Chapter 79: Invasion of the Undead

Rushing out of the room, Lucius looked up to the sky and saw countless wyverns and undead riding on them.

—So cold.

Despite flames rising everywhere, the temperature was so low that Lucius’s breath turned white.

In front of him were dwarves heading towards many undead. They were riding on golems with spider-like eight legs and four large hands.

However, there were only lower-grade golems like iron golems, and even fewer like earth golems and stone golems.

Even first-class blood wyverns and second-class armor soldiers were formidable opponents.

“Stop!”

Lucius’s shout was in vain as the dwarves were impaled by spears and thrown into the air while still pierced.

The golems, without their masters, were torn apart by the undead wyverns’ fangs and claws.

The remaining dwarves shouted in anger.

“This is hopeless! Defend the gate!”

“Those who can fight, to the gate!”

“The leaders are gathering!”

The dwarves all started running at once, followed by the undead dragon knights flying through the air.

They all seemed to have the same destination.

What they saw ahead was a large iron gate, large enough for a house to easily pass through. It might be sealing off the labyrinth’s passage itself.

Many dragon knights were already gathering there.

It was unclear why the dwarves were defending it or why the spirits of dragon knights were attacking the gate.

Such questions were pushed to the back of Lucius’s mind.

Reasons didn’t matter.

Lucius infused power into the rider magic core on his left hand and the white-eyed magic core deep in his eye sockets.

The footsteps of the dwarves in front froze, and they trembled as they turned back.

“W-What’s this magic!?”

“A d-dragon…”

“Humans… can perform such a… ritual?”

While covered in Chiyou’s armor, Lucius mounted the evil dragon.

“I’ll go ahead!”

Lucius commanded the evil dragon, and its wings flapped widely.

A surge of magic flowed around, and the evil dragon, carrying Lucius encased in Chiyou, shot out like a bullet.

They immediately caught sight of the gate.

—They’re there.

The girl, Fagra, and the dwarven leaders were fighting desperately. Fagra was riding an iron golem, while the leader was riding a crystal golem made of red gemstones.

But the other dwarves were riding golems made of earth or stone.

The only one able to counter them was the crystal golem.

Hovering over Fagra and the others, Lucius scattered the dragon knights.

The dwarves were stunned by the overwhelming presence, and they collectively held their breath.

“I’ll help! We just need to defend this gate, right!?”

The leader and Fagra exchanged glances.

“That voice… is it the human from earlier…?”

They stood dumbfounded, unable to comprehend what had happened.

Without waiting for the bewildered dwarves, Lucius wielded his shining sword.

The undead dragon knights around began to flock to the evil dragon.

They must have quickly judged it as the biggest obstacle in this situation.

As a result, a huge sphere filled with various wyverns was formed in the sky.

It looked like a beehive, with no gaps as bees swarmed.

And from this writhing mass, cold air emanated, and white mist flowed down.

“What… was that…”

“I have no idea! It came out of nowhere!”

“Could it be… they’re already dead?”

Suddenly, shining blades emerged from within the sphere several times.

Then, three streaks shot out from within the sphere.

Breath.

From within emerged a three-headed black-silver dragon and a black armor rider.

The faces of the dwarves directly below distorted from the two streams of burning light, and a single black streak scattered the air and dragon knights below.

The dwarves bowed their heads against the tremendous gust and clung to the ground.

Some buildings around cracked, and some even collapsed.

A moment later, the labyrinth’s rock surface was shaved, and a part of the wall peeled away.

—Thank goodness it didn’t collapse.

It was a breath from the evil dragon, restrained considerably.

This was not something meant to be used underground.

Nevertheless, it had to be used to destroy even one of the many dragon knights.

But even that was in vain.

—They’ll just resurrect.

The dragon knights, who were blown away, formed shapes from the dust again.

“Damn, they’re still coming?”

Furthermore, countless undead dragon knights emerged one after another from the depths of the passage.

When the evil dragon plunged its claws deep into its chest, fresh blood gushed out.

The blood scattered arrogantly, hitting the dragon knight squad flying through the cave, expanding and swallowing up the spirits.

Immediately, crimson wyverns flew out into the sky.

And from the shadow of Chiyou, countless armor soldiers stood up.

“Go!”

In response to Lucius’s call, the magic-formed dragon knight squad danced.

They flew straight towards the ever-increasing spirits of the dragon knights.

From among the bewildered dwarves, Fagra’s voice rose.

“Don’t just stand there! We’ll fight too!”

The dwarves once again gripped their warhammers and, along with the golems with spider-like four arms, followed the dragon knight squad created by magic.

