After Evelyn joined the group, Elena told everyone about the situation on Ella's side. It made everyone worry. Because of that, they were going to check it out right away.
"We will move as a group. Please don't move alone for a while. Understand?" Elena reminds everyone.
"Understand." The girls answered almost simultaneously. They understood their current situation was a little complicated.
"Good. We're leaving now." Elena immediately led everyone to the west. She didn't know if that mark's location was where Ella was, but she would still check there.
*Poof*
Everyone disappeared from a private room within the Holy Cathedral and reappeared on a slightly hot sandy barren land.
The ruins of the city could be seen in the distance, covered by desert sand and twilight shadows. No signs of life were detected within a two-hundred-meter radius. Elena felt they were lost somewhere, and the mark of the teleport location she was using was misled by the disturbance zone.
"As I thought. This desert is enveloped by mysterious waves that disrupt communication signals of any kind. Can you feel a little dizzy here? Yes, that's the first proven effect of the mysterious disruptive waves. This is the one I call the disturbance zone." Nell surveyed the surrounding area. She was sure that his guess was right.
"This place is like the corrupted deserts of Nameless Land. Almost no living beings can last long here. Only the mutated monsters or the accursed who can feel comfortable to occupy a territory like this." Lifa nodded slightly. She then applied a divine protection dome to protect her group from waves of mysterious disruptive energy.
"Is this desert really in the western region? Then, where are Ella and her holy knight squads? They're not in this place, right?" Evelyn muttered anxiously. Ella was her nice friend after her bestie, and she didn't want anything bad to happen to Ella.
"They're not here. The spirit connection disruption led us here without knowing why. Even so, let's explore this place while flying toward Xeafinata City. Ella's father and mother should still be there." Rhea explained while looking up at the sky. She wanted to ask about the direction of the nature entities, but there was not even a single one present near this area.
"..." Elena thought for a moment and felt it was the right decision. They wouldn't find anything here, and Ella had probably arrived at Xeafinata City. "We're leaving now."
Everyone agreed and immediately flew in a group towards the north. No one could tell their current location, but they could definitely arrive somewhere if they went in a certain direction.
Somewhere in the ruined city of that vast desert, a living skeleton rose. Its body was raised from the pile of sand, and it looked around. A red light shone from within its eye sockets while it was looking at its bony hands.
The living skeleton then looked at the twilight sky and went walking somewhere aimlessly.
When Elena's group saw the end of the desert and barren lands, they were wide-eyed when they saw a horde of skeletons and half-decomposed humans marching towards a fortress town in the distance.
The dead rose from the grave as undead and went to attack the town of humans.
"Zombies? Why are there so many zombies here? This is an attack on zombies and undead creatures!" Fortuna expressed her surprise. It was not the first time she had seen zombies, but she could tell something was wrong with those creatures.
'Nell, you've been around this area, haven't you? Is this situation odd and has been going on for the past few weeks?' Elena felt a little suspicious.
'This is clearly unnatural! We don't have zombies and undead creatures rising from the grave unless someone with at least the power of a greater lich or lesser demon lord of hell does this.' Nell scratched her head as she scanned the battlefield. She searched for the culprit, but she couldn't find anyone to suspect.
"..." Several girls glanced at Sylvia as if asking for an explanation.
"W-what? Why are you all looking at me? I didn't know about this, really. My father and I were not involved. I am a good devil and my father is a smart ruler. An evil devil or a calamity demon might do this to take revenge on the world?" Sylvia immediately defended herself to avoid any misunderstandings.
"We thought you knew something. However, it's an evil devil or a calamity demon, huh..." Yuuki shook his head.
"We need to go to that fortress town immediately. We'll know more when we get there." Lifa proposed, and that was what everyone would do.
Everyone went away from that desert area and straight into the fortress town.
The first thing Elena did when she got there was to look for Ella's whereabouts, but the one she was looking for wasn't there. She could only find many holy knights fighting against that undead with their holy magic.
"Wait here for a moment. They can still overcome those kind of weak undead with their strength. I'll give a little help and ask the General over there about this place." Nell pointed to a place in the command tent inside the fort.
Elena only responded with a nod, and Nell immediately flew down to meet the Holy Knight General.
"Squad one, exterminate the long-legged skeleton undead. Don't let those undead creatures break through the fort!"
