From the Abyss Invasion to the Blasting Star.

Chapter 411 A Sea of ​​Ten Thousand Skulls

In the southern part of the continent of Quel'dorei lies a vast plain called the Plains of Four Winds, which was once a paradise for mammoths.

Today, this place has become a wasteland, with mammoth skeletons scattered across the land polluted by the abyss.

These enormous skeletons looked particularly eerie and terrifying under the moonlight; some lay quietly on the grassland, while others slowly wandered in the night.

Yes, when night falls, the skeletons of mammoths roam the plains.

This was the situation the elves discovered three days ago, meaning the Skeleton Lord had already been here.

At this moment, Fiona led a troop of cavalry, hiding in the grass, waiting for the largest mammoth skeleton to appear.

The twelve Nightblade Leopards scratched the ground anxiously with their paws, awaiting their master's command to attack.

Based on the research and analysis conducted during this period, the undead skeletons controlled by the Skeleton Lord have a very strict hierarchical system.

Once the skeletons in a region revive, they will automatically form a team, led by the most powerful skeleton leader in the region, and gather towards the city of Kolos.

Because there were too many undead skeletons to clear them all, Lu Heng, Queen Orianna, and Tyrese decided to destroy the leaders among these undead skeletons in order to prevent the city from being besieged by a sea of ​​skeletons.

under the moonlight.

A huge mammoth skeleton slowly moved across the grassland. Although its skeleton had long lost its flesh and fur, it was still able to move freely under the control of some mysterious force.

Its long fangs gleamed coldly in the moonlight, as if ready to pierce through any creature that stood in its way.

The mammoth skeleton appeared on the plain, its head tilted back, letting out a roar that seemed to come from hell.

Within a ten-kilometer radius, the mammoth skeletons that heard the roar began to gather towards it.

Upon hearing the roar, Fiona knew her target had appeared. She drew her longsword and shouted, "Attack!"

The Nightblade cavalrymen drew their weapons and slapped the Nightblade Panthers on the head.

The twelve Nightblade Leopards roared and pounced, charging towards the giant mammoth skeleton. They fought according to cavalry tactics, methodically besieging the giant mammoth.

After more than ten minutes of siege, as the giant mammoth gradually showed signs of weakness, Fiona severed its skull with a single sword strike.

He then unleashed a ball of arcane fire, burning the mammoth skull to ashes to prevent it from reviving.

Having accomplished all this, Fiona took out a gem and sent out a message reporting that the mission in the Four Winds Plains was complete.

……

the other side.

In the southwest of the continent of Quel'dorei lies a Shadowwood, once the habitat of the Dark Worgen, now a playground for their skeletons.

These werewolf skeletons had long since lost their flesh and hair, but under the control of a mysterious force, they still retained the agility and speed they possessed in life.

The skeletal werewolves, their fangs gleaming coldly in the moonlight, looked particularly ferocious and terrifying. They were either hidden in the bushes or lurking in the dark ditches.

Any life that steps into this place will be brutally killed.

At that moment, a figure moved through the Shadow Forest like a bolt of lightning under the moonlight, running among the skeletal wolves. It looked like it was running away, but its steps were very steady, showing no sign of panic.

Behind him, a pack of skeletal werewolves howled and chased after him, gradually gathering into three or four groups, following like a tide, which was quite a spectacular sight.

When the figure rushed out of the woods and arrived at a pass, his true appearance was revealed in the moonlight; it was none other than Lu Heng.

Lu Heng lured the skeletal werewolf to the pass and ordered, "Attack!"

He turned around, drew his Aurora Blade, and unleashed the weapon skill [Dragon Breath Slash].

Roar!
A burst of infernal dragon breath slashed out, instantly engulfing a twenty-meter area in front of it and enveloping the skeletal werewolves within the range.

Hundreds of skeletal werewolves struggled and howled under the dragon's breath, collapsing to the ground in their charge and finally burning to ashes.

Before the Dragon Breath Slash was over, a divine bird cried out from the sky, and a solar wind rose up, engulfing the skeletal wolf pack.

Immediately afterwards, the energy cloud bomb and the mental force field storm crushed down, obliterating the remaining skeletal werewolves.

[Slay the Skeleton Werewolf and gain 300 Source Energy.]

[Slay the Skeleton Werewolf and gain 300 Source Energy.]

……

Initially, Lu Heng and Queen Orianna's strategy was to kill the leaders among these undead skeletons to prevent the skeleton army from gathering in Kolos City.

However, after Lu Heng killed the first skeleton leader, he discovered that he could obtain source energy.

Although the amount given is small, it adds up over time. When the quantity reaches several hundred or even a thousand, the total amount increases.

Therefore, Lu Heng's team of four temporarily changed their strategy, luring out all the skeleton werewolves in the Shadow Woods and wiping them out in one go.

