Hiss—
Above the decaying town in this land of gray death.
A faint ripple in the air flashed past.
Tang Zheng, thousands of meters in the sky, utilizing the excellent vision of the Dragon Lord form he had transformed into, could clearly observe the town below.
The skills within the Ninja system could, depending on the amount of mana consumed, exert power equivalent to Tier Magic.
Tang Zheng had consumed 50 points of mana.
This allowed the effect of "Ninjutsu: Concealment" to reach the level of a Tier 10 concealment magic.
Of course.
Because it was the Ninjutsu system, the mana consumed was different from normal Tier Magic; it wouldn't be affected by the passive skill that reduced mana consumption by 15 points.
"Just some ordinary zombies, and not too many of them, around 100 at most."
After observing from above and confirming the intel on the dead land below, Tang Zheng's gaze flickered calmly:
"I haven't found any powerful individuals, but I still need to be cautious."
With his current concealment methods.
Even without the Thief class build, the boost from the [Ninja] profession meant that even Iville Ai couldn't detect him.
Unless he encountered a strong individual on the level of a True Dragon Lord, or a character above level 60 who was proficient in information-based builds.
After observing from the sky once more.
Tang Zheng, certain there were no oversights, gently flapped his dragon wings and descended with the agility of a falling leaf.
Iville Ai remained in her original spot, likely recovering mana, but her gaze was fixed forward.
There was an atmosphere of sorrow.
The undead couldn't cry, nor did they have such mechanisms; even if they felt sadness, it likely wouldn't show on their expressions.
"How is your mana recovery?"
A majestic yet low voice suddenly echoed from mid-air.
Iville Ai subconsciously looked behind her but still found nothing. She suppressed her emotions and replied respectfully, "My mana has recovered."
She had secretly used "Mana Detection" and "Life Detection" earlier, but they had been useless.
The opponent's concealment method was probably a more powerful magic or ability.
"I can now teleport to the location of the Royal Capital of the Imperia Kingdom," Iville Ai asked, her voice carrying a hint of heaviness and nostalgia.
Tang Zheng didn't reply immediately, his voice indifferent: "Did you not find anything unusual here?"
Unusual?
Iville Ai immediately became vigilant, observing her surroundings.
This place was a town on the border of the Imperia Kingdom. To call it a "town" was in the past; now, it had long since become an open, barren plain.
Even the remnants of building bricks had weathered away, as over 250 years had passed.
"The number of undead?"
Iville Ai pondered briefly and murmured.
Tang Zheng, while still hidden, nodded, his golden vertical pupils narrowing: "According to what you said before, this country was destroyed over 200 years ago."
"The citizens who lived here also turned into undead. Such a large gathering of undead would form immense negative energy, thus giving birth to more undead, and even powerful undead could emerge."
"But the number of undead in this town is not large."
Tang Zheng spoke in a low voice, his eyes filled with thought.
The reason he maintained his invisible state was to guard against the possibility of encountering the Kutushana Dragon Lord, or even more dangerous accidents.
If nothing else!
In the side story, the Kutushana Dragon Lord died at the hands of the Undead King, who had descended alone 200 years earlier. The current reality was unknown.
The intel from the Slane Theocracy mentioned that the Kutushana Dragon Lord and the Vampire Dragon Lord had perished.
But was that truly the case?
Tang Zheng couldn't be sure.
Because in this world, the only beings capable of killing the Kutushana Dragon Lord, besides True Dragon Lords of the same caliber, were Players.
And specifically, Players equipped with World-Class Items!
The destruction of the Imperia Kingdom and the birth of Iville Ai were proof of the Kutushana Dragon Lord's existence. If it hadn't died, after 200 years, its strength would only have surpassed that in the side story.
If it had died... that possibility was even more terrifying!
It would mean that the Player who killed the Kutushana Dragon Lord was even more powerful and mysterious. Furthermore, due to the Kutushana Dragon Lord's "corpse armor" ability, ordinary level 100 Players would be no match.
Multiple Players cooperating?
Over the course of 200 years, was there a possibility of another mysterious guild descending upon this land!
Regardless of which aspect it was.
Both represented threats to the current Tang Zheng, requiring extreme caution.
"Your Excellency Dragon Lord, what's our next move?"
Iville Ai pursed her lips, thinking rapidly as she quietly asked.
This area was on the nation's border, and the number of undead here was not high. It was possible they had encountered living beings who accidentally intruded into this territory and had been eliminated.
