"You dare!" Ludwig howled as the body seemed to refuse Ludwig's mana.
The refusal wasn't polite. The ice cracked sharply, a spiderweb of fractures racing outward. Chunks loosened and slid free. A thin mist rose, carrying the sharp, clean smell of cold that made his nose sting.
The ice cracked and began falling apart. The body would begin deteriorating.
Ludwig saw it immediately, the edges of preserved flesh losing their rigidity, the slightest sag, the faint discoloration threatening to spread. The coffin's protection was failing, and time was eager to reclaim its due.
"TAKE IT!" Ludwig howled as more of his mana surged into his body.
He didn't feed it gently. He shoved. He forced his Undead mana down through the conduit with the same brutality he used in battle, because subtlety was for people who could afford to fail slowly.
Without a soul of its own, the body's defenses failed to resist, and Ludwig's Undead mana forced their way into it.
