A large mass of shadow appeared beneath the skeletal horse without a single sound. As dark substance gathered around the shadow, thick and massive tentacles extended from within the shadows, twisting and winding around the limbs and torso of the skeletal beast.
Dammit.
The dark knight cursed and patted the horse on its head. It intended to have its steed leap away instantly.
However, this magic was cast by a Third Grade Dark Witch. How could it possibly allow a mere Second Grade undead knight escape?
As the shadowy substance abruptly expanded, a few dozen additional tentacles wrapped around the skeletal steed and its rider like the appendages of an octopus. The tentacles continued to tighten their grip despite the hacking and struggling of the dark knight, and its skeletal steed and slowly dragged them into that immense mass of shadow.
A short moment later, once they had completely vanished into the shadows, the shadow let out a burp much like a beast that had just finished its meal. It was only then that the darkness started to shrink and disperse.
Finally, the shadow vanished without a trace along with the dark knight and its steed!
Uzzah once again appeared at the rear of the formation, without a single sound.
Greem watched this entire process unfold from a distance. His heart was filled with shock.
The dark knight was a Second Grade undead creature. Greem would have had to pay a price to murder it, even if he was going all out. Yet, in the hands of a Third Grade Dark Witch, the knight had been...had been…
Greem hesitated for a moment, clueless as to how he should describe the battle he had just witnessed.
He had very clearly 'seen,' with the senses of the Chip, Uzzah hiding her presence and arriving beneath the enemy before opening a tiny passage leading straight into the shadow plane. In all honesty, the dark knight hadn't died. He had simply been dragged into the shadow plane by the techniques of a Dark Witch.
That said, the shadow plane was practically the second home of the Dark Witches. It wasn't hard to imagine the fate of the dark knight after arriving in that realm.
Uzzah might not be so arrogant as to waste her energy to connect two distinct worlds if she were faced with an enemy of the same grade. However, the enemy was only a dark knight that had nothing other than brute strength. A crude technique like the one she had just unleashed was even more effective against such opponents. An inconsequential and cheap battle was avoided by crushing the enemy with her superior grade and instantly knocking out the monster without expending much energy.
The undead army quickly fell into chaos when they lost the command of the dark knight.
Greem immediately transformed into a towering Flame Fiend and started to sweep the battlefield alongside the Flame Fiend of Terror.
The first to be exterminated were those bone mages.
Two five-meter-tall Flame Fiends simultaneously teleported into the ranks of the bone mages. They then boldly spread fire and destruction across the land, turning the space into a terrifying hell of fire and brimstone.
The bone mages might have shocking power when attacking in unison, but their individual defensive power was even weaker than those Ironhide Zombies. Naturally, they were destroyed and routed when ravaged by two Flame Fiends.
Greem and his golem had obliterated these bone mages in no more than five minutes. He then cast his attention toward the dark cavern that was continually spitting out these undead.
First, Greem used a Demonic Wall of Fire to seal the entrance of the cave and cut off the reinforcements of undead. He and the Flame Fiend of Terror then turned into master pyromancers, igniting the entirety of the battlefield.
Burning, scalding, and the large-scale Scarlet Firestorm that raged in the cave slaughtered all the undead within the giant cavern. Only a ground full of scorched bones and burnt corpses remained when they were done.
At the very same time, the mindless undead had sacrificed their cold bodies to suppress the blazing wall of fire at the cavern's entrance. More reanimated monsters were once again surging into this tattered battlefield.
What should he do now? Was he to continue squaring off against these undead here?
Greem couldn't help but turn and look at Alice.
Alice instantly understood his intentions. She lifted a finger and pointed at a cave where undead were surging out of, "Over here!"
Greem charged toward that cave without hesitation.
He first manipulated the fires and sealed the other entrances, leaving only this particular passage. The Flame Fiend then stomped his way across and charged straight into the passage, wading through the tide of undead.
Meanwhile, Greem cleared away the undead remnants that had survived the Flame Fiend of Terror and followed the golem into the tunnel.
The entire process was clean and surgical, without any hint of hesitation. It was a demonstration of Greem's complete trust in Alice!
An odd glint lit up in the eyes of Dark Witch Uzzah as she observed this scene wordlessly.
The relationship between Alice and this adept didn't seem quite like what the outside world claimed it to be.
For the first time, curiosity toward them sprouted in Uzzah's mind!
Affection. Such a thing was practically non-existent amongst adepts.
Most Northern Witches believed that affection would only weaken oneself. They thought that love could become a fatal weakness to a witch. There were plenty of powerful Northern Witches in history that ended with a tragic fate due to their lovers or family being captured by the enemy!
That was why affection had always been regarded with disdain and fear amongst the circles of the Northern Witches.
The male adepts that belonged to the Northern Lands were either in positions of servitude or were the representatives or concubines of powerful Northern Witches. Their statuses and identities were incredibly awkward.
Yet, there existed a trace of tacit understanding and trust between Alice and this male adept known as Greem. It was an assurance that went beyond an ordinary relationship.
