“Ash, what are you scaring her for? Seriously…”
Genasar glanced back helplessly at Caru, who was shivering and huddled on his back, and couldn’t help but complain about Ash.
She’s already timid as it is, and you go scaring her? We’re on the enemy’s turf now—if morale gets shaken here, the consequences could be dire, you know.
“Wait, don’t tell me…”
Genasar noticed something was off with Ash and called out to her.
“Don’t tell me… you’re actually scared?”
(ᗜ△ᗜ) “Would I have any reason to lie to you?”
“……”
The gloomy surroundings, the deathly aura that made living beings feel unwell, and the fact that they were all still young dragons—it was hard not to be afraid here.
After a moment of silence, Genasar sighed and waved his claw.
“Let’s just get out of here for now and come up with another plan.”
Genasar turned to retrace their steps. Ash hesitated for a moment, then immediately followed, sticking close by his side.
This made a mischievous smile tug at the corners of Genasar’s mouth as he glanced at her coolly.
“Didn’t expect you’d get scared. Actually, you can get even closer, it’s fine—we’re practically family, aren’t we?”
Ash: →_→
Her eyes were full of disdain at his sarcasm, but her body was honest enough; clearly, she was terrified.
Even so, she didn’t forget to analyze the situation calmly:
“I’ve looked around a bit. The death aura here is very dense and flows in a clear pattern. That necromancer probably wants to turn this place into the breeding ground for an Undead Scourge.”
“Knew it. Is it every necromancer’s lifelong dream to start an Undead Scourge?”
As the name implies, it’s a disaster formed by undead so numerous it’s ridiculous.
And calling it a ‘Scourge’ means its destructive power is enough to threaten the entire continent, bringing doomsday-level calamity.
Only super-massive spells that even the caster can’t control qualify as Scourge magic.
And there’s an even scarier part: any creature killed by the undead during a Scourge, tainted by the dense death aura, instantly turns into an undead and joins the Scourge.
It’s like a snowball rolling down a towering mountain—growing ever larger, unstoppable.
The most devastating Undead Scourge ever recorded turned half the continent into a wasteland.
Now, it was obvious that this whole area had already been transformed into a place to breed undead.
And the three dragons trying to leave ran into a problem they’d seen coming.
“These are… our footprints? Damn, it’s a ghost wall.”
Looking at the familiar dragon claw prints on the ground, they realized, as expected, that they’d gotten lost.
Ash poked her head out, carefully scanning her surroundings.
“I’m guessing there’s a Confusion Array around the perimeter. Any creature that wanders in gets corroded by the death aura and becomes part of the undead army.”
From the outside, nothing seemed amiss, but now that they were inside, they realized—getting in was easy, but getting out was impossible.
“So what do we do? You know how to break this?”
Ash shook her head.
“I do, but I don’t have the power to break it directly. So there’s only one way: head for the center, find the array’s core, and destroy it. But it’s dangerous—still, it’s our only way out.”
It really was a terrifyingly risky plan. Even though they hadn’t met any undead yet, who knew if all the undead were massed in the core?
“Well… Let’s just go, no other choice. Stay close.”
Left with no alternative, Genasar could only steel himself and slowly advance toward the center.
A constant, oppressive fear hung over them. No one knew if an undead would suddenly leap out before their eyes.
As they walked, Genasar suddenly turned his head and said,
“Don’t you feel like something’s watching us?”
Ash whipped her head around: (ᗜ△ᗜ)
Realizing what he’d just done, Genasar coughed awkwardly:
“I’m not trying to scare you. Get ready—hide behind me.”
Sensing something was wrong, Genasar instantly took up a defensive posture, shielding Ash and Caru behind him.
His sharp dragon eyes swept the foggy surroundings. Suddenly, something caught his gaze, making him start in alarm.
He opened his mouth and unleashed a breath of flame—a fireball charged with explosive energy roared forward and detonated ahead.
“Show yourself!”
He roared with draconic might. From the swirling mist ahead, a hazy figure slowly emerged.
“Interesting. How very interesting…”
The voice was so hoarse it made their skin crawl, so unnatural it was hard to believe a human could make it.
A figure draped in black robes, hunched over, clutching a deadwood staff inlaid with a dark purple gemstone.
A faint black mist drifted from beneath the hood.
Clearly, this was the target Genasar and the other dragons had come for—the necromancer who had destroyed this forest.
“Didn’t expect there to be three—”
“Ah-da!”
Before he could finish, Genasar suddenly sprang forward and smacked him with a massive dragon claw.
The necromancer, caught completely off guard, was sent flying and crashed to the ground, stunned.
“Damn you! How dare you—”
“Eat my foot!”
Before the necromancer could get up, Genasar gave him no chance—rushing over to unleash a furious barrage of punches and kicks.
At the same time, he called out to Caru and Ash behind him.
“You two, don’t just stand there! If you don’t want to die, get over here and help me beat him up!”
“Huh? Oh, this looks kinda fun.”
With Genasar leading the way, Caru forgot her fear for the moment, scrambled off his back, and joined in, smacking with her claws.
Genasar didn’t forget to curse the necromancer as he hit him.
“You’re bold, aren’t you? All other necromancers hide behind their undead, but you just had to show up yourself—what, afraid you wouldn’t get hit enough?”
The necromancer tried to protest, but was beaten so badly he couldn’t even speak.
“I %￥#…” Damn it, if there wasn’t a Gold Dragon among you, you’d all be dead already! Who knows if there are any adult Gold Dragons nearby?
His frail body left him powerless to resist.
Because the energy necromancers used was death aura, which corroded their bodies, their physical strength was much lower than other mages of the same level.
The proper way was to hide at the rear, summoning undead, and always keeping several undead guardians close at hand for emergencies.
But this one, maybe because of Caru’s presence, didn’t dare attack outright, and instead showed up to threaten them.
But Genasar had no intention of playing fair. Not only was he completely unafraid, he interrupted the necromancer’s speech and lunged forward with a slap.
The necromancer barely had any chance to resist.
“Are you looking down on us? Huh? Are you? Showing up in person with no bodyguards at all? I’ve never been so insulted in my life!”
At last, the necromancer couldn’t take it anymore. Black-purple death aura suddenly erupted from his body, forcing the three dragons back.
“Damn you! Three little hatchlings dare act so arrogant?!”
Beneath the tattered black cloak, his hideous face and body were revealed.
It was like a skeleton wrapped in human skin, with purple flames burning in its eyes.
“No wonder he isn’t dead after all this—he’s already become a lich.”
Genasar shook off some death aura clinging to his claws and muttered.
Lich: artificially created, a state halfway between undead and living. Usually, a necromancer on the brink of death transforms their own body using death aura.
Since they’re half-undead, ordinary physical attacks can hardly kill them.
After being ganged up on by three dragons, the lich before them was on the verge of losing it, not even afraid of a Gold Dragon anymore, and struck back immediately.
\Raising his staff high, he chanted incantations under his breath.
A magic circle appeared at his feet, radiating a terrifying aura.
“You’ll all pay the price! Become nourishment for this place! Hahaha! Eh?”
He was laughing, but suddenly found his hand empty. Puzzled, he looked up.
His staff was gone. Suddenly, Genasar’s conspicuous red figure appeared at his side:
“You don’t get to play. I play.”