18

The Witcher: The last King of the elves

Chapter 18 - The Magic of Death

Boom!

The fireballs cast by Thranduil were several meters in diameter, all of them extremely large and terrifyingly powerful, instantly killing thousands of enemies on the battlefield.

This immediately attracted the attention of many high-level undead.

"Is that their king?"

"And he’s a mage with ancient elven blood, that’s dangerous..."

The power Thranduil released on the battlefield let the enemies know he was the king of the elves—there was no need for further investigation.

“We must kill him.”

There were high-level undead spirits vibrating their spiritual consciousness to issue orders.

The powerful undead army surged toward the elven army gathered in the center of the plaza like a tide, bringing with them countless magical attacks and a dense rain of arrows.

During the assault, a great number of undead creatures fell to the ground. In particular, the magical abilities of more than three hundred elven mages caused massive casualties to the undead army.

But even so, the undead army didn’t retreat a single step. Soon, the two legions collided with each other.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The sound of clashing metal was dense and harsh. Hundreds of elven swordsmen formed a solid defensive line and withstood the onslaught of the undead army. Even if undead knights approached, they were annihilated by force.

Every elven swordsman mastered magnificent sword skills. Their movements were agile, slicing through enemy lines without difficulty.

The sharp swords in their hands drew thin arcs of light that coordinated with the entire frontline fighting fiercely.

Soon, a large number of mutilated undead corpses piled up around them. However, the number of undead creatures was simply too great.

As time passed, more and more undead entered the battlefield and surrounded the elven army, led by some high-level undead.

Elven blood began to stain the ancient lands of the elven kingdom once again, forcing them to change their formation.

At first, the elven army formation was square, with elven swordsmen at the front.

Now the formation had become an oval circle.

The elven swordsmen were still on the perimeter, protecting the elven archers and mages inside the circle. The difference may seem small, but in reality, it was highly disadvantageous for the swordsmen, as their defensive line was longer and they had to face more enemies at once.

The only good news was that the destructive power of the elven mages was quite astonishing. The advanced magic they unleashed could kill large numbers of undead creatures every minute and every second.

Moreover, with elven spring water to replenish their magical power, they didn’t have to worry at all about depletion.

They cast various magical abilities non-stop, constantly increasing the casualties of the undead army. This greatly reduced the pressure on the elven swordsmen.

As for the elven archers, most of their attention was on the sky.

As the elven mages changed their attack targets, they had to deal with the threat from above.

“This is a highly elite elven army. Every elf has excellent equipment and rich combat experience.”

“Yes… so far, we’ve lost more than 50,000 of our troops…” At the rear of the battlefield, a group of undead mages holding bone staffs communicated through their spiritual consciousness.

“What we undead fear least is the elite! We can wear them down to death!”

“That’s right!”

As they spoke, a group of undead mages raised their bone staffs in unison, releasing a faint green light.

Wherever the light passed, piles of undead creatures rose from the ground.

Some of them were the healed dead.

Some were newly resurrected undead souls.

At that moment, a large number of soul fire fragments scattered across the battlefield. Without special circumstances, these soul fire fragments would gradually dissipate and return to the origin of the world.

Under the guidance of necromantic magic from the undead mages, these fragments of soul fire gathered and fused with nearby corpses, eventually becoming new undead.

This is also one of the most terrifying things about undead creatures. Though they appear fragile, they actually possess extremely strong vitality.

“The Tree of Life is the spiritual pillar of the elves… We should send a group of undead to uproot the Tree of Life and crush the elves’ morale.”

“There are two huge trees over there. Which one is the Tree of Life?”

“Doesn’t matter, cut them both down at once!”

“That makes sense!” At the command, a large number of undead creatures on the battlefield suddenly gathered toward the Tree of Life and the Ancient War Tree not far away.

Thranduil, who was at the center of the battlefield, also saw this scene. However, he didn’t take it to heart.

Because he had taken protective measures in advance.

Indeed, just as the undead approached the two ancient trees, enormous columns of fire suddenly rose a hundred meters around the Ancient War Tree.

The undead were caught off guard and burned to ashes in large numbers.

That was another magical trap laid by the elven huntresses.

Moreover, they were heavily concentrated, firmly protecting the Ancient War Tree at the center. Not even high-level undead could get through the fire columns to attack it.

As for the Tree of Life, no fire columns appeared.

This drew a large number of living undead creatures.

But in the end, no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t damage the Tree of Life. Instead, the elves hiding inside the tree laughed at them.

The Tree of Life is the central building of the territory. The system had told Thranduil that the Tree of Life would be invincible before the other buildings in the territory were destroyed.

Not to mention a group of low-level undead creatures—even if a saint or demigod came, they couldn’t touch a single leaf of the Tree of Life.

Therefore, Thranduil didn’t allow the elven hunters to place magical traps around the Tree of Life.

“All we have to do is protect the Ancient War Tree. If the Ancient War Tree is cut down, we’ll have to spend energy crystals to rebuild it.” Those were Thranduil’s thoughts on the battlefield.

Thranduil then called an elven huntress and said: “Find a way to cross the battlefield and kill those undead mages. We can’t let them keep reviving the undead on the battlefield!”

“As you command, Your Majesty!” The elven hunter bowed and stepped back.

A moment later, dozens of figures mounted on mountain leopards gathered and then pierced through the undead army’s camp like sharp arrows.

During the charge, a high-level team of Undead Knights came to intercept them. But the elven hunters killed them in an instant.

Being one of the most important troops in the army, this kind of combat power is simply not something Undead Knights can resist.

No matter who stood in their way, they were all instantly crushed.

Those who escaped slowly were torn apart along with their undead mounts by the elven huntresses.

“Damn it! They’ve got us targeted!”

“Retreat!”

The necromancers summoned more undead creatures to intercept them while fleeing into the darkness beyond the plaza with their companions.

“The death king they serve hides in the shadows.”

Boom!

Countless bone spurs flew through the air and struck.

This was magic cast by the necromancers.

The elven hunters swung the short swords in their hands, breaking all the bone spurs with great precision, and then continued their pursuit without slowing down.

Not long after, the elven hunters finally intercepted a group of undead mages at the edge of the plaza and raised their butcher knives without saying a word.

“Your Majesty, help me!” At that moment, some necromancers called for help from the darkness beyond.

Faintly visible...

Pairs of dark green soul fires floated in the darkness. However, even until all the undead mages present were slain, the reinforcements in the dark never appeared.

For some reason, the King of Death never took action.