This Necromancer Just Wants to Plant Trees - Chapter 209

Chapter 209: The Power of the Five Dragons

Life and death hung in the balance.

Without hesitation, Horens swiftly faded away, his body disappearing in an instant. Years of training had honed his combat instincts to their peak.

The moment he realized he was under attack, he opened the gateway to the Shadow Realm!

Forced Shadow Retreat!

As the gentle embrace of the shadow world enveloped him, Horens's immense pain finally dissipated. Immune to the sensation of agony with the aid of shadow energy, he quickly mapped out his retreat route.

Firstly, a mandatory Shadow Pulse was necessary.

Though this action risked further damage to his already torn body, it was the only way to escape.

Relying on this pulse, he needed to reach the border between the next shadow realm and the primary material realm.

Then, with unwavering willpower and resilience, he must swiftly flee the battlefield to preserve his life.

In his years as an assassin, such scenes were few but not unheard of. Horens remembered several instances from his youth where he was relentlessly pursued, feeling as if death was imminent. Yet, each time, he managed to evade capture through sheer survival instinct and adept escape tactics.

And this time, he believed it would be no different.

In the blink of an eye, thoughts flashed through his mind. Intense survival instinct compelled his body to hunch over, his brain racing furiously.

Power from the shadow realm surged from all directions, forming a vortex at his core.

As the energy reached its zenith, he was on the brink of successfully unleashing a Shadow Pulse.

But just then, in the pitch-black world, a pale yet aggressive figure forcefully intruded.

In that moment, Horens's eyes widened in disbelief.

He couldn't fathom how the enemy had pinpointed the exact shadow node where he had concealed himself!

In the twinkling of an eye, a rough skeletal hand seized his neck.

"Come out, you!"

When Horens heard the voice, he was forcibly yanked out of the shadow world.

Simultaneously, a massive bone blade hacked at his chin, severing two-thirds of his head and half of his shoulder.

"This bull, how da—"

This was Horens's final thought in this world.

With a thud, the corpse of the Zolotendron assassin fell to the ground, knocking over a shelf in the kitchen.

The clattering of falling plates echoed around.

The nearby soldiers were finally alerted.

A few seconds later, a pale but gaunt soldier rushed in first. He wore armor that clearly didn't fit properly and sported an oversized hat, beneath which gleamed a pair of lively eyes.

"What's happened, Sister Peggy?!"

The young man asked nervously.

Peggy, holding the severed torso, replied:

"Nothing, just caught a sneaky fellow."

The young man exclaimed in astonishment:

"Wow, is this an assassin?"

"To hide in darkness, did they dye their skin black?"

Peggy pondered over the corpse in her hands and mused:

"Is there a possibility... this is a Zolotendron?"

The surprise in the young man's eyes deepened:

"So this is a Zolotendron? Turns out there really are naturally dark-skinned folks!"

He looked at Peggy with admiration:

"Sister Peggy, you know so much!"

Peggy chuckled.

She rather liked this clever young man named Dom.

Among the participants from Rolling Stone Town in this battle, Dom was the youngest.

Originally a reservist, he eagerly sought to join the fray upon hearing there was money to be made.

Military officials repeatedly denied Dom's request to participate, but he managed to finagle his way in through various channels.

Finally, he secured a chance to join the logistical support team as a reservist.

Officially, the logistical support team was under the command of an elder from the garrison.

But since the first day of the battle, Dom had been trailing behind Peggy, this unconventional member of the support team, like a little tail.

There was a hint of a trailing feeling.

This made Peggy quite fond of him.

"Sister Peggy, there's fighting over there. Do you think more assassins might sneak in?"

Dom inquired.

Peggy nodded.

"You go inform Allen (logistics supervisor) to notify Zeller and the cavalry commanders separately."

"I'll personally inspect the camp."

Dom eagerly asked:

"I'll go inform them!"

"But regarding searching for other assassins, is there anything I can do to help?"

Peggy thought for a moment:

"There is."

"You go rearrange the positions of the two real gems at the camp entrance."

