Chapter 619: The Big One
But Leon remained unmoved, his eyes fixed intently on the Hexstar Array ahead. For reasons he couldn't quite explain, the young Archmage felt an unmistakable sense of danger. Clearly, these Skeletal Warriors weren't enough to truly make him wary—the real problem lay elsewhere...
Sure enough, as the Skeletal Warriors piled up corpses on the ground—more than thirty thousand now—Leon’s magitech armor detected a shift in the Hexstar Array. Blood-red light surged from the sigil, and among the undead, new horrors emerged: Bone Demons and Liches...
"..."
Leon’s brow furrowed instantly. Tens of thousands of Skeletal Warriors were terrifying, but not truly unbeatable...
But Bone Demons and Liches...
Those were undead creatures above level twenty. If thousands—no, tens of thousands—showed up, even if he survived, he’d be lucky to escape with his skin intact...
And what if it wasn’t just Bone Demons and Liches?
What if even stronger undead showed up—Death Knights, Vampires, or Bone Dragons? Then things would really get out of hand...
"Let’s go. We’re leaving!"
Leon was certain that if they kept fighting, it wouldn’t just be the few of them—even if Joey and Heron showed up in person, they’d probably burn through all their mana and end up stuck here forever.
With that thought, Leon activated his magitech armor again. Moments ago, he’d already integrated Starlight Firestorm into the system—a tier six spell, but with the armor’s amplification, its power rivaled a tier seven. After five full seconds of chanting, the space around him began to warp in a strange, unsettling way...
For these undead, nothing was more fitting than Starlight Firestorm. As Leon finished the incantation, the first fireball crashed down—then a second, a third, a hundred, a thousand. In the end, tens of thousands of blazing meteors poured from the sky, flooding everything like a tidal wave...
Amid the restless magical turbulence, the void rippled with fire and destruction, belching thick smoke. From a distance, it looked like an ocean of flames—countless blazing meteors blanketed the undead below.
The sudden change startled both Hubert and Reina...
Before they could react, a muffled 'boom' seemed to echo in everyone’s chest. The surge of magical power made each fireball impossibly strong. In that instant, the ship’s cabin was utterly transformed into a world of fire.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
Every fireball that landed among the undead triggered a spectacular explosion. The magical energy spilling from the meteor shower was intense, saturated with destruction. In moments, wave after wave of undead fell—some reduced to nothing, not even a trace of bone dust left behind...
"Go..." By now, the battlefield was cleared and the path to the cabin exit was open. But Leon knew this was only temporary—soon, more undead would march out from the Hexstar Array.
Without wasting another moment, Leon led the group out of the cabin, brandishing the Doombringer Staff. He unleashed dozens of spells that required no magical talent, weaving a tight blockade behind them.
Just as they burst out of the cabin, a deafening crash rang out—the deck was shattered by tens of thousands of undead surging through, flooding in like a tidal wave.
"Damn it, they’re right on our heels..." Leon cursed through gritted teeth. They were about to pass the fourth cabin, but the undead didn’t waver—they kept closing in, step by relentless step...
But when they reached the sixth cabin, Leon froze.
In his line of sight, Leon could clearly see a massive crystal orb at the top of the cabin, flickering with a sinister glow and floating heavily in the air.
It was the Eye of the Undead...
The moment Leon saw the Eye of the Undead, he understood where this endless tide of undead was coming from...
Wherever the Eye of the Undead appears, death energy is thickest. If it’s allowed to fully mature, at least three Gates of Death will open nearby, unleashing wave after wave of undead...
Sure enough, as Leon looked up, a rift suddenly tore open in the void above...
"Damn..." There was no doubt now: this Eye of the Undead had spawned two Gates of Death—one was the Hexstar Array, and the other was surely this rift before them...
"Let’s hope there isn’t a third..." Leon squinted, his thoughts unreadable. Beside him, Hubert’s eyes widened in disbelief as dozens of Bone Dragons came soaring out of the Gate of Death...
