Dungeon Corpse Stacker: I Absorb Everything to Become Ominous Monarch

”Stop! Release Commander Gregory! Fire on the Sovereign!” Vice-Commander Charlotte shrieked, her voice cracking in pure desperation as she raised her glowing silver staff with trembling hands.

A localized ice storm erupted around Renan, hurling hundreds of razor-sharp glacial spikes toward his exposed flank. At the same time, thirty surviving Rank-A mercenary snipers stationed along the upper ridge unleashed a synchronized salvo of anti-tank mana rounds aimed straight at Renan’s head.

SWOOSH!

Before the glacial spikes or high-caliber rounds could come within ten feet of Renan, Shadow Commander Beatrice materialized from the dark wind. With a casual flick of her wrist, a condensed gale of black pressurized air formed a swirling vortex around Renan, deflecting the heavy rounds into the canyon walls and crushing Charlotte’s ice storm into harmless, frozen powder.

”Your opponent is here, human,” Beatrice whispered, her shadowy form blurring forward.

Before Charlotte could cast a defensive barrier, Beatrice’s wind spear pierced through her silver robes, pinning the Vice-Commander securely to the granite cliff wall fifty feet in the air. Charlotte gasped for breath, her staff clattering uselessly against the stone floor below as her mana supply was violently severed by the dark wind energy.

On the canyon floor, Gregory felt the icy, suffocating touch of black miasma entering his nostrils, mouth, and eyes.

”No... please... I have a family in Chicago...” Gregory choked out, his eyes wide with absolute horror as the Monarch’s extraction power invaded his spirit. ”Don’t... tear my soul...”

”Your family lived in comfort while your consortium profited from the blood of the slums,” Renan said, his voice completely devoid of mercy. ”You chose to stand on this battlefield for gold. Now, pay your debt.”

[Skill Activated: ’Absolute Corpse Extraction’]

Target: S-Rank Commander Gregory Vance (Heavy Tanker)

Processing Soul, Battle Experience, & Defensive Skill Core...

WHOOSH!

A surge of dark violet lightning erupted from Renan’s palm, driving straight into Gregory’s skull. The S-Rank Tanker’s body convulsed violently as a ghostly, dark purple spirit was forcibly ripped from his physical chest. Within seconds, Gregory’s heavy adamantite armor, his flesh, and his broadsword dissolved into fine, black ash that blew away in the canyon draft.

Where the commander of the five-thousand-man mercenary force once lay, a massive, towering shadow figure materialized from the asphalt crater. It wore heavy, black phantom plate armor infused with dark runes, wielding a colossal, jagged broadsword that crackled with corrupted holy light. The new entity dropped heavily onto both knees before Renan, bowing its head in absolute submission.

[Extraction Successful!]

[New Entity Acquired: Shadow Commander ’Gregory’ (Rank-EX / Heavy Tanker)]

Special Ability: ’Fortress Domain’ (Increases Defensive Stats of All Nearby Allies by 50% & Grants Kinetic Reflection).

+900 Strength

+400 Agility

+1,500 Vitality

+600 Mana

[Physical Stat Total: 20,850 Points]

Renan felt the massive influx of physical stats flow directly into his Monarch core, pushing his stat total past the 20,000-point threshold. A deep, intoxicating surge of kinetic power settled into his muscles.

Looking across the canyon floor, the sight of their S-Rank Commander being executed and converted into a shadowy phantom shattered the remaining morale of the mercenary army. Panic spread through the ranks like wildfire.

”Commander Gregory is dead! He turned him into a monster!”

”Break formation! Run! Run for the eastern border!”

”The barrier is gone! We’re trapped in this gorge!”

Thousands of international mercenaries threw down their heavy weapons, abandoned their plasma cannons, and fled in complete, chaotic panic toward the narrow eastern exit of the canyon. However, as they rounded the bend of the highway, their path was completely blocked.

Standing shoulder-to-shoulder across the exit pass were two thousand Abyssal Shadow Beasts and three thousand five hundred Shadow Knights, their dark blades drawn and golden eyes burning in the darkness.

”Master,” Shadow Commander James spoke, appearing beside Renan with a floating tactical ledger. ”The five thousand mercenaries are completely trapped within the canyon. None have breached the outer perimeter. Shall we begin mass extraction?”

Renan looked over the trapped, cowering army of mercenaries. Across the nation, satellite feeds operated by the World Hunter Federation were capturing every frame of the slaughter in high definition.

”The World Federation wanted to test our strength,” Renan said, raising his hand toward the night sky. ”Give them a display they will never forget.”

Renan brought his hand down.

”Ignis. Sylas. Gregory. Clean the canyon.”

ROOOOOAAAR!

Shadow General Ignis unleashed a torrent of black dragon-fire that swept across the center of the gorge, incinerating defensive bunkers and supply trucks in a single breath. Shadow Commander Gregory stepped forward, slamming his new phantom broadsword into the earth to deploy Fortress Domain, locking the trapped mercenaries inside an inescapable kinetic prison.

For thirty minutes, the Northern Pass echoed with the thunder of dark magic, the clash of phantom steel, and the desperate cries of an invading army being systematically dismantled.

By the time the first rays of morning light crested the granite cliffs, the five-thousand-man mercenary coalition had ceased to exist. Five thousand broken weapons and shattered armor plates littered the quiet canyon floor.

Renan stood atop the central ridge, his dark coat swaying in the cool morning wind. Beneath his feet, five thousand dark shadows began to rise from the asphalt, their golden eyes igniting one by one as they joined the ranks of the Shadow Legion.

[System Announcement: Mass Extraction Completed!]

[New Shadow Units Acquired: 4,800 Rank-A/S Shadow Mercenaries]

[Total Shadow Army Garrison: 9,500 Units]

[Territorial Expansion Unlocked: Northern Provincial Corridor Secured!]

Shadow Commander James stepped up to Renan’s side, holding a flickering holographic display that showed red emergency alerts flashing across Geneva, Washington, and Paris.

”My Monarch,” James reported, his voice crisp and dark. ”The World Hunter Federation has confirmed the total loss of the Northern Pass Vanguard. General Viktor Vance of the European Defense Legion has officially requested permission from the World Council to deploy World-Class Class-SS assets.”

Renan looked out over the newly conquered northern mountain pass, his golden eyes burning with unyielding, cold ambition.

”Tell General Viktor to bring his entire legion,” Renan whispered. ”The Northern Pass was just the entrance.”