looked at the fortress in the distance.

"No more stalling. We're killing that angel."

Luke began channeling Meditation, letting his stamina and mana slowly refill. But just as his breathing steadied, he paused. A system notification blinked at the edge of his vision. He'd earned a new profession skill as a botanist. He opened the interface and tapped the alert. Old skills. All of them.

Five options popped up, and not a single one was new. It happened sometimes. He'd missed out on a few useful older skills in the past, and part of him wished he'd grabbed them when he had the chance. But right now, what he really wanted were new abilities from the path of Mother Freya.

Mildly annoyed, he scanned the list anyway.

[Soil Analysis (Uncommon)] [Plant-Based Gastronomy (Uncommon)] [Thorn Mutation (Uncommon)] [Plant Capsule (Uncommon)] [Botanical Meditation (Rare)]

Each one had been passed over before, for good reason. They were either too situational or just plain useless in combat.

"Would Botanical Meditation even be worth it?" he muttered.

Sure, it had the best rarity. But usefulness? Meh. He shut off the logical part of his brain. None of these were going to be game-changers anyway.

He lingered on Plant Capsule for a moment. "Learning to make healing capsules wouldn't be the worst thing…"

Truth was, Corrupted Plant Growth had been so unexpectedly powerful in combat that he kept forgetting this was a profession, not a class. Botany would never hit as hard as Assassin skills. That's just how the system worked.

"Better than nothing," he sighed, and hovered over Plant Capsule to confirm the selection, then stopped.

"Wait a second…"

His eyes jumped back to the list, narrowing. He tapped on one of the skills, letting the full description unfold. And that's when the idea hit him. Weird. Unexpected. But maybe… viable.

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[Thorn Mutation (Uncommon)]: The botanist can trigger thorn growth on friendly plants, enhancing their natural defenses or adapting them for offense.

It couldn't mean what he thought it meant. Right? Only one way to find out.

[You have acquired a Profession Skill: Thorn Mutation]

"Let's see if this actually works…"

He raised his hand. The ground trembled slightly, and one of his dark roots surged upward from the dirt. Then, spikes. Dozens of sharp, green thorns burst from the root's surface, bristling like a forest of knives.

Luke grinned.

He pointed toward one of the broken stone corpses nearby. The root moved, slithered, coiled, and slammed down like a club. The thorns dug in and crunched, splintering the statue's remains with ease.

Now that had potential. He'd just proven that even the "useless" skills could be deadly if applied right. His gaze drifted back toward the fortress. The fight with the angel was coming. After that, the Beast Lord. There wasn't much time.

***

Luke sprinted through the forest surrounding the fortress. With no enemies left to kill, farming XP was off the table—for now. But the place still had something just as valuable: resources.

[Tree Sap (Common)]: A thick, golden resin extracted from old, healthy trees. Its texture is sticky and its scent faintly sweet. When added to potions, it stabilizes ingredients and enhances healing and regenerative effects.

He gathered anything that looked remotely useful, combing through the underbrush with methodical precision. Eventually, he reached the edge of a river. Familiar. It was the same one he'd seen flowing beyond the dungeon zone, the one that cut through the forest and snaked around the capital. He wasn't here for the view, though. What he wanted was growing near the riverbank.

[Purple Mint (Uncommon)]: A rare variety of common mint with violet-tinted leaves and a strong, distinctive scent. Its mana-infused molecular structure makes it an excellent catalyst, enhancing and stabilizing a wide range of alchemical mixtures.

"Guess the Plant Sensor's actually pulling its weight."

He kept foraging until his eyes landed on another patch of the mint. Then he stopped and stared at it for a moment.

"Well… time to find out if this was a terrible idea."

Luke took a deep breath. He closed four fingers, leaving just one extended, and raised his kukri. One swift motion. Clean cut. Pain flared. That ever-present itching came right behind it. The severed finger dropped to the forest floor. He was used to the pain by now, but that didn't make it any less brutal. Without flinching, he continued harvesting herbs with his left hand while blood dripped from the other. Moments later, the notification appeared.

*Your profession [Botanist of Mother Freya] has reached Level 36! (+2 Str, +2 Agi, +2 End, +2 Vit, +2 Per, +2 Int, +4 Free Points)*

**[You have reached Level 28! Half-Demon (Rank F)] (+1 bonus point to all attributes, +1 free point)**

The wound sealed. A new finger began to grow. Just one level. But in a fight where the line between survival and death was razor-thin, every stat point counted. Luke picked up the severed finger from the dirt and let a drop of his blood fall onto a dry stick nearby. The stick absorbed it like a sponge. Then it began to mend. Leaves bloomed across its surface.

"This is seriously messed up…"

That finger was going to be the centerpiece of an experiment. If it worked, it could tip the scales against the Beast Lord. He tucked the finger into the necklace around his neck.

"Hey, Luke," Artemis chimed in. "When I said I wanted a piece of you inside me, I meant it sexually. The dismembered finger thing is just disgusting."

"Believe me, this wasn't my first choice."

And with that, he got back to work. The preparations weren't over.

***

Luke stopped near the edge of the fortress and pulled up his system interface. It had been a while since he last allocated his stat points.

