"Those are the walls of the town, or what's left of it. We should tie our horses further from here and get back while were invisible."
We didn't say anything, just followed Bobby's instructions on getting further away.
Around a hundred blocks away, I put a fance pole down where we tied the leashes that held the horses.
"Here are the potions, made by Froggy himself, they should last enough for our spaying mission."
"I think we should go on top of the trees before going invisible, maybe we can see beyond the wall?"
Merry suggested and we thought it was a good idea as well.
So a few blocks of dirt were put down to make a staircase, and we were on top of the green trees.
We carefully walked in silence towards the wall, until the green leaves started to turn grey, that was like a signal so we all drank the potions but still held items in our hands to not lose track of each other.
More silence followed until finally, we got back to the wall, unfortunately, the wall was too tall to see much over it. But we could still see the roofs of the houses here and there.
And there was nothing on them.
"I think we can walk on the roof of the houses to see inside."
I spoke with a low voice.
The response was positive, so we got off the trees and walked towards the wall.
I had to make a staircase on it since Bobby couldn't place jump a block as fast as us.
It was probably better this way since we could use it to get back down in case of an emergency.
On top of the walls, there was a two-block pathway where the guards usually patrolled to keep the town safe, but now it was all empty.
The zombies didn't have the same traditions as the living after all.
On the other side, there were countless houses made with wood and brick stone all over the place.
In the center of all, there was a huge fortress that looked more sinister then the others.
We could see zombies here and there on the streets, all of them stayed in the shadows of the empty homes or even inside.
Looks like they still didn't like the daylight, even when they were immune to it now.
"There's a lot fewer zombies than I expected, isn't there supposed to be over a thousand of them?"
A flying stick spoke, which was Merry.
"That's how many there were when they invaded this place, but after the Zombie Lord got his blessing back, everyone went to flames. The only ones that survived were the ones in the empty houses or away from light."
The empty bottle replayed which was Bobby.
"I feel a force pulling me towards the fortress. Do you guys feel the same?"
Me and Bobby denied the feeling, it must be something only the hero feels.
"Let's explore the town before going to the big bad guys layer."
We all nodded our items and walked on top of the houses, there wasn't a lot to see in this dead town, everything felt sad and grey.
We broke into some of the houses, only to see more zombies or ravaged furniture, from what I could tell everything valuable was already taken when this place was abandoned.
Annoyingly I could see zombies with leather armor from time to time now, which showed the people who stayed back to fight but couldn't die in pece.
Now they become the very thing they fought against. A sad fate for any soldier.
Slowly we got closer to tell center, here the air felt darker and heavier than any other place.
We also walked in the middle of the streets since it had the least activity. But something took us by surprise, we saw a zombie walking in front of us.
But the zombie was different, he had a full iron armor on him and walked along the streets like he was bored, which is a very different reaction than the common zombie.
I felt a hand stopping me, I looked around and saw that the potion bottle was on the other side holding Merry as well.
"Don't turn around, we're here with the expedition of gathering more information!"
All the zombies turned towards the voice, but after seeing only some floating items they got back to what they were doing before.
The armored zombie instead froze, but didn't turn which surprised me, was he a smart zombie?
"It's been a while since the last party came, how's the evacuation going?"
"It's going pretty well, were trying to get some information against the enemy before coming up with a new plan."
The zombie seemed more relaxed after he heard about the evacuation, but still didn't turn towards us. I wonder why?
"Unfortunately there's not too much news to give, at the speed his army is growing it would take about two weeks before he'll start hunting the other villages."
"What is he doing right now?"
"He's praying in the meeting chamber, asking the void for guidance for the next fight."
"And did he get anything yet?"
I asked out of curiosity.
"We can't hear the void like him, so I don't know, unfortunately."
"If we need his zombie army to keep him weakened, can't we just block the entrance and so only the Zombie Lord can move?"
This time the stick spoke.
"Unfortunately he'll just break the wall block by block, no matter how thick it is."
"Can you place or brake blocks as well?"
I asked the smart zombie.
"Unfortunately, or fortunately no. I can't even open my inventory anymore. The only items I can have are those that I pick up with my hands."
"Can the Zombie Lord place or craft anything?"
"From what I've seen, no."
Well, this is interesting information, so we can stop them if we place some blocks that he can't break.
Something like water for example.
Sure he can jump over it easily, and maybe the smart zombies can swim on the other side, but the regular ones move very slowly, so they could easily be stuck in here.
I stayed at that thought for a while, but in the end, I decided it was not good enough. At a certain number, the zombies could push each other out of the water zone, and from what he's going to gather there would be more than enough for them to do that.
What if we used lava instead? They don't spread as much as the water but it would have a greater impact on it.
