"Zhan Yi, I'm giving you 100 of the swarm of bees, you are responsible for commanding them to clear the Undead on the left side.
Zhan Er, you take care of the right side."
Approaching the territory boundary they had risked nearly half their lives to map out last time, Bai Yi quietly instructed the two.
Each was allocated 55 upgraded Destruction Giant Bees and 45 regular Giant Bees, and they left to carry out their orders.
After a short while, Bai Yi heard the faint sounds of combat coming from both sides.
"Nong Si, shortly I will command the insect swarm to advance head-on. Your task is to impersonate me up front, just for show. The swarm will protect you."
"Yes, master."
Nong Si asked no more questions, and boldly took the hammer in their hand, striding forward.
Controlling the insect swarm to follow Nong Si's advance, Bai Yi crouched and moved through the trees, trailing some distance behind.
Since this was still the perimeter, the encountered Undead were mostly below level 10.
Even Nong Si, who had no enhancements, could smash a small Skeleton with one hammer swing.
Furthermore, since Zhan Yi and Zhan Er had already cleared the area once before, the number of Undead around wasn't very high.
They advanced to the "second layer" with almost no resistance.
This was a division made by Bai Yi, categorizing the regions mostly filled with below-level-10 Undead as the first layer.
The second layer was a standard 1st Rank Undead area with levels from 10 to 20, while the third layer began to have 2nd Rank Undead.
—which Bai Yi speculated to be the closest to where the Undead Mage was.
After reaching the second layer, the advance became visibly more strenuous.
Most notably, whether it was Nong Si's hammer or the swarm's impact, a hit to an Undead's head was a sure kill!
But now even if a Skeleton took a direct hit, it only shattered its skull, yet could still swing a sword.
To ensure safety, Bai Yi had to slow her advancement.
[You have leveled up from lv.16 to lv.17 (50/800), you gained 1 free attribute point, you gained 1 skill point]
[Your attribute constitution increased from 11 to 12]
[You have leveled up from lv.17 to lv.18 (150/850), you gained 1 free attribute point, you gained 1 skill point]
[Your attribute strength increased from 10 to 11]
...
After leveling up twice in a row, Bai Yi finally encountered her first 2nd Rank Undead.
It was a tall Undead wielding a Bone Shield and a massive Bone Knife.
Relying on the enormous shield that covered most of its body, Nong Si's hammer was ineffective and was almost struck by the Skeleton's Bone Knife.
If Bai Yi hadn't timely manipulated a Beetle to pull Nong Si back, Nong Si could have been dealt a first blood.
"Skeleton Shield Guard, frequently advance together with Low-tier Undead, Bone Shield has extremely high defensive power, difficult to break through from the front, fears Flames and Corrosive liquids."
The intelligence of the Undead before Bai Yi came to her mind.
And what she lacked least was Corrosive liquid.
Two Beetles received Bai Yi's command, flying over the Skeleton Shield Guard under the cover of their companions.
Sharp appendages slashed open their swollen abdomens, spraying dark green blood out.
Sizzle——
The Poison Blood equally fell upon the crowded Undead below.
Landed on the Skeletons, the Poison Blood was like hot oil on snow.
After a burst of corrosive white smoke, a swath of Skeletons fell like cut wheat, leaving only the Skeleton Shield Guard standing with a damaged skull and half-destroyed shield.
Other Beetles pursued the victory, and a few impacts extinguished the Soul Flames in the Skeleton Shield Guard's head.
"Great! It really works!"
The Undead here were mostly Skeletons, without Blood Flesh protection, they had no resistance to the corrosion of the Poison Blood.
And once the skull was no longer protected, the Soul Flames were like a candle in the wind.
Even with slightly harsh movements, they would "commit suicide" themselves.
Only the few Animated Corpses with some Blood Flesh could withstand for a moment but were quickly torn to pieces under focused attacks.
Relying on this "Blood-spraying Battle Technique," Bai Yi successfully advanced to the third layer.
2nd Rank Undead seemed to have much higher intelligence than 1st Rank ones.
