Chapter 228: Manipulation

Olinna silently looked at the fifteen mummified corpses before her. Not long ago, they had stood in the castle hall, full of hope, looking up at her, expecting her to lead them out alive.

"Miss, we can't stay here for too long," said a silver-ranked knight, holding a blood-stained broadsword, as he came to Olinna's side and pointed towards the periphery of the group.

"I know," Olinna replied, looking up to see a bronze second-rank knight smashing the skulls of several skeletons with a spear, and another knight crushing the head of a ghoul with a hammer...

On the outskirts of the group, within visible range, staggering skeletons and slow-moving zombies kept emerging from the mist, and occasionally, ghouls leaped from the rooftops along the road towards them.

Since these undead were too weak, the knights killed wave after wave, but they still kept coming, seemingly endless. Most undead lack the normal senses of living beings. Their perspective and the way they perceive the world are entirely different from living creatures.

To the undead, living beings are as conspicuous as fireflies in the dark night. Without special means, it's almost impossible for the living to hide their presence from the undead.

So even if the dragon-carriage convoy did nothing and remained motionless and silent, they would still continuously attract the undead in the city. Olinna didn't know how to conceal the life aura emitted by their group.

"I'm sorry." Looking at the corpses of ordinary people who had died from their life essence being devoured in the wraith attack, Olinna's face was filled with guilt. She then raised her wand and cast a fireball, hitting the pile of corpses.

All intact bodies had to be burned because, under the influence of the undead scourge, all the dead would resurrect and could not rest in peace.

"Keep moving forward." After watching the twitching corpses turn to ashes in the flames, Olinna comforted the surviving commoners and then climbed back on top of the carriage, directing the convoy to continue moving towards the city outskirts.

...

Before, Olinna thought Ansel City was so small that one could circle it in ten minutes on a griffin. Only now did she realize how large it actually was; the road out of the city seemed so lengthy.

Although she was mentally prepared, she was still helpless when she truly encountered higher-level undead like abominations and wraiths.

After using up most of her spell scrolls and losing two of the dragon carriages, Olinna finally led the remaining six carriages to the gates of Cecil City.

Now, only half of the guards who had followed her from the castle were left. Both silver-ranked knights were alive but in bad shape.

One had lost an arm, becoming a one-armed knight, with his combat power reduced by more than half.

The other seemed unharmed, but his condition was the most severe. His face was pale with a faint black aura on his forehead. He had been infected with plague corpse poison. If not for his silver physique barely keeping him human, he would have already turned into a ghoul.

Despite this, the size of Olinna's group had not diminished but expanded by more than tenfold. The additional people were city residents and adventurers who had joined along the way, all seeking to escape the city.

"Finally leaving Ansel City." Gazing at the closed city gates and the blood-stained corpses and scattered goods on the ground, Olinna let out a long sigh of relief. Around her, humans who saw the city gates also cheered joyfully.

Now, in their minds, there was only one thought: to leave this city, akin to a grave. Then, they would be safe and no longer have to worry or fear. They didn't, or rather didn't want to think whether other cities in the Bavarian Kingdom were like Ansel City.

"Ha ha ha, not bad," a cold, mocking laugh echoed above the city gate, instantly suppressing the cheering of the thousand-strong escape group.

Everyone quieted down, looking up to where the laughter came from. There, a black-robed "skeleton" holding a bone staff slowly descended from the mist of the undead.

Although this "skeleton" had no flesh, everyone looking at its skull enveloped in a blazing soul fire could feel a sense of admiration. It was like a child watching a mouse navigate through a maze it created.

"A lich!" Recognizing the skeleton floating above the city gate, Olinna's eyes revealed undisguised despair. This was an existence their group could not contend with.

But the lich blocking their path did not attack them. Instead, it emitted a soulful sound that anyone could understand.

"Although I summoned most of the mid- to high-level undead born in this city here, there are always one or two that slip through. It's impressive that you ants were able to defeat and kill them."

With the lich's soulful sound of praise, heavy footsteps, crawling noises, women's crying, and the sound of cutting through the air surrounded the group.

Hulking abominations with bodies full of stitches, wielding large scythes and hooks, emitting foul stench; wraiths resembling smaller versions of ghouls; high-level wraiths with nearly solid upper bodies and distinct faces...

One after another, powerful undead appeared around the escape group, slowly encircling them and rapidly spreading despair.

"Ha ha ha, you should thank me. Without me, you ants wouldn't have made it this far," the lich laughed arrogantly, looking at the despair on the humans' faces, feeling amused. "Your expressions are so interesting!"

After laughing for a while, the lich turned its gaze to the young human girl standing on top of the dragon carriage. "Young human girl, your every move has been under my watch. I'm a bit curious, what's your relationship with the lord of this city?"

"..." Olinna looked emotionlessly at the lich, realizing why they had encountered so few mid-level undead along the way. This lich was toying with them for amusement.

"Not answering? Let me guess, it must be a father-daughter relationship!" the lich cackled strangely. "Ah, seeing your soul's fluctuation, I must be right. So, girl, would you like to see your father?"

"Where is my father?" Hearing the lich mention her father, Olinna, who had been prepared for death, lost her composure.

"So eager to see your father? Ha ha ha, I, in my generosity, will grant your wish for the amusement you've brought me," the lich laughed unrestrainedly, then waved its staff.

"My brave knight, come out and meet your daughter! Ha ha ha!"

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