The Death Knight let out a deafening roar, and a heavy greatsword swept horizontally, hacking down several Graded Mercenaries who had charged forward fearlessly, sending both them and their weapons crashing to the ground.
However, it was also struck by arrows imbued with powerful dendro element, accurately shot by Tighnari and Collei, causing its massive body to sway. Clusters of element light burst open on its heavy armor, and its movements froze momentarily.
"Now!"
Cyno gave a low shout, moving simultaneously with Alhaitham in perfect synchronization!
The two moved like swift shadows, one on the left and one on the right, narrowly circling around the massive shield that resembled a moving city wall.
Cyno's staff of the scarlet sands burst forth with dazzling purple Electro light, striking like a venomous snake emerging from its hole, aimed directly at the Death Knight's knee joint connection!
Alhaitham's Dual-Bladed Sword, wrapped in vibrant green Power of Vitality, slashed at an extremely tricky angle toward the armor gap beneath the Death Knight's sword-wielding armpit!
Boom! Bang!!
Electro Element and dendro element energies exploded almost simultaneously! The powerful impact finally shook the steel monster!
The Death Knight's massive body was truly repelled for the first time, stumbling backward. With a tremendous crash, it smashed a small spice shop by the roadside into smithereens, sending rubble and spice powders of various colors flying everywhere.
"Did we succeed?"
A mercenary shouted in surprise.
But in the dust, the black figure shook its heavily helmeted head, and then slowly, Unyieldingly, stood back up!
Where it had been struck, there were only faint scorch marks and scratches, without even noticeable dents!
"This DEF... it's truly monstrous..."
Alhaitham shook his slightly trembling wrist. The recoil from that full-power strike had nearly made him drop his weapon, and the webbing between his thumb and forefinger was throbbing numbly.
He had never encountered such a resilient enemy.
Cyno also nodded with a solemn expression; the opponent's defense far exceeded their estimates.
But without hesitation, he raised the staff of the scarlet sands again, and the Electro light reformed: "We can't give it a chance to breathe!"
The Death Knight seemed completely enraged. It let out a low snarl, raised its shield to block the distracting arrows shot again by Tighnari and Collei from afar, and simultaneously, with a swing of its greatsword, it cleaved apart a Graded Mercenary "Eremite Stone Enchanter" attempting a flank attack, shattering both the mercenary and the Geo construct they had summoned!
Cyno and Alhaitham closed in again, like two nimble swallows, constantly circling and probing the Death Knight's massive target, searching for the almost nonexistent weakness.
Meanwhile, more reinforcements arrived.
The elites of the Graded Mercenaries joined the battle group. The "Eremite Leafdancer" spun, summoning sharp wheels of grass blades, while the "Eremite Galehunter" summoned swift wind birds to obstruct vision.
For a moment, Geo Lizards roared and charged, Dendro Vipers coiled and restrained, and Anemo Kites swooped down to attack. All sorts of element and physical strikes rained down upon the Death Knight, erupting in continuous rumbles!
The Death Knight, however, completely abandoned defense, relying on its absurdly high defense and seemingly inexhaustible stamina. Like a war machine oblivious to pain, it frantically charged the defensive line barely held by the Graded Mercenaries.
Every swing of the greatsword brought a spray of blood, and every charge of the massive shield resulted in broken bones and torn muscles.
Even more terrifyingly, every fallen warrior soon twisted and rose again, transforming into a new Undead, turning against their former comrades.
The battle devolved into a cruel war of attrition, with people screaming and falling every single minute.
This fierce battle lasted a full two hours, from noon until the afternoon!
Finally, just as everyone's physical strength and elemental energy were about to be exhausted, the Death Knight's movements began to slow. Its pitch-black armor was covered in dense white scratches and fine cracks.
Cyno seized an opportunity, gathering the last of his Electro Element power. The staff of the scarlet sands, like true lightning, plunged fiercely into the gap between its helmet and neck armor!
Click!
A heart-stopping crack sounded! The Death Knight's massive body suddenly stiffened, the Crimson Soul Fire in its eyes flickered violently several times, and finally extinguished completely.
Its colossal body crashed to the ground like a collapsing mountain of gold and jade, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Is... is it over?"
A mercenary, covered in blood, gasped raggedly, muttering in disbelief.
Cyno and Alhaitham were also nearly exhausted. They leaned on their weapons, breathing heavily, watching the fallen monster warily.
Out of caution, Cyno signaled everyone to step back. He forced himself forward, intending to thoroughly inspect the monster's corpse, hoping to find some clues.
However, just as his finger was about to touch the cold armor—
A sudden change occurred!
The Death Knight's corpse, along with its seemingly indestructible armor, suddenly began to dissipate silently, like a sand sculpture weathered for a thousand years!
In just a few breaths, it turned into scattering, grayish-black ashes right before their eyes, vanishing completely without a trace, as if it had never existed.
"This..."
Cyno's pupils violently contracted, and the ominous premonition in his heart suddenly spiked to its peak.
Leaving no corpse behind completely defied logic!
Just as he was about to order the entire city to be on high alert, organize people to treat the wounded, and clean up the still-moving low-level Undead—
Buzz—
The sky darkened without warning.
It was not the natural darkness of nightfall, but a suffocating, sinister blackness that seemed capable of swallowing all light!
Heavy, ink-like dark clouds gathered from all directions at a visible speed, quickly engulfing the entire sky above Sumeru City. Daylight instantly transformed into an eerie twilight!
"It's not over yet?!"
Cyno looked up at the sky, his expression grave beyond anything they had seen before, gripping the staff of the scarlet sands tightly.
And just then, from the high ground in the distance, came Tighnari's heart-wrenching shout, filled with endless terror, his voice even cracking due to extreme fear:
"Cyno!!! Alhaitham!!! Look out—!! That monster...!!"
Tighnari tightly hugged Collei, who was trembling in fear after sensing the overwhelming aura of death from afar, and roared toward the area below with all his might:
"It was just a straggler!! Just a Scout!! The real... the real army is here!!!"
"What?!"
"Impossible!!"
"Are you kidding me!!"
Everyone who heard that sentence—whether it was Cyno, Alhaitham, or the remaining Graded Mercenaries—felt as if they had been struck by lightning. The color drained from their faces, replaced by expressions of utter disbelief and horror!
A single Scout had required nearly their entire force and such a heavy price just to barely "kill"? What would the real army look like?!
Cyno and Alhaitham exchanged a look, both seeing unprecedented horror reflected in the other's eyes.
Without hesitation, the two suppressed their physical exhaustion and pain and rushed toward the roof of the nearest tallest building at maximum speed.
Some agile members of the Graded Mercenaries followed suit.
The moment they finally reached the high vantage point and saw the scene in the distance—
Everyone gasped for breath.
It was as if an invisible, icy hand had clamped down on their throats, Freezing their blood.
Their pupils dilated from extreme terror, reflecting a sight that was, in the truest sense of the word... an Undead Scourge!