Undead Necromancer (II)

Chapter 26: Undead Necromancer (II)

Undead Necromancer Sand was undoubtedly an ugly creature, both inside and out!

That was Li Wei's first impression of Sand. It was hard to imagine that a monster like him had once been a knight, but beneath his hideous appearance, Li Wei could see the terror he posed.

"Hero: Sand. Class: Undead Necromancer. Attack: 30. Defense: 31. Strength: 45. Knowledge: 59. Health: 2,000. Skills: Advanced Necromancy. Rating: B3!... Hidden trait: like all undead, Sand fears light and life magic!"

Just as Li Wei had expected, Sand was incredibly powerful.

The Undead Necromancer first went to the City Hall's stone plaza and began casting the magic that maintained Black Cloud Cover and Plague Land. But soon, the keen-nosed undead necromancer caught a scent.

The scent of a Dread Knight!

A greedy look appeared in Sand's eyes. Of all undead creatures, Dread Knights were the hardest to obtain. It made sense: these were once steadfast, blessed knights, and turning them into undead was no easy feat. But once these brave knights became undead, they made the most valiant followers.

They were loyal and courageous, unlike mindless skeletons and zombies. They were far more reliable than cunning vampires, and much easier to control than Bone Dragons with their savage souls. For all these reasons, Dread Knights were the best undead soldiers—and the hardest to acquire.

So, like other necromancers, Sand desperately wanted to obtain these rare undead.

But this wasn't the City of the Undead, and there was no Dark Graveyard here. So how had a Dread Knight appeared?

"Could it have formed naturally?" Sand wondered. It seemed likely. When he attacked Dawn City, he had used necromancy to kill a group of knights. Perhaps their corpses had undergone some kind of "mutation."

With that thought, Sand hurried after the scent, heading toward the place where Li Wei had set his "trap."

"What a keen sense of smell. Good thing I covered my own scent in advance, or else..."

Li Wei was surprised, but quickly figured out why. Sand must have caught the scent of the Dread Knight. That saved Li Wei from having to act as bait himself. He hurriedly led the Orcs away, preparing to retreat in the direction they had come from.

Just then, Li Wei spotted a figure behind the necromancer Sand, and froze.

"That veteran... What's he doing here?" The person Li Wei had spotted was Guo Jian, the brawny strongman who had been the first to leave the room. But now, his attributes had changed drastically.

ID: 348. Race: Undead. Strength: 35. Agility: 14. Spirit: 7. Stamina: 32. Skills: Rakshasa Three Forms LV4, Qi Blast LV2, Primordial Origin Skill LV2. Overall Rating: C2.

"Undead?" A sense of dread welled up in Li Wei's heart.

How was he still alive? And how had he become undead?

"If he became undead, there's only one explanation..." Li Wei saw the veteran glance toward his hiding place. He quickly ducked into the shadows and quietly led the Orcs away.

City Hall plaza...

"Did you find anything?" The Undead Necromancer Sand glanced at Guo Jian beside him. He was deeply curious about this human he had found the previous night.

Guo Jian had a physique clearly superior to that of ordinary humans, and he knew all sorts of strange skills. On top of that, he had told Sand some things that greatly interested him. That was why Sand had decided to turn him into an undead and make him one of his followers.

"Master, I have a feeling that the 'fellow countrymen' I told you about yesterday are in this city!" Guo Jian didn't dare look at the necromancer's face. He simply lowered his head and spoke in a low voice.

After being discovered that night, he had thought he was doomed. But he'd taken a chance and spilled some information about Shadow Street and the reincarnators. Unexpectedly, it had saved his life—and he had even gained an Undead Constitution.

Pain was reduced by 50%, all four attributes were enhanced, and he was immune to the negative effects of bleeding and severed limbs. He would never feel hungry again. These were all things he had once dreamed of, and now he had obtained them so easily.

What was more, his Yellow Paper had issued a new mission.

"Kill all Shadow Street reincarnators except yourself. No time limit. C-Rank difficulty. Reward upon completion: 10,000 points and one random undead skill!"

That had turned him completely into Sand's lapdog!

Guo Jian knew that among the people from Shadow Street, the woman with ID 103 was the hardest to deal with. Even with his Undead Constitution, he would only have a fifty-fifty chance of beating her.

Only by relying on Sand, his powerful backer, could he ensure his own safety. So he had told Sand everything about Zheng Yutong and the others, describing them as tomb robbers carrying scrolls of advanced necromancy. He knew Sand, already obsessed with necromancy, wouldn't pass up any magic scrolls.

Hearing that an "enemy" carrying necromancy he had never heard of was in the city had completely piqued Sand's interest.

By now, Li Wei had moved far beyond the area covered by City Hall. He didn't know what the man with ID 348 had told Sand, but the undead creatures throughout the city had sprung into action. Skeletons, zombies, and vampires were rushing into homes as if they were mad, apparently searching for someone.

To Li Wei, this could only mean one thing: the man who should have been his ally, ID 348, was now his enemy!

"Whatever. Time to put the plan into action!"

Li Wei signaled to the Orc beside him, whose attributes had been increased through Stacking. The creature huffed and puffed as it ran toward an alley, vanishing in the blink of an eye. Li Wei had clearly given it orders in advance.

Li Wei opened the strategic map and checked the Orc's position. Ten minutes later, the enhanced Orc had made its way to the eastern district. Only when Li Wei saw thick smoke billowing from the area in the distance did a faint smile appear on his face.

