Chapter 418: Undying Legion (1/2)

Zac kept experimenting with [Undying Legion] and he found that he could infuse the Fragment of the Axe into skeletons as well, but only into the few who were wielding an axe. It appeared they couldn’t use weapons that he provided either, which made it impossible to hand out a bunch of disposable axes to improve their power.

But the Dao of the Coffin was a more fitting infusion anyway, so Zac felt it was fine. It didn’t only improve their offensive power by a huge degree, it also made them a noticeably sturdier. A couple of the skeletons were ripped apart as they were mobbed by the frenzied parasites, but those infused with the Dao of the Coffin were like stalwart defenders who never went down.

One disappointing factor was that he only managed to infuse 12 of the hundred or so skeletons the skill conjured. He wasn’t sure whether this was a limit of the skill or due to him lacking control over his Daos, as Zac felt a noticeable strain to split his mental energy and imbue many targets at the same time.

Being able to infuse all of them would, of course, be preferable, but at least it was a start. It created a few skeleton commanders who could lead their brethren into battle. Zac himself joined the fight as well, taking advantage of his massive frame and weapon to carve a path of death in the hordes.

Zac also tested the offensive capabilities of the Fragment of the Coffin in conjunction with [Vanguard of Undeath], and the fit was just amazing. It did not only make his conjured armor far sturdier, but it also imbued his axe with the same corrosive capabilities as it did with the skeletons.

He felt extremely lucky to have mastered the Seed of Rot from the fight inside the Inheritance. What is he had simply fused Sanctuary with Hardness to form the Fragment of the Shield instead? He would have turned into a mobile fortress, impervious but unable to dish out nearly as much damage.

Now he was a tank who spread death and decay wherever he walked. Black clouds started to billow around him as well, seeping out through the slits in his helmet as though a fire burned inside the miasmic armor. Thankfully it turned out his summons were completely unaffected by the corrosive mists of [Winds of Decay], even though they were neck-deep in it.

One disappointing change to Zac was that he was suddenly unable to infuse the black mists with his Fragment of the Coffin. Ever since the skill reached Middle proficiency he had been able to infuse it with the Seed of Rot, which kicked its corrosion to another level.

But now that the nature of the Dao changed he lost the ability to infuse the gas. Was it because there was no component of hardness to the skill?

Zac felt some disappointment with the development, but he suddenly had a spark of inspiration. If he went by the image of his latest Dao Fragment the corrosive aspect was locked inside the hardness. Zac immediately changed his tactic and infused his lungs with the Fragment of the Coffin instead as he breathed out another lungful of corrosive mists.

The latest gust was clearly different compared to the others. The normal mist was essentially a greyish black, but the new mist also had a greenish hue to it, making it feel more nefarious. His guess had been correct, he simply needed to adapt his thinking a bit to make the skill work.

He made his lungs the coffin, and the skill the aspect of rot that he exhaled.

This discovery did unfortunately bring a whole new problem he had never encountered in his Hatchetman class though. He had too many skills active at the same time. The continuous consumption of miasma wasn’t negligible, but the real problem was related to the Dao.

It was simply impossible for Zac to infuse all his skills with the Daos at the same time. The moment he started infusing [Winds of Decay], the infusion to [Vanguard of Undeath] ended. It was also completely impossible for him to split his consciousness enough to add his Daos to the spectral projections for [Deathwish] while using it for other skills.

He was able to juggle the Fragment of the Coffin back and forth between his skills to some success, but he found himself being constantly delayed and losing focus on the battle itself. It felt like he was trying to solve a Sudoku in the middle of battle, making him constantly distracted. It looked like he would have to work even harder with his exercises to improve his mental control.

Still, only being able to infuse one or two skills at a time was acceptable for now, and with everything in place Zac allowed himself to freely rampage across the back of the Avoli. Ogras kept his distance, staying far away from the toxic battlefield Zac had created. It only took him 10 minutes before a deathly silence had spread out across the back of the titan, with not a single living parasite remaining in the area.

Only then did Zac release his skills, surprised to notice that he had less than a quarter of his Miasma remaining. It wasn’t due to wounds since he didn’t even have a flesh wound from the battle thanks to the armor, but it was rather due to the massive expenditure. If it wasn’t for [Fields of Despair] returning some miasma to him he might have turned back to his human form unknowingly.

Zac felt extremely satisfied with the two new skills to his class though, even if their costs were pretty big. He finally started to understand how Undying Bulwark was meant to be used. The first skills had been focused on keeping himself alive in the vanguard of a battle, withstanding both physical and mental attacks.

Then came [Profane Seal] that allowed him to trap his target in an arena that would allow no escape until one side was downed. The Seal itself wasn’t that strong on the offense though, as the chains only worked on weak cannon fodder. For example, almost all of the Incursion Leaders had been able to either destroy or push away the chains before they could do any damage.

If it wasn’t for Zac’s unnaturally high attributes and Daos he would have been forced to slowly grind down his targets with [Deathwish]. He had also been able to shore up his weaknesses somewhat with [Unholy Strike] and [Winds of Decay]. But it was undeniable that both his single-target and large-scale damage was limited compared to his other class.

But that all changed with the final two skills. They added the final missing ingredient to the mix and changed him from a passive defender to a real juggernaut that could change the course of a large-scale battle.

“Had your fill?” Ogras’ voice drifted over from the side, and Zac looked over to see the demon walking over, pointedly avoiding going near the parasites melted by the Fragment of the Coffin.

“This undead class of yours is just a cheat,” the demon muttered as he shook his head in disgust. “I’ve never heard of anything like it. How is one supposed to take you down without being a far higher level?”

“Isn’t that a good thing?” Zac answered with a smile.