Chapter 297: Curse of the Seventh Seat of the Strange Council

If it were a normal day, the Death Knight would have to hammer these mouse‑brained soldiers with heavy blows, to show them what "orders are as solid as a mountain" and what "a death battle means no retreat" means—damn, retreat means death!

But watching that holy light and the gun shadows slam down as if they were free, and thinking about my current bizarre status and rank… I suddenly felt my already icy body become even colder.

However, his sensation was only psychological; the Feather Person who was sparring with the Holy Knight was literally "heart‑warming".

He was hit in the back by a stray holy‑light projectile, and before he could hit the ground he was struck by a gun shadow that flung him into the air, spinning three and a half times, bouncing twice on the ground, and finally rolling clumsily to the Death Knight's feet.

The bird person collapsed on the ground in agony, mouth agape and eyes shut.

"Damn, what intel did that damned old man give us? Where the hell did these maniacs pop out from, and how are they all so good at fighting!?"

"You… stop calling out!"

The Death Knight let out a fierce shout, eyes flashing, and, brandishing a chainsaw on the war machine, tried to seize the chance to kill the bird but instead grabbed the Feather Person and pulled him away.

"Now is not the time to study this, Lord Feather, facing this situation, Lord Chairman must have told you a solution, right?"

To his surprise, the Feather Person responded with an awkward silence, and the Death Knight's eyes nearly popped out.

"Right… right?"

"Um…"

The Feather Person struggled to get up, feeling the patch of feathers burned off his back.

"The superior said unless we're missing one, we're not allowed to use it…"

"Huh?"

Seeing the Death Knight's incredulous expression, he thought he was lucky to have high emotional intelligence and not repeat the superior's words verbatim, otherwise that sour‑faced man would have choked him to death on the spot.

Because Wen Di Ge's original words were—

"Child, if selling that Death Knight still doesn't solve the problem, then consider using this; remember, the deity's power is not something that can be easily summoned."

…sigh, perhaps this is the Curse of the Seventh Seat of the Strange Council; since the council was formed, none have lived past three months.

Already deeply depressed, the Death Knight was now choked into near‑silence, forcefully using magic to shove ice cubes down his throat, coughing, pounding his chest and stamping his feet.

Now a matter of life and death, the Feather Person couldn't hold back his softening heart and lowered his voice.

"Friend, now that things have come to this, I think… didn't the superior send three councilors in total? If we really can't… let's also summon the lady Spider Queen who's guarding the portal, don't worry! She'll certainly understand!"

The Death Knight, after hearing that, could hardly believe his ears and asked immediately.

"What if the portal is attacked, what then? If something goes wrong there… we'd lose everything!"

The Feather Person shook his head repeatedly, his words tinged with both pity for the misfortune and anger at the inaction.

"Hey, junior, you who just arrived at the council might not yet know the deity's temperament; for us… if the plan fails, that's the real total loss! The deity…"

He showed a grimace, hesitated a moment, then took a few steps forward again, lowering his voice to the minimum.

"It's definitely not the way the deity appears on the outside! Do you understand!?"

The Death Knight's spirit jolted; this was a confidant of the Shadow God himself—if the deity later achieves enlightenment, he would become the greatest beneficiary of the Pope's high seat, and now even he says this…

Therefore, although he still disagreed with such a reckless plan, the Death Knight, his mind in turmoil, quickly sent a plea for aid to the Spider Queen.

He had expected this lady, famed for her steadiness, to refuse outright, but once again she defied his expectations; the Spider Queen, upon hearing the matter, immediately agreed, and within the time she spoke, the distant rustling of troops could already be heard as the main force set out in full.

The Death Knight's heart went completely cold—damn, I've boarded a pirate ship!

As the massive Spider Queen, accompanied by countless spider offspring, surged toward Sheng Guang Jiao Tang like a black torrent, she didn't know that three kilometers away an eye was fixed tightly on her.

"Oh my god, I… I saw a gigantic bizarre thing walk away, ah, and it was dragging a huge bunch of little ones!"

The principle behind this monocular's ability to detect nearby anomalies is actually similar to using iodine to test for starch; the difference is that this time it leverages the Holy Light's tendency to attract nearby anomalies, and the stronger the anomaly, the more it pulls in past anomalies.

Once activated, it can tear the Holy Light into invisible microscopic fragments and disperse them, then, using a special method, check whether those fragments disappear mid‑flight; if they do, it indicates an anomaly near the point of disappearance.

