101 Frostbound ...

His prayer was quickly answered when he saw five strangers appearing and jumping toward the deadly threat. Weirdly enough, the fact that they were constantly pushed back in the last hours allowed this, because the frontline was getting closer and closer to the numerous houses and other buildings located near the ramparts. This higher ground allowed those five beings to bypass the numerous guards that were securing the area to directly jump into the sea of skeletons.

But even if it seemed that they were fighting with them, Seron was hardly happy about that. Glancing at the building that should have been occupied by the remaining crossbowmen and most importantly, the mages, how could someone infiltrate this place without anyone noticing it? If it had been someone with far more evil intentions, their main fighting force against the dark spells of the liches would have been killed.

The five silhouettes that suddenly disrupted the activities of the ghouls provoked many shouts of victory, especially after one exhibited the very head of one of those monsters. The monstrous face of the undead responsible for so many death was soon brought toward Seron, who could finally examine it clearly. As for the supposed saviors of the guards, they were nowhere to be found. Thanks to that influx of determination and excitement, the fighter doubled their efforts, and soon, the bodies of two additional ghouls were found laying on the ground.

That was not without any cost, and before they were killed, a few soldiers still fell under their sharp claws. Grabbing a few torches to have the entire bodies visible, everyone could see the three empty holes in the middle of the chest. A few were perplexed by that, but soon, someone explained to them that it was the location where the undead core would be formed usually. There was not a single injury anywhere else, besides the beheaded one. Without a doubt, those that executed those monsters were proficient at launching sudden attacks.

"Captain, do we pursue this matter?" A few officers were looking at him, unsure whether they should act or not. If the one that helped them had stated their allegiance or at least said something, they would have dropped the matter. But because everything happened too fast, it was still unknown if they were truly friends.

"No. The only enemy we have today is those undead. Or maybe you want to fight both the Organization and those monsters at the same time?" His last sentence froze everyone in their thoughts. But after thinking for a few seconds, they realized that besides those criminals, not a lot of powers could have such a strong force located inside Archet. Not a single human nations had managed to really harm it, so what to say about an exhausted troop of guards?

On the other hand, Seron still reinforced greatly the security around the Guild Master. He was considering to allow the elites guarding the bomb to be dispatched to counter those ghouls, but he would never do that now. For them to steal something they had sold at a very high price was not unheard off, meaning that while he didn't have to worry about them killing his men, things could still be stolen.

Nearly half of an hour passed before any signs of another ghoul was seen. This didn't prevent the southern part of the eastern frontline to be on the brink of collapsing. Because there was no one like Davion or Meridiana that was capable of destroying a large amount of undead, the adventurers, mercenaries and guards alike could only suffer and retreat step by step. A few buildings had already been lost completely to the skeletons, and the only relieving news was the fact that they were too dumb to use those. None attempted to climb the walls of those houses, because unlike the very tall ramparts, falling from a few meters would not be fatal to the undead.

It seemed that just a slight additional force could bascule everything. Because of this, Seron could only bet that the killers sent by the Organization will think the same way. And that the liches will also follow. It was risky, but only with the disappearance of all the ghouls will he be able to barely hold. It was already a miracle that the fighters were not falling asleep on their feet, most were awake for more than 24 hours. The longer the fight went, the more tired their side will be.

On the other hand, Malakov had transcended his fury and attained another state of mind. Or, in another hand, he was currently torturing the soul of a traveler that was killed near the fabricated lair of cultist. That woman was seriously unlucky to just happen to be in that place at that time, but it did allow him to have a very satisfying stress relief. Unlike the souls that were planned to be turned into liches, he was just meticulously stripping layers of memories inside the soul, while maintaining its consciousness. Even as she screamed and begged for help, she could only suffer an eternity of torments for the very fact that he would never acknowledge that his training was clearly lacking.

It had been so many hours, but the liches had spent the entirety of the time fighting each other. If he hadn't sealed their magical powers, they would have thrown spells after spells. The amount of hatred the two had for each other was remarkable, even he had to recognize that. How they managed to survive and work together was an equally baffling question. If anyone could have seen the pitiful spectacle he had in front of his eyes, they would have slapped themselves to be sure they weren't sleeping.

