Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Chapter 964: Chapter 760: The Mastermind Must Always Take the Stage

The Undead Tribe on the screen has already wiped out all the insects in the cavern and is starting to split its forces into the complex paths… These are all the people who stood at the back of the team earlier, who did not get to fight many monsters.

Those who fought in front are currently dividing the loot in the center of the cavern… Anyway, the most important Insect King’s corpse has Hill’s purchase price set, so they don’t need to turn against each other to snatch this thing. Everyone is amicably peeling the insect shells; they have the Gathering Art, after all.

It seems these major families have reached a consensus, perhaps because they won’t be choosing to return to the surface anytime soon… so sending those scarce insects to Agleya just isn’t practical, especially since some unlucky ones have already died, and most of the dead were bent over to pick up insects only to have their necks squeezed by the claws of the Corpse Demon. The Undead Tribe also has a weak point attack mode…

The number of people killed by the Demon Soul Corpse is actually not that many, but the panic it causes is far more severe than the death explosion brought by the Corpse Demon. After all, upon discovering that thing nearby, most people go insane with fear and run away rather than kill it promptly.

Some would even rather be caught and hung by the Corpse Demon’s or insect’s claws than accept the embrace of the Demon Soul Corpse.

Thus, the battlefield full of corpses is understandable… only a few stood again with the Priest’s aid.

Indeed, the Undead Priest can use the Resurrection Technique to bring people back up, but this spell requires quite a few Crystal Stones… In this matter, William is always wise, making the resurrected bear the cost instead of having the Priest purchase the materials.

Many people would rather run an extra trip for themselves, which also gives them a chance to earn some money.

The hall ceaselessly flickers with white light—beautiful to behold, yet it holds a terrifying meaning… What if a Toril army comes down?

Complete annihilation would be normal… The underground world of Toril is fraught with danger—no wonder few dare venture there.

Hill sees several family Clan Leaders standing beside the Insect King’s corpse, whispering to each other in a calm demeanor… Nearby, some people are taking souvenir photos atop the giant insect corpse.

It seems they’ve already determined the allocation method for this corpse, though it’s unknown whether they’ll send it back now or wait until the first base is built to dispatch someone responsible to send it back… Regardless, they’ve accounted for military exploits, and the Temporal Artifact will eventually distribute profits based on personal exploits.

Having completed their section of the battle, the Undead Tribe happily chats amidst the frequent roars echoing from the mines, with bets on which team will unfortunately encounter the Demon Soul Corpse… Though they’ve learned how to deal with this thing, nobody wants to be the princess being hugged.

The cheerful atmosphere in the cavern concludes with a loud bang and an eerie, chilling threat: “Let me see! Who dares harm the Master of Runes’ pet? Ha… ah…”

The Lich waved his hand to smash the heavy ice-stone composite wall the Undead Tribe had built on the side leading deeper underground before they started repairing. However, he did not foresee that the wall, which appeared thick, contained a different quality ice inside, so using too much force, he seemed to hurt himself slightly.

Hill couldn’t help but smile and waved for List: “Tell grandfather, this is a renowned Lich named Lagong, Master of Runes. Perhaps he might be interested in taking a look.”

The Undead Tribe on the screen erupts into chaos, “Quick, quick, positions!” “The BOSS is coming!” The shouts are incessant.

“No need to stand up.” Fran, upon receiving the notification, arrived promptly, “I suspect that during this period, I’ll be coming and going frequently, so let’s save the unnecessary formalities.”

Hill thought for a moment, then nodded and sat down.

The giant screen abruptly shakes as if someone is running fast with a recording device, and it took several minutes before the ground stopped swaying… In the twenty-meter-wide opposing tunnel stood an enraged skeletal figure.

The flames of fury were almost visible to the naked eye; Lagong clearly expected to see the Ancient White Dragon struggling near death, not the panic-stricken Undead Tribe frantically searching for their family positions.

He maliciously asked, “Elves? Planning to invade Zholar City in the Underdark? Have you come to the wrong place? The Zholars on the World’s Ridge side are traitors… You’re not coming to kill those Dark Maiden followers, are you?”

Lagong wore a very antique style black robe, with purple eyes fiercely burning within the skull… he seemed to sense danger and tried to divert the Undead Tribe’s attention.

Regrettably, the moment he tried to control the situation, Lagong made his biggest mistake… Even if he turned to flee then, he might still have a chance.

For the Undead Tribe finally facing the BOSS, the time he talks is their system-provided buffer period, and positioning is their primary concern now.

