Chapter 28: Erasure Warning

As Ophelia spoke, she seemed to remember the glory of that distant age.

"After that, we gradually gathered the elites of every race across the continent and built arks capable of crossing the void."

"But just as we united the myriad races and prepared to truly step into the sea of stars, those so-called gods..."

At this point, Ophelia’s body began trembling uncontrollably.

The next moment—

when she opened her mouth again, no sound came out.

It was as if someone had forcibly severed her vocal cords.

Before John could react—

BOOM!

Without the slightest warning, a deafening thunderclap exploded above the territory.

The already unstable wooden house finally gave out completely.

CRASH!

Wooden beams and splinters flew everywhere.

John shot to his feet, dodged the debris, and stepped into the ruins.

Then he raised his head toward the sky.

The night above the Misty Wasteland had changed once again.

It looked almost like when the monster tide first descended.

No.

This was far more terrifying.

The lead-gray clouds that had only just returned to normal were forcibly torn apart.

A vast golden thundercloud appeared out of nowhere directly above the territory.

Inside it, pillar-thick arcs of golden lightning twisted and leapt wildly.

The camp, which had been dim moments earlier, was illuminated as brightly as day.

The dozens of villagers moving stones outside the camp froze in terror once again.

They dropped their tools and fell to their knees.

Meanwhile, World Chat instantly erupted.

"Holy shit! Look toward Dark-0914! There’s golden lightning in the sky!"

"That’s terrifying! I’m hundreds of kilometers away and I can still see the glow!"

"That has to be some kind of treasure! Someone post the coordinates! Anybody want to form a party and go check it out?!"

"Quick! Everyone mark that location!"

Every player immediately became excited.

Back inside the territory—

Creak...

John heard a strange sound and turned his head.

Blood was beginning to seep from the dark golden scales on Ophelia’s forehead.

Under some invisible force, even the bones inside her body appeared to be twisting.

Something that could not be spoken of.

Something that could not be looked upon.

This was an Erasure Warning.

"Stop."

John stepped forward and pressed a hand firmly against Ophelia’s shoulder.

His voice was cold and decisive.

"Don’t say another word."

"That’s enough."

Buzz—

Half a second after John finished speaking, the churning golden thundercloud above them suddenly froze.

The raging lightning elemental energy collapsed inward like a retreating tide.

Within only a few breaths—

the night sky returned to normal.

Thud.

The invisible restraint disappeared.

Ophelia dropped to one knee as if all strength had left her body.

She breathed heavily, her chest rising and falling.

John lowered his gaze and looked at the dragon woman before him.

Putting everything together—

he could roughly guess what was happening.

Those so-called gods were very likely the real force behind the world becoming what it was today.

Otherwise, there was no reason Ophelia would receive a warning the moment she reached this part of the story.

As for their motive—

John had no way of knowing for now.

Humanity had been inside this game for more than a thousand years, yet even now, their understanding of the gods remained extremely limited.

If humanity had failed to uncover the truth after a millennium of exploration, then there was no need for John to rush.

He extended his right hand toward Ophelia.

"I understand enough."

"You don’t need to mention this again."

His tone was calm, yet carried an unshakable weight.

"Now that you serve under me, your enemies are my enemies."

"Stand up."

Ophelia raised her head.

She stared at the hand in front of her.

It was not particularly large or broad.

Yet after a moment, she took a deep breath and firmly grasped John’s wrist.

Then she lowered her head.

"Yes, my Lord."

"Come on."

"We have something more important to do."

John withdrew his hand and turned toward the door.

"I’ll take you to meet some of your former subordinates."

The two crossed the open ground.

When the villagers saw John emerge, they hurriedly got back to their feet and quietly resumed construction of the castle.

John raised a hand and tapped the air.

[Item: Six-Star Unit Training License — Dragon Knight]

[Item: Six-Star Unit Altar Stone]

[Consume the core and required basic resources to construct a Unit Altar in the selected open area?]

