At the Camp
A few hours ago, Lou Chen stood atop the wall, his sharp eyes fixed on the darkness beyond, his arms folded across his chest.
Beside him stood a woman with long, wavy golden hair that flowed down to her waist.
She wore a mage robe layered beneath a chainmail cuirass, and a slender rapier hung at her waist, gleaming faintly in the dim light.
The sun had already set, and the black fog had emerged, swirling ominously over the land like a living shroud.
But what weighed more heavily on them was the stench of rotting flesh rising from beyond the wall—a sickening sign of the undead horde stirring in the darkness.
The woman's gaze remained calm but sharp, her expression hard with focus.
She finally broke the silence.
"Where is Kanoru?"
Lou Chen's voice was steady but tinged with concern.
"Commander is away for something important. He should arrive in a few hours."
He turned toward her, his eyes unwavering.
"Please, Lord Cecily, help us hold the line until he returns."
Cecily's golden eyes flicked toward him, her lips curling into a faint smirk.
Her voice was cool, almost indifferent.
"My job is to protect the node."
Lou Chen's brows furrowed slightly, but he didn't back down.
"Lord, the node is in the center of the camp. We only need help to block the Spirit Lord invaders."
Cecily snorted softly, her hand brushing over the hilt of her rapier.
"Fine, but tell Kanoru he'll owe me a favor."
Before Lou could respond, Gu Mingzhu landed lightly on the wall beside them, her long black hair swaying slightly in the wind.
Her eyes were calm but piercing, carrying a quiet intensity.
She glanced briefly at Lou Chen, then turned her sharp gaze toward Cecily.
Her voice was steady and cold.
"Without us, you still wouldn't be able to protect the node. So why should my husband owe you a favor?"
Her words were blunt and cutting, but Cecily's expression remained unreadable.
Her golden eyes narrowed slightly, but she didn't immediately respond.
Then, with a casual shrug, she flicked a lock of golden hair over her shoulder.
Her voice was laced with mocking confidence.
"I could always leave... bring a larger army and conquer the node again."
Gu Mingzhu's eyes sharpened.
Her voice turned icy.
"Then you'd be punished by King Elewyn. And there's no army in Fairie city right now capable of reclaiming this node."
Her tone was firm, factual.
"All of them are already tied up trying to recapture other nodes. It could take months before they could help you."
Cecily's golden eyes darkened slightly, her gaze locking onto Gu Mingzhu's.
For a moment, the air between them grew tense, the heavy silence weighed down by their mutual defiance.
But Gu Mingzhu could feel the tension shifting, and she knew she had pushed too far.
If Cecily's mood soured, she might purposely hold back during the battle—or worse, leave them to fend for themselves.
To calm the situation, Gu Mingzhu softened her tone and spoke carefully.
"How about this... I'll ask my husband to teach you the Sky Sword spell."
She smiled slightly, trying to lighten the mood, though her eyes remained sharp.
Inwardly, Gu Mingzhu knew Kanoru had developed a new, far more powerful spell.
Compared to that, teaching Cecily the Sky Sword spell was a small price to pay.
Cecily's eyebrows lifted slightly, her lips parting in a faint smirk.
She casually flicked her golden hair back over her shoulder.
"Deal."
Without another word, brilliant golden wings—shimmering like a butterfly's—unfolded from her back.
With a powerful flap, she soared into the sky, ascending swiftly until she vanished into the clouds, her silhouette lost in the night.
---
A few minutes later, the attack began.
From beyond the wall, the first wave of undead emerged from the black fog, their forms barely visible at first.
Then came the sound—the low, guttural groans of countless corpses, their twisted limbs dragging over stone and soil, filling the air with a sickening cacophony.
The wall trembled slightly as they began to collide against it, their rotten bodies piling up, clawing and slamming into the barrier with mindless persistence.
The wall itself—hastily built from wood and soil, with two wooden barriers packed with earth in between—was sturdy enough to withstand the initial onslaught.
