Chapter 026: Army of the Dead
“So that’s how it is!”
The Great Elder looked angrily at the Fire Tribe’s great witch doctor on the distant altar, who had just finished recounting the true story of what had happened back then. He spat at the former tribesmen who had sold their souls for longevity and immortality. And after feeling the soul-trembling voice of the Demon Lord, he looked worriedly at Chen Ran, the leader of this expedition. “Divine Emissary, what should we do next?”
“Don’t be hasty.”
Chen Ran raised his eyebrows, contemplating his next move. Although the situation might not be optimistic for them, as the leader, he couldn’t show a trace of nervousness that might affect the team. He observed the situation, watching the demonic souls continuously fly toward the spatial gate. It seemed that this process would still take some time. The blood moon had not yet reached its zenith. According to normal analysis, this process should still take about an hour.
“Moro, take three warriors and circle around from the side. Be as secretive as possible. Don’t let them discover you. Then, maintain an offensive posture against the few witch doctors. Either wait for my command or attack the moment they are casting their spells, aiming for a fatal blow. The rest of you, come with me to the front to greet those guys,” Chen Ran ordered methodically, analyzing the situation on the field. “Keep your distance from the bodies of those Fire Tribe members. They should stand up again, but they probably won’t be as fierce as usual. Our mission now is to stop them from completing this ritual. Otherwise, a more troublesome guy will likely come out.”
“Roger!” After receiving Chen Ran’s order, Moro decisively led three warriors along another hidden path toward the altar. However, even in the dim night, the possibility of being exposed by going out directly was not small. Someone had to attract their attention from the front.
Chen Ran made a gesture, intending to have the remaining men follow him in a frontal assault on the altar.
“My great master, I have gathered the souls you desired, the spirits of an entire tribe. They should be able to break through the barrier gate for you, allowing you to descend upon the mortal world.”
A satisfied voice came from the rotating nebula. “You have done well. As a reward, I will grant you the bodies of liches, to enjoy eternal life and immortal power.”
The nebula trembled, and a sinister, cold laugh came from it. “As for your tribesmen, after breaking this gate to the demon world, they will become a part of my body, also obtaining another kind of eternal life, even greater than yours, hahaha!”
“It is their honor, my master,” the Fire Tribe’s great witch doctor said, bowing humbly.
Boom!
A sudden explosion startled the Fire Tribe’s great witch doctor, who was pledging allegiance on the altar. A ball of fire began to spread among the quiet crowd, burning the kneeling Fire Tribe members.
The great witch doctor on the altar instinctively turned to look in that direction. When he saw a team of a dozen or so people, he couldn’t help but frown, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.
“So it’s the descendants of those homeless dogs from back then. I never thought you’d have the guts to come here today.”
“Hey, just passing by, thought I’d say hello. Seeing you holding an event, I couldn’t help but want to join in,” Chen Ran said, greeting the great witch doctor on the stage jokingly. “Did we come at a good time?”
“Boring ants. Although you’ve chosen a good time to cause trouble, that’s all it is,” a sneer crossed the great witch doctor’s lips. He raised his scepter high and began to chant an incantation derived from the power granted by the demon world. “Rise! My warriors! Tear these outsiders to shreds and protect our master’s safe arrival.”
The bodies that had lost their souls began to tremble. Their originally normal pupils glowed with a crimson light, and they stood up, swaying.
The light of the blood moon shone down on the rising figures, creating an exceptionally eerie atmosphere. The Fire Tribe members’ blood-red eyes flickered, and their sharp teeth and claws glinted coldly.
“Dominate Undead…” Chen Ran muttered. He was certainly no stranger to one of the most signature skills of necromancers in the game.
At this moment, the dense crowd of soulless undead stood up one by one, their piercing cries making one’s hair stand on end. In this strange, moonlit night, with countless undead wandering and roaring, anyone would feel a chill run down their spine.
“Don’t panic. Although these undead are troublesome, without their consciousness, they are just empty shells, far less dangerous than you might think. Just remember not to get surrounded by them.”
Chen Ran calmly commanded the team, having the only one with an area-of-effect skill, the Great Elder, begin to cast his newest and most proficient spell.
“Blazing Flame Incantation!”
Boom!
A ball of fire exploded among the undead. The scorching flames burned their bodies, but even as they turned to ash, these hard-to-kill creatures would still relentlessly charge at them.
Chen Ran took the lead and started running. He saw that they couldn’t run as fast as normal people, so he kited them for a while. The others followed behind him, leading the entire tide of corpses.
Unexpectedly, the burned undead also produced blood essence, and it was of the intensity that a Tier 3 creature could emit. Chen Ran kited them while absorbing this energy. As more and more undead were burned to death, he could clearly feel his power increasing. It was much faster than hunting in the forest.
“I really did come at a good time…”
In just over ten minutes, the hundred or so fallen undead had directly raised Chen Ran’s level by one, to 18. Chen Ran had the Great Elder cast the Blazing Flame Incantation in the densest areas of the undead, then commanded the team to disperse and regroup in a certain formation to spread the fire as much as possible, making it easier to clear the mobs.
Against brainless monsters, there was nothing more satisfying than grinding like this, just like dealing with monsters in a game. But Chen Ran’s main focus was always on the altar. The few witch doctors were still conscientiously guarding it, not moving an inch.
Chen Ran looked up at the sky and saw that the moon was about to reach its zenith, the time when the seal between the demon and mortal worlds was at its weakest.
“Don’t drag it out! Go straight up and destroy the altar!”
Feeling that time was of the essence, Chen Ran wanted to bypass the undead and destroy the altar first. But although these blindly attacking undead were brainless, they didn’t leave any gaps for the troublemakers to slip through and destroy the altar. Instead, in a moment of carelessness, they cleverly surrounded them.
Faced with the awkward situation of being surrounded, Chen Ran habitually cast his proficient Light Screen.