Of course, there was another possibility!
Iville Ai's heart trembled; she recalled a detail she had previously overlooked.
If the Crimson Dragon Lord had not lied to her, what was the purpose of that mysterious True Dragon Lord in turning all the people of the nation into undead?
Could that individual still be within this country!
Anger surged within Iville Ai as she remembered the tragic scene of her once happy people all turned into undead, clenching her fists.
"Since you were once a person of this country, you should know the locations of all the towns in this nation."
Tang Zheng pondered for a moment, his deep voice emerging from the air.
"I know." Iville Ai.
"Then let's visit all the towns in this country first, and then head to the Royal Capital last," Tang Zheng instructed.
If this region had already been occupied, the culprit would likely be in the nation's Royal Capital. Of course, he couldn't completely rule out all the towns.
"Yes, Your Excellency Dragon Lord."
Iville Ai did not refuse but diligently carried out the order.
Because currently, her objective and that of His Excellency the Dragon Lord were the same: to find the True Dragon Lord who used a skill called [Origin Magic] to destroy this country.
—Lower Wind Moon.
June 2nd.
In five days, the two of them had explored nearly every single town within the [Imperia Kingdom].
Within this nation, which was overrun with undead, they indeed found no signs of any living beings. However, the number of undead was not large.
[Experience Bar: 25.88M / 1.88M]
His stored experience points had surpassed 20 million.
A sense of anxiety stirred within Tang Zheng; he wished to acquire a new profession as quickly as possible, yet he understood that such things couldn't be rushed.
He naturally wouldn't waste this experience on common professions.
A desolate land devoid of any buildings.
The grayish-black ground was filled with Death Qi. Scattered low-level zombie-type undead ambled past Iville Ai.
It was the nature of undead to attack the living.
However.
As an undead herself, Iville Ai was not attacked by her own kind.
"Your Excellency Dragon Lord, the only place left to explore is the Royal Capital."
Iville Ai's voice carried a hint of heaviness. After so many days of investigation, her desire to head to the Royal Capital grew stronger.
"Then let's explore this last location."
Tang Zheng's gaze was profound, and he let out a low chuckle. "I'm curious to see if there are any pleasant surprises."
"If we encounter any unexpected situations, I might not be able to help you, Iville Ai."
"I understand, Your Excellency Dragon Lord."
Iville Ai responded respectfully. "Invisibility."
A flash of magical light.
Iville Ai's entire body became transparent, vanishing from her spot.
This was a Second Tier magic, but within Tang Zheng's perception, he could still detect Iville Ai's location.
"Teleport."
Iville Ai immediately cast another spell, chanting softly.
Swish!
Her figure disappeared.
Tang Zheng immediately pinpointed the location of the magic mark he had left on Iville Ai, but he did not teleport over immediately.
Instead, he waited patiently.
About seven to eight minutes passed.
"There should be no danger."
Tang Zheng, having confirmed this, took out a Fifth Tier "Teleport" scroll from his item box.
Creating Tenth Tier scrolls was quite troublesome, but crafting lower-tier scrolls was relatively easy for Tang Zheng.
He currently possessed 918 Mana. Crafting a Tenth Tier scroll required 350 Mana, and he could normally create two per day.
Now that he had mastered "Rapid Mana Recovery," he could temporarily utilize an additional 459 Mana.
By reserving some Mana to deal with unexpected situations, he could craft a maximum of three Tenth Tier scrolls per day.
Now!
Tang Zheng already had 152 Tenth Tier magic scrolls stored.
He could actually use "Experience Points Casting," but Tang Zheng couldn't afford to expend experience on this at the moment.
He had accumulated over 20 million experience points. While this seemed like a lot, considering he still had 40 levels to gain, this amount of experience was negligible.
Swish!
The scroll was crushed.
Tang Zheng instantly vanished from his spot and reappeared in a completely ruined city.
Visibly, only weathered ruins remained. Broken city walls were covered in thick layers of dust, their surfaces pockmarked with corrosion.
These city walls, which were the sturdiest parts during construction, would now crumble into dust with the slightest force.
In addition to this!
A large number of undead were roaming this city, and the dense negative energy made the entire air appear hazy.
Upon seeing these undead, Tang Zheng's pupils constricted. He looked up into the distance, able to see the former Royal Capital.
Compared to the surrounding broken ruins, the entire Royal Capital still retained its general outline after over 200 years.
