Chapter 047 – Who says a Necromancer cannot engage in close combat?
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The Withering Light is a somewhat unique ability.
After being activated, it has a similar effect to an aura, but it cannot stack. Although it doesn't deduct a large amount of HP, its advantage lies in its continuous damage over a long battle.
Another characteristic is that the activation and maintenance of this ability do not consume Matthew's mana.
Instead, it consumes the soul fire of the chosen undead.
In a sense, this is a form of mutual destruction.
But Matthew doesn't care about this flaw.
Would a necromancer still lack cannon fodder?
Looking at the densely packed Gnoll Silvermoon Zombies in the barren land ahead, Matthew felt a strong sense of satisfaction.
"The Withering Light is also a perfect match for Corpse Explosion, except that the casting distance is not far enough."
In fact, Matthew realized that he was reaching his limit in controlling so many undead creatures at the same time. This was not only related to his mental power but also to his field of vision.
Matthew looked around.
Soon, he locked onto a tall oak tree.
In the next moment, he transformed into a raven and flew up—under the intense moonlight, Matthew transformed into his wilderness form without any delay, his movements smooth.
With a few flaps, he successfully reached the treetop.
Returning to his human form, Matthew stood still and looked ahead. His field of vision instantly widened, and his control over the undead creatures returned to its previous level of proficiency.
At this moment, the owl Ella flew over.
She nervously shouted, "Matthew, there are too many enemies. I'm afraid to join you in the fight, so I can only provide you with some help within my capabilities."
As she spoke, a white light emerged from her body and quickly entered Matthew's body.
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"Hint: You have obtained the high-level blessing 'Elegance of the Wind' from the Nature Spirit Ella.
Elegance of the Wind: Your evasion has greatly increased."
...
Evasion is a good attribute.
Before Matthew could thank her, another white light quietly flew out from the treetop of the oak tree and sank into his body.
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"Hint: You have obtained the high-level blessing 'Boom Boom of Good Luck' from the Fairy Princess Lulu.
Boom Boom of Good Luck: Your luck has greatly increased."
...
Matthew looked down.
Below the treetop, a group of oak tree fairies were expressing their grievances, and then they started cheering for Matthew.
As for the shy Lulu, she disappeared without a trace after casting the high-level blessing.
However, with the two high-level blessings, Matthew felt that his chances of winning had greatly increased. He knew that even for the Nature Spirit, the increase in evasion and luck was a significant consumption. This could be seen from Ella's exhausted state, and it was likely the same for Lulu, who seemed to be in competition with her.
"I must defend the oak forest. This is my territory!"
Matthew once again focused his determined gaze on the battlefield.
Just as the enemy completed their deployment and preparations, the first reinforcement from Rolling Stone Town had also arrived.
It was led by Blade and consisted of more than twenty members of the Guard Unit. They were also well-equipped and armed, but they were slower because they didn't have mounts.
After communicating with Matthew and Blade, these members of the Guard Unit were arranged behind the undead creatures, forming the second line of defense to the north of the oak forest.
If Matthew's undead army was broken through from the front, they would face the enemy head-on.
The knights of the Lord's Guard were arranged between the front line and the eastern firewall, which meant they could enter the battlefield from the flanks at any time to break through the enemy's formation and reap the harvest.
However, territorial disputes were rare these days.
The knights in recent years only had experience in suppressing bandits and driving away Gnolls. It was still a big question mark whether they could display the imagined combat power on a real battlefield.
Zeller alone guarded the eastern passage with elemental magic.
Under no circumstances could the Gnolls launch a surprise attack on the farmland area. This was the consensus of Matthew and the others.
But by doing so, the pressure on the front line almost entirely fell on Matthew alone.
But Matthew didn't have the slightest bit of fear.
On the contrary, he became even more excited.
Because this was what a necromancer should look like in his dreams.
One person, one army, enough to resist thousands of enemies!
"Roar..."
The Bone Dragon, lurking among the undead, lowered its head, and the flickering soul fire made it appear even more mysterious and majestic.
"They're here!"
Matthew's eyes narrowed.
At the forefront, the Wild Boar Warrior carrying the battle flag was the first to charge into the crowd of Gnoll Zombies.
Withering Light!
Matthew immediately ignited the soul fire of several zombies at regular intervals.
