Chapter 319: Illusion? A Change. The Decisive Battle Arrives.
The resurrection of their five companions sent a shockwave through the entire human faction. It was no less than a shot in the arm, shattering the worries in everyone's hearts.
Even the members of the Sunlight Scripture began to look at Kelart differently. The faces hidden by their helm-like head coverings were filled with reverence.
That was the power to bring the dead back to life. Even a faith-based magic caster in the Heroic Realm might not be able to master such power.
To an ordinary person, this was nothing short of a miracle!
No, even to these powerful individuals present, who held high status among ordinary people, it was a miracle all the same.
The Holy Knight Order erupted in cheers, their gloomy mood completely swept away.
"He chose a good time."
Tang Zheng thought to himself.
The impact of Kelart using "Raise Dead" at this moment far exceeded the effect it would have had if he had informed everyone in advance.
"Mm..."
The boisterous cheering woke Enri. She lifted her head in a daze, looking toward the source of the sound.
"What happened?" Enri propped herself up in a panic, thinking another attack had occurred.
"As expected of Enri. You take a nap, and those dead paladins come back to life," Tang Zheng's lighthearted laughter rang out as he spoke half-jokingly.
"Resurrected?"
Enri's eyes cleared. Seeing that her captain was not in a hurry, she realized it wasn't an enemy attack, but then she grew even more confused.
She vaguely remembered her captain telling her, 'Take a nap, and those who died might just come back to life.'
"I-I'm sorry, Lord Captain, your clothes..."
Enri's earlobes suddenly turned crimson. Propping herself up with her arms, she saw the spot where she had been sleeping and the patch of the white robe soaked with her tears, and she stammered, at a loss for what to do.
"Don't worry about such small things."
"Right now, those resurrected paladins have you to thank," Tang Zheng said pointedly.
Night arrived.
The Beast General, Hector Weiss, led the demi-humans to clear out the undead near the two factions' areas. There weren't many.
Just some scattered, low-tier undead.
It seemed that the Zuranon side understood that with the humans and demi-humans having joined forces, their disadvantage of low numbers was now compensated for, so they no longer sent out large numbers of undead to attack.
The entire night.
Passed in abnormal calm.
The next morning, Kelart, having recovered his magic power overnight, resurrected another five people.
Only then.
Kōkosh of the Seven-Colored Scales and the others from the demi-human faction once again wanted to negotiate with Tang Zheng and his group to discuss attacking Zuranon as soon as possible.
Kelart refused this proposal, using the excuse that the human faction had not yet 'fully recovered from their injuries and regained their stamina.'
In the blink of an eye, another full day passed.
It was now March 31st.
Kelart continued, resurrecting 10 people. Kōkosh of the Seven-Colored Scales came again to discuss, and Kelart refused for the same reason.
Upper Wind Month.
April 1st.
Kelart still resurrected 10 people. Of the 51 paladins who had originally died, apart from the ten who became undead and could no longer be resurrected, 30 had already been brought back.
There were still 11 people who had not been fully resurrected.
This time, Gagaran and the Beast General, Hector Weiss, came to negotiate. Kelart, however, couldn't be bothered to find a reason and refused them directly.
Restlessness stirred within the demi-human faction, but it was quickly suppressed.
Tang Zheng quietly watched it all, feeling a bit impatient himself. He had already guessed Kelart's objective.
The demi-human forces far outnumbered the humans, with their numbers reaching over 5,000. So many demi-humans needed food and water.
And they had not brought an excess of supplies.
This led to the demi-humans sending out several squads last night specifically to gather supplies and water.
Remedios, "Pink" Isidro, and Gustav, the three paladin captains, each led a squad of a dozen paladins.
They followed the demi-humans, using the same excuse of lacking supplies.
The Abelion Hills were currently suffering from a severe drought.
The water issue could be solved with the nearby rivers, but the key problem was food. The food these demi-human troops were using was all from the supplies traded with the Holy Kingdom.
Kelart wanted to use this point to determine the approximate location of the demi-human gathering place, because a settlement of over ten thousand demi-humans would absolutely not be too far from where these supplies were stored.
As for the location Gagaran provided initially?
The moment Kelart saw the demi-human troops, he realized the location Gagaran had provided was already obsolete.
In addition.
They could also use this opportunity to observe Zuranon's movements.
Although the humans had the fewest numbers, they actually held the initiative on whether to attack Zuranon!
The demi-humans lacked the power to counter the Death Knights and the Alliance Leader, so they could only rely on the humans.
This was also the reason Kōkosh of the Seven-Colored Scales repeatedly tried to negotiate the time of attack. The longer it was delayed, the more disadvantageous it would be for the demi-human faction.
