Volume One: The Lord’s World of Hell Level Chapter 65: Targeted by the Undead

After traveling for over two hours, Chen Gu’s vine-drawn carriage came to an early halt. Leaping down, Chen Gu found himself on a hillside. From here, he had a clear view of the city that was his destination.

The city of Yonghua Forest, a level 7 metropolis.

Once, this seventh-level city was the lumber hub of the Elven Kingdom. It earned the name Yonghua Forest because the entire city was hidden amid dense woodland. Every day, massive quantities of timber would be shipped from here to every city within the Elven lands.

But now, the city had clearly fallen to the undead.

With no one to tend it for so long, the trees of the city had begun to encroach upon its very streets. Beneath these twisted boughs, a dark, undead city was concealed.

Standing on the hillside, Chen Gu gazed down upon it—his first time laying eyes on a city of the undead.

Unlike the villages he had previously seized, this city bore obvious signs of deliberate management. The undead here did not wander aimlessly; instead, they moved with purpose, diligently performing all manner of tasks.

They seemed to care little for the trees; the city itself was primarily constructed of stone. Chen Gu’s attention was drawn to the southern edge, where numerous mercury mines belched thick smoke into the air. Constant streams of mercury were being transported out, though with the city shrouded by trees, he could not see where it was being taken.

What caught his eye most were the two bone dragons that periodically soared above the city, circling in the sky. That alone proved this was indeed a level 7 city, with at least one Beta-class legion stationed within.

“We’ll go around,” Chen Gu decided after a moment’s observation. Gritting his teeth, he issued the order.

He could tell this city was now entirely under undead control. Though he did not know how the undead nation managed troop deployments, there were at least two bone dragons present—beings not to be trifled with. After a glance at his map, Chen Gu pointed further south.

“There’s a level 5 city here. We’ll head for that instead.”

Not long after Chen Gu left, a force of pitch-black knights appeared on the very hillside where he had just stood.

Clad in heavy armor from head to toe—horses and riders alike—these black knights dismounted in perfect unison, as if moved by a single will. One of them, standing where Chen Gu had recently been, gazed down at the city below. A low, metallic voice echoed from within his helm.

“Someone is spying on Mercury Fortress. Black Mercury Knights, prepare to pursue.”

“Yes, sir,” came the reply.

At the command, all the armored knights remounted and drew their weapons. Their long sabers, slick with mercury, dripped the liquid metal onto their gauntlets, staining them silvery white.

This Black Mercury Knight Legion numbered a full three hundred. Confident in the direction Chen Gu had gone, they did not bother to alert the fortress below, but set out in immediate pursuit.

Had Chen Gu known this, he would have been at a complete loss, but the Black Mercury Knights were acting entirely within their rights. They were the treasured defenders of Mercury Fortress. In centuries past, only three hundred had ever been trained. Of these, aside from the commander, there were ten heroes, each leading twenty-nine knights. Even the regular troops were the pinnacle of undead combatants: sixth-level Death Knights.

They had undergone special enhancements unique to Mercury Fortress, diverging from the usual path of the Knights of Dread, forging a new destiny of their own.

[Unit Attributes]
Name: Black Mercury Knight
Type: Undead
Trait: Heavy Strike
Level: 6/6
Attributes: Attack 45, Defense 20, Health 300
Starting Skills:
Heavy Strike Slash, Level 3 (75% chance of double attack on strike)
Nightmare Descends, Level 3 (appearance on the battlefield causes enemies to panic for 3 seconds)
Mercury Boil, Level 2 (can activate internal mercury during battle, temporarily increasing Health by 150)
Description: These are Death Knights specially enhanced by Mercury Fortress, who have forsaken the path of terror for one of their own making. Since their creation, they have served as the fortress’s guardians, never reassigned even by order from the Black Fortress.

In short, the Black Mercury Knight Legion was the core defense of Mercury Fortress. If they discovered a threat, there was no need to report it to the city lord—they would simply sally forth, eliminate the intruder, and only then present their findings. They had done so many times before. Now, having detected Chen Gu’s attention on Mercury Fortress, they set out to claim his head.

Chen Gu, of course, had no idea he was being hunted. He continued on his way toward the next city.

More alert after a two-hour nap, he took the coachman’s seat and released his fire spirit ravens ahead to scout the road.

His destination now was a level 5 city further south, marked on the elf maps as Sacred Helm Valley. According to his map, a rich vein of iron ore ran through this area, and the city itself was built atop the mines. The iron here was especially light and flexible, perfect for forging armor—particularly the kind worn in elven sword dancing. Most such armor came from this very city, making it famous throughout the region.

Chen Gu suspected the place had likely fallen to the undead as well, but he was determined to see for himself. After all, there were many more cities to the south. If he happened upon one not yet claimed by the undead, he would have struck it rich.

With that hope, Chen Gu wasted no time. He sent his fire spirit ravens far and wide, gathering intelligence on the region—elven outposts, unmarked villages, wandering undead hordes. He might not visit all these places, but he would mark them on his map for future use.

When he was about seventy kilometers from Sacred Helm Valley, Chen Gu suddenly sensed something was amiss behind him.

“This is the third time now. Each time, the fire spirit ravens have encountered a group of undead knights in the rear. That’s not normal…”