The gray light filled with negative energy shot out from the undead creatures and quickly enveloped the Wild Boar Warrior.
However, the latter was not afraid at all.
He didn't even use the huge axe on his back. Instead, he held the battle flag with both hands and swung it left and right like sweeping the floor!
Clang clang!
The zombies in front of the Wild Boar Warrior were directly knocked away.
And the Gnolls on both sides, who were hit by his battle flag, were scattered in the air like rubbish!
What a powerful warrior!
Matthew's eyelids twitched.
Although the undead army was not as invincible as human infantry, the physique of this Wild Boar Warrior was too terrifying. Under his charge, no one could withstand him head-on.
Matthew noticed that he also had a dark red glow similar to Edson's on his body. This guy's status within the Cataclysmic Cult was obviously not low.
Seeing that the defense line was about to be torn apart by the brave Wild Boar Warrior alone, Matthew had no choice but to command the Bone Dragon to intercept him.
A reluctant thought was transmitted from the contract, but Phileurius still aggressively met him.
Boom boom boom!
The Bone Dragon rushed forward.
The undead in front quickly made way.The wild boar warrior shouted loudly, "Just in time!"
He threw away the battle flag and held a giant axe, bravely charging towards the Bone Dragon.
Behind him,
The low-key Half-Dragon warrior followed closely with a sparkling magic sword.
He chanted spells softly in his mouth.
Every few seconds,
A layer of halo would appear on the wild boar warrior.
When they reached the Bone Dragon,
The wild boar warrior seemed to be covered in colorful neon lights, which looked quite intimidating.
"These two are obviously old partners. Fortunately, the Ogre and Agile Warrior did not charge over."
Matthew felt a lot of pressure.
These two fourth-tier strong men were too fierce.
The Half-Dragon warrior didn't even make a move, and the undead on the front line were almost scattered by the wild boar warrior.
This made Matthew urgently want to have a Black Knight or Death Knight!
Having only one Bone Dragon was still too weak.
In his thoughts,
Feylorius was about to collide head-on with the wild boar warrior, but Little Phi was quite cunning. During the charge, it always had some strength left. At the moment of impact, it suddenly changed direction and dodged to the side!
"Where do you think you're going!"
The wild boar warrior raised his battle axe and chased after the Bone Dragon's change in direction.
In the next second,
The Bone Dragon, pretending to dodge, suddenly made an emergency brake. Amidst the smoke and dust, a thick and bone-spiked tail fiercely swept over!
Bang!
This "Tail Sweep" hit the wild boar warrior's face, almost instantly tearing his face into a bloody mess and sending him flying.
"Well done! How cunning!"
Matthew exclaimed in surprise.
From this round alone, it could be seen that Little Phi was not just a bully. It had its own unique understanding of battles among the same tier.
But Matthew's joy lasted less than two seconds.
He saw a glow rising from the smoke, different from the wild boar warrior's bravery. The Half-Dragon warrior's charge was more elegant. His steps were steady and his speed was extremely fast. In the blink of an eye, he reached the side of Little Phi.
Puff!
The Half-Dragon warrior unexpectedly inserted his magic sword into the bones under Little Phi's ribs.
The Bone Dragon had no flesh or blood.
This sword alone couldn't cause much damage to Little Phi.
But after the magic sword was inserted,
Faint purple lightning continuously surged out.
In just an instant,
The faint purple lightning wove a layer of lightning net on the Bone Dragon's body.
"Woo..."
Little Phi suddenly let out a mournful cry.
Its soul fire shook violently, but its body swayed from side to side, losing its balance!
...
"Warning: Your Bone Dragon's body has temporarily lost partial autonomy due to the 'Thunder Bind Curse' of the 'Magic Sword Scallona'!"
...
Little Phi struggled hard.
But its movements became slow and weak.
The Half-Dragon warrior tightly held onto the magic sword.
His scales became even more azure.
To make matters worse, the wild boar warrior, who had half of his face torn off, also climbed up from the ground. He raised his battle axe and charged once again.
This time,
His target was the tail of the Bone Dragon!
"Woo woo woo!"
With the two fourth-tier elite warriors flanking it, the Bone Dragon was in a precarious situation.
At a critical moment,
Two Gnoll Silvermoon Zombies rushed over.
Bang bang!
Spell: Last Dance!
