Heinrich watched as the undead he summoned stormed the trench lines south of 60th Street. He monitored the control array he set up for them. At the current rate, they had about six hours before they exhausted their nethergy supply. Walking to the edge of the roof, he looked down. About four stories. He stepped off. As he fell, he reinforced his muscular skeletal systems. Landing in a deep crouch, he stood upright before walking into the bottom floor of the building.

  Inside, he saw the now undead Sergeant Hostetter talking to his soldiers. "You know, Sergeant, when I said you could go back to your husband as undead, I didn't mean it."

  He got a barking laugh from the werewolf. "Well, I can't say this is the ideal outcome. I take it you drove them off."

  Heinrich nodded as he looked at his staff's ruby. It was considerably dimmer than it was before. "Yes, but at considerable cost. That isn't something we can do again."

  Eno looked at the gem in wonder. "Is that a Kriegsrubin?" she asked curiously.

  Nodding, he continued, "I have bought you guys a few hours, but I cannot stay. Rest a bit and then head back. I'm going to need your report on what you learned out here today."

  He walked over to Quint's limp form. Caked in blood, he was surprised that Felide was still alive. Kneeling, his claws glowed a pale cyan as they touched her body. The emanations of nethergy resonated with her internal biochemistry, telling him what he needed to know. Using her animus as a blueprint, he restored her body quickly, using raw power to shortcut the otherwise delicate healing process.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  The specialist had been using her necromancy to replace her blood as she used it to short cut the typical nethergetic gathering processes. Her lack of skill in medicine and the stress had caused her to burn up her own bone marrow. Something he could fix, but she would need training in the future. He would keep an eye on her. Such skill and drive were needed among the ranks of necromancers in the Imperial Army.

  He looked back at his sergeant. "Hostetter, last I heard, we still have a chaplain at HQ. Might want to see him."

  Nodding, the sergeant looked off toward the door for a moment. "I had wanted to wait until after I got out of this star's forsaken city before getting holy brass replacements, but now seems like as good a time as any." Suddenly, he began to chuckle. "William was so happy when he learned that I joined the Church of Gears. In for a penny, in for a pound." He shrugged, but Heinrich could sense some suppressed excitement.

  Using his staff, he cut open a swath to the River. "Let me know when you get back."

  He walked into the portal of the abyss, and then he was gone.

  She never knew what to make of the necromancer who oversaw their defense of the city. They had been told that State necromancers were powerful, but until today, she had never seen one on display. Now she had an idea of what to expect. "Eno."

  The necromedic locked eyes with her. "How long before you can do that?"

  She huffed. "Not any time soon, that's for sure. Come on, let’s get out here."

  Martin handed her Quint’s unused rifle ammo while Eno put Quint in a fireman's carry. Quickly loading the ammo into her rifle, the five of them headed out. The landscape outside was eerie. Not even an hour ago, the place had been littered with bodies. Now, there was just the blood and gore that hinted at the battle. None of the bodies were here. Over ten thousand corpses just to buy them hours. Distantly, the sound of machine gun fire could be heard.