Chapter 250: Reclaiming Our Homeland: The Battle of Starnight(3)

The branches and leaves felled from the great estate, along with the harvested wheat stalks, had all been prepared for this very moment. With every burst of flame from Drakewolf and every strike of Alice’s Fire God Butterflies, pillars of fire erupted beneath the wall.

Corrupted creatures feared fire as well. The ignited corpses went completely mad, running wildly or scrambling upward in hysteria.

The southern district of Starnight City had once been a residential and slum area, filled with clutter. Flames spread with terrifying speed, expanding from scattered sparks into a boundless sea of fire.

“Cough, cough.”

Phield wrinkled his nose. The stench of burning corruption was unbearable.

“This is incredible. Starnight City is about to be reclaimed. This is something that could make you famous across the Empire.” Alice was deeply shaken, and for the first time, a trace of admiration appeared in her eyes. “Back then, the Empire’s commanders never thought of seizing the walls and using fire like this.”

“This is nothing. Starnight City is only one of the outer three territories. The Imperial army was defeated deep within the province.”

Phield showed no pride at all. He spoke calmly, “Fame across the Empire doesn’t bring much benefit. It’s better if we keep the recapture of the city hidden.”

He knew very well what kind of people the Empress and her subordinates were.

The subsidies they had promised him never came, and instead he was left with nothing but trouble.

Alice lowered her arms slowly, stunned for a moment. “You don’t seem happy.”

Everyone was giving their all, yet the lord still wore a cold expression. Alice felt a pang of disappointment again. As expected, all members of the Ross family were the same.

In the end, it had all been misplaced hope.

Phield had no idea about her inner thoughts. Seeing her dejected expression, he gently patted her head.

She froze at the unexpected touch, clearly unaccustomed to such contact.

“It’s not about being happy or not. I just don’t like celebrating too early.” Phield remained alert, his voice cold. “According to Ashina’s intel, there are many high-tier corpses in Starnight City. None of them have shown up yet. That’s not normal.”

Before he could finish speaking, a burning corpse flew past them.

“What the hell. I must be seeing things. I just saw a corpse fly by.”

Phield blinked in shock, rubbed his eyes, and then saw another one fly past.

A long horn sounded once more.

“The enemy is throwing corpses up here. Stay alert!” a soldier shouted to warn the others.

Leaning over the battlement, Phield looked through the flames and spotted a massive corpse with reinforced arms. With a twisted grin, it grabbed one of its own kind, twisted its waist, and hurled it onto the wall like a projectile.

“As expected, the high-tier corpses are here.”

Before Phield could issue further orders, a monstrous stitched corpse, towering two stories high, emerged slowly from the flames, surrounded by a cluster of high-tier corpses. Fragments of armor embedded in its flesh made it barely recognizable as something that had once been human. At a glance, Phield knew this was the uncrowned king of the battlefield.

A buzzing sound cut through the air.

From the orange flames below, over a dozen massive bone spikes shot upward, their cold glint flashing.

They were too fast. Phield had no time to warn anyone. He stepped forward and smashed his Greatsword of Gluttony against two of them, deflecting them aside.

At the same time, amid the sounds of bursting flesh and screams, several soldiers and slaves on the wall were impaled by the giant spikes.

The corpse lord’s face twisted grotesquely, clearly laughing as it spoke in a voice that was neither male nor female, “You, insect. I will savor your flesh.”

“Damn monster. I’ve been waiting for you.”

Phield abandoned all pretense of noble decorum and spat downward in fury. “Come on. Today I’m kicking your head around like a ball.”

With a roar, all the high-tier corpses surged forward. Their bodies blurred as immense power erupted, charging straight toward the wall. The ordinary corpses, scorched by flames, found their rallying point and followed in a suicidal assault.

The archers on the wall had already emptied their quivers and could barely continue drawing their bows. Fortunately, the repeating crossbows held the line, each one delivering the firepower of ten men.

A dense web of arrows harvested the corpses below in swathes.

“Boom!”

The high-tier corpses unleashed their strongest abilities in unison. Countless attacks struck a single vulnerable point of the wall, blasting a hole through the thick structure. Even with Gogris’s defensive enhancement, it only delayed the breach.

“It’s time.”

Phield hoisted his lance and gripped the Greatsword of Gluttony tightly. Turning his head, he said, “Ashina, the corrupted lord is yours. Alice, stall that corrupted hound. I’ll deal with the rest of the high-tier corpses.”

“Leave it to me.”

There was no way Phield would allow them to break through the wall. After issuing rapid orders and giving Ben a few instructions, he leapt straight off the battlements.

“My lord!”

The soldiers were stunned. They had not expected such boldness.

“Fight to the death, hold the line!” roared Ben, captain of the First Army. “Be ready to support the lord at any moment!”

“Fight to the death!”

A piercing screech tore through the air.

More than a dozen swift figures swooped down from above like phantoms. A bat-like banshee let out a shrill cry, extending her shriveled, grotesque legs as she locked onto a target, ready to snatch them away.

A dense burst of silver light flashed across the sky. Sacred radiance swept through the swarm, and two of the bat banshees screamed as they were struck down mid-flight.

“Your opponents are me.”

Tisiana made no effort to hide the killing intent in her eyes. Her wings beat violently, and as holy light erupted, she clashed head-on with the banshee swarm.

Phield descended rapidly toward the ground. Chains from the Greatsword of Gluttony shot out in all directions, anchoring against the city wall behind him and sharply reducing his speed.

The moment he landed steadily, he swung his sword with ruthless force, cleaving three lunging corrupted corpses clean in half at the waist.