Name: Luke Level: 28 Race: Half-Demon Rank: F Class: [Demonic Assassin (Lvl 38)] Profession: [Botanist of Mother Freya (Lvl 36)] Titles: [Dark Lord] Bloodline: [Bloodline of the Dark Demon] Health Points (HP): 2380/2380 Mana Points (MP): 1942/1960 Stamina: 1407/1420 Soul Fragments: 62/1000

Stats: Strength: 348 Agility: 244 (294) Endurance:122 (142) Vitality: 238 Perception: 273 (283) Intelligence: 196 (201) Free Points: 51

Class Skills: [Basic Blade Handling (Common)], [Profane Knife Throwing (Uncommon)], [Twin Blade (Common)], [Basic Dark Dash (Rare)], [Basic Blood Regeneration (Rare)], [Assassin's Mark (Rare)], [Demonic Blade Dance (Rare)], [Wraith Form (Ultra-Rare)], [Force Infusion (Rare)], [Advanced Stealth (Rare)], [Assassin's Tracking (Rare)]

Profession Skills: [Herbology of Mother Freya (Ancient)], [Precise Extraction (Common)], [Basic Potion Crafting (Common)], [Corrupted Plant Growth (Rare)], [Plant Sensor (Uncommon)], [Botanical Bond of Mother Freya (Rare)], [Seed Conversion (Rare)], [Plant Manipulation of Mother Freya (Rare)], [Corrupted Blood of Mother Freya (Ultra-Rare)], [Thorn Mutation (Uncommon)]

Race Skills: [Identify (Common)], [Demonic Perception (Uncommon)], [Dark Blood (Uncommon)], [Meditation (Common)], [Demonic Endurance (Uncommon)]

Bloodline Skill: [Servant of the Dark Lord (Unique)] Servants: [Princess Charlie (Skeleton) - Lvl 19], [Servant Slot Available]

"Fifty-one unspent points… that number won't stop following me," he muttered.

His mana consumption had spiked lately. Between Corrupted Plant Growth, Botanical Bond, Plant Manipulation, and Thorn Mutation, just making those spiked root tentacles and controlling them mentally drained him faster than ever. The only time he'd burned through mana this hard was pushing Wraith Form to the limit.

He needed more mana. Period. But also more stamina—for Force Infusion. He dumped 26 points into Intelligence and 25 into Endurance.

Status Updated: Endurance: 122 (142) -> 147 (167) Intelligence: 196 (201) -> 222 (227) Free Points: 51 -> 0 [Mana Points (MP): 1960 (2010) -> 2220 (2270)] [Stamina: 1220 (1420) -> 1470 (1670)]

Last thing left was upgrading Charlie's stats.

Name: Princess Charlie Level: 19 Race: Skeleton Rank: F Class: Death Knight (Lvl 30) 2nd Class: Pugilist (Lvl 18) Title: [Servant of the Dark Lord] Health Points (HP): 1580/1580 Mana Points (MP): 1120/1120 Stamina: 1430/1430 (1830/1830)

Stats: Strength: 191 (261) Agility: 114 Endurance: 143 (183) Vitality: 158 Perception: 92 Intelligence: 112 Free Points: 14

Class Skills: [Basic Weapon Handling (Common)], Heavy Strike (Common), [Basic Spectral Charge (Rare)], [Crescent Slash (Uncommon)], [Whirlwind Strike (Uncommon)], [Spectral Chain (Rare)], [Spectral Barrier (Rare)], [Doomblade (Rare)], [Mark of Doom (Rare)]

Second Class Skills: [Advanced Hand-to-Hand (Uncommon)], [Steel Fist (Rare)], [Stunning Punch (Uncommon)], [Battle Roar (Uncommon)], [Concentrated Kick (Uncommon)], [Power Punch (Uncommon)], [Pugilist's Leap (Uncommon)]

Race Skills: [Demonic Servant Perception (Uncommon)], [Basic Bone Regeneration (Rare)], [Bone Endurance (Rare)], [Iron Bones (Ultra-Rare)]

Rune Skill: [Berserker Flames (Rare)]

Luke studied the spread. All of it went into Strength.

Stats Updated (Princess Charlie):

Strength: 191 (261) -> 205 (275)

He closed the system screens and looked down at the ground.

"Time to kill an angel."

***

Luke sat atop the side wall of the fortress, perched high above the courtyard. Below, the angel stood motionless in front of the main structure's entrance, her gaze fixed skyward. His eyes drifted past her for a moment, settling on the central building—the place where the third mechanism waited. That was the key. His ticket home. He'd come too far to die now.

Gripping an arrow between his teeth, he began channeling stamina into it. Both hands held kukris, and he poured stamina into those too, pushing the limit. He hurled the first blade with all the force he could muster.

The sharp whistle cut through the silence. The angel reeled as the kukri struck her square in the face. Stone chipped away with a crack. She stumbled, genuinely startled. With a slow, almost human motion, the creature reached up and pulled the blade from her face. Where one of her eyes had been, there was now a clean hole. Dead-on.

The second kukri followed right after, slamming hard into her chest with enough power to stagger her again. The angel's face twisted in fury, head snapping upward to search for the source. Her gaze locked with Luke's.

He drew back the arrow, now blazing with stamina, and released it straight at her remaining eye. End it now. But just before impact, she caught it. Lowering her hand slowly, she turned her head and stared directly at him.

"Of course it wasn't gonna be that easy," Luke muttered.

And then the angel bolted, racing toward the warhorn.

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