Chapter 83

The scorching flames roared past.

The intense explosion spread among the undead, surging flames spreading in all directions, devouring everything they could touch. The scorching shockwave swept out, destroying everything in its path.

Marin retracted her hand. She could no longer remember how many batches of undead this was, nor how many there were in total. However, in her memory, Marin had never cast spells so freely. Every time she waved her hands and summoned surging magical energy, hundreds or even thousands of undead would turn to ashes. This made Marin feel as if she could destroy everything. She had seen her teacher wield the same power, but she used high-level spells that Marin had yet to learn. Now, she had almost achieved the same, at the cost of just a few simple low-level spells.

Not only Marin, but the spirit mages were also fully engaged. Under Rod's command, they spread the group healing spell to every corner where the holy light could reach, weakening the abilities of the undead there. Then, Marin, Rod, and Serrek would immediately act, thoroughly eliminating those creatures.

Old Walker stood in the middle of the group, frequently shouting out the direction from which the undead appeared, so others could respond better.

And Annie also showed a reliable side.

The skeleton archers drew their longbows, and arrows burning with pale blue soul fire flew out, shooting towards the distant crowd.

Annie reacted.

The shield in her right hand was now unfastened. She took a quick step to the side of the spirit mages, raised her long shield, and let the burning arrows slide off it. Then she turned, twisted her waist, and at the same time, swung the impact shield in her hand with all her might.

The large, heavy shield spun through the air, tracing a half-circle in mid-air, sweeping away many of the arrows falling from the sky as it spun backward. It then steadily returned to the girl's arm, guided by the chain. The massive recoil only made her body sway slightly.

Rod did not summon his spirit. The undead here were numerous but not particularly formidable. In the past, a tough battle might have been necessary, but now it was much simpler. The abilities of the undead, eroded by positive energy, had been suppressed to the extreme. There was no need to use a sledgehammer to crack a nut, and Rod certainly did not plan to use his precious soul power on these already weakened creatures.

However, the leader of the "Victory Wine" mercenary group could actually lead his subordinates through here?

If not for the accurate location information from the survivor, Rod would have thought he was boasting. A single thief might find it not too difficult to escape from this highland, but leading a group was a different matter... However, considering that these people could enter but not leave, Rod was more inclined to attribute their actions to a stroke of luck.

Unfortunately, good luck cannot last forever.

"Left!!"

Rod pointed with his sword, directing everyone to move. He did not choose the shortest and most convenient path. Rod knew very well that this highland was a large battlefield, and the undead in the center were always the most numerous. Not only were there skeleton archers and undead warriors, but also some undead beasts. He did not want to provoke these things. So Rod chose to move along the edge of the battlefield, where the undead were less focused, the pressure was lower, and the fighting was more convenient and quick.

No one spoke, not even Serrek. Everyone quickly changed direction. Annie moved from the left to the right, and the spirit mages, led by Lige, adjusted their formation to reposition themselves. The group became somewhat scattered, and the continuous glow of group healing was not as smooth as before. At this moment, a group of undead growled and rushed through the darkness, suddenly appearing and charging forward.

Sword light appeared.

A barrier of light formed like a storm, and the undead screamed as they rushed into it, then fell silent. When the rain of swords disappeared, only the gruesome remains of the undead were left on the ground.

Serrek sheathed his longsword, a slight smile on his lips.

He was increasingly impressed by the young man in front of him. There was no denying that he was much younger, but in commanding mercenaries, he was far more experienced. At first, when Rod used this method to suppress the undead, Serrek thought he would continue like this. However, Rod unexpectedly changed his approach. Instead of having the spirit mages continuously cast spirit techniques as Serrek had expected, he targeted the larger, more threatening groups of undead. As for the scattered undead, Rod did not even glance at them, allowing them to pass without fully suppressing the surrounding area to ensure the group's absolute safety.

Serrek could think of this, but he could not execute it so skillfully. Rod seemed to be very familiar with every profession, always giving orders and instructions at the right time, making others follow his lead. His instructions were simple and clear, making it easy to understand what to do. Even the spirit mages who initially had reservations about Rod now no longer resisted and were fully committed to their tasks.

