Chapter 7: The Lord of the Dead

The immense power unleashed by Yanhuang Fen Tian made Kommer’s Water God’s Fury seem rather insignificant. Although Kommer’s desperate efforts caused Water God’s Fury to generate several meters-high waves that roared as they charged at the fire wall, the fire-based magic array, created by multiple high-level grand magicians, was clearly beyond Kommer’s solitary strength to counter. As soon as the waves approached the fire wall, they instantly turned into dense clouds of steam, with the entire front line almost completely covered by scorching mist.

Kommer watched in agony as the crimson fire wall continued to advance. He had exhausted himself holding back Water God’s Fury, yet the enemy’s power was simply too great. While he might be strong enough to defeat any single opponent, facing multiple strong foes at once was clearly beyond his capabilities.

However, Water God’s Fury wasn’t entirely useless. It at least slowed down the fire wall’s advance significantly, giving Fran enough time to make timely arrangements and order the infantry formations to retreat steadily backward to avoid the encroaching flames. But Kommer knew this situation couldn’t last long. Once his magic power was depleted, the fire wall would surge forward rapidly. By then, not only would the infantry formations be trapped, but he and his group would also be in grave danger.

Now, all hope rested on Mihajlovic’s metal puppets and Uma’s necrotic powers. In truth, metal puppets posed little threat to magicians with powerful magic, but they could be most effective in battles against knight squads or infantry formations. As for those magicians who claimed infinite power, perhaps the undead were their greatest nightmare.

Uma had been lurking near the court mage group of the Kingdom of Nicosia, less than thirty meters away. He had been observing them closely, especially that masked holy woman in the center. The detection magic he used on her had already alerted her several times, but Uma was cautious. He knew that the members of the Light Church were extremely sensitive to the dark energies from the abyss, and any carelessness could lead to detection. His detection magic relied entirely on mental power, without using any dark forces. Yet even so, her almost intuitive senses kept scanning the surroundings—clearly, she was also searching for him.

Uma greedily observed her target. That damned Light Mage stood by, constantly interfering with her attempts to examine the graceful masked woman from various angles. It was clear that the holy maiden of the Light Church was not old—perhaps not even thirty years old—but her composed demeanor made Uma realize she was no novice. Yet such a target made her mission even more challenging.

It wasn’t until that obsequious Light Mage left that Uma finally felt at ease. That annoying mage was no easy opponent; the power he wielded made Uma prefer to wait rather than act rashly. The Light Church didn’t send amateurs—she didn’t want things to go wrong for her.

Uma hadn’t expected an unexpected turn of events despite her preparations. The massive Fire Magic Array, “Blazing Heaven,” instantly consumed two elite infantry formations of the Caucasus. When Komer sent his contemptuous message through magic, Uma knew he was on the verge of losing control. If she didn’t perform well now, even if she seized the body of the masked holy maiden, Komer might not agree to transplant her soul back into it as she desired.

“By the invitation of the gods, undead immersed in the depths of darkness—break free from your bonds! Execute them! Go!” Uma couldn’t afford to delay any longer. The intense heat from “Blazing Heaven” could even be felt by her, who had been hiding in the soil. Those barbarians and half-orcs had no chance of escaping such hellish flames. And Komer’s water magic alone couldn’t withstand the power of their magic arrays. To escape this predicament, they had to eliminate the ones casting the spells!

A layer of dark mist silently formed above the soil. Its arrival was so stealthy and eerie that the Light Church mages, absorbed in the joy of casting spells, almost completely overlooked it. Fortunately, not everyone was focused solely on the joy of victory. When this faint dark aura appeared, the sensitive holy maiden sensed the approaching crisis.

The dark mist grew thicker, almost condensing into a solid mass within seconds. Elena’s sharp gaze fixed on those rapidly taking shape black clouds. The intense dark aura made her realize that only now were they facing a true challenge.

The emergence of a giant figure from the dark mist cloud made Elena’s heart contract involuntarily. Having seen much in her life, she immediately recognized this three-meter-tall black figure. A hint of tension flashed in her clear eyes—Elena hadn’t felt this way in ages. Giants? This race, nearly as ancient as the gods, had long disappeared from this world, yet it appeared before her now. And she could clearly see the slightly stiff movements of the giant—it was clearly a giant zombie summoned by some necromancer using necromancy!

Soon after, another equally tall giant zombie stepped out of the dark mist, holding a long-handled double axe. It seemed to be of the same design as the short-handled axe carried by the first giant zombie. The dark surface of the axe glistened as if it had just come into contact with air, covered in wet patches. Its confused gaze moved along its stiff, swaying head, seemingly searching for a target. When both giant zombies’ gazes landed on Elena, they immediately stabilized. Elena’s heart tightened again—it was obvious that the summoners of these giant zombies had set their sights on her.

“Onya, Saranko, Maldeno, be careful! There are undead around us! Maldeno, use detection magic to search the east—that damned necromancer must be hiding there. Onya, watch out for the mist; more undead will appear one after another!” After speaking in a rush, Elena realized that several flickering shades of dark fire had also appeared quietly. Along with those flames, the towering figures of two black knights emerged as well.