Knights and Magic Wand
Chapter 452 - 452 212 Natural Disaster

452: Chapter 212 Natural Disaster 452: Chapter 212 Natural Disaster As they gradually entered the deeper parts of the area shrouded in ominous clouds, the light grew ever darker.

Despite it being summer, the chilling wind sweeping across the land was bone-piercing.

On the eerie night-like plain, the withered vegetation seemed lifeless and dead.

The hazy spirit light was drawn by the barely noticeable sound of bells, drifting away slowly.

Crude burial mounds without tombstones began to open from within, breaking through the soil.

A wandering soul occupied a corpse and howled as it tried to rise, only to be immediately thrust back into the wooden coffin by a heavy silver spear.

Leon twisted the spear blade, shattering the corpse.

He picked up the Earth Vein Spirit Lamp radiating with green light in his hand and infused it with a subtle magic power to activate the magic technique.

The hazy wandering souls were absorbed into it, collecting the fifth human soul.

The spectral light of the spirit lamp glowed more intensely, indicating the magical artifact was nearing its capacity.

Leon knew that merely taking away five human wandering souls was futile for the impending disaster.

But even the smallest gain was still a gain; at least the world would now be rid of five Corpse Ghosts, an effortless act that might save one or two lives.

Holding the lamp, he looked around the dark desolate wilderness.

Besides the occasional ghost, Leon could also see flickering fireflies.

“What are those?” he humbly asked his little teacher.

“…They are the spirits of beasts, birds, insects, plants, and fungi.

Such a powerful Soul Summoning Ceremony doesn’t just harm humans; it also curses all things,” Lola replied.

So even the natural cycle might turn into a barren silence?

Leon was shocked, thankful that Lola was there to protect him from the effects.

He turned to Olivia, standing by his side, fearing her extraordinary hearing might exacerbate the effects of the infernal sound.

“We are getting closer.

Are you feeling dizzy?”

The girl shook her head, “I won’t be foolish and push myself.

If I get a headache, I’ll tell you immediately.”

Leon was immediately reassured by the Flame Sun Guard’s strong constitution, even when the Griffin’s powerful beast soul struggled to bear the Soul Bell’s influence.

The girl remained unfazed by the bell sound.

It had been three full days since they adventurously rescued Shatai City.

The ominous cloud canopy that once covered the area had retreated eastward by over twenty kilometers during that time.

The undead corpse tide that nearly engulfed the town that day showed no signs of resurgence for now.

Of course, this wasn’t because the Death Claw had eliminated the suspected undead controller, the “Corpse Witch.”

According to Lola, the Corpse Witch killed by the Griffin was by no means the true controller of the undead corpse tide, nor the culprit behind the casting of this field.

It was merely an undead puppet, retaining a portion of its reason to execute orders, fundamentally no different from the walking dead charging at the walls.

In life, it was not a powerful spellcaster, and if not for relying on the magic technique carried by the Soul Bell and the vast soul, it would not have had enough mana to control even a hundred undead.

And when Leon described the Corpse Witch’s attire to Yevan, the answer confirmed this.

The identity of the Corpse Witch in life was likely a wizard from a primitive cult in the south, and this wayward southern spellcaster may have been employed by some Kantadar leader invading Seryan.

But now, they too were transformed into an advanced Corpse Ghost amid this disaster…

Leon thought to this point and glanced eastward in the direction of the bleak and deep border.

If those who committed atrocities in Rolannar suffered such a fate, it would indeed be karma.

It’s just a pity that he couldn’t personally tear them apart while they were alive to avenge the original owner.

If he returned and informed Lokhak and Azeryan of this, they would likely be more torn than he, the soul transmigrator.

Although seeing enemies suffer was satisfying, being unable to make them pay their blood debt in person was a regret.

Thinking of the painful memories of the original owner in his mind, he couldn’t help but wish that the mercenaries who killed the young boy’s relatives would have “luckily” escaped this disaster…

He sighed, temporarily casting aside these thoughts.

He refocused on the present, pulling out the sheepskin map provided by Yevan and using the lamp’s spirit light to confirm the direction.

Without delay, he quickened his pace towards the destination.

Unable to resist the soul-splitting force of the Soul Bell, the Death Claw was early left waiting outside the Netherworld.

This time, he was only traveling with Olivia, walking to a small Kantadar town to the northeast of the map long shrouded in ominous clouds to investigate the area outside the Netherworld.

Both moved swiftly, traversing the Land of Eternal Night, a place that could, figuratively and literally, scare an ordinary person out of their wits.

Soon, they reached the outskirts of the destination.

The resonant bell sound echoed with countless faint screams of crying, and the eerie light that shot into the sky turned the small town into a ghost domain.

Seeing the hellish scene, Leon quickly closed the spirit lamp, pulling Olivia to hide in a wooden house on a highland suburb.

After clearing the bloodstained tables and chairs in the wooden house, they peered through a small window at the ominous cloud-covered Kantadar town with shadows haunting it and no trace of living people left.

They saw the tall Bell Tower in the city had been transformed into a ritual node engraved with demon runes to support the Celestial Phenomenon Magic.

The sky was stormed by resentful spirits gathering at the top of the clock tower, swarms of Corpse Demons circling around it.

Its influence was so strong that Leon found he could sense the magic turbulence distinctly even from afar.

Scanning the area, just on the outskirts of the town, Leon roughly estimated that at least several thousand Corpse Ghosts were wandering.

“Do we still need to approach that town?” Olivia asked worriedly.

“No, let’s go.” Leon shook his head.

Just a distant glance towards the true Summoning Altar, the Mage Miss in his heart urged for retreat, seemingly having figured something out.

Leon took Olivia, retracing their steps as fast as possible.

