Mythology: Ragnarok

But now Agreed is facing that fatal problem again: the vessel cannot match the increasingly powerful soul. This is no joke for the undead. Soulfire will turn into ghosts when it leaves the vessel. Ghosts are very fragile. Any energy attack will damage them, especially light magic, which can kill ghosts as easily as cutting melons and vegetables.

Moreover, Agred no longer has a physical body; all that remains are a pile of bones and energy tendons made of overflowing soulfire connecting his joints to prevent his skeletal body from falling apart. This is why there are basically no melee-type tank warriors among the undead. This is an inherent disadvantage of the race that few undead can overcome. After all, for the undead, physical growth is even more difficult than resurrection.

Fortunately, Tutankhamun's knowledge base contained a spell specifically designed to solve this problem. This spell was called 'Bone Forging'. Since most undead eventually become skeletons over time, Tutankhamun created this spell based on the conditions he had at the time. Bone Forging strengthens and reinforces one's own bones by absorbing the essence of bone from the skeletons of any creature (whether dead or alive), thus overcoming racial disadvantages.

Moreover, after being trained to the extreme, the bones turn a bright white with a metallic luster, comparable to the body of a demigod, and are exceptionally strong. Tutankhamun also marked the transitional stages of bone forging, which are divided into seven realms: "Gray Bone Realm, White Bone Realm, Blood Bone Realm, Yellow Bone Realm, Gold Bone Realm, Black Bone Realm, and the final form, Divine Bone Realm".

In his current weakened state, Agred was naturally incapable of risking hunting live animals for bone forging. Fortunately, he was in a mass grave, where bones were plentiful. Although the essence of the bones had been largely lost due to weathering over time, there was still plenty of them.

Argreed dug out hundreds of thousands of skeletons from the mass grave one by one, and used his bone-forging technique to absorb all their essence. The skeletons, having lost their essence, turned into loose bone powder that was scattered all over the ground.

As Agreed's bone strength increased, he worked faster and faster. In less than a night, Agreed successfully raised his body to the Gray Bone Realm. At this time, all the cracks in Agreed's bones had healed, and his bones became smooth and full, appearing light gray from an optical perspective.

Daylight broke quickly, and just then, the gravedigger of the mass grave arrived with the pastor he had invited from the neighboring village.

The gravedigger said tremblingly, "Your Excellency, do you really want to go there and take a look? Last night, in the middle of the night, there were loud crackling noises in the graveyard. I strongly suspect that some spirits have escaped from the graves. I was so scared that I ran to town and begged you to come. If you can eliminate the spirits, I will repay you by doing anything for you."

The priest glanced helplessly at the gravedigger and said as he walked away, "Isn't it because you drag those nameless, faceless corpses lying exposed in the wilderness back home every day and even dig pits to bury them? Otherwise, how could there be any undead spirits in this cemetery when priests come here every year to purify it with light magic?!"

The gravedigger scratched his head and said aggrievedly, "I was just thinking that it's too tragic for these unfortunate people like me to be left to rot in the wilderness. I wanted to give them a place to stay. Anyway, there's plenty of space on this mountain. I'm troubling you this time, Your Excellency. This little bit of money is just a token of my appreciation. Please don't think it's too little." With that, the gravedigger handed a money bag to the priest.

The priest opened the box and, seeing it filled with copper coins, beamed with joy, saying, "Of course, of course. Exorcising demons and protecting the people is simply our duty as monks."

Before long, the two arrived at the large pit in the mass grave, which had been completely destroyed by Agreed.

Looking at the mess around him, the pastor said suspiciously, "Are you sure this is some kind of ghost? The more I look at this scene, the more it seems like a bunch of stupid grave robbers dug up the wrong grave."

The tomb keeper, somewhat fearful, asked in return, "Are you sure there's such a large tomb-raiding gang that they could search through the entire mass grave?"

The pastor instantly realized, "You mean everyone in this pit has turned into an undead?! Oh no, I have to contact the church right away. At this scale, it could very well be a cataclysmic undead swarm of hundreds of thousands!"

After speaking, the priest excitedly cast a communication spell, but the spell suddenly dissipated as soon as it took shape. Then a light gray skeleton appeared above them and shouted, "There is no undead calamity here, it's just that my emergence from the ground was a bit too loud."

The priest turned around and was instantly terrified when he saw Agred. A high-level undead who could communicate with living beings! That was a disaster even more terrifying than the Scourge of the Undead!

The priest immediately turned and ran without saying a word, but Agreed simply waved his hand and a vine suddenly appeared at the priest's feet, tripping him to the ground. Agreed walked over to the priest in his terrified gaze, then pressed his hand on the head of the terrified priest and used hypnotic magic to alter the priest's memory.

Agreed murmured, "You've already eliminated the little skeleton that appeared in this graveyard. You've happily returned to town with your reward." Then Agreed released his grip, and the priest, his eyes vacant, stood up, took the money bag the gravedigger had given him, and slowly walked towards the town like a walking corpse.

The gravedigger stared in disbelief at the scene until Agreed stood before him. He then knelt down and kowtowed, begging for mercy, "Lord of the Dead, please forgive me. I did not mean to disturb you. I have elderly parents and young children to support. Please spare me."

Agreed reassured him helplessly, "Don't worry, I don't mean to kill you. I'm even grateful that you brought my remains here for burial. But I have a question for you."

Upon hearing that he could live, the tomb keeper immediately raised his head and fawned, "Please speak, I will tell you everything I know."

Agreed then asked, "When you... brought me here, did you see two skeletons, which should have been embracing each other?"

The tomb keeper thought for a moment and then excitedly shouted, "Yes, yes, yes! Please come with me!"

As he spoke, the gravedigger stood up excitedly, picked up a shovel, and led Agreed to a burial mound marked by three stones. While shoveling soil, the gravedigger said, “You must be looking for these two. I saw two skeletons embracing each other, and their sizes differed greatly. The larger skeleton is clearly female. I suspect this is a tragic story of a great mother who, in trying to protect her child, ultimately perished. Of course, there may be other interpretations, but in my limited knowledge, this is the only explanation. Out of respect for this mother's greatness, I did not separate them but buried them together here.”

As they spoke, the gravedigger shoveled away the soil, revealing two charred skeletons embracing each other.