Mount and Blade System: Start from Pioneer Lords.

Chapter 449 Hyperion's Hideout
“Li Wei, this undead calamity is unprecedented. We should immediately send messages to various countries requesting aid, otherwise, if the undead begin to spread, they won't fare any better.” Flina sighed, “I know the warriors of High Cliff Fortress are elite, but most of your forces are deployed to the Persian Gulf Empire's battlefield. There are only a few hundred or a thousand men here at most. Are you really going to throw them all into this meat grinder of Gonda?”

It wasn't that Flinna was trying to boost the morale of the others, but Gonda City had hundreds of thousands of elite royal guards and powerful court mages. Even their mortal enemy, the Holy Light Church, had its headquarters in Gonda City. Yet, even with such a formidable force, Gonda fell. One can only imagine how powerful these undead were.

The stark data on paper was right in front of her; even if she poured all of the Northern Territory's resources and hundreds of thousands of soldiers into it, the outcome probably wouldn't be much better.

The best course of action now is to first defend the northern border, then contact other provinces, and finally work together to deal with these undead.

Humanity's greatest advantage is its ability to unite in the face of crisis.

Just like the five-colored dragons, if they could form an alliance, they could definitely occupy a territory in the material world. But unfortunately, these guys are all selfish and it is almost impossible for them to unite.

“Frina, you’re right. Faced with millions of undead, the numerical advantage of a conventional army will be overwhelmed by the endless and fearless undead, and may even be transformed into undead.” Li Wei nodded.

"So you plan to retreat to the northern border with us first?" Flina breathed a sigh of relief.

To be honest, she did have her own selfish motives in advising Li Wei.

With such a huge uproar in Gonda, it's almost certain that something must have happened to Harland. Once the undead in Debe are dealt with, there will definitely be another chaotic war between the dukes.

If they were to engage in a war of attrition with the undead at this point, even if they managed to defeat them, how could the heavily damaged Northern Territory and High Cliff Fortress gain the upper hand in the ensuing battles?

"Retreat?" Li Wei rolled his eyes. "First of all, I'm talking about the regular legion, and obviously my subordinates are all elites who can't be understood by common sense. Secondly, you can insult me... well, you can't. You can't insult me, and you can't insult my subordinates either."

You see, ever since these veterans from High Cliff Fortress followed him and upgraded to high-tier units, the experience required for their next upgrades has been enormous. How could they possibly let go of the undead that were practically offering themselves up?

Moreover, aside from the occasional exchange of letters, he and Freya hadn't been in contact for over a year since he returned from the south. This woman probably had no idea what changes had occurred in him during that year.

They might think he was just an ordinary legendary sanctuary.

It has to be said that it's foolish to stubbornly choose to act when faced with such a huge disparity in status.

But it was precisely Li Wei's attitude of facing difficulties head-on and his unprecedented confidence in the face of any predicament that made Flint fall for him.

Women are all drawn to strength, and a duchess is no exception. If the Lord of High Cliff Fortress were a coward, Frena wouldn't have invested thousands of gold and a band of orcs when he had nothing.

Do you really think a mere baron can make exorbitant demands in front of a grand duke?

"Do you have any other plans?" The duchess hoped that the lord wasn't acting on impulse.

“You probably wouldn’t believe me if I said I had a plan all along, so my plan is to launch a blitzkrieg against those frost giants!” the lord said.

Freyna instantly understood Levi's intention, her brow furrowing: "You mean those frost giants? Levi, that's too risky! Letting them into the heart of Debe, what if they break the contract..."

"Break the contract? They should pray I don't." A cold smile curled at the corner of Li Wei's lips. "Besides, the Titan Diamond is their most precious treasure. To get it back, they even gave me the world of Tiridates. Now that it's in the hands of the undead, do you think they can tolerate it?"

He stood up, his tall figure casting a long shadow in the firelight, exuding an imposing aura before action: "Gus, immediately gather the supplies and prepare to head to Gonda."