As for whether an anomaly smeared with napalm would notice… ignoring dosage, talking about toxicity is just cheating; it would probably just itch and feel a bit warm.

Because of this, it can only detect the presence and strength of anomalies; although it can roughly gauge intensity, it can never definitively identify the exact species.

So Ji Ming scrambled up a nearby building in a few steps, stood at the height and looked out, and without needing to search carefully, he saw a gigantic spider slowly crawling among the city ruins.

"Whoa, what a huge… belly, I guess this must be the so‑called 'Spider Queen' of the Strange Council?"

As a Holy Light Chosen, he could also feel a strong Holy Light reaction coming from the direction of the church, likely due to a sudden turn in the battle there; the anomalies, fearing a fiasco, thought that…

Nothing can be done; this is destiny, not my clumsy hand or black heart, but the misfortune of you lost‑way followers.

Though wasting an opportunity would be punished, Ji Ming still restrained his impulse, letting the mercenaries recuperate, waiting for the Spider Queen to move away before charging toward the city lord's manor in one go.

At this point, the density of anomalies on the road had risen rapidly, probably because they felt his appearance would embarrass the Holy Light people; Ai Li Nuo was throwing all her magic, determined to make a show in front of this bunch of Deep Forest riffraff.

And as heirs of the Lion‑Heart King's "martial" spirit, this group of mercenaries truly had not a single competent mage, only watching the magical artillery stations fire from behind, clacking and snatching heads.

Over a thousand people formed a convoy and soon reached the journey's end—Sunlight City, long mired in chaos and low‑profile, unexpectedly turned out to be the city lord's manor that Suo La used as the best cover for his secretive anomalous shenanigans.

Probably also fearing Ji Ming's mind‑piercing magical sound, unlike the previous timidity that hid the portal underground, this time Wen Di Ge boldly placed the portal in the center of the grand estate, which could only be described as very confident.

The sudden surge of human blood and vigor immediately alarmed the local anomalies; ghostly aura spread, living beings were barred, and beyond the opened gate, countless undead soldiers, accompanied by animated corpses, launched an attack, clearly intending to repel the enemy beyond the nation's gates.

If it were the past, these bandit mercenaries would probably jostle each other for a while, ensuring safety before acting, but today Ke Li Si Ting still hasn't ordered an attack, yet they're already shouting wildly and starting to roar.

"Brothers, cowardice is death, fleeing is death; today we'll go all out against these disgusting things!"

"When have our mercenaries ever feared battle? We only fear the enemy not being kill‑worthy! This time the opposition is numerous, so we don't have to scramble for glory!"

"Why do I see the Commercial Union's old masters among these walking corpses, huh, my axe can finally crack their heads today!"

Standing amid the boiling fervor, a bewildered Ji Ming repeatedly checked his skill bar, confirming he hadn't activated Suggestion Technique.

That painful truth that "killing anomalies is not as good as a crying little girl," together with the increasingly twisted mindset from the relentless slaughter, must have thrilled those accustomed to bullying the weak…

As for leader Ke Li Si Ting, she seemed perfectly normal…

Fine, now that she's assumed the Alliance Leader role, she didn't even bother speaking, raised a hoof, swung her arm, and was the first to charge out wielding a Ma Mao.

The troops, though timid, gathered like a swarm of bears, and Ke Li Si Ting's bravery shattered the last shred of fear in the mercenaries' hearts.

"The Alliance Leader is here, let's kill!"

Under the lead of Shuang Ju Ren and his adjutant, they clashed with the anomalies wielding all manner of weapons; in an instant blood splattered, flesh flew, and the battle entered a white‑hot state from the outset.

Though the bandit mercenaries were indeed a high‑quality bunch of outlaws, even tyrants need force to back them up, so their combat power erupted astonishingly now, capable of overwhelming anomalies even when outnumbered.

Christine, with just a single charge, used her four iron hooves to trample and shatter the bones of a vast horde of living dead spirits; and when she swung her lance to slash, she directly triggered a zombie-themed Fruit Ninja, her brutality giving the lance's blade a chainsaw-like sweep as it cut flesh and broke bones.

The names are: Christine (Ke Li Si Ting) and Lance (Ma Mao). Note that 'zombie-version Fruit Ninja' is a description, not a name, and 'living dead spirits' is a generic term. Therefore only those two are names.

Right behind her, the frost giant cleared up what Christine had missed; standing at the center of the flood, she was like an unshakable mountain, each blow of her massive hammer reducing foes to meat paste, granting the mercenaries immense security—after all, staying near Christine means risking that, in her frenzy, she might accidentally step on you.

