Division

Blade used a very ordinary one-handed sword. Its blade looked somewhat like a rapier’s; compared with the greatsword in Brent’s hands, its width was nothing worth mentioning. Even ordinary one-handed swords were considerably wider than Blade’s.

Using it also required avoiding direct clashes and finding openings to thrust through with a single strike.

Yinsen was unsure whether Blade relied on his own control to send Special Energy into the Undead Creatures’ bodies, then destroy their internal energy from within, or whether the weapon itself had that effect.

If it was the latter, there was no need for too much concern. But if it was the former, Blade’s threat level had to be raised several notches.

Casually cleaving down another Undead Creature, Yinsen lowered his head to look at the monster beneath his feet, his brow beginning to furrow.

Blade, who had been nearby the whole time, noticed Yinsen’s reaction and stopped as well. "Is something wrong?"

"A little."

From the beginning, Yinsen had felt that this incident was connected to Beckford. After seeing such a vast number of Undead Creatures and recalling what Wilson had done in the Sea of Tranquility, he became increasingly certain that his guess was correct.

"That guy went to such lengths to gather so many Undead Creatures. Would he really be willing to waste them so meaninglessly?"

Looking around, Yinsen suddenly understood the true purpose of these Undead Creatures.

"Brent, these undead are trying to split us apart!"

Brent had been fighting on the front line, charging back and forth while occasionally keeping an eye on his comrades. He had neither the energy nor the time to watch the changes across the entire battlefield. Only after hearing Yinsen’s warning did he stop, climb to a slightly higher spot, and sweep his gaze around.

The moment he looked, Brent’s expression turned ugly.

The force of several hundred had already been scattered into disarray. He could not even see where the captains were. At the moment, only Yinsen and Blade’s groups remained around him; even the nearest of the other captains had been driven several hundred meters away.

The Undead Creatures continued to emerge without end, repeatedly charging in to surround them. Exploiting the chaotic battle, they kept splitting their group apart. Even a small portion of Brent’s own men had been "squeezed" into the distance, on the verge of becoming an isolated force.

"Gather up! Don’t let yourselves be separated!"

Realizing the problem, Brent began calling the nearby comrades together, directing them to cluster up instead of being scattered by the Undead Creatures. But shouting orders alone had little effect. The adventurers were already accustomed to fighting in a chaotic melee. In such circumstances, they instinctively sought positions favorable to themselves and avoided areas packed with undead. Even if they wanted to move closer to Brent, most lacked the necessary "impact" to break through.

"Damn it!"

Brent continued swinging the greatsword in his hand. As his swings grew fiercer, blazing flames rose from the weapon. He was like someone wielding an enormous torch. Even the shockwaves from his attacks and the sparks flung off with every swing inflicted tremendous damage on the Undead Creatures.

Once Brent brought his Combat Power into play, these ordinary Undead Creatures could not stop him at all. He could not rescue the groups farther away for the moment, but he had already gathered the nearby people back together.

Yinsen had never strayed too far from his companions. Even amid the chaotic battle, they had maintained good spacing. Once they noticed the undead’s intentions, Yinsen only needed to give a signal, and everyone naturally moved toward him.

Blade watched the entire process. Not only did his assessment of Yinsen rise several levels, but he also began taking Yinsen’s crew seriously—none of them were easy to deal with.

There was no need to mention that burly man. More than once, Blade had seen undead attack him, yet aside from his clothes becoming more tattered, the man seemed entirely unharmed. Time and again, he tore apart the creatures attacking him. Blade had no idea what was going on with those Metal Claws extending from his hands. He had watched for quite a while but still could not figure out how they worked.

Then there was the girl carrying an animal. Her fighting style was actually similar to that burly man’s. She completely ignored enemy attacks, then killed her opponents while they were attacking her. The method was simple and brutal… yet he could not think of any way to counter it.

By comparison, that woman was formidable, but still generally within the range of his understanding. At the very least, he had not yet noticed anything particularly unusual about her.

But the one Blade cared about most was another man. He held a long staff with a curved blade, yet remained utterly relaxed amid the encirclement of countless Undead Creatures, as if they did not exist.