It infuriated Uzzah tremendously!
Most Northern Witches might not have acknowledged Alice's identity due to her grade, but she was still the leader of the Fate Witches to the outside world! Even the Third Grade Uzzah had to treat her as an equal when talking to her.
This woman that stood side by side alongside other powerful witches as one of the eight witch leaders was actually weak enough to develop affection with a male adept. That undoubtedly challenged the sacred witch's creed that existed within Uzzah's heart!
How could a weak witch such as herself be qualified to lead the Witches of Fate? How could she be qualified to lead the branch of Fate on the path toward their past glory?
Uzzah thought silently to herself.
Her thoughts were completely shrouded by a dense barrier of shadows. Alice couldn't pick up on any shred of her fury, even though she was mere inches away from the witch.
Moreover, at this moment, all of Alice's attention was focused upon the guiding instructions from Fate as she continued to steer Greem toward the correct path.
Many sizeable caverns could be seen along the way. As they walked against the tide of undead and went deeper underground, the caves and tunnels started to shrink in size, becoming ever more narrow.
A massive cavern that served as a crossroad would appear every hundred steps they took. Greem and the others would then have to choose between a series of different paths. Every cave was constantly spitting out shambling zombies and creaking skeleton warriors.
In truth, these zombies and warriors had already set out from the depths of the underground when the battle started. However, their slow movement speed had allowed the ghouls to take up the battlefield before they had even arrived.
Now that the three adepts had intruded into this underground space, they found themselves stuck in a horrifying sea of undead once again. Even if they managed to reach Mary and her vampires, they would have a hard fight esc
aping to the surface.
Just as the party passed through the caves under Alice's instructions, vanquishing countless undead as they moved, a strange commotion seemed to stir in the distant depths of the earth.
All the tunnels trembled slightly. The adepts could vaguely hear loud, consecutive roars through the winding tunnels, quickly followed by an earth-shattering sound.
It seemed that there was yet another unknown battlefield!
Greem's eyes couldn't help but light up.
The Third Grade druid had pursued Mary into this underground world. If there were any other outsiders in this playground for the dead, it would have to be them. Moreover, Mary had no powerful casters in her group. As such…
"Prepare for battle. Lady Uzzah, if it's actually that fellow, then you will probably have to fight!" Greem's emotions started to soar at the very thought of having to face off against a Third Grade druid. That said, as the leader of the group, he calmly started assigning the duties of combat.
Uzzah did not respond, but the shadows shrouding her body silently started to grow in size and power.
The adepts stopped advancing. Their eyes turned toward the cave where the sound was coming from, and they waited in silence.
Finally, a large group of undead was swept away by a thick chain-lightning as a ferocious and towering figure strode out of the tunnel.
Chapter 691 Battle of the Powerhouses
Antoril felt like his luck was in the dumps!
He believed himself to be able to successfully traverse every single forest in Garan with his nature affinity as a druid. Unfortunately, this underground world didn't show as much affinity toward him as he had imagined.
Ever since Antoril had followed the vampires into the Death Scar, he had been shocked to find this place to be a land of death. Ghost trees, withered vines, disgusting mutated plants, and countless undead creatures were everywhere.
Confident in his overwhelming strength, Antoril had charged right into the winding maze of the underground world without any consideration.
In truth, there was practically no existence within the labyrinth that could trap or even stall Antoril, especially with his immense power. When he transformed into the thunder roc that possessed the power of lightning and electricity, the slow zombies and skeletons would be blasted into pieces by lightning from above before they could even get close.
Thunder rocs were lightning attribute creatures. They would naturally trigger Thunderfall wherever they went, be it when flying or when they were attacking. This First Grade spell could deal forty to sixty lightning damage and inflict paralysis on the enemy.
That was why the first thing that greeted the hordes of zombies and skeletons that stood in the thunder roc's way was thousands of bright and flashy silver lightning chains. It didn't matter how many zombies or skeletons there were; they couldn't possibly compare to the speed of tens of thousands of lightning blasts sweeping across the cave.
The swarm of ghouls that had given Greem so much trouble were blasted into scorched corpses before they could even so much as touch the roc's feathers.
The thunder roc that Antoril had transformed into rushed aimlessly in the underground world. Blinding forests of thunder and lightning erupted everywhere he went. These undead that roamed the underground realm had indeed run into misfortune. They had become sacrifices to the fury of the Third Grade druid. One by one, the shattered soul fires were extinguished, and their ugly bodies were destroyed, returning to the earth of this unique underground space.
In all honesty, Antoril had still been preoccupied with finding the vampires when he first entered this strange space. Yet, as he ventured even deeper into the caverns and witnessing the horrifying amount of twisted plants and countless undead, his heart filled with anger.
All druids were children of nature. Their love for the forest and nature was even above their concern for their own lives. That was why it was so hard for Antoril to tolerate the actions of foreign creatures destroying the forest and upsetting the order of nature.
Everything he had seen since he entered the Death Scar–be they plant, animal, or environment–had been twisted and strange. Here, he sensed an exceedingly powerful aura of death; an evil aura that went directly against the laws of nature. It was a sinister atmosphere that shouldn't exist in this world.
