“Damn it, there are too many demons! Our traps are exhausted. My Lord, we must retreat! If we don't leave now, it'll be too late!”
“No! This is the ancestral land of the Blood Rose family! This is my place of honor! I will not leave, even if I must die!”
“Fine, then we're leaving first. Good luck, my Lord.”
“Wait! You are Knights of the Church! How can you abandon the believers in this territory and leave alone?”
“Heh, we are Knights of the Church, but we aren't Paladins of the Heaven Church. We don't have the power to deal with this many demons.”
The Lord of Blood Rose glared, watching as the groups of Knights of the Church abandoned his territory.
Before leaving, they even took a significant portion of the military rations he had gathered. These bastards were truly cursed, just as much as the demons.
Unwilling to accept this, the Lord of Blood Rose looked up at the sky.
A hideous, blood-colored claw mark stretched across the horizon, having torn the defenses of this weak world to shreds.
Countless demons rained down from the claw mark. The world was drenched in a crimson rain that reeked of corruption and the sulfurous breath of demons.
In just three days, a third of the vast empire's territory had been seized by demons. The occupied lands had become a living purgatory.
The helpless lord leaned weakly against the castle walls, watching the demons launch their continuous assaults in the distance, letting out a final wail and prayer.
“O Great Lord of Heaven, if you can hear my call, I beg for your mercy! Save the living beings of the Blood Rose territory!
I swear in the name of the Lord of Blood Rose that I will lead my people to change our faith! I will personally build a church for you on this land and offer worship for all eternity!”
Heaven was not the original faith of this world. It was only after the demon invasion began that messengers from Heaven had arrived, asking if the people of this world were willing to convert their faith in exchange for salvation.
The result was obvious: the local church believed they could handle the demon invasion themselves and drove the messengers away.
As the ruler of one of the empire's top territories, the Lord of Blood Rose was naturally aware of this. Thus, in the final moments of his life, he ignored the local church's threats and offered his prayers to the legendary Lord of Heaven.
However, after waiting for a long time, the cornered lord received no response from Heaven.
The messenger they had previously rejected was currently floating silently in the void of space, watching this insolent world drift toward destruction.
“Insolent barbarians. To think you dared speak disrespectfully to the great Lord of Heaven. Since you chose to abandon the gift of Holy Light, go then and embrace the arms of Hell.”
Suddenly, the messenger felt a vibration in his robes. He pulled out a contract and began to read.
“Coordinates... Undead?”
A trace of resentment appeared on the messenger's face. He gnashed his teeth and looked at the world being invaded by demons in the distance, slowly muttering, “Lucky bastards.”
He then sent the coordinates of this world to the newly promoted Titled High Priest, Lord Alifa.
In the next moment, the Lord of Blood Rose, who had already fallen into despair, suddenly showed an expression of both surprise and terror.
“Skeletons? Undead? Heavens, what has the empire done? It was bad enough with the demons, and now even the undead are sticking their hands in.”
Massive spatial gates opened one after another. Like a surging tide, skeleton soldiers roared out of the gates, charging toward the demons with bone shields raised in their left hands.
These personal troops, enhanced by Chen Xu's talents, were growing in combat power every second. Even the skeleton soldiers, widely considered the weakest of their kind, now possessed terrifying strength.
The demons, famous for their physical prowess and flesh-and-blood strength, had their formations shattered the instant they clashed with the skeleton soldiers.
After plunging deep into the demon ranks, the leading skeleton soldiers began to change their form. They grouped into sets of six, standing back-to-back.
Miraculously, their bones shifted positions, binding the six skeletons together.
Then, six heavy bone shields connected to form a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree barrier with no blind spots. From the gaps between the shields, six bone blades extended, their edges glinting with lethal sharpness.
Then, the skeleton soldiers began to spin. This was the Whirlwind Slash skill, uploaded to the network by the skeleton hero Bone Guard Three.
A deadly but ungraceful rotation of death began to harvest the lives of the demons within the swarm.
The fallen demons, naturally cowardly, immediately thought of fleeing.
But just as they turned and before they could even move their legs, a burst of frigid power invaded their bodies, slowing their movements to a crawl.
Immediately after, a violent suction force pulled them from behind. One small fallen demon after another was dragged into the storm of blades and frost.
Demon flesh was sliced by bone blades, torn by the gale, and frozen by the frost.
The frozen chunks of meat then turned into new weapons, continuously battering the demons trapped within the storm.
Bloody ice storms rose one after another, harvesting the lives of low-tier demons.
In the rear, a mythic-tier demon lord witnessed this. It condensed a massive magma fireball in its hand, the scorching heat waves distorting the surrounding space.
Just as it raised the fireball to throw it, a gray spear appeared out of thin air and pierced its chest.
Instantly, the fireball lost control and exploded violently. Terrifying flames spread outward, consuming the succubi serving nearby.
From the soil below, the soul beast Hades emerged from the shadows and opened its mouth to let out a shriek.
The Soul Scream of the soul beast expanded outward, its power no less than that of a banshee—in fact, it was even more potent.
The demon lord, whose soul had already been sealed by Bone Guard Two, felt its soul tremble under the shriek.
As the scream ended, the demon lord fell into a weakened state. Hades seized the opportunity, wrapping its tongue around the spear. The soul beast's unique ability traveled along the spear into the demon lord's body, enveloping its soul.
Bone Guard Two's skeletal body ran over from the distance and landed on Hades. Grabbing the spear, the skeleton and the beast worked together to pull it out, attempting to drag the demon's soul out of its body to devour it.
However, just as the soul began to leave the body, the Hellfire within the demon lord automatically triggered. Flames instantly spread from its heart across its entire body, igniting the spear and rushing toward Hades.
Bone Guard Two released its left hand from the spear and aimed its palm at the demon lord's chest. Seeing this, Hades immediately closed its eyes and tilted its head away.
The nearby demons also recovered from the scream. Seeing the two undead, they immediately rushed forward to help their lord.
But just as they drew near, a blinding and scorching light shot out. The already weakened demons were instantly scorched by the light and collapsed to the ground.
Indeed, Bone Guard Two had just used a Holy Light spell. The domineering Holy Light blasted from its skeletal palm, piercing through the demon lord's chest cavity and suppressing the corruption of the Hellfire.
Hades seized the chance, pulling with all its might to rip out the demon lord's soul before opening its mouth and swallowing it whole.
Bone Guard Two reached into the air and grabbed the spear. Then, with a sharp strike, it snapped off its own left arm, which had been charred black by the Holy Light. It then rode Hades back into the undead army.
It selected a lucky skeleton soldier and patted Hades. Hades flicked its tongue, tearing off the skeleton soldier's left arm and bringing it over.
Bone Guard Two stowed its spear and caught the bone arm. It attached the arm to its own body, and after a brief adjustment to ensure it worked, it set off again with Hades to find its next hunting target.
In the rear, Bone Guard One merely glanced at Bone Guard Two's actions and said nothing.
The chief general was currently busy making numerous arrangements for the skeleton legion through the Undead Network.
Behind Bone Guard One, the Lord of Blood Rose lay slumped on the ground, shrouded in shadows and trembling uncontrollably.
These undead, these skeletons, seemed even more terrifying than the demons.
The poor lord was already hallucinating—imagining what life would be like after the world was ruled by the undead.
“With my status, I should be able to turn into a lich, right? Surely I won't become one of those mindless skeleton soldiers...”
Rate on N.U.
