Chapter 8: Impulse Is the Devil
Onia had already stopped providing magical support for “Flaming Heaven Burn.” By now, the massive fire magic array had been activated, and his involvement was merely a bonus. Without his magical support, the array would still advance toward the Caucasus army with unstoppable force. If the lower races wanted to avoid being reduced to ashes by this endless inferno, their only choice was to flee. The water magic unleashed by the enemy was growing weaker, clearly unable to sustain much longer. The problem was that the enemy was also unhesitatingly launching counterattacks, and those undead creatures from the abyss of darkness were undoubtedly their trump card.
Although Onia had suspected before the battle that the enemy wouldn’t dare to openly confront them so rashly, Lord Komer was no simple opponent. Malon’s death had fully proven this man’s cunning and experience. Though it was unclear why he killed Malon, one thing was certain: his attitude toward the Church of Light was extremely hostile. Such a war, which determined the fate of both sides, could not be fought unprepared by the enemy. Even with the addition of his own court mages and the three saints of the Church of Light, it would likely be hard to keep them in the dark. The enemy surely had countermeasures, and those undead emerging from the dark mist were likely their ultimate weapon.
The initial tension quickly dissipated. Onia was not someone who would be intimidated by difficulties. Though the undead were ferocious, their opponents’ strength could not be underestimated. Those who underestimated the Church of Light would regret it forever! Those damned undead—this time, they must be utterly destroyed. Onia carefully counted each undead that emerged.
The two giant zombie giants were undoubtedly the most troublesome foes. Force alone could not defeat them; the only way was to use the powers of the Light God to utterly destroy their dark essence, but that required extremely powerful light energy. The necro knight riding a ghostly warhorse was also a tricky opponent. The warhorse’s light and graceful steps seemed like it was strolling through hell, its dark knight’s spear emitting a gloomy light. Its already rotting face featured hollow black eyes, with only a rotten nose seemingly still hanging with some scraps of flesh and bone, enough to make one feel nauseous.
The black warrior wielding the Bone Flame Sword was undoubtedly the leader of the large group of skeleton warriors behind them. With his towering stature and the Bone Flame Sword emitting an endless aura of death, every swing of the sword left behind countless afterimages, as if trying to tear apart the entire dark space. Occasionally, two sparks of ghostly fire would fall to the ground, lingering there for a long time. If those two black warriors could be defeated, the skeleton warriors, now leaderless, might seem fierce, but they would no longer be a threat. Yet, those two black warriors were not easy to defeat either. The last to appear was a bone python, its densely packed bone joints appearing extremely grotesque even in the sunlight. It moved coiled, its huge head containing a black magic crystal that emitted a strange glow. Wait, what was going on?!
Onia was utterly astonished. This bone python was clearly not an undead creature! Undead beings didn’t need magic crystals to sustain themselves; they were merely tools for necromancers. Yet, this bone python had a magic crystal embedded in its head. Could it be a puppet bone python?
Onia’s guess was correct. It was indeed a puppet bone python. It wasn’t an undead creature summoned by Uma, but rather a magical puppet created by the puppet mage Mihajevic using the corpse of a Komora python! It retained the Komora python’s powerful attacking capabilities while no longer being constrained by its life force. Unless the magic crystal hidden in its head was completely destroyed, it would remain an immortal Komora python!
What shocked Onia wasn’t just this puppet bone python. Right after it appeared, two uniquely shaped puppet golems also showed up! Their frames made of full-magic metal, imbued with strong magical power, appeared exceptionally elegant, filled with the spirit of artistic works. Only the strange shape of their upper limbs revealed their deadly intent. Their bluish-gray color seemed to carry some kind of demonic energy, indicating their strong magical support. Their upper limbs, shaped like sharp shovels, moved nimbly, emitting a chilling aura. Their joints and critical points were covered with sharp thorns, making them nothing short of metal killing machines!
The two puppet golems moved in unison, yet they were extremely vigilant. Their behavior was clearly an instinctive reaction of their own, which shocked Onia greatly. The level of vigilance shown by these metal golems clearly indicated that they were intelligent puppets, meaning their creators were not only artificers but also skilled in psychic magic—only then could they perfectly integrate intelligent magic crystals into these puppets, endowing them with a certain degree of intelligent judgment.
Elena felt a chill run through her body. Although her combat experience was far less extensive than Onia’s, having come from Marco, she had far broader knowledge than Onia. While Onia was also aware of the danger posed by the giant zombies, she did not understand it as deeply as Elena did. The giant race had long been extinct on the continent; these beings, who were once akin to gods, mostly existed only in historical records. Now, they appeared as zombies. Elena did not believe they were merely zombies—their appearance meant their abilities from life might still be preserved, and that could be deadly for their side.
In comparison, Elena was not particularly afraid of ordinary undead like black knights and necro knights. Having spent long time in Marco, she was not very familiar with things like metal golems and puppet bone pythons, which were similar to mechanical puppets. She had no idea how threatening these two unfamiliar entities really were. But even just the giant zombies meant that this battle would be a fierce struggle!
The fire wall created by “Flaming Heaven Burn” had clearly weakened. Although it was still advancing, Komer could clearly sense the pressure from the enemy decreasing step by step. Mihajic and Uma’s special forces had finally started to make an impact. With a little more effort, their side could teach those reckless Homer armies a harsh lesson.
