Chapter 33: Special Summons

Cassian activated the Refined ★ Support Summoning Card.

​The summoning gate erupted with pale, eerie light. Unlike the worker cards, only a single support card was in his possession.

​For one full minute, support skeletons continuously emerged from the portal.

Every nine-tenths of a second, fifteen more stepped through into the stone courtyard.

​By the time the process concluded, nine hundred support skeletons stood before him.

​They wore simple robes fashioned from faded burial cloth, bone talismans hanging from their necks.

Small pouches filled with herbs, powders, and crude tools rested at their waists.

Each possessed a basic foundation in medicine, survival, logistics, and battlefield support.

​Useful... but only barely.

​Cassian already possessed S-Grade Elites and a Commander. If these support units wished to earn their place, they needed to provide significantly more value.

​Which meant only one thing: Fusion.

​Golden and violet light descended once more. Support skeleton after support skeleton rose into the air as three became one, then three more, and three more behind them.

​The process repeated until the army of nine hundred was reduced to merely six distinct individuals.

​[Final Support Roster]

​Support Skeleton ×1 — B-Grade Potential

​Death Chanter ×2 — S-Grade Potential

​Death Chanter ×2 — SS-Grade Potential

​Death Speaker ×1 — SS-Grade Potential

​Cassian’s eyes brightened.

​Like Soldiers and Workers, Support units possessed their own distinct structural hierarchy:

​Support ➔ Expert ➔ Master ➔ Grandmaster

​And somehow... he had managed to obtain a Master-Class Support Unit on the very first day. Even in his previous life, such luck would have been utterly unimaginable.

​Without hesitation, he opened their status panels.

​[Death Chanter]

Classification: Expert Support

Race: Undead

Grade: Common

Potential: SS Grade

​Description:

An evolved support undead that has mastered the art of battlefield hymns. Death Chanters manipulate death energy through chants and rituals, empowering undead allies while weakening living opponents.

​Though physically frail, their presence can dramatically shift the tide of battle by enhancing the efficiency and survivability of allied undead forces.

​"The living fear the sound of war drums. The dead march to a far older melody."

​Skills:

​[Grave Blessing](Grade: Standard) — Channels death energy into allied undead, increasing Strength and Agility by 15% for 10 minutes.

​[Soul Withering](Grade: Standard) — Releases a curse upon enemies, reducing Strength and Movement Speed by 15% for 10 minutes.

​[Bone Lance](Grade: Standard) — Condenses death energy into a massive spear of bone, launching it toward a target with high armor penetration.

​[Death Speaker]

Classification: Master Support

Race: Undead

Grade: Common

Potential: SS Grade

​Description:

A rare Master-Class support undead capable of influencing entire battlefields through death rites and command authority.

​Unlike ordinary support units, a Death Speaker does not merely strengthen allies—it commands death itself. Its chants empower the undead, its words weaken the living, and its presence allows armies to operate with frightening coordination.

​"When the Death Speaker raises its voice, the dead do not listen—they obey."

​Skills:

​[Bone Protector](Grade: Standard) — Summons the astral projection of a colossal skeletal guardian to absorb incoming damage for nearby allies.

​[Death Stun](Grade: Standard) — Releases a concentrated pulse of death energy that paralyzes affected enemies.

​[Hundred Skeleton Summon](Grade: Standard) — Summons 100 Basic Skeleton Soldiers of equal Grade to the caster. (Cooldown: 24 Hours)

​[Lord’s Call](Grade: Standard) — Invokes the authority of service to the Lord, instantly summoning all of the Lord’s active troops to the Death Speaker’s location across controlled territory.

​Cassian stared at the panels in absolute awe.

​He looked back at the Death Speaker, who calmly bowed its head. Meanwhile, Cassian’s thoughts had halted at two specific abilities: [Lord’s Call] and [Hundred Skeleton Summon].

​A Master-Class support unit capable of spawning one hundred free soldiers, combined with the ability to instantly teleport an entire army across the battlefield...

​A slow, helpless smile spread across his face. At this point, his facial muscles were beginning to ache.

​Cassian had smiled more today than he had during his entire previous life combined.

Every time he thought the sudden leaps in power had finally plateaued, something even more game-breaking appeared:

​An evolved Deathmark Commander

​Rare-grade game-changing gear

​An SSS-grade Overseer

​An SS-grade Master Support

​It was one absurd, unbelievable victory after another.

​If this kept up, Cassian was genuinely convinced his jaw would fall off from sheer exhaustion.

....

Cassian finally turned his attention toward the last card in his possession: the Special Summoning Card.

​Unlike the others, this card carried memories, memories of another life. A faint, nostalgic smile appeared on his face as he recalled the past.

​Back then, he had been an Established, Second-Rank Lord. The card had come from a conquest treasure chest earned after clearing his third area in the Lunar Woods.

At the time, he had activated it without much expectation, only for it to yield his very first special troop: Fire Wolves.

​They were a force completely different from his ordinary forest wolves, possessing unique abilities, distinct growth paths, and immense potential.

​That was the true nature of Special Summoning Cards, they didn’t merely spawn ordinary soldiers; they created entirely new, specialized troop lineages.

Every special troop was unique. Some were sheer powerhouses, some were bizarre, and others possessed tactical abilities capable of turning the tide of an entire war.

​Even veteran Lords grew excited at the prospect of opening one. And now, Cassian possessed a death-aspected version tailored to his domain.

​Needless to say, his expectations were high.

​Without hesitation, he activated the card.

​The Summoning Gate erupted with blinding, spectral light. As a Common ★★★ Special Summoning Card, each batch should yield nine summons.

​The first group stepped through the portal, and Cassian froze instantly.

​"...What?"

​Nine beasts emerged, their massive lupine bodies covered in pitch-black fur. Crimson eyes burned through the mist as shadow energy drifted lazily from their limbs.

​Cassian recognized them immediately. They were Shadowfang Wolves, the exact same apex predators that inhabited the Umbralwood.

​Before he could even process what he was seeing, the gate flashed again, and a second batch stepped through into the courtyard.

​This time, it wasn’t wolves. Gigantic bats unfolded tattered, skeletal wings as they crossed the threshold.

Their bodies were grotesque mixtures of dark flesh and exposed bone, with cold death energy leaking from their mandibles.

​Umbral Bats.

​Cassian’s eyes widened in surprise as the gate flashed a third time, ushering in a final group.

​Long, serpentine bodies slithered across the stone floor, black scales, glowing violet eyes, and hollow fangs dripping with dark, potent venom.

​Nightshade Serpents.

​"..."