On the wide cemetery wall, I was met by a group of heroes shooting at an army of skeletons with bows. A couple hundred of the enemies were under attack, walking towards us like the walking dead. They moved very slowly, barely standing on their feet. It looked like a light breeze could knock the skeletons off their feet without any help. If Momonga had suddenly appeared here, the "Archlich" would have laughed heartily at raising such pathetic trash. In the cities of Yggdrasil, the most ordinary guards would have taken down this threat in a matter of seconds. But not here. Here, these enemies were a force to be reckoned with by the locals.
"Good evening," he greeted the archers kindly, raising his palm in a welcoming gesture, as if we were old acquaintances.
- Good morning... - the plump soldier with an ugly big belly muttered sullenly. - I am the captain of the garrison, and what rank are you? - Coming closer, he began to look for an adventurer's badge on me with his exhausted eyes. It was obvious that the captain was glad to have reinforcements in the form of adamantine adventurers, but the severe stress had taken its toll on him. There were plucked clumps of hair lying on his shoulder, apparently belonging to him.
"I am a simple researcher who agreed to help resolve the misunderstanding that occurred," was a calm answer to the captain's question, as well as a pointing gesture towards the cemetery skeletons.
"Researcher…" the captain of the guard said incredulously.
"Anyway better than a grocer," I added calmly.
- Merchant?
— Grocer.
Approaching the edge of the wall, I used one of the class skills:
"Horned Death"
Above the cemetery, about a hundred meters away from us, negative energy concentrated, acquiring a purple-red hue. Like a hungry funnel, it began to devour all the darkness from space, sucking space into itself.
A few seconds later, the energy took on the appearance of a sea mine: a round ball with long spikes sticking out all over its surface. Then, when the diameter of the ball increased to several meters, the mine shot up sharply, creating a kind of spinning top. All the archers saw its rainbow swirls, looking sideways in fear.
But there was nothing to fear.
The natural tactics of mass destruction are taken as a basis. No one will throw fragmentation grenades at the feet of enemies if the battle takes place in an open field. A good choice is to throw a grenade at the very top, so that the fragments, like hail, hit the heads of the entire cluster of enemies. The spell also allows you to set the projectiles to auto-target, allowing you to destroy more enemy targets. Allies do not need to worry about friendly fire, unless, of course, their ally is a rare piece of shit.
In addition, the skill is somewhat similar to "calanthropes" - small sharp objects that help slow down the movement of a group of enemies. Due to the small damage of the spell, the developers of Yggdrasil had to make it look more threatening and add more negative effects. One of them reduces the speed of all targets by twenty-seven percent if they are in the affected area.
Therefore, my help consisted more in slowing down the skeleton army, giving the heroes a chance to prove themselves, rather than destroying them. Of course, there were some incidents. Shadow fragments pierced the skeletons' skulls en masse, sending them to rest. The opponents were too weak, so much so that even spells not intended for destruction easily killed them.
It's extremely annoying and ugly to take away glory from others, but nothing can be done.
"Amazing, a movement delay spell can serve as an attack spell," it happened that my feigned surprise was noticed by Evileye, who flew up. It was hard to explain how it happened, but she stumbled immediately after landing, as soon as she heard my speech. It is important for adventurers to maintain their fortitude in any situation, and not fall from someone else's words. "Truly weak undead," pity seemed to apply to skeletons, but in fact, not quite.
The vampire should be brought into shape, at least "steamed" through farm spots. I wonder how people progress in this world? And other creatures like vampires.
- Let's run! - the archers realized that their services were no longer needed and happily ran to their families. Or maybe the working hours had already come to an end, and they decided to disperse to the taverns.
It's just not clear why their faces were distorted with fear.
- Shit-shit-shit! - the panicking captain of the guard decided to shorten the route to the tavern, so he jumped off the wall. Luckily, it is small, it is difficult to break your legs when landing... If your comrades do not fall on your shoulders...
- Well, well. So timid.
Kurumi joined us, similar to Ivileye, flying up with the help of the spell "Levitation". An interesting girl Lakyus jumped onto the wall, bypassing the crush of soldiers and ignoring the saying - "you can't jump higher than your head".
The rest of the Blue Rose group stayed downstairs to help the racing soldiers, adventurers, and volunteers not trample each other to death. The last time I saw such a crush was in a supermarket. It must have been Black Friday with its rush for discounts.
- I dare to assume that they were afraid of the tavern closing. It's late, they can be understood, - after my words, Ivilai, who was trying to get up, almost fell again, but the blonde who ran to her rescue helped her. - Or they are in a hurry to check the health and safety of their loved ones, - a two-second pause. - I don't see any other options.
"And they exist..." the little girl in the red robe said barely audibly.
Lakyus helped her comrade stay on his feet, holding the swaying vampire firmly by the shoulder. Her pale face showed that she agreed with Evileye.
- And yet, a mass uprising of even such weak undead does not happen without a reason. It is worth checking, - filled with the spirit of adventure, I carelessly took a step into the void, getting to the place of mob spawn, fenced off by the ill-fated wall.
A thick fog covered the skeletons, graves, and tall, leafless trees.
Everything here indicated that the place was cursed and carried a terrifying secret. This is if you look at it from the point of view of adventurers. For example, scary cemeteries always have abandoned crypts, under which there are 100% secret catacombs; and in them, liches, necromancers or bandits are hiding.
