Chapter 222: Act 156 – Dawn (9) (First Update, Seeking Support)
When Medisa unfurled her spirit wings, she did not think much, as if a general instinctively protected her troops. But when she saw the black-clothed undead general quietly watching her—its right hand extended, grasping a massive pitch-black scythe tightly with a thorny metallic glove, gradually lowering it—she realized she had made a mistake.
In the next moment, Bai vanished from her sight.
The silver elf girl instinctively turned her long spear, but it was a moment too late. She looked up, the brilliance bursting forth from her spirit wings dimmed as a cold scythe obscured the light, drawing a black gleam from top to bottom—‘crack,’ and the silver chainmail shattered, like flickering leaves falling, and a rose-red bloom of bl**d burst forth, forming a glaring crimson flower. Medisa stared in disbelief at the wound extending from her shoulder to her lower abdomen, her face pale.
As the undead descended, it reached out from under its black cloak and seized her throat, pushing forward with its arm, and the weakened silver elf girl was thrown down like a kite with a broken string, landing heavily on the ground with a thud, kicking up a cloud of dust.
At the same time, the black knight landed, his cold metallic mask revealing no emotion as he calmly swung his scythe forward; the crescent blade sliced through the air in a perfect semicircle, sweeping away the mercenaries who had temporarily regained their senses and were rushing to assist the lady knight, sending them tumbling in all directions.
The mercenaries screamed and retreated, as if the scythe had swept through straw, toppling them one by one. When Bai landed, a vacuum semicircle formed with his body at its center, that reached ten meters in radius. The unicorn stood before Medisa, but the undead general casually knocked it down, looking down at the girl lying on the ground: Medisa lay quietly in a pool of bl**d, her pale silver eyes somewhat unfocused.
The girl occasionally coughed weakly, spitting out bl**d, the bright red liquid trickling down her long, white neck to the ground, forming conspicuous red spots. She could barely feel her body anymore, only the pain spreading along her nerves, a weariness gradually taking hold of her spirit, as her consciousness seemed to drift away; yet, in her dimming vision, she saw that cold mask enlarging—Bai was crouching beside her, one hand gripping her throat and pulling her up.
“Medisa, you still haven’t improved—” Bai remarked.
The silver elf princess shuddered and coughed up a mouthful of bl**d, “Cough, you—” She struggled to utter those words, but saw Bai close one eye, the other lit with burning golden flames, staring at her unmoving.
Mind-reading!
“d*mn—” The girl gritted her teeth and concentrated, her remaining spiritual power sealing off the space around her body like flowing water. Although mind-reading could only grasp surface thoughts, it was still shameful; in the upper echelon of wizards, only those with despicable morals would employ such tricks.
However, this spell was widely circulated among the dark nobility of Madara, and Medisa was not familiar with these undead who lived in the shadows; had Brendel been there, he would have merely laughed, but the elven girl trembled with anger, feeling an immense humiliation.
The undead general holding the scythe shook his head.
“Cough, I can’t hold on…” Medisa weakly shook her head, as if trying to break free from his grasp. She felt her consciousness growing dimmer, but the icy sensation around her neck—caused by the barbed metallic glove constricting her throat—was unbearable. She knew she was about to give in, but she had to remind her lord immediately.
Bai watched her unmoving, a semblance of pity evident in his golden eyes. The silver elf princess shuddered, suddenly feeling as if an invisible wall on the battlefield rebounded her spiritual sense.
Her mind link with Brendel was severed—
“You… cough…” Medisa began to cough painfully.
“There are many ways to use soul elements; the undead of Madara have much insight into this element. I am no exception,” Bai replied coldly, gripping the elf princess’ neck tightly as if holding a bird, “Soul Essence Barrier: Severing Seal—within this space I have created, all connections to the material world can be interrupted, to enter or leave requires power greater than mine—”
Bai’s voice was cut off as he suddenly turned his head.
He raised his hand in a block toward a certain direction, a fiery red figure bursting forth like flames erupting from the underground, mixed with rushing lightning, arriving in an instant. With a loud bang, several long arcs of electricity streaked through the darkness. Bai let out a muffled grunt, but Xi, with her spear, had already clashed against his left hand once and then quickly retreated.
“There’s also a golden-level presence,” the undead knight said, focusing on the red-haired girl standing in the distance, “That young man has many capable subordinates.”
“Let her go—!” Xi exclaimed, looking at Medisa in his grip, gritting her teeth.
Bai coldly snorted, tossed Medisa aside, and swung his scythe toward Xi. The red-haired girl was momentarily stunned, feeling as if he suddenly slipped out of her vision and became ungraspable; but in the next moment, the cold scythe had already touched her neck—its chilling presence brought a stab of pain that made Xi’s heart drop. When she had rushed over, she had witnessed Bai and Medisa clashing, originally thinking that this was his true strength, but compared to this moment, he had clearly been holding back.
