"Undead! So many undead!"

"Countess, be careful!"

The extraordinary knights cried out in alarm, immediately raising their swords and steel shields to protect Charlotte.

"Roar—!"

Hearing the knights' voices, the undead in the dense forest let out a low growl and charged towards them like a horde of zombies from a movie.

The battle erupted instantly.

The extraordinary knights swung their swords, cutting down the undead that came at them.

However, the next moment, the fallen undead wobbled back to their feet and continued to charge at the knights.

"Cut off their heads! Extinguish their soul fire!"

The experienced leading knight shouted.

The remaining extraordinary knights immediately adjusted their attacks, aiming for the heads of the undead.

One by one, the rotting heads were severed, spraying foul black blood. The headless bodies staggered and then collapsed, reverting to ordinary corpses.

These undead were not very strong.

Although they were much stronger than ordinary people and felt no pain, none of them had entered the tiered strength.

As long as they weren't caught off guard, they were no match for the extraordinary.

However, the sheer number of undead was overwhelming.

The forest was filled with the eerie light of countless soul fires, and more undead surged forward, overwhelming the extraordinary knights.

In no time, Charlotte and the others were surrounded.

"Protect the Countess! Break through!"

The leading extraordinary knight decapitated another undead and commanded loudly.

As the only Starry Sky knight accompanying the Countess on this investigation, he led the charge, carving a path back to the camp.

However, just as he gave the order, a sudden gust of foul wind blew, and an undead far faster than the others lunged at him.

This undead clearly had First Tier strength and higher intelligence.

It leaped with a rusty sword, executing a sword technique aimed directly at the knight captain's head.

"It's a ranked undead! Captain, watch out!"

The extraordinary knights exclaimed in shock.

The knight captain's heart tightened, and he quickly turned to defend.

But he had just parried a blow and didn't have time to gather his strength for a proper defense, let alone against the sudden attack of a ranked undead.

As he barely managed to assume a defensive stance, the undead's attack descended.

The knight captain felt a tremendous force at his wrist, causing his hands to go numb, and his sword was knocked to the ground.

But the undead's assault wasn't over.

It twisted its body at an unnatural angle, raising its rusty sword again to slash at the captain.

"Captain!"

The extraordinary knights shouted in alarm.

Seeing the rusty sword coming down at him, the knight captain's face turned pale.

He knew he couldn't block this attack!

However, just as he thought he was about to die, a sharp whistling sound came from behind.

A crossbow bolt pierced through the head of the ranked undead, sending its rotten head flying and pinning it to a nearby tree.

The headless undead staggered a bit before collapsing.

The astonished extraordinary knights blinked in surprise, as did the knight captain.

Instinctively looking back, he saw their beautiful and composed Countess calmly putting away a hand crossbow and reloading it with practiced ease.

Unlike her elegant demeanor at banquets or her innocent and playful behavior on ordinary days, Charlotte now appeared calm and fearless, utterly unafraid of the horrifying undead, looking nothing like a sixteen year old girl.

She walked over, stepping past the fallen corpses, and picked up the rusty sword the ranked undead had used, weighing it in her hand.

But after unsheathing the rusty sword, she seemed to notice something, frowning slightly and sniffing the blade.

Then, raising her eyebrows, she narrowed her eyes.

"Countess...?"

The knight captain hesitantly called out, noticing her contemplative expression.

Hearing his voice, Charlotte snapped back to reality.

She waved the rusty sword, looked toward the horde of undead, took a deep breath, and calmly said.

"Follow me to break through."

With that, she moved past the knight captain, heading towards the camp.

Attracted by her vibrant life force, the undead roared and lunged at her.

"Countess!"

The knight captain's expression changed.

He quickly picked up his sword, ready to assist.

But before he could reach her, he saw their Countess taking the initiative to attack.

In the clear moonlight, her golden hair shimmered with a touch of silver.

She swung the rusty sword, cutting down the undead rushing at her.

Her movements were simple and direct, but incredibly fast.

The knight captain realized he couldn't keep up with her speed.

Fast... very fast!

Charlotte's sword flashed in the moonlight, severing the heads of the undead charging at her. Those in the front were cut down, their ragged armor split in two.

Despite this, she moved effortlessly, shaking the black blood from her sword. A faint crimson glow flickered in her blue eyes.

For the first time, the extraordinary aura carrying strong magical waves emanated from Charlotte.

That powerful aura made the knight captain, a Starry Sky knight, feel a slight prickling sensation on his skin.

She was First Tier extraordinary!

The Countess was a First Tier extraordinary!

The knight captain's eyes widened in shock.

At that moment, another swift figure dashed out from the horde.

It was another ranked undead!

Like the first, it cunningly chose the perfect moment to attack, launching a surprise assault from behind Charlotte.

The knight captain's expression changed dramatically, about to warn her, but saw the Countess raise her crossbow and shoot a bolt with pinpoint accuracy.

The bolt pierced the undead's head, pinning it to a tree, and extinguishing the green fire in its eyes.

Silence.

An eerie silence fell over the extraordinary knights despite the undead's roars.

They stared at the girl leading them as if seeing their newly appointed Countess for the first time.

Unaware of Charlotte's strength, the knights from Castell territory only knew she was also extraordinary from her loyal retainers.

