"Whoever made this move was not a Master-stage expert at all."

Goiter was stunned. "That is… how?!"

Marasmus chuckled. "The one who issued this quest must've used this ruse to galvanize more men into fighting on their behalf, but my guess is that the person should either be an Amateur or at most, an average Adept. Nevertheless, they should be commended for thinking up something like this."

"Somehow they have gained knowledge about me and my location. Perhaps they have found someone's diary who has long since been slain by one of us. Maybe they unearthed some murals talking about me."

"Whichever the case, they have learned about the First Resurrection Stone and want it for themselves. Knowing that they would definitely die alone and in despair if they moved on their own…"

Goiter was once again clued in. "… They created a situation where there would be chaos. In these murky waters, they could crawl through the mud and carefully strike at the best time, taking advantage of the others paving their way."

Marasmus nodded. "Mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole lurking behind. A common tactic that is weak when anticipated, but if executed perfectly, it becomes a flawless plan."

Goiter still seemed doubtful. Marasmus noticed this and questioned his aide. "What's the matter? Is there a flaw in my deduction you have noticed?"

Goiter hesitated for a bit before voicing out his concerns. "No, your deduction seems on point. Only... I still fear this has to be the work of a Master-stage expert."

Marasmus seemed interested by this contradiction, so he prodded his aide. "Go on, explain why you feel that way."

"Well, from what the newly converted recruits have revealed, the rewards the person had offered were something only a Master stage expert or above could ever lay their hands on." Goiter proceeded to list all the rewards Darius offered, their quality, and the uproar it has caused.

Even Marasmus was stunned as he processed this new information. His red sockets displayed a light of confusion for the first time. "When you say it like that, I also cannot help but believe that it has to be someone of the Master stage… or even Grandmaster, who could offer such things."

"The First Resurrection Stone can't be worked on by a mere Amateur. One would have to be a Master to have the necessary computational abilities to begin decoding the functions of the stone…hmm." Marasmus murmured to himself in thought.

Goiter remained silent and didn't dare to interrupt his master's pondering. After a few minutes, Marasmus shook his head and sighed. "Well, in the end, it doesn't matter."

Goiter's head shot up. "It doesn't?"

Marasmus nodded. "After all, I am the Stonekeeper and this is the First Pedestal. With it embedded in my body for resonance and protection, I cannot move from here. So no matter what…"

"… you can only wait here, until the perpetrator, whether Master-stage like I suspect or a weakling like you've suspected, makes their move. Regardless of either, you can only adapt to the situation then, so it's pointless to endlessly speculate." Goiter finished once more.

"That is so." Marasmus confirmed.

Goiter rose to his feet and gazed at his master with his greenish soul fire burning intensely. "No matter what, I will not sit here for some ingrate to challenge my Lord. Even if your duty confines you to this place, my duty compels me to make sure you remain undisturbed in all your glory!"

Without waiting for Marasmus to stop him, Goiter stormed out and decided to take offensive action against those vile humans this time. Marasmus only scratched his bony scalp with a gentle gaze.

"Sigh, this lad is a bit too hot-headed."

Marasmus settled down and quickly went into deeper meditation. "Still, with him around, I know I have someone I can trust. That is all that matters."

......…

Approximately 8 kilometers away from the Necropolis of Marasmus, there was a stretch of barren land that was riddled with pockmarks and gullies that ran deep with a reddish liquid.

Around this barren land were hundreds of corpses of both the living and the undead.

Dismembered, lynched, and chewed on corpses remained from those of the living, whereas rotten flesh, bones, and black ash had piled up from slain undead foes.

It was gory, rancid, and horrifying. This was a no man's land that separated the faction of the living who were here for the grand reward from the undead who were standing their ground to prevent the invaders from reaching the necropolis.

The living had created a temporary camp on the southern end of the no man's land. This was where they pooled supplies and resources to achieve their goal, as the previous week had brutally shown them that arrogantly trying to barge in with greed fueling them was the fastest way to provide the opposite side with more forces.

One would expect the undead to be more relentless than the living, for that was their most feared trait, but the opposite held true. Due to the overwhelming force the living had mustered, they had breached this deep into the Plains of Death and had likely culled over 90% of ambient Adept undead.

As for the Amateur and Journeyman bands, after breaching through, only the weak tagalongs spent their time killing as many undead as they could, more often than not failing at even that.

The true forces were laid out here in the Adept band, but despite the living always winning every battle by a landslide, they were still unable to reach the important landmark so close to them.

There was one reason for this. The undead had a Bone Dragon on their side!

It was a Pseudo-Dragon created from the corpse of a True Dragon.

This particular Bone Dragon had been raised from the remains of a notable Master-stage Dragon, merely falling to the Adept-stage as a consequence of its revival.

Although its power was far from the level it had possessed when alive, it was still leagues above species like humans.

As such, its presence alone was the reason why so many living corpses lay strewn across the battlefield.

Currently, the forces of the living were discussing how to deal with his obstruction before achieving their goal.