Episode 372
“Damn it! Hold them back!”
Xeros shouted as he unleashed spells at the monsters scaling the fortress walls.
Beside him, the guards thrust their spears and shields, knocking the creatures back down.
Suddenly, a beast swooped down from the sky, threatening Xeros.
“Watch out, Mage!”
A guard cried out to Xeros, but he was too preoccupied with the monsters climbing from another direction to react in time.
Just then, a flash of light streaked through the air, piercing the beast’s neck.
With a screech, the beast fell, revealing Yellin standing behind it, clad in her armor. She extended her hand, and the dagger she had thrown returned to her grasp. It was a magical dagger crafted by Hades himself.
Luther and Omar fought their way through the monsters, moving towards Yellin.
Xeros turned to Yellin and Luther. “There are too many of them. If this keeps up, the walls will be breached.”
Though Hades was assisting from above with his magic, there were limits. If he revealed his true form, he could easily wipe out the monsters, but doing so would invoke the wrath of Karma, restricting his power.
Despite the efforts of Yellin, the Black Sword Knights, and the Ishtar sorcerers, the sheer number of monsters was overwhelming. The bodies of the fallen were piling up, forming a path up the walls.
And then, as if the situation wasn’t dire enough, something appeared in the sky.
A figure in a black robe, riding a ghostly steed, emerged. The face beneath the hood was a skull, with blue flames flickering in its empty eye sockets.
The skeletal mage began chanting, directing his spell at the fallen monsters.
As his incantation took hold, the corpses began to rise.
The monsters, thought to be dead, stood once more as undead.
Xeros, Yellin, and Luther turned pale at the sight.
“This is insane… Raising so many at once…”
Such a feat was beyond any human necromancer or ordinary lich. The forces of Narak and Zimens had dispatched two powerful high-ranking demons to ensure the success of their invasion of Dortha, aiming to crush both Julius and Zeke.
Among them was Viper, a minion of the Ever-Hungry One, whose power was feared even by other demons. The skeletal mage leading the monster horde was equally formidable, if not more so in certain aspects.
Determined to accelerate the continental war, Narak and Zimens had poured significant resources into this invasion.
The skeletal mage, having raised the monster corpses, extended his hand and shouted to those within the fortress.
“Foolish mortals! Cease your futile resistance! Prolonging this will only increase your suffering!”
Hades, battling the beasts in the sky, frowned at the sight of the skeletal mage.
“Isn’t that a high-ranking demon? What’s Karma doing, letting something like that roam free?”
Frustrated by the restrictions on his own power while the demon was unchecked, Hades gritted his teeth and shouted.
“Damn it! I don’t care anymore! Hey, Karma! Cut me some slack here!”
Hades summoned a series of magic circles, from which his guardians emerged. These were new creations, improved with the help of Gelion, the soul artisan, and Fainan, the magic structure expert, at Agamemnon Castle.
He deployed the guardians along the fortress walls.
Clank!
The guardians, clad in various armors, activated as soon as they landed, their eyes glowing.
With a hum, they drew the greatswords from their backs and swung at the undead monsters climbing the walls.
With a crash, the monsters struck by the swords exploded and fell.
The guardians’ efforts brought a brief respite, but the monster assault showed no signs of abating.
And soon, the situation grew even more dire.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Giant monsters resembling rhinoceroses charged the gates, ramming them with their horns.
The impact shook the entire fortress.
Xeros turned to Yellin. “If this continues, the gates will fall. While I buy us some time, you and Hades should escape to the central continent. You can still use the portal.”
Yellin shook her head firmly. “A warrior of Ishtar never flees the battlefield.”
Luther, still unfamiliar with the common tongue, pointed to the sky, shouting urgently.
The skeletal mage had cast another spell.
A green mist began to spread from his body.
Xeros shouted, “Wind! Wind!”
He tried to use wind magic to blow the mist out of the fortress, but it crept inward, unaffected.
A guard touched the ominous mist.
“What the…?”
Blisters rapidly formed on his skin.
“Aaaargh!”
The blisters spread, bursting to release pus, infecting others who touched it.
“Aaaargh!”
More guards began to suffer the same fate.
Xeros shouted to the knights, “Don’t touch that mist! It’s a deadly magical poison!”
He called to Hades, “Hades! We need to burn that mist!”
Hades, witnessing the deadly green fog’s effects, snapped his fingers.
With a snap, flames engulfed the mist.
Normally, poison would burn away, but this mist was different.
Instead, the flames seemed to feed it, causing it to grow.
Hades’ eyes widened in shock.
“What the…?”
A sharp pain struck his heart, forcing him to clutch his chest and retreat.
“Damn it… Karma, are you serious?”
Hades’ actions were restricted.
