Assassin’s Chronicle - Chapter 391

Long and Ling sat shoulder to shoulder in an ancient tree. Bored, they looked up at the sky and counted the stars. They were both very introverted and did not like to socialize with others. Sometimes they did not even want to greet others courteously, so their Shadow mercenary group was the most mysterious mercenary group. They had joined Anfey’s legion, but still did not have too much contact with the others. They did not have anything in common with other mercenaries; unlike the others, they were not interested in power, money, or women. The ambition Long and Ling had seemed distant from other mercenaries.

When they had some free time, Long and Ling liked to spend their time outside. They did not want others to disturb them. They chose to be alone, or even lonely.

After a while, Ling suddenly said quietly, “Has something been bothering you?”

“Yes.” Long nodded with a bitter smile on his face.

“Can’t you talk to me about it?” Ling complained.

“Master…” Long did not get a chance to complete what he was trying to say. He suddenly shut his mouth and cautiously looked around. He lowered his voice and said, “Ling, you know Master killed hundreds of druids and elves a few days ago. I am worried…”

“What are you worried about? Worried that Master has some prejudice against druids and elves?” Ling asked.

“Yes,” Long said quietly. “Do not forget, we are druids too.”

“Ahh, you!” Ling shook her head with a smile.

“What about me? I am just thinking for our future,” Long said.

“Why did Master kill those druids and elves? They wanted to set Master up. Master’s wife, Suzanna, was in trouble as well. I can understand why Master killed those druids and elves,” Ling said.

“They did surrender at the end. Why did Master have to kill them?” Long asked.

“Try to put your feet in his shoes. If you caught a group of mercenaries who set me up, killed me, then surrendered to you, would you forgive them?” Ling asked.

“Me…Of course not.” This was a matter of principle. No matter how he looked at it, he had to say no to that question. If he did not say no, he would be in trouble, big trouble.

“Would you hate everyone in the world?” Ling asked.

“Well…I am not that irrational.” Long smiled bitterly. “Ling, why are you speaking up for Master?” Long understood what Ling was trying to tell him. If he would not hate everyone in the world, then Anfey should not hate all the druids and elves.

“Because I think Master did not do anything wrong. He only killed his enemies,” Ling said slowly.

“I am just worried that our history would make Master suspect that we are not loyal to him. In the future…” Long said.

“You think too much.” A voice suddenly arose.

Long was shocked and jumped up. What they just had been discussing was very sensitive. If Anfey heard about it, they might be in serious trouble. Long came up with the idea of killing people who heard their conversation. If only one person had heard their conversation, he did not mind killing that person. Unfortunately, when he jumped up and saw the person who spoke to him, his intentions of killing left him. His chest and back were suddenly soaked in sweat. He felt the coldness on his chest and back and started to tremble slightly.

“Master, you are back!” Ling sounded excited, surprised, and a little worried.

“Yes.” Anfey flew to them from more than a dozen yards away. He laid his eyes on Long and said in a serious tone, “Manstuly and the druids who are loyal to him were my only enemies.”

Long immediately lowered his head, worried.

“Long, you’d better tell me whenever you have any questions or doubts, in case there is any misunderstanding. I am not that bossy. I am willing to hear others’ opinions,” Anfey said, smiling.

Long felt ashamed and answered Anfey positively. He could tell that Anfey was seriously and honestly explaining to him. But Anfey did not have to explain anything. Anfey was their leader. If Anfey wanted to kill them today, they would not see sunrise in the morning. He appreciated that an absolute power would patiently and politely communicate with those who had little power.

Ling suddenly screamed, scaring Long: “Oh, my god! Ms. Suzanna is back. Ms. Suzanna is back.”

As Ling was screaming, Suzanna flew in from the distance. She landed next to Anfey in the blink of an eye. She nodded at Ling and Long with a smile.

Long looked surprised and excited. Suzanna did not like to talk much, but was very popular among mercenaries. They all liked and respected her very much. This had to do with her fighting ability, beautiful looks, and the way she treated others. When Long saw Suzanna was safe, he was sincerely happy for her.

“Ms. Suzanna, you are…” Ling screamed again before Long could get his words out. “Oh, my god, what did I see, what did I see?”

Long did not know whether he should cry or laugh. They had been married for a couple of years, but he did not know Ling could talk in such high pitch until today. He followed Ling’s eyes to see, and he looked more stunned than Ling. A little unicorn excitedly approached them. He looked at Ling and Long curiosly and then circled around Suzanna.

“Master, am I dizzy? Sacred beast? You have a sacred beast?” Long’s eyes almost fell out. In fact, Anfey’s little unicorn was no longer a secret. Some people found out about it a long time ago, but the media on the Pan Continent was not great, so most people did not know about it, including Ling and Long.

“Why are you so surprised? He has been with me for almost a year,” Anfey said.

Long slowly walked over and bent down, trying to touch the little unicorn. The little guy was immediately aware of Long and moved back. Its horn started to blink with Arc Light. Blavi and Riska had been around the little unicorn for almost a year. If they could not even touch him, then surely Long could not either. If Long walked closer to him, the little unicorn definitely would attack him.

Long noticed the hostility from the unicorn and slowly walked back to Anfey. He smiled and said, “Master, you really can surprise us at any time.”

Anfey laughed, appreciating Long’s flattery. Whenever he felt great, he wanted to show off more. He waved his hand at the little unicron, “Come on, boy.”

The unicorn immediately turned to look at Anfey and excitedly ran over to him after he heard Anfey’s call. Long and Ling almost fainted when they saw that. Elves and druids saw unicorns as their holy blessing beasts. There was a legend that some heroes riding unicorns into battle treated the unicorns as their friends who could go through thick and thin with them. Anfey treated the little unicorn as his kid, which looked really ridiculous to Long and Ling.

“Anfey, unicorns do not have gender, like babies. Don’t assume,” Suzanna playfully complained. In fact, she did not care to argue over the gender of the unicorn. She was hinting that Anfey should stop calling the unicorn as his son. If Anfey were the father of the little unicorn, she would be the mother. It felt weird to Suzanna, especially with Long and Ling present. Suzanna felt she had become their joke.

“If I say he is my son, then he is my son,” Anfey said.

“Don’t be so sure.” Suzanna felt embarrassed and a little mad.

“Fine,” Anfey easily gave in to Suzanna. He randomly snatched a branch and tossed it, “Come on, girl, get it for me!”

The little unicorn did not read between the lines, but he was happy to get attention from Anfey. He immediately ran to chase the branch. In the blink of an eye, he ran back happily with a branch between his teeth, trying to please Anfey.

Long cleared his throat. He was not very comfortable seeing the holy beast in his religion becoming Anfey’s pet. He changed the topic, “Master, you came back at the right time. Ozzic has been troubled by the problems in Shuklan City.”

“What’s wrong?” Anfey appeared shocked.

“There are still about 1,400 mercenaries left in Shuklan City. Master Ozzic and Shinbella have just over 1,000 in their unit, not even as many as theirs. Even counting Knights of Light and priests, we only have about 1,700, not a big advantage,” Long said slowly.

After Long’s briefing, Anfey understood the general situation in Shuklan City. The threat from outsiders could lead people to unite or merge into a big group, just as in the case of the League of Mercenaries. The mercenaries in Shuklan City had united and an intermediate magister, Wendorf, was their leader. People’s ambitions would change as the situation changed. If a person only led one hundred mercenaries, he would be eager for help from someone with strong power. It would not matter who the powerful person was, as long as that person could ensure their safety. If a person led five hundred mercenaries, he would not rush to look for protection, because five hundred mercenaries could be a good bargaining chip to exchange for something else. 1,400 was not a small number. When Shinbella’s Jagged Roses mercenary group was at its peak, it only had about two thousand mercenaries. Everybody knew that popular mercenaries would become the leader. Since Wendorf had the ability to lead 1,400 mercenaries, there was no reason he would want to be someone’s subordinate. It proved that Wendorf thought and acted as Anfey did.

On the one hand, Wendorf tried to please Ozzic, but he never agreed to merge troops. On the other hand, he tried to bond with the Knights of Light and priests. Obviously, he noticed the tension between them. Ozzic did not know what to do with Wendorf. He felt Wendorf was a pain in the neck. If Ozzic chose to fight with him, he was not sure he could win, even if they had a senior swordswoman, Shinbella, because Wendorf controlled more mercenaries than he did. If Ozzic chose to negotiate with him, Wendorf would want what Ozzic could not offer. They could not meet each other’s needs and had no way to negotiate.

“Master, it is great that you are back!” Long added. In fact, he had no idea what Anfey would do; he just believed Anfey could handle it. To be more specific, not only Long, but Christian, Blavi and others in Alibaba legion believed in him as far back as a year ago. Later, Suzanna, Ozzic, Shinbella, and many others came to believe in him. Everyone who had the chance to work or live with him developed a strong belief in him. They did not know exactly why they trusted Anfey or where the belief came from.

“Wendorf, you have to explain yourself,” Ozzic said coldly.

