Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Chapter 980: Chapter 776: Battle in the Underground Hills

Hill thought it should be Rose... Her Spider Magic Net was originally modeled after the Shadow Weave, not to mention that she also took a piece of the Pseudo Magic Net when she left Gerns World.

For the other deities in Toril, Shaer cannot be easily offended, but for the Spider Queen who comes from another universe and now resides in the Bottomless Abyss, it doesn’t matter.

Of course, Rose is afraid of Shaer... but that’s because Shaer’s power and the strength of her subordinates far exceed the Spider Queen’s.

Therefore, the cunning Rose never openly opposes Shaer. Although Shaer is unlikely to rush to the Bottomless Abyss to eliminate her true form, she could easily wipe out all her followers in Toril.

Moreover, Shaer is even stricter in guarding the Weave than Mystra... for instance, Rose’s original goal was to take away the entire net of Gerns.

William’s ability to so quickly know how to collect and utilize the Weave certainly means he had a good teacher.

Rose’s willingness to take risks to seize the Pseudo Magic Net shows just where her ambition lies... and the recent Magicplague gave her the best opportunity.

Her famous Spider Magic Net is actually located on the sixty-sixth layer of the Abyss as an infinite entity network, composed of spider silk and slabs etched with magic arrays, and even houses her followers in the Abyss.

Outside the Abyss, this spider web is more of a virtual network built on faith and fear, not even as practical as the Pseudo Magic Net that William created: it can only allow her followers to gain some unique Dark Spells of Rose or enable her sanctioned followers to communicate through the spider web or even teleport their true form, but those who do not believe in Rose cannot use it at all.

However, Rose has never hidden her covetousness for the Shadow Weave... otherwise, she wouldn’t have dared to face Shaer’s wrath and go to Gerns.

Hill felt that maybe this Spider Queen had already figured out something.

If the Shadow Weave is fully integrated into the Toril Magic Net, many mages from the Evil Faction might indeed start choosing to use Rose’s Spider Magic Net.

Especially since mages in Toril are accustomed to using the Weave to communicate unimportant information... the Evil Mages would rather risk their messages reaching Shaer than letting Mystra know what they intend to do.

So, if Rose can seize the opportunity, many of Shaer’s rights in the Underworld might fall into her hands... the platform is always the biggest beneficiary.

But as before, Shaer has ways to deal with that overly ambitious big spider.

All of Rose’s schemes need to be executed by her subordinates, those Zholar Elves. Before the Magicplague, Rose would surely have acted more cautiously, knowing that Shaer has never hesitated to crush any fools who dared to oppose the Dark Night with overwhelming might.

But things are different now, and Rose might indeed choose this moment to make a move... most of the priests of the deities have lost their ability to cast spells, but her subordinates still have good skills and innate spell-like abilities, especially those cruel Wax Melt Demons and Demon Hunting Spiders she created.

It’s a pity that Rose could hardly have imagined that Shaer would be willing to let the Undead Tribe handle this matter.

Since being betrayed by her twin sister Suren, Shaer has never trusted anyone, not even her own son, the God of Thievery, Mask.

Her subordinates, no matter how high-ranking the Night Priestess, are always fearful in their actions... if ever they make Shaer feel uneasy, they would be completely abandoned.

Even though Shaer is not in the habit of executing the followers she suspects of disloyalty... she’s only suspicious, not insane enough to kill her own people. But the Dark Priests, once unable to receive a response from the Main God, can either isolate themselves and dare no longer interact with others, or be struck down by discontented peers.

Those who have devoted themselves to darkness have to either walk this dark path to the end or simply turn towards the light... of course, whether the light is willing to accept them is another matter, but those who try to have it both ways are destined to find only a dead end.

This statement is indeed apt in any world.

Therefore, when Hill discovered that Shaer had indeed opened the gates of the Underdark to the Undead Tribe, he hastily reminded William to cherish this hard-won trust.

Fortunately, after William regained his composure, he remained clear-headed... at least he understood the importance of communicating with the relevant individuals before acting.

Upon reaching the Underdark, the Undead Tribe no longer faced mere roads... it was an immense region with no visible boundaries like the surface, featuring mountains and rivers.

The region they entered was an undulating underground hill, with a nearby small mountain covered in white bones. Glowing Rock, Night Light Crystal, and phosphorescent moss, lichens, and fungi dimly illuminated some areas beneath their feet, originally the Underdark’s basic light sources.

But now, a light unbearable for this dark world emerged: numerous small bright Light Orbs floated above the Undead Tribe’s heads.

Even with only 5 watts of brightness, this concentration of millions was enough to make this world as bright as day.

