The 24th Floor opened slowly. The air itself felt heavier than the previous floors.
Unlike the chaotic war fields of the goblin territories this land looked organized, civilized and disciplined.
A massive stone fortress stood in the distance. Tall watchtowers lined the outer walls. Long banners bearing imperial crests fluttered in the wind.
Armies moved across the plains in formations that clearly belonged to trained soldiers rather than monsters.
Kael stepped forward slowly.
Behind him stood two completely different forces.
One side was the Elite Bone Legion. Thousands of skeletal warriors standing in perfect silence. Their weapons were forged from hardened bone. Their armour appeared as dark plates fused directly into their skeleton frames. Cold blue flames burned inside their empty eye sockets.
They looked terrifying.
The second force stood several dozen meters away from them.
Those were Captain Rodric's soldiers. Fully armoured human warriors. They had steel swords. Heavy shields. Battle-worn armour covered in scratches and scars. They were the veterans of the battlefield. Real soldiers who once fought for a kingdom.
They stood in disciplined ranks. But their eyes were not focused on the enemy fortress. They were staring at the skeleton army with open hostility.
Some soldiers tightened their grip on their swords. Others muttered under their breath.
"Undead filth…"
"Monsters…"
"Why are the Undead army here?"
"How are we supposed to fight beside them?"
Rodric stood at the front of the human soldiers. Even he looked uncomfortable. Even if he had trained the Undead soldiers that's because of Kael's order and he himself hate undead and he did not fear the skeleton army.
But because he understood his soldiers. Their entire lives had been built on a simple belief. Undead were enemies. Cursed creatures that should be destroyed because the main reason in the past the empires cease to exist was because of the Undead army.
Now they were being asked to fight beside them.
Rodric walked toward Kael.
"My lord."
Kael glanced at him.
"They will not accept this."
Rodric sighed.
"They cannot."
He turned slightly, watching the skeleton army.
"In every kingdom we served undead were enemies there were plagues because of them, they are necromancers' slaves and are abominations."
Kael nodded.
He already expected this. No humans want to live with the undead who made their life worst.
The Elite Bone Legion stood quietly. They did not react. They did not feel insulted. They simply waited.
Because for them there was only one command that mattered that was Kael's will.
Shen Yao appeared beside Kael.
Floating lazily in the air.
"This happens in every world, where humans can't exist with the undead. But now even if you can't deny it, now the undead army and the knights are in your control, without them together the mission won't be cleared, why not just handle the undead army only by you and the rest let it go with the flow"
Even Kael was confused after hearing his master's words, he somewhat understood and decided to go with the flow.
Kael looked at the battlefield ahead.
The enemy empire army was already gathering. There were thousands of soldiers, heavy cavalry, shield walls, long spear formations. War mages standing in the rear.
This was not a chaotic monster army. This was a professional imperial army.
Shen Yao smirked "You know what's funny?"
"You've got two armies that hate each other."
"And a third army trying to kill both of them."
Kael sighed quietly.
"This is just great."
Shen Yao grinned.
"Welcome to leadership."
Kael called Rodric forward.
The captain walked toward him.
"What is our enemy?"
Kael pointed toward the fortress.
"Imperial Army of the south region."
Rodric studied the formations carefully.
"They're experienced."
They are heavy infantry in front. They had Shield wall, spearmen behind, archers on elevated ground. Cavalry waiting to charge once the lines break.
Rodric spoke calmly.
"A normal battle would require coordination between our forces."
Kael glanced at the human soldiers. They were openly glaring at the skeleton army. Some even spat on the ground when looking at them.
Rodric sighed.
"My men will not willingly fight beside undead."
Kael nodded with the stern face.
"I know."
Rodric continued.
"And the skeleton army cannot understand them."
Kael looked at the Bone Legion.
They stood perfectly still waiting for the commands.
As said by his master Kael decided to do it.
Then he spoke "Then they don't need to fight together."
Rodric frowned.
"What?"
Kael drew a line across the battlefield using his Authority talent.
A glowing boundary appeared across the ground. A perfect straight line dividing the battlefield into two halves.
Rodric looked confused.
Kael pointed to the left side.
"You command the human army."
Then he pointed to the right side.
"I command the Bone Legion."
Rodric blinked.
"You're splitting the battlefield?"
Kael nodded.
"The enemy will attack both sides there will be two battlefronts."
Rodric slowly smiled.
"I see."
Shen Yao chuckled.
"Not bad."
Kael continued.
"No need of having the cooperation nor the trust, just the battle and let's see how it goes."
Rodric finished the sentence.
"Let's go for the win."
The imperial army marched forward. War horns echoed across the plains. Thousands of soldiers moved like a living machine.
The human soldiers under Rodric formed their own shield wall.
Steel shields locking together. Spears pointed forward.
The Elite Bone Legion mirrored the formation on the other side using the Bone shields and bone spears. Silent undead warriors forming ranks.