These past few days.
Enri, on the other hand, got along very harmoniously with the resurrected paladins. This was perhaps related to the fact that she had brought their corpses back.
The average level of this group of paladins was around 7 to 8. After experiencing death once, their levels had plummeted to the standard of 2 to 3.
Swing the sword!
Train!
This became the main task for these resurrected paladins. They wanted to recover their lost power as quickly as possible, but they were also keenly aware that they would probably be unable to help in the upcoming battle.
"*Huff... huff...*"
Enri's breathing was ragged. Sweat dripped from her eyelashes into her eyes, stinging so much she could barely keep them open, yet she never wiped it away. Her hands trembled as she tightly gripped the heavy longsword.
This scene fell upon the eyes of the resurrected paladins around her. No one spoke up to advise her, because at this moment, they understood Enri's persistence more than anyone.
Just as they did themselves!
"Your arms are too soft."
"Your grip on the sword is also a bit off. Don't hold it so tightly."
Remedios had come to Enri's side at some point, sizing her up with a cold gaze:
"Don't blame me for discouraging you, but it's too late for you to start training at your age. You simply don't have the aptitude for it."
"I want to try," Enri bit her lip and said stubbornly.
Seeing this, Remedios couldn't be bothered to remind her again.
If Enri hadn't desperately saved the paladins' corpses, she wouldn't even have spoken to this ordinary girl.
She turned around.
The cloak, passed down through generations of paladins, swung.
Remedios's shoulder and chest armor scraped against each other, making a sound as she walked imposingly up to Tang Zheng.
"You should be able to see it too. She has no talent. If she keeps training like this, she'll just ruin herself," Remedios said, a trace of coldness on her well-proportioned face.
"I have healing magic," said Tang Zheng.
"You!"
Remedios's eyes widened, somewhat exasperated.
"Right, I thank you on Enri's behalf."
"The training methods and techniques of you paladins aren't supposed to be shared with outsiders, are they?" Tang Zheng said suddenly.
Facing Tang Zheng's gaze.
"Hmph!"
Remedios turned her head away, snorted coldly, and walked away. "It has nothing to do with me. Those guys were willing to teach her. Those techniques are family heirlooms."
"It takes more than just effort to become a paladin."
Compared to Kelart, Remedios, this somewhat stubborn woman who wasn't adept at thinking, was much easier to approach and communicate with.
"Strange..."
Tang Zheng's gaze returned to Enri, his eyes narrowing imperceptibly.
He didn't know if it was an illusion.
He faintly sensed some inexplicable change about Enri, yet it was as if it didn't exist. He used "Ninjutsu: Detect" to check.
Enri's level was still 1, with only the basic class of Farmer.
"Could she really awaken the Paladin class?" This thought popped into Tang Zheng's mind, but he felt it was unlikely.
The Paladin class wasn't an ordinary warrior class; it also required the talent of a spellcaster. Enri possessed neither, so there was little point in her forcibly taking the class.
Another day passed.
This time, Kelart resurrected all the remaining 11 people.
This made Tang Zheng realize that Kelart must have already analyzed a certain amount of information from the demi-humans' supply-gathering movements.
After these few days of observation.
Tang Zheng had already roughly estimated the amount of magic power Kelart possessed—around 280 points.
Compared to his own 568 magic power, it was about half, and that wasn't even counting the bonus from the two new intermediate job classes he had acquired.
The magic power of Kelart, a Heroic Realm magic caster, was a decent reference for Tang Zheng.
After a full four days of rest.
Without any warning—
Kelart summoned Tang Zheng and Captain Nigun, taking the initiative to go to the demi-human encampment to communicate with Kōkosh of the Seven-Colored Scales.
The demi-human faction, which had long been waiting impatiently, agreed to this proposal for an offensive without the slightest hesitation.
Upper Wind Month.
April 3rd, 5:11 AM.
The sky was just beginning to brighten.
The human and demi-human factions set out for the Corpse Pit in the Southern Mountains.
The 5,000 elite demi-humans charged at the very front, with the humans following closely behind. Both sides had already communicated their respective targets.
The demi-humans would primarily clear out the ordinary undead, while the humans would deal with the Death Knights and the evil organization Zuranon.
The vast Human-Demi-human Alliance.
It took only three hours to enter the Southern Mountains region. After a half-hour rest, they set out again.
The arid land was hot and yellowed from drought.
The ground was littered with grave-like pits of various sizes, marks left by the undead crawling out from underground and destroying the earth.
The stench of rot grew ever more potent.
