met free Chapter 231 The Tide of the Dead
Chapter 231 The Tide of the Dead
Humanity's fear of the dead was most intense during the initial outbreak of natural disasters and plagues.
For the next decade or so, most people heard about the horrors of the dead.
A small number of people have almost never seen it...
For example, when Lorraine was still an apprentice, the most ferocious creature she had ever seen was the strange gnoll.
Only in the instant of his death, in Nightshade, did Lorraine seem to witness the true power of the Calamity's minions. A single slap was enough to take his life and erase everything from his memory.
At this moment, the ruthless Syndicate bandits panicked.
They were grabbed by the hands and feet by an unknown creature underwater and held down in the shallow lake water. Some of them struggled frantically, trying to stick their heads out of the water and shout, "Undead!"
The companions who were still following on the periphery did not hear clearly; they only saw several people disappear into the lake ahead.
Before long, a large group of swaying skeletons rose from the water, initially moving slowly.
Then, seemingly sensing the presence of living beings, the skeletons roared to the sky, emitting terrifying howls, and then pounced on the Syndicate bandits. Ignoring their sword strikes and crossbow bolts, they frantically tore at the living.
Yuvel also realized something was wrong, and he craned his neck to investigate the movement ahead.
The Duke of the Syndicate yelled to stop his men from fleeing: "What's the panic? What's the panic? Haven't you ever seen the undead before? No running away! Anyone who deserts will die anyway! Charge! Musketeers, prepare..."
The Syndicate also had its own musketeers, but their muskets were rather rudimentary compared to the dwarves' standard flowering long-handled rifles.
Some were even wrapped with strips of cloth, indicating they were homemade firearms.
Sometimes, even Lorraine and his apprentice found it strange that some of the machines made by dwarves and goblins were so ingenious and amazing that they rivaled the futuristic weapons their teacher had described, yet most humans still used simple firearms and cannons...
The gap in strength between alliance members is quite significant, and their tech trees fluctuate wildly...
This clearly shows that the Alliance of Men is not as united and cooperative as one might imagine. Ironforge and Stormwind also maintained a degree of restraint; when King Varian Wrynn was in power, the various factions and race leaders still showed respect to each other.
With King Varian gone, Ironforge might not necessarily give face to the current Regent and Prince Anduin's small court.
This further forced Regent Duke Bolvar to win over more human nobles to counterbalance these so-called elders of the alliance, including the dwarves and gnomes who had been contributing.
Who says dwarves don't understand politics? They're actually quite stubborn and only acknowledge the strong...
Command of the dwarven musketeer force naturally rested with Master Yuvel, an envoy sent by Countess Katarina, the Alliance's special envoy. The Syndicate mercenaries, essentially cannon fodder, were now facing a dire situation.
The Syndicate's so-called 'Duke' title was self-proclaimed by the bandit leader. The Syndicate is not recognized by the major powers, who only classify them as robbers...
Only they themselves claim that the people of the Kingdom of Alteran have the right to choose to defend their own homeland.
In reality, they faced hardship and were scattered in various places...
The homeland has long been overrun by ogres and various wild beasts, who make their living primarily through robbery, roadblocks, and plundering of nearby human farms and civilian sanitation facilities... The Syndicate is definitely not a good people...
Given their previous acts of massacring civilians, Lorraine had absolutely no liking for these bandits.
Skeleton beasts, skeleton soldiers, and the Death Knight troops that had been lying in ambush earlier...
The number is not large, probably around a thousand.
Compared to Yuville's original group, their numbers were more than three times greater...
One undead is nothing, and one skeleton soldier is easy to defeat, but once a sea of skeletons is formed, thousands of skeleton beasts and skeleton warriors, fearless and painless, will only carry out their master's orders.
Eliminate the living people in front of you...
Lorraine appeared to be lying in the water, enveloped by the icy lake.
He felt it was soft and cool.
It seems the necromancer has an affinity for the power of frost. The icy bone fire burning within his bones is a deep, dark blue, the source of power that drives this army of the undead.
