Chapter 856: Uninvited Guest
“This is a route that had been accidentally discovered when the last two members of the expedition team retreated. It’s much safer than going in from the front. However, no one thought that there would be so many Undead creatures here. Those two members didn’t encounter any Undead creatures when they evacuated in the beginning!” Hoffman obviously couldn’t understand why those Undead creatures had to create trouble for him and the others.
As he was talking, the roaring of magical spells began again in the camp that had just quieted down. The people in the tent looked at each other helplessly; as expected, someone soon reported that another group of Undead creatures had attacked the camp. If it happened once, it could be a coincidence, but not if it happened three or four times. Things were definitely not simple.
“Sir, our camp has been surrounded by an unknown number of Undead creatures.” Soon after the third wave of Undead creatures was eliminated, someone went into the tent again to break the piece of news which made everyone feel uneasy.
Lin Li and the others went outside the tent, and looked around the camp, only to see the surging army of Undead creatures swarming towards the camp. At the front, there were still Skeletal Warriors wearing ice armor. At the back, there were h.e.l.l Ghouls and Skeletal Mages that were continuously casting low-level Necromagic like h.e.l.lfire bullets. Although they were not powerful, they were overwhelming and daunting.
Lin Li cast a Warlock’s Eyes into the air, and carefully observed the army of Undead creatures. There were many more Undead creatures in this wave than in the previous three waves combined. There were probably at least nearly 100,000 of them.
Lin Li had seen such a large-scale army of Undead creatures, and he had seen many more in the Shadowglen, the Seven-Realm Spiral, and the Sky Castle. However, the sight of the vast number of Undead creatures still made everyone feel uneasy.
However, despite the situation, not everyone was worried. Ujfalusi and Norfeller were extremely excited. Ujfalusi drove the Humerus Wyrm and flew directly above the Undead creatures before continuously casting powerful Necromagic spells. As the Undead creatures collapsed under the spells, countless rays of light emerged from their remains, and shot directly at Ujfalusi and the Humerus Wyrm.
Norfeller wielded a pair of daggers, and had already darted towards the Undead creatures. The Undead creatures that were wrapped in ice were falling to the ground in rows when hit with the light reflected off the daggers like harvested crops. While Norfeller rushed to and fro, there were countless rays of light dashing over from behind like they were tailing him. Whenever Norfeller’s figure paused, the light would dash into his body.
Ujfalusi and Norfeller were Undead creatures. Although they also had other ways to improve their strength, the most direct and quickest method was undoubtedly to tackle the soul fire. Devouring a large amount of soul fire from other Undead creatures would allow one’s soul fire to be strengthened, and it would be akin to humans increasing their own potential. Although the increase in strength wouldn’t be obvious, it would increase one’s capacity. To them, soul fire was undoubtedly the best supplement in the world that nothing else could replace.
Although the number of Undead creatures was large, Ujfalusi and Norfeller were both genuine Legendary powerhouses. The members of the expedition team also had strength of at least level-15. Hence, the Undead creatures could not do much damage to the team. They were soon destroyed.
After annihilating that wave of Undead creatures, Ujfalusi and Norfeller returned to Lin Li. The eyes of the two Undead servants were filled with excitement. Obviously, the soul fire that had been harvested by them had benefited them greatly. As long as they filled an enlarged bucket with water, there would immediately be a great leap in strength.
However, the victory did not make the Tower of Dusk and the senior executives of the Glittergold happy. Instead, they frowned and did not hide their worry. The Undead creatures had arrived too mysteriously, and it was as if they had identified the expedition team as their enemies.
“What do these Undead creatures want to do? Does the location of our camp have any impact on them?” Hoffman asked his subordinates about the surrounding environment but did not find out anything special.
“Could it be that our arrival disturbed them?” Lin Li asked, stating his guess. However, he immediately shook his head to deny it. They had merely disturbed it and it would not cause the Undead creatures to disregard the threat posed by the sunlight. They immediately attacked the expedition team in broad daylight.
The abnormal behavior of the Undead creatures made everyone feel very puzzled. Their speculations could not explain anything, either. Of all members of the two teams, Thomas and Basel were the most knowledgeable. However, the two masters felt that they could not grasp the key to the problem.
