Chapter 25: Crushing and Advancing

Although curious, I felt asking a Guardian of Heaven directly, “Are you from Heaven?” would make me look foolish.

So, Miss Vilyric decided to exercise her linguistic artistry a bit.

“Hey, Lucas, what position do you hold in Heaven?”

The stout golden-armored figure tilted its head slightly. Though I couldn’t see the expression behind the armor, I sensed it conveyed a feeling of confusion.

“Before receiving my lord’s gaze and forging a contract, I was the commander of the Guardian Army of Heaven. Why do you ask such a question?”

“Well…”

Miss Vilyric hesitated, struggling to come up with a response.

Surely I can’t say it’s because you’re an NPC with a name summoned through my evolved special summon skill, and now that we can finally chat, I’m suddenly a bit curious…. Right?

The Heaven he spoke of must be another plane unrelated to this world, akin to summoning demons, I imagined.

None of this was delved into in the game, and I had no idea why summoned beings from the game had such a complete and real place of origin here.

As for what Lucas meant by a gaze and a contract—Miss Vilyric was even more confused.

Ordinary players could only sign a pet contract, and without a doubt, her contracted pet was the Little Dragon Daughter. How could she forge a contract with a Guardian of Heaven?

The contract Lucas mentioned was likely some sort of special connection. After all, this skill randomly summoning a guardian had become a fixed summon in Vilyric’s hands, and one often saw this name in-game.

I felt digging deeper would lead to endless questions, so Miss Vilyric decided to move on for now.

“Never mind, I’ll leave the cleanup of the minions to you.”

“As you command, Lucas will not allow such humble filth to approach you even a bit.”

Under the massive golden-armored warrior’s protection, the two women continued deeper into the Forgotten Land.

As they advanced, the strength of the surrounding undead appeared to rise gradually: from seemingly ordinary human-turned skeletons, transitioning to zombies carrying plague and venom, and then to skeletal warriors wielding swords and bone shields; even to shapeless curses that could unleash dark magic or haunt the living.

Yet no matter the kind, they would be split in two by the radiant light emitted with Lucas’s sword swings, completely purifying them to dust, as nothing could approach within ten meters of Miss Vilyric.

Moreover, this Guardian of Heaven had a special passive ability: enemies killed by it would unleash a burst of holy energy upon demise, creating a small-scale holy light bomb that dealt AOE damage.

Furthermore, this AOE damage would trigger Lucas’s passive, meaning when faced with hordes of minions, a chain explosion would occur—simply cutting down one unit could clear the entire area at once.

Thus, Miss Vilyric specifically summoned this guy. Though Xiao Guang could do something similar, her destructive power was too strong. If she kept attacking, this Forgotten Land would soon be renamed the Ruined City.

Despite being level 80, Lucas primarily served as a tank, with average attack power, preventing him from outright demolishing this place.

Swish, the golden-armored Guardian of Heaven unleashed another fiery golden slash, but surprisingly, the expected chain explosions didn’t happen this time.

“Huh?”

Turning her head while organizing her thoughts, Miss Vilyric noticed a knight similar in appearance to Lucas, clad in armor, riding a tall skeletal horse, and surrounded by dark red flames.

She had seen such a creature in a book—the Red Flame Wraith Knight, comparable to sky-level powerful undead, boasting formidable attack and defense. Any living beings slain by it would automatically become its minions.

Moreover, it had a skill that temporarily converted received damage into self-healing.

From how the armored knight shrugged off a sword strike without injury and the green glow that had just dissipated, it was clear it sensed danger and used that skill to block Lucas’s attack.

Such high-level undead possessed a certain degree of chaotic intelligence; though they couldn’t communicate yet, their combat awareness was quite sharp.

However, being brainless undead ruled more by instinct than reason, even realizing the strength of the golden-armored warrior didn’t quell their hatred for the living, as they let out a harsh scream and charged forward!

“Pitiful dead.”

The Guardian of Heaven sighed in pity, its movements not slowing down. This time, it didn’t attack from a distance but instead flapped its sharp, iron-like wings, descending from above faster than the Wraith Knight could manage.

The dazzling golden greatsword slashed down, the ghostly green shield reappeared, its light surging to the max before shattering under the pressure.

The undead knight, taller than Lucas, stood no chance against the level 80 Guardian of Heaven. As their figures crossed, dark red flames extinguished, and its entire body, along with the skeletal horse, was cleaved in two by the sword’s brilliance.

Boom!

After a more violent explosion than before, this undead creature, akin to a sky-level magical beast, vanished without a trace, leaving not even a crumb behind.

Without commenting on the crushing battle that was already foreordained, Miss Vilyric stepped over the land where the Wraith Knight once had been and pressed onward.

If even sky-level undead was appearing, then they should be in the inner area of the Forgotten Land, perhaps even the core area, right?

No, they probably weren’t at the core yet. In a place deemed a no-go zone for the living, legendary undead had to exist within, and that mass of magical energy that Vilyric felt from afar still lay ahead.

Just then.

An invisible wave radiated from deep within the Forgotten Land.

“Is it coming again?”

That sense of spatial pulling and erosion could not be mistaken; this was the same force that had suddenly made those within the Xavier Merchant Caravan disappear, similarly responsible for the incidence of missing people in Bawo Town.

Though it was nothing worth mentioning for Miss Vilyric and Xiao Guang, as a guardian, Lucas surely couldn’t let his lord be attacked.

“Minor trick!”

The Guardian of Heaven roared in a deep voice and took a big step forward, slamming its intricately patterned large sword into the ground, causing a dazzling protective barrier to form around it, shielding Miss Vilyric and Xiao Guang within.

Zzzz…

The surface of the barrier emitted a sound like flames splashing into cold water, and the pulling sensation instantly vanished, no longer able to affect those inside.

And no matter how intense the dissolving noises erupted, Lucas stood immovable, steady as a mountain.

Evidently, withstanding such forces couldn’t be considered a burden for it.

“Is it weaker than a level 80 Guardian of Heaven…?”

Miss Vilyric murmured under her breath in a volume only she could hear.

Something felt off.

Though the pulling force was somewhat bizarre, it wasn’t strong. An ordinary person might struggle against it, but someone at the sky level ought to resist it without trouble, not to mention a master above the legendary tier.

If this was the culprit that turned Glorious City into a wasteland overnight, wouldn’t that be a bit weak?

Of course, they might not have exerted their full power, but it still hinted at something.

Moreover, before coming here, Miss Vilyric hadn’t heard of any incidents involving mass disappearances among the residents near the Forgotten Land; the situations in Bawo Town and the Xavier Merchant Caravan must have arisen only recently.

What kind of thing triggered that guy, or what might have happened?

   

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