"Medivh is dead."
The Blood Crow Captain held back his anger and impatiently gave his answer.
Someone was probably scheming against them right now. How could he spare a thought for the employer's task?
"What about the body?"
The intermediary pressed him. This time, the employer had added a requirement: they wanted to see the body, to make sure Medivh hadn't escaped again.
"I said he's dead, so he's dead!"
The Blood Crow Captain stared coldly at the intermediary.
There was no way he'd agree to an examination. Before accepting the job, he hadn't even been sure whether that Necromancer was Medivh.
If it really was Medivh, would he have kindly let them examine the body?
If it wasn't, then Medivh was dead, and his word was final.
"Then he's dead."
The sudden murderous intent sent a chill down the intermediary's spine.
Only then did he remember that this was Odyssey. He hurriedly swallowed the rest of his words and congratulated the Blood Crow Captain on completing the employer's task.
The intermediary had no idea what had gotten into the Blood Crow Captain. He quickly left the hall to avoid becoming the target of his anger.
Outside, he ran into a black-clad woman dressed in skimpy clothes, with a voluptuous figure.
The intermediary didn't dare take a second look. This woman was Black Widow, the infamous figure in the Pioneer Territory, the Blood Crow Mercenary Group's second vice-captain: Night Crow.
Who knew how many mercenaries had fallen for Night Crow's charms, only to vanish without a trace afterward?
"Captain, I've finished investigating. White Crow didn't die at the hands of that group."
Night Crow sat right on the table, crossed her legs, and sipped her water as she reported what she'd learned.
She had looked into the mercenary group that was itching to make a move. They weren't after them, and White Crow had no connection to them.
"Then where the hell did he die?"
The Blood Crow Captain muttered, resting his chin in his hand. He didn't let the alluring view distract him.
He knew Night Crow well enough to know that sampling that tempting rose would leave him covered in thorns.
He had tried before, but the price had made his heart ache. He'd be better off with obedient slaves who didn't cost him a thing.
"Captain, we found a large settlement in this area. It's full of skeletons."
Night Crow wasn't the only one the Blood Crow Captain had sent out. Other scouts were searching the Wilderness, too.
One of them had reported finding the skeletons' lair: Kurd City.
The Blood Crow Mercenary Group's scouts couldn't confirm whether White Crow had died in Kurd City.
Even if the undead were weak, a thousand skeletons gathered together were more than a few ordinary scouts could handle.
"Interesting. When did all these undead show up here, and how did they quietly build a settlement?"
After hearing the scout's description of Kurd City, both Blood Crow and Night Crow looked astonished.
A settlement this orderly, here in Odyssey? Those undead had some ability!
Compared with Kurd City, the Blood Crow Mercenary Group's longtime base looked like a ruin.
"So White Crow died at the hands of a bunch of skeletons?"
The Blood Crow Captain made the guess in an amused tone. Like everyone else, he thought undead were synonymous with weakness and didn't believe White Crow could have died there.
That was the judgment any normal person would make. Out of a hundred people, 99.9 would agree with him.
After all, everyone had seen the Necromancers and various undead perform disastrously over the years.
The funniest incident involved a Necromancer Apprentice who was captured by a few Goblins. By the time the others rescued her, she was already carrying a Goblin's child.
That incident had turned Necromancers into a complete laughingstock.
"Let me meet this Necromancer."
His instincts told him otherwise, but White Crow had gone after the Necromancer, and now White Crow was missing while the undead were still there. Kurd City had to be involved somehow.
A Necromancer who could build a large settlement and hold it through a famine couldn't be simple. The Blood Crow Captain wouldn't underestimate his opponent. He'd give it everything he had.
As for losing, the Blood Crow Captain hadn't even considered it. He was a second-tier, low-level knight, among the strongest fighters in the entire Odyssey Region.
He didn't believe he could fail to lead a force against a bunch of skeletons.
Early the next morning, the Blood Crow Captain led his mercenaries out of the Pioneer Territory in a great procession.
They left few people behind at the Blood Crow Camp. As long as they stayed alive, no one would dare target their camp.
After all, a large band of thugs who'd lost their home and plundered without rules would cause anyone a serious headache. Even the strongest force in the Pioneer Territory wouldn't want to provoke a mad dog like that.
"Where's Blood Crow headed?"
An operation of this scale naturally drew the attention of the other forces in the Pioneer Territory.
They sent out scouts to keep an eye on the Blood Crow Mercenary Group and find out what they were after.
"Night Crow, go take care of our tail."
The Blood Crow Captain didn't want everyone knowing what he was up to.
Like White Crow, he had his eye on Kurd City, with its full range of facilities and self-sufficient setup.
He planned to move the Blood Crow Camp there, but didn't want other forces coming to snatch it away and steal his prize.
Of course, even without Kurd City, the Blood Crow Captain would have ordered his men to clear out the scouts. It was standard practice for mercenary groups.
They were all rivals, after all. If an accident cost them men and other forces found out, their enemies would surely kick them while they were down and take advantage of the situation.
Keeping their movements secret was a way of life in Odyssey.
The Blood Crow Mercenary Group didn't head straight for Kurd City. They spent several days circling through the Wilderness, and only set off for their destination after confirming no one was following them.
The Blood Crow Captain's caution gave Medivh another week to develop.
That week, Medivh resurrected eight Green Bone Minotaur Skeleton Warriors, one Minotaur Skeleton Shaman, and thirty-two Heavy Skeleton Warriors.
This time, there were fewer Transcendental Skeletons and more Green Bone Heavy Skeleton Warriors because no transcendental bones with histories of 250 to 300 years remained.
After the Odyssey War, few Transcendents had died in the Minotaur Tribe, so there weren't many transcendental bones with histories of 100 to 250 years.
This resurrection further completed the Minotaur ancestral totem inheritance, but unfortunately, no new Spell Totems appeared.
Once the Ancestral Totem had been completed, those eight Skeleton Warriors had advanced to first-tier, low-level Bone Spirits.
Medivh asked the Big-Horned Ox to lend him some blood in advance, then used it to raise the three newly resurrected Skeleton Shamans to the first tier.
Unknown enemies could attack Kurd City at any time. Medivh couldn't stick to a steady routine; he needed to strengthen his combat power right away.
By the time the Blood Crow Mercenary Group neared Kurd City, Medivh had 105 first-tier Transcendental Skeletons under his command.
Would the second-tier, low-level knight prove stronger, or would Medivh's Transcendental Skeletons have the last laugh? The answer was about to be revealed.
"What a settlement!"
Kurd City looked far more impressive in person than the scouts had described.
Construction in Kurd City had continued throughout this period. Medivh had focused on the Workshop District and West Warehouse District, raising the walls around both areas to eight meters.
At present, the Kurd Nine-Grid had sixteen-meter walls around the Central District and East Reservoir District, and ten-meter walls around the Livestock District and Graveyard District.
The Workshop District and West Reservoir District had eight-meter walls, while the three Farmland Districts still had low, one-meter walls.
Kurd City's core areas were all inside the high walls.
There was a reason he hadn't raised the walls around the Farmland Districts. For now, the Livestock District was the main source of food.
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