After clearing out more than three hundred skeletal werewolves, the total amount of source energy absorbed was considerable.

As energy gathers within the body, an energy tide forms and begins to challenge the energy level boundary.

[Source Energy Level Upgraded to Level 47, All Attributes +5, Agility Attribute +1.5]

升级之后，陆恒的五维属性达到了：力量145、敏捷187、体质145、精神150、感知145。

Their combat strength has increased slightly again.

After clearing the Shadowwood, Lu Heng took out the communication orb and sent the information back to Kolos City:
"Shadowwood cleared, we're ready to head to our next location, Snailscale Valley."

That's when.

Su Muyu suddenly pointed to the distant sky and shouted, "Look at the sky!"

The other three turned to look and saw a three-headed dragon skeleton flying over the distant twilight mountains in the dark red clouds, disappearing behind the mountains.

In Lu Heng's memory, the largest dragon skeleton that appeared during the battle when the skeleton army besieged Kolos City was the Frost Bone Dragon.

The Frostbone Dragon from my memory has been destroyed, but it wasn't just one dragon skeleton; the Frostbone Dragon was simply the strongest, hence the most vivid memory.

The three dragon skeletons have already flown into the Twilight Mountains. This place is hundreds of kilometers away from the Twilight Mountains, and it's impossible to find them now if we chase after them.

Lu Heng used the communication pearl to send the news of the appearance of the dragon skeleton back to Kolos City, and then heard Queen Oriana's voice.

“Come back. The situation is worse than expected.”

……

As time went by, the Abyss Battlefield had entered its twenty-first day, with nine days remaining until the deadline.

During these twenty-one days, in the first ten days or so, not many undead skeletons appeared on the continent.

After half of the Abyss Battlefield time had passed, the number of undead skeletons appearing on the continent was increasing.

Every night, when the elven dragonhawk riders patrol the skies, they can see the undead skeletons wandering on the ground.

Not only the Dragonhawk Knights, but Su Muyu also frequently released the Azure Phoenix Divine Bird to scout ahead, discovering more and more undead skeletons.

The areas where these undead skeletons roam will all be gathered together.

In the war room of the palace district of Kolos City, there is a sand table. Areas where undead skeletons appear are marked with skull and crossbones flags.

One skull and crossbones flag represents one hundred undead skeletons. If the number of undead skeletons in a certain area reaches two hundred, two skull and crossbones flags will be planted; if it reaches three hundred, three flags will be planted. The sand table is now full of skull and crossbones flags.

Queen Aureanna rested her hands on the sand table, her expression solemn.

Lu Heng returned from outside and stepped into the operations room. Looking at the skull and crossbones flag on the sand table on the table, he already knew what Queen Aureanna was worried about.

Queen Aureanna took a deep breath and said, "I had some doubts about your claim of an army of 100,000 skeletons before, but now I believe you."

She has counted many times; there are already three or four hundred skull flags stuck in the sand table.

These alone mean that the number of undead skeletons appearing on the mainland has reached a staggering 30,000 to 40,000.

However, these are only the remains of the dead discovered by reconnaissance. Adding those yet to be discovered, as well as those that may appear in the next nine days, the number could easily reach 100,000.

Queen Oriana rubbed her temples and said in a solemn tone, "We received your warning in advance and have done our best to clear away the biological skeletons around Kolos City, but we didn't expect to still be surrounded by an army of 100,000 skeletons."

The Elven race received the news about fifty days before the Abyss Battlefield opened.

For the past fifty days, the elves have been fortifying the city walls and clearing away the surrounding biological skeletons, with the aim of reducing the number of skeletons that the undead lord can control.

Lu Heng offered a word of comfort: "Everything we've done hasn't been in vain. At least for the Skeleton Lord to enslave so many undead skeletons, he'll need to go to a much farther place and spend more time."

"Actually, I discovered a few days ago that the Frost Bone Dragon and the Creator's raiding party were actually trying to hold us back so that they would have time to revive so many biological skeletons."

Queen Orianna picked up the three bone dragon banners, hesitated several times, and then planted them in the Twilight Mountains. She said, "Klos City will eventually have to face the siege of an army of 100,000 skeletons. My confidence has begun to waver."

Although she was unwilling to admit it, she did feel immense pressure and was no longer confident that she could defend Kolos City.

She took a deep breath and asked, "In your prophecy, did the city of Kolos hold out?"

Lu Heng remained silent for a long time before answering, "No."

Queen Aureanna already knew the answer in her heart, but when she heard it with her own ears, her heart still clenched.

She looked up at the dome, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.

Do you think we can change the prophecy?

Lu Heng replied firmly, "This is the reason I came here. No matter what the final result is, I will do my best."