1st Rank Skeletons would stupidly pick a target and just chop, but after the 2nd Rank, they learned to use Low-tier Animated Corpses as shields, consciously avoiding the swarm's blood-spraying attacks.
The damage caused by the swarm was greatly reduced, but the Undead also had difficulty attacking the agile swarm.
There were indeed long-range attack units among the Undead.
Bai Yi even saw some archers hiding in the back.
But after shooting a few arrows, they were yelled at by some leading 2nd Rank Undead and dared not move again, foolishly watching from behind.
Because the arrows they shot, though accurately hitting insects in the air, their original design for quickly harvesting enemy blood became weapons harvesting their own side's life now.
The insects hit relied on their powerful Life Force to remain aloft, but the arrows hanging on them continuously bled them out.
It was like an artificial blood rain on the battlefield.
Failed to harm the enemy a hundred but successfully self-damaged a thousand.
Bai Yi's side's killing efficiency decreased, while the Undead did not dare to act recklessly.
For a while, the battle fell into a stalemate.
......
Deep in the mountains, inside a cave
Karis' eyes burned as he stared intently at the crimson "Blood Pool" before him.
A young girl lay asleep in the center of the pool, her pale gray hair spread and floating on the water's surface.
Around the pool, circle after circle of blood-drawn Arrays extended from the pool to the cave walls.
Several mangled corpses lay around the pool, their Blood Flesh continuously turning into blood plasma and flowing into the pool.
The entire cave reeked heavily of blood.
Karis seemed unaffected, his Magic Power linked to the Array.
After a long pause, Karis withdrew his Magic Power, sighing quietly.
"Just a little more, just a little more!
The Life Body of this world is incredibly strong, as if blessed by [Longevity].
Just need to continue, just need to capture more lives of this world...
Just give me a little more time, a little more time...
Lina...
My Lina..."
The blood in the pool swirled with Karis's will without wind, bringing the girl in the pool to Karis's side.
A pair of time-battered, calloused hands emerged from the black robe, gently touching the girl's face.
Wanting to caress but seemingly afraid of damaging the fragile skin, they pulled back after a brief touch.
Just then, a two-meter-tall Skeleton with a Bone Sword entered the cave, kneeling on one knee behind Karis.
(A series of incomprehensible screeches)
"Didn't I say not to disturb me?!
If you don't have a convincing reason, prepare to become a sacrifice—"
Karis suddenly turned, glaring at the Skeleton with a contorted face.
Under the cave's light, Karis's pronounced skeletal, pale face and dust-gray hair became visible, closely resembling the girl in the pool.
(Another series of screeches)
"Those two women from the day before yesterday?!
And more insects?
Interesting."
Karis suddenly grinned, only to instantly become furious, a switch as swift as changing faces.
"What do you mean by being driven to the foot of the mountain?! You bunch of trash!"
A moment ago his gaze seemed to kill, next he burst out laughing,
"Hahahaha...
Exactly, only like this are they qualified to be sacrifices; this blessed land truly offers me surprises..."
Faces changing multiple times, Karis turned to face the Blood Pool, his steely gaze sweeping over the corpses.
"Dormant corpses, I declare in the name of Karis, grant you new Life, bestow upon you Eternal Life and immortality!
I command you, rise! Fight for me!"
Thin blood threads emerged from the Blood Pool, sketching a mysterious rune, falling onto each skeleton's skull, disappearing within in an instant.
Clusters of ghostly blue flames emerged from Karis's hand, flicking his wrist, the flames found each corpse, ducking into the skulls.
Crack, crack——
The sound of bones clashing came from the skeletons.
Every bone seemed to gain its own Life, struggling to support the body.
Gradually their movements became stable, becoming forceful.
Finally, all of them prostrated before Karis, as if worshiping their Emperor.
"Hahahaha——"
Karis raised the Bone Staff in his hand, pointing towards the cave's entrance.
"Go, bring me all that I desire!"
(A series of anguished howls)
......
Awaken the Undead: 1st Rank Magic, instills Soul Flames into dead skeletons to awaken them, obeying the caster's command, the strength of the Undead depends on the skeleton itself and the caster's Magic Power consumption...