Chapter Seventy-Seven: Heartstruck

Without coincidence, there would be no story. Among the hundred city guards assigned by Helian Quan to protect the students of Azure Cloud Academy, there was none other than Sukecha, who, moreover, served as the small captain of this squad. Dressed in gleaming armor, he sat astride a spirited warhorse, his face adorned with a cheerful smile as he approached, instructing his men to bring forth horses.

“I didn’t expect us to gather again so soon. Quickly, bring a horse for Young Master Xu.”

“Thank you, General Su!” Xu Wen replied with a smile as he mounted his horse.

“You’re too polite!” Sukecha hastily responded with a clasped fist.

To him, a youth capable of annihilating over a dozen four-star adventurers with a mere gesture was certainly no ordinary figure.

He Chen nodded to Sukecha and also mounted his horse. Yet the two who followed, Nishijo Hideki and Nangong Xueyan, did not receive such warm treatment. The six powerful members of the noble families looked on in surprise, quietly speculating if Xu Wen and Sukecha were old acquaintances.

Even more peculiar, according to Helian Quan’s original plan, the six family experts and Captain Sukecha should lead the way, with Xu Wen’s group merely guiding them. But as Xu Wen and Sukecha came together, the six experts were relegated to the rear.

“Time is short. Let’s set out. If we delay any longer, night will fall,” Sukecha declared, wasting no words. He shouted to the hundred riders behind him:

“Move out!”

Thunderous hooves resounded as the iron cavalry surged towards the western city.

The six experts exchanged glances. Only when Xu Wen’s group and Sukecha followed at the rear of the column did they reluctantly keep pace.

The battle had just ended; the western gate had yet to be cleaned. Blood still stained the ground, a harrowing sight. The air nearby was thick with a chilling, terrifying scent of blood and death.

At the instant they galloped out the city gate, Xu Wen’s eyelids twitched. An inexplicable chill swept over him, a sudden sense of dread flooding his body, even causing the Flame Shield within him to stir faintly.

It came swiftly and passed just as fast. As the horse sped out of the gate, the feeling vanished as if it had been nothing but an illusion, unreal and fleeting.

Yet Sukecha, attentive as ever, noticed immediately after leaving the city that Xu Wen’s forehead was covered in tiny beads of cold sweat, his complexion pale and his eyes full of panic.

“Young Master Xu?” Sukecha looked at him in surprise. Just moments ago, he had seemed perfectly fine—how had he suddenly become like this, as if recovering from a grave illness?

“I’m alright. I have a question for the esteemed elders,” Xu Wen replied.

He slowed his pace, falling back to the row of six family experts, and asked anxiously.

“Please speak,” said the experts, who already knew Xu Wen’s identity from Nishijo and Nangong, and dared not slight him.

“I’d like to know—who killed the necromancer? And where is the corpse?” The earlier dread had led Xu Wen to a chilling possibility.

The leader, the Snow Warrior, highest among them in cultivation, glanced at his peers before answering in a heavy tone:

“…The necromancer was indeed formidable. After we managed to slay six of his undead guards, Helian Quan’s archers seized the opportunity to ambush and kill him on the spot.”

“On the spot?” Xu Wen’s brow furrowed.

The six showed a hint of confusion. “Naturally.”

“Damn.” Xu Wen’s foreboding was confirmed. Glancing back, the city gate was already distant. Cursing under his breath, he suddenly reined in his horse and shouted:

“General Su!”

“Order everyone! Turn back to the city!”

“What?” Sukecha was startled. Amid the neighing of horses, everyone halted abruptly, faces full of surprise and doubt.

Xu Wen’s expression was anxious; he had no time for lengthy explanations.

“The necromancer may not be dead!”

“This is a plot of the Dark Empire! Everyone, return to the city at once! Commander Helian is in danger!”

“The necromancer isn’t dead?”

“How could that be!” The six experts gasped, incredulous, but seeing Xu Wen’s urgency, and considering his identity and actions, they knew this was no time for jest.

“Let’s go!”

“Back to the city!”

With the town not too far away, and the safety of tens of thousands of residents and thousands of Azure Cloud Academy elites at stake, it was better to err on the side of caution.

Seeing the six noble family members turn their horses back, Sukecha gritted his teeth and shouted:

“Listen up! Rear ranks to the front! Full speed—return to the city!”

Xu Wen’s horsemanship was rather clumsy; at full speed, he was pressed flat against the horse’s back, yet even so, those behind gradually overtook him.

“Let’s hope we’re not too late.” Xu Wen was frantic with worry—not only for Helian Quan, but for all the civilians and soldiers of the town, and for himself.

Now it was certain that the earlier sense of dread had been caused by the necromancer; a seven-star necromancer could learn a life-saving spell—

Life Sharing.

By designating an undead and performing a ritual, even lethal damage could be instantly transferred away. Necromancers often used this in dangerous battles.

The cultivators of Azure Cloud Empire clearly hadn’t faced necromancers for a long time and had no experience. A true necromancer, struck by a fatal blow, would immediately seek escape, tending to the undead with whom he shared his life.

This one hadn’t fled, but had remained within the western gate, likely waiting for the right moment…

With the six experts leaving the city, if the strong defenders around Helian Quan were further dispersed, the necromancer could defeat them one by one, and soon turn the town into a city of undead.

A seven-star mage could accomplish this with ease!

If it came to that…

All would be lost.

Awaiting the students of Azure Cloud Academy and their guardians would be tens of thousands of undead, and blood-soaked skeletons forged from fallen experts, ready to devour them effortlessly.

When the six family experts caught up, Xu Wen quickly explained what he had sensed, and the group’s faces changed dramatically.

“Such an evil spell?”

“I’ve heard a teacher from the Dark Academy mention it,” He Chen recalled gravely. “If it’s true, with our current strength, Xu Wen, do you think we can defeat the necromancer?” His question echoed everyone’s concerns. Previously, over a hundred experts had joined forces, and half had fallen…

With their power halved, victory was far from assured.

“The necromancer has lost six undead guards; his blood skeletons are gone. He won’t be able to summon many more in the short term, and that ambush must have injured him heavily. Right now, he can at best muster seventy percent of his strength. In terms of power, we still have the advantage, provided we give him no time to summon his undead.”

At these words, color returned to Xu Wen’s face, and confidence was rekindled within him.

“Without a horde of undead to protect him, the necromancer is merely a seven-star mage.”

——

Again, sixteen more… Little Black is in tears…