"What's wrong, buddy? Come on in, what are you standing there for?"
Seeing the look of horror on Duma's face, [ The Dark and Heavy Secret ] waved him warmly, gesturing for him to come inside quickly.
Duma realized his lapse in composure, adjusted his facial muscles, and walked somewhat unsteadily into the stronghold.
Inside the house were still [ the Dark and Heavy Secret ] and [ the Mysterious Goblin ]. Upon seeing the long-absent Duma, both of them beamed with joy.
"Things have been a bit unsettled in the city lately, it's so good to see you're alright."
Is things not peaceful in the city?
Why don't you think about who's causing unrest in the city?
Although Duma was inwardly complaining, his facial expression remained unchanged.
While such sarcastic and unsettling remarks may bring him temporary pleasure, they cannot resolve his own confusion.
After thinking for Duma finally asked indirectly:
"That day when we went to that campsite, you really..."
"Dead? Of course I'm dead. There was a small squad of Holy Crusaders and three Treant Hunter sandwiching me in the middle, we were like Oreo..."
"In short, I was eventually impaled and killed by the tree spirits. As for whether they fought back afterwards, I'm not sure."
"I see..."
Duma gently stroked his chin and gave a perfunctory reply, while simultaneously beginning his own thoughts.
The outcome of that three-way battle is now quite clear: one rebel died, one Treant died, and two Holy Crusaders went missing...
So far, only the corpses of the Tree People have been found; there are still no clues about the corpses of the rebels or the Holy Crusaders.
why is that?
Antiya Lisi once said that he had collected many rebel corpses, so this kind of thing was not unusual in Fir City. Besides, if he really found a strange corpse, the other party would have no reason to hide it from him.
This should have been a illogical question, but Duma already had the answer in his heart.
Because the victim of this incident is now standing right in front of him, dressed almost exactly as he was last time they met.
Why can't the body be found?
Because he didn't die, or rather, because he died but quickly came back to life!
What exactly is the mechanism behind resurrection?
If resurrection at the location of the corpses was unconditional, then the rebels in the cathedral's crypt would have already come back to life and wreaked havoc. But if the bodies were completely reconstructed, then the disappearance of the corpses has no reasonable explanation...
After much deliberation Duma decided to set the matter aside for the time being. He looked at [ the Dark and Heavy Secret ] and asked with a sincere expression:
"How are you feeling right now? Well, to be honest, I'm actually not..."
"Haven't died yet?"
[ The Dark and Heavy Secret ] revealed a look of astonishment:
"Really? Dude, I didn't know you were this awesome!"
Duma scratched his head and responded with an awkward laugh:
"I haven't been here long; before that... I was always outside."
[ The Mysterious Goblin ] nodded:
"That's right. It's not that dangerous outside anyway, so it's not easy to die."
[ Dark and Heavy Secret ] continued:
"It's alright, the official team handled the details very well. You'll get used to it after being resurrected."
"I see..."
Duma's astonishment was genuine; he truly sensed a sense of ease and confidence from their conversation.
For these rebels, death seemed to be no problem, since their ability to resurrect had been personally acknowledged by the two men.
Although the principle of resurrection is not yet clear, the fact that resurrection is possible can explain some of the logical problems that existed before. That is, how did Aduolin Province, as a small province in the northernmost part of the Theocracy, a province that ranks last in both area and population, manage to produce so many capable rebels?
He had previously thought that the rebel leader, who was suspected to be Tree God or a false god, could summon troops from the void, but now it seemed that he could only resurrect.
Although it sounded strange, Duma was actually relieved.
After all, compared to endless summoning, the repeated rebirth of some elites is not so scary.
Throughout history, the ability to resurrect elite troops has always been the ultimate trump card for any power.
The reason why elites are elites is that the cost is too high to train them in large numbers.
So how many elite rebels like the ones in front of us are there who can keep resurrecting?
several hundred?
several thousand?
Even with thousands of such elite troops, Duma, who commanded an entire expanded legion, felt that he might not be unable to fight them.
These people always need time to resurrect, and apart from resurrection, they have almost no advantage in combat.
In a real open battlefield, as long as you can gather your elite troops to crush the enemy's defenses in one fell swoop, you can take advantage of their incomplete respawn time to press your advantage and win the battle in one fell swoop. You might even be able to occupy their respawn point before they are fully respawned, making them nothing more than livestock to be slaughtered.
Penetrating deep into enemy territory at all costs to swiftly strike the core of their formation—this tactical design is extremely risky, but the probability of success is not low...
Alas, dealing with enemies who can resurrect always requires careful consideration; this plan is too risky and not suitable as a first-line option.
The experienced demon unconsciously took on the role of Marba, and began to ponder the final battle before the arrival of spring.
However, as he thought about the battlefield outside the city, he suddenly realized something.
If these elite rebels can be resurrected, then what about the strongholds Gorn destroyed and the dozens of people he killed?
When the enemy was swaggering around the city with the heads of rebels in their hands, did they ever think that one day they would see the owners of those heads again?
No wonder the city has been subjected to a frenzied reprisal by the rebels these past two days; no wonder they dared to storm the military camp with explosives and kerosene; no wonder they dared to risk their lives to instill fear in the enemy.
Because what the Holy Crusaders considered most valuable was actually the cheapest to the rebels.
The fact that the rebels could be resurrected is something only he knows; Gorn, the other Grand Knights, and even Antiya Lisi are completely unaware of it. Should he tell them?
If we inform them, how should we explain the source of the intelligence?
If he, as an outsider, tells Antiya Lisi that all his previous actions were futile, will it exacerbate the conflict between them?
Questions, like bubbles in boiling water, rose and Shattered in Duma's thoughts. Just as he was about to say something, a shout from a patrolling Holy Crusaders suddenly came from the nearby street:
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack from the sky! Fire!"