Indeed, at this moment, the court mage group and the three Holy Saints were facing an unprecedented challenge. They no longer had time to focus on the fire magic array that was on the verge of achieving total victory, as their own safety was also under severe threat.
Maldeno’s detection magic finally locked onto the elusive target at the last moment. A series of Celestial Holy Flame spells illuminated the area where Uma was hiding, casting light over a ten-zhang radius. The radiance of the Celestial Holy Flame exposed everything dark and impure, piercing through any protective barriers to reach deep into Uma’s body. The intense burning pain made Uma almost howl in agony. It had been a long time since she had felt such pain—she had experienced it during her battle with Komer at Damolsk Fortress, but not as intensely as now. The scorching heat, like molten lava, flowed through her body, turning her soul into an ordeal akin to hell. Pain, yet still alive—this was Uma’s experience now. After over three hundred years of silence, she could finally truly feel this tangible sensation. Though she wasn’t satisfied with her current body, the torment of her soul could at least be released through her physical nerves—a truly wonderful feeling, one of excruciating pain yet undeniably real. Compared to pure spiritual torment, it was like being in heaven. Of course, Uma also knew how much damage this cleansing by the Holy Flame would inflict on her dark essence. Apart from continuously summoning dark shields to withstand the erosion of the Celestial Holy Flame, she could only defend herself with the power at her disposal. The Necro Knight immediately blocked the Light Saint, who tried to cast more spells, his spear generating thick clouds of dark mist and deathly energy that swept across the sky. The ghostly warhorse lightly crossed the air, carrying the force of fierce winds as it charged toward Maldeno’s position. Maldeno swiftly shifted his location, as if he had never been there. The onslaught of deathly energy caused the green plants around him to wither instantly, losing all vitality. As if drawn by instinct, without pause, the ghostly warhorse made a nimble sidestep, and the knight’s spear once again emitted countless dark rings of light, sweeping in densely at the Light Saint who had just repositioned himself.
Maldeno was somewhat surprised by the strength of his opponent. Although he had never encountered a necro knight before, he was somewhat familiar with them. He was confident that he could easily take on three of them alone, but he never expected the necro knight’s reaction speed to be so fast, leaving him little chance to fully unleash his powers. This showed just how formidable the knight’s innate abilities must have been in life. Where had this necromancer found so many such powerful original beings?
A series of spatial seals were activated with Maldeno’s gestures, creating an illusion of instant stagnation in space—a precursor to spatial compression. The charging necro knight seemed to suddenly find himself trapped in mud, his speed and momentum halted as if he were an old man, each step and movement extremely slow and difficult.
Spatial seals?! The glow in Umma’s eyes intensified. The Light Church indeed had talented individuals. This Light Saint possessed such profound mastery over spatial magic, using it to counter his own magical pets. This filled Umma with pride—he had managed to force his necro knight to employ such a rare spatial magic. Though they were only small-scale seals, it was enough to satisfy him.
Yet soon, Umma was consumed by extreme anger. Along with the spatial seals came a series of holy light balls that completely shattered the necro knight. Despite the knight’s frantic struggles, being trapped in the compressed, stagnant space, he was unable to move. The holy light balls, imbued with the Light Saint’s power, pierced into the ghostly magic horse and the necro knight’s body one after another, emitting milky white light. The intense dark aura intertwined with the milky white holy light, accompanied by continuous explosive sounds.
Amid Umma’s relentless roars, the necro knight finally came to an end in its brief existence. Each holy light ball contained Maldeno’s blessings and magical power. The inherent repulsion between light and darkness gave these balls their greatest destructive effect against such dark creatures. As the bones of the ghostly magic horse and the necro knight shattered piece by piece, grayish smoke wafted into the air.
Fueled by rage, Umma no longer cared about the risk of being struck by the opponent’s divine light spells if he revealed himself. His grief for his magical pet nearly drove him insane. A dark figure flashed out from the ground, and along with it, a faint shadow shot in from another direction.
A proud smile appeared on Maldeno’s lips. This damned necromancer had finally lost control. He would destroy each of his summoned creatures one by one to see how much more power he still had left. His status as a saint in Maldeno’s Church of Light hadn’t come easily—it was the result of countless battles and challenges within the Marco Church, earning him that prestigious title bit by bit.
A series of spatial seals reappeared in the air, blocking every possible angle from which Uma could attack. At the same time, Maldeno’s other hand quietly rested on the belt beneath his robe. As Uma’s speed through space slowed down instantly, Maldeno’s cruel smile grew even more pronounced.
“Damn you, remnants of darkness! By the name of the God of Light, go to hell!” He suddenly pulled out a scroll from his belt and unfurled it in the wind. His eyes sparkled with mockery and triumph. As the bright white scroll slowly unfolded, a jade-colored light rose into the air, causing ripples like clouds to spread rapidly throughout the entire space dimension.
Uma immediately realized how foolish his impulse had been. Testing the laws of magic with his still-unstable dark essence was undoubtedly fatal for him. When that guy’s lips curled into a cruel smile, Uma knew things were bad. But trapped in the spatial seals, he could no longer escape at the speed he had arrived at. All he could do now was brace himself to withstand the impending destructive strike.