“I will follow your every order, my lord. All you need to do is ask,” Wendorf said as he smoothed out his robe. “But I need a few more days, my lord. I have a lot of men. I need to make sure that they are aware of what I want to do.”

“I already gave you three days,” Ozzic said sternly. Wendorf had been trying to stall every time Ozzic tried to speak with him, and his attitude had not been pleasant. Before they had come together, the two sides had agreed that they would have a pleasant conversation and try to negotiate. This was why Shinbella and Ozzic only brought a handful of mercenaries with them. Wendorf, however, must have brought at least fifty men with him. Wendorf’s attitude was not the attitude of a man who wanted to negotiate, either.

“I don’t want my men to be divided over this,” Wendorf said. “I need a few more days. I am sure I can give you a satisfactory answer by then.”

“Wendorf,” Ozzic said with a frown, “I have a time limit as well. We need to depart as soon as possible to meet up with our people in Madrid Town and head to Heldair City. We already wasted a day waiting for your answer. I simply cannot do that. You have to give me an answer right now. Truthfully, I’m starting to doubt your sincerity.”

“You misunderstand me, my lord,” Wendorf said, shaking his head. “I can’t get an unanimous answer from my men. I have troubles of my own as well.”

“You only brought a thousand people, and you want us to show sincerity?” a nearby mercenary asked with a snort. “You should join us instead. Lord Wendorf surely can…”

“Be quiet,” Wendorf turned to the mercenary and ordered furiously. “Nonsense!” Ozzic watched with wide eyes as the even tempered mage grew angry.

“I’m just speaking my mind, my lord!” the mercenary said. “Aren’t you the one who encourage us to speak our minds? I’ve been a mercenary for more than fifteen years and I’ve never heard of Anfey. Has anyone else heard of him?”

The other mercenaries all laughed and agreed with him.

The mercenary smirked and turned to Ozzic and Shinbella. “If he’s so great,” the mercenary said, “why doesn’t he come in person? Where is your sincerity?”

Ozzic took a deep breath and calmed himself. He knew he had made a mistake trying to negotiate with mercenaries peacefully. Mercenaries believed in survival of the fittest and did not like political maneuvering. The peaceful way Ozzic had chosen made him appear weak to these mercenaries.

Wendorf was very patient, but his mercenaries were not. His men sent a clear signal that they did not want to join their alliance.

“Ozzic, let’s go,” Shinbella said.

Ozzic glanced at Shinbella. He knew her well enough to know that she planned on coming back. They could not let these mercenaries get away with humiliating Alibaba and not joining the alliance. If word of this got out, he and Shinbella would be labeled weak.

Ozzic nodded and turned away, following Shinbella.

Suddenly, a strong surge of magic drew everyone’s attention. A bright light appeared above Shuklan City and descended slowly. The bright light landed on the ground and grew in intensity. The mercenaries around all shaded their eyes and looked away from the light.

Wendorf raised his wand and created a large magic shield, protecting himself and his men.

Ozzic and Shinbella watched in silence but did not move.

The light dimmed, and where the light had been stood a young man. He was wearing robes of a mage and held a large sword made of fire.

Wendorf watched, his eyes narrowed. He did not know who this young man was or his purpose. He did not want to lower his guard.

Before the mercenaries could react, another light appeared over the walls of the city. A young woman appeared over the walls of the city, a longsword in her hand.

Anfey withdrew his sword as Suzanna landed next to him. She had first worn Azure Armor when she was still a senior swordsmaster. Even back then, she felt the superior power of the armor. However, that was just the beginning. The Azure Armor once belonged to the elves and was taken by the humans. After a few centuries, it ended up in the hands of Princess Victoria. It wasn’t just a simple suit of armor. The intensity of combat power could affect the defense power of armor.

Suzanna’s combat power was very powerful, and the armor was feeding off of her combat power, giving her another layer of protection.

Wendorf took a few steps back, recognizing the young woman as a top level power.

Ozzic’s eyes widened. He took a few steps forward and called, “Congratulations, Lady Suzanna!”

Before Ozzic could say anything else, Shinbella poked him in the ribs. Anfey had chosen this way to appear in front of the other mercenaries because he did not yet want to intimidate them. It would be disadvantageous to reveal Suzanna’s level.

Wendorf frowned. He now was sure that the young man before him was Anfey and the woman was Suzanna. He did not expect the alliance to have a top level power. Even one top level power was too much for a mercenary group like his. He knew very well what top level powers could do. Glory mercenary group had Anthony and came to rule the Country of Mercenaries.

Wendorf did not want to join the alliance because he had more than a thousand men. He had the power to rewrite the history of the nation. Clearly, Anfey had a similar purpose in mind when he founded the alliance. This was why he had always thought of the alliance as an enemy. Now that he found out there was a top level power in the alliance, Wendorf knew that he could not fight against them. He had left himself no choice.

“Why are you still here, Ozzic?” Anfey asked.

“Lord Wendorf told us that he’s having trouble convincing his men,” Ozzic siad. “I’m sure that Lord Wendorf can change his mind now that you’re here, my lord.”

“Really?” Anfey asked. “That simple?”

“Yes, my lord,” Ozzic said. He knew that Anfey was asking how much trouble it would cause if they attacked Wendorf and his men then and there. Wendorf only had about four hundred loyal men. Ozzic was confident that he could convince the other mercenaries once those loyal ones have been taken care of.

Anfey nodded and turned to Suzanna. Suzanna narrowed her eyes and dashed forward. She appeared next to Wendorf and slammed her sword into his chest. Wendorf’s eyes widened as he fell to the ground. Suzanna pulled her sword out and stepped away. Wendorf collapsed onto the ground.

Once Wendorf was gone, his mercenaries posed no challenge. After witnessing the death of their leader, they did not want to fight and tried to flee. However, they were already surrounded.

Ozzic and Shinbella glanced at each other and drew their swords, beckoning their men to join the fight.

No matter whether mercenaries were with Ozzic, Shinbella or Wendorf, they all knew how dangerous the situation was and were prepared for the worst. The riot in the south of Shuklan City could trigger a larger fight in the city, without doubt. The fight happened quickly, but also ended quickly.

Suzanna never even joined the battle. To put it simply, a top power was more like a strategic weapon. She functioned more at a strategic level to scare the opponents. A top power’s fighting ability could not only be evaluated by the amount of people she killed, but how many people she could scare.

Suzanna walked just once around Shuklan City. Everywhere she went, the mercenaries in Ozzic and Shinbella’s units cheered loudly for her. They were excited and confident they would win the battle, which helped with their fighting ability, while the mercenaries in Shuklan City instead lost their morale fast. When the news that Wendorf was killed reached them, groups of mercenaries put down their weapons and surrendered to the League of Mercenaries.

The Knights of Light and priests who excitedly rushed out to try to pacify the conflict were stunned by what they saw. They had been waiting for this opportunity for a long time. If the mercenaries from those two parties started to fight, they could do nothing but benefit from it. On the one hand, it was a great opportunity to reduce the League of Mercenaries’ fighting ability. On the other, Knights of Light and priests thought they could ally with mercenaries in danger to give them a good opportunity to make a name for themselves in the Country of Mercenaries. The appearance of Suzanna crushed that unrealistic dream. In Shuklan City, no one could be a match for Suzanna. In other words, the fighting abilities of the two parties was never balanced. They had to choose to keep quiet at the end.

When Suzanna landed next to Anfey, the yelling and screaming gradually quieted down. Anfey saw the Knights of Light quietly leave the battlefield. He turned around to a person in armor behind him and said, “Warner, did anyone notice you?”

“Master, I was like a mouse, hiding from everyone all day long. How could anyone notice me?” Warner said with a sly smile.

“Don’t worry,” Anfey said quietly. “I will send those Knights of Light and priests away shortly. Then it will be your show time.”

“I cannot yet deal with a large-scale fight.” Warner hesitated for a second and added, “The more death spirits I can save, the strong the power of the Book of Life will get. If I am given a certain period of time, I …” Before he finished talking, Warner saw Anfey’s look and suddenly realized he should not continue.

“Don’t worry.” Anfey smiled. “I am not jealous of your achievements.”

“Master, you are so open-minded,” Warner said, smiling at Anfey. He was not sure he really believed what Anfey said.

“I am very generous to my friends,” Anfey said calmly. “Pope William is getting older, while some people in the church hold prejudices against me. I could even say they treat me as their enemy. Instead of having them in power, I would rather help my friends be successful.”

“But I am only one person,” Warner said.

“I remember you told me that St. Robin was by himself when he was born,” Anfey said.

Warner slowly nodded. He still looked very serious, but the excitement in his eyes exposed his real thinking. Anfey had reignited his ambition of long ago. He pondered Anfey’s idea for a bit just to show he was humble. If this were not the case, he would not have asked Anfey if he could fight on his own.

Anfey looked like he did not understand Warner’s intention and casually switched the topic. “Warner, why didn’t you find me before?”