He knew that no matter what, this eastward journey would not allow for further solo exploration toward the direction of Rolannar amidst this perilous super-scale celestial-level magic…

Now, it’s not about whether he can complete the agreement with Lola.

Will this disaster continue to spread?

Is there a limit to the expansion of this Celestial Phenomenon Magic?

The ongoing catastrophe is certainly not caused by the Kantadar people.

If they were capable of such a feat, they would have unified the Western Continent long ago.

According to Kovis, the suspicion falls heavily on the Athias Mages who came from afar to the Western Continent to aid the Kantadar people’s invasion.

Or perhaps they foolishly summoned the Demon Souls of the Lorelette Fallen?

Leon, dragging Olivia, dashed across the wasteland, feeling his breathing grow heavier, whether from physical fatigue or pressure.

Even a small Corpse Witch could use that Corpse Cart to command tens of thousands of wandering souls to sweep the land…

But in this eastward invasion initiated by Kantadar, just in Rolannar alone, the casualties among civilians surely exceeded hundreds of thousands, twenty thousand?

And the tens of thousands of Seryan warriors defending Holy Land City, how many citizens along the whole Seryan border have suffered?

How many of the Kantadar army died beneath Rolannar City?

…And these are just the dead from the wars back then.

The Undead Netherworld that isolated the Dead Sea had already rampaged for at least several months in the continent plagued by poor communication among the ignorant world.

How many people had already been silently devoured?

Had he and Olivia not accidentally intervened, Shatai City would have been one of them as well.

When hundreds of thousands…

even millions of undead, accompanied by the ominous clouds overhead, surge towards the west, how many soldiers would it take to withstand them then?

In this magical field, the raging Corpse Ghost army requires no supplies, no rest, no training, no prisoners, has no morale, and fears no casualties…

And with every soul captured, whether warrior or civilian, even birds or beasts, might turn into a new Corpse Ghost and resentful spirit.

Leon clenched his magic wand, growing chills down his spine the more he thought about it.

He couldn’t help but curse the rulers of Kantadar for being so negligent for nearly half a year.

From the news heard from Yevan, a few months ago, before Orland even began their southern move from Nightmare Forest, the disaster might have only started; the Kantadar army withdrew from Seryan.

The eastern frontier of the Southern Kingdom has now become a ghost domain, yet the army that once aggressively invaded Seryan returned to the Kantadar Royal Domain?

The border is done for, is the army having a grand feast in the royal domain?

Does this kingdom have no leadership left?

Taking a deep breath of the cool air over the dark Netherworld, Leon gradually calmed down in his irritation.

As it stands, unless a miracle occurred, allowing the ancient Pope within him to instantaneously resurrect at full strength and regain the mighty mana described in ancient texts.

Otherwise, this situation far exceeded what he, as a mere mortal, could handle, let alone any Western Kingdom can deal with alone…

As the two saw the edge of the ominous clouds a few kilometers away in the sky, the Death Claw, anxiously waiting outside, also spotted them.

The Griffin flapped its wings, enduring its instinctive discomfort, flying into the field beneath the ominous clouds.

Leon and Olivia quickly mounted the saddle, soaring away from the Netherworld.

The sunshine once again embraced them, allowing both of them and the Death Claw to relax a bit.

“…Leon, what should we do?

Will this disaster spread to Avalon as well?” Olivia tugged on his arm from behind.

The girl wasn’t scared, just the disaster they witnessed exceeded the imagination of ordinary people.

“We must quickly spread the word, seek allies, and unite more armies to contain this field’s expansion…” Leon turned back to comfort her.

All he could think of was to contact every possible force and establish a defense line along the edge of the Netherworld to prevent the field from consuming the mortal world further, causing the undead to grow exponentially like a snowball.

It’s not that he didn’t want to take the initiative to stamp out the disaster, but not everyone had a pope to guard their soul like him or possessed a unique constitution like Olivia.

If they couldn’t resolve the soul-extracting bell sound, common living people wouldn’t even be able to approach the formed Summoning Bell.

Yet, without military assistance, how could he and Olivia alone possibly handle the massive sea of corpses guarding the bell?

Not to mention the powerful high-level undead transformed from elite warriors, and the large demon ghosts like those previously killed by the Death Claw.

Even the most ordinary walking dead and Corpse Demons, with their sheer numbers alone, could exhaust the two’s strength.

Corpse Ghosts would not fear; no matter how fiercely they killed, Leon and Olivia couldn’t scare the corpse tide away like they did with living soldiers.

“At worst, we still have Miss Lora; she’s a great Mage and surely has a way to keep Avalon safe.” Remembering his backer, Leon felt his confidence boost.

Lora’s voice suddenly sighed faintly: “You have quite a bit of confidence in me…”

“Of course, for such a major disaster, only a vastly capable teacher like you, Miss Lora, can turn the tide.” Leon smirked in his heart.

“Heh, how eagerly you call me ‘teacher’ now, I didn’t see you so respectful before.”

“Didn’t I get used to calling before being apprenticed?

How about I change it, call you ‘teacher’ from now on?” Leon asked.

“…Forget it, just let it be…

listening to you calling me that all the time…” Lora’s voice trailed off softly.

She continued: “Let’s talk about it after we return to the Mage Tower.

Right now, this layered ‘Great Magic’ with different nested effects consists of many unfamiliar undead and Spirit Realm Magic, possibly combined with techniques from the outer regions of the void.

In my current weakened state, I can’t forcibly disperse it.

It’ll take time to reverse engineer those spells to find methods applicable today.”

“Alright, I’ll notify that Shatai City knight of the danger first, then begin our journey back to Avalon.” Leon responded.

However, as the Death Claw flew back over Shatai City, he suddenly realized a large congregation of soldiers gathered below in Yevan’s Tower Castle courtyard, seemingly in the midst of a commotion.