Chapter 25: Cleansing the Undead
"Zhan Yi, I'll give you 100 Giant Bees, you'll be in charge of commanding them to clear the Undead on the left side.
Zhan Er, you'll handle the right side."
Approaching the territory boundary tested by the two of them at the cost of half their lives the last time, Bai Yi quietly arranged the tasks for the two of them.
Each was assigned 55 upgraded Destruction Giant Bees and 45 regular Giant Bees, and after receiving their orders, they departed.
Before long, Bai Yi could hear the faint sounds of fighting from both sides.
"Nong Si, later I will command the Insect Swarm to advance head-on; your task is to pretend to be me and make a show of it in the front—the swarm will protect you."
"Yes, Master."
Nong Si didn't ask any further, grabbed his iron hammer, and boldly strode forward.
Controlling the Insect Swarm to advance ahead of Nong Si, Bai Yi crouched down and moved through the bushes, trailing far behind Nong Si.
Since it's still the outer rim, the Undead encountered here were mostly below level 10.
Even Nong Si, who had no enhancements, could smash a small Skeleton with one hammer blow.
Besides, after the previous clearing by Zhan Yi and Zhan Er, the number of Undead around was not considered high.
They faced little obstruction before advancing to the "second layer."
This was a division made by Bai Yi herself, separating the area ahead mostly populated by Undead below level 10 into the first layer.
The second layer is the area for standard low-tier Undead between levels 10 to 20, and the third layer is where tier 2 Undead start to appear
—that's also the place Bai Yi speculated to be closest to the Undead Mage.
After reaching the second layer, the advance visibly started to become more difficult.
The most apparent sign was that before, whether it was Nong Si's iron hammer or the Insect Swarm's Impact, hitting the Undead's head resulted in an instant kill!
Now, the Skeletons could withstand a hit, merely shattering their skulls but still capable of wielding their blades.
To ensure safety, Bai Yi had to slow down the advance's pace.
[You have leveled up lv.16→lv.17 (50/800), you have gained 1 free attribute point, you have gained 1 skill point]
[Your attribute Constitution 11→12]
[You have leveled up lv.17→lv.18 (150/850), you have gained 1 free attribute point, you have gained 1 skill point]
[Your attribute Strength 10→11]
...
After leveling up two levels in a row, Bai Yi finally encountered the first tier 2 Undead.
It was a towering Undead wielding a giant Bone Sword and holding a Bone Shield that could cover most of its body.
Relying on the giant shield to block most attacks, Nong Si's hammer was ineffectual, and he nearly got chopped by the Skeleton's Bone Sword.
If Bai Yi hadn't timely controlled a Beetle to pull him back, Nong Si would have nearly gotten cut.
"Skeleton Shield Guard, often surrounded by low-tier Undead to advance together, the Bone Shield possesses extremely high defensive power, difficult to break through from the front, fears Fire and Corrosive liquids."
Information about the Undead before her surfaced in Bai Yi's mind.
And what she had in abundance at the moment was corrosive liquid.
Two Beetles received Bai Yi's command, taking advantage of their companions' distraction; they flew above the Skeleton Shield Guard.
Their sharp limbs tore open their full abdomens, spraying out dark green blood.
Sizzle—
The Poison Blood evenly fell onto the crowded pile of Undead below.
The Poison Blood upon the Skeletons was like boiling oil on snow.
After a burst of white smoke from corrosion, a batch of Skeletons fell like harvested wheat, leaving only the Skeleton Shield Guard standing with a damaged skull and half-destroyed Bone Shield.
Other Beetles seized the victory and struck down a few times, extinguishing the Soul Flames within the Skeleton Shield Guard's brain.
"Excellent! It works!"
Most of the Undead here were Skeletons, without any flesh protection they had no resistance to the corrosion of Poison Blood.
And once the protection of their skulls was lost, their Soul Flames flickered in the wind like dying candles.
They could even "commit suicide" with any slightly vigorous movement.
Only a few Animated Corpses that still had some flesh could resist briefly but were quickly torn to pieces under focused attacks.
With this "Blood-spraying Battle Technique," Bai Yi successfully advanced to the third layer.
It seemed that the intelligence of tier 2 Undead was much greater than that of tier 1.
Tier 1 Skeletons would just dumbly pick a target and hack away, but from tier 2 onwards, they learned to pick up low-tier Animated Corpses as shields, consciously avoiding the Insect Swarm's blood spray attacks.