Hill noticed the ‘Snow Cloud Peak’ beside the Insect King mutter a few words to someone next to him, who quickly collected the enormous insect… Then he promptly donned a set of armor, grabbed a shield, and moved to the front row… The main T, indeed, knows exactly what their outcome will be.

Hill recognized him as Luo Sanquan of the Black Rose, and couldn’t help but be a bit surprised. He remembered this guy wasn’t the primary Defensive Knight…

Then he discovered that those familiar faces were standing in the second row.

Is this sending the assistant T to the slaughterhouse? It seems that in the judgement of the Undead Tribe, the first round of attacks by mage-type bosses are all field-clearing ultimate moves.

But in a sense, they weren’t wrong.

Although Lagong, at level 33, had many spells unusable due to the fracture of the Shadow Weave, the magic wand held by the Master of Runes was the Staff of the Archmage. Even Hill’s prototype had field-clearing capabilities, let alone this prototype.

The fingers holding the wand wore two Magic Storing Rings, and the two elliptical Ein Stones (light purple and green) rotating around his skull could absorb all spells below level 8.

That is one terrifying enemy… Upon realizing that this group of elves had no intention of paying attention to him, Lagong angrily swung the Staff of the Archmage: A 20-meter-wide fire wall reached the top of the cavern, swiftly sweeping toward the Undead Tribe.

Although the Undead Tribe also realized the purpose of the big boss, the fire wall was too fast. Even if several commanders shouted ‘Fireproof Barrier’ and ‘rain, rain,’ their cries were in vain, unable to save the knights in the first row.

The cunning of Lagong was evident: In his era, most elves wore armor convenient for movement, such as Elf Leaf Armor and Thistle Thick Cloth Armor, so he abandoned the use of the more damaging Lightning Burst, deciding to use the fire wall first to clear out some elves daring to confront him.

Hill somewhat understood why Lagong dared to brazenly confront so many elves: Though he couldn’t use certain Legendary Spells anymore, elves also couldn’t summon their deities to kill him.

If this Master of Runes truly held absolute confidence in himself… Then these densely packed millions of elves, in Lagong’s eyes, might just be synonymous with an Undead Scourge.

It’s important to know, the worst undead summoned from a level 16 elf corpse is at least elite level; for ordinary undead, it would take thousands to produce one.

So, now not only is the Undead Tribe eyeing Lagong, but the Master of Runes also has intentions against the Undead Tribe!

It seems like he really needs strong subordinates to work for him… If he can’t get the bone dragon, he’ll need something else to substitute.

“This lich seems to have power similar to mine when I first left Teraxil!” Fran said quietly, “Are such mages common in Toril?”

“Quite common…” Hill turned to look at his grandfather, “A level 33 mage isn’t one of the strongest… Only those above level 40 are the real powerhouses.

That’s why mages can somewhat rival deities, but such mages usually don’t do much on the Prime Material Plane… Their eyes are fixed on the Outer Realm and the Stellar Realm.

So in Toril, the ones causing trouble are those between levels 20 and 40; they need more resources to advance further, so they often come out to scramble for power and profit.

However, grandfather, if power levels are similar, mages born in Teraxil can easily grind down those from Toril… Their magic slots can be replaced using various methods, but over time there are still issues.

Look at this lich, you understand, once the weave has issues, their first reaction isn’t to use their own magic, but to use other methods first.”

Fran silently nodded, watching the first row of knights directly burned to death by the fire wall: “His fire wall is at a high level; is it released using that wand?”

Hill knew Fran was still studying Toril’s basic spells, and might not have started exploring more high-level matters yet, so he simply stood up, found a copy of ‘Ferun’s Song’ from the bookshelf, opened it, and handed it to Fran.

Fran puzzledly took this booklet, clearly an ordinary book, then suddenly realized it was a summary of famous divine artifacts and subartifacts on Ferun Great Land, and Hill had opened to the page ‘Subartifact: Staff of the Archmage.’

Fran looked again at the cover with a title seemingly unrelated to the content and shook his head helplessly, beginning to read the introduction of this subartifact.

Neither of them was much concerned about the Undead Tribe; though the first row of knights were all wiped out, the main T force in the second row was steadily blocking at the front: The Undead Tribe’s mages were frantically casting fireproof barriers on them!

As long as they aren’t the same type of spell, these barriers with varying fireproof effects can be stacked, making the defensive knights shimmer with different colors, and the mage commander familiar with these buffs was shouting: “What about the water-condensing barrier on the magic sword? Black Rose, aren’t you even looking out for your own?”

“Young Master! The Young Master only has two rows of buffs, Wenjian’s! Do you just want to send your clan leader home?”