Chapter 498: Go Time (1/2)

Zac wasn't confident that their mobile illusion array would do them any good against the defenses of the Undead Empire. He figured that they would be able to hide more efficiently as a small group of humanoids in a forest that was no doubt teeming with zombies, rather than on top of a lustrous giant leaf ripping through the otherwise dour sky.

There was no way that the Lich King hadn’t erected any defensive arrays now that the realignment was so close, but there was a very big difference between a passively running array and an array actively controlled by an array master. Perhaps they would be able to crack open the entrance if they caught the Lich King by surprise.

Besides, they would have to be on the ground anyway if they wanted to deploy any of the array breakers they had brought.

The group landed inside the forest, and everyone already wore some sort of equipment that hid their life-attuned aura. Ogras and Zac increased the effect even further by adding a layer of shadows and dousing them in his Dao Field for the Fragment of the Coffin.

The coffin wasn’t strictly Death-Attuned just yet, but it was death-adjacent, and it helped them blend into the surroundings a lot better than if they just walked in as-is. They soon got a chance at testing the efficacy of their disguise as they spotted a mob of zombies lumbering about. But they could breathe out in relief when their small group could walk by completely unnoticed.

The zombies treated them as though they were air, and the group kept running further toward the core of the Dead Zone. Of course, that small encounter wasn’t enough for them to relax. Those zombies were still unawakened, which meant they were as dumb as they came. Real Revenants might not be able to sense that their group was alive, but they would no doubt understand that something was amiss with a group of strangers running toward their stronghold.

Luckily it seemed that the undead didn't bother planting any spectral scouts in the forest. Perhaps they figured that the increasingly dense number of zombies would be enough as an early warning, or perhaps they didn't even care if anyone came all this way, confident in their defensive capabilities.

But the group of 11 still avoided any undead they spotted as they inched closer to their target. It forced them to take some detours, but it still only took them three hours until reached their target, the true inner sanctum of the Dead Zone. Or rather the barrier that blocked them off from it.

Massive pitch-black runes hovered in the air, each of them humming with strength. They formed a long wall that stretched kilometers in each direction, and Zac could vaguely spot massive Unholy Beacons some distance behind them, no doubt powering them with a steady flow of power.

There was no physical wall acting as a foundation, but that didn’t mean the barrier would be any easier to deal with. This was something that made use of the Dead Zone itself, and it would no doubt require a massive blast to crack open. However, reaching the target wasn’t the only trouble they faced.

There was also the even thicker wall of zombies that stood between them and the array. The density of the undead lumbering about in the forest had gradually increased as the density of Miasma did, and they currently had zombies within 30 meters in pretty much every direction by now. However, they almost formed a solid wall of putrid flesh along the defensive array in front of them.

The swarm of zombies was well over twenty meters thick, and it seemed to stretch endlessly in each direction along the barrier. Millions and millions of former citizens of earth turned into nothing more than an unliving fortification. At least that was what Zac figured they were, as this band of zombies definitively hadn't come about naturally.

“How the hell are we supposed to sneak in like this?” Ogras spat. ”There is no way that the people inside won't be alerted if we start killing this rabble.”

”Can't we just walk past them?” Emily asked. ”Isn't that what our talismans are for?”

”No way,” the demon said as he threw a humored glance at the teenager. ”They're stupid, but not that stupid. Besides, I bet there is some failsafe for that.”

“Some sort of diversion?” Zac muttered.

He briefly considered using the thing he had gotten from Void’s Disciple, but he eventually decided against it. This was still just an outer shield, and the real forces of the Lich King were nowhere in sight. Using that thing right now was a waste, and better left to use as a surprise when Zac was right in front of his target.

Besides, Void had said that he was meant to activate the black crystal it inside a ‘castle’ and there were nothing of the sort in sight just yet. That point alone made Zac a bit worried. It meant that his whole idea to sneak attack the leaders had already failed. Even if they rushed inside after blasting through the wall the Lich King would probably be ready to meet their assault.

Still, they had managed to get pretty close without getting noticed, which was worth something. It would be too late to recall larger forces to defend by this point, and there was no way undead general stationed in the horde would be able to come back in time.

“Can’t be anything big,” Ogras slowly said. “We want these rotting bastards out of the way without causing a scene. We need to hit the shield before the owners inside notice us. If they take active control it will be twice as hard to break inside.”

“What about Miasma Crystals?” Emily ventured. “We throw a few of them to the left and one to the right. I heard that zombies search out things that benefit their strength instinctively. Shouldn’t that split them up?”

The idea of throwing out Miasma Crystals as breadcrumbs sounded extraordinarily stupid, but it quickly became apparent that no one had a better idea. Joanna proposed they dig a tunnel, but Zac remembered how the slightest tremor in the earth was immediately exposed by geomancers when fighting the second beast wave.

Orgas also suggested for Zac to somehow telepathically control them in his Draugr form, but he simply had no way to do that.

Though to be fair, turning into a Draugr might push the zombies away, as there was a massive inherent difference in caste between the noble races and some newly turned zombies without sapience. But he wanted to keep that as an ace in the hole, so they had no better option than going with Emily’s plan.

Dozens of F-Grade Miasma Crystals soared through the air and landed in the densely packed groups of zombies as Zac started to throw them to their left and right. It took a few seconds for the undead to register what was going on, but they slowly started to congregate toward the energy-rich crystals on the ground.

It created a five-meter wide corridor almost completely devoid of zombies in front of them, and the group unhesitantly rushed forward and set up an illusion array right next to the barrier. A few zombies seemed to feel that something was amiss, but they soon joined the others in the struggle for Miasma Crystals after they couldn't see anything odd in their surroundings.