Battle of Baiman City

Huff... huff...

Listening to his father's impassioned speech atop the platform, Havent found himself breathing heavily again.

This ability of his—or rather, this cheat—could only simulate the next ten hours for now. Any longer, and once the simulation ended, his head felt as though it had been smashed by a hammer. It took him a long time to recover enough to move.

This was the fourth time. The previous three drills in the Mental Space had all ended in failure.

The first time, he had let events unfold naturally. His father had fallen into an ambush and, when the personal guards escorted him back, he had barely been clinging to life. Havent had wanted to lead the remaining soldiers in a raid on the enemy's rear, buying time for the remaining townsfolk and families in the city to escape.

Unexpectedly, he had overestimated himself. The Demon Dragon, which had been patrolling the skies, swooped down and wiped them all out in one go.

The second time, after agonizing over it for half a day, he concluded that no matter what he did, there was no way to kill the Death Cultist controlling the Demon Dragon while under the Dragon's attack.

He chose to act while his father's injuries were still not too serious. Rather than let his father organize the army and march out to fight the Undead Army in a bloody battle, he urged him to go on a surprise attack with him.

After Havent wore himself out persuading him and resorted to all kinds of moral pressure, Count Kevin reluctantly agreed. Yet the result was still failure. Although he and his father successfully fought their way in, they could only struggle desperately within the Undead Army.

Guided by the Death Cultist, the Demon Dragon flew directly toward the castle. Under the soldiers' protection, Havent could only watch as Baiman City erupted into towering flames. In the end, wave after wave of undead ghouls crashed into them, and he died in battle on a dirt slope three kilometers outside Baiman City, earning the golden achievement of father and son dying together on the battlefield...

As for the third time, that was when Havent truly realized what it meant for every person to be an independent individual with their own will.

After combining the lessons of the first two failures, Havent concluded that his family simply had too little combat strength available at the time—far too little to tip the scales of victory. So he thought of the nobles who had left before the siege began, along with their guards.

However, when he urged Count Kevin to ask them to join the battle, his father merely shook his head, patted Havent on the shoulder, and said,

"To nobles, territory is lifeless. Temporary gains and losses are not important. Not everyone is like us, and we have no right to demand that they be."

Unwilling to accept this, Havent brought his attendants to visit each of the nobles remaining in the castle. In the end, only Count Mori agreed to help. Seeing this, the other nobles also declared that they were willing to contribute to the coming battle.

Yet when the real fighting began, they truly only contributed a little. After his father and Solis fought desperately to kill the Demon Dragon, the nobles watched the city fall, activated the teleportation array, and left Baiman City.

At the thought of this, a sense of helplessness rose from the depths of Havent's heart.

Watching the soldiers carry their equipment and march neatly onto the walls, Havent shook his head hard. There had to be another way. There had to be.

"Teacher! Is there any way to sever the Death Cultist's control over the Demon Dragon?"

Solis had already returned to his seat. He picked up a herb and prepared to process it. After all, once the war began, there would be many wounded, and potions would be needed everywhere.

"Hmm... I'm a fire mage. To be honest, I don't know much about Divine Arts, and my specialty is potioncraft, so I'm not very familiar with the formation of magic inscriptions either.

"Still, I've read related books. Generally speaking, undead conversion is irreversible, and the Church of Death's conversion ritual should also involve Divine Arts.

"I know what you're thinking. You want to break that Demon Dragon's undead contract, don't you?"

Havent nodded. That Demon Dragon was an obstacle he could not get around, and the Dragon's golden eyes during the first simulation had made him feel that he should change his approach.

"That's not very realistic, child. If that dragon were still alive, there might be something we could do. But it is a dead thing now. Unless an archbishop cast the Great Light Technique, which should be able to remove the deathly aura from the Demon Dragon."

As he spoke, Solis sighed regretfully. To a potionmaster, a Demon Dragon converted into an undead creature was simply an enormous waste. Dragon bones also held great research value.

"What if that dragon is still alive?"

"If it's alive, then all we need to do is... Hmm? Alive? How do you know? Have you seen that Demon Dragon?"

Havent really wanted to nod. After all, he had already been killed by it three times. But in the end, he shook his head.

"No, I was just saying. If that dragon really is alive, is there any way?"

Solis stroked the beard on his chin.

"If you put it that way, there is indeed a way we can manage, but..."

Before Solis could finish speaking, a loud boom came from outside. The door then flew open, and Taren entered with blood all over his face.

"My apologies, Lord Solis. The Undead Army has reached the city. Lord Kevin asked me to notify you to prepare to go up to the walls and fight."

Solis packed the medicines on the table into his magic pouch, then turned to the rack and took down his staff.

"Alright, let's go. Have Stari and the others bring the magic equipment as well."

"The mages of the magic squad have already been notified."

Solis nodded, gathered his things, and prepared to head to the battlefield with Taren. When he reached the doorway, he seemed to remember something and turned back to Havent.

"Don't worry, child. It will be over soon. We only need to hold the line.

"Oh, and if you want the answer to that question just now, you can look in my study. I remember a book on the far right of the third shelf of my bookcase.

"Basic Theory and Knowledge of Necromancy, along with some reports about cults. You can take a look if you're interested."

Watching Solis leave, Havent gritted his teeth. During the third simulation, even at the very end, this old man who reeked of herbs had wanted to teleport him away.

Everyone had their own convictions and choices. Just as his father chose to fight to the death rather than abandon his people and flee alone, and his teacher chose to help his close friend until the very last moment, Havent could not give up either.

Havent passed through the corridor and headed for the study. Even from far away, he could smell the nauseating stench of burning corpses.

Solis's study was on the third floor of the magic tower. Pushing open the door, Havent followed his teacher's instructions and quickly headed for the target bookshelf.

Baraba Serpentfolk Secret Transmission, Occanwei Potion Distribution Atlas...

"Ah, here it is."

Havent took down the bronze-covered book along with the ones beside it, found a sofa, sat down, and eagerly began flipping through it.

Death is not the end of life, nor is necromancy synonymous with evil...

Havent hurriedly flipped past the two rather philosophical lines on the title page and anxiously searched the book for an answer.

"Kevin, how are things?"

Solis, who had already arrived, asked his friend.