Undead Soldiers

"You're here." Anna looked up and saw Jialan, immediately setting aside her work. "I heard you're leaving tonight?" As she spoke, she handed Jialan a small cloth pouch. "These are some special healing potions I prepared overnight. They're much more effective than ordinary ones."

Jialan accepted the potions and could still feel the residual warmth on the pouch. "Thank you. I'll be careful."

The two fell silent for a moment. Anna suddenly lowered her voice. "Jialan, I looked through some ancient texts... There are very few records about Sun Fruit, but one thing is clear: it wasn't meant for defense at all. It was used to 'stimulate' the bloodlines of certain animals..."

Jialan's heart jolted. This coincided perfectly with Argyle's warning. He wanted to ask more, but Anna stopped him.

At sunset, the five mages assigned to the mission gathered at the west gate. Argyle led more than a dozen elite soldiers, all ready to depart. Each wore light leather armor and carried specially made silver weapons at their waists.

"Remember," Argyle gave them one final reminder before departure, "our objective is to gather materials, not fight. If you encounter danger, retreat first. Keep the Communication Crystals active."

As the last trace of sunlight disappeared beyond the horizon, the special party quietly left the fortress and vanished into the shadows of the Misty Forest. Jialan glanced back at the fortress silhouette receding into the distance, an inexplicable unease rising in his heart...

Two days later, they had reached the outskirts of Shadow Valley. The forest was especially dark at night, with only the Magic Lamps carried by several soldiers providing faint illumination. The group marched in silence, vigilantly watching their surroundings. Jialan could feel that the deeper they went into the forest, the more chaotic the magic in the air became, as though something was disrupting the natural flow of magic. His mental power was also severely suppressed. Even with mental power no weaker than that of an intermediate spellcaster, he could only sense around thirty to forty meters in every direction at full strength.

Suddenly, the scout at the front raised a fist, signaling the party to stop. Argyle quickly stepped forward and quietly asked what was wrong.

"There's movement ahead," the scout reported nervously. "Not magical beasts... It sounds like human footsteps."

Everyone's nerves instantly tightened. This was the first time their small party had encountered humans since entering the depths of the forest. In this dangerous place, meeting humans could be more deadly than meeting magical beasts, because it might mean scouts from an enemy nation—or something worse...

Argyle made several hand signals. The soldiers immediately scattered, silently concealing themselves among the surrounding bushes. Jialan and the other mages were arranged in a slightly sunken patch of ground, where they had both cover and room to cast spells.

The wait seemed to stretch on endlessly. Jialan held his breath and extended his mental power to its limit. At the edge of his perception, he truly caught something—faint footsteps, and... the subtle sound of metal clashing?

Just then, a Shadow Figure slowly emerged from the mist. It was a humanoid figure draped in a tattered cloak, seemingly holding some sort of weapon. As it drew closer, Jialan saw its face clearly and sharply sucked in a breath.

It was not a living person at all. Its rotten face bore a pair of hollow eyes glowing with eerie green light. In its hand was a rusted longsword, its blade wrapped in nauseating Dark Energy.

"Undead!" Argyle warned sharply. "Prepare for battle!"

Even more terrifyingly, more Shadow Figures began emerging from the mist behind that walking corpse...

The tattered clothing on the undead bore the embroidered emblem of the Aus Empire. Even covered in filth, the dark crimson thorn-flower pattern remained clearly visible.

"Soldiers of the Aus Empire?" Albert exclaimed softly beside him. "How did they become undead and appear here?" The fog in the forest seemed to have solidified as the Undead Soldiers clad in Aus Empire uniforms slowly closed in. Green flames flickered within their hollow eye sockets, while their rusted weapons dragged along the ground with a grating scrape that set everyone's teeth on edge.

Argyle's hand rested on his sword hilt, but he did not draw it at once. Jialan could see that the senior Light Knight was doing everything he could to suppress his power, avoiding the powerful fluctuations of battle aura that might draw even more dangerous beings.

"Mages," Argyle ordered quietly, "use only the minimum amount of magic needed to deal with them. Don't make too much noise."

Jialan immediately understood. His hands rapidly formed seals as he cast a small-scale Ice Seal Trap. An icy blue halo silently spread outward, freezing the foremost undead in place. The other mages also acted—Fireball Spell, Wind Blade, earth spikes... all basic spells, yet under the coordination of five mages, they proved remarkably effective.

Argyle seized the opportunity and flashed forward like a ghost. His sword never left its sheath; instead, he struck the undead's vital points with the sheathed blade. Every precise blow sent an undead collapsing completely, turning into a heap of foul-smelling bones that lay still forever.

The battle ended quickly, and silence returned to the forest. But Jialan's heart could not settle. Though the Aus Empire uniforms on these undead were worn and tattered, they were clearly recent models. Even more unsettling was that he sensed a familiar aura from several of them.

"Dark Council..." Jialan murmured unconsciously. Besides the Dark Council's aura, he could sense some strange presences within these undead as well.

Argyle abruptly turned to look at him. A flash of surprise crossed his eyes before turning into deep concern. Clearly, the Light Knight had reached the same conclusion.

"Check their equipment," Argyle ordered the soldiers. "See if there are any clues."

Jialan crouched down and forced himself to inspect one of the undead despite the stench. When he pulled open the tattered uniform, a strange discovery made him suck in a cold breath—a pitch-black rune on the undead's chest was slowly fading away.

"Control Mark..." Albert had somehow come to stand behind him. The old mage's voice was unusually grave. "This isn't naturally formed undead. It was forcibly transformed with Dark Magic."

Argyle's expression turned even more serious. "Clean up. We need to move faster. Shadow Valley isn't far ahead."

The party continued onward, but the atmosphere had clearly become more tense. Walking beside Argyle, Jialan could not help asking quietly, "These undead... could they be connected to that necromancer from last time?"

Argyle's gaze remained alert as it swept over their surroundings. "Very likely. The Dark Council has been active along the border recently. This is not a good sign."