“Master, when I had just gotten the Book of Life, I did not know anything else besides the spell,” Warner said bitterly. “I had nothing to do for the past few days. You did not allow me to do missionary work, so I studied the Book of Life. The script in the Book of Life was God’s language. I did not understand it. I asked Master Ye for help and paid a high price for a dictionary from a priest. I have translated every chapter of the Book of Life and found the secret of it.”

“Don’t all priests have a Bible and dictionary? Don’t you have one?” Anfey asked.

“I lost them when I was attacked last time,” Warner said.

“Warner, you have to be more careful in the future,” Anfey said quietly. “If you knew the power of the Book of Life, you could have done a lot in Moramatch and would not have needed to wait until now.”

“Back then…” Warner tried to explain.

“Back then you were busy preaching to the dwarves,” Anfey said, smiling.

Warner cleared his throat and shifted his eyes, and then he suddenly found a very good excuse. “Master, I could not study the Book of Life back then. Master Ye got the dictionary for me later. That was why I did not know the secret of the Book of Life until recently. Maybe it is fate.”

Anfey smiled but did not respond. The situation in Shuklan City was stabilizing as they talked. They did not get any further resistance as they recruited the mercenaries in Shuklan City to the League of Mercenaries. It was like a rolling snow ball. Every time they went to help a city, they recruited the mercenaries in that city to the League of Mercenaries to make it stronger. It was a little challenging at the beginning because initially the League of Mercenaries was not that strong. As they recruited thousands of mercenaries, nothing could stop Anfey recruiting more mercenaries into his League of Mercenaries, including the three super mercenary groups. Marino’s Band of Brother mercenary was an exception, since they were already allied with Anfey.

Moving forward, it would not be that difficult to conquer the Country of Mercenaries. Anfey felt excited and proud. However, under the circumstances, Anfey was not the only one feeling that way.

At Kulmalashine Fort in Shansha Empire, about 200,000 soldiers neatly stood in formation, quietly waiting for the city door to open. Over 200,000 people gathered together, but no one moved, nor did anyone made any noise, in contrast to the loud yelling and horses neighing inside the fort.

The city door slowly opened and more than one hundred knights rushed through. The soldiers at the suspension bridge pulled up the bridge and then ran to the front of the squad. The knight in the front stopped his horse and yelled, “General Scarlet, what are you doing?”

“General Kuiper, can you open the city door?” Scarlet, at the head of the troops, slowly took off her helmet. Her blond hair fell in waves. She still looked ant talked normal, but she showed a bit of tiredness in her eyes. She gave a feeling that she had been through so much. Oddly, her body and face looked young. It was a very mixed feeling she gave out.

Seeing the face of Scarlet, the knight in front was shocked for a second. Scarlet had been famous for a short period. This was the first time he had seen Scarlet in person. Even though he heard Scarlet was beautiful, he did not expect her to be so young. He could not imagine how this little girl could have over 200,000 mercenaries listening to her.

“General Scarlet, as far as I know, you should be traveling northeast right now with your mercenaries to save the people who are suffering from attacks by death spirits. You should not be here.” The knight sounded kind, since he really could not scold a little girl.

“General Kuiper, I am trying to save a country, not just the people in certain areas. Open the door. I am asking you now,” Scarlet said slowly.

Kuiper looked like he did not know if he should laugh or cry. How could a little girl say she is going to save a country? Kuiper thought to himself. He felt weird because he felt a strong soldier should protect the country, while a little girl should be whining to her parents or trying to become a social butterfly at dance parties. This was not a place for Scarlet.

Kuiper thought for a second and smiled. “General Scarlet, do you have to order from the king?”

“Not yet,” Scarlet said.

“Not yet? Please come back when you have an order from the king,” Kuiper said.

“General Kuiper, that would be too late.” Scarlet had a helpless smile. She seemed to have more bitterness on her face. “Right now Baery does not know which direction my military will go. When he realizes, it will be pointless then.”

“Baery?” Kuiper almost laughed out loud. Why would God-like General Baery care about where this little girl would go? What a joke! Kuiper thought to himself.

“General Kuiper, Prince Chiellick knows what I am doing. Do you think you can open the door for us?” Scarlet could tell the disdain Kuiper had towards her, but she did not get offended by it. She only mentioned her finance to see if that would work.

Kuiper looked very serious now. Chiellick was the first successor according to age. The little girl here could become a queen of the empire. He could not deny her, but the problem was taking in 200,000 of her troops without orders from the king. If anything happened, the king would not kill his daughter-in-law, and Kuiper would take all the blame. Some discussion should have happened in a more private setting. Scarlet was just a little girl. She did not even know to find an appropriate place to talk. There were so many people listening to their conversation. If he gave in just because he heard Chiellick’s name, he would lose his authority.

“Still no? I got it.” Scarlet heaved a sigh and tossed away her helmet. As Kuiper looked shocked, a cloud of combat power arose on Scarlet. She rode her horse at Kuiper with her knight spear pointing at Kuiper’s chest.

“Are you crazy?” Kuiper yelled as he hurriedly took out his spear. Before the two knight spears clashed, they looked at each other. Kuiper felt he was falling into an icy cave. What eyes Scarlet had! There was something burning in her eyes, even the places she looked. The crazy facial expression indicated a strong will that controlled thousands of people. Such a strong will seemed to be able to melt steel, the fort behind Kuiper, or anything else. Kuiper understood that even if the king tried to stop Scarlet, she would rush over his dead body without any hesitation. Nothing could stop Scarlet.

With a loud bang, the knight spear in Kuiper’s hand turned to pieces. The next moment, there was a hole in his chest as big as an bowl. When his body was flying in the air, he saw Scarlet’s personal bodyguards run towards the door while, the horn arose to signal other mercenaries to start their attack.

As death approached him, Kuiper finally understood how Scarlet could have thousands of mercenaries listening to him, but he could not change anything now.

A transparent magic barrier separate Greenwich Island and the rest of the world. The magic barrier prevented the rest of the world from seeing what was happening inside it. Anyone who tried to peer through the magic barrier could only see heavy fog. A magic barrier this big was very rare. Apart from the one Saul used to trap the Dark Moon Magic Legion, this was the largest known barrier in the world.

Even though the presence of the necromancers threatened the entire world, the nations of the world had no intention of working together. This was because there had been too many conflicts between nations, and the nations did not trust each other. No one took notice of this large magic barrier because no one had the energy to sail all the way to Greenwich Island. Moreover, no one would try to attack an island when there were still zombies to take care of.

Inside the barrier, the entire island appeared very eerie. Countless bones formed a large dome that covered half of the island and shielded the island from the sky. Greenwich Island was a large island, and there must have been thousands of dead bodies in that dome.

Hundreds of necromancers were busy at work on the island. In the middle of the island was a large pillar that disappeared into the bone dome. The pillar was enormous and composed entirely of bones. The pillar appeared as if it was holding up the dome.

A tall, thin figure was standing nearby, watching the pillar. There were very few necromancers working. Clearly, this man was a powerful one. The other necromancers did not even go near him. Judging from the careful movements others use around him, it was easy to tell that the other necromancers were afraid of this man.

A gust of wind blew across the island, sending bones scattering along the ground. A large phantom dragon appeared in the air, flapping its large wings. Even the phantom dragon did not want to go near the man. It landed a few paces away. A necromancer in a colorful robe jumped off of the dragon and hurried towards the tall figure.

The new necromancer was very strange. Most necromancers preferred dark robes, but he had a very beautiful, colorful one. Unlike the other necromancers, this one was very young and handsome. He appeared only to be in his mid-twenties.

“Master,” the young necromancer said to the tall figure, “I’m ready.”

The tall figure turned to look at the young man. He removed his hood, revealing what was underneath. The figure’s head was a large skull covered in cracks. It was as if someone had broken the skull and created him by putting it back together. Two red lights shone in the skull’s eyeholes.

The young man lowered his head and did not say anything.

“Let me see, then,” the skull croaked. “But, Morgan, you have to be prepared. I am just a mage, not god.”

“You are to me, Master,” Morgan said.

The skull sighed, “You’ve been saying that for centuries.”

Morgan smiled. He could tell that his teacher was in a good mood today, so he was not as nervous. He retrieved a broken skull and a black crystal ball and set it on the ground. The crystal ball had trapped some green fog in it. The green fog surged as if trying to break free.

“This is all you could find?”

“Yes,” Morgan said. “Most of her body is useless. This is all I could find.”

The skull sighed again, and the red lights in his eyes began blinking as if it was thinking. After a few moments, he reached out with a bony hand and pointed at the sky. The skull began chanting, his voice becoming guttural.

The bone dome began rattling as the skull chanted, and then the dome began rippling like the ocean. A black swirl appeared under the broken skull on the ground and sucked the skull into it.

The skull did not stop chanting. He kept chanting his spell. Dark clouds appeared from the dome and floated down to the ground. Then those dark clouds were sucked into the swirl as well.

