The team bypassed the ruins and continued to gallop east.
Chen Ping, the dwarves, and all the survivors stood rooted to the spot, watching the steel-like torrent of a team disappear into the distant dunes.
After a long while, the old dwarf let out a sigh of relief. He looked at Chen Ping and said in a muffled voice, “Mr. Chen Ping, we… we have met the right person.”
Chen Ping nodded heavily, gripping the food bag in his hand, his eyes gleaming with an unprecedented light.
The further east they went, the stronger the air became with a mixture of sulfur, burnt smell, and decay.
The sky, too, seemed polluted by the massive black cloud, presenting a depressing, faded gray hue.
Finally, as the team crossed the last tall dune, the Undead castle, which only existed in the terrified descriptions of Batuer and others, was revealed to Shen Mu without reservation.
Even with Shen Mu’s experience, his pupils involuntarily constricted slightly the moment he saw the castle.
It was indeed a castle.
But it challenged all living beings’ understanding of the word “architecture.” Endless yellow sand was forcibly condensed and solidified by some evil power, forming towering walls and crooked towers.
And within these sand walls, countless pale Skeleton were densely embedded, piled, and adhered.
There were human skulls, giant beast ribs, twisted spines… They were like a masterpiece piled up by the most insane artist using the most terrifying materials, every detail exuding a strong sense of death and despair.
Directly above the castle, the massive black cloud covering several miles of the sky slowly and silently rotated like a giant vortex leading to hell.
Dense, almost tangible gray mist hung down from the base of the black cloud, swirling inside and outside the castle, making the entire fortress appear hazy and eerie.
“My Lord, that’s it!” Batuer’s voice was a little dry. Even with his Lord and the elite army behind him, seeing this terrifying castle again still sent a chill deep into his soul.
Shen Mu did not speak. He just quietly gazed at the Undead fortress in the distance.
He could feel that the ‘rules’ emanating from the black cloud and the castle were completely different from those of the Ghost Light Dynasty and Black Arrow Tower Dynasty he was familiar with. It was a purer, more domineering, and more… chaotic death force. It was like an alien object that had just descended upon this world, wantonly proclaiming its existence to the surroundings.
The moment Shen Mu’s troops appeared at the top of the dune, it seemed to trigger some invisible Cordon.
The White Bone Fortress, which had been dead silent, suddenly reacted!
“Ga—zhi——!”
That ear-splitting, bone-grinding sound of stone friction once again came from the direction of the castle.
The massive archway, embedded with countless ferocious beast bones, burst open!
Inside the city gate, boiling gray mist rolled out.
Immediately after, five tall figures shrouded in thick black mist shot out from within the gate like five black cannonballs!
It’s them again! Skeleton Cavalry!
Their target was clear: this group of uninvited living beings at the top of the dune!
“Be careful! My Lord! They’re coming!” Batuer almost roared, his face drained of color.
The Khergit Mounted Archers behind him also stirred instantly. They instinctively gripped their bows and knives, their faces filled with tension. The pressure these Skeleton Cavalry brought upon them was simply too strong!
However, Shen Mu’s face remained calm.
His gaze didn’t even linger on the five charging Skeleton Cavalry for too long; instead, he watched the churning, seemingly alive black mist on their bodies with interest.
“A bit interesting. This power seems to be able to block direct sunlight damage,” he murmured softly.
Just then, a Holy Tree Knight beside him spurred his horse forward half a step and, in a calm, unruffled tone, asked to fight:
“My Lord, please allow us to purify these abominations.”
A faint smile appeared at the corner of Shen Mu’s mouth. This was what he was waiting for.
“Go,” he waved his hand lightly, his tone flat, as if he were merely instructing a trivial matter, “Let me see if the Holy Tree’s radiance can pierce this darkness.”
“Yes, My Lord.”
No extra words, no passionate battle cries.
The five Holy Tree Knights in the formation simultaneously turned their horses.
They took the heavy Knight’s long spear from their saddles, holding it level with one hand, their movements fluid and steady, as if the weapon, capable of piercing city walls, was weightless in their hands.
“Charge!”