The most terrifying thing about the undead is that once someone is killed by the undead, they are likely to be infected with the plague and resurrected by the necromancer on the spot to fight again.
Lorraine was confident, but the Syndicate's dozens of thieves were horrified to find their previously vanished comrades standing up. However, they had changed; brandishing weapons, they joined the skeleton army and charged towards Yuvel.
Seeing that something was wrong, Taylor quickly ran back and hid behind Yuval.
Master Yuvel frowned and quickly ordered his men to intercept the horde of undead skeletons...
The Scarlet Crusade is experienced in dealing with the undead. Having been repeatedly brainwashed by the Inquisitor, they harbor a deep-seated hatred for the undead. Without Tyrande & Fordring's orders, the Scarlet Crusade knights who followed him raised their shields and swords to meet their most hated enemy.
The Holy Light Bishop and his retinue of holy priests assisted him, knowing that once these hundreds of people were surrounded by the undead army, they would likely be the ones to fall at the Dalaran crater.
"Necromancers are indeed powerful... It seems the Kirin Tor was right to ban such evil magic!"
Yuvel directed the battle while cursing.
Several Kirin Tor elites who had been preparing a backup plan had already been killed. These mages were inadvertently sliced in half by several black knights on horseback. When Yuvel realized that the barrier he had set up was now ineffective, he panicked a little.
However, being an elite member of the Kirin Tor, and serving as the leader and head of the Argent Covenant's execution force, Yuvel was an archmage...
While not quite at Jaina's level, she is still far superior to the average mage.
He unleashed several consecutive fireballs directly at the sea of skeletons, like muskets, carving out gaps in the ever-growing mass of skulls.
After holding out for about 3 minutes, the first hundred or so Syndicate bandits were all killed... Only a few of their leaders, seeing the situation was not good, quickly ran away and hid behind the Scarlet Paladins and shield bearers.
Within just three minutes, the undead had almost completely surrounded the executioners.
Seeing that things were not going well, Yuvel immediately gathered his capable assistants and said, "Send a signal quickly, we need support."
"Master Yuvel, Lord Ansrem has led the main force to Stromgarde, and we only have a few people left nearby... Should we retreat..."
Yuvel kept casting spells to support his own people, and he cursed in between:
"The plan has changed. We can't retreat. Now that Marcus has escaped, if what's happening here is exposed, the National Salvation Alliance's entire plan will fail. You few ride the griffins first... Go back and tell Lord Ansrem that we must speed things up... We need to find Marcus before he reaches the North. Ideally, we should shut him up..."
A force of several hundred, comprised of elites and experts, yet before the sea of skeletons, men fell one after another...
Fear is spreading...
The group of enemies, who had initially looked ferocious, turned pale and retreated until they huddled back to back in a small circle.
Master Yuvel arranged for several of his key confidants to evacuate, while he himself could only continue to command his men in resistance...
Taylor craned his neck and watched as several griffins flew away in succession.
He hurriedly pleaded, "Master Yuvel, let me go too. I can't be caught by Lorraine... I don't want to go back to Undercity... I don't want to become an undead..." The once proud young mage from Dalaran almost knelt on the ground, grabbing Yuvel's trouser leg.
Yuvel was casting spells and chanting incantations, and had no time to pay attention to him.
Besides Taylor, everyone around him, including the young Scarlet Highlord Tyrande and Fordring, was also fighting hard against the enemy.
However, the undead seemed endless. Looking back, they saw that the innocent people they had killed earlier were now pouring out of the bottom of the giant pit in Dalaran... There were quite a few dead people here.
Not only were there massacred civilians, but also merchants and tourists.
There were also the Dalaran soldiers who had died in battle, the Twilight Cultists who had been strangled... and the refugees on the outskirts of Dalaran who were affected... Lorraine secretly commanded the free sea of skeletons, and he could feel countless wronged souls flying around the Dalaran crater. His cold, slightly beating heart was filled with an unspeakable helplessness and pain.
The only way for these victims to exact revenge is through the summoning of a necromancer...
soon...
The tide of the dead will engulf everything...
If Yuvel doesn't leave, he will be buried alongside these innocent people forever...