Chapter 453: Sea of the Undead
He honestly had no interest in joining the chaos. The three mercenary companies would get a king's ransom if they managed to claim that crown—so what was the point of tagging along?
Besides...
The undead creature that Barris's body had become—was it really something you could just mess with? If it woke up, it would definitely have power on par with Star Sage Joey. Tagging along wouldn't just be pointless, it might get you killed. Even without thinking too hard, you knew it wasn't worth it...
"Magus Merlin, p-please... please, just hear me out!" Dalson grew anxious and hurried over.
"Oh?"
Leon stared at Dalson, expressionless, only uttering a single 'Oh' without saying anything else.
"There's one more crucial thing I haven't had a chance to say. The second layer of the Wizard's Spire is actually sealed—there's no teleportation array. If you want to reach the very bottom, there's only one way: you need to get that crown! In fact, the crown is the key to the lowest level of the Spire." Dalson was visibly anxious, eyes darting nervously at Leon.
Honestly, in this world of the undead, just the three mercenary companies alone weren't nearly enough. If the young mage left the group now, the consequences could be disastrous.
Forget about getting the crown—just surviving would be a challenge.
He had no choice but to swallow his pride and ask Leon to stay: "Magus Merlin, it's too dangerous here. I think we should stick together—it's safer that way..."
For the first time, Leon's expression shifted. After hearing Dalson's words, he tried using the Death Tome to connect with the Bone Plane, but failed—there was a powerful force in the second layer that blocked his ability to open a planar path. He tried the natural semi-plane next and found it could be accessed.
Just from that, he knew Dalson wasn't lying.
It seemed that to get out of here, they really did need that crown. Thinking this, Leon finally nodded. "Alright."
Dalson and the others visibly relaxed at Leon's reply. In this team, Leon had clearly become the core—the one person they couldn't do without.
But as their brief conversation ended, a strange noise echoed nearby. Not far away, a skeleton covered in black earth crawled out from underground, clutching a cold, gleaming broken sword. Two ghostly lights flickered in its empty eye sockets.
Then came more sounds of earth breaking. One skeleton warrior after another began to crawl out from below.
And their numbers kept increasing...
In just a few moments, dozens of skeleton warriors, each clutching a rusted iron sword, shakily pulled themselves from the ground. The ghostfire in their eye sockets flickered wildly as they began to surround Leon and his group.
But when they got within ten meters of Leon...
The skeleton warriors all stopped in unison. The ghostfire that had been flickering in their eye sockets instantly dimmed, and they nervously retreated. Only when they were dozens of meters away did they finally scatter, but not a single one dared approach again.
What the hell was that...?
Everyone was stunned—especially Councilor Weiss. When those skeleton warriors had started to surround them, he'd been ready to cast a high-level spell and blast them all to pieces. But before he could even finish the incantation, the skeletons had already run away, forcing him to stop.
He'd seen every bizarre move those skeleton warriors made. When the soul-fire dims, it usually means one of two things: they're about to die, or they're afraid...
No need to think too hard—the first possibility could be ruled out. None of those skeleton warriors looked like they were dying. And even if they were, how could dozens of them all be dying at once?
That left only the second option: fear. But why would skeleton warriors suddenly feel fear for no reason? It didn't make sense. Normally, they only get scared when faced with a higher-tier undead. There were eleven people in the group, including himself, but humans shouldn't be able to frighten undead...
Councilor Weiss was completely baffled as he followed the others forward. After a few minutes, another group of skeleton warriors came at them, but just as he was about to act, those skeletons weirdly ran away again.
He couldn't help but feel the urge to curse...
He started to wonder if a high-tier undead was secretly stalking them nearby. With this thought, Councilor Weiss immediately glanced around. Sure enough, a hundred meters behind them, clusters of ghostfire flickered—there were at least five or six hundred of them...
Councilor Weiss couldn't help but wipe the cold sweat from his brow. They hadn't been here long—not even ten minutes, really—so how had so many skeleton warriors gathered? And weirdly, none of them seemed to want to rush in. They just kept circling a hundred meters behind.
"Magus Merlin, could you hold up a second? There are a lot of skeleton warriors behind us—shouldn't we deal with them first..." Councilor Weiss glanced anxiously at Leon, who was leading the group. "And they're gathering more and more. I'm worried we'll have trouble if this keeps up."