With a low shout, the Swadia warhorses beneath the five Holy Tree Knights suddenly exerted force, their thick hooves thundering on the sand!
The five riders, like five silver arrows loosed from a bowstring, charged straight towards the five rampaging Skeleton Cavalry without any detours!
This was a pure, head-on cavalry clash!
Batuer and his men were all dumbfounded.
In their opinion, this was simply suicide! The speed and strength of those Skeleton Cavalry were simply not something ordinary cavalry could contend with head-on!
However, what happened next completely subverted their perception, becoming a shocking scene they would never forget in their lives.
The silver torrent and the black lightning rapidly approached each other on the vast sandy plain!
Just as the two sides were about to collide, the formation of the five Holy Tree Knights suddenly underwent an extremely subtle change.
They did not foolishly line up to engage in a head-on collision.
The two knights at the very front slightly increased their speed, their long spears angled slightly downwards, not aimed at the knight themselves, but directly at the head of the enemy Skeleton mount!
And the three knights behind them, with a tacit understanding difficult to perceive with the naked eye, instantly fanned out to both sides, forming a small, deadly angle, their long spears striking out like poisonous snakes, locking onto the flanks of the Skeleton Cavalry, which were obscured by their mounts!
This was a textbook-perfect, yet incredibly fast, cavalry assault tactic!
The two Skeleton Cavalry charging at the very front seemed to sense the danger. They instinctively tried to raise the ferocious great blades in their hands to block.
But it was too late!
The Holy Tree Knights’ speed and timing had already surpassed their stiff reactions, driven by the rules of death!
“Thud!”
Two dull yet clear sounds of flesh being pierced rang out almost simultaneously!
The two Knight’s long spears, shimmering with mithril light, had a faint holy light attached to their tips that flashed and disappeared, piercing through the hard skulls of the Skeleton monsters with overwhelming precision!
The power of mithril and sacred rules was a more terrifying poison to Undead creatures than raging fire and strong acid!
“Boom!!”
The two arrogant Skeleton mounts didn't even have time to let out a cry of despair. The eerie green soul fire in their eye sockets was instantly and completely purified and annihilated by the powerful holy power!
Their massive bodies crashed forward due to immense inertia, then shattered into pieces, turning into a pile of broken bones burning with a pale white flame, slamming onto the sand!
And the moment the mounts disintegrated, the unsupported Skeleton Cavalry, along with the eerie black mist around them, experienced a momentary stagnation.
This flaw was fatal!
The three Holy Tree Knights, who had been waiting on the flanks, cut in instantly like three precise surgical knives!
Their long spears traced three graceful and deadly arcs, their tips crossing in the air, forming a inescapable net of death!
“Clang! Clang! Clang!”
Three clear sounds, like metal shattering!
The three Skeleton Cavalry’s proud, ferocious bone armor, forged from black crystals and Skeleton, was as fragile as glass before the mithril spear tips infused with holy power!
The long spears easily pierced through their chests, emerging from their backs!
The purifying power contained in the spear tips erupted violently!
“Sizzle—!”
As if a red-hot iron had touched ice and snow, the stubbornly persistent black mist that enveloped them, as if encountering a natural enemy, let out a mournful shriek and was instantly evaporated completely!
Deprived of the black mist’s protection, the bodies of the three Undead Knights were finally exposed to the sunlight. They were Skeleton taller than ordinary Skeleton, with bones that appeared an eerie, dark black, and their surfaces were covered with twisted runes.
However, none of this mattered anymore.
In the large holes pierced through their chests, sacred flames burned fiercely, rapidly spreading throughout their bodies.
In just two or three breaths, the five Skeleton Cavalry, who had just been so aggressive and seemingly capable of crushing everything, along with their mounts, were completely purified, leaving five smoking piles of residue mixed with bone ash and sulfur scorch marks on the sand.
The entire process, from charge to finish, took only a brief dozen seconds.
Clean, decisive, and overwhelming!
After completing the kill, the five Holy Tree Knights did not hesitate. They skillfully turned their horses, tracing an elegant arc on the sand, and returned behind Shen Mu, once again forming their silent and solid defensive formation.
