From a certain standpoint, my duel with Conservation was a typical mage style.
Careful observation, probing attacks that didn't aim for success, but only to avoid making mistakes. Careful observation of Conservation's weaknesses, defending against Conservation's probing attacks, and so on. Of course, there was also the sudden final attack that was more than enough to take Conservation's life.
That was why a duel between two mages would usually be quite boring. Mages would first summon cannon fodder and cast defensive spells to make sure that they were undefeatable. Only then would they begin casting spells to probe their opponent's weaknesses. They would either destroy the enemy's cannon fodder or try to remove the enemy's defenses. The first to expose one's own weaknesses would be the loser.
In that case, if it wasn't for the fact that there was a tremendous difference in power level, it was possible that a duel between two academic mages would last for two or three hours. Since most of the mage's attention was focused on defense and personal safety, the duel wouldn't be very interesting.
But even though this was a normal mage duel, my duel with Conservation was slightly different …
The ice wall created from snow received repeated attacks. Even the vanguard of the undead mysteriously transformed into ice sculptures. However, the remaining undead didn't retreat. That was because undead creatures lacked fear to begin with. They didn't care about morale at all. The will of the Undead Lord was above all else.
"Charge! Step on your own kind! "
The undead army's inexplicable will converged into a will that was almost corporeal. It was as if there was an invisible skeleton lord howling in the void.
That high-level Undead Knight climbed on top of his subordinate's corpse and was the first to reach the top of the ice wall. But before he could celebrate his success, he was instantly transformed into an ice sculpture by the frigid air beneath his feet.
But the next instant, his Undead Knight acolyte stepped on his corpse and also transformed into an ice sculpture. Then, another skeleton general stepped on her corpse and advanced …
Even though this was a bottomless abyss that silently devoured everything, the undead army continued to advance unwaveringly, as if they were man-eating ants that nobody dared to stop.
"If it's a river, fill it up. If it's a volcano, extinguish it. Although it seems quite foolish, it's indeed a practical method. After all, magic also requires energy as a source of energy, and energy will eventually run out. That's the most basic law of magic. "
Since it was a spell that required physical contact to be effective, then I would just use corpses to isolate it. If it was a spell that could spread, then I would use cannon fodder to consume all of the curse and negative energy. If it was a spell that was limited by its functions and rules, then I would use cannon fodder to test out all the rules.
This was the reason why the Undead Army was able to sweep through the various countries. No matter how powerful or exquisite a defensive spell was, as long as there was enough cannon fodder, even the most exquisite spell would have its limits. Even the most powerful Mage would die of exhaustion.
The black flood always moved forward slowly. It seemed slow and sluggish, as if it could escape with just a few steps. However, it was impossible to stop it. No matter where it escaped to, the result would be the same. This was the Undead Calamity, the King of Pestilence that everyone viewed as death itself.
But in this battle between Undead Emperors, this was nothing more than an appetizer. She had as many cannon fodder as she wanted.
Of course, I had my own way of dealing with Conservation. But before that, I needed to deal with Conservation's magical attacks first.
Conservation had finished casting her spell. A pitch-black cloud flew over from the distance, but it instantly shattered into pieces when it got close. The cloud instantly enveloped the entire Cloud City, filling the entire city with a black mist.
The black cloud before me wasn't an offensive spell. It was a layer of pitch-black mist with countless dark elves circling around and fantasizing. It was impossible to tell which direction was up or which was down. The lack of vision and sense of direction made all attacks seem like nothing more than a joke.
"A special spell?"
"Yep, I've probably never seen this before in the mortal plane. It's probably a special application of negative energy. It's even capable of blocking out the detection of the soul … This mist has the scent of souls. It's probably a sacrificial Divine Art that uses undead subordinates as sacrifices. Using soul shards to block out the detection of the soul? That's quite a creative idea. "
I nodded in agreement. My inference was pretty much the same. Having an encyclopedia was great. Many inferences could be instantly verified. In that case, since I knew the general principles behind this spell, I should be able to find a way to deal with it.
"Purify — no, absorb! Using a soul magic spell in front of a soul magic master? That's ridiculous. "
Under my command, the national-level Soul Summoning Tower in the center of Yongye City was fully activated. The soul shards in the mist weren't even able to resist as they were directly absorbed by the Soul Summoning Tower. The mist of death that blocked vision actually became a new source of energy for the Cloud Summoning Tower. The Cloud Summoning Tower's energy had dropped from 90% to 92%. Even though I had the upper hand, I couldn't help but feel anxious.
"… I'm afraid that she's already prepared her next spell."
This was the difference in tempo between mages. An Undead Emperor with an undead army was also capable of casting spells. This was basically the equivalent of me taking one step for every two steps she took.
A novice would probably be delighted at being able to nullify the enemy's attack, while I would have a headache because I had lost the initiative. I knew that once the tempo was pulled away and the advantage accumulated to the point where I was unable to deal with it, that would be the critical moment to decide the victor.
There was a difference from the very start. Her undead army's actions were also a threat to me. She had plenty of cannon fodder to use right from the start, while I could only deal with her every move. The further I went, the more difficult it would be to deal with her. This meant that I would have to simultaneously deal with two of her moves for every step I took.
"As I expected, where did this big guy come from?"
Right after the black mist dissipated, I saw a gigantic bone giant that had already stepped over my ice wall. This bone giant had originally been heading in our direction, but when he noticed that the mist surrounding the Cloud City was beginning to dissipate, he unhesitatingly gave up on attacking the city before him and immediately changed directions to break through this abnormal world.