Consequently, Antoril quickly forgot about his original mission and turned his attention to the research and investigation of this evil aura of death.
He broke through multiple tunnels and caves, witnessing even more varieties of horrifying undead creatures. Finally, he was stopped by an undead caster with the power of a Third Grade– a Lich.
Within this underground world, where the undead piled as high as mountains and as deep as oceans, he began a ferocious battle to the death against this Third Grade lich.
There was no doubt that Antoril would be able to obtain the final victory if this battle was a fair duel between the two of them. Sadly, this was the territory and domain of the undead!
Antoril had plenty of reason to suspect that a certain powerful undead had already modified this underground world and that a planar rift connecting to the Skeletal Plane had already been opened. Otherwise, there was no chance that a Third Grade lich could so easily summon dozens of Second Grade death knights and hundreds of bone mages.
The powerful thunder roc that Antoril had transformed into had been bogged down by a series of disgusting curses. He was, after all, facing off against the attacks of a tide of intermediate to high-grade undead, along with occasional sneak attacks from a lich of the same grade. Antoril also had to fend off the combined forces of an entire squad of fearless Second Grade death knights.
It was important to note that these death knights were all unique existences even amongst undead knights. They possessed all sorts of offensive knight techniques, such as Revenant Slash and Double Strike. In particular, Revenant Slash allowed ordinary physical attacks to be enhanced by negative energy damage that could ignore all defenses.
This particular attack was what concerned Antoril the most!
As a Third Grade druid, Antoril was an entire grade above these death knights. It was extremely difficult for the undead to pierce through his physical and magical defenses under such circumstances. However, Revenant Slash allowed these death knights to activate negative energy attacks every one out of five strikes.
Consequently, when Antoril unleashed his might and crushed six of the death knights to pieces, his own body had been badly wounded. Injuries covered the thunder roc, with slash marks littering its torso along with rotting wounds!
Antoril had no choice but to turn back and run. He could not allow himself to die in such a humiliating and filthy place.
It was then that he ran into Greem, Uzzah, and Alice, who had been lying in wait!
Almost at the same time that Antoril exited the tunnel, the Doomsday Volcano that Greem and the Flame Fiend cast in unison exploded beneath the druid's feet.
The ground crumbled to the rumbling surge of lava. A blinding red pillar of magma burst out of the broken earth, sending heat waves into the air and precisely engulfing Antoril within its most potent strike zone. Horrifying fire poison, flame streams, and elementium blazes wreaked havoc in that location. The highest temperature of that core area even went up to four or five thousand degrees.
Antoril was caught by surprise and hit directly by this pillar of magma. His body was blasted into the air and bathed in the roiling flames and lava.
If it weren't for his shocking magical resistance as a Third Grade druid, this one attack would have been enough to roast the upper half of Antoril's body, turning him into scattering ashes.
Antoril cried out in agony and started to escape from the splashing magma.
By the time he erected a Natural Ward and emerged from the sea of fire, his wounded body had been badly scalded. Blisters and festering wounds had formed all over, bleeding purple and black blood.
Antoril raised his head and lo
oked at the two giant Flame Fiends in the distance upon escaping. He immediately understood that he had run into a different group of adepts.
He barely managed to open his bloodshot and hate-filled eyes to glare at the Second Grade adept that had ambushed him. Antoril roared, "A Second Grade adept like you dares to ambush me? I'll let you…"
Before he could finish his sentence, the cave turned dark. The place had been plunged into a mysterious and fearsome darkness.
Greem tried his best to keep his eyes open.
Unfortunately, despite how much he attempted to see or feel, he couldn't extend his senses beyond ten steps of his own body.
The mad notifications from the Chip in his mind also frightened him slightly.
[Warning, warning. Shadow space detected…shadow space detected. Host's Spirit completely suppressed, physical vision reduced to eight meters, spiritual senses reduced to ten meters. Host has lost all control over the battlefield.]
Greem's heart trembled. He hadn't expected a Third Grade Dark Witch to demonstrate such terrifying might when she went all out. How long could he survive under such utter suppression if Uzzah's target had been him?
Ten seconds? Or five?
Still, Greem felt a little safer with the Flame Fiend of Terror by his side.
Would anything happen to Alice under such fearsome power?
Greem couldn't help but be flustered when his thoughts wandered to this matter.
Just then, a soft, small, and smooth hand silently gripped his right hand. Greem turned his head and saw Alice's gentle and quiet smile.
"Don't worry about me. I can take care of myself on the battlefield!" Almost as if she had sensed Greem's concern, Alice's smile was charming, "What is it? Don't you want to watch a battle between two Third Grade powerhouses?"
Greem's handsome brow rose upward.
"You can break through Uzzah's Dark Incursion?"
Alice smiled, gently pulled Greem's head toward her, stood on her toes and planted a light kiss on his forehead.
"This is the blessing of Fate that I, Alice, gift to you! You should be able to see through the darkness now."
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