The eastern district of Dawn City had become a sea of fire. Unlike the other districts, its buildings were made of wood, so the flames spread incredibly fast. Once dozens of houses were linked by a chain of fire, there was no one who could stop the blaze.

It was an enemy attack!

Nearly all the undead in the city rushed toward the fire. It was an order from their supreme commander, the Undead Necromancer Sand. Dawn City was a crucial strategic location. He couldn't let it be destroyed in a fire.

Sand had no time to worry about anything else. Just as he was about to head for the blaze, an arrow struck his neck.

As an Undead Necromancer, he couldn't be harmed by ordinary arrows. Even so, he angrily looked toward where it had come from. A figure flashed past. Though he had seen it for only an instant, Sand knew it was a human.

"Looking to die!" In that moment, he thought of the "tomb robbers" Guo Jian had mentioned.

Perhaps he was simply used to having his way. He didn't call for any followers, but transformed into a giant bat and chased after the figure alone. He would tear apart the human who dared to provoke him.

The person who had ambushed Sand was Li Wei.

He ran desperately toward the road where the Dread Knight was waiting. With an Agility of 10, he could move at twenty meters per second. The wind roared in his ears as he raced more than a hundred meters.

But Sand was faster!

After only a few breaths, Li Wei felt the pressure of the wind overhead, along with an overwhelming sense of danger.

Without hesitation, Li Wei leaped to the side and dived into a house. But a tremendous force soon smashed the wooden building to pieces.

Li Wei had the USP Pistol in his hand. He saw the shadow rushing toward him and pulled the trigger.

A deafening bang rang out. A blue beam edged with a chill shot toward the shadow in the air. At close range, no one could dodge a bullet. With a sharp crack, it struck the shadow.

A shrill scream came from the shadow's mouth. It had clearly been badly hurt!

It was Li Wei's enhanced Evil Freezing Impact Bullet. When it hit Sand, the Ring of Ice magic embedded in it activated, and a layer of ice instantly formed over Sand's body.

Li Wei didn't pause after landing a successful hit. Even though the enhanced bullet dealt 44–72 damage, compared to Sand's 2,000 health, it was little more than a tickle.

Taking advantage of the few seconds Sand was frozen, Li Wei ran another hundred meters. He was now very close to the ambush point he had prepared.

A roar came from behind him. Li Wei suddenly felt deeply uncomfortable. The qi that had been circulating smoothly inside him now seemed on the verge of dissipating.

Alarmed, Li Wei forced down the discomfort and sped up.

Fortunately, he made it to the ambush point. The frantic running and the discomfort had nearly exhausted him. He collapsed beside a well, panting heavily.

The huge shadow behind him had transformed back into a human shape. It walked to within two meters of Li Wei and stared at him with blood-red eyes.

"Now!"

Li Wei shouted, pulled out the Venomous Centaur Battle Axe, and struck the necromancer in the neck. The Orcs who had been lying in wait inside the well and the buildings roared as they charged out, flinging water from their leather bags like rain.

Sand was a powerful undead, but this time, he had met his match.

The axe wouldn't normally have hurt him, but this was no ordinary weapon. The venomous damage it carried worked on undead creatures too.

Most deadly of all was the spring water, infused with life magic. It ate away at Sand's body like sulfuric acid.

"Ah!"

For the first time in decades, the powerful necromancer screamed. That showed just how much damage the spring water had done.

And the worst was yet to come.

The Dread Knight Mordel, who had been waiting impatiently, charged out with his battle blade and unleashed Fatal Strike.

-300

The terrifying damage took a chunk out of the Undead Necromancer Sand's health. Mordel immediately followed with another slash, but this time it was blocked.

"Atmospheric Aegis!"

Sand unleashed an air spell. A powerful current stopped Mordel's blade.

It was a trap! Sand thought furiously. Someone had dared to set a trap for the great Undead Necromancer. His rage made him lose all reason.

"Blindness!"

Another spell struck the Dread Knight. A flash of blinding light seared the powerful knight's eyes, leaving him unable to see anything for a short time.

With just two spells, Sand had taken a B3-ranked Dread Knight out of the fight. Seeing this, Li Wei was shaken. At this critical moment, he gathered all his strength and unleashed Cloud Piercing Palm at Sand.

-58

A damage number appeared. Li Wei's all-out attack had dealt only 58 damage. Along with the continuing poison damage, Sand's health had dropped from 2,000 to 1,500.

"Everyone, fall back!"

Seeing Sand chant another stretch of arcane words, Li Wei hurriedly shouted. He and the Dread Knight retreated quickly, but the other two Orcs were a step too slow.

"Death Ripple!"

The air rippled like a lake after a stone had been thrown into it. The two Orcs caught in the ripples burst into clouds of blood.

-200. Death Ripple dealt enough damage to instantly kill the Orcs, who had only 50 health each.

The two sides had exchanged several attacks, all within just a few seconds. Yet every one of those seconds had been fraught with danger. When Li Wei saw the Orcs fall, he hurriedly retreated.

Even in close combat, he was no match for Sand. At that moment, the terrifying power of magic was branded into Li Wei's mind.

I'll have to learn a few spells when I get the chance, Li Wei thought bitterly.

But right now, he could only use his last move. If it failed, he would have no choice but to abandon the mission and retreat!

"Move two steps to the left, then charge!"

Dodging Sand's attacks, Li Wei shouted the instructions. Sand was still wondering why his opponent had called them out when a battle blade slashed into his back.