“The throne is not yet complete,” the skull said, “but what you found has strengthened it.”

“Thank you, Master!” Morgan said excitedly. He began chanting as well. The crystal ball in his hand shattered, and the green fog inside the crystal ball disappeared into the black swirl as well.

The skull’s spell was coming to an end. A human body appeared as the skull’s spell was finished. It was a woman. She appeared to be human, with long limbs. Her eyes were closed, but she seemed to be a beautiful woman.

“Master!” Morgan cried, sinking to his knees. He did not expect this result and was very grateful.

“This body is not hers,” the skull said. “If she wants her strength back, she needs at least fifty years to recover. If you like her, then you should take care of her.” Morgan nodded, his eyes swelling up.

The skull waved its hand and a red flash of lightning struck the woman’s head. The woman’s body jerked as she was hit by the lightning.

The woman’s eyes blinked open, and her body began thrusting around on the ground, screaming as if she was in pain.

“Annuciata!” Morgan cried, wrapping his arms around the woman to prevent her from hurting herself. “Wake up! Wake up, please!”

The woman’s frantic eyes moved to Morgan. “Ernest!” she screamed, her voice filled with pain and hatred.

“Look at me, Annuciata! Look at me!” Morgan called again.

The woman did not appear to hear Morgan’s calls. She kept chanting Ernest’s name, her voice hoarse.

Morgan frowned, hugging the woman tighter.

“Be quiet!” the skull bellowed. He shook his head and sighed. “Control her! She cannot make a scene here.” Morgan nodded. He grabbed the woman’s hand.

The woman stopped her screaming when she heard the skull. She looked around, and her eyes widened in shock.

“Remember who you are now?” the skull asked coldly. “Annunciata, you cost me a phantom dragon, but you still managed to take out Slanbrea. That is the only reason I’m willing to waste my magic and revive you. The next mistake you make will your last.

“What? I did?” Annuciata whispered, frowning.

“What?”

“I… I didn’t kill Slanbrea.”

The skull paused, then laughed. “I see. I’ve always wondered how you managed to take out Slanbrea. In-fighting is more effective than I expected.”

“But why would they do that?” Morgan asked, surprised.

“Who knows? I don’t care why,” the skull said. “All I want to know is how Pope William reacted to this.”

“They may not believe it,” Morgan said.

“They will,” the skull said. “You don’t need to worry about that. Morgan, you need to get back to your work. You’ve already stalled for twenty years, and I don’t want to wait another twenty. You need to return with the Ring of the Undead and that traitor Golman by the time the Throne of Bones is complete. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Master,” Morgan said. “I found something, but Bruzuryano…”

“The Heart of Nature is powerful, but I have no use of it,” the skull said. “I need the ring and Golman. Know your priorities, Morgan.”

“Yes, Master!” Morgan said, lowering his head respectfully. “I will depart immediately.”

“Master, Zagreen City is just ahead of us,” Thompson politely said to Anfey.

Anfey nodded and looked at the barely-seen city ahead of him. Anfey did not reply.

“Anfey, what are you hesitating for? Let’s fight!” Blavi laughed. “Long and Ling have confirmed that there are 40,000 to 50,000 death spirits at most.” Blavi was confident that they would win this fight. Anfey had about 2,000 mercenaries on his own. As they had recruited about 1,700 surviving mercenaries in Madrid Town, there should be about 4,000 mercenaries now. 4,000 mercenaries against 50,000 low-level death spirits. Mercenaries would win without a doubt. An additional 700 or so Knights of Light and priests were part of the main force fighting against death spirits.

“I just have a bad feeling about this,” Anfey said quietly. As a professional assassin, he would rather believe his instincts than what he saw and heard. Anfey felt the atmosphere was way too gloomy. He felt weird about it, but could not figure out what was bothering him.

“Anfey, we have to take Zagreen City today, otherwise we will run into trouble soon,” Riska said in a low voice. In order to recruit mercenaries from different cities, they had made a good and flexible plan based on the distance among those cities. For example, to help Shuklan City and Madrid Town, they had divided into two groups. The next city would be Zagreen City. Anfey would meet up with Blavi to attack Zagreen City. After taking Zagreen City, they would be divided into three groups. They had to take Zagreen City now to give them time to reorganize the mercenaries later in the day so they could be divided into three groups by early the next morning. If they could not take Zagreen City soon, they would have to stay through tomorrow.

Anfey kept quiet. He had his way of doing things and was not easily influenced by others.

At the same time, a few Knights of Light hurriedly came back, yelling rudely, “Master Anfey, why haven’t you started the fight yet? The mercenaries in Zagreen City have rushed out. Are you going to watch them all die in front you?”

Anfey was shocked for a second and laid his eyes on Blavi. Blavi immediately released Eyes of Sky. Just as they thought, the mercenaries in Zagreen City had gotten excited and bet their life on the reinforcement troops. They had rushed out of the city when they saw the reinforcements.

Anfey heaved a sigh and slowly closed his eyes. He started his internal force immediately and maximized his sensing ability. Anfey could see around him for dozens of miles, but he could not find anything suspicious.

“Let’s start the fight,” Anfey said slowly. He had to start against his better judgement because he could not watch the mercenaries in Zagreen City die one after another. It would be bad for his reputation.

Mercenaries were not soldiers. When Anfey’s order was passed down, the mercenaries in different units rushed in without any formation or strategy. Anfey was not experienced in giving orders in battle, neither did he understood how ridiculous his mercenaries looked to those soldiers. However, he did not care. For Anfey, as long as they could win the battle, it did not matter how they fought.

Mercenaries and soldiers all got scared the first time they fought against death spirits. In the first place, their vision, hearing, and sense of smell were affected. They had to face the ugly looks, terrifying sounds and horrible smell of the death spirits. They could only conquer it with their will power. Second, there were a large number of death spirits. No matter how good the squad was, they would be surrounded by death spirits. Of course, being surrounded did not mean they would lose the battle. Elite soldiers could always keep their formation as they killed death spirits. When they had killed enough death spirits, they all could join the battle and wipe them out.

Anfey’s mercenaries were used to fighting death spirits. The negative factors did not bother them. After communicating with each other, they had accumulated a lot of common sense to fight with death spirits. For example, low-level death spirits mainly attacked by biting their opponents, mainly on their faces, necks, hands and feet. As long as they could protect themselves in those areas, they should be fine. If they were scratched, they could be healed by priests. The toxins in their bodies could be removed by priests so they would not turn into death spirits. Mercenaries covered those parts very well in battle. They did not follow the rule that they would never let their weapons down. To protect their own arms, they would toss their weapons and retreat once the death spirits snatched their weapons. If they were bitten by the death spirits, they would fight the death spirits as best they could, hoping to kill as many as they could. They would rather exchange their lives for a few more death spirits’ lives, because they knew they would be killed by their peers after they were infected anyway.

The mercenaries’ superior intelligence helped to reduce fatalities to the minimum. About 4,000 mercenaries gathered together and looked like a gigantic stone mill. They passed the area with a high number of death spirits and quickly defeated them. The priests had released Holy Light spells, which had slowed down death spirits and weakened them as well. It looked like they would finish this battle soon.

“I am going to sleep better tonight since you are here.” Blavi laughed. The more power a person had, the more responsibility he had to take. To prove he was capable, Blavi did not take break when he was in Madrid Town. With Ozzie and Thompson’s help, he threatened and also gave rewards to the mercenaries to try to recruit them into the League of Mercenaries. In the end, he did not have to fight them to recruit them. Once he had Anfey with him, his dependence on Anfey came right back. Riska and others reacted the same way.

“You!” Anfey shook his head and smiled. Suddenly, his smile froze on his face. He could sense millions of death spirits rushing into the region. They looked like a clump of ants. It was hard to identify how many there were. Groups of zombies slowly crawled out from underground on the field. They joined the death spirits. There were death spirits everywhere. Their screaming was as loud as tsunami.

“Anfey, what’s wrong?” Blavi asked in surprise.

Anfey did not have to answer him, since he also heard the screams of the zombies. With the loud screaming, the mages and priests had to cover their ears. Soldiers seemed to react better than mages and priests to the zombies’ screaming. The mercenaries on the battlefield had to retreat. They worriedly looked around to see what was happening. They had no idea what had happened.

“Eyes of Sky! Hurry up!” Blavi finally realized what had happened.

Over 20 Eyes of Sky were released one after another. They searched different locations, but they all gave the same view. There were zombies everywhere, countless zombies.

The priests had been relaxed, but now looked tense. An intermediate-level priest suddenly yelled, “Master Anfey, what are you standing there for? We need to retreat. The death spirits are slow. We still have the chance to escape. Hurry up!”

“Retreat! Listen to me. Retreat!” Another priest yelled as he raised his scepter.

“Do not retreat!” Anfey yelled in anger and kicked the priest in the gut. He did not put too much strength into the kick, otherwise there would be a hole in tehe priest’s stomach. However, Anfey’s kick was still too much for a priest. That priest could not help kneeling on the ground and jerked in pain.

