Chapter 141: Soul Summoning (3/3)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Once everyone returned to the cave, they were mostly exhausted. Orrin lighted up the extinguished campfire, and Larry bandaged his wounded arm. Soon after, everyone slept soundly in their sleeping bags… except for Lin Li. Ever since he returned, he had been thinking about the crystal. He only fell asleep while in a daze in the dead of the night. He even had a dream that he was surrounded by undead creatures—this dream had actually woken up him in terror…
Anyhow, it was not a pleasant night.
Lin Li was still low in spirits and with heavy eyebags when he woke up in the morning, yawning away. When Larry looked at him, it took him a while to remember that this dejected-looking fella was the monster that blasted more than ten Skeletal Warriors with an Infernal Flare.
The dusk at the Shadowglen was still lifeless; it did not have the vigor that a dusk should have.
“Good morning…” Lin Li again yawned twice before leaving his sleeping bag reluctantly. He greeted his companions while walking towards the entrance of the cave with a sleepy face.
After a night of maintaining the mageweaths’ functionality, his mana had almost been fully consumed; he had to replenish it. This was because he lacked compatible magical crystals. He could only use mana to maintain the mageweaths while replenishing it every now and then. He only wished that he could use magical crystals instead.
Once Li Lin Li left the cave, the radiance from the two mageweaths was extremely dim. It was like a candle in the wind that could be extinguished at any moment.
While Lin Li squatted at the entrance and was preparing to replenish his mana, he suddenly heard a sound. Out he curiosity, he looked over, and saw that there was a cloud of dust rumbling afar.
“F*ck!” This discovery jolted Lin Li, and he did not feel sleepy anymore. He did not even care about replenishing his mana, rushing into the cave as he shouted, “Hurry, come take a look at this. There seems to be something over there!”
“What is it?” Mason moved over excitedly with a sheepish smile on his face.
“You will know once you look…” Lin Li had a heavy look on his face; he had a bad premonition.
Both of them used Warlock’s Eyes, tracing the edge of the Shadowglen closely, and hastily moved towards the area with the dust cloud.
When the Warlock’s Eyes had just moved closer, the smile on Mason’s was frozen. “Sh*t…”
Through the visual field of the Warlock’s Eyes, both of them clearly saw that the dust was due to tens of thousands of Skeletal Warriors. Countless machete-wielding Skeletal Warriors had gathered together, forming a terrifying undead army. Nobody knew what they were up to, and neither did they know why they had gathered. Lin Li only knew… if they unluckily bumped into this army, it would be difficult to escape, and they’d likely die even if they had unlimited mana.
This was too horrifying…
Looking from afar, the whole mountain range was filled with Skeletal Warriors. It was an endless plain of skeletons that looked like a sea of corpses and bones.
“What do we do?” Mason’s brain was in a muddle. He had never seen such a terrifying image before.
“Look again!” Lin Li clenched his teeth, and moved the Warlock’s Eyes closer. He had to figure out why were these tens of thousands of Skeletal Warriors gathering.
This was of utmost importance!
If these tens of thousands of Skeletal Warriors coincidentally gathered together, it would naturally not pose a problem. Everybody could hide in the cave and wait for these seven days to end before using a teleportation scroll to teleport back to base without caring about the undead army.
However, they would be in deep water if that was not the case.
Lin Li knew that he had to figure out their route so that he could find a solution if they had any abnormal changes.
“What is the situation like?” Just when both of them had a serious look, Orrin also came out from the cave.
“It seems to be worse…” Lin Li muttered while controlling the Warlock’s Eyes. The situation was worse than he had imagined. Those tens of thousands of Skeletal Warriors were like real soldiers. They were pressing into the depths of Shadowglen while sweeping away all obstacles
And then… Lin Li realized he was in trouble. He suddenly discovered that the undead creatures in the Shadowglen seemed to have split into two groups. They waved their weapons and fierce fight started.
From the visual field of the Warlock’s Eyes, Lin Li could clearly see that there were numerous undead creatures obstructing the setting up of the formation. There were Skeletal Warriors, Hell Ghouls, and low-level Vampires. They were like moths trying to put out a fire, rushing into the undead army.
Hell Ghouls were level-10 undead creatures, and low-level Vampires had the strength of level-13 or 14. However, they were torn into pieces when the tens of thousands of Skeletal Warriors rushed forward.
“They… They fought?” At that moment, Lin Li went into a daze after watching.
This… this… isn’t this too phony?
Within that thick cloud of dust, there was a fierce battle between undead creatures. Tens of thousands of Skeletal Warriors pushed into the Shadowglen, while countless undead creatures took up the positions of the fallen, and rose to fight one after another, attempting to intercept. As groups of them were torn into pieces, new groups rushed forward.
In this battle, not a single drop of blood was spilt, and neither were there any screams. Yet the intensity was far beyond what Lin Li had seen before.
The scene was simply too shocking; it had surpassed Lin Li’s group’s comprehension.
A battle between undead creatures was actually this intense…
“What kind of joke is this…” Lin Li was prepared for death. These Skeletal Warriors were too despicable. They did not appreciate a harmonious society, and started fighting their own. Anyhow… if they wanted fight, then so be it, but they deliberately fought near the cave. Was this not forcing people onto the road of despair?