From afar it looked strange. Two completely different armies.
Human and undead. Standing beside each other yet clearly separated.
The imperial commander noticed it too.
He laughed loudly.
"The opposite looks clearly divided and no sense of unity among them. Their morale is at rock bottom!"
"Crush them!"
The imperial army charged. The battlefield erupted.
Rodric's army clashed with imperial infantry.
Steel met steel. Soldiers shouted war cries. Shields slammed together. Swords clashed in brutal close combat.
On the other side the Bone Legion moved like a silent storm. Skeleton warriors advanced without fear. Their spears stabbed forward in perfect rhythm. Their shields blocked every attack.
Goblins fought wildly. Humans fought strategically. But skeletons fought with something unique.
They fought without fear of death. Even when bones shattered, they continued attacking.
The imperial army struggled against this strange opponent.
The battle intensified. Both sides suffered casualties.
The imperial army realized something.
Even though the two armies were divided they were equally dangerous.
The battlefield turned into chaos.
Rodric shouted commands constantly.
"Hold the line!"
"Archers forward!"
"Push their flank!"
Meanwhile Kael commanded the Bone Legion silently using gestures.
Formations shifted. Spears rotated.
Skeleton soldiers moved like chess pieces on a board.
The imperial army began losing ground.
Yet the tension between Kael's two forces remained. Human soldiers refused to even look toward the skeleton side.
Until something unexpected happened.
A young human soldier named Darren stumbled during battle.
An imperial knight charged toward him. The knight's sword swung downward.
Darren raised his shield too late. The blade was going to split his skull.
But suddenly a spear pierced the knight's chest. The imperial soldier collapsed instantly.
Darren froze and he turned slowly. Behind him stood a skeleton warrior.
The skeleton calmly pulled its spear back. Then it simply returned to formation.
Darren stared in shock.
"That…"
"That thing…"
It had saved him. But there was no time to think.
More enemies approached. Darren stood up and continued fighting.
Yet something had changed inside his mind.
The war continued for another hour. More incidents happened.
A skeleton shield blocked an arrow aimed at a human soldier. Another skeleton dragged a wounded man out of the battle line. One even intercepted a cavalry charge that would have crushed an entire human formation.
Again and again the undead saved the living.
At first the human soldiers were confused. Then they were stunned.
Finally, they began noticing something.
The skeleton army was not treating them as enemies. They were simply protecting the battlefield. Protecting the army.
Because Kael commanded them to. Kael had simply removed the line without anyone noticing it and he commanded the skeleton soldiers to save the knights in case if any mishaps happen.
Rodric himself witnessed one of these moments. A skeleton blocked a spear that was aimed directly at Rodric's back. The spear shattered against the skeleton's ribcage.
Rodric turned around in shock. The skeleton stood there silently and as usual then it returned to the formation.
Rodric stared for a moment.
Then he whispered quietly.
"…Thank you" even though he knew it could not hear him.
The imperial army began collapsing. Their formations broke. Their soldiers started retreating.
Both armies pushed forward.
For the first time during the battle human soldiers and skeleton warriors advanced in the same direction.
And when they move, they didn't move like enemies or allies.
But something closer to understanding.
Kael watched everything from the center of the battlefield.
Shen Yao floated beside him.
"Well, well at least there is some progress, they reached to the level of understanding each other, but I can see the hesitation, the distrust in their eyes, but still it will take some time"
Kael nodded.
Understanding built through battle was stronger than words and then comes the trust.
The imperial army began retreating toward the fortress.
Victory was within reach. But one final incident happened.
A group of imperial knights launched a desperate charge. They broke through Rodric's front line.
One knight raised his sword toward a wounded soldier lying on the ground.
The soldier couldn't move. The sword came down.
Suddenly three skeleton warriors jumped forward. They blocked the attack.
One skeleton lost its arm. Another shattered completely.
But the wounded soldier survived.
Rodric saw it happen. The entire human army saw it happen.
The battlefield froze for a moment.
Humans and skeletons standing side by side. Facing the same enemy.
Rodric raised his sword.
And shouted.
"Forward!"
This time both armies charged together. The imperial forces collapsed completely. The fortress gates slammed shut.
But the battlefield victory was already decided.
Kael looked across the field.
Human soldiers were breathing heavily. Skeleton warriors stood quietly beside them.
There were no hostility and fear, it was just silence.
For the first time since the battle started the two armies stood together.
The system message had not appeared yet.
But something more important had happened. The first bridge between life and death had been formed.
And as Kael watched the battlefield he realized something.
This was no longer just about clearing floors. The Tower was shaping him into something else.
Something capable of commanding armies that should never exist together.
An emperor who could unite the impossible.
The wind moved across the battlefield.
Human soldiers slowly looked toward the skeleton warriors.
And this time an improvement they did not raise the swords against the undead army.
And as usual the undead army did not know anything about it, they just know how to follow Kael their commander.