It was the elven reinforcements who were supposed to leave earlier.
Qu Weichen heard Tu Weierxi’s voice, but she didn’t respond.
She clung to the undead knight’s bones, pressing herself tightly against its back, then gathered her energy again and poured it into her dagger, slicing off the knight’s skull.
“Cough.” Qu Weichen coughed up a mouthful of blood.
The feeling of being knocked over by magic was truly awful.
The undead knight’s bone spike had cut her thigh, and the smell of blood grew stronger.
A light-based healing spell shone on her instantly.
Several elves used magic to clear out the nearby undead, and Tu Weierxi quickly ran over to help her up.
“Why are you here too? Why didn’t you retreat to Uweno?”
“You all rest here for now.
I’ll take people to keep supporting the front.” Tu Weierxi’s mother said to both Tu Weierxi and Qu Weichen.
Regardless of age, all these elves were fighting, casting spell after spell with all their strength, trying to wipe out every last undead.
Just then, that guard burst out.
His armor was even more battered, but the long blade in his hand was still sharp.
When he saw Qu Weichen and this group of elves, he instantly understood something and instinctively turned to run.
“What’s going on?” Tu Weierxi’s mother was stunned.
She glanced at the guard, then at Qu Weichen, and quickly understood why Qu Weichen had gone so deep behind enemy lines.
“He’s trying to kill you?”
“Someone from General Pingyuan’s side.
You don’t need to get involved.” Qu Weichen caught her breath, took a pale blue healing potion from her spatial ring, and drank it.
This was something Constance had prepared for her every time she went to Beastcall Mountain for training.
Qu Weichen had saved up the ones she hadn’t used.
“Thank you all for saving me.”
Tu Weierxi stared at Qu Weichen, as if she had a lot to say.
Maybe she wanted to invite Qu Weichen to leave with her again—what a great opportunity this was! Tu Weierxi even thought, with Qu Weichen so badly injured now, if she knocked her out and took her back to the elven forest… it might actually work.
But what she wanted to say, she didn’t say, and what she wanted to do, she didn’t do.
“The battle’s almost over.
Just wait here with me for a bit.
We’ll send you back to Uweno later… After this fight, there’ll definitely be a lot of wounded, and we’ll all have to help.”
“Okay.”
The elves kept pushing forward, joining the Uweno garrison to clear out the undead inside and out.
After resting for a while, Qu Weichen felt a bit better and stood up.
“Let’s not fall too far behind.
Let’s go.”
Just then, chaos suddenly broke out inside Uweno City.
There weren’t many undead left, but at that moment, a squad of Pingyuan troops charged out from inside the city—“Chen Qingjue is gravely injured! The Empire is here by imperial order to wipe out the remnants of the Prison Sanctuary!”
By the time Qu Weichen reached Uweno, the situation had already changed again.
A group of soldiers she’d never seen before were fighting the remaining Prison Sanctuary troops, while the other guards and people from the Church of Light just watched, not daring to step in, only observing as that squad carried out a one-sided slaughter.
“Chen Qingjue is gravely injured, the Prison Sanctuary is… about to fall?” Qu Weichen couldn’t believe it.
The Empire actually dared to do this? After everyone had just repelled the undead attack from the Gates of Hell, these elite troops who’d been lying in wait suddenly appeared to besiege the Prison Sanctuary.
And whether it was academy instructors, people from Dragon Island, the Church of Light, or any other faction, all they could do was watch.
The Empire had come prepared, with far more troops than these defenders who’d just won a hard-fought victory.
Qu Weichen gripped her dagger tightly, her thoughts racing: Chen Qingjue is gravely injured? She should still be in Beastcall Mountain right now.
If she rushed over now—
“Boom!—” A blinding blue orb exploded, sweeping outward from the Pingyuan General’s residence and forming a small mushroom cloud.
Was that… a magic crystal bomb? Everyone was startled by the sudden explosion.
In the next instant, an arrow shot out, piercing straight through a Pingyuan soldier’s head, helmet and all.
On the treetops nearby, figures in black cloaks flashed by.
There weren’t many of them, but they were incredibly fast.
Each carried a large bow, drawing it like a full moon, never missing a shot, and retreating after every arrow.
Some mages had already started chanting, but before they could cast any large spells, an arrow pierced their throats, blood spraying as they collapsed.
“Form up, form up! Don’t scatter, use your shields!” The Pingyuan commander instantly realized something was wrong.
He shouted orders, raising his black iron shield to block an arrow.
“Hurry!”
Qu Weichen threw a misfortune curse at the commander.
With a [ding], a dark cloud floated over his head.
She was about to throw a slow curse when she suddenly felt a chill behind her.
Instinctively, she tried to dodge, but a hand knocked the dagger from her grip and grabbed her, whisking her away at high speed.
“Qu Weichen!” [It’s the Sanctuary Master.] Number Nine’s voice and Tu Weierxi’s voice rang out at the same time.
A barrage of fireballs shot toward the person carrying her, and a wall of fire suddenly blazed up in front of them.
But Chen Qingjue, hidden under her black cloak, dodged the fire wall and fireballs with a quick turn, moving with incredible speed.
“Ma’am, what are you doing?!” Qu Weichen lowered her voice.
“Weren’t you gravely injured? Aren’t you in Beastcall Mountain? The General’s residence…”
Were both the explosion and the sudden appearance of the black-cloaked figure arranged by Chen Qingjue? Qu Weichen watched as Chen Qingjue’s black cloak billowed behind her as she sped along, coughing uncomfortably—being carried like this was really awful.
