Chapter 116: The Commander Handles the Carnage, We Handle the Snacks

The Necromancer’s soul fire was casually snuffed out between Eldara’s gauntleted fingers.

A final wisp of blue smoke curled into the frigid air and vanished.

She didn’t even bother to look back, as if she had merely brushed away a speck of annoying dust.

“The Withered Legion… Mogras…”

Eldara rose to her full height, her scarlet eyes gazing into the deepest reaches of the Frost Trail. The wind and snow in that direction seemed to have been stained by an ominous, deathly silence.

“All units, prepare for ambush.”

Over a hundred Silent Watch Knights moved as one. There was no extraneous noise, only the whisper of cloth and the soft crunch of snow. Their movements were uniform and precise, the components of a sophisticated and cold war machine coming online.

A portion of the knights swiftly cleared the battlefield, dragging the skeletal remains of the undead into deep snowdrifts and burying them from sight. The others immediately began using the terrain, using the slopes on both sides of the pass to construct hidden ambush positions.

Their movements were dazzlingly fast, a proficiency carved into their very bones through countless battles.

In just a few short minutes, the snowfield that had just hosted a slaughter returned to its former tranquility. It was as if nothing had ever happened. Only the faint, lingering scent of death, not yet dissipated by the wind, silently testified that this place had recently served as a graveyard for the undead.

Eldara issued a series of short, precise orders, her voice cutting through the wind.

“Rangers and mages, retreat three hundred meters. Establish a long-range fire support position.”

“Squad One, east snow slope. Set up frost and rune traps. I want them to lose half a leg the moment they take their first step inside.”

“Squad Two, directly in front of the pass. Build an illusionary barrier centered on that scout’s corpse. Create the impression that the undead vanguard is still resting.”

“Squad Three, guerrilla tactics. Your target is the enemy’s spellcasting units. Eliminate them the moment the battle begins.”

The knights’ response was a single, unified grunt of affirmation—not a single wasted word. Immediately, black-clad shadows melted into the vast, swirling snow, disappearing without a trace. They were efficient, precise, and the ultimate killing machines.

Celeste watched in utter awe.

‘Damn, that’s professional. Way too professional,’she thought.’This execution, this tactical proficiency… it’s textbook-level stuff. Straight out of a military sim.’She couldn’t help but smirk.’The enemy probably thought they were marching out to conquer the world, only to immediately trip over the death-trap we laid out on their own doorstep. It’s a beautiful tragedy, really.’

Then, she glanced over at her own team.

There was her boisterous younger sister, a cold-faced mage who was probably having a whole dramatic monologue in her head, and a shy ranger who looked like she might blush herself into a faint if the upcoming scene got too exciting.

‘Yeah, forget it,’Celeste sighed internally.’We’re the protagonist’s party. We’re here to cause unexpected chaos, not for disciplined tactics.’

“What about us? Commander, what should we do?” Selene asked, her hands itching for a fight as she watched the knights’ professional setup.

“Your auras are too… vibrant.” Eldara looked back at them, her tone flat and matter-of-fact. “The undead are extremely sensitive to the aura of life, especially a creature at Mogras’s level. If you are too close, he will detect you before his forces even enter the ambush zone.”

‘Is she complaining that we’re too healthy?’Celeste grumbled silently.’Sorry for not being a walking corpse, I guess.’

“You will all retreat behind that ridge over there,” Eldara instructed, pointing a gauntleted finger toward a higher, more distant rise. “It is far enough that you won’t be discovered. Once the battle begins and their attention is fixed, you may move in as the situation dictates.”

“Roger that!” Celeste gave her a crisp “OK” gesture. “Let’s go, ladies. We’re heading to the VIP viewing deck.”

She clapped her sister on the shoulder and began pulling her toward the location Eldara had indicated. Su Wan and Xia Lian followed close behind.

There was no expression on Su Wan’s face, but the frost elements gathering around her were growing increasingly agitated, a clear sign she was gathering power for the battle to come. Xia Lian, meanwhile, looked nervous, constantly checking her quiver and shortsword as she walked, making sure every piece of her gear was perfectly in place.

The four of them soon arrived at the designated mountain col.

The view from here was excellent, offering a panoramic overlook of the entire pass and the open ground before it. Thick snowdrifts and massive, craggy rocks provided perfect natural cover.

“Sis, do you think the Commander and her knights can win?” Selene asked in a low voice, lying prone behind a snowdrift. “I heard that Necromancer say Mogras has reassembled the Withered Legion, the most elite force from the Scar of Sorrow. They might be even stronger than the last batch we fought.”

“Relax.” Celeste lay lazily beside her, pulling a pack of beef jerky from her personal storage space, the “Purified Pocket Church.” She tore open the package and handed half to her sister. “You see who’s leading the charge, right?”

She gestured with her chin toward the distant, lone figure of Eldara. “Look at the Commander’s expression. Does that look like someone who’s about to fight a tough battle?”

Celeste took a bite of jerky and chewed thoughtfully. “Nah. That’s the face of a mom picking her kid up from kindergarten, who just so happens to be on her way to erase the entire family registry of the parent whose little brat bullied her child.”

