Chapter 160 – The Power of the Undead General

Walking along the eerie and desolate streets, Isloria’s mind replayed the scenes from earlier.

Was it over just like that?

It ended way too quickly!

She couldn’t help but glance at Rakshasa not far away. With his blue face, fanged teeth, dark and exceptionally burly physique, he was indeed a… well, a fierce warrior whose appearance alone could intimidate enemies.

However, he was just a bit too strong. Didn’t the Lord say that aside from the Undead General and General Dolai, the other powerhouses had only just made their breakthroughs?

If Rakshasa was at the same Rank as her, Isloria compared their strengths and realized she had no confidence in a guaranteed victory.

She was a Hero, after all!

A genius Hero with legendary potential, who had defeated Windsor, Blaise, Feixi, and others to emerge victorious from intense competition!

She had once believed she was the strongest in Tianyuan and would assist the Lord in reaching the Peak.

But after arriving here,

She became the second strongest.

Then the third strongest.

She couldn’t help but wonder if this trend would continue until she dropped to the Nth strongest in Tianyuan?

Isloria was questioning her life.

Once she returned, she resolved to work even more diligently and strive to create more Clones to handle various tasks. Otherwise, her dream of becoming the Lord’s right-hand woman would drift further and further away.

Not far off,

Bone Two glanced at Rakshasa, then stole a look at Deadbone, taking two steps closer. “Big bro, big bro, your second brother really wants to fight too!”

It reasoned that its tier and Rank were the same as Rakshasa’s.

If that Rakshasa guy could instantly kill Shadow Pupil Monsters, there was no reason why it, Bone Two, couldn’t do the same.

Bone Three: “Me too!”

Deadbone shot them a glance and condensed dark mist to knock on their helmets from a distance: Know your limits, you two!

…

The group of skeletons, ghosts, and humans continued deeper into a certain area of the Wicked City, encountering a few monsters along the way, though most were merely Professional Tier ‘small fries.’

Despite the strange forms and abilities of the monsters in the Wicked City, they couldn’t cause much trouble in the face of absolute power.

When it came to strangeness, Deadbone and the other undead had never been afraid.

There was no logic in undead being frightened.

As they gathered more and more information, the Undead General’s command grew increasingly precise. At times, they didn’t encounter a single monster for over ten minutes straight. This was naturally because Deadbone avoided them in advance through observation and skill prediction.

Instead, they came across batch after batch of player squads in the Wicked City.

There were quite a few explorers in this place.

Deadbone kept a respectful distance from the player squads but didn’t forget to eavesdrop on some intelligence from afar.

“Players from Taixuan and Divine Radiance seem to have fought in the East.”

“Rumor has it someone dug up a rare Treasure in the Black Tree Zone. Should we go check it out?”

“Be careful. There seem to be quite a few blacklisted players with bounties in the Wicked City. These guys are ruthless killers.”

The moment Dolai heard the word ‘Treasure,’ it was like a puppet triggered by a mechanism, its eyes sparkling brightly.

Unfortunately, Deadbone, who led the team, absolutely refused to join any commotion or covet any Treasures outside their mission objectives.

Things like Taixuan, Divine Radiance, Treasures, blacklisted players, and so on had nothing to do with it.

It only carried out the Lord’s mission.

It led the squad forward at a steady yet unhurried pace.

One hour,

Two hours,

Four hours.Wicked City was, after all, quite vast, with a complex environment and the unpredictable presence of players. Deadbone had no choice but to proceed with extreme caution. In a normal conquest or subjugation mission, this skeletal commander would have spent several times, even dozens of times longer carefully scouting the terrain and advancing step by step.

But this mission was a deep infiltration for rescue—get in, save the target, and leave.

Naturally, he could skip the tedious cat-and-mouse games.

Being steady wasn’t such an inconvenience after all.

“We seem to be almost there,” Isloria said.

Her intuitive sense, or perhaps the revelation granted to her by the world, had grown very strong. She was certain her former companion was nearby.

Yet, at this moment, her anxiety intensified, fearing that all her hopes would come to nothing.

After all, back then, the danger had been so extreme—even she, the strongest among them, had been killed by monsters. Could the others truly have survived?