Everyone could not help fixing their eyes on Anfey. Anfey was not a general. He did not know much about strategies on the battlefield. However, the instinct he developed after experiencing so many dangerous encounters had resulted in excellent decision-making in a short period of time. Afterwards, he was very glad he made that decision.

“Suzanna, it’s your turn now,” Anfey said with a poker face. He had put his hand on the sword shaft. As he pulled his sword out, he had already jumped in the air, yelling, “Fight!”

The fire, as a meteor, lit up half of the battlefield and fell straight down among the zombies. The flame rose in the blink of an eye and turned dozens of zombies near Anfey to ashes. Anfey could not hold anything in anymore at this dangerous moment. The Fire Sword in his hand was over 20 yards long. Every swing killed a group of zombies, like he was reaping crops. Even zombies outside of the Fire Sword’s attack range were scorched.

The lower-level zombies were not scared. They still rushed towards Anfey from all sides. However, the speed that Anfey killed zombies was a lot faster than the speed the zombies could reach him. The flame was so strong that everywhere the flame passed, it turned it into a burning hell.

The mercenaries in Zagreen City were more scared than zombies, especially when they saw Anfey almost make a path for them by killing the zombies. Anfey did not seem to stop, so they yelled and turned around to run back into the city.

Blavi, Elizabeth and others had really good responses. They immediately flew into the sky and followed Anfey. They constantly released Frost magic, which was not to kill zombies but to cool down the area Anfey scorched. Even with the Frost magic, it still took some time to cool down. Some areas still had very high temperatures. If they did not cool down the area, the regular swordsmen would definitely get burned, even though higher-ranking mercenaries could rush over those areas.

Mercenaries crazily yelled and ran forward at full speeds. They knew they were facing danger when they heard the thunderous screaming of zombies. At this critical moment, they had better follow Anfey. The fire and flame Anfey released showed the way.

The mercenaries in Zagreen City ran, crawled and rolled back into the city as Anfey cleared a path for them by killing zombies. He jumped on the city tower, which was not very tall. He turned around to look down at the whole battle field. The flame flickering and burning around him made him look like a Fire God. The mercenaries behind him all looked stunned and terrified. They did not know who Anfey was, but power was the most direct and sharpest way to represent a person, and it left those mercenaries with the impression he was trust worthy.

At that moment, Anfey was actually not sure if he was right or wrong about his decision to fight. However, to all the mercenaries, it was the right decision to follow Anfey. They yelled again and ran in the direction of the fire and flames.

The zombies arrived only minutes after all the mercenaries had retreated into the city. Because the mercenaries would rather be on the offensive than on the defensive, the cities in Country of Mercenaries did not have good defense system. Even the two major cities, Blackwater and White Mountain City, did not spend much on the city’s defense. Zagreen City was even worse. However, the large city walls acted as a deterrent. Anfey knew that all he needed was some time.

Ozzic and Shinbella arrived with their men. They stood on the wall and watched the zombies in silence.

“Ozzic, take the east. Shinbella, go to the west with your men. Orsie take the north, and Thompson will stay with me,” Anfey said.

Ozzic nodded. He waved to his men and began heading towards the eastern part of the city. Anfey glanced around and asked, “Who’s in charge of this place?”

“I am, my lord,” a large man stepped forward and said. He was very worried about the zombies, but seeing how calm Anfey and his men were, he felt strangely comforted as well, despite the fact that imminent death was waiting for him outside the wall.

“What’s your name?”

“Guri,” the large man said.

“Divide up your men,” Anfey instructed. “You’ll join my men. You know this city better than we do. We need your help.”

“Yes, sir.”

“How many men do you have?”

“About five hundred,” Guri said with a frown. He was worried that he might not have enough men to make it through this battle.

“That’s more than enough,” Anfey said. “Go.”

Guri nodded and jogged off of the wall, following Ozzic and his men.

“Why are these zombies concentrating on us?” Suzanna asked with a frown.

“Maybe we’re irritating the necromancers,” Anfey said with a smile.

“Irritating?”

Anfey nodded. “Can you go talk to the Knights of Light? I want them to divide into four groups as well and join the four fronts. We need to strengthen our defenses.”

“I can’t assure you that they’ll listen.”

“They will right now,” Anfey said.

“Alright,” Suzanna said. She paused and glanced at Anfey and asked, “Are you even planning on breaking out?”

“Why would we do that?” Anfey asked.

“I’m serious,” Suzanna said with a deep frown. “There are too many zombies.”

“Don’t worry,” Anfey said. “I have a plan.”

Suzanna narrowed her eyes, then sighed and shook her head. She turned and began her descent from the wall. She knew that the more stressful the situation, the calmer Anfey will be. She had known very few people like that, and she respected it.

“Blavi,” Anfey called.

“Yes?” Blavi said, walking over. “You’re doing it?”

Anfey nodded.

“You’re a madman,” Blavi said. It was very hard to destroy an established magic group because the mages could simply use levitation spells to escape the battlefield. However, Blavi had never thought about using levitation to escape. Even if Anfey ordered them to use all of their magic, he would still follow his orders. Blavi was very loyal to his friends, and he would do anything to protect and help his friends and his men.

“Don’t do anything unless I tell you to,” Anfey said. “Let’s see what those priests can do.”

“I know what you mean.”

Blavi had hardly finished his sentence when the zombies surged forward and began attacking the city. The zombies were not very smart, and their attacking technique was very simple. In some situations, though, the simplest strategy was the most effective as well. Countless zombies stacked themselves on top of each other, building a slope that acted as a pathway for more zombies. The zombies staggered up the slope, howling.

All sides of the city were simultaneously attacked. Even though they lacked aid from mages, the mercenaries were still very powerful and blocked the attacks from the zombies.

However, the number of zombies was too great. Even though the mercenaries were strong, they were outnumbered. Countless zombies were running up the more than a dozen slopes all around the city, but there were only about five thousand fighters in the city. Except for the priests whom Anfey kept back, everyone was fighting.

With the zombies threatening to overrun the city at any moment, the mercenaries fought even harder. The mercenaries knew that they must do everything in their power to stop the zombies, because everything would be over if the zombies broke into the city.

The number of injured mercenaries was steadily increasing, while others were pulled off of the wall and into the pile of zombies.

The situation began to turn as the priests join the fight. Even though light magic was not as effective anymore, it was still very good at delaying the zombies. Light magic did not require a large reserve of magic. One spell could injure or destroy a dozen zombies. The priests knew how to use their power to the fullest, and soon the slopes of zombies began to collapse.

In the forest not far from the city, a few necromancers were conversing quietly. After a few moments, one of the necromancers raised a wand made from bones. As soon as the necromancer raised the wand, the attack from the zombies ceased.

Anfey knew why the necromancers must be retreating. He had more priests than the necromancers had anticipated, and if this continued, the zombies would all be defeated.

It was important to know one’s enemies, but in a war against the necromancers, it was an impossible task. The necromancers could conceal their identities, while other people could not gain their trust. Spying was impossible.

A dark figure rose into the air and floated towards the city. Necromancers could not use the Eye of the Sky and needed to be close to keep an eye on the situation near the city.

“Is that a necromancer?” a nearby mercenary asked loudly. Hearing his question, the other mercenaries around him began muttering amongst themselves.

Anfey retrieved his longbow from his dimensional ring and aimed it at the dark figure in the sky. He quickly released an element arrow. The arrow flew very fast. The necromancer did not have enough time to react and was struck in the chest by the arrow.

The necromancer gurgled and his figure bobbed in the air before stumbling to the ground. He crashed into the ground a few pace behind the zombies.

Anfey lowered his bow. The mercenaries glanced at him with awe and shock.

“Master Anfey, you should take responsibility for falling into the necromancers’ trap,” a Knight of Light said, emphasizing each word before dropping into a seat. He looked around for people to support him. Unfortunately, no one seemed to pay attention to what he said except for a few Knights of Light and priests who were qualified to attend this meeting. The rest of them were either chatting quietly in groups or resting with their eyes closed.

After the battle, Blavi and his mage group did a thorough check around the battlefield with Eyes of Sky. They found senior level death spirits among the death spirits. They found about 500 death knights and over 300 specters so far. However, there were so many death spirits, it was difficult to estimate a number.

These death spirits were particular irritating. Their attack and defensive ability was not as good as death knights, but they could fly and release a magic that could affect human’s functioning. They attacked people who had little willpower or telepathy in a way that would cause them to have constant illusions or go crazy.

Specters were rare species among death spirits since they were made very similar to puppets. Once necromancers could force the undispersed spirits to merge with dark series magic crystal powders, a specter was born. Specters had strong defense and almost abnormal recovery ability, since they were just magic crystal powders in the air. Swords and axes could barely hurt them. Low-level magic had no effect on them.

Theoretically, if there were enough dark series magic crystals, necromancers could make as many specters as they wanted. But it was just a theory. Dark series magic crystals were rare and they ranged widely in quality, so no necromancer would make all of their specters with magic crystals.