It was not tens or hundreds of Skeletal Warriors, but an army of tens of thousands. If one were to get caught within this sea of corpses and bones, not even a mentor would be able to survive, much less a group of mages. Lin Li had to think of a solution as he did not want to be trampled on by the army…
“Its over…” At the side, Mason was thoroughly nervous. He paced back and forth in the cave like a bundle of nerves.
Orrin was silent, but he had a serious look. Naturally, he had the same thoughts as Lin Li. Such a terrifying force was not something a few mages could go against even if they had a monster like Lin Li. They would also be smashed to pieces even if they were caught in the aftermath, much less facing the undead army head on.
“Let’s pack and get ready to escape!” Lin Li clenched his teeth and retrieved the Warlock’s Eyes.
Mason was stupefied after hearing it. “Where do we run to ?”
“Inside.” Lin Li stood at the cave’s entrance and pointed at the depths of Shadowglen, the place filled with a dark fog.
“F*ck…” Mason almost fainted from fear. Shadowglen was a place that got more dangerous the deeper you ventured. At the entrance, they might encounter just a few Skeletal Warriors. However, as you ventured deeper, the levels of the undead creatures got higher. In this area, there were already Hell Ghouls appearing. They had no idea what they would encounter as they go in deeper. It could be Vengeful Spirits, Enchantresses, high-level Vampires, or even Death Knights. If they were provoked, it would be much more troublesome compared to the tens of thousands of Skeletal Warriors of the undead army.
“Isn’t it too dangerous inside?” Mason looked slightly disturbed.
“Its fine, we are only taking a detour around those Skeletal Warriors. Once they disperse, we will return. We will be fine if we are more careful.” Lin Li consoled Mason, but the smile on his face looked helpless as they had no other choice. Just by looking at those Hell Ghouls, they could tell how terrifying those tens of thousands Skeletal Warriors were. A level-10 undead creature could not even cast a spell before being torn to shreds. It was like a walk in the park.
While those two were conversing, Larry and the rest had already packed their belongings. They rolled up their blankets and sleeping bags, stuffing them into their bags while they held firmly onto their magic staffs. The magic staffs in the hands of those three were trembling as they were holding them too tightly due to their anxiety. This was too tough a job for them, a team that wanted to hide for a few days. To suddenly have them enter the depths of the Shadowglen was equivalent to sending them to their own deaths…
Just when they left the cave, the battle took a turn.
“F*ck!” That horrifying image left them rooted to the ground at that point, and they did not even dare to breathe heavily…
At the depths of the Shadowglen, where there was immense black fog, they saw countless undead creatures appear suddenly. There was a huge flying flock of bats, blocking out the sky. Dim eyes with blood-red fangs, a sight that sent chills down the spine of anyone that saw it. This was the legendary Vampire. Although it was not the blood-red body of a high-leveled Vampire, they had the strength of at least level-13 or 14. Having said that, it meant that every single bat was not weaker than the strongest one of the group, Lin Li.
In the shadows of the Vampires were the skeleton staff-wielding Hell Ghouls. From afar, there were at least a few hundred of them. The group went pale in terror at the sight of hundreds of Hell Ghouls summoned simultaneously.
“Dang, dang, dang, dang, dang…” These sounds penetrated their ears just like a rain, dampening their spirits. While listening to this terrifying noise, Lin Li’s heart was held in suspense as if he thought of an idea.
“Death Knights…” Larry’s voice was as if he was sleep-talking. He was already in a state of total fear.
The legendary level-15 undead creatures appeared on the battlefield with an earth-shaking manner. They rode skeletal warhorses, their black capes waving in the wind, and their full-bodied black armor radiating a dim light.
The Death Knights’ numbers were not many—there were only about a hundred riders. However, their appearance was like an arrow shot at the heart of the Skeletal Warriors. The black scent of death started to scatter, and the neighs of the Skeletal Warhorses rang throughout. A black lance spattered white bone within the skeletal warriors.
The two similarly powerful undead armies immediately had an even battle.
On one end, there was an overwhelming advantage in terms of levels. Death Knights, Hell Ghouls, and low-level Vampires. With such a strong composition, fighting Skeletal Warriors that were not higher than level-5 should be a one-sided massacre.
On the other hand, there was an advantage in terms of endless numbers. This advantage was too terrifying. There were hundreds and thousands of skeletal warriors that had been shredded, but it did not bother them. There were more Skeletal Warriors that immediately took up new positions. Furthermore. there was a large number of Skeletal Warriors climbing out from the ground at every second. Tens of thousands of Skeletal Warriors were battling, yet their numbers did not decrease. Instead, it seemed like their numbers increased.
This battle was like Mars crashing into Earth. In that moment, there was a blazing flare searing, countless magic runes arising, and metal screeching. The scent of death was so thick that every individual could not breathe.
Lin Li’s group hid at the edge of the valley, with their bodies hugging tightly the icy cliffs. At this point, their hearts were at their throats. This battle was beyond their imagination. Nobody could have thought that they would witness such a terrifying battle when they were only at day two of their trial.
Yet, at this time….
Lin Li suddenly saw that black fog had appeared from the mutilated corpses when those undead creatures had fallen. This black fog was similar to that from the night before, and floated towards him, seeping into the crystal that was in his pocket.