At the location of the Royal Capital, Tang Zheng sensed an even denser aura of negative energy.
"As expected."
"Someone has gathered all the undead from the surrounding towns here."
Tang Zheng understood. No wonder their investigation of the surrounding towns found very few undead:
"It can currently be confirmed that the Kutushana Dragon Lord is not here."
Given the Kutushana Dragon Lord's massive "corpse armor" form, which was over a hundred meters long, it would be impossible to hide.
"Your Excellency... Dragon Lord..."
"Your Excellency Dragon Lord?"
Iville Ai leaned against a broken stone wall, occasionally calling out softly, trying to confirm if Tang Zheng was there.
This furtive behavior made Tang Zheng find it a little amusing.
"Speak."
Tang Zheng silently hovered above her head and spoke in a low, soft voice.
Hearing Tang Zheng's voice, Iville Ai paused her attempt to call out again and quickly and respectfully whispered, "Your Excellency Dragon Lord, I have already investigated."
"There seem to be signs of activity in the direction of the Royal Capital."
"The reason we detected a lack of undead in the towns recently is likely because someone intentionally gathered them here."
Iville Ai's expression was grim.
This Royal Capital had clearly been occupied. The specific time of occupation was impossible to determine. The only thing she couldn't confirm was whether the enemy was the True Dragon Lord Tang Zheng had mentioned.
"There is no Dragon Lord here, probably an undead like yourself."
Tang Zheng stated directly, "Iville Ai, go capture it. I need to get information from it."
This was the tone of someone giving orders to a subordinate, and facing an unknown enemy without any intelligence was a rather dangerous action.
However, Iville Ai showed no intention of refusing. "Your Excellency Dragon Lord, could you cast the magic that obstructs teleportation again to prevent the enemy from escaping?"
"I can."
Tang Zheng responded calmly.
The next moment, Iville Ai deactivated "Invisibility" and rose into the air from her spot, openly flying towards the depths of the Royal Capital.
The dense groups of undead on the ground, as well as undead and spirits like skeletal eagles flying in the sky, Upon seeing Iville Ai suddenly appear, they did not launch any attacks, allowing her to approach the ruined Royal Capital.
Deep within the ruined Royal Capital, Inside the once spacious royal palace of this fallen kingdom, it had now become an experimental site for some entity.
"Roar—"
"Roar!"
Two undead zombies, one appearing strong and the other slender, were each confined in an iron cage protected by magical enchantments.
Occasional roars echoed through the great hall.
Cassius Habakkuk stood at a makeshift desk in the center of the hall, his dry, skeletal hand holding a pen as he wrote something.
He had long grown accustomed to the roars.
These two undead zombies were extremely important research subjects. They were both powerful in life, so even after becoming undead, their inherent strength far surpassed that of low-level undead creatures.
Judging by their appearance, the two undead zombies could be described as a male and a female in the language of the living, though this distinction held no meaning for these undead.
By absorbing vast amounts of mana, those who transcended the existence of Great Death Mages were called "Great Death Mages of the Dark Night."
This name only appeared in words of fear and dread, a mythical existence equivalent to disaster.
Cassius Habakkuk was indeed a terrifying existence. As an undead who naturally possessed intelligence, even with such an advantageous situation, it still took him over a hundred years to finally become a Great Death Mage of the Dark Night. As for his next goal, he had no idea.
This was an unacceptable reality!
Perhaps some powerful undead within the organization knew.
The two special undead individuals were originally intended by Cassius Habakkuk as items to exchange knowledge with other members of the organization.
But—
As Cassius Habakkuk thought of this, a sense of dread welled up within him. As one of the most powerful beings in the world, feeling fear towards others was impossible.
But there were always some beings in this world that defied common sense.
The Dragon Lord!
An incredibly evil and terrifying Dragon Lord.
That existence had currently taken control of the entire organization. Fortunately, he was not a member of the inner circle and had barely managed to escape.
In any case, he had no intention of contacting the organization again.
What a pity about the knowledge within the organization.
Researching on his own was fine too; for the undead, time was meaningless.
Cassius Habakkuk withdrew his wandering thoughts and continued to bend over the desk, recording his findings.
RUMBLE!
Suddenly, a huge rumbling sound came from outside the great hall.
Cassius Habakkuk looked up, revealing a rotten, dried zombie face. His blood-red, intelligent eyes held a look of bewilderment.
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