Chapter 267: Be Good, Listen to Me

Seeing the skeleton soldiers slowly approaching, Ansu immediately covered Freya's mouth. She instinctively held her breath, her entire body tensing up.

The skeleton soldiers' skulls rotated from side to side, their hollow eye sockets scanning the vast plaza. Ansu looked toward the far end of his vision and silently cast Mage's Hand.

A small stone rose from the ground and was hurled in one direction.

"Clack."

The crisp sound echoed against the rock walls.

The skeleton soldiers paused in unison, then all turned toward the source of the noise.

Ansu let go of her mouth and cast Shadow Stealth, his body quickly blending into the surrounding shadows.

A few seconds later, more faint movements came from deep within that tunnel, sounding like someone stepping on gravel or brushing against the rock wall.

With that, all the patrolling undead creatures were lured away.

Ansu slowly reappeared from the darkness and returned to Freya's side.

He then saw that Freya was still tightly covering her own mouth, not daring to move an inch, her small face turning red from holding her breath.

Seeing Ansu appear, she blinked her eyes hard as if asking: "Can I breathe now? Lord Ansu, I'm about to suffocate!"

Ansu couldn't help but chuckle and quickly nodded.

Undead creatures were most sensitive to the aura of living beings; in fact, he had been holding his breath the entire time as well.

The two of them gasped for air simultaneously, their chests heaving violently.

After temporarily luring the skeleton soldiers away, they stood up and used the firelight to observe the demihumans imprisoned in the bone cages.

The bone cages were packed densely, stretching into the dark depths where the firelight could not reach; the captured prisoners of war seemed endless.

The previous commotion had attracted the attention of many demihumans, who looked toward them through the dim firelight.

"You..." a low voice sounded, filled with caution and testing, "Are you here to save us?"

The speaker was a draconian covered in scales, with sunken eyes and a hunched posture, clearly having been imprisoned for some time.

Ansu's gaze swept over the captive prisoners; although they were a jumbled lot, he could see they mainly belonged to three demihuman tribes.

There were the scale-covered draconians.

There were the Feiyu tribe, who had eagle heads and human bodies with dull feathers.

And there were the Ogors, who had thick bull horns on their heads and abundant body hair.

These were all demihuman tribes that the wolfgars had recently conquered.

"Save me! Quick, save us!"

An elderly demihuman from the Feiyu tribe excitedly grabbed the bars of the bone cage, his voice urgent.

"Two warriors, please save us! Whatever you want, I can satisfy you!"

Not far away, an elderly Ogor also nodded repeatedly. "As long as you let us out, I will immediately appoint you as high priests of our tribe! As long as the Ogors exist, we will treat you with the highest hospitality!"

The noise hummed as the demihumans grew desperate; after all, no one wanted to be turned into a foul undead creature.

Ansu noticed that these few demihumans were quite old, and their manner of promising rewards upon opening their mouths was completely different from ordinary demihumans.

They were likely elders or leaders of their tribes.

"Everyone, please lower your voices," Freya stepped forward, her voice gentle as she comforted them. "We are here to save you, of course. Please do not worry."

The Feiyu tribe member's gaze fell on Freya's face, staring intently for a moment before suddenly muttering.

"You are... a Staya? And your appearance looks somewhat familiar..."

On the other side, the draconian tried to lean closer to the gap in the bone cage, squinting to identify her. "Wait! Could you be... Isera's daughter?"

Freya nodded. "Yes, I am."

The demihumans' eyes instantly lit up.

"I didn't expect you to be the granddaughter of the Staya tribal chief!" the draconian said in surprise. "Did your chief send you? Excellent! He has been lobbying the various tribes before; he must have brought an allied army now, right?"

People in the surrounding cages nodded one after another, hope igniting in their eyes.

"The Staya tribal chief must have led a massive army to the outside! We're going to be saved!"

Freya quickly glanced outside, signaling everyone to be quiet, then shook her head helplessly.

"There is no allied army. My grandfather, the chief..."

"He's already dead."

The atmosphere suddenly went silent.

While Freya talked with the demihumans, Ansu moved quietly, his gaze falling on the high platform in the center of the plaza.

A small altar stood there, surrounded by piles of white bones.

On the ground, foul-smelling flesh and blood residues were piled high, and the air was thick with a nauseating stench of decay.

Ansu walked over quickly and stood by the altar, observing the layout beneath his feet.

It looked very familiar.

He thought for a moment, and a necromancy magic book he had browsed in the secret treasure vault surfaced in his mind.

【Death Covenant】.

A 6th Circle necromancy magic.

Ansu realized why the wolfgars had gone to such great lengths to capture demihuman civilians and put so much effort into secret transformations.