The damage caused by the Insect Swarm greatly reduced, but the opposing Undead also struggled to attack the agile swarm.
There was no lack of ranged attack units among the Undead.
Bai Yi saw a few archers hiding in the rear.
But after firing a few arrows, they were growled at by a few leading tier 2 Undead and dared not move anymore, stupidly standing in the back, watching.
Because although their arrows accurately hit the Insects in the air, the blood grooves designed to rapidly harvest the enemy's Blood Flesh, at this moment, became a tool for harvesting the life of their own.
The Beetles, relying on their strong Life Force, maintained flight, but the arrows hanging from their bodies continuously bled them out.
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An artificial "blood rain" was directly summoned onto the battlefield.
It didn't inflict significant damage on the enemy, but effectively resulted in substantial self-harm.
Bai Yi's side saw a decrease in their killing efficiency, and the Undead dared not act rashly.
For a moment, the battlefront fell into a stalemate.
.........
Deep in the mountains, inside a cave
Karis's gaze was intense, fixated on the crimson "Water Pool" in front of him.
A young girl lay silently sleeping in the center of the pool, her pale grey hair spread out, floating on the surface.
Circles of blood-drawn Arrays extended from the pool, spreading out to the cave walls.
Several mutilated cadavers were placed around the pool, their flesh dissolving into plasma, flowing into the pool before them.
The entire cave was permeated with a thick scent of blood.
Karis seemed unaffected, his Magic Power connected to the Array.
After a long time, Karis finally withdrew his magic power, heaving a silent sigh.
"Just a bit more, just a little bit more!
The flesh of life forms in this world is incredibly strong, as if blessed by [Longevity].
As long as this continues, as long as I capture more life from this world...
Just give me a little more time, just a bit more time...
Lina...
My Lina..."
The blood in the pool, following Karis's will, began to undulate without wind, bringing the girl in the pool to Karis's side.
A pair of aged, coarse hands emerged from beneath his black robe, gently touching the girl's face.
Attempting to caress, yet seemingly worried about damaging the fragile skin, he withdrew his hand after a mere touch.
Just then, a two-meter-tall Skeleton carrying a Bone Sword entered the cave, kneeling on one knee behind Karis.
(A series of incomprehensible roars)
"Didn't I say not to disturb me?!
If you don't have a compelling reason, prepare to become a sacrifice—"
Karis abruptly turned, lifting his head to fiercely glare at the Skeleton, his face contorted in anger.
In the light at the cave's entrance, Karis's well-defined pale face and pale grey hair could be seen, bearing a striking resemblance to the girl in the pool.
(Another series of roars)
"The two women from the day before yesterday?!
And more Insects?
Interesting."
Suddenly, Karis's mouth twisted into a smile, but within seconds, his face was again overtaken by rage, changing expressions as swiftly as flipping a face.
"What do you mean you were driven down to the foot of the mountain! You useless fools!"
One second his gaze could seemingly kill, and the next second Karis burst into laughter:
"Ha ha ha ha...
Indeed, only such are worthy to be sacrifices, this blessed land, truly full of surprises..."
His expression shifting rapidly, Karis turned back towards the Blood Pool, his icy stare sweeping over the cadavers.
"Sleeping cadavers, I, Karis, hereby proclaim, bestow upon you new life, grant you eternal immortality!
I command you, rise! Fight for me!"
Fine threads of blood from the Blood Pool traced a mysterious rune, each landing upon the skull of a cadaver and quickly disappearing within.
Clusters of pale-blue Soul Flames erupted from Karis's hands; a flick of his wrist and the flames each found a cadaver, slipping inside the skulls.
Crack crack—
The sound of bones colliding echoed from the skeletons.
Each bone appeared to possess its own life, struggling to prop up the body.
Their movements became progressively steadier, stronger.
Eventually, all knelt before Karis as though paying homage to their Emperor.
"Ha ha ha ha—"
Karis raised the Bone Staff in his hand, pointing towards the outside of the cave.
"Go, bring me everything I desire!"
(A series of pained roars)
.........
Awaken the Undead: A level 1 magic that instills the flames of the soul into the deceased cadavers, awakening them to obey the commands of the Spellcaster. The strength of the Undead depends on the quality of the cadaver itself and the magic power expended by the Spellcaster…
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