"12327... 12328...12329..."

"30....31.... 32..."

"33.. 34.."

"Master..."

"35.. 36..."

"Master..."

"37.. 38.."

"MASTER..."

"What's up Gawain, didn't you see I was counting.... where did I finish?"

"39.. 40.."

When I resumed my routine, instantly then the world moved in spite of my wishes, it turned out that my knight, after all, had something important to say. Seeing that his shouting had accomplished nothing, I guess he decided to take matters into his own hands, picked me up from the ground and turned me toward a certain person, a person who refused to speak.

"Oh hello Randaloph, how was your wonderful day as well as a nice night.... to me extraordinarily, thanks for asking." I said lazily not caring at all that I was hanging in the air.

"--__--"

"Gawain... you can put me down, now"

"Master..."

"Well, so what everyone is already in place, the army almost complete.... I guess we can start?"

"Master..."

"And what are you freaking out about again.... I'll be fine... if something happens I know very well that I can always count on your support."

"Maasstteerr..."

"Ehh... let's get started."

~~~~

"Listen, I will resurrect them one at a time. Afterwards, as soon as I do that I will run behind Gawain's back, just in case. During this time Randaloph will try to reason with them, even using force. They may be stunned by the new sensations or enraged and will immediately lash out at me. Nothing is certain, another case like our trusty companion may not happen again."

"Any questions?"

"..."

"..."

"I'll take that as a no.... well, let's start maybe with the second most dangerous."

[Resurrection of a Minor Undead].

A small pile of animal bones before our eyes began to merge into an earlier shape, until another undead animal monster very similar to Randaloph appeared, only it was much smaller.

"..."

"..."

"So?"

"..."

"..."

At first the newly resurrected undead wolf didn't react, as if the impulse that he was alive again hadn't arrived yet, he kept his bony head pointed downward and stood as if he were stunned. None of us, experienced undead wanted to disturb him but each for different reasons. Whether it was that of fear, curiosity or perhaps past respect for the dead.

"..."

"..."

"..."

Silence once again fell in the forest, and since none of the four of us had to breathe, in the surroundings only the sound of birds flying from time to time or broken branches from afar, testified the continued presence of animals in the forest thicket.

After a long moment, the wolf finally moved, slightly raising its head and looking around. However, the flickering green flame in wolf eye sockets showed slight signs of confusion and surprise. It was only when he spotted my big bone giant and also the inconspicuous necromancer behind him, me, that his mood changed.

Confusion and anxiety replaced by anger, resentment and rage, a fire now bubbling all over his eyes filling his vision, and he moved to attack. Wolf moved to attack fueled by anger probably recalling snatches of his former life and probably recent death as well. Yet he didn't manage to run even a few steps as he was seemingly fast but someone was even faster.

Randaloph threw himself from behind at the unsuspecting undead wolf and knocked it down with ease, though not without momentarily rolling on the floor. The two bone monsters began to fight like two puppies learning to bite, until finally, as expected, Randaloph won, pinning down his recent opponent with his size and skill.

Even so, the attempts to fight went on because the fierce 'beta' continued not to give up, still trying to rise from his knees. But he had to pause when the open maw of the big wolf was directly in front of his eyes.

"Hrrr..." Growled a menacing Randaloph to his new companion, giving him one last chance to surrender.

At this, the new 'beta' of the future pack, as if recovering his old instincts, obediently retorted and, as a matter of habit, exposed his most vital parts in a gesture of surrender.

The one eyed undead wolf leader secretly smiled since he had won again, or at least he thought no one noticed. But I understood such behavior because he proved that he further possessed the skills to lead the pack, all he needed was to be stronger.

"Now the first one has fallen, before the next ones and eventually you will all be one big family again." I thought without letting on that I had given my wolf companion just a little help.

~~~~

When the first one fell prey to the new leader it was followed by others. A young female, probably the daughter of the current beta, did not attack like her previously unstable father, but after being reborn began to observe her surroundings. Seeing her family behind the great Randaloph, she did not think long but immediately surrendered to the authority of the new pack leader.

Another was a young male who acted differently, not only did he revive the fastest, but immediately after changing his body he jumped and moved nimbly from place to place, as if he was alive and full of energy again. And when he saw the new alpha unknown to him, without thinking he questioned him, probably as was his habit.

While this fight didn't last long, as the still bored Randaloph pushed the youngster away with one paw, with ease. But the youngster wanted to get up and attack, yet was pacified by the other adult wolf. The leader must have his servants for some reason.

