At this moment, the stability of the enormous space suggested that the top experts of the Plane of the Undead hadn’t taken action yet. They could only send level-47 undead creatures. At the same time, human beings could only send level-7 Heaven Rank experts…
Time was flowing quickly. When the space completely stabilized, then there would be no stopping the experts from invading.
Xiusi didn’t find anything specific, but he saw that most of the channel that was 7,000 kilometers long had been occupied by the undead creatures, and human beings were holding the last line of defense…
The Mesomiya Plain, which looked like a green blanket, had turned into a black-and-gray land, where the plants had all withered. The soil that was exposed was black and gray too, as if it had been corrupted.
A lot of fortresses had been established at the last defense line. Observing the black land from the fortresses, it could be seen that a tide of undead creatures was surging towards the fortresses. Their ocean stretched all the way to the horizon.
In the front of each fortress, a tremendous number of mages, swordsmen, and archers were attacking. Some Mana Crystal Cannons had been set up on the top of the fortresses, throwing energy balls at the ocean of undead creatures.
Every second, thousands of undead creatures were ripped apart and burnt to ashes. However, in the distance, there was still a boundless ocean of undead creatures. The dead ones were insignificant compared to the total population. The tide was still surging unstoppably.
In the sky in the distance, a bone dragon was flapping its wings and floating in the sky. On the back of the dragon was a skeleton king who wore a ragged cloak. Around the skeleton king, countless flying undead creatures were protecting him from being attacked by anything.
The skeleton king commanded the cannon fodder to charge relentlessly. The land was turning paler and paler because of their charge. The land was dyed by the pieces of the undead creatures. More than 100,000,000 undead creatures had died here in the past month.
The number meant nothing but a figure for the undead creatures. The last thing that the Plane of the Undead was short of was cannon fodder.
In a fortress which had a mage tower that was 100 meters tall, a bunch of experts had gathered, but the strongest of them was only in level 7 of the Heaven Rank.
“What’s going on? Has the Golden Acme Potion of the Gilded Rose been delivered?” a pale mage asked solemnly.
Another mage nodded, and then shook his head.
“Yes, but not enough. There’s only enough for the experts above level 5 of the Heaven Rank. The rest can only be split up and save other people’s lives…”
The mages who gathered around the table all looked grave. One of the mages who wore a white-robe sneered.
“Humph, the Gilded Rose is just a group of unscrupulous businessmen. They’re still trying to make a profit at moments like this. We asked them to surrender the recipe of the Golden Acme Potion, but they refused. They should be purged in holy light…
“Mafa Merlin? Humph. That goddamn guy has been exiled I don’t know where. His destiny is to get completely lost in the boundless void. Without Mafa Merlin, the idiots of the Gilded Rose are still bold enough to defy us. Goddamn it.”
Noc, from the Holy Light Alliance, was one of the representatives. He was the only level-7 Heaven Rank expert from the Holy Light Alliance in this place and also the strongest person in the Holy Light Alliance at this moment.
Lin Yun had been missing for such a long time, which made Noc even more fearless. He even planned to swallow the Gilded Rose.
The young mage on Noc’s opposite side tapped the table, and glanced at Noc in disdain.
“Stop showing your ignorance. The Golden Acme Potion isn’t something that can be infinitely produced. All of the goods in Noscent have been bought out. The potions require special materials. Without such materials, even the Saint Alchemists won’t be able to make them.”
Noc suddenly sat straight, with coldness in his eyes.
“Sky, you’ve always been so protective of Mafa Merlin. Can you tell us where Mafa Merlin is right now? The war has been very fierce, but Mafa Merlin is gone. Where is that coward who only fights for his own interests?
“The goddamn plague is spreading out. Three level-7 Heaven Rank experts and six level-6 ones have died. Who knows how many mages below the Heaven Rank died there?
“Sir Gandaph left to find a way to counter the plague, but then he’s out of reach. Sir Agalon and Sir Alonzo are missing too. Who knows what’s going on?”
The others didn’t look well. Some of the mages had abnormal pustules on their skin. Around the pustules, there were intense mana and extraordinary power.
It was truly a great crisis. Agalon, Alonzo, and the three deans of the Starry Sky College had all disappeared. Agalon and Alonzo were the first to go missing. Then, after the plague happened, the deans of the Starry Sky College vanished too.
