LRAB Page 65
Page 65
Elhesen shook his slightly trembling wrist; the recoil from his full-force strike had almost caused him to drop his weapon, and his hand was tingling with numbness.
He had never encountered such a formidable enemy.
Sino nodded solemnly; the opponent's defense far exceeded expectations.
But he didn't hesitate at all, raising the Crimson Sand Staff once more, lightning gathering again: "We can't give it a chance to breathe!"
The Death Knight seemed to be completely enraged. It let out a low growl, raised its shield to block the distracting arrows fired by the Tinari and Kore from afar, and at the same time swung its greatsword to cleave a gilded brigade called "Magic Rock Servant" that was trying to sneak up from the side, along with the rock elemental creatures it summoned!
Seno and Elhesen pressed forward again, like two nimble swifts, constantly circling and probing around the massive target of the Death Knight, searching for that almost non-existent flaw.
Meanwhile, more reinforcements arrived.
The elites of the gilded guild joined the battle one after another. The "Whirlwind Dancer" spun around and summoned sharp blades of grass, while the "Wind Hunter" summoned a swift bird to disrupt their vision.
In an instant, the Rock Lizard roared and charged, the Grass Serpent coiled and bound, and the Wind Kite swooped down to attack. All sorts of elemental attacks and physical strikes rained down on the Death Knight, creating a continuous roar!
The Death Knight completely abandoned defense, relying on his ridiculously high defense and seemingly endless stamina, like a war machine that knew no pain, and frantically attacked the Gilded Brigade's barely maintained defensive line.
Every swing of the greatsword brought forth a shower of blood, and every impact of the great shield broke bones and tendons.
Even more terrifying is that every fallen warrior will soon twist and rise again, transforming into a new undead, and retaliating against their former comrades.
The battle devolved into a brutal war of attrition, with people falling and screaming every second.
This fierce battle lasted for two whole hours, from noon until the afternoon!
Finally, as everyone's physical strength and elemental power were about to be exhausted, the Death Knight's movements began to slow down, and its jet-black armor was covered with dense white marks and fine cracks.
Seizing an opportunity, Seno gathered the last of his lightning elemental power and, like a real thunderbolt, pierced the gap between its helmet and neck armor with the Crimson Sand Staff!
A chilling cracking sound rang out! The Death Knight's massive body stiffened abruptly, the crimson soul fire in his eyes flickered violently a few times, and finally went out completely.
Its enormous body crashed to the ground like a mountain collapsing and a jade pillar falling, raising a cloud of dust.
"Is it... over?"
A mercenary covered in blood gasped for breath and muttered incredulously.
Seno and Elhesen were also nearly exhausted. Leaning on their weapons, they breathed heavily and watched the fallen monster warily.
Out of caution, Seno signaled everyone to step back, while he forced himself to step forward, wanting to examine the monster's corpse carefully, hoping to find some clues.
However, just as his fingers were about to touch the cold armor—
The Death Knight's corpse, along with its indestructible armor, suddenly began to dissipate silently, like a sand sculpture that had been weathered for a thousand years!
In just a few breaths, it turned into countless gray-black ashes before everyone's eyes, disappearing completely without leaving any trace, as if it had never existed.
Sino's pupils contracted sharply, and the ominous premonition in his heart suddenly surged to its peak.
They didn't even leave behind the body; this is completely beyond common sense!
Just as he was about to order a city-wide alert and organize manpower to treat the wounded and clear out the low-level undead that were still active—
The sky darkened without warning.
It wasn't the natural darkness of nightfall, but a oppressive, ominous, pitch-black darkness that seemed to devour all light!
Thick, ink-like clouds gathered from all directions at a visible speed, quickly covering the entire sky above Sumeru City, turning daytime into an eerie dusk in an instant!
"Is it not over yet?!"
Seno looked up at the sky, his face more solemn than ever before, gripping the Crimson Sand Staff tightly in his hand.
At that moment, from the distant highlands, came a heart-wrenching scream from Tina, filled with boundless terror. The sound was even distorted by extreme fear:
"Sino!!! Elhesen!!! Watch out—!! That monster…!!"
Tina held tightly to Cole, who was trembling with fear at the overwhelming aura of death in the distance, and roared with all her might towards the ground below:
"It was just a lone scout!! The real... the real army has arrived!!!"
"what?!"
"impossible!!"
"What a joke!!"
Everyone who heard these words—whether it was Seno, Elhesen, or the remaining mercenaries of the Gilded Brigade—was struck dumb, their faces drained of color, and they revealed expressions of disbelief and horror!
A single scout required almost the entire force and suffered such heavy losses to barely "kill" him? What would a real army be like then?!
Seno and Elhesen exchanged a glance, both seeing unprecedented horror in each other's eyes.
Without hesitation, the two endured their exhaustion and pain, rushing towards the roof of the tallest building nearby at top speed.
Some agile members of the Gilded Brigade also followed.
The moment they finally reached the top and could see the distant view clearly—
Everyone suffocated.
It was as if an invisible, icy hand had gripped their throats tightly, freezing their blood.
Their pupils dilated with extreme fear, reflecting a truly profound...
Chapter 72 On the eve of the war
On a secluded cliff in the far suburbs of Sumeru City.