Dom suddenly realized:

"Because the positions of the true sight gems weren't right, that's how the assassins managed to sneak in, right?"

"Are you asking me to adjust their positions now to force potential assassins to reveal themselves?"

However, Peggy shook her head:

"No."

"Counter-stealth is my innate instinct, without needing other powers."

"Those two gems are too dazzling, hurting my soul fire. Move them to a corner, away from my sight."

Dom looked dumbfounded for a moment.

After a while, he scratched his head and complied.

Meanwhile,

On the southwestern slope,

The infantry from Rolling Stone Town clashed with the night-assault troops led by Highleaf.

Blade, with his innate divine power, led the charge.

After the undead army contracted its formation towards the north, he took charge of the defensive line around the foot of the mountain.

With the cooperation of a dozen or so guards,

They quickly dispatched the forefront team of half-orcs.

Soon after,

They tangled with a new human infantry unit.

However, the overall intensity of the battle wasn't high.

Apart from the eliminated half-orc team,

Although the enemy seemed formidable,

Their squads were spread out, elongating the front lines, giving an impression of a comprehensive attack, yet lacking the expected ferocity.

During the infantry skirmish,

Matthew flew across the sky on a pegasus, observing the battle below while keeping an eye on the black dragons' movements.

He noticed significant movements from the human forces of Highleaf. Not only did almost the entire army mobilize, but there were also archers providing continuous cover fire.

In the previous encounter,

Matthew's undead suffered considerable losses due to being caught off guard.

Fortunately, under Matthew's command now,

The undead had regained control of the northern foothills and riverbanks.

The undead army and Blade's guards had formed a relatively solid defense line.

Matthew also attempted to order the undead to launch an offensive.

But the results were mediocre.

Mainly because his focus made it challenging to micro-manage the undead squads.

And lacking intelligence, they were prone to tactical disadvantages in engagements.

Matthew quickly realized—

Without spells of the caliber of undead natural disasters,

A purely undead army wasn't suitable for offense.

But it was suitable for defense.

Therefore, he didn't pursue more, choosing to continue with a steady approach, having the zombies hold the flanks to ensure the safety of Blade and others.

For a while,

Shouts were heard near the west slope.

But soon,

Matthew realized that the intensity of this battle wasn't as high as expected.

The assaulting enemy seemed to have no intention to advance further.

Some enemy squads even retreated significantly after encountering strong resistance.

There was no dragging of feet.

This feeling was quite inexplicable.

Either the enemy never intended to attack the mountain frontally, or they were engaging in a psychological game of deception.

This made Matthew extremely curious about the strategy of the enemy's overall commander, Delava.

But as the main commander, Rhaegar remained calm.

He repeatedly used his booming voice to command everyone not to pursue, but to hold their positions.

Thus, the battle shifted from a surprise attack to mostly a stalemate, with occasional intense clashes on certain fronts. However, once casualties occurred, the enemy quickly retreated!

After about half an hour of fighting,

Faint glimmers began to light up the sky.

Dawn was nearing.

However, at this moment, Matthew noticed that the dense fog near the mossy hills had reached its peak!

Visibility near the battlefield dropped to less than three meters.

If not for Rhaegar's exceptionally loud voice, which could be heard accurately even amidst countless noises,

Perhaps just the dense fog alone would have posed significant obstacles to issuing commands.

To be safe,

The Rolling Stone Town faction decided to shrink their defensive lines.

But just then,

Blade and the others also noticed that the enemy began to retreat swiftly!

With this process,

The wind direction seemed to change.

The fog shrouding the enemy suddenly began to dissipate.

The situation of the human troops ahead of Highleaf was now laid bare!

They appeared to be only around 300 people!

There were no more reinforcements.

"The enemy seems to have a problem!"

"Their main force hasn't shown up!"

"This is still a harassment, but it's more like a genuine feint attack this time!"

"If we're bold enough, we might be able to swallow up this feint attack force entirely!"

Blade fiercely struck down an enemy, then charged up the hill.

He arrived beside Rhaegar and inquired whether they should pursue.

Rhaegar looked up at the sky.