One older female did the same as her younger counterpart and joined the new/old pack without a problem.

For the other, from what I was able to understand when the fight between the wolves did not break out, she waited for the decision of her older life partner, whom I have not yet resurrected.

So I also took care of that.

[Resurrection of a Minor Undead]

What about when I uttered the magic words the practically intact remains of the wolf began to rise, but before I could even react as usual by running away, the newly resurrected wolf managed to rise, raise its head and look directly at me. A repeat of the pleasure.

Gawain was already about to react and run ahead of me but the light growl of Randaloph forestalled him. The newly resurrected wolf emotionlessly dodged past me, lightly bumping me in the process, and then threw himself at his former leader.

The attacked Randaloph was not obliged to him either, acting even mirroring what the earlier wolf had done also threw himself at the pretender.

This time the fight between the undead dogs lasted longer and was much more brutal, as, deprived of the ambush element and my little help, Randaloph had to work a little harder. But of course he came out victorious in the end, I couldn't allow my wolf champion to have even the slightest chance of defeat.

The dust had settled, there were no more contenders for the wolf throne so I began to repair any wounds and damage to my new subjects with my precious mana. From dps to suport, the fall of man.

With the last dog defeated, wolf family was again complete as if the earlier battle hadn't happened at all, well, except maybe for the change of living flesh to bones, but who would pay attention to such small things. The pack was complete and now only the old leader remained to be conquered.

~~~~

We approached the practically decomposed remains of the former alpha which my obedient skeletons managed to piece together.

"Ready?"

"(⋋_⋌)"

"Good luck."

[Resurrection of a Minor Undead].

"Although you won't need it..." I thought while moving away to a safe place from where I could view the coming battle.

The remains of the former white giant laboriously began to fuse together, where it was possible the bones were fused together and where they were not as skeletal fragments were either missing or too damaged the regeneration process created new ones. I could have prevented this from happening and stopped the flow of mana in certain places, but it would have been like shooting myself in the foot, how would I explain it to them later.

After many second moments and the longest resurrection process to date, a huge beast, larger than the rest of the current pack, stood on the spot of the former mound of destroyed bones. The beast stared fiercely with its green blinds at the ready Randaloph, who was tense as an arrow throughout the process.

A battle of stares ensued between the two leaders first, followed shortly after by a real battle to life and death, although in this case to death or death.

Neither of the two participants thought even for a split second whether perhaps a renewed fight was necessary or whether the outcome of the earlier one mattered. No, each of them didn't care about such trivial things just relentlessly attacked their nemesis. As before, blow for blow, bite for bite and attack for attack, this wasn't a fight about who would win, it was who would destroy whom before.

But this time, aside from the former white giant's slight height advantage, the fight was evenly matched. Experience versus bulk.

~~~~

The duel dragged on for hours, until I became weary, though it was at my own responsibility. For, wanting to prolong the bloody spectacle, I secretly healed them. But not wanting to arouse suspicion that I was meddling in the battle in addition to treating Randaloph from time to time I had to treat the white alpha as well.

So that's how, thanks to my efforts, the battle that should have lasted minutes began to drag on for hours and maybe even days if I didn't get bored.

Therefore, when neither of them paid much attention to their surroundings I poured multiples of mana into Randaloph so that he would be 'completely' healed. And so, thanks to a sudden surge of strength, the undead leader knocked down his opponent, thus ending the hours-long bloody dispute.

Surprisingly, in spite of the duration of this battle, the deprived Alpha still refused to give up.

Randaloph, for some unknown reason, decided to be wiser and, after deciding that two battle wins were enough for him, resolved to open a dialogue with his former traitorous subject, who now fell to his knees before him. And their soundless discussion continued until Randaloph obediently stepped forward to me and decided to ask for something.

"Really... can you say that again?"

"(〃ω〃)"

"No, I'm seriously asking, are you sure I should heal him?

"(・´ｪ｀・)"

"I don't know how you did it but.... today you are once again positively surprising me. I'm already getting to work"

"(─‿─)"

Thus, caring for my reputation, as I said so I did. The former white giant now slightly ridiculously called "Alpha" returned to full strength and then, under a slight pressure from Randaloph, lay down in front of me on his back in a gesture of surrender.

And when this was done and I had the whole pack under control, System, who had not given a sign of life for a long time, decided to raise his voice.