After all, ordinary necromancers mostly used existing corpses or skeletons to create summons.

There was no shortage of dead people in war; there was no need to go to such trouble.

But 【Death Covenant】 was different.

This high-level necromancy could create a powerful undead creature called an 【Underworld Bone Puppet】, which possessed "immortality traits."

Of course, they weren't truly unkillable, but they had extremely high resistance and were far more formidable in combat than ordinary skeleton soldiers.

If an undead army were composed of 【Underworld Bone Puppet】 entities, it would definitely have a devastating effect on the battlefield of this era.

Ansu looked around at the dense bone cages.

Fortunately, this transformation took time, and the wolfgar high priest hadn't had time to turn all the prisoners into these undead yet.

Otherwise, once the wolfgars established themselves, there would likely be no force in the entire northern border capable of stopping them.

As he observed intently, a thick black aura suddenly condensed around the altar.

The black mist churned and writhed, gradually outlining tall human shapes.

What appeared before Ansu was a bizarre undead creature; its upper body was white bone, but its lower body was a flickering shadow, moving as ghost-like as a phantom.

"Lord Ansu! Watch out!" Freya's cry of alarm came from behind him.

The moment they lunged at him, Ansu aimed at the nearest 【Underworld Bone Puppet】 and pulled the trigger.

Boom!

The powerful alchemical bullet hit the target, and the black shadow momentarily scattered, but the figure soon regained its original form, the shattered bones snapping back into place.

Afterward, the undead let out a roar and lunged again with extreme speed.

Ansu frowned and quickly cast a spell.

Before he could be torn apart by those sharp bone claws, his figure returned to Freya's side in an instant.

"Lord Ansu, those skeletons... they're all coming back." Freya looked toward the various tunnels.

After the 【Underworld Bone Puppet】 appeared, the skeleton soldiers who had been lured away also returned, and accompanying them were four black-robed mages who were clearly the controllers of the skeleton soldiers.

"Skeleton people are just stupid; I told you we couldn't let them stand guard!" one of them cursed shrilly. "Who said this place was absolutely safe?"

Another necromancer had a grim expression, his gloomy gaze falling on Ansu and Freya. "The altar has been discovered by outsiders."

"Where is Teacher? When will he be back?"

"Who knows... quickly deal with these two reckless insects, or it'll be over for us when Teacher returns."

The necromancers discussed in low voices, all staring deathly at Ansu and Freya, the uninvited guests.

With a series of low chants, countless black shadows surged under the firelight as a large number of undead creatures surrounded them from all directions.

The imprisoned demihumans let out terrified screams.

"Don't accidentally injure the prisoners; they are precious materials," the leading necromancer ordered coldly. "Just kill those two."

A black tide of undead rapidly surged toward Ansu and his companion.

Brilliant holy light flashed continuously in the underground space. Freya gripped her holy seal, and Divine Art - Punishment fell one after another, smashing the front rank of skeleton soldiers into bone fragments.

Ansu looked around as several Shadow Bolts erupted, shattering several bone cages.

The terrified demihumans inside froze for a moment, then scrambled out in a frenzy.

"We're saved!"

"Run... run!!"

Ansu glared at those few demihumans, and an invisible Mage's Hand forcibly grabbed them.

He casually took a pile of firearms from his 【Warehouse】 and threw them to them.

"Don't just think about running yourself! Save the others!"

"Hurry up!"

He needed to gather more hidden information from this simulation, so he needed these demihumans to delay for some time.

The messier, the better.

The chiefs of the draconians, the Feiyu tribe, and the Ogors understood and immediately roared orders to their respective tribesmen.

"Rescue our kin! Rescue our kin!"

More and more demihumans broke free from the bone prisons, and the scene became a mess of shouts and undead roars.

While fighting, Freya anxiously asked Ansu, "Lord Ansu, what should we do next?"

This was the enemy's lair, and the number of undead creatures was simply too many.

There were also those bizarre creatures that were hard to kill, not to mention four necromancers of unknown strength...

They couldn't win; they would die here!

Ansu's gaze fell on the anxious little Holy Maiden's face, and he quickly made a judgment.

He stuffed the 【Mage Killer】 into Freya's arms and handed her a bag full of precious alchemical bullets, instructing her: "You go first. Take these demihumans and leave while it's chaotic!"

Freya was startled and quickly grabbed his sleeve. "What about you?"

"I'll be fine. I'll cover you from behind." Ansu said with a smile. "Don't worry, I can hold them off. You just go first."

"But..."

Freya's eyes stared at him with concern. In such a dangerous situation, she didn't want to abandon Lord Ansu and leave first; she wanted to stand and fight with him...

