“I would like to accept all the requests, system.”

  My voice was calm. If you think about it, it was a little too calm for someone standing in the middle of a battlefield littered with corpses.

  The blue panels had been stacking in the corner of my vision nonstop. Every kill was given a notification. Every prompt asking if I wanted to consume.

  At first I had ignored them.

  Now?

  Now I need everything.

  [Consuming 13x souls…]

  A faint pressure built in my chest.

  Not pain but not exactly pleasure either.

  It was more like something expanding inside me, as if invisible threads were weaving themselves deeper into my being. My mana core fluctuated violently for a brief second before stabilizing.

  The corpses around us twitched.

  Subtly.

  Almost unnoticed beneath the chaos.

  Although the consumption was a success, the real challenge had only just begun.

  “Fuckin’ hell guys! What’re you doing!”

  The roar cut through the battlefield like thunder.

  Every remaining elf froze instinctively.

  Even my summons paused for half a second.

  I turned my head slowly.

  And then I understood.

  When I say big, I mean it.

  This was not a soldier.

  This was a fucking fortress with legs.

  The elf giant stood towering over the tents, his armored frame casting a shadow that swallowed the battlefield. He made my elf brute look like a child’s toy. If my brute was impressive, then this thing was monstrous.

  He was easily as tall as a three story building.

  Heavy armor covered his entire body, thick and reinforced, but what made it bizarre were the gold coins hammered into the edges of his plating. Not decorative in a refined way. More like trophies embedded into the armor randomly, clinking faintly whenever he moved. It looked messy. Excessive and arrogant.

  Like he wanted everyone to know how wealthy and powerful he was.

  In his hands was a sledge hammer.

  Not a normal one.

  The head alone was the size of a carriage.

  At first, my brain immediately labeled him as the boss of this ‘gate.’

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  But I was wrong.

  There was no system announcement.

  No boss title.

  Which meant—

  He’s just a fucking elite.

  He did not wait. He did not give me time to analyze more.

  He lifted the hammer high.

  And slammed it down.

  The impact was catastrophic.

  The ground exploded outward in a violent shockwave, cracking and splintering beneath the sheer force. I threw myself sideways without thinking, rolling hard across the dirt as debris rained down around me.

  Greed leapt backward gracefully.

  The female elf samurai darted to the side.

  The brute barely avoided direct impact.

  But not all of us were lucky.

  The Shielded-Spear Elf was caught directly beneath the descending hammer.

  There was no scream nor was there resistance.

  Just instant obliteration.

  [Shielded-Spearman has been killed!]

  The notification flashed coldly across my vision.

  I stared at it for half a second.

  Damn it.

  The giant straightened slowly, lifting the hammer back onto his shoulder as if he had just swatted a fly.

  “You worthless idiots,” he snarled at the remaining soldiers. “Can’t even handle one damn human?”

  One of the elves stammered, “Commander, he… he’s reanimating the dead—”

  “I can see that!” the giant roared.

  He took one heavy step forward and the ground trembled.

  My summons regrouped instinctively around me.

  But then—

  Something shifted.

  The corpses. The ones I had just consumed.

  The system must have finally processed everything.

  Because the bodies that had fallen earlier began to stir.

  One.

  Two.

  Three.

  More.

  By what felt like sheer luck, the system seemed to understand my situation.

  [Shielded-Spear Elf, Rank B & Soldier Grade has entered your army!]

  My eyes widened.

  Rank B?

  The one that just died had been Rank C.

  This one was…

  Stronger.

  I felt a surge of understanding flow into me. The souls I had consumed were not wasted. They were being converted. Reinforced. Upgraded.

  More blue panels stacked rapidly.

  …

  [Successfully consumed souls x12]

  One by one, dead soldiers began to rise behind me.

  Spearmen.

  Swordmen.

  Even an archer.

  Their movements were slightly staggered at first, then stabilized as the necromantic connection solidified.

  The remaining living elves stared in horror.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me…”

  “It’s multiplying…”

  The giant’s expression darkened.

  “So that’s your trick.”

  He shifted his grip on the hammer and pointed it directly at me.

  “Fine. I’ll crush you first.”

  My heart pounded heavily.

  This was no longer a small skirmish.

  This was escalating beyond control.

  My army now stood larger than before.

  Greed.

  Female elf samurai.

  Elf brute.

  Newly upgraded Shielded-Spear Elf Rank B.

  Plus twelve freshly reanimated soldiers.

  But that giant—

  He radiated pressure.

  Real pressure.

  Alright…

  I inhaled slowly.

  If you’re not the boss…

  Then I’ll just farm you too.

  I tightened my grip on the branch.

  “Let’s see,” I muttered quietly, eyes locked onto the towering brute, "What's your soul’s value.”