“Regardless of the reason, I think it is impossible for us to get some rest here. It is still daytime, and there are already Undead creatures attacking the camp. If night comes, I’m afraid…” said Hoffman, who was still somewhat helpless after the discussion.
“In this case, I think it’s better to enter the huge canyon in advance while it’s still bright not to cause unnecessary losses here,” Lin Li suggested. Although the waves of attacks from the Undead creatures did not cause any loss to the expedition team, everyone knew that the Undead creatures were the most active at night. There were already numerous Undead creatures there, and if they were to wait until night, the place would really become a world of Undead creatures. Even if there were many Legendary powerhouses in the team, no one could guarantee that there would be no accidents in the battle with the Undead creatures.
“Indeed, I think so too.” Hearing Lin Li’s suggestion, Hoffman nodded, and after agreeing with the others, he ordered his men to clean up the camp. They immediately started preparing for their entrance into the huge canyon.
Following the orders of Hoffman and Lin Li, the camps of the two forces immediately got livelier. The Tower of Dusk had yet to set up a camp; hence, they managed to save themselves a lot of ha.s.sle. As for the Glittergold Trade Union, they had a lot more manpower in the first place, and thus it didn’t take them much time to clean up. Soon, the two teams were ready to set off again, and under the leadership of Hoffman and Lin Li, they headed towards the huge canyon.
There was a large gap on the cliff at the side of the canyon. If one were to peek through the gap, they would see a dangerous road that could not quite be considered a road. It would extend diagonally toward the bottom of the canyon—that was the route that Hoffman said would provide easier entry to the canyon. It was discovered by two members who had evacuated.
In fact, the Gargas canyon was said to be bottomless, but it was only so for ordinary people. For the Archmages who had mastered the Levitation Spell, it was not very difficult to go directly to the bottom of the canyon. However, considering the previous attacks by Undead creatures, they decided to slowly walk along the slope to the bottom of the canyon for safety’s sake.
The road on the mountain was difficult and dangerous. If they were not careful, they might fall and break their bones. However, the expedition team consisted of powerhouses who were all above level-15. Not to mention the Archmages who could levitate, even the level-15 Warriors were all agile and active. Any small projection would allow them to stand firmly. Hence, while the entire team went through plenty of danger along the way, none of the members got injured.
The expedition team descended to the bottom of the huge canyon. The sky above their heads had become a line, and light almost completely disappeared in the surroundings. The mages cast their magical spells to light up the path. Spheres of light bounced around the team, emitting soft rays of light that dispelled the darkness around them.
After a short rest, the expedition team continued without stopping under Hoffman’s suggestion. Instead, they continued to advance toward the depths of the canyon. Although the team had just descended from a cliff that was more than a kilometer high, no one objected to Hoffman’s proposal. If they were ordinary people, they would be exhausted and paralyzed, but the powerhouses who were above level-15 did not get affected much.
“Stay alert!”
Shortly after the team entered the depths of the canyon, Hoffman suddenly issued a warning to the team when he heard that the Legendary a.s.sa.s.sin Gia, who was in charge of finding the way, had returned. The Tower of Dusk had also kept their guard up after hearing Lin Li’s instructions.
“Master Hoffman, did you find anything?” Lin Li asked Hoffman when he walked towards the people of the Glittergold Trade Union. When they were outside, they encountered a large number of Undead creatures. Now that they had entered the canyon, they did not encounter any obstacles, but no one believed that it was really possible to get to the destination easily.
At this moment, Hoffman looked extremely sullen, and he said in a low voice, “The human expedition team that we discovered in front is very likely to have the same agenda as us.”
Hearing this news, Lin Li couldn’t help but frown, and he said, “Could it be because our exploration plan was leaked?”
Hoffman said that it was possible, but in fact everyone knew that the things that appeared in the canyon were definitely not for business.
“Let’s go to the front and see where this person is from,” Hoffman said, and then ordered his subordinates, “Stay alert, continue to advance forward.”
Lin Li did not return to the team of the Tower of Dusk, and instead followed Hoffman to continue advancing with the team. Lin Li was also very puzzled about the expedition team that suddenly appeared. Hoffman once vowed that only the Glittergold Trade Union knew about the clues. After reaching an agreement for a cooperation with Hoffman, Lin Li and the members of the Tower of Dusk did not mention it to anyone, either. Hence, the news definitely couldn’t have leaked from the Tower of Dusk.