Lucius, riding on the evil dragon, also joined the battlefront filled with dragon knights.

He quickly cut down several nearby dragon knights and lowered his gaze.

“Damn! Just as I thought!”

It was something he had expected.

The dragon knights created by magic and the dwarves were being overrun by the undead.

The magic-created dragon knights could be discarded. As long as Lucius had magic power, he could recreate them indefinitely.

“Now, let’s go!”

However, it was different for the dwarves. Lost lives couldn’t be brought back with magic.

Amidst the chaotic battlefield, when Lucius tried to approach the overwhelmed dwarves, something passed by him.

Accompanied by a cold that seemed to drain the heat of life.

It was a knight riding on a red wyvern and another riding on a blue wyvern.

“The captain and the vice-captain! At a time like this!”

Their weapons had changed, now holding spears. Presumably because they had lost their magic swords.

Immediately, the three dragons clashed violently.

Shining swords clashed with spears, shields with spears, and magic powers repelled each other.

They tried to push back swords and shields, but their strength was being drained.

The blue wyvern with exposed bones unleashed a piercing lightning breath.

Before the breath reached Lucius, it was intercepted by the evil dragon’s breath.

Then, swords and spears clashed again, scattering sparks.

“They’re indeed strong.”

In terms of physical strength, Lucius clearly had the upper hand. However, the dragon knights were more skilled.

As he pushed back with force, the long spear flexed like bamboo and executed sharp slashes in a rotating manner.

Furthermore, there was the annoyance of magic.

Spells of flames and lightning were unleashed from behind Lucius.

—Remote spellcasting.

It should have been an advanced technique to activate spells from a distant location without the mage’s magic core in their left hand, but they used it as if it were second nature in combat.

“Even so!”

Lucius relied on the evil dragon’s breakthrough power and closed in on the vice-captain riding the blue wyvern.

He swung his spear with all his might.

The vice-captain disappeared as if dissipating into mist.

To defeat the captain as well, Lucius looked around.

“He’s not here! Where is he!?”

A red streak crossed through the space.

It was the red wyvern.

The captain, riding it, pointed his spear straight towards the gate.

—Did he use the vice-captain as bait?

He headed straight for the gate like an arrow.

When it seemed he would thrust his spear into the gate, the captain acted unexplicably.

“He stopped?”

The tip of the spear was only about the size of a clenched fist away from the gate.

But the captain had stopped.

The tip of the spear trembled slightly.

It was impossible to discern the expression of the captain, whose flesh had rotted away, leaving his bones exposed.

However, there was a sense of will.

“Resisting…?”

It seemed as if the trembling back was fighting against something trying to break the gate, and the thoughts of the captain from when he was alive were also present.

The vibration spread to the other dragon knights.

The undead suddenly stopped moving.

Seizing the rare opportunity, Lucius urged the evil dragon towards the gate.

“Gyuiiiiiii!!!!”

An unpleasantly high-pitched scream echoed from the other side of the gate.

With a cold magic aura.

Immediately after, as if pulled by the voice, the undead began to move simultaneously.

The captain’s trembling ceased as if it were a lie.

The spear, released without hesitation like a cold machine, pierced the gate, and cracks spread throughout the gate.

The marching knights also followed up by unleashing their breaths.

—The gate is being breached…

Part of the steel gate exploded.

The dragon knights rushed in all at once.

It was as if they couldn’t care less about the dwarves.

Countless collapsed golems and injured dwarves wore expressions close to despair.

Some still tried to fight, but everyone was heavily wounded.

Amidst the daze, the leader shouted.

“…Retreat!”

“Father! We can still fight!”

“It’s already breached! …There’s no point in increasing casualties further.”

The dwarves who had been fighting grabbed onto the still mobile golems and immediately began to retreat.

With the breached gate behind them, the dwarves fled deeper inside.

It seemed they were heading towards a small passage.

“You too, come with us.”

The leader called out to Lucius flying above.

“…Understood.”

The fleeing leader carried something.

It was the mineral from the room.

Perhaps it was a memento of some sort. Despite abandoning the city, the only thing taken was this mineral.

In front of them was a small passage too narrow for the evil dragon to pass through.

As Lucius returned the evil dragon and Chiyou to particles, he descended to the ground.

Together with the leader, they rushed into the passage.

At the same time, the leader gave orders.

“Close it now! The undead might be coming!”

Several dwarves waiting in the passage immediately placed their hands on the wall.

Magic flowed, the wall protruded, and the partition closed.

And what remained in front of them were the heavily wounded dwarves and the golems missing limbs.

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