The self-destruction of the zombies was more powerful than the skeletons. Although it couldn't cause much damage to the Half-Dragon warrior, it timely interrupted the connection between him and the magic sword.
Matthew, feeling uneasy, added another Corpse Blast to the zombie's body.
And the wild boar warrior, who charged again, was entangled by another zombie. It was still a combination of self-destruction and corpse blast. Under the intense explosion, the wild boar warrior's battle axe was ultimately deflected.
On the Bone Dragon's body,
The faint purple lightning disappeared in a flash.
The Bone Dragon, who had a chance to catch its breath, almost immediately got up. It didn't rush to escape, but turned around and pounced!
Boom!
Smoke and dust filled the battlefield once again.
Little Phi's pounce forced the Half-Dragon warrior and the wild boar warrior to roll to the side to deal with it.
The former then launched a skilled tail sweep.
Although both of the fourth-tier strong men managed to dodge it, they had already created a suitable distance between them.
In this way, with the cover of the other undead, the Bone Dragon fought and retreated, finally leaving the attack range of the Half-Dragon warrior and the wild boar warrior.
...
On top of the treetops,
Matthew wiped off his cold sweat. Elite fourth-tier warriors were indeed tough. Whether it was Edson or the two foreign warriors in front of him, their resistance, combat power, skills, and tactics were almost impeccable.
He glanced at the eastern part of the battlefield.
There,
Edson personally led the Gnolls in an assault.
Blade took the initiative to confront him.
To Matthew's surprise,
Blade, who was only third-tier, could actually withstand Edson's fierce attacks head-on.
This showed that the bearded man could also be considered naturally powerful.
Eli and Zeller provided support behind him.
Zeller was at least a fourth-tier Warlock. In the short term, both sides were in a stalemate.
"As long as the Ogre and Agile Warrior don't join in, we can still hold on."
Matthew withdrew his gaze.
He watched the wild boar warrior, who was constantly advancing and retreating among the undead, with vigilance.
However, in the next second,
Matthew suddenly realized that the wild boar warrior in his field of vision had disappeared!
His gaze quickly shifted to the Half-Dragon warrior with the magic sword beside him.
At this moment,
The latter was holding the magic sword high, silently reciting something, and staring at him with burning eyes.
A strong sense of crisis struck.
Without hesitation, Matthew transformed into a raven and flew backward.
But it seemed to be too late.
A deep blue teleportation gate appeared out of thin air above the treetops.
The wild boar warrior suddenly appeared.
Half of his face was completely covered in blood, and his expression was extremely ferocious:
"Hahaha!""Nice teleport, Hedivara!"
"You're the 17th mage to die under our unbeatable cooperation!"
With that, he swung his massive battle axe towards the raven!
In the face of life and death, Matthew became unusually calm.
The wilderness form granted by the Moonlight Society, which added one to all attributes, was his saving grace.
This slight attribute boost was enough to give his raven form an extraordinary speed!
Whoosh!
Matthew simply flapped his wings and flew.
The terrifying wind from the axe brushed past his feathers.
The boar man missed his strike, exclaimed "Eh", but his reaction was swift. He lunged at Matthew from the treetops while throwing his axe ahead of the raven's evasive path!
His way forward was blocked.
Matthew had no choice but to retreat.
Before the boar man could catch him, Matthew voluntarily deactivated his wilderness form.
Bang!
The two collided head-on, grappling and wrestling in mid-air!
"Oh, my dear Necromancer, you're not really thinking of hand-to-hand combat with me, are you? Haha!"
The boar man laughed wildly.
They fell to the ground, still grappling.
As soon as they hit the ground, the boar man's rough hands immediately grabbed Matthew's neck.
He gave a cruel smile, his hands exerting force, ready to snap Matthew's neck. But the next second, he felt like he was grabbing at thin air!
Under the boar man's incredulous gaze, the upper part of Matthew's body had turned into a specter-like existence!
"Who said a Necromancer can't engage in hand-to-hand combat?"
Matthew coldly stared at him.
He shook off the glove on his right hand, and a surge of violent, uncontrollable negative energy erupted.
Smack!
At that moment, Matthew's right hand also grabbed the boar man's thick neck!
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"Prompt: You have used 'Undying Body' to transform part of your body into a specter form.
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You have used 'Hand of the Pale' on the boar man warrior!"
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