Chapter 316: Illusion? Changes, the Decisive Battle Approaches

The resurrection of the five companions caused an uproar among the entire human side; it was no less than a shot of adrenaline, shattering the worries in everyone's hearts.

Even the members of the [Sunlight Scripture] looked at Kelart with different eyes; the faces hidden beneath their hooded cowls were filled with awe.

That was the power to resurrect the dead; even a faith-based magic caster in the Heroic Realm might not necessarily be able to master such power.

To ordinary people, this was nothing short of a miracle!

No, even for these powerhouses present, who held high status among ordinary people, it was likewise a miracle.

The Paladin Order cheered with excitement, and their despondent mood was swept away.

"Chose a good point in time."

Tang Zheng thought to himself.

The influence Kelart exerted by using "Resurrection" at this moment far exceeded the effect of informing everyone in advance at the start.

"Hmm..."

The excited, noisy sounds woke Anri, who lifted her head in a daze, looking toward the direction the sound came from.

"What happened?" Anri propped up her upper body in a panic, thinking an attack had occurred again.

"As expected of Anri, after taking a nap, those dead paladins have been resurrected." Tang Zheng’s relaxed laughter rang out as he spoke half-jokingly.

"Resurrected?"

Anri’s eyes became clear. Seeing that the Captain was not in a hurry, she realized it wasn't an enemy attack, and subsequently became even more bewildered.

She only vaguely remembered the Captain telling her, "Take a nap, those dead people might just be resurrected."

"I, I'm sorry, Captain, your clothes..."

The earlobes on both sides of Anri’s head suddenly turned red. Propping herself up with her arms on the ground, she saw the spot where she had just been sleeping and the patch of white robe soaked by her tears, and she stammered, at a loss for what to do.

"Don't worry about such trifles."

"Right now, those resurrected paladins should be thanking you," Tang Zheng said pointedly.

Night arrived.

The "Beast General" Hekterwis led the demi-humans to mop up the undead near the two areas; the number was not high.

They were all scattered, low-tier undead.

On the side of [Zuranon], as if they understood that the humans and demi-humans had joined forces and made up for their disadvantage in numbers, they did not send out large numbers of undead to attack again.

An entire late night.

An abnormally calm night passed.

The next morning, Kelart, having recovered a night's worth of mana, resurrected five more people.

It was only then.

The "Seven-Colored Scales" Kokesh and the others from the demi-human side wanted to negotiate with Tang Zheng and the others again to discuss the matter of attacking [Zuranon] as soon as possible.

Kelart refused the proposal on the grounds that the human side had not yet "completely recovered from their injuries and stamina."

In the blink of an eye, another full day passed.

It was March 31st.

Kelart continued to resurrect 10 people. "Seven-Colored Scales" Kokesh came to discuss again, and Kelart refused with the same excuse.

Upper Wind Month.

April 1st.

Kelart still resurrected 10 people. Of the 51 paladins who had originally died, excluding the ten who had turned into undead and could no longer be resurrected, 30 had already been brought back.

There were still 11 who had not been fully resurrected.

This time, Go-Jin and the "Beast General" Hekterwis came to discuss it, but Kelart couldn't be bothered to find an excuse and refused directly.

The demi-human side became restless, but it was quickly suppressed.

Tang Zheng quietly observed all of this, his heart also feeling somewhat impatient; he had already guessed Kelart’s goal.

The demi-human military strength far exceeded that of the humans, reaching over 5,000 in number alone; so many demi-humans required food and water.

And they had not brought too many supplies.

This led to the demi-humans sending out several squads starting last night specifically to collect supplies and water.

Remedios, "Peach-Colored" Isadoro, and Gustavo, the three Paladin Order captains, each led a squad of a dozen or so paladins.

Using the excuse of also lacking supplies, they followed the demi-humans.

The Abelion Hills were currently suffering from a severe drought.

Water could be obtained from fixed rivers, but as for the crucial food, the food used by these demi-human troops was entirely the supplies traded with the Holy Kingdom.

Kelart wanted to use this point to judge the approximate location of the demi-human gathering place, because a gathering place for tens of thousands of demi-humans would absolutely not be too far from where these supplies were stored.

As for the location Go-Jin provided at the beginning?

The moment Kelart saw the demi-human troops, she realized the location Go-Jin provided was already void.

Additionally.

This could also be used to observe the movements of [Zuranon].

Although their human numbers were the fewest, they actually held the initiative on whether or not to attack [Zuranon]!

The demi-humans lacked the power to confront Death Knights and the leader, so they could only rely on the humans.

This was also the reason why "Seven-Colored Scales" Kokesh kept discussing the time of the attack over and over; the longer the time dragged on, the more disadvantageous it was for the demi-human side.

