Overlord: Welcoming the Birth of the King
Chapter 83: The Great Cemetery, Intelligence Strategy Begins

E-Rantel had three layers of walls, and occupying about one-fourth of the outermost wall area, covering most of the western sector, was the city's public cemetery.

As a frontline fortress, the annual battles between the Li Yestige Kingdom and the Bahāruth Empire resulted in massive casualties.

Even now, while there were numerous rumors about how undead were born, none had ever been proven true. No one truly understood how undead came into existence.

But one thing most people agreed upon was that places where the dead met their end had a chance of spawning undead. Those who died unnatural deaths or lacked mourners had an even higher probability of transforming into undead.

Thus, both the Empire and the Kingdom would establish agreements during wars to solemnly mourn the deceased together. This massive cemetery was built precisely for that purpose.

Under the dim night sky, a dark figure moved swiftly yet quietly toward the cemetery.

The closer one got to the cemetery, the more one could feel the silence in the air. Few people came here even during daytime, let alone at night.

From a distance, Tang Zheng spotted a perimeter wall about four meters tall, serving as the boundary separating the cemetery from the outside world.

Slightly raising his head, a monocle rested on the bridge of his nose - a magical item he had purchased that granted night vision. Even in this darkness, Tang Zheng could clearly see his surroundings.

That tall, sturdy wall in the distance clearly wasn't built to protect the cemetery, but rather to prevent any undead born within from escaping into the outside world.

As he approached, two watchtowers emitting soft light became visible in the darkness, flanking a massive closed gate.

Clearly, the entrance to the cemetery was closed at this hour, with patrolling guards stationed in both watchtowers. Not just guards - an adventurer team was also stationed there.

This was an arrangement coordinated between the Adventurer's Guild and the city mayor, with rotating shifts periodically to deal with any undead that might appear in the cemetery.

"Looks like I'll need to find another way in," Tang Zheng murmured, changing direction to move along the wall away from the watchtowers.

Soon, he stopped before a section of the four-meter-high wall, examining its smooth surface without changing his expression.

While this height could effectively block ordinary undead, it posed no obstacle to Tang Zheng.

Bending his knees, he pushed off the ground forcefully, easily leaping up to about three meters. With a flip of his palm, his Mithril Dagger appeared, which he stabbed into the wall to anchor himself.

Using his wrist strength, he propelled himself higher. When his feet reached the dagger's level, he flicked his toe to dislodge it, catching it midair as it fell back into his hand.

In the blink of an eye, Tang Zheng landed lightly atop the wall before flipping down into the cemetery.

The first thing that greeted him were rows upon rows of tombstones, with withered trees rustling in the wind. Among the tombstones stood small wooden structures less than a meter tall, shaped like miniature houses.

Under the night's shadows, their elongated forms created an intangible sense of dread and oppression!

Facing this eerie scene, Tang Zheng remained expressionless.

In his previous world, ghosts didn't exist, yet people still feared them - not just psychological effects, but fear of the unknown.

But in this world?

Indeed, ghosts existed - more accurately called spirits.

How to deal with spirits?

A faint smirk appeared on Tang Zheng's lips as he strode deeper into the cemetery: "Just kill them."

As he progressed further, the number of tombstones and dead trees gradually increased.

While observing his surroundings, Tang Zheng recalled details from memory.

If he remembered correctly, Kajit was hiding in an underground temple deep within the cemetery. By the time the original story began, he had already been lurking in E-Rantel's cemetery for five years, gathering negative energy.

At this current timeline, Kajit should have only been hiding here for about a year.

A cemetery provided home advantage for a necromancer like Kajit, especially during nighttime.

Daytime obviously wasn't suitable for action.

The guards and stationed adventurer team would patrol during daylight hours, and any disturbance in the cemetery would immediately draw their attention.

But at night?

Unless a large-scale undead assault on the walls occurred, neither guards nor adventurers would rashly enter the cemetery upon hearing noises, opting instead to wait until daytime to investigate.

If Kajit's advantage lay in the terrain, then in Tang Zheng's view, his own advantage was information.

Among Kajit's many abilities, the one that concerned Tang Zheng most was the bone dragon.

Although this monster was only level 16, it possessed immunity to magic below the sixth tier - a nightmare for most magic casters in this world.

Even the Flame Archangel's attacks combining fire and holy attributes would be nullified by this trait.

Additionally, its massive size granted it power far exceeding what its level would suggest.

This was an extremely troublesome undead creature.

Actually, considering it took Kajit five years to gather enough negative energy to summon two bone dragons, the current Kajit likely couldn't summon any yet.

But precautions were still necessary - nothing was absolute.

Of the ten Flame Archangels Tang Zheng prepared, two were specifically reserved for dealing with bone dragons - not to destroy them, but to stall them.

The deeper parts of the cemetery had grown silent.

Occasionally, will-o'-the-wisp-like lights flickered among the dead trees.

About a hundred meters ahead, a three-meter-tall structure came into view - a severely damaged, ancient-looking temple with a spire top supported by thick stone pillars.

Judging by its state of disrepair, this temple must have stood for an extremely long time.

Tang Zheng stopped walking and tilted his head slightly, scanning his surroundings.

Under the pale moonlight, shadowy figures could be seen moving toward him from among the dead trees.

Simultaneously, the previously silent environment began echoing with bestial growls.

A putrid, rotting stench suddenly permeated the air.

Facing the approaching undead zombies, Tang Zheng flipped his wrist, producing a second-tier magic scroll which he crushed in his palm.

Whoosh!

Holy light flashed in the darkness, instantly coalescing into a guardian angel.

At that moment, the slowly approaching undead suddenly quickened their movements. The sound of numerous footsteps intensified, accompanied by louder snarls.

Bang!

A male zombie smashed through dead wood, appearing directly to Tang Zheng's left. Through his night vision monocle, Tang Zheng could even see maggots wriggling in its decaying flesh.

"Go, lure all the undead in this area away," Tang Zheng ordered the guardian angel expressionlessly.

Flap!

The guardian angel's golden wings beat once as it soared into the air, flying into the distance.

Following the angel's movement, the horde of undead that had been approaching immediately changed direction.

If the scent of living humans was like fragrant meat to undead, then an angel's holy aura was like a blazing torch in the darkness!

Seeing no movement from the temple a hundred meters away, Tang Zheng remained standing still, waiting patiently.

After about seven or eight minutes, all undead in the area had been successfully lured away by the guardian angel.

"Step two."

Tang Zheng smiled faintly, producing two second-tier angel summoning scrolls, one in each hand.