"Councilor Weiss, if they're not attacking, we don't need to worry about them. Let's keep searching for the Teleportation Alchemical Array to reach the bottom." Leon replied without even turning his head.
As the one responsible, how could he not know the reason?
It was all because of the Bane of the Undead talent...
He'd gained it in the Death Garden, and only later, in the Bone Plane, did he realize just how powerful the Bane of the Undead really was.
Still, the fewer people who know about this ability, the better.
So he had no intention of explaining anything.
"..."
Councilor Weiss stared at Leon in surprise, his throat moving as if to speak, but he said nothing.
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He felt that the young mage was acting a bit recklessly. That group of skeleton warriors trailing behind them were all potential threats—how could anyone feel at ease without dealing with them first?
Still too young...
Weiss shook his head inwardly. Though he was somewhat dissatisfied with the young mage, his own power had fallen to that of a fifth-tier titled Archmage—there was no choice but to bow his head under someone else's roof.
Besides, whenever Weiss faced the young mage, he felt a pang of guilt. Scenes from Skyline Gorge months ago kept surfacing in his mind—back then, he’d attacked the young mage to protect Solan Monty...
And when Barris summoned the avatar of Desolation, he’d even set the young mage up—those Burst Spells nearly got him killed.
Just thinking about it now was enough to break him out in a cold sweat.
Thankfully, the young mage didn’t seem to hold a grudge...
Leon shot Weiss a cool glance but said nothing. He turned back and led the way at the front of the party. With his Undead Nemesis talent, the lowest tier skeleton warriors didn’t dare approach them, so their progress was smooth. Occasionally, a bone demon of Archmage strength would appear, only to be smashed into dust by Hubert...
After several hours of trekking deeper, Leon gradually realized this undead world was far vaster than he’d imagined—at least the size of the entire Bone Plane. As he walked, his mana harness ran at full capacity, constantly probing his surroundings. If Barris’s Tomb appeared, he would sense it instantly.
Yet, nothing. Not a single clue...
Searching in this vast undead realm felt like looking for a needle in a haystack...
During those hours, even though they hadn’t faced much attack from undead creatures, the oppressive aura of death kept everyone on edge, never daring to relax. As they pressed on, a small black mound appeared in the distance—barely ten meters high, formed from countless shattered stones and bones.
"Hmm?"
As they approached the black mound, Leon clearly saw specks of phosphorescent light flickering in the distance. And those lights were multiplying. Instantly alert, he flicked his Doomstaff—several Wizard’s Eyes shot out, circling the area in search. What they found was a dense swarm of undead, closing in on them...
Leon was thoroughly stunned. Through the Wizard’s Eyes, he could see the skeleton warriors cloaked in a shroud of black mist. Normally, these lowest-tier undead would never dare approach him, but now, something was off. Driven by that black mist, they seemed immune to his Undead Nemesis talent.
The skeleton warriors were countless—an endless sea, thousands, maybe tens of thousands, with more crawling out from underground.
If that was all, Leon might not have been so shocked. Mixed within the undead horde were hulking bone demons—hundreds of them at least!
Bone demons were usually at Archmage level. One or two wouldn’t be a problem, but hundreds at once? Terrifying. That was like facing an army of hundreds of archmages! Even a titled Archmage couldn’t withstand such force...
This is bad...
A chill ran through Leon’s heart, and his expression changed. Coming to this undead realm, he’d known his Undead Nemesis talent was his greatest advantage...
But now, he realized this undead realm was far more complicated than he’d ever imagined...
Some mysterious power was driving the undead horde to attack them, completely beyond his expectations.
Rumble...
Across the hills and plains, skeleton warriors brandished rusted scimitars, marching in perfect unison over the pitch-black ground, their footsteps thundering. In that moment, it felt as if the earth itself was trembling. Endless waves of deathly energy radiated from their ranks, swirling in midair to form a monstrous, terrifying face.
Everyone was startled. From a distance, beneath the black mist, a forest of bone-white figures stretched as far as the eye could see—countless skeleton warriors. The black mist was especially sinister, and within a kilometer in every direction, undead packed the land!