Dugbe Market was the beating heart of Ibadan. In the old world, it was a cacophony of shouting traders, honking buses, and millions of Naira changing hands every hour.
Now, it was a graveyard.
Bhy Khay crouched on the roof of an abandoned Zenith Bank building, overlooking the main road leading into the market. The silence was heavy, broken only by the sound of flies.
"I don't see any patrols," Zayn whispered, adjusting the scope of his [Windforce Bow]. "It's empty."
"It's not empty," Tomiwa shuddered, clutching her sketchbook. "It's... full. But nothing is breathing."
She pointed her charcoal stick at the street below.
"Look at the shadows."
Bhy Khay activated [Sovereign Eyes].
The street wasn't empty. Lying in the gutters, under the stalls, and inside the wrecked cars were bodies. Hundreds of them. They wore the tattered remnants of Nigerian Army uniforms, market traders' clothes, and police vests.
They weren't moving. They were waiting.
[ZONE: DUGBE MARKET (The Necropolis)]
[OWNER: THE GENERAL]
[STATUS: DORMANT]
[TRIGGER: LIVING PRESENCE]
"It's a minefield," Bhy Khay analyzed. "The moment we step on that pavement, the 'Dormant' status flips to 'Aggro'. Every corpse on this street will stand up."
"So we stay on the roofs?" Elara asked.
"We can't," Bhy Khay pointed toward the center of the district.
Looming over the market was the Cocoa House—the 26-story skyscraper that was the pride of the city. Now, it was a tower of darkness. Purple lightning crackled around its antenna.
[OBJECTIVE: THE CITY LORD TOKEN]
[LOCATION: COCOA HOUSE PENTHOUSE]
"The Token is at the top," Bhy Khay said. "And the General is guarding it. To get there, we have to cross the sea of dead."
"We need a distraction," Zayn said. "I can shoot a car alarm?"
"Sound doesn't work on these ones," Bhy Khay shook his head. "They are controlled by a Hive Mind. They respond to Life Force."
He looked at Elara.
"Remember what I said about Fire?"
"I'm an Ice Mage, Bhy Khay," Elara frowned. "I can't cast Fireball. My mana affinity is opposite."
"You don't need to cast Fire," Bhy Khay opened his inventory. He pulled out the [Mercury Ink Set] he had given Tomiwa earlier, and a bottle of [Industrial Alcohol] looted from the Science Block.
"We need chemistry," Bhy Khay grinned. "Tomiwa, draw me a circle. A big one."
Ten minutes later, on the street below.
A lone figure walked down the center of Dugbe road. It was Bhy Khay.
He walked calmly, his boots crunching on the broken glass.
CLICK.
A soldier lying in a burnt-out taxi turned its head. Its skin was grey, eyes glowing with pale green necromancy.
GROAN.
Another one stood up from behind a stall. Then another.
[STATUS CHANGE: AGGRO]
[ENEMY: ROTTEN INFANTRY (Lvl 4)]
[WEAPON: RUSTED BAYONET]
Within seconds, the street was filled with the shuffling undead. There were at least two hundred of them. They blocked the path to Cocoa House, their moans creating a low, terrifying hum.
"Fresh... meat..." one gurgled.
Bhy Khay stopped. He was surrounded.
"Come and get it," he said.
The horde charged.
Bhy Khay didn't draw his dagger. He snapped his fingers.
"Now!"
On the rooftops above, Elara, Zayn, and Tomiwa executed the plan.
Tomiwa slammed her hand onto her sketchbook. "[Living Ink: OIL SLICK]!"
Black ink poured from the rooftops like a waterfall. It didn't soak into the ground; it coated the zombies, turning them sticky and black.
"Elara!" Bhy Khay shouted.
Elara raised her [Staff of the Tides]. She didn't cast ice. She cast [Water Prison]—but she aimed it at the ink.
The water mixed with the ink, spreading it faster, coating the entire intersection in a flammable sludge.
"Zayn! The spark!"
Zayn fired a bolt. But this wasn't a normal arrow. Bhy Khay had tied a [Flint Strike] to the tip.
The arrow hit the asphalt right at Bhy Khay's feet.
SPARK.
WHOOSH.
The street erupted.
But it wasn't normal fire. Because of the chemicals Bhy Khay had mixed into the ink, the flames burned Blue.
[CHEMICAL REACTION: HOLY FIRE (Artificial)]
[EFFECT: PREVENTS REGENERATION]
"RAAAAH!"
The zombie horde screamed as the blue fire consumed them. The Necromantic magic binding their bodies unraveled instantly under the chemical heat.
Bhy Khay stood in the center of the inferno. He wasn't burning.
[RING OF THE VOID WALKER: ACTIVE]
He was in the Void Dimension for 3 seconds—just long enough for the initial blast to clear a path.
He reappeared, smoke rising from his shoulders.
"Move!" he commanded.
Elara and the others ziplined down from the roof using ropes Tomiwa had drawn. They landed behind Bhy Khay.
"It smells like... bleach?" Elara coughed, covering her nose.
"Cleaning products," Bhy Khay kicked a charred skull away. "Necromancy is just bacteria on a spiritual level. We just sanitized the street."
They sprinted through the burning remains of the checkpoint, heading for the entrance of Cocoa House.
The lobby of the skyscraper was grand, with marble floors and golden elevators. But the elevators were twisted wreckage.
Standing in front of the stairs was a single figure.
He wasn't a rot-walker. He was tall, wearing a pristine Nigerian Army General's uniform. His skin was pale, almost translucent, and he held a cavalry saber that dripped with shadow.
[BOSS ENCOUNTER]
[NAME: CAPTAIN IDRIS (The General's Right Hand)]
[CLASS: DEATH KNIGHT (Lvl 9)]
[ABILITY: SOUL SEVER]
"You are noisy," Idris said. His voice sounded like grinding stones. "The General is studying. He does not like noise."
He raised his saber. The shadows in the room elongated, turning into spikes.
"A Level 9 Death Knight," Zayn stepped back. "My arrows won't pierce that armor."
"He's not armored against physics," Bhy Khay said, checking his own mana. [180/200].
"Elara, freeze the floor," Bhy Khay ordered.
"Again?" Elara raised her staff. "[Permafrost]!"
The marble floor turned into a skating rink of ice.
Idris didn't slip. He slammed his sword into the ground.
"[Shadow Anchor]."
Black chains erupted from his blade, piercing the ice and anchoring his boots to the concrete beneath. He stood firm.
"Your tricks are childish," Idris sneered. He pointed his sword at Elara. "[Death Grip]."
An invisible force grabbed Elara by the throat. She gasped, lifting off the ground, clawing at the air.
"Elara!" Zayn fired three arrows. Clang. Clang. Clang. They bounced off Idris's dark aura.
"She dies first," Idris said, tightening his fist. Elara's HP bar began to drain rapidly. [-10 HP/sec].
Bhy Khay looked at the Shadow Anchor holding Idris to the floor.
"System," Bhy Khay whispered, his eyes glowing gold. "Edit Property."
He focused on the [Shadow Chains].
[OBJECT: SHADOW MANA CONSTRUCT]
[PROPERTY: IMMOVABLE]
[ADMIN HACK: INVERT PROPERTY]
Bhy Khay spent 100 Mana in one go.
[MODIFICATION COMPLETE.]
[PROPERTY: ZERO GRAVITY.]
Suddenly, the chains holding Idris down didn't pull him down. They pulled him up.
"What?" Idris gasped as his own spell launched him toward the ceiling. The Death Grip on Elara broke instantly. She fell to the floor, coughing.
Idris slammed into the chandelier, twenty feet up.
"Get him down!" Zayn shouted, aiming up.
"No," Bhy Khay smiled. "Keep him up."
"Tomiwa! Draw an anvil!"
"On it!" Tomiwa sketched furiously in the air. A massive, cartoon-style 1-ton anvil materialized above the floating Death Knight.
"Gravity check," Bhy Khay muttered.
The anvil dropped.
CRUNCH.
Idris was smashed between the anvil and the ceiling, then plummeted to the floor as the spell broke.
BOOM.
He hit the marble with the force of a car crash. His armor shattered.
[CRITICAL HIT.]
[BOSS HP: 0/2000]
Idris lay broken in a crater of marble. He looked up at Bhy Khay, his green eyes fading.
"The General... will... harvest... you..."
He dissolved into black dust.
[LOOT DROP: SHADOW SABER (Epic)]
[LOOT DROP: ELEVATOR KEYCARD]
Bhy Khay picked up the keycard.
"He's studying," Bhy Khay looked at the elevator shaft. "Let's go teach him a lesson."