Once again Ashton found himself within the abandoned mine, but this time, he wasn''t in any hurry. He had all the time in the world to hunt that remaining Deull. However this time... he wasn''t going to chase after his tale. Instead, Ashton was nning to ''smoke'' it out... in his own way.


    "Master..." Sven gently said, "Where?"


    "Dump them anywhere close to me."


    Upon receiving his instructions, Sven turned the carriage over, dumping three hundred corpses in front of his master. Behind him, Celeste was doing the same thing. Once done, both of them stood next to Ashton.


    [Sometimes your intelligence scares me. Cut that out. Your intelligence always scares me. Most of the time I''m scared of theck of it, but this time. You have impressed me.]


    "What can I say, sometimes I like to surprise people around me."


    The following moment, all of the bodies were ripped open and skeletons walked out of them, shedding their skin, blood and muscles. Ashton''s [Corpse parade] was turning out to be quite good as it did not depend on his intelligence.


    As long as there was a corpse around him, he could raise a skeleton soldier to aid him. His intelligence only mattered when it came to using the higher tier skills like [Resurrection] and [Valha].


    That being said, [Corpse Parade] had a crucial disadvantage associated with it. The skeleton soldiers resurrected were rarely of any use when it came tobat. They were easier to kill than a level 1 ghoul. However, they had their uses, as Ashton was about to demonstrate.


    As for his n... it was simple.


    Resurrect as many skeletons soldiers as possible and make them all charge inside. Although strength wasn''t the skeleton''s strong suit, their sheer numbers should be enough to drive the deull out.


    Once it was out, Sven would tank the Deull''s attack, Celeste would bind it using her abilities and Ashton would finish it off. If everything went ording to n then it should be enough for Ashton to level up and finally begin his evolution journey.


    As for the corpses... it wasn''t like he had any shortage of those. He had thousands upon thousands of them being incinerated at that very moment. How would taking a few hundred corpses with him affect anyone?


    "Alright skellies, make daddy proud."


    Ashton gave them the signal and the skeletons rushed inside while Ashton took out a note from his inventory and began writing something on it. After all, the catbs were vast and expansive. It would take them a while to find the Deull, let alone push it outside.


    [Are you writing an apology letter or a court summon?]


    "It''s none of your business."


    [Well, technically it is. The sooner you make up with your ''mother'', the sooner I''ll get rid of you.]


    "How? Oh never mind, I got it."


    What Astaroth was saying... was kinda true. If Avalina could make a clone out of him, then Astaroth''s organs that had been keeping him alive inside Ashton''s body would be reced with the organs of the clone.


    In other words, Ashton would have a new set of Astaroth free organs while Astaroth would have a body of himself. It wasn''t an ideal solution and even though it seemed a bit far-fetched, it could be possible.


    That way, both Astaroth and Ashton would be happy and have a life of their own. Well, it was either that or both of them would end up dying due to some biological failure.


    Suddenly the ground began to shake. Ashton immediately ced the note back and took his des out. Sven walked up and stood in front of him while Celeste assumed the safest position and hid behind Ashton.


    As the footsteps got closer Ashton realised something. It wasn''t the footstep of one Deull, but at least a dozen.


    "How the hell did so many of them survive and I couldn''t even find a single one of them before?"


    [Do I look like a soothsayer to you?]


    "Bitch, you''re supposed to know this stuff!"


    [The hell do I know! This is fucking weird!]


    The problem wasn''t the appearance of more Deulls, but their strength. As far as Ashton could sense, all of them had simr levels and all of them were stronger than the ones Ashton had killed before.


    The worst thing was... most of Ashton''s abilities were on cooldown after fighting with Mera. Since he had assumed there was only one Deull remaining, he could easily take care of it without his newly learned abilities but he was wrong.


    He couldn''t summon Goliath to take the damage, but it was obvious, that Sven wouldn''t be able to take all the damage by himself either. And if he couldn''t stop them, all of them might get stomped to death. Well, t least Ashton would as the rest of them were already dead.


    "Sven, change of ns. Impale me with your sword."


    [That sounded so wrong...]


    "Shut the fuck up! Stop rubbing your perverted thoughts on me!"


    Sven was confused by the suddenmand but followed it nheless. As soon as Sven did that, blood flowing out of Ashton''s hands attached themselves to him, forming an armour around Sven. Once that was done, Ashton used the rest of the blood to make an armour for himself as well.


    At that moment, Ashton''s [Regeneration] ability kicked in, healing him instantly.


    "Damn it, Sven, hit me again!"


    [Kinky.]


    "I swear-"


    [Oh, look they are here!]


    Ashton thought the skeletons were sessful in pushing the Deulls outside but upon closer inspection... it was clear the Skeletons didn''t do shit. The Deulls were rushing out, out of their own volition.


    Sven barely managed to hit Ashton again before a Deull rammed him over. Celeste tried to stop them using [Shadow Bind], but against their speed and might, the shadow threads got torn in an instant.


    Another Deull came charging straight at Ashton. Taking the Deull head-on did not seem to be a good idea. The momentum of the Deull shouldn''t have been enough to hurt him, but he wasn''t all that keen on testing his defence out in the open just yet.


    In the end, he barely sidestepped, dodging the attack at the knick of time. But he wasn''t done just yet.


    "Eat this!"


    Ashton stabbed the Deull''s stomach with his sword and stood there, putting all his might into establishing a firm grip. The Deull''s momentum did the rest of the work for him as its stomach got ripped open, spilling its innards all over the ground.


    The Deull fell lifeless, after dragging its body for a couple of seconds. All of the blood spilt was absorbed by Ashton''s blood armour, making it even stronger. Which proved to be crucial, because the following moment, another Deull rammed into Ashton.


    Although Ashton wasn''t injured, his blood armour had taken quite a beating.


    __


    You have received 5% Exp by killing a <Lvl 22> Deull.


    Current Werewolf Level: 29


    Current Exp: 79%


    __


    [Their sense of smell is extraordinary.]


    "Yeah, then let''s make them smell this."


    <Skill: Blood Mist has been activated.>


    A huge cloud of blood erupted with Ashton at its centre and swallowed everyone. The Deulls turned bewildered with the sudden smell of blood filling up their noses. A momentter they began having trouble breathing and as a result, got slower and slower.


    It was the moment Ashton had been waiting for. Without their momentum, the Deulls were like sitting ducks, waiting to be hunted down. However, before Ashton could react, Sven came rushing into the mist and began hacking anything that moved.


    It seemed like being flung away not once but twice in a day was a bit too much even for a dead person like him. Seeing this, Ashton smiled and gave up on killing the Deulls himself.


    [Are you not gonna kill anyone?]


    "Nah, I''ll let Sven vent his frustrations first. He''ll get me the needed exp and in the event he fell short, then I''ll do it myself. Also, I think I have earned my right to sit this one out."


    [You''re turning into a freeloader, you know that right?]


    "It''s hriousing from you. What have you been doing while I''m fighting?"


    [Give me your body and see what I can do!]


    "What''s the point of doing anything if you need my body first?"


    [...]


    "Nice shot Sven!"


    __


    You have received 6% Exp by killing 2 <Lvl 21> Deulls.


    Current Werewolf Level: 29


    Current Exp: 85%


    __


    As soon as Celeste heard Ashton wanted to rest, she rushed over to assist him in the only way she knew. She lifted his head before cing it on her thighs.


    "Here you go master," She said beaming as if she aplished a herculean task, "My SS grade pillows are at your service."


    Before Ashton could even reply, he could feel the back of his head get wet as Celeste began shaking in her ce.


    "The hell are you thinking, you horny bitch!"