The strength of this undead surpassed her expectations, slipping out of perception—according to that young man, this was at least golden peak strength. And in fact, only those at golden peak could initially master the method of autonomously unleashing elemental power; however, the Soul Essence Barrier was ethereal and invisible, so Xi was unaware that she had missed the best opportunity to assess his strength.
But such thoughts were futile now; at the last moment, Xi gritted her teeth and shifted her body to avoid a lethal strike, allowing the sharp edge of the scythe to hit her back. It pierced her; she let out a grunt and was sent flying away. Although this blow was far heavier than what Medisa had endured, the red-haired girl quickly clutched her shoulder and stood back up.
The divine envoy’s inherent resilience and regenerative abilities were far from what the inherently fragile elves could compare with.
“Eh?” Bai paused slightly, thinking that he had used at least eight-tenths of his strength in that attack, and it should have killed Xi. He didn’t expect her to get up seemingly unscathed after receiving the strike. However, if this black knight, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, had known that the girl with the long red ponytail had also merely lain down for a week after being struck by the Earth God’s envoy, Eckmen, before bouncing back to life, he would have certainly exerted all his might in that scythe attack.
The two moved away from the clearing where Medisa lay, undoubtedly the best opportunity, but after suffering losses earlier, the mercenaries had become timid and dared not advance.
Xi bit her lip, looking at these fellows, her amber eyes seemingly ablaze.
Meanwhile, the leader of the Rose and Wine mercenary group, Crenshia, was currently wavering; beads of sweat dotted his forehead beneath his long silver hair, as the enemy was beyond formidable—his confidants urged him to leave while they had the chance. However, that young man was equally threatening; not only was he of noble descent, but he also commanded such a plethora of golden-level strength. No one would believe that such a young man lacked profound backing.
But he raised his head and immediately noticed the elite skeleton spearmen, under the direction of the undead knight, beginning to surround the seriously injured Medisa in the center of the battlefield.
A tide of undead.
Crenshia gritted his teeth, finally making up his mind. Disobeying Brendel could lead to d*ath, but now they were confronting a more immediate threat; the undead side was clearly more powerful, and the fact that the masked black knight had injured both Medisa and Xi was evident to all. He sheathed his sword, preparing to issue a retreat order, but just as he was about to step back, he felt a small hand grasping his clothing.
It was the young girl.
The middle-aged man lowered his head and saw Funiya looking up at him with her profound, emerald-green eyes, softly asking, “Uncle?”
Crenshia was taken aback; he understood Funiya’s meaning. But how could he respond? Should he tell this little girl that her uncle was preparing to flee? He opened his mouth but found himself unable to utter such words, as seeing Funiya’s earnest expression reminded him of his own daughter. His wife and daughter had both perished amidst the chaos of war, as the turmoil in the Erluin border had continued for decades; almost everyone living in these regions had personally experienced the suffering of war.
The middle-aged man shut his eyes, cold sweat covering his forehead.
“Captain?” His confidant asked from the side.
Crenshia opened his eyes, filled with bloodshot urgency: “Let’s take a gamble.”
Everyone around was stunned.
“Leave success or failure to Martha!” Crenshia gritted his teeth and declared.
“Leave success or failure to Martha—!”
The mercenaries finally sprang into action, pushing forward and colliding with rows of skeletal frames as the battle erupted in an instant. The mercenaries closest to Medisa quickly formed a wall to protect the elven princess, aiding her from the pool of bl**d—she, her consciousness on the verge of collapse, weakly shook her head, realizing her predicament—but she immediately thought of her last chance to change the tide of battle.
Medisa gently inhaled—
…
Xi and Bai brushed past each other, and when she was wounded for the third time, she suddenly heard the mercenaries calling out to her from behind; the red-haired girl stubbornly wiped the bl**d from the corner of her mouth, turned back, and heard the mercenaries loudly urging her, “Attack that guy with all your might!”
Attack with all her might once?
What did that mean?
Xi hesitated for a moment, but her gaze immediately fell on Medisa, half-sitting among the crowd. The silver elf princess’s eyes were nearly unfocused, but the last glimmer of hope burning in her depths reached Xi’s heart, and in an instant, she understood her meaning. “Attack with all my might?” She raised her axe spear, and the spear tip of the Thunder Spear—Logos, immediately flashed a dazzling arc of light, pushing forward to block the approaching undead knight.
Bai was taken aback.
Xi held her axe spear steady, and in that moment, countless sparks of electricity burst forth from her body, even causing her red ponytail to unfurl, hair floating upwards. She stared at the undead knight, showing a small tiger-like toothy grin; electric sparks coiled upwards, pouring into the axe spear—
“Seventh String—”
“Thunderous Roar!”
…
(PS: Finally, an opportunity for a rare push, I hope everyone supports it. Please give praise in the review section.) (To Be Continued, for the next chapter, please log in, for more chapters, support the author, support legitimate reading!)
