"What happened to exploring the ruins and flirting with pretty girls? Why did it suddenly turn into a war scene? How did the leisurely daily vacation become a troublesome business again? "
"… Watch!"
"Don't look at me like that, it wasn't me! I swear that I didn't do anything this time, and I definitely wasn't the one who caused this! I'm not a jinx! I didn't set up any schemes either. "
I wasn't the only one with hidden sentries. Right now, many people were watching the mountain pass. Everyone would immediately know if there was any commotion there.
"The undead are here! There's a battle at the mountain pass! "
"In the sky, there's a bone dragon in the sky! There's also a gargoyle, the vanguard of the undead army! "
The next moment, spies from all the factions reported that war was about to break out. Everyone paused in surprise when they saw Prince Link's corpse in the middle of the room. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that they were dumbfounded.
"What's the royal army doing?"
Salima, who was the mastermind behind Marquis Taric's faction, paused in surprise. Even though she was in cahoots with the Death Council, she was still a living person, and her goal was only the treasures in the ruins. As a living person, she would rather forget about the Undead Calamity.
"… Ruins? What about the ruins? "
Knight Kahn, who had just plotted to kill his new ruler, was also stunned. He had started out as a traitor, and had never had any sense of loyalty to begin with. Now that he had finally gotten rid of the "evil prince" who had threatened his "treasures", he heard such news. This was the equivalent of cutting off his path to power. This was like a bolt from the blue.
"As expected of Ro … Brother Karo. I'll never be bored following you."
Only Timlad seemed quite excited, as if he was quite satisfied with his daily life. I glared at him. This really wasn't my fault. I didn't have time to do anything yet — wait, no, I really didn't intend on doing anything!
When the horn of war sounded, the highest-ranked person in this small city was the second son of the Grand Duke, Link, who was a member of the royal family. However, he was now an ice-cold corpse, and the murderer was the only lord of this territory. The royal family's army was the strongest army in this territory, and they would follow the royal family's orders and fight to the last man. Against the murderer who killed the Grand Duke, even if there was still the undead army, the common enemy of the living, the distrust and bloodbath among the living was inevitable.
Salima and I simultaneously looked towards Brightman. If this really was a scheme, then it was likely that only the undead and the Death Council would benefit from it. However, Brightman had a nervous expression as he stood up and kept waving his hands.
"This … this wasn't done by us. We don't know anything at all. If it was really done by us, we would have evacuated long ago!"
"Crack!"
"Us? Who are you talking about? "
"Brightman, speak clearly!"
Amidst the chaos, I took a deep breath and lay down on the chair. I extended both my feet onto the table and the dust kicked up by my boots caused the people around me to back off.
What else was there to talk about? I had fallen into quite a pitiful trap this time, and I had even jumped into this trap of my own volition. This had nothing to do with me to begin with.
I didn't believe that Brightman was lying. At the very least, the Death Council's goal had always been to bring sacrifices into the ruins in order to open the Dimensional Door to the Death Planes. They had paid a great price for this, but the Dimensional Door opened before the sacrifices even arrived. It was likely that something else had happened.
"… The souls in the Sky Tower."
Timlad's words helped me come to a sudden realization. The blood and flesh involved in the sacrificial ritual weren't actually the main point of the ritual. The souls that died in pain and filled with hatred were the true essence of the sacrificial ritual, as well as the energy source to open the Dimensional Door. And if the ruins were the Sky Tower, then there would already be enough souls.
The remaining inferences were even simpler. Either the Death Council's believers left in the ruins opened the Dimensional Door to the Death Planes, or something had happened to the ruins itself.
"The size of the undead army?"
Since things had already come to this, there was no point in arguing about the reason. The most important thing right now was how to deal with the undead army.
"… I can't even see the borders. There's at least 50,000 of them, probably five or six domain lords working together, or even one Myth-ranked or higher undead. Right, there are also some undead that even I don't understand. If they aren't a new species that appeared in the last three hundred years, then it's going to be quite interesting. "
"A new species? Be more specific. "
Undead that even a dragon lich couldn't understand? This immediately piqued my interest.
"… Those undead all have some strange metal components on their bodies. It's almost as if they were pieced together. I don't know their combat prowess yet, but their soulfire is inconceivably powerful. It's as if they're made up of hundreds of ordinary souls. You should also know that souls are the foundation of the undead. Right, their emotions are quite intense, just like living people! "
I didn't need to say anything else. The ruins had definitely changed. These undead creatures sounded like half-constructed half-undead. Perhaps they were a new species. This was going to be quite interesting.
"Timlad, how many souls are there in the Sky Tower?"
"How many? Back in the day, the entire civilization's dead were stored in the seven towers. If those ruins were also the Sky Tower, there should be quite a few souls. Yep, if it really was a plan to revive the civilization as you said, then the minimum number of souls would be in the millions. If it were in the tens of millions, we would have been able to afford it. If I was the one who planned the revival of the civilization, it would even be possible to invest 20 million souls. "
Alright then, I really wanted to smash my head against the ground. If the number of souls required to open the Dimensional Door was in the tens of millions, then any type of undead would be able to pass through. It would seem that I would have to mentally prepare myself to face an Undead Emperor.
"Conservation?"
I also did some research on the Undead Emperor afterwards. It was either that this Undead Emperor was too low-key, or that my information on her was outdated. However, an Undead Emperor would definitely be difficult to deal with. An Undead Calamity with an Undead Emperor was completely different from an Undead Calamity without an Undead Emperor. No matter how intense an Undead Calamity was, it would only be a local battle. Meanwhile, an Undead Calamity could cause the entire country to collapse and be destroyed at any moment. Any Undead Emperor would be highly skilled at destroying the world and spreading death.
