Chapter 175 - 59: [Tomb and Swamp March]

Chapter 175: Chapter 59: [Tomb and Swamp March]

"I’m going into battle! You have no combat capabilities, so go hide underground for now! As for what I mentioned earlier about finding ore veins and metal smelting, we’ll talk about it later when I return to the city!" Samael shouted at the tunnel entrance, dragging a massive Molten Stone Slab over to cover the opening. "The living will activate the Spiritual Amplifiers of the other Knights and strengthen their combat power. There can’t be any living people on the surface!"

He turned his head and met the blank stares of a group of Burrowers holding Demonized Charcoal Barrels and Rot Root Balls carrying Polishing Stones on their heads.

The Burrowers stared with their pea-sized eyes, their wide mouths full of dense, sharp teeth gaping as strings of drool slowly slid down their chins.

"OYA!" a Rot Root Ball shouted.

"Go, go! What are you staring at? You guys head back too!" Samael lifted the Molten Stone Slab, and the Undead herded the Burrowers and Rot Root Balls back into the Insect Path.

He covered the entrance with the slab again and looked around with heavy suspicion. A cold wind blew leisurely across the plain, causing the tall grass to sway.

CLANK CLANK CLANK.

He jogged over and peeked across the southern border line.

CROAK CROAK.

Only a single toad squatted in a daze within the mud at the edge of the Great Swamp.

Samael followed the path that had been trampled out in the High Grassland over the past few days and ran to peek at the northern border line.

The wind of the Gray Moss Far Field blew past. In the distance, the silhouettes of Skeleton Warhorses and cavalry could be seen, but they remained as still as statues, like heroic spirits frozen in an oil painting.

He crossed the grassland and arrived at the Eastern Border Line. The thick fog near the lake had mostly dissipated, but visibility remained low. More than a dozen python-like shadows twisted and turned erratically in the mist.

Samael pondered, "The three bordering areas are all very quiet... There actually isn’t the expected massive free-for-all?"

Today was the first day after the Heart of the Remains truce ended, yet everyone hadn’t immediately started brawling like primitive men.

"I say, new guy, what’s with that look—are you confused?" Lahador’s voice rang out from the fog.

Samael lifted his helmet, watching as Lahador, wearing a Heroic Spirit Winged Helmet and light armor, sauntered up to the border line carrying a large scythe and surrounded by three Snake-shaped Scythe Corpse Demons.

"I’m guessing you’re wondering why everyone hasn’t started brawling like primitive men yet." Lahador lazily extended a sharp Nether Copper fingertip, rubbing the edge of his scythe. "Why don’t you think about it? If you knew a war was coming in advance, what would you do in your own territory?"

"Traps..." Samael cut himself off halfway through.

"Ah..." Lahador pointed a Nether Copper index finger at Samael. "Sly. You really did set up traps too. I was wondering why I kept hearing construction-like noises at the border of the High Grass Plain in the middle of the night..."

"Oh..." Samael pointed his own Nether Copper index finger at Lahador. "Seems you guys did the same..."

The two pointed at each other simultaneously, their helmets almost seeming to betray tacit, wicked smirks. As expected, the Ghost Knights were all composed of "excellent souls." Expecting them to throw themselves into traps like mindless beasts was impossible.

"What? Did you think we were all idiots? That we’d blunder blindly into another Knight’s territory like headless flies?" Lahador laughed eerily, slowly retreating into the fog. "Don’t think I didn’t hear you digging holes and burying the Undead in the High Grass Plain last night..."

"And what did you put in the flower bushes by the lake? Tripwires? Or decapitating executioners?" Samael snorted.

"You even saw the Nether Copper Beheading Blades?" Lahador seemed a bit irritated. "How is that possible? They are serpentine. They drilled out from the bottom of the lake and slithered all the way into the bushes... Wait a minute, do you have some kind of small-sized scout?"

"What’s that?" Samael played dumb, stuffing the Rot Root Ball hidden in his chestplate a little tighter.

"Aha! You definitely have a small Undead scout! Just you wait until I find that little thing—what is that? Your tomb?" Lahador stood on his tiptoes and peered over Samael’s shoulder armor, observing the distance.

In the center of the High Grass Plain stood a building resembling a Holy Hall. Its Gothic spires and crouching gargoyles were quite conspicuous.

"What the hell is that? Why build it so flashy?" Lahador complained. "What... were you some kind of master architect when you were alive?"

"None of your business." Samael blocked the view of his tomb.

"HA! Just you wait. Once I conquer the entire Hai Xin Plain, rule over the other Six Knights, and enslave all the living, you’ll be my personal architect!" Lahador retreated triumphantly into the mist. The ethereal snake shadows slithered about, scattering and lying in ambush among the gloomy green bushes and sparse woodland hidden in the fog.

Samael mused, "Are all the Knights just sitting idly by waiting for others to invade? That’s impossible."

He paced slowly, returning to the southern border connecting to the Great Swamp. The one he feared most, Pulangti, was in this direction. Logically speaking, Pulangti should have excitedly dispatched his Undead Elites to charge into Samael’s territory, only to be caught by the pre-arranged traps—no, that wasn’t right.

Pulangti’s tactical style didn’t rely on charging, nor did it even rely on Undead Elites. The biggest threat was the various strange weapons and Undead byproduct items that Pulangti created.

He thought carefully, "If I were Pulangti, what would I do according to his strategy and style?"

Suddenly, on the border line connecting to the Great Swamp, a Bell-shaped Helmet Sword and Shield Elite acting as a Guard twitched. Its body, composed of rotting flesh, slowly collapsed, falling to its knees before slowly toppling forward.

Startled, Samael quickly ran toward the Corpse Knight. He bent down and lifted the Nether Bronze Armor covering its decaying body.