As soon as the zombie mage finished speaking, a scream came from the half-blood girl behind him.
Gravia then realized that this guy wasn't targeting her at all. She quickly turned around and waved her staff towards the rear. The ice-blue runes between her left fingers, amplified by the sea crystal, shone even more brightly.
Ice crystals began to form around Daphne and connect with each other. A semi-transparent ice wall formed as a protective net. The sharp bone claws of the undead and the rotten teeth of the ghouls only made shallow cracks when they hit the ice wall.
Gravia had been holding the runes of the "Frost Barrier" in her hand all along, originally planning to use it to guard against the sneak attack of the zombie mage. But now she was forced to use it to protect this half-blood girl.
This girl was likely the last clue to finding the Pope. Gravia wouldn't give up easily.
She had been wandering around this area like a headless chicken for two days and two nights. The morale of the entire expedition team was dropping lower and lower. The letter sent to Salenz was still on the way. Thisheavyweight news would undoubtedly ignite the religious community of the empire, and a turmoil was inevitable.
Gravia didn't want all this to happen. At least, she hoped that the Godfather could return safely.
Seeing that the half-blood girl was temporarily safe, Gravia's tense mood relaxed a bit. But the real sneak attacks often came silently. What was done in a big way was just a means to divert attention.
Taking advantage of the moment when Gravia turned around, the magic energy of the evil energy attribute condensed and gathered behind her. A black-purple whip was quickly formed and lashed down from the air. The whip made a terrifying whistling sound as it broke through the air.
Distracted by this underhanded trick, Gravia didn't have time to cast the "Frost Barrier" again. When she turned back, she found that the evil energy long whip was already above her head.
But this whip didn't land on Gravia.
A small skeleton, whose appearance and movements were quite funny, climbed onto her right shoulder at some unknown time. As its slightly noisy howl sounded, black-purple runes flowed out from between its white bone teeth, melted into the air, and then a semi-transparent energy barrier was formed.
The two strands of evil energy collided violently at the contact point of the whip and the barrier. Gravia's cloak and long hair fluttered in the impact.
After withstanding this attack, the palm-sized skeleton on her shoulder fell apart, turning into a pile of lifeless white bone fragments that scattered down onto the snow.
Whose little trick was this again?
The Holy Maiden turned back with doubts, only to find that there was only a layer of frost barrier left in place. The undead and ghouls touching the ice wall on the other side of the wall were all frozen solid by the thick frost. But the half-blood girl was nowhere to be seen. Black-purple smoke filled the shadows cast by the surrounding pine trees.
It was frost again.
Gravia noticed those skeletons and ghouls that were frozen because they got close to the ice wall. Just like the pine tree that was covered with frost after being leaned against, the cloak on the half-blood girl had an extraordinary effect.
And there was this black smoke.
An extraordinary believer who had embarked on the Shadow Path had successfully drawn runes and escaped into the shadows during the brief chaos. There were many ways for the Light Path to pull her out of the shadows, but Gravia wasn't proficient in them yet.
Gravia always felt that this half-blood girl was pretending to be weak on purpose. Could it be that she was the one who fell into the trap?
This wasn't the time to think about these things. The enemy was still in front and hadn't been dealt with yet. She couldn't be distracted and show any flaws again.
But when Gravia shifted her attention back to the necromancer, she found that the guy was already scared out of his wits. He looked around in horror, vigilantly guarding against something, and slowly backed away with his trembling legs.
"That rune seal, I saw it... You are, you are the Death Messenger of Lord Alsuga!? Why... Why!?"
It was as if the fanatical belief and persistence had collapsed after seeing the huge gap between the truth and the imagination. The necromancer's lifeless, rotten eyes were now full of fear and doubt.
This was definitely not addressed to Gravia. Gravia knew herself well. She didn't even know what a "Death Messenger" was. But judging from the mage's reaction, this messenger of Alsuga must hold a very high position in Krogthia.
"This is also part of the Great Lord's plan. Ignorant mage, your reckless interference is blaspheming and hindering the Great Lord's revenge."
A deep female voice echoed from the shadows. The black smoke flowed among the swaying tree shadows. She seemed to be everywhere in the gap between dusk and dawn.
"I... I don't understand..." The mage had completely lost his previous arrogance. Now he was like a child who had done something wrong, looking confused and helpless. "I just wanted to... wanted to share the burden for the Great Lord..."
"Then die here." The female voice said coldly. A black-purple evil energy long whip extended from the tree shadows and bound the mage's limbs. "Your greatest value to the Great Lord is to disappear from this world."
The mage suddenly seemed to be relieved. He actually believed that almost crazy words and showed a relieved expression. "If it's the Great Lord's instruction—"
"Pfft—" Unexpectedly, the deliberately deep female voice couldn't hold back her laughter. "Holy Maiden, don't blame me for not reminding you. If you miss this chance, there won't be another one."
In fact, Gravia had been secretly drawing runes all along. She wasn't a fool who would just stand there watching the show.
Upon hearing the reminder, Gravia immediately pressed the flame-red rune on her fingertip onto the sea crystal staff top covered with frost. The light of the fire-attribute arcane energy was dazzlingly bright.
The blessing of Vanitaya had given the Holy Maiden the "Blazing Flame" and "Divine Light" paths. She was naturally an excellent caster of fire-attribute arcane magic. Frost magic was the result of her later learning.
Against the undead, fire and holy light were obviously more effective.
"You tricked me!?" The mage finally realized that he had been kept in the dark. But the death rune seal he saw was real. "But that rune seal was clearly..."
"Good eyesight. You're not wrong. This is the Great Lord's death rune seal." Leaving the evil energy long whip to leave the mage where he was, the shadow took away the white bone staff that fell from the mage's hand. Before leaving, she whispered to the mage, "And I didn't lie to you. You've been a great help. Thanks."
Watching the shadow gradually disappear along the forest shade, the mage seemed to understand something. His expression changed from one of annoyance to one of relief and liberation. "If I can create an opportunity for the Death Messenger to escape..."
Gravia, standing opposite, didn't care about this fool whose expression kept changing. A columnar tornado of flames burst out from the top of the staff, instantly engulfing the upper body and head of the undead mage.
In the blazing flames and flying snow, there was only scorched ash.