Their long spears were still held level, the mithril tips spotless, as if what they had just completed was merely the most ordinary of training exercises.
Over the entire dune, there was a deathly silence.
Batuer and his fifteen Steppe Bandits all had their mouths agape, their eyes wide and round, as if they had witnessed a miracle.
Those… those were terrifying monsters that had made them flee for their lives, unable to even muster the courage to resist!
And just like that… they were gone?
Annihilated by a single charge from five knights?
They vigorously rubbed their eyes, unable to believe what they were seeing. That shock was far more intense and soul-stirring than seeing the Skeleton castle itself!
Even the fifty elite Khergit Mounted Archers were now filled with awe and reverence. They considered themselves elite, but in the face of the overwhelming combat power displayed by the Holy Tree Knights, they finally understood what a true ace unit was!
Shen Mu’s face still held that composed smile.
He was not surprised by this outcome.
Holy Tree Knight themselves are a Knight Order in Pandora continent, which has intricate connections with the Noldor Elves. Although this Holy Tree Knight Order is not famous for its knights, its archers are the top-tier soldiers.
But coincidentally, this set of equipment, crafted with mithril, a magical substance, might not be very useful in Pandora continent.
However, upon arriving in this Blue Star World, it can work wonders against truly evil creatures.
Just like the Holy Tree Knight, these top-tier cavalry from the Holy Tree Knight Order, their very existence is to deal with these high-level, troublesome Spiritual Realm creatures!
It would be strange if they couldn’t even deal with a mere five Skeleton Cavalry-level Undead.
He raised his head, his gaze sweeping over the ravaged battlefield, and once again looked towards the Skeleton fortress with its open gate.
The recent battle seemed to have startled the entity within the castle as well.
The churning gray mist inside the gate visibly paused for a moment, seemingly hesitating whether to send out more troops.
Shen Mu was waiting for this opportunity.
He didn’t want to get caught in endless attrition tactics.
“Kujit Veteran Horse Archer!” Shen Mu’s voice broke the silence on the battlefield.
“Here!” Twenty Fifth-Tier Mounted Archers responded in unison, their voices loud.
“Advance, aim at the city gate, and fire in volleys,” Shen Mu’s command was concise and clear: “Use fire arrows.”
“Yes!”
Twenty Veteran Horse Archers immediately spurred their horses forward, halted about two hundred paces from the Skeleton castle, and then used the fire starters they carried to light a special feather arrow, whose tip was wrapped with flammable material. After lighting it, they skillfully drew their bows and shot the fire arrows towards the city gate.
With a few ‘ding-ding’ sounds, the burning fire arrows immediately embedded themselves in the wooden city gate.
“Hmm!? No use?!” Bestour’s brows furrowed, his tone filled with surprise and doubt.
As he saw, the flames on the arrowheads of the fire arrows embedded in the massive bone gate, as if doused with ice water, made faint “hissing” sounds, and their light rapidly dimmed and shrunk!
The thick black mist, like a living creature, spreading over the surface of the city gate, greedily devoured the flames like a thirsty sponge, leaving only fleeting wisps of smoke.
However, this trivial act of provocation was like a stone thrown into a stagnant pond, instantly enraging the silent giant beast overhead!
Rumble—!
Above the sky, the massive black cloud, which had been stagnant for ages, suddenly churned violently!
A low rumble, like muffled thunder, rolled deep within the clouds. Immediately after, an extremely dense shower of black raindrops, exuding a strong stench of sulfur and burnt smell, poured down like a waterfall from the core of the churning black cloud!
That was no ordinary rain.
The moment each “black rain” droplet landed, it did not seep into the sand. Instead, like ink dropping into clear water, it rapidly spread out, violently expanding and rolling, transforming into fist-sized, viscous, dark gray mist clusters!
In the blink of an eye, large swathes of gray-black mist, as if alive, Creeping connected into a single mass, forming a dense, impenetrable dark “ocean.” With astonishing speed visible to the naked eye, it surged towards Shen Mu and his cavalry, especially the twenty Kujit Veteran Horse Archers in front, carrying bone-chilling cold and desperate death! (End of Chapter)