"No buts!" Ansu glared at her.

Then, seeing her eyes flickering with grievance, his heart softened again.

He smiled gently, reached out, and rubbed her fuzzy ears. "Be good, listen to me."

"Don't worry, I really won't be okay. I won't die."

After all, it was just a simulation.

Ansu estimated that half the time had already passed; by the time they got out, it would be about time for him to return.

Freya bit her lip, seemingly having a massive internal struggle.

Finally, she looked up. "Okay! Lord Ansu, where shall we meet?"

Ansu thought for a moment. "Outside the cave entrance, to the southwest, meeting up with Archbishop Paul and the others."

"Mhm!" Freya nodded heavily, staring deeply at him.

Then she turned and ran toward those bone cages, opening one after another as the holy light flashed.

She lowered her head, her fists clenched, her heart suddenly in a mess.

Lord Ansu, please don't lie to me...

I'll be waiting for you.

...

Deep underground, the chaos intensified.

The four necromancers saw that Ansu and Freya were actually releasing the prisoners on a large scale, and they couldn't control the situation for a moment, making them panic.

"Quick! Get them back!"

"Otherwise, when Teacher sees this, he won't forgive us!!"

One of them urgently waved his staff and chanted a spell.

【Mass Fear】.

Invisible mental fluctuations spread like a plague, and those affected instantly had their pupils dilate, clutching their heads and letting out heart-piercing screams.

Some cried and convulsed, while others collapsed directly to the ground, unable to move at all.

But even so, they could not control the massive plaza.

Gunshots rang out, bone cages were smashed one after another, and more and more prisoners escaped.

Ansu watched the crowd fleeing outward.

He saw Freya turn her head with effort to look back at him before being swallowed by the surging crowd and disappearing into the tunnel.

Ansu thought back to the words he had just said and felt strangely... like he had raised quite a few flags before the little Holy Maiden left?

It reminded him of the trip to the ancient ruins and the "last words" he had said to the witch...

Even his subsequent actions were exactly the same.

Ansu gave a helpless twitch of his lips, used Shadow Stealth amid the chaos, and his figure vanished.

He then found a pile of corpses, picked a good spot for himself, lay down on it, and closed his eyes.

【Feign Death】 (3rd Circle necromancy magic).

【Puts the target into a state of feigned death.】

【Any physical examination or magical detection will show the target as dead. The target is blinded and incapacitated during this period, lasting for 12 hours.】

Ansu's heart stopped beating, and all vital signs vanished.

But his consciousness remained. He felt as if his soul had been pulled from his body, floating in mid-air, quietly sensing everything around him.

For this reason, his field of vision was unexpectedly broad.

Ansu saw the four necromancers searching through the crowd in frustration, and he saw undead creatures dragging wailing prisoners back...

He just lay there, silently observing.

About fifteen minutes later, a ring of eerie blue light lit up beside the altar.

In the glow of Teleportation, the wolfgar high priest rushed back.

The moment he saw the high priest appear, Ansu was incredibly surprised.

It wasn't because of the other party's identity, but because he couldn't see that face clearly at all.

The face seemed to be shrouded in a layer of invisible mist, leaving him with only a few simple characteristics: the person was very old, had a hunched figure, held a twisted bone staff, and held the title of 'high priest'...

This feeling of not being able to see clearly... reminded him of Leo.

To this day, he couldn't recall Leo's specific appearance, only remembering that he had short hair, was a swordsman, was sincere, and had a bright smile—all conceptual 'labels'...

Suppressing the various wonders in his heart, Ansu continued to observe.

The four necromancers immediately went to meet the newcomer, bowing their heads respectfully.

"Teacher."

The high priest scanned the messy plaza gloomily, his voice raspy and piercing. "What happened?"

The students reported tremblingly, but before they could finish, they were met with a torrent of verbal abuse.

"Useless! A bunch of useless fools! What use are you?"

The bone staff slammed heavily onto the ground, causing gravel to fly.

"Get them back immediately! Or else I'll turn you into materials as well!" The high priest's voice was cold like a venomous snake. "Don't forget the fate of your two senior brothers!"

The students turned pale and nodded repeatedly. "Yes! Yes!"

Over the next while, many of the escaped prisoners were captured and brought back by the undead creatures on the plaza, with screams and cries echoing one after another.

The high priest scanned the corpses scattered around with a gloomy gaze, his eyes passing over the pile of corpses where Ansu lay, but he didn't stop.

A moment later, his eyes flashed, and he turned toward the alchemy table.

A giant magic crystal ball flickered with eerie light, and an image suddenly appeared.