“You actually recognized me?” Chen Qingjue said, but didn’t sound very surprised.
She carried Qu Weichen at high speed toward Beastcall Mountain.
“I’ve saved you so many times.
Now it’s your turn to repay me.
No need to hide your identity from me, though I don’t know how you did it—”
“Summon the Gates of Hell at the outskirts of Beastcall Mountain!”
Qu Weichen: “!!!”
Qu Weichen: “???”
Qu Weichen: “……”
She’d suspected it, but hearing Chen Qingjue say it so directly still made Qu Weichen’s heart skip a beat.
But then she heard Chen Qingjue’s request—
“Sanctuary Master, I can’t do it.”
“I’ve prepared enough blood.
You just need to set up the array and summon.” Chen Qingjue said quickly, never slowing down.
“It doesn’t matter which demon lord you’ve made a contract with.
Just summon the Gates of Hell for me once.”
“…I can’t.
I really can’t.
I haven’t made any contract with a demon lord!” Qu Weichen could hear the coldness in Chen Qingjue’s voice.
This was the first time the Sanctuary Master had dropped her gentle mask.
Of course Qu Weichen wanted to repay her, and she knew this Sanctuary Master was clearly not an ordinary person—maybe not even human.
But… she really couldn’t do it! “I can accept light-based healing, and magic detection can’t find anything on me.
You should know I’m not a normal necromancer! I can’t do it!—Cough!”
Chen Qingjue suddenly stopped, yanking Qu Weichen up by the collar and bringing her face close, staring into her eyes.
“Say that again?”
Those light brown eyes now glowed faintly pink.
For the first time, Qu Weichen saw the always-gentle Sanctuary Master with a cold expression.
Qu Weichen felt her mind go fuzzy for a moment, but Number Nine’s suona music quickly cleared it.
She answered, “I’m telling the truth.
You saved me.
At a time like this, I wouldn’t lie to you.”
“……”
Qu Weichen was suddenly thrown to the ground.
She coughed awkwardly and looked up at the Sanctuary Master.
The black cloak covered her whole body, the huge hood hiding most of her face, leaving only a delicate chin and tightly pressed lips.
Qu Weichen looked up from the ground, meeting those now-pink eyes… Number Nine’s suona kept blaring, making Qu Weichen’s head ache.
“Damn it.” Qu Weichen heard her curse.
“How can there be a necromancer like you!”
“…Sorry.” Qu Weichen had barely finished speaking when she was picked up again.
Chen Qingjue was furious, but still carried Qu Weichen toward Beastcall Mountain.
“What… happened? Do you know who summoned the hell portal in Uweno?”
“This isn’t the time for a curious baby to ask questions, sweetheart.
Be quiet.” Maybe she’d calmed down, because Chen Qingjue’s tone turned gentle again.
She said softly, “Otherwise, I might not be able to stop myself from killing you.”
Qu Weichen: “……”
[Sigh…] Number Nine let out a long sigh in the system space.
What a mess! This Prison Sanctuary really is a den of wolves! [I suspect she’s one of the demon lords.
How else would she know so much?]
Qu Weichen: Then why doesn’t she have a necromancer under her to open the portal for her?
[…Maybe there are a lot of demon lords in the Abyss, and she’s the weakest one.] Number Nine guessed.
[If she were any stronger, she wouldn’t have had to hide for so long, going to all this trouble to build up power and an army, and now she can’t even seize a single abyssal portal.]
Qu Weichen was silent for a moment, then suddenly thought: Why would abyssal creatures fight each other? The Prison Sanctuary is supposed to wipe out undead! This Sanctuary Master…
She suddenly remembered the description of demons in “A General Theory of Abyssal Culture.” Maybe, some demons had already come to the Floating Continent.
They were no different from humans, could disguise themselves perfectly, but weren’t actually that powerful… and were in competition with each other?
The undead attacks on Uweno were probably related to another abyssal creature.
And the one opposing Chen Qingjue—The Empire? The royal family? Could it be that someone in the royal family had been controlled or replaced? No, no, maybe the royal family was working with the undead to unify or dominate…
Qu Weichen thought of many possibilities.
She gritted her teeth and finally asked, “The two undead attacks on Uweno before—who was behind them?” Especially the one Orifis discovered.
“The Empire’s Third Prince,” Chen Qingjue said.
“He’s a demon too?”
“The Sixth Demon Lord.”
[What the hell?! Are the undead in this world really that pathetic?] Qu Weichen hadn’t even reacted yet, but Number Nine was already shocked.
[The Sixth Demon Lord? Just this level of fighting and scheming is enough to be a demon lord? Came to the Floating Continent and ended up like this?]
[If the big demon lords from other worlds saw this, they’d die of anger.
This totally lowers the bar for being a demon lord!]
Qu Weichen: Don’t try to fool me, I’ve read novels.
There are plenty of arrogant, obsessive demon lords in stories, but what they do is just plain dumb.
[…Don’t compare that kind of thing to real demon lords, okay!] Number Nine was about to say more, but suddenly stopped.
[Dragons, there’s… ten giant dragons?!]
Even from a distance, they could see the giant dragons in the sky gathering magic and breathing down at the ground, fighting unknown enemies.
The high-pitched dragon roars echoed one after another.
Qu Weichen saw a huge tail sweep out, smashing down an entire mountain peak.
