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A narrow uphill path leading into the mountain range. Gais crossed over the huge rock blocking his way. Beyond the blackened, withered meadow, a massive army of necros was surging forward. Bone weapons clashed, and black mycelia sprouted from beneath the feet of the corpses. On the hills lining the road, gravestones bearing traces of necromancy stood in a row.
Gais raised the spear to shoulder height.
"From here, I'll push through."
The Black-Claw executioners struck down with bayonets in unison. The Black Command Sect approached, slicing through the ground, but Gaisga tilted his kite shield to deflect the impact. The moment the ground cracked, he plunged forward and swung his spear widely. The spearhead struck down the skeleton soldiers’ weapons, and the following burst of wind pushed them all back.
On the flank, the cemetery spear column rose with bone spears. Gais lifted the dirt beneath his feet and twisted the direction of the bone spear. Bodies of decay crawled out from the collapsed ranks as boulders emerged from the earth to overwhelm the spear bearers. The bodies with torn torsos clung to the ground, scratching the floor with their remaining arms.
Black flames spread from Gaisuga's hand.
Darkness Flame.
Black flames spread widely across the ground. The flames engulfing the bodies burned away the black bodily fluids and the foul-smelling, decaying mist. A phantom pursuit unit appeared, passing between the rocks from beyond the flames. Faces twisted in length stretched out toward the Gais family's shadow.
He lowered his body and rotated the spear. The light of nature extending from the spearhead pierced through the ghosts. As the shape-shifting ghosts scattered, Gais was already climbing up the hill.
The army of grave archers fired their bone arrows in unison. Gaisga drew back his right hand as he blocked the arrow with a kite shield.
Boomerang.
Condensed magical power formed a boomerang that spread out like wings. As soon as it slipped from his hand, it crossed the ranks of the archers. The bow broke, and the skulls were snapped off. The boomerang struck the Black Funeral Knights’ shield repeatedly before returning to Gais with a large curve.
The moment he retrieved the boomerang, he pointed his spear forward.
Ice shower.
Ice crystals had formed densely in the sky. A torrent of massive ice fragments and sharp icicles crashed, shattering the Knights’ black armor. The entourage of the dead, which had been charging behind, also collapsed as their hooves got caught in the ice. Gais glided over the frozen ground, shattering the riders one after another with his spear.
At that moment, the ground shook violently.
The Tomb-Scourging Giants lifted the massive rock with both arms. When the giants threw rocks, Gaisga opened his hand and pulled the ground. Rock pillars rising from beneath the surface twisted the trajectory of the projectile. The rocks crashed over the hill, breaching the mountainside.
Gais didn't miss the opportunity.
I Storm.
A cold wind swept through the mountain path. Ice crystals swirled around, enveloping the giants’ arms and legs, and their frozen joints came to a halt. Gais ran up the wind and stepped on the giant's shoulder. As he plunged the spear down, cracks spread across the ice, and the giant's massive body collapsed at an angle.
However, the Necro Legion did not back down.
The command chain spread black chains in all directions. Chainsaws sliced through the air, and even the broken chains writhed on the ground, sticking back together. Gais turned the shield to wrap the chain around it, then plunged the spear into the ground.
The rock underground cracked. The towering stone pillars crushed the chain, and Gaisga pushed off and charged forward over them. The spear blades flashed in succession, cutting through the black chains embedded in the chain unit's body.
The corpse-cleaving soldier stretched out his arms and legs from behind, trying to grab his arm. After twisting his arm to escape, Gais turned his palm toward the ground. Thick tree roots sprouted and wrapped around the bodies of the monsters. Then sharp thorns sprouted from the tips of the roots, piercing through the stitched bodies.
The Dokgae moss colony released its spores. A toxic haze of green and black covered the mountain path.
Gais pushed the shield forward. A strong wind spun around the shield, pushing the poison mist to both sides. The sternum-brupting unit, hidden in the fog, swung a bone hammer, but Gaisga turned his body to the side just before the attack could reach. The moment the hammer struck the ground, he stabbed the enemy in the chest with a spear, then immediately struck another enemy’s jaw with a shield.
The attacks did not stop.
Prism blast.
A dazzling light exploded from the tip of the spear. A beam of light split into multiple rays, cutting across the hill and revealing the Silent Cemetery Assassins. The skulls hidden in the shadows were pierced by the light without a moment to escape. The Black Gwan Guardians opened the gate and unleashed black hands, but the beams pierced through the surface of the gwan and shook its inner command.
As soon as Gais landed, he threw the boomerang again. As the boomerang broke through the side of the Guan guardians, he spread his hands and gathered ice crystals.
Ice shower.
Ice fragments poured down from the sky and struck the body of the Void Phantom Pillar. The black holes that had been absorbing the surrounding light trembled and shrank. Gaisga immediately fired the Prism Blast. The refracted beams pierced the frozen ghosts, and their bodies dissolved into black mist, scattering in the wind.
After that, a legion of parasitic mites surged in.
The strands of mycelium clinging to the bones of the fallen undead writhed and lifted the corpses back to their place. As the black spores exploded, tiny parasites scattered in all directions. Gais stretched out his hand toward the ground. The soil was overturned, the rocks rose, and the land covered in mycelium was lifted up as a whole.
He swung the spear.
The wind pushed against a massive boulder. The resurrected corpses were crushed beneath the mycelium, and the black thread roots that had spread underground were severed. Then Darkness Flame burned the remaining mycelium.
Finally, the Bloodthirsty Wolves charged from both sides of the hill. His long jaw dropped, and a dark aura began to flow along his exposed spine. The wolves synchronized their movements and surrounded Gaisuga.
He used a kite shield to parry the wolf head-on. The moment the claw scratched the shield, he turned his body and pushed another wolf away with his spear. As the wolf charged from behind, Gaisga swung his spear above and knocked it away.
I Storm.
An ice storm surged up the hill. The wolves’ paws went numb, and the charging pack’s movement faltered. Gais crossed over the ice and threw a boomerang. The moment he swept past the boomerang-wolves, he condensed the light of a prism at the tip of his spear.
Prism blast.
Light pierced through the mountain path. A beam of light collided with an ice storm and swept through the ranks of the wolf troops. The black curse shattered, and the undead’s bodies scattered into ash-gray fragments.
At last, the army of necros that had filled the uphill path collapsed.
Gais-Ga retrieved the spear and lifted the kite shield again. Only broken bones, collapsed gravestones, melting ice, and black ashes remained around them.
But at the end of the mountain path, a black light still flashed.
A massive black structure was blocking the ridge of the mountain range. The surface of the structure was engraved with countless command patterns, and from the deep crevice below, the shadow of a new legion could be seen.
Gais fixed his gaze on that place.
"Now I should check inside."
