Evolving My Undead Legion In A Game-Like World

Chapter 916: Progress [1]

After briefly sharing his thoughts about the barrier, both of them reached the same conclusion.

Mike chose to return to the Supers Association to gather manpower and organize a coordinated search across the city, leaving Michael to continue in his own way. With their roles silently divided, they parted without unnecessary words.

Michael did not dwell on it.

His undead were already spread across Brightgate, sweeping through every district with precision. Compared to the Association’s slower, more methodical approach, his network operated like a silent net closing in from all directions. Every movement was fed back to him in real time.

Not long after, a signal came.

Fade had found something.

Without hesitation, Michael shifted through space. The next moment, the ruined streets of Brightgate were replaced by darkness.

He appeared within a hidden underground chamber.

The air carried the sharp scent of blood mixed with lingering traces of energy. A large magic circle occupied most of the floor space. At a distance from the formation lay a figure.

A man.

His body was drenched in blood, his breathing shallow and uneven. His aura was in complete disarray. Even without moving closer, it was obvious he had been critically injured.

Without thinking too much, Michael already understood what this place was. A demonic hideout. The state of the chamber made it even clearer.

Keeping Fade away from the magic circle, Michael stepped forward carefully.

The man on the ground remained unconscious, his condition worsening by the second. Michael paused for a brief moment, considering his options. Killing him would be simple, but he figured there were better uses for someone in this condition.

After a short thought, Michael decided.

He raised his hand and used one of the few techniques he had picked up over the past months, casting a sleeping spell over the already unconscious figure to ensure he would not wake prematurely. Then, without hesitation, he opened the Damaged Coffin of the Forgotten and placed the body inside.

The reason for this was straightforward. Michael wanted to investigate the demonic faction’s current situation more thoroughly later, and he felt more at ease leaving that kind of work to Jester. If anything went wrong, it would not fall directly on him, and more importantly, Jester was far better suited for handling minds and extracting information cleanly.

Only after that did Michael turn his attention to the magic circle.

He studied it briefly. Compared to before, his knowledge of magical formations had improved significantly, but even so, what lay before him was far beyond something he could easily decipher. What he could tell was that it was drawing mana from the surroundings and sustaining something through that connection.

Michael did not waste time trying to understand it further. Since it had been created by the demonic faction, it was reasonable to assume it was doing nothing good.

He chose the simplest method. The most direct one.

Mana gathered around his hand, reinforced by a trace of spatial energy. The air distorted slightly as the power condensed. Then he punched down.

The magic circle shattered. The lines broke apart violently, the structure collapsing instantly as the flow of energy was severed.

At the same moment, feedback came from across the city through his undead. The barrier covering Brightgate had disappeared.

Michael was only mildly surprised. This outcome had already been part of his suspicion. From the moment he first sensed the abnormality of the barrier, he had considered the possibility that its source was hidden somewhere within the city. Now that the core had been destroyed, everything aligned with his expectations.

More importantly, the biggest issue had been resolved.

The barrier was gone. The city was no longer sealed.

For the first time since the chaos began, Michael allowed a small part of his attention to relax. There were still remnants to clean up, but compared to before, the situation was now completely under control.

That meant one thing. It was time to retrieve his family.

In the time that followed, Michael moved through the outskirts of the city, locating and recalling several of his undead that had spread too far during the battle. At the same time, he left the majority of them within Brightgate, allowing them to continue assisting the Supers Association where necessary, but more importantly to maintain order and suppress any lingering unrest.

With nearly two hundred Rank 3 undead stationed across the city, even without direct commands, their mere presence was enough to keep the situation stable.

Not long after, Michael returned. When he reappeared within Brightgate, the chaos had already begun settling into an uneasy calm. Fires were being put out, survivors were being gathered, and the Association had started regaining control of the streets.

In the sitting room of his home within the city, Michael stood quietly for a moment before raising his hand. The ring on his finger flickered. The next instant, figures began to appear one after another. Aside from Jester, his aunt, and Lily, there were several other undead that had been held within the space.

Michael gathered them into the Damaged Coffin of the Forgotten without wasting time. Only then did he focus on the most immediate matter.

His gaze shifted toward Jester. "Why are they still unconscious?"

Jester responded calmly. Each time they had shown signs of waking, he had suppressed it, keeping them in a controlled state of sleep to prevent panic.

Michael nodded slightly. Though the idea of keeping his family unconscious sat uncomfortably with him, he understood it had been the right call. At the very least, when they woke up, the city would have started showing some signs of life again.

After having Jester take the two of them to a guest room, Michael sat down in the living room to think.

He was going to be leaving Aurora soon. His original plan had been to move his family closer to the academy, but after what had just happened, Michael was no longer certain there was any truly safe place left in Aurora. That did not mean he thought his earlier decision was wrong, but he could see clearly now that it was not enough on its own.

To Michael, there was only one real solution.

He still intended to have his family move out of this city, but unlike before he was going to make them more secure in his own way.