These past few days.

Anri had instead gotten along very well with those resurrected paladins; this might have been related to the fact that Anri had brought their corpses back.

The average level of this group of paladins was around level 7–8, but after experiencing death, their levels had dropped directly to the level 2–3 range.

Swinging the sword!

Training!

These became the things these resurrected paladins had to do. They wanted to recover their lost strength as quickly as possible, yet they were also very clear that they probably wouldn't be able to help in the upcoming battle.

"Hoo—hoo—"

Anri’s breathing was rapid. Sweat dripped from her eyelashes into her eyes, the stinging sensation making it hard to even open them, yet she never wiped them away, her hands trembling as she gripped the heavy longsword tightly.

This scene fell into the eyes of the surrounding resurrected paladins, but no one spoke to persuade her, because they understood Anri’s persistence at this moment better than anyone else.

Just as they were now!

"Your arms are too soft."

"Your posture for holding the sword is also a bit wrong; don't grip it so tightly."

Remedios had arrived at Anri’s side at some point, her cold eyes sizing Anri up:

"Don't blame me for discouraging you, it's too late to start training at your current age, and you simply don't have the aptitude for it."

"I want to try." Anri gritted her teeth and spoke stubbornly.

Seeing this, Remedios couldn't be bothered to remind her again.

If it weren't for Anri desperately saving the corpses of those paladins, she wouldn't even have spoken to this ordinary girl.

Turning around.

The cloak passed down through generations of paladins fluttered.

The shoulder armor and chest armor on Remedios rubbed against each other, making a sound as she walked in front of Tang Zheng with great presence.

"You should be able to see it too; she has no talent. Continuing to train like this will only ruin her." A trace of coldness appeared on Remedios’s well-defined face.

"I know healing magic," Tang Zheng said.

"You!"

Remedios’s eyes widened, somewhat exasperated.

"By the way, I thank you on behalf of Anri."

"The methods and techniques you paladins use for training should be kept secret, right?" Tang Zheng suddenly spoke.

Facing Tang Zheng’s gaze.

"Hmph!"

Remedios turned her head, snorted coldly, and walked away: "It has nothing to do with me. It’s those guys who are willing to teach; those techniques are all family heirlooms."

"Wanting to become a paladin isn't something you can achieve just by working hard."

Compared to Kelart, Remedios, this somewhat stubborn woman who wasn't good at thinking, was much easier to approach and communicate with.

"Strange..."

Tang Zheng looked back at Anri, his eyes narrowing imperceptibly.

He didn't know if it was an illusion.

He vaguely sensed a mysterious change in Anri, yet it seemed as if it didn't exist. He used "Ninjutsu: Detection" to check.

Anri’s level was still 1, with only the base class of [Farmer].

"She wouldn't really be able to awaken the [Paladin] class, would she?" This thought popped into Tang Zheng’s mind, but he felt it was unlikely.

[Paladin] was not an ordinary warrior class; it also required the talent of a magic caster. Anri possessed neither, and there wasn't much point in forcing the class.

Another day passed.

This time, Kelart resurrected all of the remaining 11 people.

This made Tang Zheng realize that Kelart must have already analyzed certain intelligence from the demi-humans’ movements in collecting supplies.

Through these days of observation.

Tang Zheng had already roughly estimated the mana value Kelart possessed, which was around 280 points.

Compared to his 568 points of mana, it was nearly half the level, and that was without calculating the bonuses from the two new intermediate classes he had acquired.

The mana capacity of Kelart, this "Heroic Realm" magic caster, was a good reference for Tang Zheng.

A full 4 days of rest.

Without any warning—

Kairate summoned Tang Zheng and Captain Nigun, taking the initiative to head to the demi-humans' encampment to communicate with "Seven-Colored Scales" Kokeshigou.

The demi-human side, having long since grown impatient, agreed to this proposal for a proactive attack without the slightest hesitation.

Upper Moon Month.

April 3rd, 5:11 AM.

The sky was just beginning to brighten.

Both the human and demi-human sides set out for the corpse pits in the southern mountain range.

The 5,000 elite demi-humans charged at the very front, with the humans following closely behind; both sides had already coordinated their respective targets.

The demi-humans would primarily clear out ordinary undead, while the humans would deal with the Death Knights and the evil organization [Zuranon].

The mighty, vast army of humans and demi-humans.

It took only three hours to enter the region of the southern mountain range, and after a half-hour rest, they set off again.

An arid, withered, and scorching zone.

Large and small pits, resembling destruction, covered the ground; these were the traces formed by undead crawling out from underground and breaking the surface.

The scent of rot grew increasingly pungent.

