[Vol. 8] Chapter 12: A Suspicious Puppet Master
If this back-and-forth battle kept going, the most likely outcome would be that a few strong members of the team would break through the enemy lines with the rest of the group, possibly leaving behind supplies and suffering heavy losses.
The [Undead Legion] might be “undying,” but that didn’t mean they were unbeatable. Even with the help of the undead spellcasters that Xiao Guang had already defeated in an instant, there was no way they could hope to stop one Saintess and two angels. So, their real goal was probably not to win the battle, but to weaken the team, test their strength, or wear them down to the point they could no longer fight properly.
Of course, there was another or bigger possibility, the attacker had planned everything specifically to counter the known powerful members of the group. If that was true, then the only unknown factors left were Violet and Xiao Guang. This kind of setup could have been meant to study the two of them. Their relationship to the team, their behavior, and their true strength.
In other words, this probably wasn’t the end of it, more schemes were likely coming.
And if they wanted to fight back in this kind of mind game, the most important thing would be information.
After casually complaining about the arrogant-sounding name [Undead Legion], the priestess didn’t pay much attention to the undead girl’s nervous reaction. She just calmly asked her another question.
“You said you don’t know who your master is. But do you know anything about him? When did you last see him? Do you know where he went?”
Lorga glanced at the Primordial Flame mark faintly glowing on her shoulder and gave a helpless nod, like she had given up on hiding anything.
“Because he always wore a cloak that covered his face and body, I’ve never seen what my master really looks like. Judging by his voice, he’s an older man. Last night, he suddenly came back with his followers to the Hellwood Forest, quickly gathered me and some other undead magic-users, and gave us the order for today’s attack. After that, he left right away. From the direction he went... it looked like he was heading west.”
She paused for a moment, as if something had just come to mind.
“Ah... right! Even though the master is really secretive, his followers all call him ‘Senator’s Emissary.’ Also, I saw a green snake tattoo on his right arm. It showed for a moment when he raised his staff, and I just happened to notice it...”
“A green snake...”
The title “Senator’s Emissary” and the snake tattoo. If Lorga was telling the truth, then this man was likely connected to one of the Twilight Council’s senators.
The Immortal Magician, Timos Young, was also a Senator’s Emissary. From what Violet had confirmed earlier, the top three members of the Throne of Immortality all had snake tattoos.
So this undead-controlling emissary probably wasn’t a follower of the God of Subversion and Paradox, Exmont. That meant other members of the Twilight Council were now starting to get involved too, making the situation more complicated.
There was already the God of Blazing Heat and Explosions [Flam], the God of False Faces and Ecstasy [Musk], and the God of Subversion and Paradox [Exmont]. Now, this unknown senator's emissary added a possible fourth. At this point, Violet had already come into contact with at least four high-ranking members of the Twilight Council. And the idea that senators = gods seemed more and more likely to be true.
If the undead were brought back using divine power and protected by it, then their unusual behavior made more sense. But what Violet cared about more than that was the Austre Empire’s quiet cooperation with the Twilight Council.
After all, this emissary wouldn’t have attacked the Holy Empire’s envoy team for no reason. And there were still those mysterious “eyes” watching them in secret. The connection between the two sides was now pretty clear.
First it was the God of Subversion. Now it was this emissary with unknown background. The Austre Empire was bolder than she thought.
But… wasn’t this information coming a little too easily?
A strange feeling passed through Violet’s heart. Without showing it on her face, she turned her attention once more to the undead girl, who was also secretly sneaking glances at her. But just as their eyes were about to meet, the girl suddenly lowered her head again, as if scared or trying to hide something.
Heh~
First, it had to be said, this Lorga Blanca was indeed very pretty. Even though, after being brought back as an undead, her hair and eyes had turned a dull grayish-white, and her face and skin were pale without any color. She looked dirty and messy, dressed in scraps of old cloth thrown together just to cover her body. All of this made her look pitiful and ragged, very much like what you’d expect from an undead.
But judging from her habits and the fact that she still seemed to think clearly despite being undead, Lorga Blanca probably had a more complicated background than she let on.
Becoming undead while keeping your mind is not something most people would want. In fact, you could say this “master” of hers was more like an enemy. After being freed from the control of the Primordial Flame, it made sense for her to turn against him and offer information. But still… the way she made that choice so quickly, wasn’t that a little too fast?
As that thought crossed her mind, the priestess quietly hid the strange light that flickered in her eyes and gave a quick signal to the Saintess beside her.
“Let’s do this, Miss Frederica. Since this undead girl is being cooperative, let’s spare her life for now. Xiao Guang already placed a restriction on her, sealing both her movement and her magic. She shouldn’t be a threat. Let’s keep her with us, she might still be useful later.”
“Huh? Oh… I understand. If you’re personally saying so, of course I’ll agree,” Frederica replied with a nod, not showing much hesitation. She quickly followed up with another point.
“But Lady Violet, what we really need to do right now is get away from these skeletons. Since they’re called the [Undead Legion], they probably can’t be fully destroyed no matter how hard we fight them. Breaking through quickly and avoiding a drawn-out fight would be the smart move. Don’t you think?”
Violet just smiled and shook her head in response to Frederica’s suggestion, one that was phrased almost like asking for permission.
“No need to go to all that trouble. These undead are all connected to a single source, a controller. To command such a large number of them, that controller can’t be far from here. Now that their subordinates are all defeated, if the one behind this has any brains, they’ll have to act soon. If they don’t… and wait for us to find them instead, it’ll already be too late~”
As if to prove her point, right after she spoke, the ground under everyone’s feet suddenly began to shake and rumble!
“Rumble rumble rumble…!”
Dust rose into the air, and loud crashes echoed all around. Even the paladins and undead skeletons who were still fighting had trouble staying on their feet, they almost fell over. The massive roar shook the entire Forest of Death, like some huge creature was breaking free from the rocks and soil, struggling to rise to the surface!
“Wahhh! What now?!”
Miss Rene stumbled, using her staff to keep from falling. Despite the chaos, she couldn’t help but shout out her usual complaints. Her sky magic was powerful, but it wasn’t suitable in situations like this, where allies and enemies were mixed together. Plus, a certain priestess had told her not to act, so she had been happily hanging back and pretending not to exist.
But that didn’t mean she’d done nothing. At the very least…
Up in the sky, a golden eye seemed to flash across the heavens. Like it had spotted something, the angel girl suddenly raised her hand and pointed toward a certain part of the forest in the distance!
“Over there! Wait a minute… Oh no, that thing is ugly!”