The undead slammed into it, but it held firm.
On the wall, Lou Chen's sharp voice rang out.
"Go!"
Without hesitation, the Spirit Realm cultivators leapt from the wall.
Their movements were fluid and deadly, their bodies blurring into streaks of light as they struck down into the sea of undead.
The first wave of corpses crumbled instantly beneath their ferocious blows.
Swords slashed through rotting flesh, fists shattered bone, and elemental spells tore through the decaying horde.
Within moments, the ground around the wall was cleared, creating an open space free of the undead.
Immediately after, the 0-tier physical cultivators jumped down from the wall, joining the Spirit Realm warriors.
Clad in sturdy leather armor and wielding blades, spears, and axes, they formed a tight formation, cutting down any undead that approached.
Their movements were sharp and coordinated, trained for battles exactly like this.
Meanwhile, the 0-tier spell cultivators remained atop the wall.
Their hands crackled with elemental energy as they chanted spells in rapid succession.
Bolts of lightning flashed, fireballs streaked through the sky, and ice spears rained down into the horde, creating explosions of flame and frost that tore through the ranks of the undead.
The battle raged on, the wall standing firm as the defenders pushed back against the endless wave of undead.
---
As dawn approached, the situation around the camp gradually stabilized.
Gu Mingzhu leapt back onto the wall, her breathing steady, her sharp eyes scanning the battlefield.
Her blades dripped with blackened blood, but no Spirit Realm invader had challenged her.
She toured the perimeter, moving swiftly along the wall to check for any gaps or areas that might need reinforcement.
However, as she scanned the scene, she realized that every section was holding firm.
The battle had turned into a war of attrition—a contest of stamina and endurance.
The defenders were not being overwhelmed, and no invaders powerful enough to break through had appeared.
For now.
She let out a relieved breath, thinking,
"It seems Cecily's help won't be needed after all. Good."
Just then, she spotted Pan Lian locked in battle with a Spirit Realm invader, their energies clashing fiercely.
Her fingers twitched toward the hilt of her sword, ready to jump down and reinforce her.
But before she could move, the sky shook with a deafening blast.
"BOMB!"
The sound rumbled from above the clouds, a deep, thunderous roar that made the entire battlefield pause.
Even the mindless skeletons turned their empty skulls upward, their rotting jaws slack, as though the sudden noise had stirred some lost memory of fear.
Gu Mingzhu's eyes shot toward the sky, her heart skipping a beat.
Above the billowing black clouds, she saw them—
A golden serpent with massive butterfly wings, its scales glimmering like molten gold, and a grey crocodile twice its size, its rough hide glistening with dark energy.
They were locked in a ferocious battle, claws, fangs, and tails clashing, their massive forms twisting and coiling through the sky.
With each strike, shockwaves of energy rippled through the clouds, splitting the sky with flashes of light.
Gu Mingzhu's eyes narrowed in realization, her heart sinking.
She gritted her teeth and mentally cursed herself.
"Damn it! I thought there were no Spirit Lords attacking. And now I see Cecily fighting one. No—two."
Her eyes widened in disbelief as she caught sight of rose-petal-shaped projectiles slamming into Cecily's massive serpent form, shredding her scales.
The golden snake's once-impenetrable hide was now splintering and cracking, its glimmering wings torn with each strike.
Not one—two Spirit Lord invaders were attacking.
The grey crocodile was Cecily's main opponent, but the second Spirit Lord, hidden at first, was now revealing themselves.
A cloud of enchanted rose petals swirled around them, each petal carrying deadly energy, piercing the serpent's scales like knives.
Gu Mingzhu's knuckles turned white, her grip on her sword tightening.
She knew what this meant.
Noble Phantasms.
Only Spirit Lords and those of higher realms could create them—elemental manifestations of their own will and power, vastly superior to avatar spells.
While avatars carried raw elemental force, Noble Phantasms were solid, possessing physical forms and tangible mass.
