Chapter 153: Gambit
Zac silently stared at the undead entity and was ntally getting himself ready for a desperate fight. However, the corpse lord suddenly blazed into action, and suddenly his bone weapon was in front of him. Almost at the sa mont, Zac heard a loud bang from the wall. It was a sound Zac vividly rembered, as he almost died the last ti he heard it.
The Corpse Lord wasnt as frantic as Zac was back at the auction house, and didnt even break a sweat as he blocked the bullet with his weapon, giving Zac a clear indication of his power. Zac even had thoughts of fleeing, as he wasnt sure hed be able to kill this entity.
The Corpse Lord made the choice for Zac as plans and stratagems were flashing through his head. The undead sneered and receded back into the woods, followed by a few hulking corpse golems who stood behind their lord like bodyguards. It appeared the Undead leader was biding his ti, or perhaps the sniper scared him off.
Shit, its a noble I think, Ogras muttered with a frown as he watched the undead disappear amongst the foliage. Those things are extrely hard to deal with.
Zac could only nod in acknowledgnt. The man, if they could be called that, only silently stood in the distance, yet Zacs senses detected danger. The two quickly finished gathering anything of value before they rushed back to the wall to rest.
Who has your gun? Zac suddenly asked, looking over at Ogras who grinned a bit.
The old bastard. It appears he was in a human army long ago and has so knowledge of guns, the demon responded.
Zac knew the demon was talking about Sap Trang, and was quite impressed with both the timing and aim of the old fisherman. It was a sha that the attack wasnt successful, but it was worth a try.
The fight had taken quite a large portion of Zacs energy, but it was likely the sa for the rockn. They had blocked most of the bolts, and the Valkyries and the demons had kept shooting for the better part of the hour until they finally ran out of ammunition.
Good job, Zac to his squadron as he returned to the wall with Ogras in tow.
This ti they simply left the corpses on the battlefield, as it felt too dangerous to venture out and collect them at the mont.
Im sorry we couldnt be of more help, Joanna only answered with a somber expression.
You did plenty, Zac said, seeing the Zhix leader walk up to him.
The Zhix are willing to join you in the next wave, Ibtep said as he approached.
Thank you. However, it is better you conserve your strength until the undead arrive. They have an almost endless number of warriors, and at that mont it will be all hands on deck, Zac answered.
Zac gave a few more order before he sat down and closed his eyes, each hand of his holding a Nexus Crystal. Only an hour elapsed before they once again were accosted by the rock-n. There was still no sign of the other two forces, and it felt more and more true that they were actually using these rockn as pawns.
Even though he wasnt completely restored Zac got up on his feet with a groan and got ready to intercept as many of the boulders as possible. This ti a few more of the elite demons with ranged capability also descended the wall in order to get close enough to attack as well.
However, even with increased numbers, their efficiency was quite limited. Individual warriors or mages didnt have the capability to breach the strong barriers the rockn erected, so they were forced to use the breaches created by the ballista bolts.
Zac knew that it would be mainly up to him and Ogras to fight these things. There also was Alea and Janos, but both Ogras and Zac felt it better if those two stayed hidden for now.
The two generals had the type of skills that could turn a battle around, and they werent pushed to the point they needed to use them yet. Both Zac and Ogras could slowly kill their way through the rockman army without exposing their hidden aces, though it was quite tiring.
The only upside was that he was getting huge benefits from the fighting. The reward for each kill was substantial, with every rockman giving thousands of nexus coins. Even though it took so ti to kill each of them the speed with which he gathered Cosmos Energy was unparalleled. If this continued hed likely gain a level within the day.
At the sa ti Zac knew this couldnt go on. There were only two of them, and they were starting to tire after only two waves. If they allowed the rock n to keep harassing their front lines like this he and Ogras would wear themselves out in no ti. And these golem-like beings were the weakest of the bunch. So drastic asures needed to be taken.
If that Corpse Lord dies, what will the other undead do? Zac suddenly asked the demon who was ditating next to him.
The demon opened his eyes and shot a suspicious glance at Zac.
They would be like rabid dogs who got out of their leash, Ogras said. Why? What are you planning?
We cant let this go on. Theres no way the two of us can fight off the whole rockman incursion, and after that face the two elite forces, Zac sighed.
Youre just going to jump into the thick of it? Are you insane? You will be in a sea of undead. Even if you find him its not for certain he will even fight you, Ogras said.
I have to believe they are after my head for their quests. I think he will fight , rather than risking so subordinate getting the kill credit; Zac retorted with a shrug as he took out his one and only remaining E-Grade Crystal.
You know, risking your life like that isnt the only option, Ogras said and threw a pointed glance at the distance, toward the teleportation array. If youre dead you cant save your sister.
You know how desperate the situation is for our planet. Only a fifth of humanity remains, and the incursions havent even begun their attacks in earnest. This might be my best chance to gain power and secure a foothold for myself and my family. If we keep fleeing we will sooner or later be hunted down, as our enemies will only grow stronger, Zac said and closed his eyes.
Youre thinking in so all-or-nothing scenario. Theres nothing stopping you from becoming a powerhouse even if you lose your lordship and town, Ogras wheezed out.