But her true power remained a mystery, as the journey had been peaceful until now.

The knights initially assumed that their young Countess had merely awakened her bloodline powers.

It was difficult for them to associate the beautiful, innocent, and endearing Countess, who instinctively evoked their protective instincts, with a powerful extraordinary being.

However, at this moment, the girl’s combat prowess exceeded their expectations.

By the Gods, the Countess was indeed a First Tier extraordinary!

And... a rather powerful one at that!

Such formidable strength at such a young age—could it be that Castell would produce another Blazing Sun in the future?

Sensing the knights’ gazes, Charlotte turned slightly and looked back.

Seeing their focused attention, she smiled and said.

“What are you standing there for? Break through with me.”

As she spoke, she put away the now-empty crossbow and casually threw the rusty sword behind her, pinning another sneaky undead to a tree.

Silver moonlight bathed the girl, enveloping her in a layer of mysterious radiance.

Casually, she pulled the rusty sword from the pinned corpse, flicking off the black blood once more.

“Oh, by the way.”

As if remembering something, she placed her left index finger on her lips, smiled slightly at the knights, and a trace of blood-red color flickered in her eyes.

“Keep my strength a secret, okay?”

With a light laugh, she turned and continued fighting her way towards the camp.

The extraordinary knights stared blankly at her petite figure, a touch of red flickering in their pupils, their faces showing confusion and admiration.

It took them a while to snap out of it and quickly follow her lead.

Watching the seemingly delicate yet Valkyrie-like figure effortlessly maneuvering through the horde of undead, the knight captain couldn't help but murmur.

“The Countess... is truly amazing!”

...

Night was the domain of the bloodbornes.

Having trained for over half a year in Borde, Charlotte's strength had vastly improved. These undead attacking her were no match.

Bringing the zero-tier extraordinary knights back to the camp unharmed was more challenging than clearing out the undead.

However, they hadn't strayed far from the camp, and under Charlotte's lead, they soon returned.

But the camp was in chaos as well.

As Charlotte emerged from the dense forest, she saw a holy light enveloping the camp—Lottie and a few apprentice priests were casting purification and blessing spells.

Additionally, a silver light shot up, forming a translucent shield that protected everyone. Charlotte recognized it as Nice’s contract magic.

Around the camp, countless undead were attacking the defensive structures temporarily erected with earth element magic by the accompanying mages.

Looking down the road, Charlotte saw the dense green soul fires.

These were not ordinary undead.

This was clearly an undead army controlled by someone!

“Countess!”

Seeing Charlotte safely return with the extraordinary knights, Baron Sharon, who was leading the camp’s defense, breathed a sigh of relief and quickly had the knights clear a path for them.

Charlotte entered the camp, tossing aside the blood-stained rusty sword. The black cat Nice soon jumped over.

“Meow! Miss Charlotte, you’re finally back! We were about to go out and rescue you!”

Charlotte disdainfully grabbed him by the scruff, stopping his leap, and asked.

“How’s the camp?”

Nice’s expression turned serious.

“Not good! There are too many undead attacking! And many of them are ranked!”

“Although they can't breach the camp yet, everyone will tire eventually... unless a God intervenes, the longer this drags on, the more dangerous it becomes.”

Nice emphasized “God” with a clear implication.

Charlotte gave him an understanding look, while Nice cleared his throat and said.

“Miss Charlotte, I think we’re being ambushed. So many undead must be controlled by someone, and... they wouldn’t set up an ambush without being fully prepared.”

Charlotte remained noncommittal.

She nodded slightly, glancing around to find another figure.

“Where’s Sebastian?”

“Meow! No idea! That guy disappeared as soon as the fight started!”

Nice indignantly replied.

Charlotte gave him another calm glance.

Under her deep gaze, Nice’s tail drooped slightly, and he honestly said.

“Meow... probably... probably went to find the necromancer behind this?”

Charlotte then set him down.

She considered calling Sebastian back through their mystical connection but then noticed a movement above.

Sebastian, agile as ever, leaped down from the towering trees along the road, landing directly in front of her.

“Back already? What’s the situation?”

Charlotte asked.

Sebastian glanced at the other knights, his expression serious.

“Master...”

Noticing his gaze, Charlotte felt a slight unease and ordered the other extraordinary knights to continue fighting, leaving only Sebastian, herself, and Nice.

“Tell me, how many undead are there, and how strong are they?”

“A lot! Too many! Probably more than five thousand! Maybe more! And... there are death knights among them!”

Sebastian replied solemnly.

Charlotte raised an eyebrow.

Death Knights were Second Tier Silver Moon.

However, the absence of Third Tier Blazing Sun Dark Knights in such a large undead tide suggested the necromancer behind it was likely of Silver Moon tier, but probably not alone.

“Did you find the necromancers’ locations?”

Sebas looked grim.

“No, they’re very good at hiding their presence.”

Charlotte nodded knowingly, as if expecting this.

“That makes sense, given that... night is the domain of bloodbornes.”

“Bloodbornes?”

Sebastian’s eyes widened, his expression turning odd.

“Yes, Bloodbornes.”

“I smelled a familiar scent in the blood of those undead...”

Charlotte said, narrowing her eyes.