"Eradicate the undead!"
"Holy Lances!"
"Holy Lights!"
"Golden Slash!"
"Judgement Smash!"
The holy knights and brave warriors reduced the undead to ashes with their various mid-level and high-level magics.
The undead had to be completely obliterated, or they wouldn't be annihilated due to their insane regeneration. Although the consumption of magic and energy was high to eliminate the approaching horde of zombies and undead creatures, the holy knights and brave warriors were able to eliminate those monsters well from the fortress.
A Holy Knight General observed the course of the entire battle from near the tent above the fortress. He was looking for the top-tier undead to be eliminated as soon as possible or maybe the mastermind behind the invasion of so many undead. This attack has happened in the last few days, and it was really not to be taken lightly.
Yet, a calm and graceful voice rang out from behind.
"You look a little troubled, but the situation is still manageable."
The General was a bit surprised because he didn't feel that anyone was behind him. He didn't notice someone else approaching him. Thus, he immediately turned around and was surprised to find who had come to him.
It was easy to recognize the lemon blonde-haired little fairy was the Goddess of Blessings. Her golden holy aura that radiated outwardly confirmed everything instantly.
"I didn't expect you to come here, o the Goddess of Blessings. As you say, we can overcome the attacks of the undead and defend Ouistol Town from their aggression. They were not the accursed creatures, but a resurrected dark-type monster." The Holy Knight General knelt down.
"Raise your head. Ouistol Town is a war-era relic fortress town that was assigned as a post to the mysterious desert. However, the mentioned desert is now the source of thousands of undead? Since when has this been going on? Tell me about the situation here." Nell stretched out her hand and gazed far away at the horde of undead creatures.
"This attack has been going on for the past five days and ten hours. Those undead number more than twenty-three thousand in the records. However, we still can't find the source or mastermind behind the appearance of these undead creatures--" The Holy Knight General raised his head and then continued to report about the situation.
The other holy knights were so absorbed in their battle. They failed to notice the presence of their Goddess behind them.
What Nell could understand from the current attack on undead creatures was that those low to mid-tier monsters seemed to move at someone's will.
They invaded this fortress for a period of time and attacked heavily for two or three hours. After that, they would return deep into the mysterious desert when the sandstorm hit and then attack this fortress town again when it subsided.
However, the odd thing was that the number of the undead kept growing no matter how many thousands of monsters were eliminated outside the fort.
"Perhaps, they were resurrected by a creature lurking in the desert? Their numbers seem to increase with each attack is natural, but why do they always return to the desert? Have you sent an investigation team?" Nell folded her arms. She still felt there were a few points missing before she could reveal the truth.
"We sent several investigative teams, but they never returned from the desert. The forbidden place has a high level of pressure and energy disturbance. They may not survive the attacks of the undead in the desert." The Holy Knight General shook his head and sighed.
"In that desert there is a massive underground ancient city that has been abandoned for a long time. Could it be that the undead came from there? I'll give you a talisman blessing. This will create a vast anti-interference domain even if you enter the desert for a few days. . Bring some troops with you, and find the root of the problem." Nell handed two gold talismans to the General.
"Yes, we will settle this matter as soon as possible, o the Goddess of Blessings. When the sandstorm hits, we will follow the undead to the mentioned underground city to destroy the root of the problem." The Holy Knight General received the talismans with both hands respectfully.
"Perhaps, those undead were ordered to retrieve something from this fortress town? What exactly do they want here?" Nell muttered in a mosquito-like voice while examining the entire fortress with her magic vision, but she couldn't find anything that caught her attention.
She could only shrug her shoulders and look back at the Holy Knight General. "Do you know the whereabouts of the Holy Princess, Gabriella Celestine, and her guardian squad?"
"Holy Princess and her entourage... They came here five hours ago, but they have already left for Capital City for a reason I don't know. They left without leaving a word. It seems they are in a hurry." The Holy Knight General thought for a moment before answering.
"Alright. I entrust the situation regarding the undead raid here to you. I'll give you one more talisman, but this one to unleash a high-class offensive holy magic. Use this in a pinch." Nell handed over another talisman, but this one was white and gold with a sun rune insignia in the middle.
After that, she immediately flew off into the sky to gather with Elena and the others.