At that moment, the differeween a Nephalem and an ordinary person immediately became apparent.

  While Captain Rutherford needed several sword strikes to wound the undead, this Crusader woman took them down with her fil in a single round.

  Alex watched as she swung her fil, sending the undead flying like leaves in the wind, effortlessly.

  If this had happened earlier, Alex would have merely smirked and not given it much thought, even though it mirrored what he'd seen in the game.

  But after personally experieng how troublesome these undead were, he finally gained a tangible uanding of the Nephalem's extraordinary nature.

  Alex's victories over these undead were entirely depe on the holy power of the Crusader's Smite.

  However, the Nephalem relied purely on her own strength. With a single swing, the unfortunate undead were utterly obliterated, leaving no trace.

  The lucky ones were merely sent flying. Watg this, Alex couldn't help but marvel at the Nephalem's power. Finally, he grasped the true extent of their strength.

  'Wait... Why am I just watg? I still have a mission!'

  Seeing the Crusader sweeping away the undead once again, Alex snapped back to reality. He remembered he wasn't here to spectate—Soulrend was still hungry!

  With this in mind, Alex didn't hesitate, gripped his on tightly, and charged forward.

  pared to the "tutorial stage" in the game, the number of undead Alex and his panions faced was signifitly higher.

  Besides the first wave that crawled out from the ground, several more waves of undead attacks followed. Their numbers kept increasing to the point where even Alex and the Crusader woman together struggled to fend them off.

  The militia suffered heavy casualties; aside from Captain Rutherford, who was still holding his ground, the others were either dead or injured, and uo survive for much longer.

  Something's nht!

  After cutting down another undead, Alex took a deep breath and looked around. All he saw beyond the fmes at the gates of Tristram was darkness.

  All he could hear were the low growls of the undead and the occasional fsh of light.

  "Huff... Huff... Damn it... There are just too many!"

  Gripping Soulrend and staring at the undead staggering out of the darkness, Alex panted heavily. He couldn't remember how many undead he'd killed—every time he cut one down, two more emerged.

  Cut down two, and four more appeared. It was endless, as if there was o them.

  Is this the real dark world...?

  Only now did Alex feel a trace of fear. While pying the game, his only feeling was the monotony of grinding.

  At most, he had wondered why humans in the dark world were so miserable. But now, he finally uood—the differeween the game ay was stark.

  Humans in the dark world were nearly driven to extin for a reason.

  "Take this—!"

  As an undead lu him, Alex gripped Soulrend and swung it forward with a roar. The holy light fshed, slig the undead in half at the waist.

  But to Alex's surprise, as the undead fell, its upper half suddenly leaped up, its hands crawling swiftly towards him!

  "Damn it!!"

  Startled by this ued turn, Alex instinctively raised Soulrend and stabbed down hard. The sharp bde pierced through the undead's body, and ghostly wisps of soul energy emerged, then were absorbed into Soulrend's bde.

  Only then did the trembling remains of the undead fall still, as if their power source had been cut off.

  "235..."

  Gng at the soul power t dispyed by the system, Alex took a breath. Although this stant grinding wasn't what he wanted, it seemed pleting Soulrend's soul-abs mission was now possible.

  If there was ohing the dark world didn't ck, it was monsters. And Alex was certain Soulrend would eagerly e these evil souls.

  "Ughhh—!"

  Suddenly, a strange sound echoed from the distant forest. It sounded like a woman's cry mixed with the sound of a drunk persog.

  Hearing this, the faces of both Captain Rutherford and the Crusader woman instantly ged.

  Corpsemother!

  "I get why these damhings keep ing!"

  Alex realized what was happening. The Corpsemother was a moransformed from the queen's maidservant, with the unique ability to create more undead.

  Alex didn't fully uand the process, but he k involved vomiting, from which the undead would crawl out—a thought that made him nauseous.

  "We must kill the Corpsemother!"

  "I know!"

  Hearing Captain Rutherford's voice, Alex responded without looking back, gripping Soulrend as he charged into the forest.

  Alex's determination wasn't just about eliminating the threat. The moment Captain Rutherford spoke, Alex received a system prompt.

