Undead Evolution: From Trash To Divine-Chapter 33: Battle board

"Most of the monsters making up the horde are either trash‑grade or rare‑grade monsters. As long as I stay careful, surviving should not be an issue..."

Lukas concluded after performing the initial assessment of the horde. Then his gaze turned to the rest of the squad. Other than the middle‑aged man who was acting as their de facto leader, the rest of the squad were just dead weight: one girl with dark circles under her eyes with frail appearance, these dark circle were definitely not from staying up all night to study, and two other frail‑looking men. The three of them had cultivation no greater than rank three.

While he was thinking, the middle‑aged man turned to them with a look of urgency on his face. "Everyone knows just how little time we have. If you want to survive, tell me exactly what your talent is capable of in one word so that I can assign you a proper role. It would be better for you if you don’t hide anything, as the reward will also be distributed based on contribution..."

At the mention of rewards, everyone’s eyes lit up with excitement; Lukas was no exception.

The battle board!

To make the independent awakeners willingly sacrifice themselves, the big guilds led by Roaring Dragon guild had created a battle board, awarding battle points for each kill the squad performed. Using these points they could exchange for the techniques that the guilds usually kept to themselves.

Not just treasures but if you had enough point you could even join these guilds.

This was an opportunity no one wanted to miss.

Just imagine all the fancy techniques they had only ever watched others use, their eyes flashing with pure envy and jealousy.

..."

Lukas looked at the burning desire in their eyes and internally sighed.

The rich threw a few pennies on the street and these people were willing to dance like morons.

Even without seeing the battle board, he could guess how it must have been designed.

While he was lost in his thoughts, one by one all of them started to describe their talents exactly in one word, as the middle‑aged man had asked.

First to speak was the fragile‑looking man who seemed to be suffering from polio, his limbs twisted at unnatural angles.

"Name’s Sam. Rare‑grade, Bone Dimorphia. Can manipulate bones."

Hiss! At those words Lukas sucked in a breath of cold air and instinctively retreated backward. A single thought in his mind.

This man was dangerous!!

Sam’s talent was lethal beyond his expectations. From how the poor guy looked with bones twisted at unnatural angles, skin pale as paper, sunken cheek bones as if he had not eaten in weeks. Lukas was not expecting him to possess such a broken talent.

His talent might not be as flashy as others, but just few creative uses that Lukas could think of made his heart chill, Sam could easily pierce the heart of low‑level refined star refiners like them by manipulating rib bones.

Not just Lukas, but everyone looked at Sam with slightly unsettled looks.

Sam, however, seemed to have already gotten used to this reaction and simply didn’t care, his two hollow eyes staring deep into the forest, waiting for the monsters to arrive.

Maybe it was because Sam’s talent ...bar was set too high, but the talents of the other man and the lone girl were not as impressive.

The man could shoot fireballs while the girl could throw stones around.

Pretty generic and basic.

Finally it was Lukas’s turn.

Maybe it was because he was only at Star Refiner rank one or something else, but no one except the middle‑aged man paid attention to him. Treating him as nothing but air.

Lukas didn’t even blink and lied with a straight face.

"Rare‑grade. I can slow down enemies."

When the middle‑aged man heard Lukas’s words, a smile appeared on his face. "Good! Good! The situation is not as bad as I initially assumed. The four of you don’t need to worry. With me, Gordon, leading you into battle, the chances of you surviving are very high."

After that, Gordon turned to Lukas and Sam and said in an authoritative tone, "You two stay close to me... and be prepared. Any moment now we will face the wave."

Lukas sighed in his head, feeling bad for the other two. It was clear Gordon had already labelled them as good‑for‑nothings meant to be discarded at will.

Maybe the two were just stupid, or they had some trump card up their sleeves, but they showed no reaction to Gordon’s words.

While waiting, Lukas’s eyes moved, scanning the other squads. After a couple of seconds, His face turned slightly darker when he realized his earlier theory was correct.

There was indeed not a single real soldier from the Roaring Dragon guild present on the battlefield. Most of them were independent awakeners like him, mostly at Body‑Refining rank two or three.

Maybe Gordon wanted to create a good impression or something, but when he saw Lukas sneaking glances around, he spoke in a low voice.

"It’s nothing new. Big guilds like Roaring Dragon use independent awakeners like us as expendable cultivators to gauge danger..."

He wanted to say even more, but suddenly his mouth froze shut and he shouted in a solemn tone.

"Its here the wave is here.."

"Just my luck, it’s Cometfang Wolves... bona fide epic‑rank monsters!"

Gordon sounded really shocked, and even somewhat afraid.

Lukas didn’t need any heads‑up. He might not be an all knowing genius, but he knew quite a bit about Cometfang Wolves.

Moving as fast as lightning, multiple Cometfang Wolves raced toward the Roaring Dragon settlement, leaving cloud of dust flying behind them.

Chaos and panic broke out when the awakeners realized who they were facing in the first wave.

"What in the name of god, why does it have to be Cometfang Wolves?!"

"We can’t even outrun them. According to the information, they can even outrun legendary‑grade vehicles in some situations. You need to be at least at Body‑Refining rank three to even stand a chance at winning against them!"

"It’s over... they are going to slaughter us all..."

Some young awakeners who had just come to the Star Dimension directly broke down.

While Lukas was preparing himself, a voice echoed right beside his ear. "Young man Lukas, stay prepared. If we want to survive this wave, your role is going to be very crucial."

Gordon’s face was serious as he prepared to meet the wolves’ charge.