Clyde followed the undead messenger all the way to Antaur Town. Under the concealment of shadow magic, he successfully escaped that messenger’s notice.
In this operation, Clyde had brought along only Demon Princess Andrea. Since she was also from the dark side, she could share his concealment dark magic for a long time without suffering a backlash. Most humans couldn’t share dark blessings for sustained periods, so Clyde had to choose a person from an evil-camp-aligned race. Andrea was quite suitable because Ancient Demon King Andrisno and the others were too strong. If he had brought them along, the probability of the enemy being alarmed by their auras was much higher.
“Master, the army deployment to Luke Village is finished. They are ready to…”
“Oh, there’s no need to trouble them. That girl, Lucifer, is enjoying herself; let her relax a little more.”
Clyde already knew that his younger sister Lucifer had borrowed the Judgement Light to trigger a miracle, creating a beach-like leisure venue beside Aldington River. Although he had yet to see Valkyrie Cynthia, who was in charge of this region, he guessed that she wouldn’t know whether to laugh or to cry now. Someone had unexpectedly used the energy of God Race’s Judgement Light to terraform a vacation resort.
“Oh, that’s right! Andrea, even if you had problems with Princess Verly in the past, all of them must be written off, okay? That night, you fought side by side with her, so you should get along well with her hereafter.”
“Okay, Master. I… I don’t hate her. Just…”
Andrea’s complexion was slightly red. That mental picture of fighting side by side with Verly was too wicked. Upon recalling it, she couldn’t help but feel shy. The conflicts between Andrea and her had been more like arch-rivals hesitating to display their true feelings. Now that both of them belonged to Clyde, this could be considered a turning point in their relationship.
While Clyde and Andrea chatted, that black-robed messenger approached Antaur Town’s castellan residence. The behind-the-scenes manipulator should be hiding inside. Now, the entirety of Antaur Town was shrouded in black clouds and cold gusts. In the midst of the roar of the wind, resentful cries faintly reverberated beside people’s ears. Antaur Town had turned into a terrifying place. Along the way, Clyde didn’t spot a single survivor; all had turned Undead. The streets were full of hobbling zombies.
The Undead calamity that had erupted in Atad had only been a low-level one, mainly relying on the spread of death qi to kill the living and transform them into Undead creatures. As for spread via zombies killing the living, it was far inferior to death qi in efficiency. Antaur Town, however, was different. A high-leveled undead calamity had erupted here. Although it too relied on the spread of death qi to turn the living Undead, its spread was much faster than low-level calamities. In just one day, the death qi could envelop the entire Needham Plains with Antaur Town as the origin.
The site where this high-leveled Undead Calamity had erupted would have a particularly high concentration of death qi. Antaur Town’s area was limited. In front, on the opposite bank of Aldington River, Earl Winissa stationed in Olm Fortress happened to have a sacred item bestowed by an angel of the God Race, so she had activated a Sacred Magic Defensive Barrier using the sacred item as a medium to contain the death qi. Furthemore, the Undead army had to first cross the river using their wooden boats to break the current stalemate. After all, compared to the defenders with a sacred magic defense barrier, they absolutely couldn’t afford to offend the force behind them. They would rather attack the front that had artifacts to restrain their Undead attribute rather than turn back.
In the rear of Antaur Town, with York Village as the dividing line, Joyce Fortress and Ferro Town were shrouded in Ancient Demon King Andrisno and Tinas’s dark energy, turning into a terrifying dark zone. Within were traces of curse energy from Undead Queen Lafania and her younger sister Cursed Queen Mephis, superimposing this already terrifying dark zone with an even more terrifying cursed nation. Under the effects of the dual negative energy field, even Valkyries of the Divine Realm would be weakened by over 80%. It could be called a god-restricted area.
The high-level Undead Calamity of Antaur Town couldn’t afford to offend the dark forces at Joyce Fortress. The overall strength of the other side was far greater than their own. In front of a big shot, they could only admit defeat and naturally did not dare to spread their death qi. Without the other party’s permission, this kind of action was tantamount to provoking true death.