From the vast fog-covered sky came Matthew's faint voice:

"Don't rush, you go down and gather the troops."

"You can pursue a bit, but don't cross that little river!"

As he spoke,

He reached into his pocket and tore open a Scroll of Dispelling Mist.

Thick magical light rippled like waves.

In an instant,

The fog within several miles of Matthew dissipated completely!

From his elevated position, he could see clearly.

He noticed that there were no soldiers from Highleaf in the hills and dense forests to the northwest!

The elite half-orcs and bear goblins were nowhere to be seen.

This seemed to align with Blade's assessment.

On the mountainside,

Rhaegar also saw the scene of the enemy's hasty retreat in the morning light.

His expression changed slightly.

But still, he didn't order a pursuit.

Matthew's gaze wandered between the dense forest and the shallow water.

Before long,

Blade had already led his men to the bank of the river.

Tonight, he had killed several enemies, and he was currently in a bloodthirsty state, almost unable to resist charging forward.

Matthew landed at the riverbank in time.

He saw the human soldiers hastily retreating into the dense forest.

His gaze swept through the thick trees.

In an instant,

Matthew suddenly shouted loudly towards the forest:

"Is there an ambush among you?"

Ability: Natural Inquiry!

The forest remained silent.

Excitedly, Blade said:

"See? There's no ambush. Let me lead the charge!"

"As long as we kill them, our chances of winning this war will greatly increase..."

However, before he could finish his words,

There were successive complaints from the forest:

"Yes, there is!"

"In the eastern forest, there are many lurking half-orcs, and they smell awful when they defecate!"

"In the western quarry, there are over 30 fat bear goblins hiding, they are so fat!"

The guards were shocked to hear this.

They squinted their eyes and looked hard, but the dense forest was empty, without a soul in sight.

Matthew chuckled and mounted his flying horse, hovering over the forest to scatter flour downward.

As the flour fell abundantly,

Two hidden teams lurking with a mass invisibility spell were instantly exposed!

They were indeed the two elite teams from Highleaf!

From the rough display of the flour, it was easy to see that the Highleaf infantry retreated through the alley between the two teams.

In case Blade led the charge,

A pincer attack from both sides would surely lead to collapse!

He might even end up dead!

Seeing this scene,

Blade immediately broke out in a cold sweat.

He subconsciously scratched his beard, unsure of what to say.

"Should we retreat?"

Blade looked somewhat embarrassedly at Matthew returning from the sky.

But Matthew still shook his head.

He looked back at the hill.

At this moment, a dark red magic flag suddenly rose beside Rhaegar's hand!

It was the command for a full charge!

"Charge!"

"I'll support you!"

Matthew patted Blade's shoulder, who then mounted the back of Little Fei, the Phantom Bone Dragon.

Amidst the countless undead,

Philorius led three Bone Dragons and flew ahead into the sky above the forest!

The might of the dragon!

With a swoop down,

Although the dragon's might was small, it still made the recently discovered half-orcs and bear goblins, who were hesitating to retreat after being exposed, feel uncomfortable.

Their bodies visibly stiffened.

In that instant,

Little Fei directly plunged into a flank of half-orcs, its tail and claws attacking these sturdy aliens recklessly.

Matthew didn't stay idle either.

Pale Hand fired at full force, attempting to harvest lives.

The resilience of the half-orcs was not low.

Soon, they recovered from their stiff state.

But at this moment, Little Fei attracted the attention of the majority of the enemy troops once again and soared into the sky.

This time,

It dared not swoop down no matter what.

But with this repeated action,

Time was bought for Blade's infantry and the approaching undead.

The forest itself wasn't large, only a small piece.

With the rapid influx of the undead, the frontline battlefield would undoubtedly become very crowded.

Just then,

A sharp whistle sounded from deep within the enemy lines.

In that instant,

All the ordered enemies began to retreat rapidly!

This time, they were truly retreating.

Because their retreat speed was several times faster than before!

Matthew noticed a golden light emanating from them.

Obviously.

That was the effect of a strategic spell: Retreat Magic!

The enemy quickly withdrew from the dense forest.

