Chapter 377 Retaliation
Dave rode ahead of his eight Death Knight. Flanker, Perfect Shot and Human Fortress raced after him. They had fought alongside Dave for a long time now and they were pretty familiar with all the tactics and behavior of the Doom Knight leading the charge.
Fortress raced to Dave’s flank, the tank was keen on keeping the aggro on himself giving Dave enough time to dish out massive damage at the Qin army that was held at the gate of Urburg.
Perfect Shot hopped on top of an alchemist shop’s commercial panel and jumped to the shop’s roof. He drew his bow and began showering the Qin Soldiers with arrows.
Flanker, being in an environment full of undead refrained from using Holy magic as it would damage the undead more than help them. Still, he was quick in taking action, opting for buffing his human allies from the backline.
Dave and Fortress reached the thick of the battle in no time. The Death Knights alongside Dave had already summoned their underlings and had them charging the Qin Soldiers like a tidal wave of bones, swords, and death.
Dave’s sword cut through the Qin Soldier’s armor like a hot knife through butter.
His passive Skill [Dark Harvest], had charged up, and he began dishing out massive amounts of damage with every sword swing. He then stomped a foot down, calling upon the power of his Skill [Blot the Sun]. The night in the Wilds turned darker as thunder clouds gathered above Urburg.
The weather promised a rainfall but no drops of rain came down. Only the thunderous booms of thunder and the occasional flash of red lightning came from the sky. Turning the atmosphere into an eerie nest of fear.
The Qin Soldiers were only humans, and without the light from the moon, a primal sense of fear pervaded their minds. They were here to assault an unguarded city, yet what met them were hordes of men that walked through death. These undead were unfaltering, the darkness only made them more frightening to gaze upon, and the occasional flicker of light that was reflected from their armor only made the Qin Soldiers tremble facing the incoming assault.
Dave’s undead bore through the Qin Army like a sword through flesh. They screamed and shouted, their command crumbling as their leader fell and the first desertion happened.
A Qin Soldier with a missing arm turned and fled, his action pulled more into following him. A few Qin Soldiers decided to stand their ground and fight, but the mere thought of being left alone against tides of undead encroached upon their minds. Death loomed near, and the reaper’s scythe was dangerously close to their throat.
The undead knew no mercy, they turned whoever fell to their side. The Legion’s greatest danger was not its vast numbers, but its ability to turn ally into an unkillable foe. What was once a comrade that they shared their days with, turned their blade against them, their own comrades, fully converted to Undeath shouted the glory of the undead and the power of the Undead King.
All, led by one single Doom Knight, deemed too worthless by the Emperor of Qin to send in the Elite forces to deal with. Now these troops would fall, and they could do nothing to stop the bearded draugr.
To add to their misery, Dave roared out, blasting the enemies around him away. [Aura] activated, making Dave the only light in this darkness. However, all knew that this light was lethal. It made a good target out of Dave, but no one in their right mind would dare assault the leader of the dead. Because, some had tried, and the draugr simply tore through them, crushed them, then revived them to his cause.
This mere fact, turning to undeath after falling was enough to bring unprecedented terror upon the minds of the Qin Soldiers. They believed in immortality after death, in a long prosperous life in the afterlife, yet now, they were promised an everlasting servitude under the Undead King.
Little that they knew of the true life of undead and their prosperity. If they had known how the Undead King treated his subjects, perhaps the idea of turning to undeath wouldn’t have been as appalling, but this very lack of knowledge had proved a terrorizing notion that made them dread death at the hands of undead.
Legions upon legions of Qin Soldiers retreated, leaving the stragglers to hold the line, but all knew that those that stayed behind were forever left behind. The Qin Soldiers ran away, ran for their lives. For those that survived this night Urburg would forever be a stain. They would never forget the terrors that they had experienced. This night was sure to bring them nightmares for the rest of their lives.
Dave kept killing the Qin Soldiers that were trying to fight back. Soon however, one of the soldiers dropped his weapon and knelt down at the foot of a Death Knight.
Even in their undeath, the Death Knights of the Undead Legion never forgot what it meant to be a Knight. It is true, that facing them in battle was nothing short of suicide, however once the weapon was laid to rest, even the morbid death bringer would falter and let go. Knights never slew the unarmed, and in their surrender, the Death Knight forgave and turned to face another Qin Soldier that was either too brave to let go of his sword, or too idiotic to think he had a chance at victory.