She was terrified.

Then she gritted her teeth. What use was fear? The sooner she faced it, the more possibilities remained.

“This way.”

They were now in a relatively deep part of Wicked City. Eerie sounds echoed loudly, and the cracked, mottled streets were crisscrossed with shadows like spiderwebs waiting to ensnare prey.

Aside from that, however, there seemed to be few monsters, and players were even sparser.

Deadbone’s group hadn’t encountered any player squads for nearly half an hour.

Suddenly, Mu Yuan frowned. The low-flying Camera Falcon had captured several figures in the distance that were clearly distinct from monsters.

It was a player squad.

A team of several players, accompanied by formidable units like Halberdiers, Goblin Warriors, and Wolf Riders—at a glance, it was evident this squad was quite elite, composed entirely of veteran players.

Yet, they were fleeing.

Fleeing in panic.

Had they encountered some powerful monster?

Deadbone swiftly went on alert, subtly retreating into a side alley. When it came to combat, avoidance was always the preferred strategy.

Then, with three camera angles observing simultaneously, Mu Yuan saw it clearly.

A dark red saber gleam shot out from the shadows, coiling around the fleeing Goblin Warrior like a serpent, tearing through its sturdy armor and robust body as if shredding cloth.

Only a green-skinned head remained, eyes wide with lingering terror, rolling away with a dull thud.

It was a human!

Emerging from the shadows was a man wielding a saber. He wore a black cloak, had a tall, slender build, and a narrow, elongated face with sunken eye sockets and a curled lip. He extended a snake-like tongue, licking the blood from his blade with a intoxicated expression.

The fleeing players glanced back, their faces growing even more frantic.

“It really is Fiend Jack! Damn it, why did we have to run into him here!”

“This guy has a bounty of over thirty million Stellar Coins—he’s an Advanced wanted criminal!”

“He’s treating us like prey, damn him!!”

Terrified and furious, they pushed themselves to their limits, fleeing desperately. Fiend Jack maintained a steady distance, pursuing slowly as if toying with his prey.

The players grew increasingly desperate.

By now, Undead General had already hidden in a nearby alley. He released wispy black mist from his palm, blending with the surroundings, and enveloped the entire group with a faint Domain power.

One of Undead General’s tenets: never interfere in matters unrelated to the mission.

Once these players had fled far enough, they could continue on their way.But at that moment, the cloaked fiend halted. After standing still for three or four seconds, his head abruptly tilted ninety degrees, turning toward Deadbone. His sunken eyes widened, and the corners of his mouth curled upward.

“Found you, a more interesting prey.”

He swung his saber abruptly. A dark red Saber Intent, brimming with extreme slaughter, radiated from him as the center, causing the monsters hiding in the surrounding black mist—initially poised to pounce—to tremble and shrink back once more.

Isloria’s pupils contracted.

“This Concept…”

It was stronger than hers! It carried the intent to slaughter everything, as if all enemies standing before him were nothing but pigs and sheep with their necks bared, ready for slaughter.

No wonder the clearly formidable Goblin Warrior had been slain without even a hint of resistance.

Under the pressure of Saber Intent and killing intent, it truly had no power to resist.

The Undead General frowned inwardly and sighed softly.

He, too, swung his saber fiercely, unleashing a Shadow Slash with a roaring momentum that clashed with the red glow imbued with slaughterous Saber Intent. The sharp energy scattered in all directions, riddling the surrounding ground with holes.

Black flames blazed around the Undead General as he locked eyes with the fiend across a hundred meters.

‘He should retreat now.’

Deadbone thought.

He had deliberately displayed considerable strength and intentionally left the “special effects” unconcealed, all to make the enemy weigh the risks.

By normal logic, players in the wild avoid confronting enemies they aren’t fully confident against. Even hunters worry about injuries from overly strong prey.

Getting injured in the wild is a grave taboo.

However, Fiend Jack was a madman who never followed normal logic.

He only grew more delighted, like a vicious wolf spotting a beauty. The aura and Concept around him became increasingly flamboyant and terrifying, surging forth like an overwhelming tidal wave.

Deadbone: “???”

Is this reasonable?