Slowly a plan was forming in my head, it wouldn't kill the Zombie Lord, but it would greatly slow down his army until we could come up with a better plan.
As I was thinking that, suddenly the air started to feel more heavy, and the zombies around us got more active.
"Oh no, he's coming here, quickly hide!"
The armored zombie spoke with us without turning around.
Not too late after, a shadow appeared on the ground, and it slowly grew until something hit the ground like a meteorite falling from the sky.
Or more exactly like someone fell from the sky.
After the dust finally settled I could see the culprit behind it.
It was five blocks tall being shaped like a gorilla, with big arms and chest, but a small waist, and feet,
He had a big nose like any villager but his eyes were covered by a dark cloth.
His skin was green but rotten all over the place, I could see brains and muscles if I looked closely.
Unlike the normal zombies, the only cloth on him was on his waist but it was more like what the sumo wrestler usually wore, and this one felt more ceremonial than the usual white cloth.
He looked around like he could see beyond the material in his eyes before looking at the armored zombie.
"Fellow brother, have you seen anyone around here?"
His voice was deep but gentle, the armored zombie finally turned towards his boss and spoke.
"No fellow brother. I haven't seen anyone here."
Every word he spoke was full of venom like he'd rather do anything than speak with him.
"That's weird, I feel a great energy from the Void around here, but I don't see a fellow brother anywhere around."
Energy from the Void? What is he talking about?
He looked around the roof of the houses like someone was hidden there, but nothing caught his sight.
"But I feel another energy around here that it's different, it's upsetting like the sun. Two clashing energies in the same place, that's very suspicious."
With slow movements, he walked along the street while looking around studying anything out of place.
All the zombies seemed to freeze while their Lord walked between them, the smell of rotten meat was strong in the air, and I started to worry well be found out.
"Maybe you didn't feel anything, but the smell is starting to get to your rotten head."
The armored zombie said with a smirk which made the Zombie Lord freeze.
Slowly he turned around and looked at the zombie who spoke, the air seemed to freeze and nobody moved.
Bet even with all the pressure building up the armored zombie still looked disgusting at his Lord.
The monster moved further away from us, now getting closer to his new target.
I thought he was going to kill him right then and there, but instead, he only spoke.
"Brother, please don't attempt to argue with me for such petty reasons. Instead, you should accept the Truth and not fight against it."
He was one block away from the small zombie and stopped, he didn't touch him or even make a gesture.
But instead the armored started to scream in pain, his hands were and his head was like trying to get something out of it.
The screaming kept getting louder and louder until he was on the ground in the fetus position.
As soon as it started it also stopped, the armored zombie made a relieved sigh and slowly got up.
"This should be a good lesson for you, go find the others and tell them well have another preaching ceremony in half an hour."
The armored zombie just grunted before leaving to find the others.
Zombie Lord looked around once more before jumping away.
With him gone, the pressure disappeared as well, everything was back to normal. Or as normal a dead town can be.
"I think we saw enough, we should leave now."
Bobby was the first to break the silence, and I was completely on board, we all took an item in our hands and backtracked our way to the wall.
Soon we were on it and then passed it.
Finally a place without a zombie in sight.
"Let's drink the milk when we get to the horses, no need to risk it now."
We put our items in the inventory and went completely invisible, but it was ok since we knew where to meet.
So with a sprint, I went towards the place we tied our horses, which was a mistake since when I got there I couldn't get enough air into my longs from all that running.
A few seconds later I was relieved to hear that I wasn't the only one who made this poor decision.
After a few minutes passed to catch our breaths, we finally took our buckets of milk and chugged them down.
It always makes me wonder how a bucket full of milk will make me as satisfied as a bowl of milk even of it has such different size in comparison.
Soon everyone was visible and the horses got a little scared by our sudden appearance.
"I have to fight that?! The system must be crazy if it thinks that would die to a sword. Where are my special powers to fight against that monster? I feel cheated, System I want to be compensated right now!"
Merry starting to yell at the air with her fist raised.
And from her reaction, I could guess she didn't get a response.
"It's one thing to hear about that monster in a report and another to see it three blocks away from you. I have a lot more respect for the soldiers that fought against him."
"That is indeed true, but what scares me most is that he can sense you as well Merry. And what did he mean an energy of the Void was it with us, are we being spied on?"
Is this why I always feel followed recently? Or I'm I the source of that Void energy?
"I don't know, but I hope not. So did you get an idea on what to do Trader?"
Bobby asked hopeful.
"I do have an idea how we can slow him down, but I'll tell you on the way back."
We all got on our horses and went back, not before I quickly turned to look behind me.
But the only thing I saw was a single purple particle.
That sent shivers down my spine, so I quickly went to catch up with the others.