Touching one wasn't like touching magic—it was like touching steel or flesh.
Cecily's serpent had scales as tough as iron, while the crocodile's thick hide was nearly impenetrable.
Kanoru just entered the Spirit Lord realm a few days ago. He hasn't even had time to create his Phantasm yet. It takes months—sometimes years—to forge one.
A Spirit Lord without a Phantasm was at a clear disadvantage against those who had one.
Her gaze snapped back to the battle.
The rose petals continued to slash through Cecily's armor-like scales, denting and cracking them with each wave.
Cecily let out a furious roar, but blood splattered from her shimmering serpent form.
Gu Mingzhu's fingers tightened into fists.
She stared into the sky and prayed silently, her lips pressed into a thin line.
"Kanoru... please, get here quickly."
Cecily's golden serpent form twisted through the clouds, her butterfly-like wings shimmering with golden light as they carried her with blinding speed, weaving around the grey crocodile's massive body.
She whipped her tail, sending a shockwave of golden energy crashing into the crocodile's side.
The blow sent the beast reeling backward, its enormous form tumbling through the stormy sky.
Without wasting a moment, Cecily lunged forward, her razor-sharp fangs bared.
She bit down on the crocodile's neck, her fangs piercing its scaly hide, drawing inky black blood.
The crocodile let out a thunderous bellow, its jaws snapping violently, but Cecily tightened her hold, refusing to let go.
Her serpentine eyes gleamed with ruthless determination.
Suddenly, a swarm of glowing rose petals burst from the storm, spinning in a deadly cyclone around her.
The second Spirit Lord had joined the battle again.
The petals slashed into her scales, leaving deep gashes along her shimmering form.
Golden ichor splattered through the air as her armor-like scales cracked and peeled away.
She released the crocodile and whipped her tail, sending a burst of golden wind energy that shredded the petals into glowing embers.
But as she did, the crocodile's tail lashed out.
The massive appendage, lined with jagged stone-like scales, struck Cecily's serpent form with bone-crushing force, sending her spiraling through the sky.
She steadied herself, her massive wings flickering with golden light, slowing her fall.
But before she could counterattack, the second invader emerged.
From the cloud of petals, a woman with flowing scarlet hair appeared, her eyes burning crimson, wielding a long, blood-red whip that glimmered with sinister energy.
She wore a sleek black bodysuit covered with thorned patterns, her aura laced with violet and black elemental energy.
Cecily's eyes narrowed as the woman lashed her whip, sending a crimson arc of power slashing toward her.
The serpent twisted mid-air, narrowly avoiding the strike, but the woman was not finished.
The whip lengthened, glowing brighter, and suddenly, a massive spectral whip formed above it—a phantasmal manifestation of her power.
The ethereal whip was nearly fifty meters long, crackling with violet-black energy, its surface crawling with thorny rose branches that glimmered with sharp, crystalline edges.
The woman lashed it downward, her eyes filled with merciless focus.
The colossal energy whip screamed through the sky, leaving a trail of violet fire in its wake.
The thorned branches writhed around it, tightening and twisting into a massive, spiked lash.
Cecily's golden eyes widened, sensing the terrifying force behind the strike.
She coiled her massive body, her golden scales bristling with energy, forming a defensive spiral, but it was too late.
The whip struck with cataclysmic force,
Slamming into her with a sound like splintering mountains.
The thorned branches lashed across her form,
Ripping through her shimmering scales,
Tearing golden flesh from her massive body.
Cecily's agonized roar echoed across the gorge, her wings shuddering violently as she was sent hurtling downward.
Her massive golden serpent form plummeted from the sky, trailing streams of golden blood.
She crashed into the distant plains beyond the camp, her enormous body slamming into the ground with a deafening impact, sending shockwaves of dust and debris into the air.
The earth trembled violently from the collision.
A massive crater formed around her, golden ichor splattered across the cracked ground.
The battlefield fell momentarily silent, all eyes turning toward the fallen serpent in the distance.