They left for ways to counter the plague, but they never returned. Lin Yun, the last person who could possibly resolve the plague, had never even shown up here. He was clearly different…
Noc sneered, and looked around at the people.
“Mafa Merlin, who allegedly is already a Saint Alchemist, is your last hope, but where is he? The other experts have left for a solution, but Mafa Merlin has never come. The Golden Acme Potion is the only thing that can resist the plague right now. We must let the Gilded Rose surrender the recipe and the critical materials.
“If we all study the recipe and raise the materials, we might be able to make enough Golden Acme Potions for us to survive. It’s possible that someone will find a potion that can completely resolve the plague.
“Also, the Gilded Rose is not supplying enough Blue Demon Potions, either. They must surrender the recipe and the materials so that we can all make the Blue Demon Potions and continue fighting the war.
“If the goddamn undead creatures break our last defense line and march into the Leviathan Plane, you know what will happen. It will be a disaster for everyone!”
Most people were silent about Noc’s proposal. Human beings were forced to retreat 2,000 kilometers exactly because of the plague’s outbreak. At this moment, there seemed to be another outbreak, and nobody could move back anymore.
They were only able to slow down the plague with the Golden Acme Potion of the Gilded Rose, but it was impossible to stop the plague. All the experts had been fighting with abundant mana because of the Gilded Rose’s Blue Demon Potion.
They had lost all the support. The five Saint Alchemists were all gone. Gandaph, who was the last to leave for a solution to the plague, was out of touch too.
Everybody could only count on Lin Yun, who was said to have become a Saint Alchemist. However, Lin Yun had never appeared in the Leviathan Plane, and couldn’t be reached out to, either.
So, they could only count on the Gilded Rose’s potion, which there wasn’t enough of. When Noc proposed the tempting proposal, many people thought it was worth a shot.
As for what happened later, they certainly wouldn’t forget the core secrets of the Gilded Rose.
Noc put on a proud smile. He glanced around at the silent mages, and his lips curled.
Mafa Merlin didn’t die, but it was impossible for him to come back. Everybody knew that Mafa Merlin was alive, but he simply never showed up. Nobody would possibly suspect the Holy Light Alliance.
As long as everybody got the secrets to the potions of the Gilded Rose, even Sir Agalon wouldn’t be able to blame them after he returned, because it was a real emergency.
They would be able to endure with a sufficient supply of potions, and even counterattack. In the end, the Holy Light Alliance would be the ultimate winner that got the most returns from the whole thing…
While everybody was silent, another word had come. The undead creatures were attacking on a large scale again…
The ocean of undead creatures that were deployed earlier were just cannon fodder. The real attack didn’t start until this moment. The slow ocean of undead creatures seethed. All of them roared and pressed forward. More and more powerful undead creatures appeared. The skeleton king that rode a bone dragon in the sky approached the defense line.
The meeting had to be adjourned. The experts who were at least in level 5 of the Heaven Rank appeared in the sky, and stared at the skeleton king that was moving slowly along with the army of the undead.
Noc was quite grave.
“Everybody, there’s no time to think. We must fight. If there isn’t another option, we’ll have to retreat and abandon the Mesomiya Plain, and defend the channel. But in such a case, it will be hardly possible for us to counterattack until we resolve the plague…”
Seeing that everybody was silent, Noc took out a finger bone that carried abundant power of holy light.
“Everybody, let’s fall back. If we abandon the channel, I’ll be able to summon the great founder of the Holy Light Alliance and let him help us. At least, the level-9 Heaven Rank experts will be able to buy us more time outside of the channel. Don’t place your hope on Mafa Merlin, the coward who has escaped…”
All the mages were silent, and so was Sky, the master of Sky City. Looking at the swarm of flying undead creatures, Sky heaved a sigh.
Sir Merlin, where are you? Sir Agalon is missing, and so are the three deans of the Starry Sky College. You’re already our last hope. Where are you exactly?
This terrifying plague has destroyed mages’ lives and everybody’s confidence and courage. If the plague isn’t taken care of, we’ll lose this war.