More Qin Soldiers noticed how the Undead Knight didn’t kill the unarmed prostrating Qin warriors. And in this time of death, fear and despair, the Qin Soldiers forgot their honor, their king and their beliefs. Compared to saving their lives, what was a prostration?
More Qin Soldiers fell to their knees, throwing their weapons away. And soon enough, not a single sound of battle echoed in Urburg’s domain.
These stragglers were too slow to escape and hence, they had become the prisoners of the bearded draugr. Another heavy blow Dave had landed upon the person of the Qin Kingdom.
Dave knew that these prisoners weren’t of much value. The king of the Qin Kingdom must have fully known how dangerous assaulting the undead would be. Thus he had sent in a large force that while powerful, was not comprised of his Elite Soldiers.
This was the same as a shark taking a bite to see if the prey was worth its time. But Dave wasn’t so thoughtless to execute prisoners of war, he had better use for them, or at least, Delvina would.
Dave gave a few orders to the Death Knights, to spread througout Urburg and keep watch in case any of the Qin Soldiers decided to attack again. Though as Dave had handed them their own ass, it was doubtful that they would attack again anytime soon.
He turned to a few workers and, after seeing the mild damage to the gate and the few buildings near it, he ordered them repaired as soon as possible and made a group of undead wait to accept the incoming group he had just saved. Xix and his family would soon be here. They needed to find safety in this place to trust it to be their own in the future.
Dave didn’t want to force people into living in Urburg, but once they were settled, he would make sure that no one disturbed their peace. He needed this city to run on security and safety and be the future hub of players that want to level up and grow stronger. He needed to secure this place from all dangers, starting with the Qin Army.
Dave tore a teleportation scroll to the Undead Frontier. He walked were briskly towards his destination. He made it to the temple at the center of the area where Delvina was busily reading a few reports.
"Oh, Kis’Shtiengbrah, welcome."
"Delvina, I need your help, "Dave said.
"What seems the matter? You look awfully distressed," Delvina replied. Folding away the notes and reports and focusing on Dave’s words.
Dave gave her the gist of things, and how Urburg was attacked, even more, he talked to her about the prisoners.
"If I didn’t know any better, I think you want to convert them," Delvina said.
"Yes, I want them turned, I need humans in the settlement, but I need humans I can trust."
"Very well, I shall send a few of my retinue to bring the prisoners," Delvina said and clapped her hands.
Two Death Knights appeared next to Dave, he didn’t sense them or feel their presence until they were there. These Death Knights were clad in leather garb too dark and too light to be of use in a clash of swords. These were assassins.
"Report to the captains, and bring the prisoners here."
The two Death Knights disappeared in the same manner they appeared, silent and inexplicably.
"I need to go," Dave said.
"The King?" Delvina tilted her head questioningly.
"Yes," Dave said and tore another teleportation scroll to the Dead Realm.
Dave raced up the spiral bone tower after getting past the Death Knights guarding the palace gate.
His loud footsteps echoed as he ran up, and he halted abruptly at the door to the throne room.
The Undead King was surprisingly alone, he rested on top of the Bone Throne, with his eyes closed and the fingers of his right hand tapping lightly on a skull of the giant throne he sat upon.
"Childe, you come to meet Us in haste, what seems so troubling that you are of no patience to announce?"
"The Qin Army attacked Urburg, I’m here to ask for permission," Dave said.
The king understood what Dave had in mind and he smiled, "We are in a time of great peril. Our war with the Ash-King is nigh, We cannot spare more might to aid you in your conquest." The king said calmly.
"I didn’t come here to ask for troops, I only came here to announce the fact that I’m waging war against the Qin Army."
"Alone?"
Dave smiled, "I’m never alone. I’ll hack at their borders with my Sub-Division. The Qin Kingdom might be too much for the current me to take on alone, but I’ll be damned if I let them walk up to my door with trouble and not fight back."
"Ha!" the king laughed heartily, "Spoken like a true king! Childe, if We see it wise to lend you aid in your time of need then We shall provide it. So show Us what carnage you can wreak with your army. Please Us, and We shall honor you!"