Chapter 7: The Return of the Dead

"Hero, please wait!" Li Bing didn't want the handsome guy in front of him, who seemed quite capable of commanding, to leave. If he left, who would lead the troops? Ortega? Forget it, the guy is almost dead. Marty? Li Bing had never seen the man's abilities, so he wasn't willing to take the risk. Elian? Li Bing thought it would be better if he took charge himself. At least he wouldn't vomit blood at the sight of it.

Simon coldly stared at Li Bing, furrowing his brows, and asked, "Who are you?"

Li Bing was momentarily stunned. As an outsider, it seemed he had no standing to interfere.

However, Marty quickly reacted, saying something that almost made Li Bing spit blood: "Simon, he's just like you, a man who would go through fire and water for his lover. You love Icarus, he loves Elian. You would lead troops back to fight for Icarus, and he infiltrated the dungeon to kill the warden for Elian."

The others began to look at Li Bing differently. Of course, Elian still wore a puzzled expression, utterly confused as to why Marty would say that Li Bing was her lover.

Simon's tone softened significantly as he turned to Li Bing and said, "Friend, if we meet again, I hope we can marry both of them, the two sisters." With that, he turned and walked away, his figure disappearing into the autumn wind and rain, creating a scene that looked almost like a painting!

That guy knows how to put on a show! This was Li Bing's immediate thought.

In the autumn wind, a figure on horseback charged down the mountain, cutting through enemy lines like a blade. But there were too many enemies, and soon, Simon was surrounded.

"Damn it! These crazy bastards!" Marty couldn't hold back any longer, charging into the enemy ranks with his team. Waves of counterattacks surged, and despite being outnumbered, the defending soldiers launched a full-scale offensive!

In a narrow encounter, the brave always win. Perhaps the soldiers' momentum frightened the enemy, as they began to retreat, with large groups of them falling back to the foot of the mountain.

On the lonely peak, only three people remained: Elian, Ortega, and Li Bing.

Seeing the tide of battle turn, Li Bing felt some relief, but Ortega only gave a bitter smile.

"It seems they no longer want this castle…" Ortega's words had barely finished when a massive meteor fell from the sky, smashing into a tower halfway up the mountain. The tower crumbled instantly, but this was only the beginning. Unlike the previous small-scale magic attacks like fireballs and ice pillars, meteors rained down as if a divine punishment. Each meteor, burning with fervor, crashed into the earth, leaving death and fire in their wake.

"Meteor magic… It must be Master Lieberi, a fire mage," Ortega coughed up blood again.

Elian quietly stood by Ortega's side, near her enemy and godfather. Li Bing, however, had reached the point of hopelessness. He sat down helplessly, his gaze scanning Elian's body as if looking for one last fleeting pleasure before death.

"Elian, you've grown up..." Ortega gently stroked Elian's hair and then said, "Your godfather has one final request… He hopes to officiate your wedding with this young man."

Both Elian and Li Bing were stunned, but Elian slowly nodded. This kind, pure, almost naïve girl only wanted to fulfill her godfather's last wish, not understanding why Ortega thought Li Bing was her lover.

Seeing Elian nod, Li Bing felt somewhat pleased. After all, having a wife would at least mean company on the road to the underworld. With this negative mindset, Li Bing also nodded.

Ortega smiled at the sky and began to chant holy hymns. Meteors flew around the three, the screams of the dying echoed in their ears, and slaughter raged around them. But the three of them seemed to be in another world, surrounded by a sacred light, remaining silent.

When the light faded, Ortega was gone. He smiled, shedding all his pain and guilt before his death, his humanity shining through with sincerity.

"Dear, what should we do now?" After crying on Ortega's body for a while, Elian respectfully asked Li Bing.

Li Bing was overjoyed by the word "dear," almost losing his senses, but the surrounding screams and explosions quickly brought him back to reality. With shamelessness, he said, "Now? How about we send those demons back to hell?"

Perhaps Heaven was amused by Li Bing, for the meteor shower finally stopped. Shadows began to appear on the horizon again, followed by the eerie sounds of slaughter.

Li Bing glanced up, terrified. An army of nearly ten thousand soldiers launched an attack on the enemy's main force from the east. First, a storm of arrows rained down, followed by thousands of cavalry charging in to tear a hole in the enemy's lines. Infantry armed with various weapons surged through the breach. The entire formation was like a triangle, relentlessly eating into the enemy's ranks. Enemy archers and cavalry lingered on the flanks, each arrow taking the life of an enemy soldier…

This wasn't the terrifying part. The real terror was that these soldiers were all skeletons?! Their white bones were exposed from the gaps in their blood-red armor, and even their horses were skeletal steeds. To add to the horror, faint ghostly shadows and eerie wails accompanied them, creating a psychological shock that was almost overwhelming. As the slaughter continued, more and more ghosts surrounded them, and their blood-red armor became even more vivid.

"When did such an undead army appear on the continent?!" Elian exclaimed. "Pain, loneliness, anger, sorrow… Their resentment is so thick. These are the vengeful spirits of soldiers who killed countless people, trapped by the souls of those they killed. Unable to return to the embrace of the gods, they wander the earth, lost… How pitiful… They are so pitiful…" Elian's words were full of compassion, and even Li Bing felt a stir in his heart.

Hearing Elian's words, Li Bing was reminded of her past—she was the candidate saintess of the Church of Light.

At that very moment, this swift-moving undead army had almost annihilated the enemy! They seemed like death itself, relentlessly harvesting the lives of their foes. Facing such an army, the enemy's first reaction was only to collapse.

The enemy retreated, leaving less than two thousand men behind, retreating in disarray, leaving a battlefield littered with corpses. Then, the undead army regrouped in front of the castle, clearly ready for more.

Sending wolves at the front, welcoming tigers at the back. This was Li Bing's reaction.

Just then, Li Bing vaguely saw a knight riding out from the undead army. That knight… didn't seem like a skeleton.

The knight shouted something from the foot of the mountain, but Li Bing couldn't make it out. To his surprise, the defending soldiers opened the gates! The knight led the way, and the undead army surged up the mountain like a tidal wave.

When the knight, riding a skeletal steed and leading a group of skeletal soldiers, appeared in front of Li Bing, he realized the knight was a woman. And a beautiful one at that.

With short, sharp golden hair, her piercing, yet alluring eyes and sapphire-like irises, a slight tilt to her elegant brows, a cute nose, and red lips… Her face was an exquisite beauty, and despite the armor, her proud chest, slender waist, and long legs couldn't be concealed. 

Li Bing initially thought of Joan of Arc, but then his mind turned to more lustful thoughts.

"Ortega, I'm back from hell!" The woman shouted as she reached the peak.

"Sister!" Elian said, her first words.

"Icarus!" Simon, Marty, and a group of soldiers shouted when they arrived.

The flames still burned, and the autumn rain slowly faded. Li Bing stared at the woman's right arm, while the skeletal soldiers' bones creaked all around them...