Queen Aureanna clenched her fists tightly: "Even if this battle is destined to be lost, I will fight to the very end. The city of Kolos can only fall after I fall."

“We still have time to develop a better battle plan, and we have the advantage of a fortified city to defend, so we may not necessarily lose.” Lu Heng was already thinking about this problem on his way back.

The two chatted for a short while before Tyrese and Fiona returned from outside one after the other.

Queen Alleanna summoned the Highborne to a meeting to discuss the next steps in the defense of the city.

In the meeting hall.

Queen Aureanna solemnly announced: "According to the current reconnaissance results, the city of Kolos is about to be besieged by a sea of ​​skeletons. Just as initially predicted, the number of undead skeletons will reach a staggering 100,000."

Before today, some high-ranking members of the Elven race believed that the number of skeletons would not reach 100,000.

The figure of 100,000 skeletons was given by Lu Heng, not based on objective reconnaissance, so it's normal for some people to question it at first.

The situation is different now. The number seen by the dragonhawk knights who are responsible for patrolling and scouting among the elves has proven that this number is correct.

A high elf looked puzzled and frowned as he asked, "We have already cleared the remains of creatures around Kolos City very thoroughly, so why hasn't the number of skeletons decreased?"

Lu Heng had thought about this question before, and after careful consideration, he replied, "Actually, I have already thought about the reason for this question."

"The continent of Quel'dorei has seen countless creatures, and the skeletons left behind are as numerous as the stars in the sky."

"Even if we clean up a lot of biological skeletons, it's not difficult to collect 100,000 skeletons from the dead creatures on the continent. It just takes more time and going to more distant places."

"The reason why the army of 100,000 skeletons was formed is not because of the number of skeletons, but because of the total number of skeletons that the Skeleton Monarch can control."

One of the Highborne frowned and questioned, "If that's the case, wouldn't it be a waste of our time to clean up these creature skeletons?"

Lu Heng then replied, "It's not a wasted effort. For the Skeleton Monarch, biological skeletons are consumables. Every skeleton servant he controls that is destroyed is one less, but skeletons can be replenished."

"In other words, if there are a large number of biological skeletons around the city of Kolos, the Skeleton Monarch can replenish the skeleton army around the city."

"If that's the case, the sea of ​​skeletons besieging Kolos will be endless."

"We cleared away the biological skeletons around Kolos City, making it impossible for the Skeleton Lord to obtain skeletons from the surrounding area to replenish his strength. If he wants to replenish his strength, he will have to go to a more distant place."

"This prevented the city of Kolos from being overwhelmed by an endless army of skeletons."

The high elves present nodded in agreement after hearing this.

Queen Aureanna had already considered this, and she gave Lu Heng a satisfied smile.

She had another purpose in having Lu Heng say these words: to strengthen the alliance between elves and humans and to gain more recognition from the high elves.

This also consolidates her position among the elves.

Although the Elven race is very united now, factions still exist within it.

Especially after the death of the Archmage Augustus, Queen Alleanna lost her greatest supporter, and her position among the elves was not as secure as before.

Fortunately, Tyrese stayed and took Augustus's place.

Even so, Queen Aureanna still needs to find more help.

Faced with this crisis, some divisions have also arisen within the Elven race.

For example, where should we focus our defense?
Kolos City is naturally the most important defensive city, but outside of Kolos City, there are other important areas for the Elven race that need to be defended.

For example, Moonshadow Forest, which Serene has always been in charge of; Arcane Castle, the spiritual symbol of the arcane mage; and Moonlake, the eternal home of the elves.

These areas are not within the city of Kolos, so whether or not to defend them is a topic that needs to be discussed.

If every region needs to be defended, then a lot of resources will have to be allocated.

Moreover, areas like Moonshadow Forest and Moon Goddess Lake lack city walls for defense, requiring more defensive resources to be deployed.

If we voluntarily abandon these areas and concentrate our defensive forces on Kolos City, we will naturally have a better chance of defending this elven capital.

The situation is similar in Arcane Castle.

Moreover, the hardest place to give up in these areas is Arcane Castle, because it is the headquarters of the Elven Arcane Council.

Currently, the Arcane Council insists on protecting Arcane Castle, and it is being personally guarded by the seven highest-ranking Arcane Council elders of the Elven race.

These are the seven most powerful arcane mages among the elves, besides Queen Alleanna.

Without these seven elders of the Arcane Council guarding the city of Kolos, its arcane defenses would be greatly weakened.

The purpose of this meeting was to make the elf leaders present understand just how serious the impending catastrophe would be.

Queen Aureanna hopes to use this meeting to persuade the Arca Council to temporarily abandon Arca Castle and join forces to defend Kolos City.

However, the discussion did not yield ideal results.

After all, Arcane Castle is the place of faith for arcane mages.

(End of this chapter)