If the war spreads to the entire Leviathan Plane, it will be such a disaster…
The overwhelming army of the undead began to charge and hit human beings’ line of defense like tides. A dazzling and glamorous barrage of spells swallowed the charging undead creatures. Screams and furious roars echoed in a radius of thousands of kilometers.
In the sky, a cloud of flying beasts was approaching the defense line too. The skeleton king raised his staff, and his soundless roar echoed across the battlefield.
Undead behemoths dozens of meters tall appeared in the ocean of undead. There were more and more undead creatures that were led by Heaven Rank commanders.
A silent mage left the team and lifted his hood, revealing his terrifying face that was full of pustules.
“I’ll buy you more time.”
Flames burst out. The level-7 Heaven Rank mage rushed out of the fortress, and charged at the cloud of flying beasts in the sky like a rising fire.
His flames turned into wings that were hundreds of meters long. In the cloud, many bone dragons flapped their wings and charged at the flames fearlessly. After they were set ablaze, more bone dragons joined them.
In the center of the cloud, the skeleton king cackled with his shivering jaw.
“Stupid human being, if you want eternal death, the great Lord Page will grant your wish.”
The skeleton king raised his staff. On the top of the green bone staff, a heart that looked like rotten meat was beating slowly. Pale green light emanated as he chanted the spell.
The fire mage who was fighting screamed. The pustules on his face quickly proliferated. His robe was shattered, and disgusting pustules arose and expanded on his skin.
A few seconds later, one of his eyes exploded, and a mixture of blood and body fluids rained from the sky.
“Stupid monster, repent in fire!” the fire mage roared. Blue flames were suddenly burning on his skin and spreading crazily. All the bone dragons that touched the blue flames were set ablaze. Their soul fires were gone, and their bodies were burnt to ashes.
From the distance, an enormous fire seemed to have expanded, and the gloomy cloud dispersed at a visible speed.
The skeleton king’s soul fire shivered a bit, and gradually moved back. Countless flying undead creatures moved forward, resisting and consuming the blue flames like a wall…
Inside the fortress, the mages wore an awful expression.
“Sir Claus has perished. His soul dispersed as the fire that burnt everything…”
“How much longer can we endure? We cannot hold any longer. That terrifying skeleton king is too strong for us to resist. We don’t know how to stop him just yet. If we cannot resist the terrifying power of plague, failure is only a matter of time…”
“Let’s retreat and abandon the last defense line of the Mesomiya Plain. It’s the only thing we can do…”
All the mages were starting to lose confidence. They were very strong, but they could not stop the plague. When they saw the skeleton king rising again, all of them lost confidence.
Their morale had hit rock bottom. They had just witnessed a level-7 Heaven Rank expert burning with his life, but the skeleton king was still not killed. Their resistance was getting weaker and weaker.
Disappointment and depression were contagious. They couldn’t defend any longer after they lost confidence.
All the mages fell silent. If it was useless to burn their life and soul, then what was the point of resisting in this place?”
“Inform everybody to retreat…”
The member of the Odin royal family, who had been silent, finally gave the instruction with all his strength.
To abandon the fortress and retreat wouldn’t be a simple task. The cost would be heavy. There was no telling how many experts would perish…
At this moment, even Noc fell silent. This whole thing was beyond his expectation. None of the people around him seemed confident. Noc suddenly wondered if he had done anything wrong.
If Mafa Merlin had been here, would he have been able to resolve the plague problem?
No, Mafa Merlin must die. All heretics must die. That was too good an opportunity to miss. If he was banished to the boundless void, the Holy Light Alliance would be able to get his qualification and the core secrets of the Gilded Rose.
When they got out of the channel, the level-8 and level-9 Heaven Rank experts would be able to step in, and he could easily block all the undead creatures if he summoned the great founder.
Yes, that’s the best solution…
Noc comforted himself, and clutched the finger bone in his hand. However, watching the tide of undead creatures and the skeleton king who was marching with his staff held high, Noc didn’t have any confidence in himself.
When the order to retreat was sent out, everybody seemed to lose their grit. Their resistance was not nearly as strong as before. Internal conflicts were even bursting out regarding who should retreat first.
Nobody wanted to die…
There was internal chaos before the retreat began. Not just the leadership, but the soldiers were in disarray too.
The ocean of the undead had spread out and surrounded the fortresses. It was already very difficult to retreat at this moment.