Entering this true core area, the arrival of the human and demi-human factions completely stirred the originally dead-silent land. A large number of undead crawled out from the ground, and the sounds of battle instantly echoed across the sky!
Corpse Pit zone.
Three figures stood silently before the Alliance Leader, who was shrouded in black mist.
The Gray-robed Mage, the Black Armored Knight, and Tang Zheng's shadow clone.
"They're finally here!"
"I was getting impatient," the Black Armored Knight said, drawing his corrupting sword and twisting his neck with a *crack*.
"I'll need your assistance this time."
The Alliance Leader looked at Tang Zheng's shadow clone, who had remained silent from the start. The pale eyes behind the black mist were incomparably cold.
*Vwomm—*
A blue magic circle appeared.
"Roar!"
A roar that was part dragon, part beast came from within the magic circle, and a bone dragon flew out.
Tang Zheng's shadow clone held the Orb of Death in one hand, stepped onto the bone dragon's head, and soared into the air, flying toward the battlefield.
"Such an impatient personality."
The Gray-robed Mage remarked with a cold sneer upon seeing Tang Zheng's arrogant display, yet he was fearful inside:
"A bone dragon? To be able to control such an undead... No wonder the Alliance Leader values him so highly."
"You two, move out as well!"
"It's time to completely squash these boring fleas," the Alliance Leader said coldly.
"Yes, Alliance Leader!"
"Yes, Alliance Leader!"
At this moment.
The human and demi-human factions had entered the former territory of the Blue Maggot Tribe. This place was now completely transformed into a dead land.
Even during the hot day, the temperature in this area held a chill. The death aura and negative energy in the air, invisible to ordinary people, were gathering here in large quantities.
The moment he stepped into this area.
The light of magic power flickered intermittently in Tang Zheng's eyes as he observed the faint gray negative energy spreading through the air:
"The Spiral of Death ritual is still in place. As expected, the Alliance Leader still wants to create a more powerful undead."
Using the power of the Death Knights to create tens of thousands of undead... with such a massive number, the amount of negative energy that could be drawn in... If he were the Alliance Leader, he wouldn't give up on the idea of creating an even stronger undead.
"Kill!!"
"Be careful!"
"Don't let the undead touch you!"
"Roar!"
"Attack according to the Beast General's command."
"Don't spread out! If you feel tired, retreat immediately and let your kin from the rear take over."
The battle cries of the demi-humans came continuously from the front.
Seeing this dense swarm of undead, all the demi-humans' eyes turned crimson as they roared in anger.
It was these damned undead that had turned the hills into this hellscape!
The human faction followed behind the demi-humans, advancing calmly in their usual formation, letting the demi-humans deal with the vast number of low-tier undead first.
At the very rear of the formation.
Were Enri and the 40 resurrected paladins.
"He's here."
Tang Zheng felt the shadow clone getting closer and looked up, murmuring.
*Boom—*
The bone dragon's body cut through the air with a piercing shriek, flying from the distant sky like a white specter.
Tang Zheng's shadow clone was clad in a bright red robe that flapped loudly in the wind, his legs planted firmly on the thick bones of the bone dragon's spine.
"Flame Knight Spear!"
Tang Zheng's shadow clone raised his arm, aimed at the demi-humans fighting in a chaotic melee with the undead at the very front, and pointed a finger.
*Fwoosh~*
A crimson flame instantly gathered, forming a fiery spear about two meters long. It streaked across the sky like a rainbow and slammed into the crowd below.
*BOOM—*
With a loud explosion, the fiery blast instantly engulfed everything around it.
A large number of undead and demi-humans were directly caught in it. Under the immense power of the fourth-tier magic, they were turned to ash without even letting out a scream.
『Gained 80 Experience』
『Gained 139 Experience』
『Gained 72 Experience』
『.....』
『Gained 8 Experience』
A dense stream of experience notifications quickly scrolled across the stat panel in front of Tang Zheng. Experience gained from enemies killed by the shadow clone would naturally be his.
Tang Zheng's shadow clone, paying no mind to his own side's undead, once again cast magic and blasted the ground.
A large number of undead and demi-humans died once again!
"The enemy is in the sky!"
"Spellcasters, cast magic!"
"...!"
Dozens of demi-human magic casters cast magic toward the sky from all directions, but it hit the bone dragon's body without causing any damage.
"It's that red-robed magic caster who can control the bone dragon! Don't waste magic power attacking it; that bone dragon has an ability that nullifies magic!"
"All demi-humans, spread out! Don't gather together!"
"Let the humans intervene!"
The Beast General, Hector Weiss, roared out the commands.
(end of chapter)