The fiery mist spread, enveloping the entire fortress.
Xeros managed to disperse some with wind magic, but it wasn’t enough.
Meanwhile, the monsters continued their assault on the walls.
Despair washed over Xeros.
‘Is this the end?’
In Nirvana, Xeros had rarely felt despair, hailed as a genius.
But since following Zeke to the battlefield, it had been a constant companion.
In his lab, he never imagined his magic could be so powerless.
‘Damn it! What kind of genius am I? What kind of warlock or sorcerer?’
Yet he couldn’t give up.
Pushing aside his helplessness, Xeros gritted his teeth and steadied his breath.
“Cover me!”
At his call, Yellin and Omar flanked him, while Luther charged ahead, cutting down approaching monsters.
Xeros closed his eyes and chanted.
A massive wind rose from his body.
With all his might, Xeros summoned a colossal whirlwind.
The whirlwind took the form of a giant.
Xeros directed the wind giant to sweep the mist out of the fortress.
Simultaneously, he sent a gust towards the skeletal mage.
The whirlwind enveloped the mage, but he remained unmoved on his ghostly steed.
The skeletal mage extended his hand again.
“Foolish human, face true terror and wail.”
A horrific wail emanated from the mage, summoning countless wraiths that flew over the walls.
The wraiths’ cries struck terror into the guards and knights, leaving them pale and trembling.
“No… We’re all going to die.”
“The gods have abandoned us! Aaaah!”
The wraiths’ cries incited fear and despair, driving those affected into panic.
Some guards threw down their weapons and leapt from the walls.
The knights fighting below began to falter.
Xeros, too, felt his strength waning.
“Has the divine truly abandoned us…?”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Just as colossal monsters were about to breach the fortress walls—
Crack!
One of the massive beasts at the forefront suddenly froze solid.
The frozen giant became an impenetrable barrier, blocking the path for the other monsters.
At that moment, a brilliant light descended from the sky.
Zap!
Hundreds of lightning bolts swept across the fortress walls, obliterating not only the monsters but also the wraiths.
As the wraiths’ eerie cries faded, the knights regained their senses.
Xeros, Yellin, and Luther lifted their heads to gaze skyward.
Hades pointed and shouted, “He’s here! Finally, he’s here! That infuriating fellow!”
Riding a horned steed through the sky, clad in shining armor with a billowing cape and a radiant sword, the Knight of Light charged forward.
Zeke had arrived.
Bucephalus galloped toward the skeletal mage riding a ghostly horse.
Whoosh!
In the meantime, Zeke swung a chained hammer and hurled it at the skeletal mage.
The hammer flew with incredible speed toward its target.
The skeletal mage extended a hand, shouting, “Arrogant human! I will grant you the most painful death!”
With his cry, the mage unleashed a spell, summoning a wraith of dark energy to intercept the hammer.
The poisonous wraith was deadly to humans.
Yet, before it could reach Zeke, the hammer struck it, causing it to vanish instantly.
“What?!”
The skeletal mage realized that the hammer was no ordinary artifact.
Standing with a regal posture, the mage quickly maneuvered his ghostly steed to dodge the incoming hammer.
Whoosh!
But it was futile.
Zeke controlled the chain, relentlessly pursuing the fleeing mage.
Whizz!
The hammer seemed to have eyes, tracking the mage’s every move, leaving him momentarily flustered.
Regaining his composure, the mage shifted his focus to Zeke, the one controlling the hammer.
Hiss—
A noxious mist emanated from the mage, enveloping Zeke in a thick green fog.
Even with his armor, the subtle poison could seep through.
The mage assumed Zeke would succumb immediately.
But he was gravely mistaken.
Slash!
A brilliant blade of light pierced through the fog, striking the skeletal mage.
“Aaargh!”
The purifying power of the radiant blade cleaved through the mage’s form.
“Grrr!”
Unable to heal the wound inflicted by the light, the mage retreated.
Then, from within the dissipating fog, a golden aura began to emerge.
Vroom!
The poisonous mist vanished, replaced by a powerful wave of golden light spreading across the battlefield.
Zeke’s grand purification skill reached the fortress and the knights battling the monsters.
Hum!
The immense golden wave washed over the entire battlefield.
Hiss—
The knights and guards enveloped in Zeke’s golden light felt their poison-induced blisters heal instantly.
Simultaneously, those paralyzed by fear from the wraiths regained their courage.
“A miracle, a miracle!”
The knights and guards rose, shouting to the sky where Zeke hovered.
“The Knight of Salvation! He has saved us!”
Their cries echoed across the battlefield, shifting the tide of battle entirely.
Then, something appeared in the sky, causing everyone to gasp in awe.
“Look, look at that!”
A colossal phoenix broke through the clouds, revealing itself above the battlefield.