Upon entering this true core area, the arrival of the human and demi-human sides completely stirred the once-dead silence of the land; a massive number of undead crawled out from underground, and the sounds of battle instantly resounded through the sky!

Corpse pit zone.

Three figures stood silently before the Alliance Leader, who was shrouded in black mist.

A gray-robed mage, a black-armored knight, and the shadow clone of Tang Zheng.

"Finally here!"

"I’ve been waiting impatiently for a long time." The armored knight drew his rot-sword and twisted his neck, producing a 'creaking' sound.

"I need your assistance this time."

The Alliance Leader looked toward the shadow clone of Tang Zheng, who had remained silent from beginning to end; the pale eyes behind the black mist were incomparably cold.

Hum—

A blue magic circle emerged.

"Roar!"

A roar, sounding like both a dragon and a beast, came from the magic circle, followed by a bone dragon flying out.

The shadow clone of Tang Zheng held the Orb of Death in one hand, stepped onto the bone dragon's head, rose into the air, and flew toward the direction of the battlefield.

"Quite an impatient personality."

Seeing Tang Zheng’s arrogant demeanor, the gray-robed mage mocked coldly, while feeling fearful inside:

"A bone dragon? To think he can control such an undead; no wonder the Alliance Leader values him so much."

"You two, move out as well!"

"These boring fleas should be thoroughly crushed to death," the Alliance Leader said coldly.

"Yes, Alliance Leader!"

"Yes, Alliance Leader!"

At this moment.

The human and demi-human sides had already entered the territory once occupied by the Blue Maggot tribe, and this place had now completely turned into a dead land.

Even in the scorching daylight, the temperature in this area carried a chill; ordinary people could not see the death energy and negative energy gathering here in large quantities.

The moment they stepped into this area.

A magical light flickered in Tang Zheng’s eyes from time to time as he observed the pale gray negative energy permeating and flowing through the air:

"The 'Spiral of Death Ritual' is still set up; the Alliance Leader really does still want to create powerful undead."

By utilizing the power of the Death Knights to create tens of thousands of undead, the negative energy that such a massive quantity could trigger—if he were the Alliance Leader, he wouldn't give up on the idea of spawning even stronger undead either.

"Kill!!"

"Watch out!"

"Don't let the undead touch you!"

"Roar!"

"Attack according to the actions of Lord 'Beast General'."

"Do not scatter; once you feel exhausted, retreat immediately and let your kin behind you take your place."

The demi-humans' battle cries came continuously from the front.

Seeing this dense swarm of undead, all the demi-humans’ eyes turned blood-red, and they roared in anger.

It was all because of this group of damned undead that the hilly region had turned into this hellish state!

The human side followed behind the demi-humans, advancing calmly in their usual formation, with the demi-humans taking the lead in dealing with the massive number of low-tier undead.

Located at the very back of the formation.

Were Enri and the 40 resurrected Paladins.

"They're here."

Tang Zheng felt the shadow clone getting closer and looked up, whispering.

Boom—

The bone dragon’s body let out a shrill hiss as it cut through the air, flying from the distant sky like a white phantom.

The shadow clone of Tang Zheng’s bright red robe fluttered loudly in the gale, his legs standing steadily on the thick bone of the dragon’s spine.

"Flame Knight Spear!"

The shadow clone of Tang Zheng raised his arm, aimed at the demi-humans who were charging at the front and mixed in with the undead, and pointed his finger.

Whoosh~

A crimson fire condensed in an instant, forming a flame spear about two meters long, which turned into a flying rainbow in the air and slammed into the crowd below.

Rumble—

With a loud explosion, the erupting fire instantly swallowed everything in the vicinity.

A large number of undead and demi-humans were directly caught in it; under the powerful force of the fourth-tier magic, they didn't even have time to scream before turning into ash.

'Obtained 80 experience points'

'My experience 139 points'

'Obtained 72 experience points'

'…………'

'Obtained 8 experience points'

Dense experience information flashed rapidly across the attribute panel in front of Tang Zheng; enemies killed by the shadow clone naturally granted experience as well.

The shadow clone of Tang Zheng didn't care at all, releasing magic again into the ground, ignoring his own side's undead.

Another large number of undead and demi-humans died!

"The enemy is in the sky!"

"Casters, cast your magic!"

"……!"

Dozens of demi-human magic casters released magic from various directions toward the sky, but it landed on the bone dragon without causing any damage.

"It’s that red-robed magic caster who can control the bone dragon! Don't waste mana attacking him; that bone dragon has the ability to nullify magic!"

"All demi-humans, scatter! Do not gather together!"

"Let the humans intervene!"

"Beast General" Heketuweishi roared, issuing orders.

(End of chapter)