The Seal Undone, Kalin's First Battle

While Angela was leading the undead creatures she had created in a frenzied and brutal massacre, someone in a nearby floating city was also watching her actions.

"Waaah..."

Kalin stared in amazement at the image transmitted back through the magical artifact on Angela's body.

"The little guy seems to be having a lot of fun killing them."

"As expected of Miss Angela, these mages seem no match for her."

In contrast, Suoxiate made a very calm judgment and poured Li Lin's teacup with black tea.

"But this is a truly strange method of creating undead creatures. Li Lin, is this the army you're referring to?"

Nia frowned slightly as she watched the undead creatures frantically devouring the corpses in the scene.

"That's right."

Li Lin nodded, tacitly agreeing with Nia's statement.

In their world, while there are many methods to turn living beings into undead, these are all the exclusive domain of necromancers. They reconstruct the corpses and bones of the dead, using magic to create mindless puppets. While convenient and quick, this method is limited in number, and creating large numbers of undead would consume a significant amount of Magic Power. Angela, however, is different. On Earth, it's rumored that those bitten by vampires become vampires themselves. Angela is clearly among them. Although she can consciously prevent others from becoming vampires, it's incredibly easy for the little one to transform someone into her desired form.

What's even more convenient is that although those turned into these low-level undead creatures by the little guys won't have their own consciousness like Mina and Fina, nor can they recover from physical injuries, their attacks are infectious. That is to say, if you die from an attack by these undead creatures, you will become the same kind of thing as them.

Anyone with a modicum of sense can see what an inexpensive investment this is. Moreover, these undead creatures, which Angela calls "GHOUL," will strictly obey the orders of their creator— Angela —though they are not without flaws. However, their ability to reproduce indefinitely and their absolute loyalty are enough to overshadow everything else. In this way, the most crucial element of the war—the ground forces—no longer needs to be a concern.

Li Lin had considered this problem from the very beginning. To start a war, sufficient troops were needed. After so many years, the number of elves and dwarves had greatly decreased, far from enough to wage war. Even with elite squads, the world was still won by numbers. Even with stronger and faster weapons and more durable armor and shields, they were no match for sheer numbers. Furthermore, so many years had passed, making it difficult to find enough men to form an army to challenge the Five-Nation Alliance. In addition, training an army was not something that could be accomplished overnight, making it a truly troublesome matter.

Therefore, when Angela proposed to Li Lin the idea of creating an "army of Ghoul," Li Lin immediately agreed after hearing Angela describe the characteristics of these undead creatures.

Unlike the undead creatures created by magic in another world, these Ghouls, created using Angela's blood, are swift, agile, and possess powerful corpses. They have no souls, no will, and even turn the creatures they kill into their allies. This is obviously crucial for an army. Even the strongest army will inevitably suffer losses, impacting its effectiveness. But for the Ghoul army, their slain enemies become their living force. In this way, the biggest problem in war can be said to be completely solved.

Of course, Angela didn't forget to tell Li Lin about the weaknesses of these undead creatures—they were extremely afraid of sunlight, even to the point of self-destruction under it, and they "should" be very vulnerable to divine power, and also unable to pass through places with clean water sources. After all, they were degraded undead creatures, and the weaknesses of Vampire Species were well reflected in these Ghouls, though, to a great extent.

Although Li Lin had some concerns about these shortcomings, he didn't dwell on them. After all, he didn't intend to establish a necromancer empire. Originally, even if he won the war, dealing with the boundless undead army would likely have been a major headache. But now things seemed much better. At that point, he could simply drive them into the sun, and there wouldn't be any problem. Moreover, Angela could completely eliminate their existence with her will. With just a command from her, these Ghouls would turn to ash and disappear without any pollution or trace.

It's practically a murder weapon to silence witnesses; an essential item for home and travel.

On Earth, Angela rarely created Ghoul armies to avoid attracting human attention. But now it's different. In this world, with Li Lin's support, she can go all out and do whatever she wanted to do before, things that she couldn't do due to limitations.

"It is indeed a very attractive offer, and now I understand why you made this choice, Li Lin. But... do you really think you can continue to get along with Miss Angela like this?"

