The "Aura Disguise" spell had its advantages. As an Apprentice Level spell, its disguise could even fool some Novice Level detection methods. But its drawbacks were equally obvious—it only disguised one's aura. In actual combat, if the enemy was knowledgeable, they would know of a spell capable of creating such a disguise. Even some uncultured brute, in a life-or-death struggle, would suspect a plot if the enemy suddenly took on the aura of an ally. Any creature with an IQ above fifty would kill the enemy first and investigate afterward. They would never stop attacking because of it, much less "turn an enemy into a friend."
But using this spell before this group of undead was perfectly suited. With the undead's sensory discernment, there was no way they could detect flaws in Punk's disguised undead aura. Besides, undead truly were dim-witted. Every one of them relied solely on auras to distinguish friend from foe. Now that Punk had disguised his aura as that of another undead, the undead merely saw that "an enemy has vanished, and one of our kind has joined us." They would not waste brainpower wondering whether such a situation was reasonable. They had only one thought now—"Make the other enemy disappear too."
The female priest, surrounded by undead, was now completely unable to break free. In only a few seconds, the two Apprentice Level Skeleton Warriors had turned the solid, dazzling Holy Light Armor on her robe hazy and dim. Several inscriptions on the robe began flickering under the corrosion of the black Death Qi surrounding the Skeleton Warriors, on the verge of failing.
The young priest had no choice but to activate another Holy Light Armor, but it would do nothing except delay her death by a few moments. The undead that hated holy light and the living knew neither fatigue nor fear. Some stabbed with weapons, some clawed and scratched, and some even opened their mouths to bite with their teeth. In less than five seconds, the Journeyman Level Divine Spell carried by the Journeyman Level robe would be unable to hold any longer. Harried by the undead assault, the priest could not cast any spell at all. As a spellcaster surrounded at close range by a large group of combatants, the only reason she had survived this long was that the life-saving Journeyman Level Divine Spell on her priestly robe was far more powerful than Apprentice Level methods.
However, it seemed that her defensive divine spell could only be activated twice in a short period. The Skeleton Warriors, meanwhile, attacked the Holy Light Armor with frenzied ferocity, as though pumped full of stimulants. Their swinging blades nearly became pale-black propellers in the air. Dull clangs rang out without end as black streaks and golden sparks scattered in opposite directions, becoming splendid flashes of light in the dim sky. On the ground nearby, one side was crisscrossed with blade marks, while the other was pockmarked wasteland battered by flying fragments of holy light. Several skeleton soldiers that carelessly entered the battle's range were ruthlessly cut in two by the Skeleton Warriors!
Watching helplessly as the last Holy Light Armor protecting her was about to shatter and vanish beneath the repeated assaults of three Skeleton Warriors, the priest could only futilely activate several harmless Purification Spells from her badges. After that, all she could do was loudly accuse Punk of being despicable, shameless, sinister, and cunning.
Within the barrier formed by Aura Disguise Spell, Punk marveled at how much more powerful Journeyman Level spells were than Apprentice Level spells, while also sighing, What a cultured lady. Even her insults are so refined and artsy.
Very soon, the refined and artsy priest's career of cursing was about to come to an end. Even a Journeyman Level spell could not endure dozens of uninterrupted slashes from Skeleton Warriors. Finally, with a sound like shattering porcelain, golden fragments broke into ever smaller pieces under the priest's despairing gaze, eventually turning into tiny dots of golden light and vanishing completely. Then, accompanied by a fleeting black blade flash, she entered a world of pure white amid a wave of dizziness, never to awaken again...
Punk watched as the priest's armor shattered and vanished. Her head was the first thing severed by a Skeleton Warrior's blade—cleanly and decisively, without the slightest hesitation. Now, the River of Fate had erased the priest's consciousness, and her "pure" soul, stripped of consciousness, had been taken away by Lord of Dawn, Lousanda, whom she had worshipped all her life.
Her corpse was soon torn apart and hacked to pieces by the skeletons. The skeletons that despised light vented their hatred and rage upon the priest's mangled mass of flesh and blood.
Punk did not see the expression frozen on the priest's face before her death, because her head had been chopped into countless pieces by the Skeleton Warrior's swift slash at the very first instant.
"Whether it was serene and elegant or twisted with hatred—though the former was naturally unlikely—what did any of that have to do with me?" Punk shrugged indifferently. He could not tolerate the "spoils" he intended to claim being "purified" by the priest into worthless scrap iron, and the priest could not possibly abandon her "mission" of "purifying everything" merely for the sake of Punk, a mage. When irreconcilable interests clashed, the most "fair" outcome was for the weaker side to fall!
Besides, no matter what Divination Spell the church used to search for the priest's killer, the results would only point toward those Skeleton Warriors. With such a clean and worry-free method, Punk naturally acted without restraint.
"On my path to glory, I will not allow anyone to obstruct my steps!"
The blue radiance in Punk's pupils nearly became tangible. The two azure points of light beneath the shadow of his hood did not dim in the slightest. Instead, they became ever more—soul-shaking!
Now it was time to wipe out these elite undead that were wildly hacking and striking at a lump of flesh. But the three undead warriors... especially that level-four skeleton, posed a threat to Punk. Moreover, it was clearly the leader of these undead. Once the skeletons that had previously wandered aimlessly while ignoring one another gained a commander, they became exceptionally united. They might currently treat Punk as one of their kind, putting on an air of "we're all friends here," but Punk would bet that the moment he approached those Skeleton Warriors or tried to seize their weapons, they would turn hostile on the spot and bring the entire forest's skeleton underlings against him. It did not matter that he only possessed the aura of one of their kind—even if he had the aura of their own father, it would not help!
Punk did not want to provoke such a huge group of undead that feared no death. After weighing the situation briefly, he decided to use the Journeyman Level Evocation Spell built into his staff, "Geka's Flying Flame," to "clean up" the gathered undead. With the power of a Journeyman Level Evocation Spell, these piles of bones without even a single Journeyman Level defensive measure would definitely be wiped out in one wave. Their already fragile equipment would most likely be wiped out along with them, but that was still better than being besieged by undead. Safety came first, after all! Most of the undead that had not gathered had no class levels at all. Without unified command from their "leader," and with their numbers scattered, they posed no threat whatsoever. After dealing with the danger, collecting the equipment from those Mage Robe Skeletons would still be a considerable gain.
Punk ordered the Great Brown Bear that had yet to vanish to deal with several swaying skeleton soldiers trying to approach. He himself aimed the ruby at the head of his staff toward the skeletons, still utterly unaware of the catastrophe about to befall them. Violent elemental fluctuations brewed within the ruby embedded in the staff. The increasingly radiant gem released such terrifying pressure that even Punk felt a chill rise from the depths of his heart!
"Poor undead, rest in peace!"
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