Helpless, he spoke to Dolai, Isloria, and the others through the Mental Link, “You go ahead and rescue them. I’ll catch up shortly.”

“But this fiend… he possesses a dual Concept that can be fused, and his Rank is far higher than ours.”

Moreover, the Undead General’s Rank was even lower than General Dolai’s. No matter how skilled he was in combat, there were limits.

Isloria’s point was valid, and Deadbone agreed.

“This is indeed a formidable enemy. However, once the rescue mission is complete, we can leave at any time. Do you understand?”

With the Lord overseeing the team, Deadbone felt assured.

Isloria understood.

General Dolai scratched its head.

They continued toward their destination while the Undead General blocked the fiend’s overwhelming aura. Adopting a defensive stance, he unleashed waves of invisible curse energy that descended upon the fiend.

The fiend’s body sank slightly, his perverse smile unchanged. Licking his lips, he transformed into a blur and charged forward.

Saber and Sword clashed in a flurry of ringing strikes.

It was almost entirely the fiend on the offensive, but Deadbone defended flawlessly. In terms of strength and speed, he seemed to hold little disadvantage against the fiend, who was already at the Warlord Rank.

“A formidable enemy, truly formidable.”

Deadbone’s gaze was grave.

Fiend Jack retreated several dozen meters, cackling maniacally. He twisted his blade and slashed it across his own body, leaving deep wounds.

Crimson blood flowed out, seeping into the blade and making the long saber appear even more sinister and terrifying. The Concept around him seemed to materialize, manifesting as a faint red glow that enveloped the surrounding dozens of meters.

Suffocating!An overwhelming, suffocating killing intent surged forth.

Even the three players who had fled quite a distance felt their chests tighten and their breathing grow labored.

“It’s over, it’s over! This brave soul is done for too!”

“He didn’t seem weak though—he blocked over a dozen of the Ghostman’s moves earlier.”

“What do you know? The Ghostman was just toying with his prey earlier. Now he’s serious. I’ve heard a little about this move—it’s a lethal technique that fuses several saber skills and the Concept of killing intent, using his own blood as a catalyst. It contains over a dozen variations and is overwhelmingly powerful.

“Dodging is impossible; blocking is futile!

“This brave soul is absolutely finished. Let’s run now, or we’ll be next.”

The roiling killing intent, 99% of it, descended upon Deadbone.

As the Ghostman swung his saber, the faint, materialized killing intent that permeated the surroundings surged like a bloody tide, overwhelming and vast.

The saber’s radiance tore through the earth, froze the space, and forced the surrounding black mist to retreat incessantly.

Deadbone struck.

Just as before, it was an unremarkable swing of the sword. But—

Hum—

The moment Death Lament clashed with the crimson saber radiance, its immense power was truly revealed.

As if a towering mountain, blanketed with bones, stood behind Deadbone. The undead on the mountain cried out his name. Scattered streams of undead energy converged, forming creeks and rivers that flowed down from the Undead Holy Mountain, pouring into Deadbone’s body. After being tempered over a dozen times, fused with dozens of techniques, and refined through numerous Advanced skills, it finally erupted from the black Greatsword.

Transforming into the dark, solemn, and unadorned River of the Underworld!

With the power to dominate all, it washed over everything in its path.

Saber radiance, killing intent, bloody waves—whether tangible or intangible—all dissipated. Only the Nether River surged forth, crashing over the Ghostman, who remained frozen in his saber-swinging stance, before colliding into the distant buildings.

The buildings, too, were submerged in the gradually fading, mist-like Nether River.

Deadbone wiped sweat that couldn’t possibly exist on his skeletal face. Seeing that not a trace of the Ghostman’s remains remained, he finally felt a little relieved.

He then pondered how this move was still far from perfected.

In the distance,

Dolai and the others hadn’t run far when they saw the black river surge, completely swallowing the “utterly insignificant” Ghostman.

Isloria glanced at the clean, dust-free road, now sunken significantly, and at Undead General standing calmly at its center.

She fell into thought.

She reached a conclusion.

“So this is what the General meant by ‘I’ll be right there’?”

Once again, the glory of 11:30 is restored~!

(End of chapter)