Frowning as she watched the bloody carnage unfold on screen, Nia finally voiced her true feelings.

Indeed, the only, and most important, point is that the entire Ghoul army will only obey Angela's orders. This is Vampire Species's ability, not a mage's, so even if Angela wanted to relinquish command, she couldn't. The only connection between them is the bond between Angela and Li Lin. If the little one remains loyal to Li Lin forever, then the undead army will naturally be no problem. However, if she develops any ulterior motives, then Li Lin will face his greatest crisis. The Ghoul army will turn against them and become the most terrifying enemy they have ever faced.

"I have no idea."

However, Li Lin gave a completely different answer to Nia's question.

"Have no idea?"

This time, not only Nia, but even Suoxiate was stunned. Only Kalin remained sitting to the side, legs crossed, shoulders shrugged.

"That's right, Nia, I didn't know."

As he spoke, Li Lin turned his gaze back to Angela.

"Although Angela and I have a master-servant contract, and she is my nominal familiar, the bondage of familiars isn't as strong as we imagine. Even if I die, she can continue to live. Moreover, I think you should have come to understand the little one's personality by now; she's not the kind of person who wants to be bound—and, I admit, she's dangerous."

This is true from every perspective.

"But she is still my familiar. I will treat her the same way I treat you. I trust you, and I trust her."

"Your Excellency, is unfounded trust love? Have you also been blinded by love?"

"Perhaps so."

In response to Kalin's teasing, Li Lin simply smiled and shrugged.

"Yes, I value planning, but I also understand that some unexpected events are beyond our control. When that time comes, to ensure the smooth progress of the plan, I will naturally eliminate those unexpected factors. It would be foolish to doubt and consider all sorts of unexpected events when making the plan."

At this point, Li Lin stood up.

"Nia, now that Angela has set the stage for us, shouldn't we get started... Kalin?"

"No problem, sir."

Upon hearing Li Lin's order, Kalin jumped up from her chair and gave him a "everything is normal" gesture.

"Everything is ready. Although it hasn't been used for so many years, it looks completely undamaged."

"Alright, let's begin."

Li Lin glanced again at Angela and her Ghoul army, who were still carrying out the slaughter, and gave the order.

"Received, Your Excellency."

Kalin shrugged, and then the beautiful elf turned and stepped into the spatial portal that Suoxiate had prepared beforehand.

When Kalin reappeared, she had returned to her territory— the Garden of Verdure, one of the seven districts that make up Ringwraith City. Unlike the central district, Kalin's area was entirely covered by forests and green grass. Once upon a time, this district, having lost its master, fell into slumber; the trees withered, and the rivers dried up. But now, with Kalin, the core of it, returning, they have been revitalized.

"You certainly know how to give orders."

Kalin grumbled as she walked deeper into the forest. Soon, emerald green vines emerged from the bushes and slowly wrapped around the elf's body. Countless tiny green specks of light appeared from the void, surrounding Kalin's body. At the same time, Kalin's body also emitted a pale green glow, which quickly grew stronger and stronger, completely enveloping the elf and making her invisible.

"Ah... I'm sure Yi Aier will complain about me when she gets back, but it's good for her to see my abilities. Otherwise, she might just think of me as some kind of archery idiot."

As these words were spoken, the sphere of light began to change... and at the same time, it revealed its true form.

At the same time, the Ringwraith City, floating in the air, also began to move slowly. One of its rings rotated away from its original position and flew above the Sealing Tower. Countless emerald green vines coiled and hung down, gathering again below the disc. Then, the flowers that had been tightly closed slowly bloomed, revealing their beautiful, snow-white centers.

"Everything is ready... ready... ah, I wish I had a 'Ringwraith weapon' as awesome as Yi Aier's."

Even after reverting to her original form, Kalin couldn't resist grumbling. At that moment, the flowers blooming on the vines began to shift their positions, all drooping straight down, aiming at the solid, tall tower below. In the center of the petals, a tiny sphere of energy appeared, condensed, gathered, and grew larger and larger.

"Launch... 'Light of the Forest'!"

As Kalin spoke, thousands of emerald green rays shot out from the flowers, raining down on the target below.