Chapter 36: The Battle of the Quarry (Part 2)

Not only was Shi Dong's face pale at the moment, but Fang Zheng's face wasn't much better. Just imagine, you were planning to explore the Castle of Shadow Fangs, and as soon as you entered, you encountered Kel'Thuzad. How would you feel?

This wasn't following the script at all! The versions weren't even the same.

Looking at the lich floating in the air before him, Fang Zheng quietly took a few steps back. It was no wonder he and Shi Dong hadn't anticipated this; the other party's disguise was just too convincing. One of the top powerhouses of the Council of the Fallen, the opponent surely possessed Legendary Domain abilities. Generally speaking, beings like this would have no weak soldiers under their command. Basic undead creatures like Necromancer Skeletons are standard operating procedure; having a few Banshee Bone Dragons certainly wouldn't be out of the question. If Fang Zheng and his group had encountered more advanced troops, they might not have made it this far so easily.

But what was the result? This master must have been a seasoned strategy player; he played the "pig pretending to be a tiger" routine flawlessly! Throughout their journey, Fang Zheng and Shi Dong encountered only Skeleton Soldiers and Necromancer Golems, basic undead creatures, and so neither Fang Zheng nor Shi Dong took it seriously. They both thought there might just be a crazy Lich inside. A regular Lich, while still dangerous for Grand Knights like Shi Dong and Mart, was at least manageable.

What they didn't expect was that inside was actually one of the most terrifyingly powerful entities of the Council of the Fallen—a Master of Lich!

You're somewhat of a boss-level entity; can you at least have some dignity? Do you have to mess with us this way? And why dress so discreetly? Usually, game bosses are decked out in gold and silver, but here you are in a tattered black robe... Fang Zheng admitted he was totally fooled.

Oh... right, liches don't have faces.

"Since you're here, you might as well stay..."

Frank still maintained an extraordinarily calm demeanor as he extended his hand, making a grasping motion toward Fang Zheng and Shi Dong.

But at that very moment, suddenly, a burst of flame appeared from the side of the Master of Lich, shooting forward like a meteor.

"Stop!"

Grand Knight Mart raised his longsword high, flames burning intensely on its blade. He roared, gripping the longsword tightly and swinging it down. The blazing flames spiraled towards the Master of Lich. However, the Master of Lich didn't even glance at Grand Knight Mart. Before the menacing flames could reach it, a semi-transparent spectral barrier appeared around the lich, and the once raging flames shrank like candles in the wind, extinguishing completely.

And the Master of Lich's actions did not pause. He reached out with his right hand and lightly grabbed the air. The next second, Fang Zheng and Shi Dong felt the ground shake, then a wall of bones rose from the ground behind them, quickly blocking their retreat.

What a disaster!

Seeing this, Fang Zheng's face turned ashen. He gripped his Sky-Cleaving Sword tightly, his eyes full of hesitation. Honestly, Fang Zheng hadn't expected these main world entities to all be so cunning. Even if he had been more cautious... it wouldn't have helped! His understanding of this world was shallow, and without enough intelligence, he had to rely on someone else's judgment.

"Since you're guests, why don't you join my ritual?"

"Absolutely not!"

Hearing the Master of Lich's words, Shi Dong roared and charged forward with his giant sword. However, the Master of Lich clearly understood that the villain dies from talking too much. He said no more, just extended his hand and made a few gestures in the air. Following this, a terrifying scene unfolded.

The corpses of over a dozen Templars lying on the ground suddenly "cracked" and burst. Their bones, as if pulled by invisible strings, emerged from their flesh, spun, and reassembled into a horrifying monster with a gigantic upper body and a long scythe in its hands.

"It's a Death Envoy, be careful!"

Seeing the monster before him, Mart's face turned pale. He hurriedly rushed forward to join Shi Dong in attempting to flank the terrifying creature. But their opponent's reactions exceeded their expectations. Almost instantly upon its formation, the Death Envoy swung its scythe in a 180-degree arc, striking the weapons of both Mart and Shi Dong. The two Grand Knights shuddered and retreated, but they could see a chilling frost quickly spreading up their arms, forming a thick layer of ice in no time.

What terrifying power!

Mart and Shi Dong shook their hands to shatter the ice binding their arms. They exchanged glances, seeing the shock and fear in each other's eyes. This was merely a Death Envoy casually summoned by the Master of Lich, yet it was able to match them both?

