Chapter 154: The Cautious Skeleton Monarch

‘They must be speaking the language of the gods!’

Geser and the others didn’t dare to disturb Li Ye and Fiona. Watching the Undead Knights obediently waiting outside the canyon, their hearts were filled with amazement. This was the first time humans had ever been able to tame the Undead.

The powers of the Divine Spirits from the Ancient Era were truly beyond their comprehension.

The moment the two of them appeared, they turned the tide of the Alliance Army’s losing battle.

Although the Desire Celestial Maiden was no match for Aragon, she was still incredibly powerful…

…

After discussing their strategy with Fiona, Li Ye turned and instructed Geser and the others, “Geser, you all stand guard here. Fiona and I are going to scout the Undead Mist.”

“Your Eminence, do you need us to accompany you?”

Geser and the others’ strength had skyrocketed. With their morale soaring, they had forgotten the very meaning of cowardice and fear. As long as they were by Aragon’s side, they felt they could brave mountains of daggers and seas of flames.

“Not necessary.” Li Ye refused them flatly. ‘Smite My Teammates can only be used once per battle. They’ve already received their boost; there’s no need to take them along just to get them killed.’

This was because Li Ye wasn’t sure if the Skeleton Monarch would come for them.

However, his perception could extend all the way to the Skeleton Monarch’s position.

‘As long as it makes a move, I’ll notice immediately. As long as it can’t instantly cross hundreds of miles, I’ll have enough time to react.’

‘However, the Skeleton Monarch has never personally taken to the battlefield. It only uses its Undead Army to charge into the fray, which is enough to prove it’s a cautious skeleton.’

‘Until it has a clear grasp of my strength, that thing most likely won’t make a move.’

‘Besides, the Skeleton Monarch can resurrect the Undead with a one hundred percent success rate. It controls a Sea of the Dead composed of two-thirds of the population of the continent of Ounide.’

‘That many Undead are enough to drain a huge portion of my Demon Qi. There’s no need for it to clash head-on with me from the very beginning.’

‘Killing the living increases Demon Qi, but killing the dead does not.’

…

Li Ye and Fiona charged toward the advancing Undead Army, plunging into the Undead Mist.

The skeleton soldiers and zombies along their path were effortlessly smashed to bits by the roll of toilet paper.

However, Li Ye spared the higher-ranking Bone Dragon Knights and Undead Knights. After being struck by Fiona’s whip, they became lost in pleasure and turned into her most loyal followers. They switched sides on the battlefield, chasing after Fiona to act as her guards.

In just a short while, an Undead Army had formed behind Fiona, making her look like a Necromancer and leaving everyone on the fortress walls dumbfounded.

“Geser, I never imagined the Undead could surrender to humans,” Quade said, his expression complicated.

“If this keeps up, is this going to turn into a war between the Undead and the Undead?” Arena murmured.

“A war between the Undead is far better than a war between us and the Undead.” As an elf, Geser loathed the aura of the Undead. Watching the horde following Fiona, he said without much conviction, “Regardless, we’ve seen a glimmer of hope for victory, haven’t we?”

“If Fiona returns with those Undead, how are we supposed to get our soldiers to coexist peacefully with them?” Kenneth asked. “After all, those Undead have killed so many of our people. The soldiers’ morale is bound to plummet.”

Geser glanced at the soldiers on the fortress walls. Their morale hadn’t dropped at all. On the contrary, they were excitedly discussing what it might feel like to be struck by Fiona’s whip.

Many even wanted to try it for themselves…

‘It seems this long war has really messed with these soldiers’ heads!’

‘His Eminence Aragon and the Desire Celestial Maiden seem to be taking things in an utterly unbelievable direction.’

Geser’s brow twitched. “Kenneth, your worries are completely unnecessary. However, I will persuade His Eminence to have those Undead charge at the front and serve as cannon fodder.”

“Geser, more than our morale, I’m worried about what happens if His Eminence Aragon leaves one day. Without him to keep her in check, couldn’t Fiona become a second Skeleton Monarch?”

Reinhart said, full of worry, “I just feel that Fiona is even more terrifying than the Skeleton Monarch. If her whip were to strike me, I’m afraid I too would become her slave. I saw the obsession on the faces of those skeletons. She can actually awaken desire in a skeleton… It’s terrifying…”

A brief silence followed.

Geser said, “His Eminence Aragon is a responsible man. He won’t let her run rampant.”

…

Li Ye and Fiona charged into the mist, and even more Undead swarmed toward them.

The Undead Mist seemed to boost their combat effectiveness.

It was also possible the Skeleton Monarch wanted to use this opportunity to test their strength, as the creatures were now faster and more powerful.

But the Undead on the periphery of the Undead Mist were too weak. Even with a boost, they couldn’t possibly harm Li Ye.

The chilling mist that had once made Li Ye uncomfortable no longer affected him. Michael’s Divine Power was a natural counter to the aura of the Undead.

But Fiona, entering the Undead Mist for the first time, couldn’t help but shiver. “Damn it, what is this mist? It’s actually eroding my Magic Power! Aragon, I can’t last long in here…”

Li Ye glanced back at her. With a flick of his hand, a stream of toilet paper flew out and wrapped her up tightly.

“Much better now.” Fiona whistled cheerfully. She looked enviously at the sky-blotting roll of toilet paper dancing above Li Ye’s head and licked her lips.

‘The toilet paper is like a giant python. Wherever it goes, it grinds those skeletons to dust. There’s no weapon more powerful than this.’