Crackling flames filled his ears, mingling with the roars of the undead and the mournful collapse of burning structures.

“This is my city. This is my territory.” Phield exhaled deeply. “And now, the Starnight Domain returns to my grasp.”

Living beings and corruption were absolute enemies.

“Human, while I slumbered, you dared to establish a camp within the Nightfall Domain.” The Corpse Lord sneered. Then his figure shifted as his gaze locked onto the Greatsword of Gluttony. “You carry the divine artifact of a corrupted Divine Chosen?”

Phield hadn’t expected the enemy to speak. He drove his spear into the ground but did not respond directly. Instead, he said with interest, “It can speak now, and it even has logic. Seems I made the right call striking first.”

If this creature had taken the initiative, the consequences would have been disastrous.

“Corrupted artifacts belong only to corrupted beings!” The Corpse Lord’s eyes turned bloodshot as it roared. “Return it to me!”

“Damn, why are you so fond of dreaming?”

Phield swung his greatsword dismissively. “Come take it if you can.”

Enraged, the Corpse Lord lost its composure. It abandoned its attempt to breach the wall and instead commanded a massive wave of corpses to surge toward Phield.

Without hesitation, Phield slashed toward the densest cluster.

“Endless Severance!”

A torrent of sword energy surged outward, instantly annihilating countless ordinary corpses. The higher-tier ones evaded the strike and rushed forward at high speed.

“Come on, chase me. Catch me and I’ll… cough, what am I even saying.”

Phield nearly said something unhinged. He refused to get bogged down, breaking through toward a thinner section of the horde. Flames surrounded the battlefield, and fighting here would constantly drain his magic. The soldiers on the wall also dared not throw anything down recklessly.

The Corpse Lord immediately gave chase, leaving a mass of lesser creatures to continue assaulting the defensive line.

Starnight City quickly split into two battlefields, one for ordinary forces and one for the extraordinary. This was exactly what Phield had wanted.

“There are too many enemies. You can’t fight at full strength while staying inside the sword. It’s your turn now.”

The wall was already far behind him. Seizing the moment, Phield abruptly halted, then thrust forward with explosive speed. His spear, surging with magic like a dragon breaking through water, blasted apart the head of a pursuing second-tier corpse.

At the same time, he hurled the Greatsword of Gluttony.

“Go, Pikachu. I choose you!”

A massive surge of bloodlines poured out, forming Rosalia’s figure midair.

“Leave it to me… who is Pikachu…”

She landed gracefully, chains coiling around her arms. With a sharp flick of her pale arm, the Greatsword of Gluttony swept outward, instantly shattering a charging second-tier corpse in midair, its mangled limbs scattering everywhere.

“Same kind. Tastes good.”

Rosalia licked her lips, completely unfazed by slaughtering her own kind.

“A corrupted Divine Chosen.” The stitched Corpse Lord’s eyes bulged. “Impossible. Only corrupted beings can form contracts with corrupted Divine Chosen.”

“You’re too disgusting. I’d never form a contract with a stitched abomination. And I’m a noble.”

Rosalia’s face was filled with disdain.

She wasn’t lying. She had lived in Starnight Manor her entire life and had never left.

The Corpse Lord roared in fury. “Die!”

“Second-tier divine technique, Armor-Piercing Frost!”

“Second-tier divine technique, Spear of Frostpierce!”

Just as the Corpse Lord prepared to attack, a spear of condensed energy carrying overwhelming force slammed into its back. With the combined enhancement of two divine techniques, Ashina’s full-powered strike reached a terrifying level.

The power of winter churned like a grinder, shredding everything it touched into fragments of flesh. If this strike had hit a Divine Chosen of the same tier, it would have caused severe damage.

The stitched limbs covering the Corpse Lord’s body were almost entirely blown apart, revealing the gaunt, monstrous figure beneath.

Phield was stunned. “It’s still alive?”

“Because it’s receiving the blessing of Starnight City’s fortune.” Rosalia only needed a glance to grasp the key. “It seems not only living beings can gain territorial blessings. Corrupted lords and Divine Chosen can as well.”

“Wait… that’s my uncle. Chica. Didn’t he elope with grandmother?” Rosalia was briefly shocked, then immediately turned cautious. “In any case, be careful. It’s almost at fifth-tier strength.”

Phield’s mind nearly short-circuited. “That’s… a lot to process.”

Even combat-focused Divine Chosen could only fight two tiers above their level. A fifth-tier enemy was beyond their limits.

“You’ve angered me.” The Corpse Lord, Chica, let out a twisted laugh. “Rosalia, I’ll send you to join your family soon. If not for your mother, we wouldn’t have become like this. Everyone in this territory died because of your incompetence.”

Rosalia paused for a moment.

“Don’t listen to his bullshit.” Phield fired a sleeve arrow straight at the monster. “Ashina, take it down!”

“Yes, my lord.”

Ashina’s crimson eyes met the savage gaze of the Corpse Lord.

Both were filled with killing intent.

From Chica’s abdomen, a pair of shriveled arms sprouted. Gray-white power enveloped them, and a nauseating aura spread from its body. As its strength surged, the creature moved faster than the eye could follow. In an instant, Chica struck toward Ashina with four arcs of gray-white light.

“Bloody Rend!”

“What terrifying death energy.” Ashina frowned slightly. “I just used a divine technique. I can’t clash with it head-on.”

Realizing this, she immediately channeled divine power into Drakewolf, dramatically boosting its speed and barely evading the attack. She drew her bow and began firing continuously, wearing down its strength.

“Ashina can hold your uncle off. Now we take down the rest of the high-tier corpses and weaken his support.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep