My (Monster?) Hero Life

"Hoh! Look what I caught! A little rat pretending to be a lion!" The woman on top of the skeletal giant laughed out loud. "To think that Erik would be forced back because of something so pitiful!"

Kace did not even wait for her to continue before he fired off a Plague Spear into the throng of zombies. His instincts were constantly warning him of the danger that surrounded him. Kace watched on with a cold expression as he detonated his spell. The shrapnel tore into the decaying flesh of the crowd blocking off his path of retreat.

"You idiot!" The woman yelled again with a cheerful tone as the giant swung an arm to clear the poisonous cloud that had surrounded it. The woman's hood fell down to reveal a face that would have been beautiful if the skin on one half of it had not wasted away to show her skull. A few maggots feel from the empty eye socket on that half of her face as she laughed to her heart's content. 

Kace could only stare wide-eyed at the woman. Not only was she a necromancer, but it seemed like she was actually a lich to boot. 'Damn it! They're prepared for me. My abilities won't affect these corpses!' Kace sneered at the woman, who seemed to take delight in his predicament.

"What's wrong? Is the big bad monster finally realising that he's met a hero he can't overcome?" The woman pouted in a mocking expression that only looked horrifying due to the state of her face.

"You don't look very heroic to me! Seems like you're already past your expiry date! You sure your body can hold up?" Kace taunted as he tried to get more information out of his opponent. He could always use the shadow realm to retreat from here.

"What would you know about heroes, you filthy monster?" The woman chuckled lightly while fixing her one good eye on him. "There's no right or wrong when it comes to power. It's how it's used! And mine is used to protect innocent humans from scum like you!"

"Innocent, my ass! I didn't think Erik had lapdogs like you anymore!" Kace's mind raced as he tried to figure out what was going on. He could tell just from the woman's aura that she should be above Erik in terms of power.

"Hah! Like fuck would I serve a worthless man like him. Listen up! I'm Constance of Lord Zornok's Seven Hells!" The lich boasted as her flaming red hair billowed in the gentle desert breeze.

'Shit. So the other six in the tower will be just as strong as her! We can't win this one!' Kace clenched his teeth as he motioned to Shadow to be prepared to escape.

"Oh no, you don't!" Constance snapped the fingers of her right hand, and ten gravestones rose from the sands in a circular formation to surround them. "Don't even bother trying your little trick with those shadows. These gravestones prevent any form of transportation spells and abilities."

"My Lord," Shadow growled from Kace's side. "She's right. I can't access the shadow realm!"

Kace wore an ugly expression as he looked at Constance's mocking expression. It was almost like this woman existed just to counter him. 'There has to be a way out of his!'

Just then, a roar went up from the monster army as they charged toward the brigade of zombies! Sophia had seen the danger that Kace was in, and she was not about to be held responsible if he happened to die! In her mind, it was worth sacrificing an entire army to ensure his survival! It seemed like the troops agreed with her as they charged forward without any fear.

Kace wanted to warn them to back off, but secretly he was relieved that Shadow and himself would not have to face this woman alone. However, his heart sank when Constance merely revealed a playful smile before snapping her fingers again. The rear line of the blockade turned to face the charging monsters before each of them raised an arm to point towards them.

In the next moment, flesh rained down on the area as a sharp piece of bone flew out of the arm of each zombie at high speed. The first line of monsters could not react as they were shot down by these lethal Bone Shard's. The army inadvertently slowed its advance to give them time to respond if another volley came their way.

At the same time, the zombies closest to Kace suddenly lunged at him. Their hands outstretched as they tried to claw at him with their blackened nails. Kace wasted no time in activating Kinetic Vision. Since most of his spells were now useless, he would have to rely on physical might to break out of this problem!

Kace had Sylvan take the form of a halberd. It would be far easier to behead as many as possible in one swing while keeping his distance from them this way. He swung the heavy weapon in wide arcs. As it closed in on the necks of his opponents, he got a sudden surprise! The damned zombies jumped so that he cleaved them in two across their waists! 

His strike had ended up as a non-lethal one as the zombies' top halves crawled through the sand towards him while more filled the gaps that he had created. 'Fuck my life! Are you serious?' Kace frowned as he realised that he would be forced into a passive position soon. They would not be able to hold off the still walking zombies while worrying about the ankle biters. 

'I can still use Stampede to break through, but then…' Kace spared a glance at Shadow, who was facing a similar problem with his scythe. 'No. I can't leave him behind. We'll have to hold out until the army clears a path. If that fails, well… I still haven't used those DNA points yet.'