A deep voice came through, questioning him: "Gulzan, what's going on on your end? Scouts found many escaped prisoners!"

The high priest said calmly, "It's nothing. Two troublemakers got in. It's a bit of a hassle, but they won't escape."

"Are you sure?" The image on the crystal ball shook constantly, and a large number of wolf cavalry and 【Underworld Bone Puppet】 units could be seen conquering territory amidst soaring flames.

"Have you forgotten where this is?" The high priest sneered. "Until everything is finished, no one can leave."

The person on the other end of the crystal ball seemed to be the leader of the wolfgar tribe. He fell silent for a moment before asking again, "I received intelligence that the mana in the 'boundary' area has been very unstable with huge fluctuations. This indicates that someone from the outside has been trying to force their way in..."

"Is that a problem? Gulzan, will this affect the battle?"

The high priest curled his lips into a smirk, his tone filled with arrogant confidence. "Don't worry. Unless the opponent has reached the demigod realm, no one can break into my..."

He paused, then said slowly with a smile, "My divine realm."

Hearing this, Ansu's thoughts were slightly shaken.

Divine realm?

You want to become a god too?

The high priest continued, "Just go and fight. No outsiders will interfere with you. As I said, in this special domain, no one leaves, and no one enters."

"I know that..." The leader on the other end nodded, not delving into the high priest's term 'divine realm', or perhaps he didn't know the principle of this special domain.

"Thanks to this shielding, there's no interference from those human lords in the northern border, allowing me to pick off the weak targets among the Talin demihuman tribes one by one..."

"But..."

He thought for a moment, his tone carrying a hint of hesitation.

"Gulzan, I'm finding what you're doing harder and harder to understand."

"Why have you repeatedly spared those Stayas? With the undead army under your command, you could have flattened Elvin Village that night."

The high priest said calmly, "That is not for you to worry about."

"But that Chosen is also in there. It's said he's quite capable and shouldn't be underestimated..."

"I know." The high priest interrupted him. "You need not worry; everything is under control."

The other end of the crystal ball went silent again for a moment.

"Fine..."

Before disconnecting, the wolfgar leader's voice became serious. "But I hope you remember, if this matter is botched, Barcas will not let either of us go!"

With those words, the light of the giant crystal ball gradually faded.

The high priest narrowed his eyes slightly and snorted coldly.

"Barcas? Hmph!"

He turned around and looked at his busy students.

"When the plan succeeds, and when my divine realm truly descends! Even Barcas will have to kneel and submit to me!"

The students all had strong survival instincts and immediately stopped what they were doing, putting on flattering smiles and fawning over their teacher.

The high priest smiled faintly. Then, his gaze on the crystal ball became exceptionally focused.

The crystal ball began to flicker again.

Ansu observed closely and was surprised to find that the images flashing in the crystal ball were from many different perspectives.

There were militia squads on the road, fleeing crowds, and civilians crying in the ruins...

And they were all in the first-person perspective.

The high priest was using their eyes to search continuously...

One perspective was looking down at Leo from a close distance. Judging by the height, it should be Agger, the warrior from the hero party.

All of their conversations were incredibly clear.

The high priest watched for a while and suddenly asked, "By the way, have those two, Isera's daughter and the mage Morris, been caught?"

Several students answered, "Teacher... not yet."

"Useless!" The high priest looked at the crystal ball in annoyance again. "Do I have to do it myself?"

Subsequently, the next perspective in the crystal ball switched to the team member at the rear.

The one after that was likely an ordinary Staya civilian in the migration group.

One after another, countless perspectives flowed rapidly before the high priest's eyes... their dialogues, actions, and everything they saw and heard were captured and filtered by him.

Ansu suddenly realized—

If this truly was the high priest's "divine realm," then every perspective here belonged to a "believer."

Every believer would become his eyes.

Finally, the perspective reached the area southwest of the cave entrance. Freya led the escaped demihumans out of the cave and met up with Archbishop Paul and the others.

"Found one."

The high priest sneered and continued searching.

The perspectives of the demihumans who had scrambled to escape switched one by one, and the images could even be traced back to see the source of the chaos ten minutes ago.

From their eyes, he saw the chaotic plaza and the smashed bone cages...

In the perspective of the last demihuman, he saw Ansu's figure disappear into the shadows.

Then, a "new corpse" appeared in the pile of bodies.

The high priest's movements stopped.

The image in the crystal ball froze on a young male corpse lying in a pile of bodies, covered in blood, not much different from the other corpses.

But the high priest's gaze was locked onto that corpse.

His lips slowly curled into a bizarre smile.

"Found you..."

It turned out that the mage Morris was hiding right near him.

"Come out!"