"Blood Blades Cemetery"
A spell like this can attack not only the dangerous chimera, but also the small fry rushing to attack me at full speed. Another hundred skeletons. However, the second wave of opponents was pierced by hundreds of bloody blades, the edges of which burst out of the crumbly earth. I don't like to "click" enemies with one attack, preferring variety instead.
The following ones should be destroyed in a different way; not from above or below.
- Where is the nearest chapel here? - If I were in the necromancers' place, I would start the summoning near a symbolic place.
"In that direction," Lakyus, who had come down with me, answered a little frightened. Ivilai followed her, and was in no hurry to go far.
In fact, they were so close to each other that you could easily read the fear emanating from them, like a flock of sheep huddled together. Strange girls, at the moment I have not shared a reason to doubt my piety. I play the hero of justice. Well, or a suspicious chimerologist with a bright aura. It depends on what angle you look at it from.
— Zafkiel!
Kurumi equipped a pistol in her left hand, then aimed it at a group of skeletons standing in the distance. One shot of a scarlet bullet instantly began to fly from one target to another, as if the skeletons were playing "hot ball". A couple of seconds, and a group of fifty creatures went to rest. Kurumi has a level ten "Magic Shooter" class, so she can call in a real artillery strike from magic, and not play with chain bullets. It's good that her ward understands perfectly well that our allies don't need unnecessary shocks.
- In one movement... - I have a strange suspicion that we accidentally became a factor in the progression of an inferiority complex in one sorceress.
Most likely it just seems that way to me.
"It's been a long time since I've visited a cemetery. I'd forgotten that they have a unique atmosphere compared to other places," I said nostalgically, moving forward.
I haven't seen such places in real life since my first life.
In the world of 2138, it was impossible to buy a plot of land for one's own burial, so every dead person was cremated. None of the corporate giants in power cared whether the deceased's religion professed burial by fire or earth.
But in computer games, cemeteries often appeared as locations for hunting the undead. In Fable, for example, you had to dig up graves, looking for treasures in them. Wait a minute, and Kurumi and I are actually desecrating graves.
"Lakyus, may I ask, are you familiar with the local laws?" Continuing to walk towards the center of the cemetery, I turned my helmet slightly towards the adventurers who had moved away. They were trying to maintain a decent distance, but not to go too far.
"Uh… Yes, I know them well," she answered, coming closer.
— What we are doing can be considered grave desecration? — Out of the corner of my eye, I saw dozens of destroyed gravestones. Some spells in the area completely trampled the efforts of still living relatives of the deceased. — This is a pretty serious crime, so I wonder what the punishment is for it in this country?
- Oh, no, no, no! - the blonde holding the sword in her hand, scared, tried to wave her arms. From the outside, it looked like a challenge to a duel, which is probably why Evileye made a strong "mask hand" gesture. - Oh, I'm sorry, - having stuck the dark blade into the dirt, she leaned on it, taking a few deep breaths and putting her thoughts in order. - We take full responsibility!
- Don't worry. I'm not the type of person to shift responsibility onto others. I wouldn't like to shift the blame onto good friends. So it would be best to take full responsibility myself, since I'm fully prepared to face any problem from the authorities.
Message: "Do you want to provoke the king's wrath to drown him in blue blood?"
Message: "You're thinking in the right direction."
- N-no! You don't have to face problems head on! As a noble and the leader of Blue Rose, I can easily resolve any inconveniences that arise... - Lakyus tried to convince us in a panicked voice that she would handle all the misunderstandings on her own. - Oh yeah, in the event of an attack by the undead, the law on desecrating graves is invalid! - straining her memory, she put forward a reasonable remark.
"Thank you, but remember, I don't go back on my word. If anything happens, I'll try to make sure that the problems that arise don't affect you or your good name," is a rather grandiose promise, more suited to the protagonist of a second-rate novel.
Message: "Their instinct for self-preservation is quite developed."
Message: "That's what's great about humanity. They can adapt to any conditions, and they're smart enough to model different scenarios for how things could develop."
Well, what a pity.
The plan could have been good: I help the kingdom, but they ignore the outstretched hand of help. Filled with love for the memory of their ancestors, the nobles accuse their benefactor of violating ancient laws, making the hero a criminal in the eyes of the public. He has no choice, and is forced to respond to aggression with aggression. Purely for the purpose of self-defense.
And then the army of chimeras will pull up, maybe I'll even ask Demiurge to disguise himself as the Demon King. He, as the Archdevil, will gladly take on this role, helping to maintain temporary chaos in the world, which is good for reissuing documents establishing the borders of various Empires and Kingdoms.
I have no need to turn the real world into that desert where nothing happens. On the contrary, it is interesting to play a kind of progress simulator, which requires masterful control over the development of the territory. Monitor the resources of the base, the morale of the troops and servants, as well as the suspicious ambitions of neighbors. All for the sake of a global goal: to capture the map to lead the world to a better future, and not to 2138.
"There's a group of people up ahead!" Lakyus quickly noticed a group of necromancers in black robes huddled together in a circle near the crypt.
"A beautiful night," I approached them and had to politely ask them to interrupt the spell with a casual conversation about the weather. They discontentedly destroyed the formation, revealing a bald man in a red robe. He had a chain with three skulls, a magic staff in the form of a stick, a crystal ball and an unforgivably weak life energy. In game slang, we can say that the man in the red robe is a transitional character to the next phase of the scenario.
More chapters on my P@treon: https://patreon.com/OOOTEN