Chapter 452 213: Void Land (Part 2)

'Void Creatures could appear here at any moment. I need to keep our guard up.'

Evil Spirit Wanderers, move out!

Skeleton Knights, defend the Fortress!

Great Tomb, activate reconnaissance mode!

As the commands were issued, the Evil Spirit Wanderers charged out of the Fortress and sped forward. They were the scouts, tasked with determining if there was any danger ahead. The Skeleton Knights, riding their Soul Warhorses, patrolled around the Undead Fortress. The Great Tomb also activated its observation mode, scouting the surrounding area for any activity.

Only with these precautions in place did Li Ziyu feel safe enough to order the Undead Fortress forward. He kept its speed low, refusing to act recklessly.

After they had traveled for about two hours, the Evil Spirit Wanderers suddenly sent a message: Enemy sighted!

Li Ziyu, who had already made his way to the Great Tomb, used the "eye" Gemstone on its roof to get a clear view of the situation ahead.

There was indeed an enemy up ahead. It was a creature resembling a ladybug, the size of a millstone. It had a thick, blue carapace on its back, from which stripes of faint light glowed. As it moved, its body seemed to emit a soft luminescence. It was currently locked in battle with the Evil Spirit Wanderers.

The Evil Spirit Wanderers were fast and numerous. They constantly circled the ladybug-like creature, attacking without pause with their Jet Shooter-2s. They managed to dodge all of the creature's lunges, making it seem as though they were deliberately toying with it.

Of course, the Evil Spirit Wanderers wanted to finish the creature quickly, but they couldn't. Their Jet Shooter-2s dealt almost no damage to the "giant ladybug." Whenever the Ammunition hit its carapace, the shell would shimmer with specks of faint blue light, and the attack would be completely nullified.

'This scene feels like something out of a sci-fi blockbuster from my past life.'

A dozen or so Evil Spirit Wanderers were unloading on the giant ladybug, but their attacks had no effect. In fact, it only seemed to make the ladybug impatient. It stopped moving and pressed its body flat against the ground as the faint blue light on its shell suddenly began to flow rapidly.

'Holy shit, this is bad!'

The moment Li Ziyu saw the ladybug's posture, he knew it was charging up a major attack. Before he could even order the Evil Spirit Wanderers to retreat, a blue shockwave erupted violently from the ladybug's carapace.

VMMMM—

A visible shockwave expanded rapidly, slamming into the surrounding Evil Spirit Wanderers. Their bodies were instantly thrown more than ten meters into the air before they crashed to the ground and scattered into piles of bones.

Li Ziyu checked their status through the Soul Network, and his face grew cold. The Evil Spirit Wanderers were not dead, but their Soul Fires had become incredibly weak—so weak that they were temporarily unable to perform Splicing to reassemble themselves.

'This is the first time I've ever encountered a situation like this.'

'Before, my Undead would either have their skulls shattered and Soul Fires dissipated—a true death—or they would get scattered, quickly perform Splicing, and return to normal. This, where they're scattered but not dead, with their Soul Fires just weakened... this has never happened before.'

'This ladybug is not normal.'

Skeleton Knights, move out! Deal with that ladybug and bring me back its corpse!

Li Ziyu issued the order to the Skeleton Knights via the Soul Network. Immediately, a dozen or so Skeleton Knights spurred their mounts forward, charging toward the ladybug.

'If the Evil Spirit Wanderers couldn't finish you, you think my Skeleton Knights can't? They're future Death Knights! I refuse to believe they can't take down a single "ladybug"!'

'This one's in the bag!'

Barring any surprises... a surprise arrived almost immediately.

A dozen or so Skeleton Knights formed a triangular formation and charged the ladybug, unhesitatingly thrusting with their Knight's Lances. The penetrating power of a Knight's Lance was far greater than a Jet Shooter-2's, but... it was completely useless. As their lances struck the carapace, faint blue halos simply spread from the points of impact.

Admittedly, the Knight's Lances achieved far better results than the Jet Shooter-2s. They left small pits in the carapace, surrounded by hairline cracks. But that was the extent of the damage.

Li Ziyu was stunned. 'What the hell is this thing? How is its Defense Power so high? It can even withstand a Skeleton Knight's Charge?'

The Skeleton Knights' attack seemed to have actually hurt the ladybug, enraging it. It leaped to its feet, no longer hugging the ground. Its short legs pumped furiously as it began to chase after the Skeleton Knights. The blue light on its body began to flow rapidly once more, but this time it was different—it all converged toward the creature's head.

The ladybug jerked its head back, its mandibles parting, and spat a viscous, blue, teardrop-shaped glob of liquid at the Skeleton Knight in front.

This glob of "thick phlegm" was fast and vicious. An Evil Spirit Wanderer would likely have been unable to dodge it. But its target was a Skeleton Knight, and against it, such a simple attack was useless. The targeted Knight just gave a light tug on the reins, and its Soul Warhorse executed a perfect drift, effortlessly dodging the projectile.

The "thick phlegm" landed on the grass, where it exploded with a CRACKLING and POPPING sound. The grass withered in an instant, leaving the ground scorched black.

'Plasma?!'

Li Ziyu's eyes nearly popped out of his head. 'No way. It can't be plasma, can it?'

Seeing the Skeleton Knight dodge its attack, the ladybug grew even angrier. It became a living sprinkler, spitting relentlessly—PTOOEY! PTOOEY! PTOOEY!—unleashing a deadly shower that filled the air.

The Skeleton Knights at the fore had already witnessed the power of that "thick phlegm." They immediately accelerated, spurring their Soul Warhorses out of the attack's range and scattering in all directions.

The barrage of "thick phlegm" striking the ground was like a small-scale bombing run, and it reminded Li Ziyu of the patch of scorched earth off to the right.

'Don't tell me this ladybug is responsible for that scorched land...'

After galloping a safe distance away, the Skeleton Knights regrouped. Turning their mounts around, they fearlessly charged back into battle.