"I propose that Lady Salima be the temporary garrison general! She'll lead us through this crisis. "
"I agree!"
"I have no objections!"
The scouts had already delivered the information to them endlessly. No one in the room was an idiot. Fighting for power at this time was the height of stupidity. Naturally, Blood Spear, who had experience in leading troops, was elected as the temporary leader.
"… Can we retreat now?"
The moment the undead army's scale was announced, some people were already wavering. However, none of the people at the table responded. This wasn't because they had any sense of honor, but rather because they might not be able to truly escape in this plain area. This was the only path to the ruins to begin with. If they lost this path, they would die even faster.
Want to escape? Sure, they could have a powerful person guard this place and stall for as much time as possible. That way, everyone else could take this opportunity to escape.
However, if this involved a battle between the living and the undead, any deserter's reputation would be ruined. And with such a powerful enemy in front of them, even if they were thinking of a way out, they couldn't say such a thing out loud.
"In that case, I'll be the temporary commander, then. Since all of you want me to be the leader, I'll say this first. The current situation is no longer a simple civil war in Sasa. Ever since the Dawn Era, the Undead Calamity has destroyed more than one or two countries. Even if you can run, how far can you run? If you want to escape now, don't let me see you. Otherwise, I'll kill you without mercy. "
His single eye was filled with undisguised murderous intent. It was a gaze that thirsted for blood. His declaration that he would definitely kill them was no joke.
"Since I'm the leader, then I'll only say three things. First, that idiot killed Link. He's an undead spy, and he has nothing to do with anyone else here."
The moment he said this, everyone else heaved a sigh of relief. As long as he was certain, many things would be easier to explain.
"Er … Bitch, you're betraying —"
Kahn was stunned for a moment. Before he could say anything, the dagger behind him was already aimed at his back. Even if he was a quasi-Legendary-level knight, he wouldn't be able to react in time when he was being attacked by two top-notch assassins.
Just as he wanted to resist, his knee went numb, and he half-knelt.
"Bastards! You're all burning bridges after crossing the river! "
But just as he cursed and tried to stand up, two Legend-rank assassins took control of his arms. Suddenly, there was a flash of silver light.
This was a short silver arrow that came out of nowhere. It directly pierced through Kahn's throat, causing him to swallow all of his last words.
"Impossible …!"
Kahn's eyes were filled with confusion. He couldn't believe that his life had already come to an end before his mission of reviving his family had even begun.
At this moment, Kahn's face was filled with astonishment and disbelief as he covered the short arrow in his throat. He finally saw a black figure standing on the roof outside the window. That dark ranger was currently laughing maniacally at me. Apart from the burning hatred in his single eye, there was even more joy and fanaticism from getting his revenge.
The glory and status that he had obtained through betrayal had also come to an end because of betrayal. All of his schemes and ambitions had become nothing more than bubbles.
"Shink …"
Shink was the last person he saw with his eyes open. The traitor had died because of betrayal, and the avenger had gotten what he wanted. Now that my soul connection with Shink was further recognized by the contract, everyone around me looked at me with much more caution.
"Would you believe me if I told you that this was just an accident?"
Alright then, they all knew that Shink was one of my people. Perhaps, in their eyes, Diyana had been keeping watch outside the window, but she had actually opened the window to prepare for an ambush. As for who she was preparing to deal with, at the very least, it definitely wasn't Shink before.
Now that there was no need to forcefully make a move, it would be a display of strength. Perhaps it would be to forcefully seize power.
The power of imagination was limitless. They definitely wouldn't believe me if I told them the truth, but right now, I directly told Salima.
"Actually, I'm just on vacation. Don't worry about me … Cough, alright, I have no objections to Lady Blood Spear assuming leadership. Please continue making arrangements. Time is precious."
She glanced over but didn't say anything. She also knew that now wasn't the time for more problems to arise.
"The second part is that the situation isn't as bad as everyone thinks. Within a week, the royal family's reinforcements will arrive here. The one requesting reinforcements is Link. They've brought royal mages, Knight knights, and great engineers with them. Originally, they were here to reinforce the blockade here, or even to build a fortress. I never expected that those reinforcements would actually become our reinforcements."
Many gazes turned towards the corpse in the middle of the floor. Who would've thought that this guy would actually do something good before dying?
"The last part?"
Salima's single eye was filled with undisguised killing intent as she looked around.
"We don't have time to slowly deal with the traitor. We need to eliminate the unstable elements in the city, those damned evil cultists from the Death Council! They might open the city gates at any moment! "
"Haha, well said, yep yep … Eh? Diyana, why are you pushing me? Why is everyone looking at me? "
Just as I was about to respond loudly to ease the tension, I looked down and discovered that my black robe was rather eye-catching. It seemed that my identity as a necromancer that I'd always proclaimed was a huge problem.
"Wait a moment, this isn't right! I'm not from the Death Council! "
"He is, he's the disciple of a Legend-ranked lich, the leader of the Death Council! I have evidence here! "
A heart-wrenching scream came from Brad. The Undead Calamity didn't care if you were from the Death Council or not. That arms merchant was already half scared out of his wits. The so-called evidence was the slip of paper with the Ryde Ancient Language written on it.
"F * ck, can you not screw me over like this!"
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