A Priest of Light tried to mediate. “In fact we cannot blame everything on Master Anfey for the situation we are in.” However, he did not really want to help Anfey. By “cannot blame everything on Anfey,” he meant Anfey needed to take most of the responsibility. “In addition, it would not help if we are just blaming each other right now. We’d better save it to think about what we should do next. If we stay here, we will die. To break their blockade…”

“Blaming each other?” Ye suddenly laughed. “Who blamed whom? It seems that only you guys are blaming Master Anfey, doesn’t it?”

“You…” That Priest of Light had no comeback.

“Breaking out the blockade? I’d better go to sleep instead of wasting my time with you here,” Ozzic said, sounding irritated.

The Knights of Light and priests looked at each other. They were encircled in the Zagreen City and their morale was at the lowest, which was the best time to ruin Anfey’s reputation among mercenaries. If they could not do anything to Anfey at that moment, they would not have any chance in the future.

“Master Thompson, what do you think?” a Knight of Light suddenly asked as everyone was quiet. Thompson just joined Anfey’s League with his mercenary group. Knights of Light and priests thought Thompson had a fragile bond with Anfey. They wanted Thompson to be on their side, otherwise they would totally lose this battle with Anfey.

Thompson did not seem to hear that he was called out. He was still saying something quietly to Orsie and smiling. The Knights of Light and priests could not understand how he could laugh at this moment.

“Master Thompson, what do you think?” the Knight of Light said again, raising his voice.

Thompson was still talking and laughing with Orsie.

In fact, it didn’t take much intelligence to see that Thompson was doing this on purpose. It was impossible that Thompson could not hear it at this volume. The Knight of Light was forced to continue in order to get a response from Thompson. He would even be in a more awkward situation if he backed off now. “Master Thompson!” He sounded very pissed.

“Huh? What?” Thompson “finally” heard him.

“What do you think about our current situation?” the Knight of Light said with his teeth grinded. He realized he had picked the wrong person, but he had to continue anyway. He needed to excuse himself at some point so he would not feel too awkward.

“I do not have any suggestions. I will follow master no matter where he goes,” Thompson said calmly. He looked like he realized something and tried to explain, “I should clarify: When I said ‘master’, I did not mean you.”

Everyone burst into laughter. That Knight of Light blushed and felt like he would explode in anger,, but he did not since he really had no reason to do so. The Knight of Light just did not want to let it go.

Anfey had been playing with the little unicorn. He did not think those few Knights of Light and priests could ruin his reputation. Mercenaries respected powerful people. If it were possible, they would like to follow powerful people. Millions of bad words about Anfey would not be as influential as Suzanna making moves.

“Master Anfey?” That Priest of Light was worried and angry when he saw Anfey distracted.

“What do you want me to do?” Anfey replied with a smile.

“When you ordered us to attack, it made us miss the best time to retreat. Don’t you think you should say something?” the Priest of Light said.

“Retreat? Sir!” Shinbella did not even want to call his name. “What do you think those death knights and specters were for? If I remember correctly, they had not shown up in the battle yet.”

“If those death knights and specters joined the battle, we could have been swarmed over by the death spirits around us. We did not have any barriers between us. Those death spirits could easily crush the formation we had.” Thompson’s ears seemed to work again. “If we listened to you, we already would be death spirits now.”

“We cannot do nothing. Are we just waiting to die here?” That Priest of Light had to argue from a different perspective.

“Why cannot we wait?” Anfey said calmly. “Archknight Fernando has been looking for opportunities to fight with death spirits. Now it is the time. Isn’t it a good thing?”

“But Archknight Fernando does not know our situation,” the Priest of Light yelled.

He sounded like such a layman. The other three Knights of Light who were qualified to sit in the meeting all smiled bitterly.

“We divided each day into six time periods. Each time period we sent out a group of elite knights to contact Archknight Fernando. If the Archknight did not receive any information from us, he could speculate on our location and our enemies’ fighting ability with the time gap,” Anfey patiently explained like a teacher. “So you do not have to worry. They will come to help as fast as they can.”

“This is a joke. Since we were encircled, we have not sent anyone to contact Archknight Fernando. How could Archknight Fernando know where we are and the number of necromancers we have to deal with?” the Priest of Light said.

The few Knights of Light awkwardly lowered their heads. They could not disagree with their peer, so they had to pretend they did not hear what he said.

“Let’s put it this way. We sent out our knight to Archknight Fernando this noon. At noon, we were 30 miles away from Zagreen and would be reaching Stormenburg in three days. Archknight Fernando would be alerted if the next round of knights does not get to him in time. If the next round of knights is missing, he would know there would be something wrong. It is easy to locate us. We should be only half a day travelling distance away from the last round of knights who reached to Stormenburg. In terms of the number of death spirits, we have about 4,000 mercenaries and about 1,000 Knights of Light and priests. If we were in any trouble, he would know we had encountered the main force of the death spirits.” Anfey looked calm and nice, but his words were not. “Am I explaining it clearly? Not everyone is as stupid as you. Archknight Fernando is a good general. You cannot evaluate Archknight Fernando’s intelligence and judgment ability with your own intelligence.”

It could be that priest had dedicated his life to God, so it took him a while to realize what Anfey meant. Anfey did not scold him directly. Or perhaps he understood what Anfey meant but could not take it. He was trembling in anger.

“If you are still worried and think Archknight Fernando is as stupid as you, you can ask for help yourself,” Anfey said.

“Ask for help? It would be no different than committing suicide,” a Knight of Light said, smiling bitterly. “It will take at least 8 days for Archknight Fernando to get here. Can we hold on for 8 days?” Besides the time the knights needed to deliver messages, it would take a day or two to reorganize his troops and few days to arrive. The Knight of Light was not wrong.

Anfey said in a low voice, “If death spirits attack Zagreen City, how long do you think we could hold out?”

“I do not know how long we can hold out, but I do know we will die soon once the priest group exhausts their magic,” the Knight of Light responded. He did not mean to ignore the fighting ability of the mage group, but he had to admit priests were a lot stronger in terms of fighting death spirits.

“Did they gather countless death spirits, death knights and specters to wipe us out? We only have a few people,” Anfey said with a smile.

“Well…” the priest said.

“Don’t you think they overdid it?” Anfey asked.

“Are you saying…” the priest said.

“I did not say anything. Just stay here.” No matter what others thought, Anfey had kept calm since he had Warner and the Book of Life. He had seen the power of the Book of Life in Moramatch. Of course, if others got to know about the Book of Life, conflict with the church would break out. He was not ready yet. He would not use Warner unless it was absolutely necessary.

“Are there any changes?” Anfey asked as he walked up to Suzanna.

“What are you doing here?” Suzanna asked, turning around. “You should be getting some rest.” Suzanna frowned when she saw Anfey’s bloodshot eyes. He had been very busy for the past few days and only had slept for a few hours that morning. She knew he had to get some rest or else he could get sick.

“I’m worried,” Anfey said quietly.

“You’re always worried,” Suzanna said. “You need to worry more about yourself.” She sighed and smoothed out some wrinkles on his shirt. There were still mercenaries around and she did not want to do anything that may be deemed inappropriate.

Anfey shook his head. “I’ll be fine,” he said.

“You sure?”

“Absolutely.”

Suzanna sighed and shook her head. She knew there was no use trying to convince him to do anything he did not want to do.

“Let’s go take a walk,” Anfey said, pointing down the wall. “I’m sure the necromancers will attack again at some point. They need to take us out before Fernando arrives, or else it would be almost impossible for them to wipe us out.”

“The attack never stopped,” Suzanna said with a frown. “But that’s different, isn’t it? They’re just trying to figure out how much manpower we have.”

Anfey nodded. “This coming fight…it’s going to be worse than all these small skirmishes added together. They’re serious about taking us out.”

Suzanna opened her mouth a few times but only sighed and did not say anything.

“What is it?” Anfey asked.

“Never mind,” Suzanna said. “It’s nothing.”

“It’s never nothing,” Anfey said. “What are you keeping from me?”

Suzanna shook her head.

“We promised each other we’d never keep secrets, remember?” Anfey said. “You can talk to me about anything. Plus, you’re never this hesitant.”

Suzanna grabbed Anfey’s arm and moved closer to him. They walked in silence for a few minutes. Anfey knew that it was no use pushing her, but she eventually would talk to him. She always talked to him because he talked to her. They rarely keep secrets from each other.

“Tell me, Suzanna,” Anfey said.

“Have you…have you planned for the worst?” Suzanna asked quietly. “I know you’re not the kind to prepare for that, but…”

Suzanna knew that it was a difficult thing to think about. No one wanted to think about the worst possible situation when planning for a battle. Even one as meticulous as Anfey might not have a backup plan when the worst happened.

To Suzanna, there were certain people she wanted to protect and there were people she wanted to protect but could not. Riska and Blavi were her friends; and Ozzic, Shinbella, and the mercenaries were loyal followers. She wanted to protect all of them, but she knew that even as a top level power she could not protect everyone. If worse came to worst and the zombies broke into the city, she would need to make sacrifices.