Selene took the beef jerky, mulled over her sister’s bizarre metaphor, and decided it actually made a weird amount of sense. Her shoulders relaxed, and she began to focus on gnawing on the tough, savory meat.

“Um, Celeste… do you have any more?” Xia Lian asked in a whisper from the side, her cheeks slightly flushed. In this tense atmosphere, food seemed to be the best possible sedative.

“Sure, sure, plenty.” Celeste grinned, pulling out another pack and tossing it over.

Su Wan watched the three of them, a flicker of helplessness crossing her perpetually icy face. But in the end, she couldn’t resist the rich, smoky aroma of the beef jerky. Without a word, she silently extended a hand.

And so, just outside the kill zone of the Frost Trail, an utterly bizarre scene unfolded.

Below, the snow concealed a field of deadly traps and death knights lying in wait, their killing intent a evident frost in the air.

Above, four girls from another world were huddled together, each with a pack of beef jerky, munching away as they waited for the big show to start.

Time passed in suffocating silence.

The wind and snow grew heavier, until the only sound between heaven and earth was the mournful howl of the gale. Down at the pass, the Silent Watch Knights had become living statues of ice and snow, lying motionless in their ambush. Their wills and bodies had long since merged with this cold, unforgiving land.

Celeste finished the last bite of her jerky, brushed the crumbs from her hands, and let out a wide yawn.

“Man, this boss’s entrance is taking forever. He’s got no sense of timing. If he doesn’t show up soon, I’m gonna fall asleep.”

Just as her eyelids began to droop, a slight disturbance finally appeared in the depths of the pass.

A thick, suffocating aura of death began to surge from the far end of the trail. The presence was cold, evil, and saturated with a pure hatred for all living things. Wherever it passed, even the pristine white snow seemed to take on a grayish, decayed hue.

The ambient temperature suddenly plummeted by several degrees.

‘It’s showtime!’

Celeste was instantly energized, sitting bolt upright. Selene immediately shoved her snack wrapper into a pocket, her hands gripping her shield and longsword tightly.

Below the ridge, Eldara slowly raised her hand. Behind her, every lurking knight silently tightened their grip on their weapon.

A black tide of an army appeared at the end of the pass.

They weren’t walking so much as they were a moving tombstone. Their steps were heavy and unnervingly uniform, carrying the unique, dreadful rhythm of death itself, as if they intended to drag this entire white kingdom into the abyss of the dead.

At the head of the formation was a Death Knight mounted on a colossal Skeletal Nightmare. He wore a suit of pitch-black heavy armor, its surface carved with the likenesses of countless wailing faces. In his hand, he held a massive runic great-axe that pulsed with an ominous purple light.

He just sat there, and a nauseating wave of despair and tyranny washed over the battlefield. Beneath his helm, what burned in his eye sockets was not fire, but two pools of bottomless, absolute nothingness.

Even from hundreds of meters away, Celeste recognized him instantly. It was the same Death Lord who had ambushed Eldara before.

‘Okay, props for the entrance,’she thought, impressed.’The whole vibe, the sheer pressure—they’ve maxed out their intimidation stat. As expected of a major villain who pissed off the Commander enough for her to hold a grudge this long. The presentation is on point.’

Behind him rode hundreds of elite Death Knights on skeletal warhorses. This was the true “Withered Legion,” the core assault force of the undead. Rich, dark energy flowed across every knight’s armor, and the soulfire burning in their eye sockets was a pure, ghostly blue, signifying a rank far exceeding that of ordinary undead.

The sheer presence of this army was on a completely different level from the motley vanguard they had just dispatched.

Mogras proved to be cautious. He pulled on his reins, bringing his legion to a halt at the entrance of the pass. His eyes, burning with that ghostly blue soulfire, scanned the surroundings with intense vigilance.

He felt that something was wrong.

The aura of death here… was too faint. It was as if… it had recently been “cleansed” by something.

He raised a hand, and his low, grating voice echoed in the wind and snow. The entire Withered Legion stopped instantly, their discipline absolute.

‘Oh, he’s a sharp one,’Celeste noted internally.’Too bad it’s useless. You already walked right into the cage.’

Just as Mogras was trying to pinpoint the source of his unease, a black figure on the slope to his front suddenly erupted from the snow without a shred of warning!

Her speed was terrifying, leaving a blurred afterimage against the pure white landscape.

The runic magic sword in her hand was already unsheathed, its blade flaring to life as ice-blue runes ignited one by one, emitting a bone-chilling cold.

“Mogras!”

A cold, furious shout exploded through the pass like a thunderclap!

Mogras’s soulfire contracted violently. He whipped his head around, only to see a frigid sword’s edge already inches from his face!

“Eldara!” he roared, a sound of pure shock and fury, as he wrenched his great-axe up in a desperate block.

“CLANG—!”

The piercing shriek of metal on metal tore through the wind and snow.

A visible shockwave blasted outward from the point of impact, instantly blowing away the surrounding snow and revealing the pitch-black frozen earth beneath.

The ambush had begun.

[Elysian’s Note:

Having a good time with the story?

Every single bit helps immensely:

Thanks a ton for making this journey possible!]