"Confirm."

[Consumed: Six-Star Unit Altar Stone x1, Basic Stone x10,000, Basic Iron Ore x10,000, Basic Wood x10,000, Gold Coin x20,000!]

[Construction initiated...]

The earth churned.

A pillar of brilliant white light shot into the sky.

A magnificent altar built entirely from pureblood dragon ribs and obsidian rose from the ground.

At the top of the altar was a relief depicting a Primordial Ancient Dragon with its wings fully spread.

Before the structure could fully stabilize—

the Undead Sovereign mark on the back of John’s hand suddenly lit up.

[Class Passive Skill "Undead Conversion" activated!]

[Converting building properties...]

[Target altar detected: Six-Star · Mid-Tier. Conditions for physical-form retention satisfied.]

[Conversion complete!]

Buzz!

A dark-purple pillar of light shot into the sky.

The remaining clouds above were instantly dyed violet.

John opened the altar’s status panel.

[Unit Altar: Undead Dragon Knight]

[Tier: Six-Star · Mid-Tier]

[Level: Lv1 — Upgradeable]

[Recruitment Cost: 150 Gold per unit]

[Recruitment Time: 24 hours per unit]

[Upgrade Requirements: Wood x10,000, Stone x10,000, Iron Ore x5,000]

[Upgrade Effect: Reduces recruitment time by 10% per level. Maximum Level: Lv10]

"Physical-form retention?"

John became curious.

He knew that One-Star through Four-Star units were considered low-tier, while Five-Star units and above entered the mid-tier range.

But he had never realized that undead conversion could preserve a unit’s original appearance under certain conditions.

After all—

every undead unit he currently possessed had been reduced to skeletal form.

John immediately became interested.

Without hesitation, he issued the order.

"Recruit one thousand."

[Gold Coin x150,000 deducted.]

[10,000× Acceleration activated...]

BOOM!

The Primordial Ancient Dragon relief atop the altar suddenly opened its mouth and released a stream of black mist.

The mist flowed down the obsidian steps and instantly enveloped the entire altar in a dense dark-purple barrier.

Large amounts of gray-white death fog surged from between the dragon bones and spread across the ground.

Clack. Clack. Clack.

The earth began trembling violently.

Deep dragon roars echoed from within the altar.

Then—

massive figures clad in dark-purple dragon-scale heavy armor began emerging from the cracks.

Their bodies stood somewhere between humanoid and draconic.

Every one of them was more than two and a half meters tall.

A faint purple glow radiated from their bodies.

Their helmets were shaped like dragon heads.

Through the narrow gaps in their visors, their exposed skin appeared slightly pale—

but aside from that, they retained almost the exact appearance they had possessed as living dragonkin warriors.

John opened the status panel of the Dragon Knight standing at the front.

[Unit: Undead Dragon Knight]

[Tier: Six-Star · Mid-Tier]

[Level: Lv1]

[HP: 1,500]

[Attack: 1,000]

[Defense: 300]

[Trait: Undead Body — Immune to mind-affecting magic, feels no pain, and never tires.]

[Skill 1: Dragonflame (Lv1 · Active): The Ancient Dragon mount unleashes Dragonflame, dealing damage equal to 200% of Attack. Cooldown: 30 seconds.]

[Skill 2: Unstoppable Throw (Lv1 · Active): Enters a Super Armor state, carries a single enemy unit into the air, then throws it. Cooldown: 20 seconds.]

[Skill 3: Dragonbreath Sword Intent (Lv1 · Active): The Dragon Knight gathers magical energy along the blade and releases a sword wave, dealing damage equal to 300% of Attack to all enemies in a straight line. Cooldown: 60 seconds.]

[Description: After the fall of the Primordial Ancient Dragons, the lingering souls of their dragonkin retainers were reawakened through necromantic power. By forming undead contracts with Ancient Dragon mounts, they became Six-Star Mid-Tier heavy cavalry.]