Translated by: Novellise
Kagor Mountains.
The city of Blackstone.
The city is surrounded by mountains on both sides, with rugged terrain that is easy to defend and hard to attack.
It acts as a barrier, firmly blocking the vital route to the Kingdom of Layen.
Five hundred years ago, the Abyss Demons launched a massive invasion.
The Empire's 300,000 Knights of Holy Light defeated the demon army here.
Since the Abyss War,
this place has become the border fortress of the Layen Empire.
There is a permanent presence of tens of thousands of Holy Light Knights and over a hundred thousand elite Imperial soldiers.
Due to its proximity to the resource-rich Kagor Mountains, Blackstone City's inhabitants are mostly merchants, traders, and bloodthirsty mercenaries and bounty hunters.
At that dimly lit moment, a group of twenty mercenaries on horseback left Blackstone City early and headed towards the Bone Wasteland.
"Master, shouldn't we wait for the other members to join us?"
A young man in beast skin armour and mercenary clothing asked quietly.
"The Holy Light Knights are as sharp as hunting dogs. Do you want to stay in the city and wait to die?" A white-haired old man in black robes scolded.
"Hurry, we must reach the agreed place before nightfall!"
The old man urged,
the group urged their horses to move at a very fast pace, and within two hours they had left Blackstone City far behind and entered the Bone Wasteland.
"Wait!"
Just as they were about to pass through a canyon, the black-robed old man finally sensed something was wrong.
As a Dark Alchemist, his soul perception is much stronger than that of ordinary mages.
Half an hour after leaving the city, he felt a faint sense of being watched.
When he arrived at the canyon, this feeling of being watched became extremely strong!
"Something's wrong, we're being followed!"
The black-robed old man's face changed dramatically as he hurriedly moved to stop the group from entering the canyon.
Unfortunately, by then it was too late.
Before the black-robed old man could finish his sentence, he witnessed a scene he would never forget!
Within a radius of one kilometre, a bloody soul flame appeared in the eyes of every creature!
Eagles in the sky, ants on the ground, snakes in the jungle and lizards on the rocks...
all lifted their heads and stared at her intently!
Under this eerie gaze, the group's scalps prickled and goose bumps covered their bodies!
"Run!"
The black-robed old man desperately pulled on the reins, trying to rush back to Blackstone City.
But in the next second, a large number of skeleton archers appeared from both sides of the canyon!
These archers were well trained, and they drew their bows and arrows simultaneously.
Then a rain of arrows fell from the sky, instantly engulfing the mercenary team!
At the same time, tens of thousands of Headless Horsemen flanked them from both sides, giving them no time to react.
At the rear of the army, Lurien held a skeleton staff and immediately unleashed a Seventh Rank Dark Magic spell that Lucia had spent a fortune buying on the black market.
[Seventh-Rank Dark Magic: Soul Impact!]
This magic could affect an enemy's mind and soul, temporarily immobilising them.
It was a perfect match for [Undead Catastrophe]!
"A seventh-level dark magus?"
The black-robed old man's heart sank in despair.
Before he could react, a terrifying wave of soul washed over him like a raging sea.
In the face of Lurien's incredible mental strength, the black-robed old man's soul was like a candle in the wind, without any resistance.
In an instant, he lost all consciousness.
When he opened his eyes again, he had become a member of the Army of the Damned!
Later, through interrogation, Lurien finally learned the identity of the black-robed old man and the exact whereabouts of the other members of the original dark organisation.
Although the black-robed old man was not very powerful, as a seventh-rank Dark Alchemist, he was considered a rare talent within the original Dark Organisation, even earning the respect of many high-ranking members.
As such, he had access to more core secrets than Norton.
According to the black-robed old man,
The original dark organisation was eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Fear Demon King, even at the risk of being discovered by the Holy Light Empire, and had sent a deputy leader to oversee the entire soul-refining ritual.
The second-in-command was Megan Joseph, a ninth-rank Dark Alchemist who had survived for over three hundred years and reached the pinnacle of both magical power and realm.
His combat power was no less than that of a ninth rank holy magician.
And in three days, Megan would arrive in the Bone Wasteland.
Upon hearing this news, Lurien was greatly disturbed.
He had intended to sit back and wait for the opportunity, only to end up facing a prehistoric tyrannosaurus.
The difference between the Seventh and Ninth Ranks was a full two great realms.
The gap between the two was like a chasm, not something that could be made up by quantity or talent.
Although Lurien had a million skeleton soldiers at his disposal, to a ninth-rank holy mage they were nothing more than cannon fodder.
Moreover, ninth-rank Dark Alchemists had various means at their disposal.
Given a little time, Megan could easily spread the information.
To prevent any leaks, Lurien had to act quickly and decisively to ensure that the original Dark organisation got no wind of what was happening.
Doing so would render useless his reliance on the Sea of Humans tactic, which he considered his greatest asset.
Killing a ninth-ranked holy mage in a short period of time was already a daunting task.
If there were no leaks, it would be even more difficult than reaching heaven.
"Do I have to give up like this?"
Lurien was deeply unwilling.
But there had to be other ways!
Two days passed in the blink of an eye.
With the help of the black-robed old man, Lurien used ambushes, poisonings, sneak attacks, assassinations and other methods to successively kill over eighty members of the original Dark Organisation.
Most of these people were Dark Alchemists, but there were also some high-ranking mages who accompanied the ritual.
Many of them never expected that one moment they would be chatting and laughing with their companions, and the next they would be striking mercilessly and without hesitation.
Even if a few had sensed something was wrong, they could only die in bitterness in the face of Lurien's ambushes and sieges.
By the third day, all the members of the original Dark Organisation's ritual had become Lurien's inside men, with the exception of the deputy leader, Megan.
As the time approached for everyone to meet, Lurien was at a loss, unable to find a quiet solution to deal with Megan.
Despite being halfway through the plan, he was not about to give up.
So late that night, Lurien called all of his subordinates together to discuss the matter.
Each brainstormed ideas and made suggestions to Lurien.
Some suggested poisoning, others a sneak attack to catch Megan off guard.
There were also suggestions to gather everyone's strength and form a large Dark Magic formation, completely sealing off the area and then using the Sea of People tactic to wear Megan down.
After understanding the situation,
Lurien realised that Megan was always cautious, even when she slept.
Besides, trying to poison a ninth-level Dark Alchemist was simply unrealistic.
And sealing off the room was even more impossible.
Such a massive battle would inevitably attract the attention of the Fear Demon King and the Holy Light Empire.
Even if they managed to kill Megan, the plan would inevitably fail.
Just as Lurien was thinking about this, a magic scroll suddenly appeared out of the void.
It was a spatial teleportation spell that only high level mages could cast.
When Norton and the others saw the message on the scroll, they turned pale.
For...
Megan had suddenly changed her itinerary and arrived in the Bone Wasteland early!
(End of chapter).