"So many!" Hubert cried out, "That’s way too many Bone Dragons..."
"Enough with the whining!" Leon smacked Hubert on the head and raised the Doombringer Staff. Surging mana crackled around him as he ordered Reina and Alfred to attack at the same time.
Leon knew all too well—the situation was even worse than he’d imagined...
Tens of thousands of undead were about to flood into the cabin. When they arrived, it would be like a storm surge wiping out everyone present.
"Roar!"
A piercing dragon’s cry rang out. In an instant, Reina’s massive form soared into the sky, claws slashing. She unleashed at least ten tier-six frost spells, conjuring towering ice walls that smashed a Bone Dragon in two—before it could even hit the ground, a cascade of cracking sounds filled the air.
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At the same time, Leon and the others sprang into action...
For the team, these Bone Dragons—none above level thirty—weren’t much trouble. Compared to when Leon first encountered one in the Bone Plane and had to flee for his life, everyone’s strength had grown tremendously. Just recently, they’d even fought a beast close to Sky Rank. In comparison, Bone Dragons were nothing to worry about...
It took the team less than half an hour to finish off the dozen or so Bone Dragons...
But even more undead kept pouring in, wave after relentless wave...
And this time, it wasn’t just Bone Dragons...
From the Gate of Death, endless black mist surged forth. A tremendous force was widening the rift, and hordes of undead spilled out in waves. Worst of all, Leon heard a Nightmare’s chilling scream...
"Damn it, Death Knight!"
Just as expected...
Once the rift in the Gate of Death was stretched to its limit, a Death Knight finally appeared—riding a Nightmare...
Meanwhile, outside the cabin, heavy footsteps thundered...
The undead behind them were closing in, and their numbers only grew. In moments, the whole cabin shook as if the world itself was trembling...
"Reina, take them and hold off the undead outside—the rest is up to me..." Leon’s eyes locked onto the Death Knight, issuing orders to the others.
"Alright." Reina nodded, exhaling deeply. The undead army here was overwhelming—even for a Frost Dragon, the pressure was immense.
Once Reina, Hubert, and the others left, Leon turned back. Death Knights were truly revolting—not only masters of both magic and martial arts, but also marked with death runes. Take one hit, and you’re lucky if you’re only half-paralyzed...
"Come on!" Leon struck first—a Fireball exploded against the Death Knight, but at the same moment, the Death Knight charged forward with a black lance...
But the Death Knight didn’t realize Leon’s Fireball was just a feint. With a thunderous boom, dazzling flames shot skyward—this was another tier-six spell, Flame Storm, a wide-area spell that took six seconds to cast. There couldn’t be a better moment to use it.
When Flame Storm erupted, just the accompanying firebombs numbered over twenty or thirty. Each one packed the punch of a full-powered Magus strike, and with the Doombringer Staff’s amplification, even a Title Magus would struggle against it—let alone a Death Knight. In short, Flame Storm’s power was far beyond anything the Death Knight could have imagined...
Then, the Doombringer Staff blazed with light—followed by a deafening roar. The Death Knight’s Nightmare was still charging when, in a flash, a chorus of thunderous howls rang out, red flames rising all around, and the stench of sulfur filled the cabin.
It was the combined force of twenty or thirty firebombs. These Death Knights had no souls; as Flame Storm ignited, blazing tongues of fire tore their bodies apart. Once they went down, there was no getting back up.
The Death Knight was instantly reduced to ashes, but Leon didn’t spare it a glance—time was precious. One Flame Storm finished the Death Knight, then with a sweep of the Doombringer Staff, he summoned hundreds of Flame Spears...
It was useless...
Hundreds of Flame Spears struck the Eye of the Undead almost simultaneously, but all they managed was to shrink the Gate of Death by a fraction...
And even that fraction was quickly forced open again...
"Looks like something big is coming..." As the Gate of Death widened again, Leon felt a chill of magic ripple through—from inside, it was like a blast of arctic wind, sending a shudder down his spine...