I know, but I must still try. But prepare our contingency. If I fuck this up we might need to flee in a hurry. And create so diversion if possible.
Sigh Fine, you god damn lunatic. Well see if we can shake up the Zealots while you go to the undead. If the big priest joins the battle against you, then you can just lie down and wait for death and reanimation, Ogras said with a roll of his eyes.
You have a plan? Zac asked curious.
Well, its ti for my brave generals to earn their pay, Ogras only answered with a small grin.
Restoring his energy reserves went quite quick with the E-Grade crystal, and only after 30 minutes he was mostly restored. That ant he was essentially in full fighting condition, as hed conserved his usage of his Dao during the two waves, opting to mainly use simpler attacks.
Im ready, Zac said as he stood up.
Wait, take this, Ogras said as he threw over a necklace. Its a minor trinket that will mask your life aura. It will allow you to get closer to the zombies without them sensing you. Might help you get a move on the big boss before they can react.
Thanks, Zac only said and imdiately put it around his neck.
Rember, Corpse Lord Nobles are crazy durable, they are like walking tanks. Dont waste your ti using weaker attacks, and go for their brains. They can keep going without limbs or even a heart, but they still need their brains. And wait with attacking for another 15 minutes. We need to get ready on our side.
I understand, I will do my best. Good luck to you, Zac said as he looked at his watch and then jumped down the wall toward the inner area of Port Atwood.
Just as he landed he heard a mumbled good luck from above, and he imdiately kept running toward the south. Zac planned on taking a slight detour, coming at the undead incursion from the opposite side. It would waste a few minutes, but it would hopefully help even further with his ambush.
When hed traveled enough he quickly climbed over the wall and like a hare skittled into the woods. He imdiately started running full speed, still not making a sound. This was his ho turf, and together with his Dao of Trees he almost rged with the area, instinctually knowing where to put his feet and which areas to avoid.
He unerringly moved toward the undead incursion in a parabolic trajectory, but so sounds interrupted his charge. He quickly stopped and deviated a bit toward the sound. He suddenly saw a person moving through the woods, carrying a struggling body.
At first Zac thought it was a demon, as it had reddish and scaled skin, but he quickly realized it was so sort of lizard man, though it didnt have a tail. Since it was neither undead or a golem Zac knew it must be a cultist.
Zac also recognized the man he was carrying. It was Adran, who should have been safely back at the camp. His feet and legs were bound, and he had a large black eye. Clearly the administrator hadn't given up as he kept struggling, making the lizardman stumble and swear.
Zac had no ti to figure out how the hell the cult mber had managed to infiltrate the town and kidnap one of their leaders from right under his nose, but he quickly went to action. He activated [Loamwalker] and appeared right next to the lizardman who didnt even have ti to exclaim before his decapitated head fell to the side.
Are you ok? Zac asked as he untied the knots on the rope holding the demon.
Thank the heavens you found . That bastard appeared from nowhere. He clocked
right in my eye and bound , then I was suddenly in the forest, Adran wheezed. I think it was so random teleportation since the guy seed a bit disoriented at first.
Zac frowned and looked at the fallen cultists.
Honestly I found you by chance, we didnt even know you were kidnapped. The town is over that way, Zac said as he pointed toward the wall. There is no enemies between here and there, hurry back and warn everyone we might have intruders in the town proper. Try to gather everyone so they cant sneak off with soone.
I will. Thank you again, Lord Zac, the administrator said with a bow and hurried back toward Port Atwood.
Zac only continued onward, his unease with the situation only increasing. He needed to be quick. Zack believed a large reason why the forces were so hesitant to attack was that his cards were still largely hidden. But if the church captured one of his citizens they would soon learn that they only had a scant 150 proper fighters and two powerhouses.
That knowledge might give the legion of cultists enough courage to simply charge his town. He needed to create chaos within the undead ranks before sothing like that happened.
He kept pushing forward for a few minutes until an unbelievable stench entered his nostrils. Zac frowned and slowed down, but unhesitantly kept moving forward.
As he advanced Zac noted that the forest was ending, the trees seemingly simply gone from where they once stood. Port Atwood still hadnt gotten around clearing out the forest this far out, so the System must have done it for the incursions.
He silently crept to the edge of the woods, praying that the necklace ogras gave him would be efficient enough, and peered out over the incursion.
As soon as he looked over the field he understood where the stench ca from. The area around the incursion was completely filled with rotting undead. Patches of skin were slouching off from their faces, and so missed limbs.
Zac frowned when he noted that almost all of them were actually Asians wearing normal, though ripped, clothes like suits or t-shirts. He had a suspicion before, but this seed to confirm it. These invaders were likely actually from incursions on his own world, not from so other random force in the multi-verse.
He didnt know if it had any implication or could lead to trouble down the line, but that was an issue that he would have to save for the future. He already had way too much on his plate at the mont to worry about such things.
Zac silently scouted the army, trying to find the figure he saw earlier. There was a sea of zombies in front of him, but the large Corpse Lord should be easily identifiable from his grisly weapon, and the fact that he wasnt rotting away.
But before he could locate the leaders his eyes were drawn toward a few huge monoliths that were arduously carried by a few titanic corpse golems.
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