The behind-the-scenes instigator of this high-level Undead calamity was truly depressed now. This must have been the most shameful high-level Undead calamity in history. After the Undead outbreak, she had discovered a few nearby big shots and been forced to do odd jobs, falling into the background. To the west of Antaur Town was Aldington River where Earl Winissa, the commander of the human army at Olm Fortress, had created a Sacred Magic Defense Barrier, restraining the Undead. Meanwhile, to the east side of Antaur Town was Joyce Fortress, which was under the control of a dark zone and a cursed nation. As a result, they had no way to break out on either side.
The south of Antaur Town was the Hamilton Marsh region. That place in itself had death qi, so her death qi couldn’t pass through it. Allegedly, there was an unknown monster force here that could block her. As for the north, it was similarly impossible. The north had Luke Village. Not long ago, the followers of Lucifer, those high-leveled Bloodkins, had occupied it and generated a dense bloody mist exclusive to Bloodkins, preventing the spread of the death qi. Now, Antaur Town was truly facing an “encirclement by friendly forces.” Under the pressure of surrounding friendly forces, they could only assault Olm Fortress on the opposite bank of Aldington River. To the valkyrie observing everything from the sky, the more she watched, the more she felt that everything was intentional.
Clyde and Princess Andrea followed the undead messenger into Antaur Town’s castellan residence. Along the way, they avoided all the Undead. This magnificently decorated castellan residence had belonged to Baron Thomas, the former Suzerain of Antaur Town. The interior decorations were both gorgeous and elegant. This dandy seemed to have had a gold mountain at home, spending a fortune decorating his residence in accordance with the standards of an Earl’s residence. Although this could be considered overstepping his rank, the power of Adrian Empire’s imperial family deteriorated by the day, so they had no way to control this remote border area.
Baron Thomas had already died along with over 1,000 of his troops. When Clyde had entered the castellan residence, he saw many human soldiers who had turned Undead. They still wore the standard equipment of Adrian Empire’s army and had armbands with the insignia symbolizing Baron Thomas’s family.
“That fellow Thomas died too quickly. I wanted to ask about the recipe for that mysterious drug.”
“Master, what’s the mysterious drug you’re looking for?”
“Cough, cough,!Andrea, it’s nothing. Forget what I said just now!”
“I… I understand.”
With the messenger ahead of them, Clyde and Andrea smoothly navigated the luxurious castellan residence and arrived at a large hall. Along the way, piles of gold and silver and boxes filled with gold coins and jewelry lay everywhere. Many boxes brimmed so full of treasure that their lids couldn’t be properly closed, so they had simply been left open. These had all been collected by Baron Thomas; it was hard to believe that a baron had collected so much wealth. In the past when Clyde had raided riches with Princess Natalie in the Needham Plains, there had not been so much.
On many boxes, Clyde saw the emblems of other aristocrats. These riches clearly didn’t only belong to Baron Thomas. It was very likely that several other aristocrats had used him as a bank. Baron Thomas was only the caretaker. Among those names, the most striking was Earl Royle who, along with over 30,000 troops, managed Grand Tonitas Fortress. Although he was not on the list of Clyde’s targets, Clyde was very pleased about seizing the other’s riches docked for his military expenditures and dealing Early Royle a serious blow.
In a grand seat located at the center of the hall, a heavily-armored knight in black armor sat. Surrounded by death qi, this knight appeared very cool since its aura produced various special effects. The high-level Undead calamity had given birth to many high-level Undead monsters unlike what lower leveled Undead calamities could do. Those lesser disasters could only summon low-level skeletons and zombies. A death knight was the product of a high-level Undead calamity. In life, death knights had been powerful combatants. After transforming, their combat power would further increase. When Paladins, Dragon Knights, and other similar professions became death knights, their combat power would multiply at least two fold.
The death knight here was just a Senior Death Knight. It roughly had a 30% chance to win against Paladin Alicia. It could only be considered a waste. While Clyde puzzled why a high-level Undead calamity had made such a waste of a death knight, he then saw the knight’s face and understood everything. That death knight was Baron Thomas, the former Suzerain of Antaur Town. Even after transforming, that profligate son’s foundations had been too poor. It was nearly impossible for him to exceed an ordinary paladin.