As for the fact that three ghouls had been destroyed, they didn't care at all. It was even to the point where Malakov wondered if they had realized that they were in charge of an army currently in a battle.Thinking that all this nonsense was clearly taking longer than it should, he decided to truly do as he wished, without worrying about the potential consequences. In the end, he was still an undead, and whatever they will find in the end is the trace of an undead. He had slightly more flexibility than Leilade in that regard, especially since he could freely utilize the mana of this world. If it wasn't for that Saksa hibernating on this planet, they wouldn't have to do many things just to conquer a single city.

Searching through the sight of the skeletons were to use the last remaining ghouls he had at his disposal, he found the place where the soldiers were having the hardest time dealing with his summons. It was located a little bit South from where he currently was, but even without his intervention, he felt that the skeletons will pierce through in a matter of hours. If that was the case, attacking there will maybe lead to larger destruction than the humans would expect. Right before ordering the ghouls to break the morals of the tired guards, he still felt that something was a bit off.

Even if he was capable of seeing the issue because he could remotely scout the entire battlefield, Malakov was not blind to the point of not seeing the numerous soldiers transmitting information among the troops. Meaning that whoever was in charge couldn't just be blind to the terrible state of the people fighting inside the southern part of Archet. Since the beginning, he had let the ghouls act as they wished since they were far more intelligent than the common undead. The fact that they had cores in their bodies was the proof, without even talking about who created them.

And if he wasn't ordering them, he was also certain that they would have attacked that point. Not forgetting what happened the last time, he felt that it was time for the liches to finally act. Binding them to his will, he brought them with him as he planted his bait. Everything was just expendable for him, and only the end goal was the objective. As the two mindless slaves began to walk toward him, a subtle riptide was spreading amongst the skeletons.

In a matter of a few seconds, the previously feeble and stupid undead that were hacked repeatedly in pieces with only a few slashes began to move weirdly. Instead of just charging to their death and try to grab the limbs of the living to tear them apart, some began to crouch. That caught the sight of everyone not desperately fighting for their lives, and the spectacle that was showed froze their blood in their veins. The worst scenario that Seron feared, even more than fighting two liches that had a fraction of the power of the Lich King.

Klik Klek Klek Kakaka

The sounds of bones and metals resonated, especially from the ramparts that were shrouded in darkness. More and more undead were appearing, wearing an iron helmet, a chest plate, holding a shield, a sword, an axe. All were bloodied by the red liquid that belonged to their owner. The sudden change caught everyone by surprise, and the battle that was in a stalemate was getting more and more inclined toward the dead.

Using this, the ghouls began their assault, and barely less than a second after they killed their first victim, the hidden shadows appeared once more. Only that, they were not the only one waiting for something.

"Malaka Karatros" "Korkaran Madaka"

The unholy and frosty voices of the liches sounded like a death sentence for all near them. Their very body lost gradually the warm temperature allowing them to work normally. Muscles were no longer usable, senses were blurred. Even the tempered killers suffered the same fate, only worse than the surroundings. They were blocked by the ice statues that were previously skeletons. The spell was not discriminating between friends and foes, making most undead crumble into tiny icicles. But for the guards, that was not even a good thing, since they were not in a state any better, most of them had already breathed their last.

Even if it seemed to be a little late to act only now, Malakov was still confident that Archet will now be irredeemably doomed. He was a bit surprised by the appearance of those living beings that tried to harm the creations of the Empress, and he was certain that if he hadn't taken the reins, they would have also harmed the two idiots that were turned into liches. Anyway, it should have been the last trump card those humans had, otherwise, they wouldn't have waited so long before using them.

Because the spell ended up creating a huge hole in the line of guards, even if the skeletons had to destroy all the frozen undead and now dead, they still managed to pierce through and create an additional front. The thin defense that was hastily put in front of the now armed and a bit armored group of skeletons crumbled in less than a second. For the first time, Malakov had a way of mobilizing his army beyond the encirclement the guards had created.

Now, he could finally slaughter the citizens and innocents to the point of them losing all hope in those supposedly protecting them. Just as he was thinking this, he heard a very loud noise, that was getting more and more echoes as the minutes passed.

DONG DING DONG DING

The bells of the city were as loud as thunder, awakening those that managed to fall asleep in that dark night. Everyone understood the very signification of that sound, meaning that something terrible happened. Families quickly grabbed a few belongings and began to leave their houses in a hurry. Unfortunately for a very few of them, instead of finding terrified faces like their own or the pale ones of the local guards, they found something far more terrifying. Red bones, barely visible holding a sword above their heads.