  [Se Missiered: Guardian II]

  [You've detected the source of the evil and found its trail. Now, use your bde to end this (Elimihe Corpsemother, Dimension Points +1)]

  Although Alex moved quickly, the Crusader was not far behind. As Alex ehe forest, he saw a fsh of golden light nearby, and to his astonishment, the Crusader rocketed into the forest like a onball.

  "Boom—!!"

  The Crusader, glowing with golden light, cut through the darkness like a meteor, obliterating everything in her path.

  Alex watched as she reached the Corpsemother, raising her shield and smashing it into the monster's face.

  "Thud!!"

  The unfortunate Corpsemother spun through the air, but the Crusader couldn't press her advantage as several undead staggered in her way, blog her path.

  'This is my ce!'

  Seeing the Crusader blocked, Alex sighed in relief. If the Crusader had smashed the Corpsemother's head, his mission would have failed. Now, with the Crusader momentarily held up, Alex had just enough time to seize the opportunity.

  'Well done!'

  Secretly appuding the Corpsemother, Alex sprinted dowh the Crusader had cleared. He soon spotted the Corpsemother, crawling on the ground, seemingly uo stand.

  Seeing this, Alex's eyes lit up. Gng to the side, he saw the Crusader entangled with the undead, uo intervene. If he could reach the Corpsemother in time, the kill would be his.

  Without hesitation, Alex charged forward. He didn't have the Crusader's powerful charge skill, but the Corpsemother had nded in a clearing, so Alex quickly burst through the underbrush. Raising Soulrend high, he swung down at the Corpsemother.

  Smite!

  Just as Alex swung his sword, the Corpsemother suddenly lifted her head, opened her mouth, and with a siing "ugh," a torrent of foul-smelling bile sprayed toward Alex.

  'Damn it!'

  Shocked, Alex immediately aborted his skill and rolled to the side. With a soft "spt," the vile substa the ground where he'd been standing.

  In the dim light, Alex saw the bile was dark green, bubbling, aing white smoke as it corroded the ground. He could only imagihe damage it would have doo him if he'd been hit.

  'Still trying to ambush me?'

  Alex was furious. A Corpsemother that had beeen half to death by the Crusader still wao ambush him? Did she think he was easy prey?

  He gripped Soulrend tightly and stared at the Corpsemain. The Corpsemred back at him viciously. As Alex looked at her, she opened her mouth, about to scream.

  "—————!"

  But this time, before she could make a sound, Alex stabbed her mouth with his sword.

  Crusader's Strike!

  Holy light burst forth instantly. In Alex's eyes, he saw the Corpsemother's entire head starting to crack. Fissures appeared on her skin, and dazzling holy light shohrough them, growing brighter and brighter.

  With a loud "bang," the Corpsemother's body exploded and turo ash in the white holy fire.

  At the same time, Alex's ears were filled with the sound of system notifications, and lines of information appeared before his eyes.

  [Se Mission "Guardian" Progress II pleted]

  [User Gains Dimension Points +1]

  [Gain 70 Soul Energy]

  [Crusader's Strike Skill Proficy Upgraded to k]

  [Crusader's Strike Upgraded to Area Skill]

  "As expected..."

  Seeing this information, Alex rolled his eyes. He opened his skill panel again and saw that a fifth of the progress bar for [Crusader's Strike] had turned e.

  Alex eechless. He had known that in the system, skills would gradually improve with proficy.

  This was desigo attract both new pyers aerans to spend money. After all, you could either grind for Dimension Points or pay for them.

  Although skill proficreased power, for most people, Dimension Points were always g, whereas for those who spent money... it was just a matter of buying more.

  Fortunately, this task was retively simple. Killing a Corpsemother earned him a Dimension Point. If future tasks were this easy, then...

  "Ding."

  Before Alex could finish his thought, the system notification sounded again, and another line of information appeared before him.

  [Se Missiered: Guardian III]

  [Looking at the corpse before you, you realize that the darkness ahead is not as easy to overe as you thought. You sehe inexorable wheel of fate rolling forward, and all you do is use your utmost strength to ge it (Alter the predetermined fate, plete the task for random rewards, Dimension Points +3. Failure will result in forced lo of the mission world, tdown 48:00:00)]

  "...…"

  Seeing this mission prompt, Alex was utterly speechless. He had only ohought in his mind.

  'I really shouldn't have raised a FLAG so casually!'

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