Such an intimidating, nearly provocative brightness, inevitably attracted new foes.

The guardians of this Underdark territory turned out to be the Rotten Pioneers... they also have a more melodious name, Decaying Angels, a type of winged undead capable of spreading a rot curse through contact.

So the Undead Tribe encountered trouble once again.

Although they entered these underground hills filled with strange plants in battle formation and cautiously made sure the Guardian Knights firmly defended three directions, no one expected the first wave of enemies they would encounter in the actual Underdark could fly!

Moreover, if not for the devastation caused by the Worm Mage, the Undead Tribe might have already collapsed due to the weapons of these Rotten Pioneers... They threw dirty, decaying filth masses.

And the Knight’s shield wall could only be maintained at a height of just over 10 meters... No problem with those underground caverns before, but in regions as high as several hundred meters or even thousands, the effect of the shield wall is not so strong.

”Knights and warriors in the crowd, raise your shields! There’s no need to deploy the shield wall, and definitely don’t use the shield fly! That thing doesn’t deal much damage but carries a persistent toxin, so don’t touch it if your health is insufficient. Those without protection, try to stand behind the knights!

Anyone with a magic shield, get ready to deploy it before casting spells... especially the Priests! Better to heal less than to stop the shield on your body.” ’Snow Old Dog’ spoke with a serious expression, ”Mages, don’t fly yet, first test the magic defense of these monsters.”

”Water Magic can’t dispel.” Someone shouted loudly.

”Wood Magic doesn’t work either.”

”It’s not a curse, Priests can’t dispel it.”

”Light Magic can.” Finally, a timid female voice spoke some good news.

”Then it’s another toxin specific to the Undead.” ’Snow Cloud Peak’ said expressionlessly, ”Then let’s leave it to the Light Series ladies... People around them, make sure to shield them from damage! Better that you die than let one lady fall!”

Hill couldn’t help but glance at the screen... That reporter probably had similar thoughts to him, focusing on ’Snow Old Dog’ with a close-up... That sincerely written face made the camera tremble for a moment.

This reporter is quite diligent and responsible, making the screen shake last time only when he first saw the Worm Mage, and he quickly steadied himself, placing the recording gear onto a fixed mechanism before going to vomit.

’Snow Old Dog’ didn’t care about the scrutiny from the people around him, and just calmly said, ”These are Decaying Angels, but merely resemble angels slightly in appearance, lacking any angel characteristics.

Their touch will cause the flesh of living creatures to decay.

William included this creature in the Underdark monster chart he gave us... Those at low levels don’t pay attention, but even the weakest ones of this are level 20 creatures, still worth taking note!”

’Rain Falling on Mortal Dust’ laughed coldly, ”If you’re so capable, don’t look at your tablet then!”

”I just need to know that these things are included, right?” ’Snow Old Dog’ turned around in surprise, ”I didn’t ask you to find out what the monsters’ weaknesses are, just for you to diligently find out!

A Commander as honest as me is rare, you know?”

’Rain Falling on Mortal Dust’ couldn’t help but roll his eyes but didn’t stop sliding his hand, ”William’s information says such monsters don’t appear alone; there must be some assassin-type undead creatures or spectres following them.”

”Tsk! You’re quick at acting.” ’Snow Cloud Peak’ stood up straight and shouted, ”Swordsmen in the crowd, be vigilant! There might be rogue assassin attacks!

Priests, enhance everyone with the anti-fear barrier!

Paladins keep the evil detection running! Defender Knight periphery also needs to be used.”

Although those rotten blood spheres thrown down are terrifying... still the Undead Tribe is rather more composed than when dealing with worms... bloody matters are something William must shield against.

”There’s a monster!” Quickly, someone noticed the black-red glow beneath them... several Thunder Element Mages nearby swiftly cast Lightning Burst.

With a wail, a high-level Slaughter Corpse Demon jumped out.

The appearance of this creature seemed to set off the horn of a great battle, with thousands of corpse demons emerging one after another on the hills, and further away even more are drilling out from underground... Just looking at their size, one can judge these monsters all exceed level 20.

Coupled with more and more Decaying Angels flying from that Bone Mountain... Corpse Demons only obey those who are much stronger than them... though there are only a few hundred Decaying Angels, yet they can lead nearly ten thousand Corpse Demons, proving there’s an absolute powerhouse among them.

Hill couldn’t help but concentrate his spirit... this was just the first formal enemy wave the Undead Tribe encountered, already so formidable.

And these powerful undead are even just the watchdogs of this region.

Only by overcoming this effortlessly will the Underdark truly open its doors to the Undead Tribe.