Suzanna knew she was not a hero and could not sacrifice herself for others. Anfey wanted glory and fame, but she just wanted a peaceful life. She could do anything to protect those who were important to her, but not the ones she deemed irrelevant to her life.

Ye was hurrying over and caught what Suzanna said. He paused, unsure what to do. Ye knew what Suzanna was talking about, but this was a private conversation and not one he should intrude into. Whatever Anfey and Suzanna talked about was their business. He should stay away.

Anfey spotted Ye and waved him over. Suzanna pursed her lips when she saw Ye.

Ye hesitated, then hurried over. “Lord Blavi told me to look for you, sir,” he said.

“You heard what we were saying, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” Ye said with a nod.

“That is the issue I wanted to talk to you about,” Anfey said. “If the worst happens, we need a plan.”

Ye nodded. “I’ll follow your every order, sir,” Ye said, “no matter what happens.” Ye knew Anfey and knew that as long as there was a glimmer of hope, Anfey would not abandon his men. If it really came down to it, it would not be Anfey’s or Suzanna’s fault. A few survivors would still be better than no survivors.

“Don’t be so pessimistic,” Anfey said with a grin. “Don’t forget about Warner and the Book of Life.”

“You mean…”

“I’ve talked with Warner a few times,” Anfey said. “He said that it is hard to activate the Book of Life. As long as we can keep the zombies and the necromancers away from him, he can hold out for a long time. I think that is more than enough. But in order for Warner to use the Book of Life, we need to take out the priests. I can’t call Ozzic back, so you need to be the one to do it.”

“But sir, if we take out those priests…”

“Warner and the Book of Life will be our last resort,” Anfey said. “As long as there is hope, I won’t use him. You know how powerful that book is. If we have that book, we won’t need those priests.”

Ye nodded, looked at Suzanna, and turned to leave. Before he could get far, he stumbled. He glanced outside of the city and his heard grew cold. Several dozen specters were floating just outside the wall. They would attack the wall quickly and soundlessly before hurrying away. They made no noise, but the ones they attacked could hear loud screams. A few mercenaries were stumbling already. The priests that were present hurried to cleanse them.

Suzanna frowned. She turned to Anfey and saw that his entire body was tense and he was shaking as if enduring great pain. “Anfey?” she asked quietly.

“I’m fine,” Anfey said through clenched teeth as the specters retreated. “Let’s get out of here.” The specters had an unpleasant effect on him, and their magic made him strangely angry. He knew that the specters shouldn’t affect him, but he could not block them out. It wasn’t pain or discomfort he had just experienced. The specters had awaken the part of him that wanted to fight.

“You said that we don’t keep secrets,” Suzanna said. “But you are keeping things from me. Now that Ye heard what I just said, he must be thinking that I’m a horrible person.”

“Ye’s not that kind of person, you know that,” Anfey said. “He understands there are choices we must make.”

Suzanna wanted to say something, but she was interrupted by a sudden howl. Thousands of zombies surged towards the wall from the forest like moving water, howling and clawing, ready to kill any living thing in front of them.

As the sun went down in the west, the tough battle finally ended, but morale among the mercenaries in Zagreen City became very low. The attacks from death spirits never stopped from morning until night. Anfey had about 200 priests join the battle, but the fatality rate was exceptionally high for the day. Including the fatalities of the past few days, the mercenaries had been reduced by one third. They also lost about one hundred knights and priests.

Everyone knew death spirits were more powerful at night. If it was already very tough during the day, but it would be a lot tougher at night. The necromancers had ordered many death spirits to fight for them during the day to exhaust the fighting ability of the League of Mercenaries, but the real battle would break out at night.

There was a saying that misfortune might be blessings in disguise, while misfortune lurked within good fortune. As the sun went down behind the mountains, good news finally came. Archknight Fernando had brought his Shield of Light legion. He sent a homing pigeon with a letter, telling the mercenaries to hold on tight for another 24 hours at any cost.

Anfey was sitting in the room and playing with the homing pigeon on the table. This mutated pigeon had a small body, only slightly bigger than a sparrow, but it could fly extremely fast and understand people well. It’s only drawback was that it could not fly long distances. It was bred for sending messages between two places that were not too far from each other. Anfey was thinking he should talk with Fernando to see if they could buy more of these homing pigeons to build an information network of their own. As to the content of the letter they received, he did not see and could not see it, just as the Knights of Light could not give commands to mercenaries. If he asked to see the letter, he would bring humiliation on himself, since the conflict between Anfey and the knights was obvious. The Knights of Light and priests would not lose any opportunity to make fun of Anfey.

Someone knocked on the door. Anfey looked up. “Come in, please.”

Ye pushed the door open and walked in. He listened at the door for a moment after he closed the door behind him. He slowly approached Anfey.

“What happened?” Anfey asked.

“Master, let’s do it now,” Ye said quietly. “It would be hard to hold out tonight with just those Knights of Light and priests. Why don’t we just bet on Warner? If we lose the battle, it would be hard for us to get back on our feet again.”

Anfey gave the matter a bit of thought, then said, “Fernando is getting close. I am worried that…”

“Master,” Ye said worriedly, “it shows that Warner is not able to help us when Fernando asked us to hold out for another day and night. We would never know if he could beat all those death spirits. We have to protect ourselves. If Fernando loses the battle, we have to be able to break through the death spirits’ blockade. Master, we used to have more than 4,000 mercenaries, but now we have less than 3,000. If we lose more of them, I am afraid…”

“Ye, there are many people watching us. It would not be easy to kill those Knights of Light and priests. If anyone noticed…I think, we’d better wait,” Anfey said.

“Master, you don’t trust those mercenaries, do you? In fact, they do not care about the church. In addition, we have secretly killed some of the Knights of Light and priests,” Ye said.

Anfey suddenly gave Ye a look. The next moment, there was someone knocking on the door. “Is Master Anfey there?”

Anfey lifted his chin to signal Ye to open the door. Ye walked to the door and opened it. A Priest of Light and few Knights of Light stood outside with big smiles. Anfey knew two of the Knights of Light, Hilde and Martin. Hilde had been hostile towards Anfey, while Martin was the spy Yolanthe set up in the church.

“Master, can we come in?” the Priest of Light asked with a smile.

“Please come in, come in.” Anfey slowly stood up. “You are here…”

“Master, I have a secret order from the Pope!” the Priest of Light went directly to the point and then turned to Ye. “Master Ye, are you…”

“Secret order? To me?” Anfey looked a little shocked. He nodded at Ye. Ye turned around and slowly left.

“Yes, master.” The Priest of Light held his hand out and took a letter from his Dimensional ring.

Anfey smiled and reached for the letter, but he was just a little off and did not get the letter. Instead, he touched that Priest of Light’s hand. In the blink of an eye, he grabbed the Priest of Light’s hand and pulled it down as he kicked him in the groin. The Priest of Light flew into the air. As the priest screamed out, Anfey jammed his knee into the priest’s face and stifled his screaming.

Martin pulled his sword out and thrust forward with full force. However, he did not thrust at Anfey. Instead, he stabbed at his peer, Hilde. Hilde never thought Martin would attack him. Martin’s sword pierced his back and through his chest before Hilde had a chance to pull her sword half way out.

At the same time, Ye ran back in. The sword in his hand created a light screen. He thrusted his sword into the neck of a Knight of Light. The way Ye thrust his sword was cruel. His sword had cut off half that knight’s neck.

These Priests and Knights of Light had not come with a good intentions. They should have not brought Martin with them. Anfey was smart and responded quickly. He looked at Martin and understood what Martin was trying to signal him. As a result, the killers were killed. The Priest of Light with the highest fighting ability did not even get the chance to release his magic scroll before he was killed by Anfey.

Anfey did not think the two Knights of Light who were still alive could pose any threats to them. Anfey indicated to Martin that he had no idea why these Priests and Knights of Light attacked him. He hoped to find the answer from Martin.

“Master, be careful!” Martin yelled to Anfey. He threw himself at Anfey to protect him. At the same time, the iron door was torn to pieces and a bright sword radiance shot into the room.

Martin had used all his combat power to block the sword radiance from Anfey. As the sword radiance pierced through Martin’s body, his body was torn apart.

“Go, hurry up!” Anfey yelled. He now understood that there was a top power among his opponents. He worried about Ye. If Ye wanted to fight without considering the fighting ability of his opponent, he would be killed as quickly as Martin.

“Where do you think you are going?” Laughter rose from outside, and then another sword radiance shot at Anfey.

Ye was wise. He turned around, crashed through the window and jumped out. A Fire Shield appeared on Anfey’s left arm, and he fearlessly countered the sword radiance. After a huge crashing noise, Anfey realized he could not even control the shaking from the fire elements on the Fire Shield. The whole Fire Shield was smashed to pieces while Anfey was knocked into the bedroom.