"It's truly... spectacular..."
One of Doctor Dottore's fragments, hidden behind a barrier of distorted light, gazes into the distance at the undead army outside Sumeru City, which seems to have crawled out of the abyss.
Even by his mad scientist's standards, this army was a twisted yet perfect "work of art."
Six thousand heavily armed skeleton guards stood silently in a solemn array under the dark sky, their rusty weapons, imbued with ominous magic, all pointing towards Sumeru City.
Even more chilling is that among these skeletons are even more terrifying monsters of various shapes and sizes, exuding a bone-chilling coldness—a snow woman floating in the air, surrounded by ice crystals and wailing; more than one death knight, like a mobile fortress; and a necromancer wielding a skeletal staff and surrounded by a large number of rotting zombies!
Dotoree's eyes gleamed with extreme excitement and analytical intent. He keenly noticed that the armor and weapons of those skeleton soldiers were all emanating a strange and powerful energy fluctuation, the effect of which seemed to be very similar to the elemental power of Teyvat, but even colder and more filled with a negative and deathly aura.
"An army composed entirely of undead, armed with enchanted weapons, and terrifyingly disciplined... what a fascinating creation... huh?"
Just as he was engrossed in analyzing and trying to decipher the nature of that strange energy, his visual sensors captured an extremely tiny, fleeting point of light in the high-altitude clouds.
What was that? A bird? An elemental creature? Or...?
His thoughts hadn't even had time to form a complete question—
A soft yet incredibly clear sound, like the popping of a ripe fruit, rang out from the location of his own head.
The next second, the scene before his eyes spun around him, and what finally came into view was his own headless body, with a large amount of liquid gushing from his neck, stiffly leaning forward.
"Doctor!!"
The members of the Fools' advance team who were responsible for guarding the area screamed in terror!
They didn't even see any attack trajectory, nor sense any elemental fluctuations. One of their powerful, godlike "Doctors," a fragment of him, was instantly blown to the head without warning!?
Under their horrified gazes, Dotole's headless corpse fell heavily to the ground, twitched a few times, and then fell completely silent.
Meanwhile, in the central ranks of the distant undead army.
Peroroncino, one of the Supreme Beings of Nazarick and possessing the strongest long-range sniping ability, slowly lowered the exaggeratedly designed magical longbow in his hand, which was wrapped with destructive energy.
A cold smile, as if he had accomplished his mission, curled at the corner of his mouth. His figure slowly faded away, eventually transforming into a small chess piece that landed with a "snap" in Zhang Chu's already prepared hand below.
"mission completed."
Zhang Chu clasped his hands together, his tone calm.
The four-man team's orders were clear and absolute: no matter how many slices there were, no matter where they were hidden, Dortore must die! Kill one on sight!
Meanwhile, deep within the Order of the Fathers, in a completely secret laboratory.
The other person in charge of monitoring the "God of the Machine" project, Dotore, suddenly clutched one of his temples, a look of pain and shock flashing across his face.
"Gone... The 'me' responsible for external observation... was instantly wiped out?!"
He immediately realized what had happened, and for the first time, an incredulous seriousness appeared in his eyes.
"Not even a chance to react?! The opponent... definitely possesses the power or means to completely kill a demon god-level being!"
He strode to the center of the laboratory and looked up at the enormous mechanical demon god that exuded terrifying pressure—the God of the Right Machine.
"Pity……"
Dotole's tone was filled with heartfelt regret as he stroked the cold, metallic body of the God of War.
"Having lost the Heart of God as the core driving force, and lacking the 'Scouts,' the perfect 'part' that combines divinely created humanoid form and technology... Now you possess immense power comparable to a demon god, yet you are unable to exercise any true authority, like a foolish giant with only brute force..."
His gaze gradually shifted from pity to coldness, then flashed with a glint of insane and cruel calculation.
He slowly turned his head and looked at the great sage Azar and his followers who were still marveling at the magnificence of the God of the Righteous Machine and completely unaware of the impending crisis.
These foolish scholars, who thought they had everything under control, were now no different from lambs to the slaughter on the experimental table in the eyes of one of their creators.
A cold, emotionless smile, typical of a mad scientist, slowly appeared on Dotole's lips.
"If that's the case, even waste should have some value..."
He muttered to himself, his voice soft yet chilling.
"Then... use the blood and souls of you 'sages' as the sacrifice and lubricant for the first activation of this 'unfinished product'."
"I imagine... it will be very interesting 'experimental data'."
Chapter 73 The Frontline of Despair
The undead army has moved.
There were no war drums, no horns, only the sickening "crackling" sounds of countless bones rubbing against each other and armor clashing, which converged into a tide of death.
Six thousand skeleton guards of Nazarick, like a cold, unstoppable torrent of steel, marched in orderly and heavy steps toward the already crumbling defenses of Sumeru City!
The scent of death, like a tangible, chilling wind, first swept across the faces of the defenders.
Under the corrosive influence of that fear originating from the depths of his soul, his last shred of courage crumbled completely.
"We can't win! We simply can't win! There are so many monsters like that!"
A young mercenary from the gilded brigade was the first to break down. He screamed, dropped his scimitar, his face ashen, and turned to flee frantically into the city.