Chapter 874 Warming Up

A flaming spear thrust through the heart was not enough to kill a ghoul. Perhaps if it was the blue flames Vivian controlled, or the flames of wrath. But Eldrian wasn't about to go that far right at the start.

He needed to make this a show. Get all the focus on him so the others could escape. He had already marked everyone of interest. He needed to keep the city focused on him until they escaped the city.

While none of those making the commotion were Adriana, he was sure one of them would lead him to her. The only problem would be if there were multiple Adriana's in the city.

Coughing blackened blood, the ghoul's arms move to attack Eldrian. Bending unnaturally as the bones broke and rearranged themselves. The attack came quickly, but not quick enough.

A wall of flames surrounded the ghoul as Eldrian jumped back. Not a second later, the ghoul chased, its skin charred and blackened from the flames, but the damage minimal. Its life was not threatened.

'600 damage, not bad,' Eldrian thought as he dodged the enraged flurry of venom dripping claws. Leading the ghoul in a chase while the rest were running to catch up to their leader. Their speed causing the reinforcements to fall further and further behind.

'Mmm, it's a little faster than me,' Eldrian analyzed, making up for the difference by throwing spells at the undead. He also  Scourge of Undeath  to pinpoint all the ghoul's weak points. And, once it entered his trap, Eldrian took flight. Leaving a burning inferno to the undead who were chasing them.

'Runic magic certainly comes in handy for traps. Sadly, it is too slow for use in combat,' Eldrian commented, focusing on the inferno while listening to the XP notifications coming in. Each of the normal ghouls rewarded Eldrian 4M XP on their deaths. A higher reward did not appear.

'Still alive?' Eldrian mumbled as he saw a figure jumping from the inferno.  Claws stretched to strike at him. But, in the air, Eldrian had all the advantages.

He circled around the ghoul's outstretched claws and trust Crystoi through its heart once again. Twisting the spear before pulling it out and sending the ghoul towards the ground with a slash.

Eldrian further followed this up by throwing Incinerate at the falling ghoul. Focusing the spell into the closing blackened wound to destroy the heart.

Sensing danger, the ghoul twisted midair. Tearing at its body and striking at the ball of flames threatening to pierce its heart. It wasn't Eldrian's strongest Incinerate, but the anger he had been suppressing since coming to the city gave it a healthy bite.

As the ghoul fought to keep the spell from destroying the heart, its claws melted and its flesh burned. A horrible smell filled the air, and as the ghoul defeated the spell, a spear struck it from above.

Pinned the ghoul to the ground, the ghoul flailed. It gave one last attempt at resisting, but Eldrian decapitated it with a wind blade before it could collect its thoughts.

[Tier 6 sentient Ghoul killed — 28.5M XP gained]

"Huh, seems going for the heart was a mistake." Eldrian mumbled, activating the delayed spells he had woven before the fight. Sending a barrage of spells to annihilate the coming reinforcements. Naturally, Eldrian left their control in Two's capable hands.

'Now, I think I'll head for the nearby library.' Dashing as if to escape, Eldrian burned everything as he ran. Using his map to guide him through the less populated areas as he headed for the Higher district. What would be the equivalent of a noble district in normal cities.

He was stopped at one of the district gates, but its walls were nothing compared to the massive outer walls. Using a slow zombie as footing, Eldrian vaulted over and left a little surprise for the gate. A Nova.

The massive explosion tore through the normal stone. The wall had been made to manage the flow of the city's citizens, not to keep an intruder out. Its destruction would do little, but it would cause more chaos to envelop the city.

'Though I don't really know if the undead are affected by morale or not.' The higher undead certainly were, but those who only barely had sentience might not care.

—

Adriana had started investigating the news of a stranger helping one of the farms. Unlocking their collars. If the rumors were to be believed, he wasn't breaking the collars. But instead, somehow, modifying their internal structure. Disabling them, but leaving them intact.

While its significance wasn't that great, since most of the undead were braindead. It would make a massive difference in tricking the smarter guards.

It was on their way to the source of the rumors that a sentient ghoul visited the place they had set up their base of operation. It had come for some new playthings. Sadly, because they had been moving, it had spotted them.

Craine had taken three others with him to distract the ghoul. Knowing it would likely mean their death. However, just as she was about to watch the ghouls tear her friends apart, someone struck the sentient ghoul. A flaming spear pierced its heart, yet it did not kill it.

What happened next was a blur of movement. Adriana could only barely make out their movement as the ghoul chased its attacker. Escaping a prison of fire, swatting away countless lower Tiered spells, and finally, being consumed by an inferno.

But even that inferno, hot enough to melt stone, did not kill it. The last part Adriana saw before joining the others in her retreat was the ghoul escaping and aiming for its assailant's head. Who was flying.

"Vassil?" Once they had regrouped, Adriana frowned as she noticed their correspondent from the town of the rumors.

"It is as you have guessed. He's the one who has been freeing us. Here, this is a device he had made to unlock collars."

Taking what appeared little more than a flat piece of iron, Adriana's eyes bulged as she noticed the strange patterns. The runes were somehow mixed into a formation. Everything was connected and nothing seemed to work as logic dictated it should.

"He told us to free as many as we can and escape. He'll draw their attention."

Hearing this, everyone wished to cheer. They did not, for they weren't so dumb as to make a noise while a battle was ongoing.

"Is he that strong?" Adriana questioned.

Vassil shook his head, not knowing the answer. Eldrian had never demonstrated his strength, only freed them from their collars and sought information. That was when a report came from those keeping watch.

"He's killed them all. A-And..." Failing to repeat what he had seen. It couldn't even be called a battle. From start to finish, the ghoul and all the reinforcements had stood no chance.

"Corvis, take a deep breath."

Doing as instructed, the man calmed himself and relayed that the ghoul had been killed and all the reinforcements had been slaughtered. The strange man who had done this all had then departed towards the center of the city.

"Vassil?" Turning to the only one who had spoken with their benefactor, Adriana sought answers.

"He said h-he'd... Is he a monster?" Eldrian's words before his sudden attack repeated in Vassil's mind. Trembling as he wondered what a man capable of killing a sentient Tier 6 ghoul would label as a grand event.

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