ch 76,77,78
Perfect. Let's dive into Chapter 75 — the insect scouts arrive, the tension rises, and Ray's hidden domain prepares for its first real external threat. Expect buildup, fear, strategy… and a little chaos.
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Chapter 75 – Insects Beneath the Leaves
The forest was too quiet.
Ray stood near the southern edge of his hidden domain, eyes narrowed. The canopy above rustled, but the usual birds were gone. No beasts cried. No monkey chattered.
Only silence.
Seventeen's voice cracked through the still air, low and sharp.
> "Tier 1 Gate breach confirmed. First scouts have slipped through. Insect-type: Cutterlings. Class: F. Rank: Swarm-Type."
Ray's fingers curled tightly. He spoke softly, "How many?"
> "Unknown. Scouts move in clusters. Expect ten to fifty. More behind."
He turned to Graverend, his Bone Wolf, who growled softly.
"Murk. Warcha. Line up the undead."
---
[Undead Army Mobilizing...]
• 12 Skeleton Warriors
• 6 Zombie Brutes
• Graverend (Bone Wolf)
• Warcha, followed by 6 Warcha-Spawns
• 2 Shadow Archers (recently converted skeletons with long bone bows)
• 1 Rebirth Brute (Murk) with Acid Maw
[Beast Allies Ready:]
• 2 Monkey Beasts
• 1 Shadow Lizard
• 1 Spider Viper
• 3 Bone Crows
Ray had named his undead force The First Shroud.
---
Later – Southern Domain Edge
The trees trembled.
Then, like liquid shadow, they came — small, sleek insectoid bodies covered in glistening carapace. Each Cutterling was no bigger than a cat, but their legs were sharp, and their mouths clicked violently, mandibles twitching.
The Bone Crows shrieked the warning.
> "Enemies: 27 Cutterlings detected. Flanking wide, scattered pattern."
Ray barked, "Shadow Lizard! Left flank. Bone Wolf! Center with me. Skeleton line — hold!"
Warcha didn't wait. He moved ahead, dragging two of his skeletal followers with him. The ground cracked beneath his feet.
The battle began in a blur.
Cutterlings rushed in, leaping and spinning with unnatural grace.
The first wave clashed into skeletons — bone against claw, steel on carapace.
A skeleton was torn apart, but its shards exploded into bone spikes — a passive from the Bone Tree: Shatterburst.
Zombie Brutes crushed the Cutterlings with wild, angry roars. Acid spilled from Murk's chest-mouth, melting two bugs instantly.
Ray stepped forward, raising a fallen Cutterling.
[Skill Activated: Rise Undead]
The insect twitched… and rose. Its body still looked insectoid, but shadow pooled in its mouth, and a third red eye burned in the center of its skull.
> "New Variant: Undead Cutterling Created."
It skittered forward and joined the swarm — but on Ray's side.
Ray grinned.
"This is working."
---
[Battle Result:]
• 27 enemies slain
• 3 Skeletons lost
• 2 Zombie Brutes injured
• Domain resources consumed: 10 mana trees (regenerated by sunrise)
• Undead gained: 4 Insect Cutters (converted)
> "This was a scout wave," Seventeen warned. "The next may not be so small."
Ray stood over the corpses. "Then we upgrade everything. We build. We summon more."
He walked toward the Bone Orchard. His fingers burned with energy.
---
Midnight – Hidden Domain Core
Ray spent his points.
> [Points Used: 12] [Upgrades Activated:] – New Tree Grown: Spine Launcher Tree (creates spiked bone projectiles) – Domain Boundary Expanded by 300 meters – New Summon Available: Bone Hydra (E-Rank, multi-headed undead serpent, one-time summon)
Warcha, now surrounded by eight followers, knelt before the central tree. His armor looked darker. His core burned brighter.
Ray could feel it — the domain wasn't just growing. It was preparing.
Soon, the insects wouldn't just be an outside threat. They would come… for him.
But Ray smiled anyway.
Because now? He had monsters too.
---
Chapter 77 – The Mask and the Monster
Two days after the Cutterling attack.
Ray stood at the Academy's outer sparring field, surrounded by dust, students, and too many watching eyes.
He held a wooden training spear, his body loose and calm. Around him, classmates groaned, limped, or avoided eye contact. His last five duels had ended in under ten seconds each.
"Begin!"
The boy opposite him rushed forward — a swordsman. Fast, arrogant, Tier 2 stats.
Ray sidestepped, swept the spear low, and knocked the boy to the ground.
The crowd murmured. Again.
Ray forced a smile. "I've just been practicing more lately."
"Too much," someone whispered nearby.
> [System Notice: Influence Level Rising – Attention from Authority Figures: Minor]
Ray met Seventeen's quiet voice in his mind.
"It's spreading."
"Let them watch," Ray replied. "They can't see anything real."
Because the truth — the bones, the beasts, the war beneath the leaves — was hidden where no eye could reach.