Even though Mart and Shi Dong were both brave Grand Knights, cold sweat broke out. The Council of the Fallen didn't have a good reputation, but they rarely appeared in the public eye. Unlike the Doomsday Church or the Twilight Legion, who loved to cause trouble everywhere, the Council of the Fallen believed "all things will die." They had enough patience to wait for their enemies to self-destruct. Thus, the Council was more active in graveyards or battlefields, often engaging in the revival of powerful entities as undead creatures. Naturally, these acts of desecration were not sanctioned or accepted by the Sanctuary.

There were even rumors within the Sanctuary that the Council of the Fallen, despite its low profile, was actually the most terrifying enemy of all living beings. If they encountered formidable foes, they wouldn't resort to the desperate measures like the Twilight Legion or the Doomsday Church; they would simply wait patiently.

After all, time was their ally. They didn't need to take action themselves; they only needed to wait patiently, letting those once-powerful enemies die of old age or be killed by others. Then, they could leisurely come out and dig graves. Wouldn't that be delightful?

Due to the Council's passive and reserved attitude towards combat, most of the world regarded them as petty like the Doomsday Church, adept only at covert schemes and falling apart the moment they faced real combat, like mice scurrying away.

But the Master of Lich had immediately shattered this misconception. They truly disliked frontal confrontations, but that didn't mean the Council of the Fallen was just a gang of clowns hiding in the shadows. Even their hastily summoned Death Envoy could stand against the combined full-strength attacks of two Grand Knights, Mart and Shi Dong. In fact, up to now, Frank had yet to make a move; he seemed more interested in that ritual.

But that didn't mean Frank would just sit by and let them cause trouble. With a snap of his right fingers, the torn flesh of the fallen Templars began to squirm and merge like melting pudding, transforming into two humanoid flesh monsters, which charged towards Fang Zheng and the remaining Templars.

Damn it!

Seeing this, Fang Zheng almost popped his eyes out. He'd only heard from Shi Dong that the Council of the Fallen had profound skills in life and death transformation. But it wasn't until now that Fang Zheng realised just how terrifying these liches were. Extracting bones to make a Death Envoy was one thing, but reusing the remaining flesh to create two Flesh Puppets was horrifying. These creatures were intermediate undead, their power dependent on their "raw materials". If these puppets were made from peasant flesh, Fang Zheng would have no problem. But since these were the flesh of Templars, it was a different story.

The Flesh Puppets were faster than he expected, reaching Fang Zheng within a few breaths. Staring at the large, jelly-like entity before him made Fang Zheng's scalp tingle. Despite having faced disgusting creatures in the worlds of Diablo and Dark Soul, this one took the cake.

While he didn't know the principles behind the creation of Flesh Puppets, Fang Zheng could see at a glance that the puppet's body seemed to be a fusion of the semi-melted limbs of the fallen Templars, further combined. What made it even more nauseating was that these organs seemed to be operational?

Particularly the five misplaced eyes blinking at him, making Fang Zheng feel so sick he almost wanted to vomit.

"Roar—!!"

But the Flesh Puppet had no such feelings. It roared like a beast acting on instinct, charging at Fang Zheng. Its arms shot out from its jelly-like body, gripping two blood-stained longswords.

Damn it!

Facing this monster, Fang Zheng cursed under his breath and rolled to the side, narrowly dodging its double slash. He then countered with a swing of his sword, and Judgment's radiance erupted, creating small holes in the Flesh Puppet's body.

Without blood, the flesh appeared disturbingly pale, revealing shriveled blood vessels and organs. To make matters worse, these organs seemed to be functioning, likely due to magical influence!

Fang Zheng felt like he needed a bathroom trip to vomit his guts out. But unfortunately, there was no bathroom nearby, nor did he have the time. After receiving the attack, the Flesh Puppet shuddered, and two more arms sprouted from the wounded area, again wielding longswords to attack Fang Zheng. But this time, Fang Zheng didn't retreat. He flipped his longsword, and a dazzling Holy Light drew a pleasing silver arc in the air, severing the puppet's arms. Fang Zheng then raised his sword, and the Lightsabers formed around him, rushing forward with a whistle.

In a moment, countless Swords of Light riddled the Flesh Puppet with holes, turning it from jelly into cheese. But that didn't seem to be much of a problem for the puppet; its body just shuddered and began merging and reshaping again.

Meanwhile, Necromancer Golems on both sides started closing in with heavy strides.