Arpious of the Planes

(Zehar POV)

Wow, look at Master and the old hags looking cool as hell… maybe I should tell the heroes to shut up as well. Speaking of heroes, here they come running towards me.

It seems learning how to suppress my presence from some of the adventurers has come in handy since they can't tell the difference between these weakling soldiers and me.

"That's right, just a little bit closer," I mutter, crouching on one of the various trees that somehow grew out of the murky blood-red water.

Though the next heroes in line had split up, they weren't that far from each other. If I attack the next Light Hero, who is pretty much right in front of me, the others will definitely notice and try to help him out… making my job just a bit easier.

"I already know where I should bring them, so just come a little closer," I mutter once again while twirling two balls of condensed poison within my hand.

The next heroes were clearly panicking from the overwhelming presence of Master and her wives, but instead of running away from the entire war, they just ran away from the threat and tried to help out the human army.

The lowly humans were smarter and braver than I thought, but if it only takes the appearance of that old hag to scare them, then I should be able to induce the same effect as well.

My smile grew wider as the next heroes were almost within my range of a surprise attack.

Since I have no experience with a weapon and use a weapon, maybe I should keep my distance. After learning the difference between my Master and me, I know that I'm not all-powerful, and one moment of carelessness could be my demise...

Ah, finally.

Jumping from my branch, I dart through the air and slam the next Light Hero into the water below. As I grip his neck even harder, he makes choking noises while preparing a large open swing at my neck with his sword.

SHING

Dammit, I thought I could take one out in an instant and then retreat towards the spot… but it seems that's too hard. The old me would've tried to finish him off even as the sword swung down and hoped that I could tank the hit… but seeing that swing now, my neck would've come clean off.

Taking a few steps back, water splashed my pants, and my shoes had already been soaked.

"TAYBER! WE'RE COMING TO HELP!" I hear a woman's voice shout from behind me.

Spinning around, I see a woman clad in black dashing towards me with daggers coated in the spiraling wind. She lunged towards me and tried to go in for an obvious attack at my neck, but all I had to do was take a few steps back.

She clicked her tongue slightly before landing right next to the up-and-coming Light Hero.

"Hmmm… Are you the next Wind Hero?" I ask the woman in an outfit suited for an assassin.

The black cloth was almost skin-tight but also seemed loose at the same time. She wore no headgear but a long black piece of cloth wrapped around her mouth and nose, hiding her identity.

The woman I assumed to be the next Wind Hero didn't reply and waited for the remaining next Heroes to arrive beside her.

"It seems the party has gathered," I mutter after seeing 3 more humans appear.

First, I have to make some space and go to an open area.

I take a few large steps back towards the [Blood Swamp]'s edge without taking any glances. There was absolutely nobody near the edge of the swamp, not an intelligent monster and not a single human.

The only things I could sense within the vicinity are a few monsters that I hadn't encountered before… well, I hadn't encountered them since I've never actually been to the [Blood Swamp] before.

The heroes blindly followed me, only assuming that I couldn't take all of them on, which was completely wrong.

"[Summon: Zombie]... [Summon: Skeleton]," I mutter.

I didn't just summon a few to protect me, but I summoned an army of 200, which was my limit for both summons.

Dark green and decaying hands sprouted from the blood-red water. They clawed their way out, eventually displaying a decaying dark green head. It made groaning noises as you could almost hear the zombie's flesh falling apart.

In the next second, I could hear the clanking of bones from under the water, and then you could see a skeletal hand burst through the surface of the water. Ripples of waves were formed as it searched for a place as support to pull the rest of its white, skeletal body out of the water.

Glancing upwards, I saw the heroes stumble back, surprised by the sudden appearance of the undead.

"No, no, no… Don't get too surprised yet; I haven't finished," I wag my finger before activating [Summon: Plagued Horse].

A monster about 5 feet tall claws its way out of the ground. It had dark green skin, and its body looked to be falling apart. Even some of its bones were exposed, making the next heroes grimace in disgust.

I throw my leg over the horse and sit on top of it. My eyes were filled with excitement as I ordered my summons to kill the disgusting humans in front of me.

"I don't even need to go all out," I mutter with a smile.

『Status』

[Name: Zehar]

[Race: Deathly Plague Siren]

[Status: Servant]

[Level: 26/100]

[HP: 500/500  MP: 591/700  SP: 497/500]

[Strength: 160]

[Defense: 150]

[Magic: 160]

[Speed: 160]

[Luck: 1]

[Charisma: 50]

[Skills: [Body Enhancement] [Fire Magic] [Wind Magic] [Intense Focus] [Poison Immunity] [Poison Secretion] [Deadly Poison Mist] [Flying Sense] [Smiling Malice] [Sea of Poison] [Tidal Wave of Poison] [Embodiment of Poison] [Virus] [Virus Immunity] [Disease Immunity] [Enhanced Senses] [Enhanced Regeneration] [Summon: Zombie] [Summon: Skeleton] [Summon: Plagued Horse] [Horsemans Deathly Presence]

[Body Modifications: [Poison Body]

[Titles: [One who has Suffered] [Servant] [First Horseman of the Apocalypse]

…

I should save my poison skills for later, but maybe I could use [Fire Magic] or [Wind Magic]...

"I guess I'll save it for when the time comes…."

I decided to actually pay attention to the next heroes who were doing pretty good against my army of undead. In the front lines is a tall man with a giant shield and greatsword, pushing back the army and protecting his party members behind him.

I could tell he was one of the strongest since just one swing of his greatsword cleaved through large chunks of my army. Plus, the massive metal armor that he wore made sure that even if an undead snuck through, they wouldn't be able to land even a scratch on him.

The Healer or support of the party had already applied multiple buffs to her friends, who helped out greatly. The assassin of the party who tried to go for my neck earlier would've died without her support, buffs, and healing.

"I mean… assassins are pretty useless when it comes to war unless you're an insanely high-level assassin… like Masters pet… but she is nowhere near her level,"

Next, I saw the next Fire Hero and Light Hero, who struggled on the front lines with the berserker.

The Fire Hero had coated his own spear with fire, and the Light Hero had coated his sword in a golden aura that seemed to be light itself. Both of these elements were the bane of my undead, but since my undead was already weak, to begin with, it didn't show much when they attacked them.

After about 10 minutes of pushing through and multiple close calls, they had sifted my army down to about 10 undead. But, my smile didn't disappear even as the next heroes showed signs of hope.

Smiles were plastered on their faces as they thought I could only summon monsters to fight for me, and I only had a limited amount that I could summon… but boy, were they wrong.

[Smiling Malice]

A dark purple aura the same shade as my hair burst out of me. My smile only grew wider as I saw the pitiful humans below me step back in fear. A smile made from the darkness of my aura appeared behind me as my horse took a step forward.

Another 200 undead rose from the ground, inducing even more despair than before. Though my limit of summons was 200… that doesn't mean I can't resummon them. As long as I have enough mana, I can keep resummoning them until the next heroes are overwhelmed.

I could hear the cracking of bones and groaning of zombies as they climbed out from the shallow water. The various unknown species of monsters that I had sensed long ago didn't even try to hide their bloodlust as they deemed me a threat instantly.

"W-w-what is he?" The next Fire Hero stutters.

"... The first horseman… it's one of the horsemen we read in stories… they are actually real," The Light Hero says after swallowing a large gulp of saliva.

"Shall we go for round 2… Humans…"