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Meanwhile – Forest Border Outpost
A patrol captain sat near a scorched clearing, examining something in his gloved hand.
It was an insect leg — twisted, dark, unnatural.
"This isn't native," the man muttered.
A scout beside him whispered, "They say some Tier 1 gate cracked down south."
The captain frowned. "Then what's one of their kind doing here?"
He looked north.
Toward the academy.
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Later That Night – Ray's Domain
Ray returned in silence. The air inside his domain was thicker, heavier with energy.
Two of the undead Cutterlings followed Graverend now like loyal hounds. The Bone Orchard bore more weapons. The Spine Launcher Tree had already created its first artillery pod — a twisted, cannon-like branch that could launch bone spikes over 100 meters.
Warcha approached, dragging the corpses of two large forest beasts. "Gift," he growled.
Ray raised a hand. "Let's make them scream."
> [Skill Activated: Rise Undead – Mutation Chosen: Bone Fangs + Heat Vision]
Two new beasts rose — one a panther-shaped undead with glowing red eyes and a segmented tail; the other, a hulking deer-like brute with antlers made of jagged ribs.
Ray named them: Redmaw and Grindhorn.
---
Current Forces:
Undead Units:
• 10 Skeletons
• 5 Zombie Brutes
• 1 Bone Wolf – Graverend
• 1 Warcha + 8 Followers
• 4 Undead Cutterlings
• 2 Undead Forest Beasts – Redmaw, Grindhorn
• 2 Shadow Archers
• 1 Rebirth Brute – Murk
Beast Allies:
• 2 Monkey Beasts
• 1 Shadow Lizard
• 1 Spider Viper
• 3 Bone Crows
Special Assets:
• Spine Launcher (1 Active)
• Bone Hydra (Unused – One-Time Summon)
---
Ray sat beneath the Core Tree, watching shadows dance under moonlight.
> "Tomorrow," Seventeen said, "The Insect World will open a real path. Not just scouts."
> "And the academy?" Ray asked.
> "They've sent a team to investigate. Two instructors. A junior force. Arrives in 2 days."
Ray smiled faintly.
"Then I have two days to hide everything. Or… to make them never look again."
---
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Chapter 78 – Leave No Witness
The sun never reached the core of the forest.
Ray crouched in the canopy, eyes narrowed as the academy scouting team entered his outer perimeter. Three students. Two instructors. One beast companion — a wind-type hawk.
Seventeen's voice was flat.
"This is a reconnaissance unit. Lightly armed, but alert. They're tracing energy pulses from the cracked Tier 1 Gate."
Ray stayed still, even as the Bone Crows circled overhead.
"They're too close," he murmured. "If they stumble onto the entrance—"
"They won't."
Seventeen's tone shifted. Cold. Calculating.
"Let me guide this."
---
Instructor Tolan, a mid-tier elemental user, knelt and pressed his hand to the mossy floor.
"There's something here. It's like… energy is bleeding through the roots."
The younger instructor, a flame-caster, frowned. "A beast domain?"
"No. This is deeper. Something necrotic, but… alive."
One of the students, a sharp-eyed girl named Maris, drew her dagger. "I feel like we're being watched."
She wasn't wrong.
High above, hidden between twisted branches, a Bone Crow blinked.
> [Command Confirmed – Distraction Protocol Engaged]
---
Near the Border – False Lead Zone
A Shadow Lizard darted into a prepared clearing.
Within seconds, the ground exploded upward — bones, ash, and corrupted vines faking the signs of a corrupted dungeon core. One of Ray's oldest tricks, seeded two days ago under Seventeen's advice.
The scouting team turned as one.
"Instructor! Dungeon residue!"
Tolan froze, then nodded. "We check that site. Now."
They moved as a unit. Fast. Focused.
And away from Ray's true domain.
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Later That Night – Domain Center
Ray stood over the new Bone Hydra core. It pulsed — a one-time summon, ready to release a storm of carnage.
"I want it waiting," he said. "In case they come back."
Seventeen replied,
"Then let me show you something more permanent."
A section of the ground near the altar shifted, revealing a new sprout — tiny, but radiating dread.
[New Tree Unlocked – Mindrot Tree: Emits a confusion aura across 100m. Non-bonded beings lose focus and memory over time.]
Ray's eyes lit with a cruel gleam.
"That'll help."
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Elsewhere – Academy Dorms
Maris sat on her bunk, staring at her hand. It shook slightly.
"I know I felt something back there," she whispered.
Her friend said, "We found a ruined core site. That's all."
But Maris didn't sleep that night.
Because for one second… she could've sworn she'd seen a red-eyed shadow watching her from the trees.
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Current Secret Defenses Enabled:
• Mindrot Tree – Aura of Confusion (Active Radius: 100m)
• Spine Launcher – Set with 3 Ammo Spikes
• Bone Hydra Core – Not yet used
• Warcha Units – Hidden in southern trench
• Cursed Bone Fog – Surrounding true domain entrance
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