They had already covered two-thirds of the journey.

"Spirit mages, how much longer can you hold out!?"

Rod looked ahead. The dark forest was neither near nor far.

"I can cast group healing four more times."

"I can probably cast it three more times."

"I can cast it four to five more times."

Hearing the responses from the spirit mages, Rod frowned. The pace seemed to be slowing down. It was no wonder, given that they only had five spirit mages, and the number was affecting their performance...

"Everyone, gather. We're about to charge. Pay attention to your surroundings. Annie, protect them, don't let anyone fall behind. We need to run now! Cast group healing on yourselves when I give the order! Now... three, two, one, run!"

Hearing Rod's command, everyone immediately followed his lead, running forward with all their might.

Without the suppression of positive energy, the previously disadvantaged undead immediately surrounded them. They tightly followed Rod's group, rushing from all directions. The spirit mages, who were not fast runners, became even more anxious when they saw the undead chasing them. Fortunately, Lige and Old Walker were always nearby, preventing anyone from falling behind.

"Now, release!"

White light flashed around the group four or five times, forcing the undead that were about to reach them to retreat. Rod slashed the head off a warrior blocking his path, then reversed his longsword and swung it forward. The sound of the wind rose, and a moment later, a silver-white light blade flew from Rod's sword, sweeping across the battlefield and instantly tearing apart the undead, clearing a large area. At the same time, Marin's incantation was complete, and the condensed magical energy gathered on her staff, initially a faint glow, but then formed a howling hurricane.

The sharp wind blades cleared the obstacles around the group, and even the undead had to step back in the face of this chaotic surge of magic. Seizing this opportunity, Rod and the others finally reached the edge of the highland, where the forest began.

"Into the forest, quickly!"

Rod stopped and pointed to the dense forest ahead. Although the dark forest did not look safe, it was a beautiful land of hope for those being chased by the undead.

However, not everyone could make it there.

"Ah!"

A spirit mage running at the back slipped and fell to the ground. Her companion, seeing this, hurriedly stopped to help her up, but unexpectedly also collapsed, her legs giving out. They were not good at physical activity, and after walking for so long and fighting for several hours, their stamina was almost exhausted.

"Get up quickly!"

Serrek, walking at the back, stood beside the two, his Illusion Sword forming an impenetrable barrier, barely holding back the undead. However, against the overwhelming tide of terrifying undead, he had no better solution.

"I, I can't get up!!"

The spirit mage on the ground cried out in a trembling voice. She could see the undead nearby, and her survival instinct made her struggle to stand, but fear paralyzed her. She stretched out her hands, trying to crawl forward, even if it meant just a little more distance from the terrifying undead...

At that moment, a rotten hand suddenly broke through the ground, grabbing the girl's leg. On the other side, the undead finally broke through the gap, pouncing on the two fallen, delicious prey.

"No!!"

Just as the two girls screamed in despair, a figure suddenly appeared.

Annie pounced like a leopard, spreading her arms and smashing her shield into an undead about to pounce on the girl. On the other side, a red sword light cut through the darkness, slicing the rotten hand off. At the same moment, Rod's voice rang out.

"Lige, cancel the spell!"

The white light instantly disappeared.

Everything fell into darkness.

And the undead vanished.

"Phew..."

Only after confirming everything was safe did Rod let out a sigh of relief. He lowered his sword and looked around.

"Are you all okay? Is anyone hurt?"

"We, we're fine."

The two girls who had narrowly escaped death hugged each other, trembling as they answered. They had never been so close to death, so close that it seemed they would leave this world if they closed their eyes.

"Annie?"

"Annie is fine! No problems at all!"

"Mr. Serrek?"

"I'm fine, not injured."

"Can you stand up?"

"Well, this..."

Although the darkness made it hard to see their expressions, Rod could guess from their hesitant answers.

This is troublesome.

"Lord Serrek, let's each take one."

"Alright."

Saying this, Rod bent down and picked up one of the girls, causing her to scream. However, Rod clearly did not pay attention.

"We must leave here immediately. The road ahead is still long... We can't afford to waste any more time."