Matthew didn't see the Dragon Priest Devala, but his precise control over the troops impressed him.

In just a few minutes,

Three units had all withdrawn from the dense forest.

The half-orcs and bear goblins covered each other, escaping from the danger zone first.

The human troops previously used as bait weren't as fortunate.

Part of them tangled with Blade's infantry.

The rest had just escaped from the dense forest when they suddenly heard the sound of hooves!

Looking north of the forest,

Two columns of cavalry swiftly bypassed the densely vegetated area, launching an attack from both sides of the valley!

In the enemy formation,

The signal of retreat became increasingly intense.

But when the long spears of the first cavalry pierced through three defeated Highleaf infantry in succession,

A massacre was inevitable.

Not to mention, when the cavalry arrived, Matthew, riding on the back of Little Fei, the Phantom Bone Dragon, followed closely behind, ready to pursue and kill!

Blood and negative energy.

Quickly stained the land inside and outside the dense forest.

...

This pursuit continued until seven in the morning.

Rolling Stone Town achieved victory in its first battle.

With one person not dead, three seriously injured, and seventeen lightly injured, they killed about 130 enemy soldiers, most of whom were Highleaf human infantry, with a few half-orcs and one particularly slow bear goblin.

There were a total of three captives.

In fact.

Blade and the others were so bloodthirsty that there was virtually no chance for the escaping enemy soldiers to survive.

Instead, these three guys lay down by the riverbank, pretending to be dead to deceive the pursuers, and then raised their hands in surrender when the people of Rolling Stone Town were cleaning up the aftermath, thus saving their lives.

At noon.

The interrogation of the three captives was nearing its end.

And unexpected gains from Peggy's side were also delivered.

"This is the 'Wood Lizard's Kiss', a very peculiar poison. It doesn't have any toxicity on its own, at most causing mild diarrhea when ingested."

"But this poison will lurk in the body for up to a week. During this time, if exposed to a particular pollen, it will cause stiffness in the limbs, with symptoms lasting for several hours at least."

"We discovered during the battle with the enemy that the Dragon Priest seemed to have the ability to control mist. So, manipulating airflow shouldn't be too difficult for him, and sending pollen into the airflow is also feasible."

Matthew said solemnly:

"At present, it seems that Devala's surprise attack had at least two purposes."

"The first is from the frontline battlefield, where he used Mass Invisibility and Mist Magic to create a double obstacle, intending to lure and ambush our troops. Fortunately, we were cautious enough to escape unharmed."

"And the second should be the poisoning by the Zor assassin."

"We were lucky, they probably didn't succeed."

Zeller nodded:

"I will strengthen the toxin detection in food and water."

"Just now during the interrogation, the three captives all claimed in unison that they joined the Five Dragon Alliance and are descendants of some kind of dragon."

"On those fallen soldiers, we also found identical talismans. This seems to be some kind of token representing their identity."

"The Black Dragon has yet to appear. Do you think it has anything to do with these talismans?"

The three looked at each other.

Matthew's immediate thought was that these talismans were related to the disappearance of the Black Dragon, but without more information, they could only wait and see.

However, the Black Dragon didn't make them wait too long.

Near noon.

Lolan suddenly found them:

"A piece of good news and a piece of bad news."

"The good news is that my informants have found the traces of a dragon."

"The bad news is, there are five dragons."

As he spoke,

He waved his right hand, and a golden light poured into the foreheads of Matthew and the others.

In an instant,

They shared the information captured by Lolan!

...

"Tip: Your companion Lolan has shared a piece of gossip with you—

The Black Dragon, Meionogas, activated the 'Dragon Blood Covenant' in the Five Dragon Alliance due to the large number of casualties among the dragon descendants!

The other four dragons in the Five Dragon Alliance have lent some of their power to the Black Dragon Meionogas!

Meionogas has gained the 'Power of the Five Dragons' and has become even more powerful (LV20)!

Moreover.

With the power of the Five Dragons, he has summoned four young dragons from other planes, namely the Young White Dragon, Young Green Dragon, Young Red Dragon, and Young Blue Dragon!

They will become Meionogas's followers!"

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