Perhaps, to that man, those Undead Creatures truly did not exist. Any undead that came near him immediately turned into an ice sculpture, and even the lightest touch would reduce it to a pile of ice fragments.

"Such powerful Magic Stone Equipment."

Blade knew nothing about magic. In his eyes, only Magic Stone Equipment could possess such powerful energy. It appeared to be a weapon crafted from a powerful Ice Element magic stone, and that man had reached an extremely high level in using it, effortlessly wielding its immense power.

If Loki had known Blade’s thoughts, he would have ridiculed the man for his inability to recognize quality, for using such shallow knowledge to speculate about Loki’s profound strength and skill, and for even mistaking an ordinary staff for some rare treasure. Where had this country bumpkin come from?

Loki would never know that Blade had mistaken him for Yinsen’s "subordinate," thereby raising his evaluation of Yinsen even further.

"A powerful captain and a group of powerful companions. They are destined not to remain in these waters."

In only a few seconds, Blade reached the most accurate conclusion: it was best not to become enemies with Yinsen!

Casually stabbing down another Undead Creature, Blade led his men to join up with Yinsen and the others, then met up with Brent.

After everyone gathered together, they began fighting their way toward the nearest comrades.

With several powerful figures acting as spearheads, this charge went much more smoothly than before. Once Yinsen and Blade shared the pressure from both sides and behind him, Brent only needed to charge forward with all his might. Under his lead, they rescued several nearby groups of adventurers at great speed, but those farther away were beyond their reach.

"We might not be able to catch up."

Perhaps sensing Brent and the others’ intentions, the Undead Creatures began desperately blocking their group. At the same time, the other groups that had been separated were forced to move farther away under the undead’s even more frenzied attacks.

Worse still, fog had risen at some point, greatly reducing visibility. It was now difficult to see what was happening in the distance.

Under these circumstances, they could not even determine where their separated comrades were. Even if they wanted to fight their way over, they did not know which direction to charge.

"What should we do now?"

Brent seemed to be asking for everyone’s opinion, yet also seemed to be talking to himself.

"Either retreat to the shore immediately, or continue deeper inland."

Yinsen looked around. The Undead Creatures’ attacks were no longer as frenzied as they had been at the start. They were beginning to retreat bit by bit under the cover of the fog.

"These things were trying to separate us from the very beginning."

Brent looked around, then ultimately decided to continue deeper in.

He had expected such a situation before coming here. He could not turn back at the first sign of difficulty. He had to figure out what exactly was going on in this place and, preferably, resolve this problem completely.

The captains who had come here with him were mentally prepared as well. Besides, they were all experienced adventurers. If they truly discovered that something was wrong, they would naturally make the appropriate decision.

"Keep moving forward."

After that delay, most of the surrounding Undead Creatures had disappeared. Only a few remained wandering nearby. Such a small number could not cause them any trouble, even though some suddenly exploded when people approached and released bizarre Death Energy.

"It looks a little like poisoning?"

Only one unlucky man was injured because he had been too close, but after observing him for a while, one of Brent’s men was able to cure the condition.

After observing up close for a while, Yinsen deliberately walked over to Selene.

"It seems like Negative Energy is being used to create an effect similar to illness or poisoning. How well have you mastered Remove Disease?"

Priests’ Remove Disease and Cure Disease happened to be able to solve this problem. Although Selene had not become a believer in the Holy Light, she had thoroughly studied the abilities priests possessed. Yinsen had even obtained detailed training methods and some priests’ training notes from Varian for her.

"Not very well. I can barely use the Holy Light to treat some external injuries."

It was not that Selene’s vampire constitution was rejected by the Holy Light. After all, even undead in Azeroth could use this kind of Holy Light. The real issue was that she had been exposed to the Holy Light for too short a time and had not truly mastered this miraculous energy.

"Will the energy here affect you?"

Selene nodded. She was somewhat different from vampires in the usual sense. Selene was essentially a mutated human, and after using Alexander Corvinus’s blood and learning the power of the Holy Light, she had become even closer to an ordinary person. The Negative Energy permeating this land would likewise have a harmful effect on her.

"But it has also strengthened the Shadow Energy within me somewhat."