He looked at Tina, his tone softening but still leaving no room for doubt, "Tina, you go back to High Cliff Fortress first. While I'm away, High Cliff Fortress will be relying on you."

In fact, even if Tina wasn't there, with Elder Tang Jin and Tiffany at High Cliff Fortress, nothing major would go wrong.

This was simply to give the girl something to do, so she wouldn't worry too much.

“Darling.” Tina wanted to say something more, but under Levi’s gaze, she could only nod firmly, offering only silent support.

Li Wei didn't linger any longer and strode out of the tent.

The wind and snow immediately rushed towards him, icy cold, and he walked straight toward the vast snowfield where the Frost Giants camp was located.

From afar, the massive figure of Lagras could be seen as a solitary peak in the wind and snow.

It seemed to have anticipated Li Wei's arrival, and with its arms crossed, its ancient, giant eyes pierced through the wind and snow, firmly fixed on the approaching human lord.

The frost giants around it stopped whispering and turned their gazes toward it with primal wildness and undisguised inquiry.

“Ragras.” Li Wei stopped on a hillside close enough for the frost giant leader to hear him clearly without appearing insignificant, and said succinctly, “Let’s go.”

"Alright." The enormous frost giant stood up, patted the snow off his rump, grinned, revealing a mouthful of gleaming white teeth.

The more than nine hundred frost giants moved, like walking mountains, causing the earth to tremble.

……

"Senior sister, can your ever-changing puppet really break free from the blockade of those undead and send the message out?"

The Governor's Garden, a small, secluded room, was crammed full of a dozen Debe people and a burly minotaur with a small flower hanging from its horn and a pink bow on its tail.

"Well, now you dare to question my alchemy skills, senior sister?!" The minotaur immediately bared its teeth, its muscular arms clamping around the young man's neck, choking him so tightly that he almost looked like a goblin sticking out his tongue.

A group of maids and servants from the governor's mansion stood nearby, trembling with fear, not daring to intervene in the fight between the two.

Only when Mir started begging for mercy did Paya proudly wave her fist: "Mir, you still need to practice your martial arts. If you're still so weak, how can you gain Tannis's approval?"

Seeing the other person's body covered in iron lumps and his "real" iron fist the size of a sandbag, Mir wisely kept quiet.

He strongly suspected that his alchemy skills had progressed too quickly, causing his senior sister to lose face, which was why she had to attack him from another direction.

"I wonder if my sisters have received the letter. But with such a big thing happening in Gonda, even my brother-in-law must have a hard time handling it," Mir thought to himself.

All of this happened too fast. He remembered that he and Peiya had just arrived in Gonda and settled in the governor's mansion when, in the middle of the night, a group of undead emerged from underground and attacked the governor's mansion.

The governor's mansion was guarded by only a few dozen knights, who were quickly overwhelmed by the seemingly endless undead.

When they tried to escape, they were horrified to find that the entire Gonda was teeming with undead. Forced to retreat to the Governor's Residence, they rescued some of the residence's maids and servants. After venting her frustration, Paia finally became serious: "My shapeshifting puppet uses the best active astral dust and mimicry core. As long as it doesn't run into the Lich King or a Death Knight, it can easily slip out of the city by blending into the skeletons. There are low-level undead everywhere now; even the Lich Kings won't bother to observe what's special about ordinary skeletons."

She paused, a barely perceptible hint of heaviness flashing in her bull-like eyes.

Although she didn't know how many people Gondar had, the fact that the capital of a powerful nation had been occupied by the undead showed just how powerful the people responsible were—far beyond what one or two Lich Kings could accomplish.

The maids nearby, upon hearing the words "Lich King" and "Death Knight," turned pale with fright and huddled together, tears welling in their eyes but unable to utter a sound.

The waiters were also pale, gripping their makeshift weapons: a few kitchen cleavers and decorative ceremonial swords. Before the dead, these things were no different from toothpicks.

“Miss Peiya…Master Mir…how much longer…how much longer can we hold out?” an older maid asked in a trembling voice, her eyes fixed on the door to the secret room, as if a monster might burst through at any moment.