Bone giants weren't a rare type of undead soldier. Both an innate giant's body and an acquired giant's bones could create such killing machines. High-level undead mages would usually create such undead creatures to attack cities. After all, bone giants were both conspicuous and slow. Not only would they easily attract troublesome opponents, they would also consume a tremendous amount of energy. It wouldn't be worth it to use them against small targets.
"No, this isn't an ordinary bone giant."
But compared to his slow companions, this silver-gray giant was very agile. The frequency at which his feet moved was so fast that it created intermittent seismic waves. His eyes were not flickering with the soulfire of the undead, but with a sapphire embedded magic diamond probe. His other eye was also emitting a red light that looked like infrared.
He wasn't holding a giant sword or battle axe, or any other type of cold weapon. Instead, he was holding a spear that was emitting scorching flames. I could even see the traces of screws and welded plates at the critical points of the spear. His body was also covered in steel armor, and on his feet … I could even see support wheels and a flamethrower!
"… Undead Gundam, did I come to the wrong theater? Is this the new species that the dragon lich mentioned? "
I could faintly sense that this bone giant's body contained many independent souls. This bone giant was actually nothing more than a vehicle. The pilot's cabin seemed to be located in his abdomen. This was obviously no ordinary undead magic. At the very least, an Undead Emperor who had been hiding in the Undead Planes for so many years wouldn't be able to create such a combination of magic and engineering.
My first impression of this bone giant was quite terrible. Not only was it powerful, but its appearance meant that the most troublesome situation was about to occur — the undead had either obtained the Haletdam Plane's inheritance, or they had allied with the owner of the inheritance. Our enemy was no longer just an Undead Emperor.
Perhaps it was because Yongye City had far too much energy, or perhaps it was an absolute order from its higher-ups, but this bone giant, which was obviously our ace, didn't intend to fight to the death against Yongye City. It passed through the ice wall and simply continued advancing forward, attempting to break through our defenses.
"Timlad will probably like such a gift."
"Of course, that's only if you can accept it in its entirety."
"Of course."
Any ordinary powerful individual would have been scared half to death by this. But in the eyes of experienced individuals like us, this bone giant was nothing more than a toy. Not only that, it was an unimportant toy with a failed design.
"Tactical magic: Stone to Mud!"
This spell smashed into the bone giant, instantly transforming the flat ground into a swamp. There was even more swamp beneath the swamp. It was too late for the bone giant to stop in time, so it suddenly jumped up, flames spitting out from its feet. It charged, exploded, and swung its leg with great force. This was a standard long jump, and then … it somersaulted in midair before landing in a crater.
"Pfft, nice movement, but it didn't jump up at all."
"Of course. Bone giants don't have any muscles. It's already the limit for them to use magic to walk. They're only mimicking human movements because they're instincts. Does they really intend to do a long jump? Do they really think that this bone giant is some unscientific Red Gipper that can increase its speed by three times just by being painted? "
However, I didn't celebrate too early. High energy signals in the distance indicated that Conservation had prepared yet another new spell. Some of the undead below were already breaking through the ice wall. It seemed that our tempo had fallen behind.
Undead were crawling all over that ice wall. The Eternal Legion's spirit of sacrifice was truly moving. And so … and so, I unhesitatingly put up another ice wall. Learning from my previous lesson, I made it two meters taller and three meters wider than the first ice wall.
"Keep going. Let's see how many cannon fodder you have."
Although I sounded quite arrogant, I was actually rather unconfident. Ice walls like this that contained ice energy would consume far too much energy. Each time I used it, it would use up almost 10% of Yongye City's total energy. In order to ensure Yongye City's safety and combat strength, I didn't dare to use less than 50% of my energy. I wouldn't be able to use this ice wall tactic many times.
The most annoying thing was that he couldn't allow his opponent to maintain the initiative. He had to deal with every move that came his way. The situation would only become more and more disadvantageous. We would need time to counterattack.
"I'm going to the secondary tower. Leave the magic battle against Conservation to me. You go and clear out the cannon fodder first."
For once, Harloys was being diligent as she volunteered to take on this heavy responsibility. Her strategic decision was obviously correct. Since Conservation was too far away and it was impossible to eliminate her, it would indeed be a good idea to use the strategy of Tian Ji's horse race to suppress Conservation's weak points and eliminate the annoying cannon fodder first.
"… She's an Undead Emperor. We should at least be careful."
Even with the mage tower's support, it would still be quite difficult for me to face off against an Undead Emperor by myself. Invisible curses, dimensional sealing spells, and special negative energy permanent damage would all be enough to kill Harloys.
However, Harloys smiled. She slowly transformed into her human form amidst her bell-like laughter. Her silky blonde hair trailed on the ground. That familiar and beautiful face was right in front of Roland. Her breath smelled like orchids, but she intentionally caressed his ear.
"Undead Emperor? Who do you think I am? Who taught you undead magic? I'm the woman who's already taught an Undead Emperor. Now that I've accumulated enough, I'm also the woman who's about to become an Undead Emperor. Be careful of her? I'm hoping to obtain a chance to make a breakthrough in battle! "
Harloys transformed into a phantom as she giggled. I could now focus on the undead army below me. It was indeed quite reassuring to have such a trustworthy helper.
"What should I prepare next? It'll be best if I can use a powerful spell that can kill off all the mid-level and high-level undead in one go. Since I have the mage tower's energy reserves, I might as well use up some of them …"
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