‘It’s not like my whip, which only makes people feel better the more I strike them. If I actually want to kill someone, I still have to do it myself.’

…

Li Ye had been observing the Skeleton Monarch the entire time.

Charging into the Undead Mist was, in fact, a deliberate test aimed at the Skeleton Monarch.

Li Ye wanted to see how the creature would react to him and Fiona poaching its minions right from under its nose.

He wanted to determine the Skeleton Monarch’s specific abilities.

‘Otherwise, am I really supposed to count on Fiona to build an Undead Army with her whip?’

‘Even if she did, so what? It wouldn’t be enough to survive a single slap from me…’

As expected.

When he led Fiona into the Undead Mist, the Soul Fire in the Skeleton Monarch’s eye sockets flared to life. Its eyes seemed to hold a trace of surprise, and its gaze never left the two of them.

Of course, it paid no mind to the Undead being tamed by Fiona.

Swath after swath of skeleton soldiers perished beneath the toilet paper.

In no time, a thick layer of skeletal remains had piled up beneath Li Ye’s feet.

A group of Undead Knights had now gathered behind Fiona. Unaware that the distant Skeleton Monarch was watching them, she shouted excitedly, “Aragon, don’t kill them all! Let some of the stronger Undead through for me. I want to turn every last one into my subordinate. These skeletons aren’t as tough as the legends say!”

‘That’s because the tough ones haven’t arrived yet!’

Li Ye grumbled to himself but let more captives through for Fiona.

However, he didn’t slow his assault. Instead, he began to kill even faster.

‘The skills I’ve awakened are either support or defense. My only purely combat-oriented skill is Smite My Teammates, and it has major side effects.’

‘I feel like this has something to do with my fighting style. I think I need to be a bit more brutal. Maybe then I can unlock some actual Combat Skills?’

‘Even awakening something like Undead Slayer would be nice!’

‘By now, I’ve killed tens of thousands of skeletons, but sadly, no new skill has awakened…’

Suddenly, more than a dozen Teleportation Gates materialized around them.

Some of the Teleportation Gates were large, and some were small.

A Skeleton General dozens of meters tall emerged from one of the large Teleportation Gates, the huge Bone Staff in its hand whistling through the air as it smashed down toward Fiona.

Smaller zombies crawled out of the other Teleportation Gates. These zombies were unusual; they were still wearing Alliance Army armor. Some carried Two-Handed Swords, an elf with pointed ears held a longbow, and a Mage in a Magic Robe raised a Magic Staff…

Li Ye recognized two of them.

One was the Elf Divine Archer Shabei, and the other was the Wind Forbidden Mage Peter King, whom he had fought before.

The Divine Archer Shabei drew his bow, firing a rapid volley of arrows at Li Ye in the sky. This time, his arrows were wreathed in thick black energy, carrying an aura of corrosion and curses.

Peter King waved his Magic Staff, unleashing an Undead Storm. A black whirlwind surged toward Fiona in the sky…

A fallen Sword Saint swung his Two-Handed Sword, piercing through the layers of whip-shadows to slash at Fiona’s head…

Their movements were so agile that Fiona’s whip couldn’t hit them at all.

Even the enormous Skeleton General possessed an agility that belied its size, always managing to dodge Fiona’s leather whip at the last possible second.

“Damn it, where did these guys come from?” Fiona swung her whip into a blur of afterimages, forcing back those who drew near. “Aragon, quick, think of something! I don’t think I can handle this much longer!”

Li Ye directed his toilet paper to block some of the attacks aimed at Fiona. His heart pounded as he looked at the dozen or so Teleportation Gates that had appeared around them.

‘Just what I was afraid of.’

‘This is freaking instant teleportation!’

‘If these soldiers can be teleported here, then the Skeleton Monarch can teleport itself here too!’

‘The Skeleton Monarch’s Teleportation Gates are too similar to my own ability to cast Magic anywhere within my perception range.’

‘This must be an effect of Michael’s Divine Power. It just manifested in the Skeleton Monarch as the ability to open Teleportation Gates at will within the mist, instead of being tied to perception.’

‘Otherwise, when it was looking at me, it could have just opened a Teleportation Gate right on the fortress walls.’

‘Shit!’

‘How are we supposed to fight this?’

‘Just how many skills has the Skeleton Monarch awakened?’

For a moment, Li Ye wanted to turn and flee, but he forced himself to calm down and didn’t run away immediately.

‘I’m worried that the moment I turn my back, the Skeleton Monarch will teleport right on top of me.’

‘I absolutely cannot show any weakness.’

‘Good thing my opponent is cautious!’

‘No, wait!’

‘The Skeleton Monarch is so powerful. As long as it spreads its mist over the canyon, it can teleport its Undead Army directly inside.’

‘Hoshan Canyon should have fallen long ago. So why hasn’t it done that?’

‘It was even stuck in a stalemate with the Alliance Army at Longgu Fortress for ages.’

‘Unless… it can’t actually do that.’

‘There must be conditions for generating the Undead Mist. Or maybe, it can only use its full power while inside the mist…’

THUMP THUMP THUMP!

Li Ye’s heart began to beat a little faster. He felt he had just found the Skeleton Monarch’s weakness.

He looked at the Skeleton Monarch sitting on its throne and, without hesitation, called down a bolt of lightning upon its head.

‘Tit for tat.’

‘Since my opponent is being cautious, I have to act arrogant. I need to show the Skeleton Monarch that I can also attack it from a distance…’