Just as Peiya was about to offer some words of comfort, a series of "tap tap tap" sounds came from outside the door.

The sealed room fell into a deathly silence.

A chilling sound pierced through the heavy wooden door and walls, subtle yet like a cold, venomous snake burrowing into everyone's eardrums.

It was the sound of countless bones rubbing together, the sound of footsteps, growing clearer and more intense as it approached.

Everyone instinctively turned towards the door, holding their breath and not daring to make a sound.

"They're here again!"

A soft "click" sounded.

The door is opened!
A figure slowly walked out from the dark corridor.

It was much larger than ordinary undead, covered in armor, with a griffin with outstretched wings and a gleaming gaze engraved on its breastplate—the emblem of the Kratheon family of the Derby royal family.

This proves that it was originally a Gundar Guard, and judging from the style of its armor, it was of high rank, at least a centurion.

This is a more powerful undead warrior than a regular undead.

Compared to the undead that ordinary soldiers could easily deal with, these guys possessed rudimentary intelligence, advanced martial arts skills, and exceptionally swift and decisive movements.

The air inside the sealed room froze completely. The maids covered their mouths tightly, and the servants' hands, gripping their weapons, trembled like leaves.

However, after pushing open the door to the secret chamber and glancing around the empty room with his dark eyes hidden beneath his helmet, he left again.

The spacious corridor outside the door was densely packed with undead creatures of all shapes and sizes: rotting corpses, white skeletons, and wandering vengeful spirits.

As the undead warriors walked past these undead, the frenzied undead creatures seemed to regain some of their reason, hurriedly making way for them, proving that they were on the same side but had a subordinate relationship.

As they disappeared from sight, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Peiya's large fingers subconsciously touched an inconspicuous metal box covered with strange runes hanging from her waist.

"We're safe for now, but these undead are patrolling more and more frequently..."

"Senior sister, thanks to your alchemical equipment, otherwise we would have been discovered long ago," Mir couldn't help but praise in a low voice.

They all seemed to be hiding in this secret room, but in reality, they were hiding in a dimensional space within the secret room.

All of this was made possible by "Hyperion's Hideout," an alchemical artifact that could create a dimensional space within a small area.

Unless the other party is the Lich King, who is proficient in spatial magic, it is almost impossible for them to be detected.

“Although ‘Hyperion’ is theoretically perfect and is my proudest possession, what if it is someone who is proficient in spatial magic or has super strong perception…” Peya tapped the ground lightly with her hoof.

She didn't finish her sentence, but the meaning was obvious.

The atmosphere in the secret room, which had just relaxed a little, instantly tensed up again. The older maid's voice trembled with tears: "Miss Peiya, you mean, they might... might discover us?"

"Don't scare yourself." Peya realized that there was more than just Mir here, so she had to comfort her. "It's just a possibility. This place is too remote. It's impossible for the Lich King or a Death Knight to come here specifically to find us."

She patted the metal box at her waist: "And even if they do come, they won't be able to find us."

“Mir, we have to prepare for the worst. What if my puppet fails to deliver the message, or the reinforcements are held back by the undead army?”

Peya came to Mir's side, and although she didn't say anything, her voice appeared in Mir's mind.

For elemental mages, the sound transmission spell is just the lowest-level spell, and almost everyone learns it in case of need. Alchemists are no exception.

What Peiya said earlier was simply to prevent these ordinary people here from doing anything irrational out of fear.

Although alchemy can produce some food, so they don't have to worry about starving to death in the short term, excretion is a problem. As an alchemical creation, Peya herself has no such need.

But there are still a dozen or so ordinary people here, and they can't stay in the hideout forever.

Mil knew that staying here was impossible, but just thinking about how Gonda was now teeming with the dead, he had no idea how to leave.

"Senior sister, shall we rush out?" Mir asked.

As a disciple of a great sage, in addition to learning alchemy, he also received a golden statue from his teacher.

With Pei Ya's help, if the two of them are careful, they might actually be able to break through.

Because they are such small targets, not many undead should be able to notice them.

(End of this chapter)