The names are: Frost Giant (Shuang Ju Ren) and Christine (Ke Li Si Ting). Note that 'giant hammer' and 'mercenaries' are generic terms, so only those two are names.

After setting the stage, the deputy officer withdrew, assuming Christine's heavy responsibility of command and coordination; his gaze was as keen as an eagle's, constantly monitoring the battlefield; he would alternately issue orders to adjust the mercenaries' formations and personally charge into the enemy ranks, wielding his longsword to carve an escape route for trapped comrades.

The entry for deputy officer raises the question of whether it counts as a name; it is a generic rank/title, but according to the instructions we must include official and sect ranks/titles, so deputy officer should be listed as a rank meaning 'Deputy Officer'. Since it is not a proper name but a title, we still include it. The glossary requires us to list every character, place, sect/clan/faction/people, official/sect rank/title, technique, item/artifact, beast, and realm appearing in these lines. Therefore we should treat deputy officer as an official rank. The glossary above only contains those four entries; for other terms we must provide our own translations, using pinyin only for proper names. Thus deputy officer should be translated as 'Deputy Officer'. Also, Christine appears again.

Also, 'long sword' is a generic weapon; being a common noun, it is excluded from the list.

Eleanor was also infected by this madness, planning to unleash several more large-scale destructive spells at the rear of the Aberrations while they gathered, but before her magic construct in her sea of consciousness was finished, Ji Ming grabbed her wand.

"Stay calm, the battle is chaotic, you just squandered your mana so recklessly—if you run out and get eaten by the Aberrations, no one can save you!"

"Oh oh..."

Sheepishly withdrawing her hand, Eleanor decided to first engage in low-intensity combat to regain mana, while Ji Ming simply didn't join in and instead looked elsewhere off the battlefield.

Indeed, the Spider Queen didn't take all her spiders when she left; a few little ones saw the horde of humans running over, jumped three feet high in fright, and without a word went to report to their mother.

"Little thief, don't run!"

Ji Ming hurriedly lunged forward, but those little brats ran incredibly fast, relying on their eight legs to almost spark, and even though he promptly threw a steel ball under the effect of Precision Throw, he still couldn't stop them all.

"Ah, never mind—speed is essential in war; as long as I tear it down quickly, even if the Spider Queen returns, there's nothing she can do..."

At that moment, the surrounding Aberrations charged and surrounded him; Ji Ming, thinking it best not to pursue a desperate foe, was about to turn and leave when he suddenly heard a strange sound.

"Squeak!"

Only then did he notice a scout spider lying nearby, half its body smashed to pulp by the steel ball, now painfully twitching its broken limbs on the ground.

Strangely, its eight eyes, big or small, completely lacked the lively spark that magical creatures should have, and even the frenzy and bloodlust expected of monsters were absent.

Because these specialized spiders are less the Spider Queen's "children" and more like slaves she deliberately created—born to serve, existing to die—naturally they need no intelligence.

Tsk, no matter how high their level or how large their swarm, they still can't escape the underlying logic of insects...

He ended its suffering with a long-handled shovel; Ji Ming, having gained a bit of experience, turned back and returned to the lord's manor.

When facing some longer, harder stages, aggressive players might opt to steamroll straight through, while those who like to cut corners will try every means to find a bug to skip the level.

Thus, while most Aberrations were busy arguing fiercely with the mercenaries, Ji Ming slapped on a silence talisman and began stealth after a long absence; the noisy battlefield faded from his mind as he watched the manor gradually return to its nightly quiet, and the undead occasionally uttering meaningless "uh-uh" sounds within it, he suddenly felt as if he were playing a survival game.

He hurried along the blood-smeared, chaotic walkway, glancing into each room as he passed; some rooms were fairly tidy, their furnishings unchanged, as if the disaster had never happened; others were in utter disarray, blood spilling from the beds to the floor and dripping to the doorway, forming a collapsed corpse lying there.

In other rooms, some old acquaintances had respawned; no matter how dignified their former attire or how proper their speech, they still believed themselves inherently superior and desperately tried to stuff anything they could into their own pockets.

After being killed by the magical plague and turned into undead, they were nothing more than a pack of hideous, fang-baring, blood-sucking petty monsters not even worth a second glance, and they couldn't even conceal the squalor that was unfolding as the disaster struck.

"What the hell is this… Damn, you're playing this so flamboyantly?"