“Suzanna has been led to the north of the city, so…” A person slowly walked into the bedroom and looked at Anfey, who stood there with his sword. Anfey said calmly, “Go to hell!”

This time the person did not feel the sword radiance was enough to kill Anfey, so he did not release sword radiance. Instead, he slashed his sword at Anfey.

This slash looked very simple, but its speed and power were beyond anything Anfey had experienced. The bright combat power lit up the bedroom even brighter than day light. The moving air currents tore the bedframe behind Anfey. The frame shattered against the wall with a loud crash.

Anfey’s counterattack was simple as well. With his fighting skills, he could move to the side to dodge the sword, but he chose to counter it directly because he wanted to understand the difference between him and a real top power.

In addition to Anfey’s bed the vases, cases and other stuff in the bedroom could not take the pressure and were all crushed into pieces. The Fire Sword became blurry.

The stone floor shattered underneath Anfey, surprising both of them. A black hole appeared. Anfey could not fall down the hole because of the enormous surprised he received.

There was a big secret chamber underneath the bedroom. The secret chamber had a few floors. It had been built for its previous owner to store treasure. Anfey had never noticed this secret chamber before.

“Huh?” The person looked really surprised and immediately jumped into the hole. Maybe because of the two rounds of fighting, he believed Anfey was not as strong as him, so he made such daring move. If their fight abilities were similar, he probably would have put himself at a serious disadvantage if he simply jumped into the hole.

Anfey stood up straight. He released his telepathy as fast as he could. The blurry Fire Sword started to look clear again very quickly. Seeing the person jumping down, he did not immediately start his attack.

“Did you prepare this for yourself? Not bad! It is very hard to find,” the person said as he looked around the chamber.

Anfey kept quiet as his internal power was moving faster and faster.

“Are you desperate now? Do you know who I am?” The person smiled and looked to Anfey like he was playing a cat and mouse game.

“I do not want to know,” Anfey said calmly. “You are a top power, but unfortunately, you do not know how to kill others.”

“Do you know? Unfortunately…” The person tried to copy Anfey. He said calmly, “You are a professional killer, but you are going to be killed by me today!”

Anfey slowly raised his sword to indicate to his opponent that he was ready to fight. As an assassin in his previous world, he never talked bullsh*t with his targets, trying to tell them why he was going to kill them and other stuff. Those were pointless conversations. Instead, talking bullsh*t would give his opponents time to find a good opportunity to fight back and beat him.

“Do you still hope you could win this fight? Not bad, not bad,” the person said with a wry smile. “I can tell you have a strange power inside of you. Is it power that could help you become a Supreme Power?” In fact, he secretly had a feeling that whatever power he had would not work on Anfey. From the time he practiced combat power until he became a top power, he had been under the supervision of his master. He never really got a chance to interact with others. That was why he was a little naïve when he was arguing with Anfey.

“You really like to talk!” Anfey said rudely. Dragging the time was really doing him a favor, but he did not want to wait anymore because he did not want to rely on Suzanna all the time.

“You really don’t want to know who I am?” the figure asked, curious. If someone wanted to kill him, he would want to know who he was. Anfey, on the other hand, appeared completely unbothered by the fact that he did not know who was trying to kill him.

“Why would I?” Anfey asked. “So many people want to kill me. If I try to find out who every single one of them is, it would take too long.”

“Interesting,” the figure said. He gripped his sword. He was angry, but he still kept the words of his teacher in mind. He wasn’t there to kill Anfey.

“You’ll be surprised,” Anfey said. “Well, since you want me to know so badly: Who are you, exactly?”

“Deswright,” the figure said. “I’m a student of Philip’s.”

“That’s it?” Anfey said, shaking his head. “I thought there would be more.”

“You made a mistake the day you killed Zeda,” Deswright said coolly.

“It’s too late for that now, isn’t it?” Anfey asked. “I killed him. It’s done.”

“I know that,” Deswright said. “Which is why I am here.”

Anfey frowned. He did not expect such an answer from Deswright. All the top level powers he had met were brilliant people. Even Bruzuryano, who was known for his honesty, had his own secrets. Honesty wasn’t stupidity. He was surprised that Deswright did not get the hint.

“I have to warn you, though,” Anfey said, “Suzanna’s almost here.”

Deswright frowned. He had been spying on them for a while now and knew that Suzanna had recently moved up a level. He did not need to face another top level power because that would just be too inconvenient. He raised his sword and dashed towards Anfey.

Anfey did not back down, either. He gripped his sword and blocked Deswright’s attack. He wanted to see how different he was from a top level power. This was a good opportunity for him to gain some knowledge and use it to his benefit.

The two swords clashed with a loud thud. Anfey’s fire sword shattered and turned back into loose fire elements. He was too distracted to form another sword this fast. Deswright had used most of his power and had no reserve. Remnants of combat power exploded with the loose elements. The clash sent both Anfey and Deswright flying backwards and crashing into the walls of the cave. The cave shook dangerously, threatening to collapse at any moment.

Anfey quickly formed a fire shield to defend himself from the combat power.

Deswright recovered much faster than Anfey did. He was already heading towards Anfey just as Anfey was standing up. He did not care to prolong this process. He just needed to finish this.

Deswright might have been young and inexperienced, but he was still very powerful. Even though Anfey had the sword Jacob had forged for him, he was still shocked by his collision with the wall of the cave. Deswright only stumbled a little after this clash, but Anfey was thrown away again. He crashed through a wooden door at the end of the tunnel and crashed against the wall. Deswright chased after him quickly. Behind him, the cave and the tunnel shook and began to collapse.

Deswright laughed. “You’re trapped now,” he said. Deswright was right. The tunnel had already collapsed and the room they were in was sealed off. There was no way out unless one of them died at the hand of the other.

Anfey shook his head and stood up. His body was very strong now but he was still not strong enough to be able to shake off the pain of crashing into walls. The clashes made him slightly dizzy.

“Just admit defeat,” Deswright said, “and maybe I won’t kill you then.”

Anfey took a deep breath. The air was very foul in the room because the lack of circulation. That did not help with his dizziness.

“I’m curious,” Anfey said, panting. “How did someone like you become a top level power?”

“You’re questioning my abilities?” Deswright asked coolly. He knew that he was powerful enough to defeat Anfey, especially when Anfey was injured. However, he seemed to have forgotten that Anfey’s power did not lay in pure strength. Instead, his speed and agility were what Deswright should really be watching for.

Anfey’s breath stabilized and he summoned a large fireball. He threw the fireball at Deswright and quickly scrambled away, sending a few more fireballs as he ran. He was summoning fireballs as fast as his body would allow.

A small wall of fire appeared around Deswright as Anfey sent a few more fireballs his way.

Deswright could sense that this was Anfey’s last attempt at defeating him. He was very patient and was waiting for Anfey to use up all of his magic. It would take time for Suzanna to find them, and Deswright did not mind waiting.

The light of the fireballs began to dim, and Anfey stopped using large fireballs and began using small fireballs. Deswright watched him without expression. An attack with small fireballs was nothing to a man like him.

Anfey finally stopped using magic and stood there, watching Deswright. The two of them watched one another silently. Deswright frowned. Anfey was supposed to be a paladin, and his magic should not deplete this quickly.

“Is it my turn now?” Deswright asked, waving his sword.

Anfey shrugged but did not say anything. He tapped the ground with his foot as if waiting for Deswright.

Deswright took a deep breath and dove forward. He did not want to kill Anfey just yet. He was still adhering to Philip’s instructions. He wanted to prolong the process.

Anfey waited for Deswright to get close enough to him before moving. He pushed off of the wall behind and moved out of the way of Deswright’s sword.

Deswright dove towards him again, but this time, he realized that something was off. His breathing was becoming more difficult and his combat power was failing.

“What did you do?” Deswright asked angrily. Anfey shook his head and still did not say anything. He dashed towards Deswright and slammed a fist into his chest. Because of his failing combat power, Deswright could not defend himself against this attack. Deswright crashed into the wall. Anfey lunged at him, throwing him towards a large stone before he could regain his strength.

Without combat power, Deswright was not as strong as the stone. His body slid limply off the stone. Anfey picked up Deswright’s sword and stabbed the man through the chest. Deswright watched him angrily, then his eyelids drooped and his body stilled.

After making sure that Deswright really was dead, Anfey walked over to the collapsed tunnel and began trying to dig his way out with the sword.

After a few moments, he made a small crack in the rock pile. He quickly leaned close to the crack and took a deep breath. Then he began digging again.

After a few feet, he felt the stones shaking. He grinned, knowing that Suzanna must have arrived. The shaking was growing stronger. Anfey waited impatiently, knowing that soon he would run out of air. Hopefully, Suzanna heard the noises he made, and he wouldn’t have to die together with Deswright.

Just as Anfey thought that Suzanna wouldn’t find him, a large crack appeared through the rocks and air flowed in. A moment later, Suzanna appeared at the crack. “Anfey?” she called hesitantly. “You still alive in there?”