Dark Wizard: Rise! My undead army!

The king's conversation with the cloaked man, which resembled a riddle, caused several ministers below to change their expressions simultaneously.

They seemed to realize something.

An elderly minister with gray hair knelt down with a thud.

"Your Majesty, please reconsider! The consequences of unleashing this forbidden power would be unimaginable! It has been used three times in history, and each time it was..."

"When have we not won?" the king interrupted him. "We won all three times. Many people died, but at least the survivors were saved."

The old minister, tears streaming down his face, cried out, "Your Majesty, those three times it was the enemy who died, but this time... this time it's our own people who will die!"

"That thing sucks the souls and flesh of the dead, as well as the fear and despair of the living!"

"Once activated, everyone in the royal city will be affected! Our people will die at the hands of their own!"

The king did not speak.

Another minister knelt down as well: "Your Majesty, we can retreat! Retreat to the northern border, where the terrain..."

"Retreat? Are you kidding me?" The king laughed, but his laughter was full of sorrow.

"Tell me, where do we retreat to? The world is only so big, and those monsters fell from the sky and are now everywhere."

"Retreat to the north, and then what? Wait for them to catch up?"

The two kneeling ministers were speechless.

The old man in the cloak spoke slowly:

"Your Majesty, activating the forbidden power will take time, at least three hours, for that thing to take shape."

"Moreover, once it takes shape... it loses its rationality and will only attack any living thing. We need someone to restrain it and lead it towards the enemy."

The king nodded: "I'll go."

"Your Majesty!" several generals exclaimed in unison.

The king raised his hand to stop them.

He looked at the sky outside the hall, which was reddened by the firelight, and spoke in a low voice.

"I have lived for fifty-three years and been king for twenty-five years. I have enjoyed both good times and bad times in my life. I have had my fill."

He turned around and looked at the ministers and generals.

"Take the rest of the people and retreat north, take as many as you can."

"When that thing starts fighting the monster, take your people and hide in the mountains."

"If...if this world still has a future, it depends on you."

"Your Majesty!" The old minister crawled forward a few steps on his knees, grabbing the king's legs. "I beg you! This can't be! This can't be!"

The king looked down at him and patted him on the shoulder.

"Get up, all of you, get up."

Before the king could finish speaking, the old minister knelt on the ground, clutching his legs, tears streaming down his face.

"Your Majesty, I will not rise until you leave!" He clung tightly, his withered fingers gripping the king's robes.

"Your Majesty, you are the backbone of the nation. What use would it be for us to escape if something were to happen to you? I beg you, please come with us!"

A burly general stepped forward, knelt on one knee, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, I humbly request that you withdraw temporarily! Allow me to lead the army to fight those monsters to the death!"

"His Majesty gave me this life, and I return it to you today! The nation needs you, the people need you!"

The king looked down at the old minister who was clinging to his leg, then at the general kneeling on the ground, his eyes slightly red.

He took a deep breath, his voice hoarse but resolute: "This is my country, my people live here, and I will stand with them through thick and thin! Even if I die, I will die here—"

Before I could finish speaking, I felt a numbness in the back of my neck.

The king's vision went black, and his body went limp.

The old man in the black cloak appeared behind him at some point, his right hand still in a striking position.

He withdrew his hand, caught the king's falling body, and casually tossed it into the arms of a minister nearby.

"What time is it! Still babbling on like this." The old man rubbed his fingers impatiently. "If we keep dawdling, the enemy will be invading."

The old minister stood frozen on the ground, mouth agape, staring at the scene before finally reacting, his finger trembling as he pointed at the old man: "You...you...how could you lay a hand on His Majesty! This is a capital offense!"

The old man looked down at him and chuckled.

"Otherwise what?" His tone was full of sarcasm.

"You want His Majesty to fight those monsters to the death? And you ministers to run away? What happens after His Majesty dies and you escape? You install a new king? Or you become kings yourselves?"

The old minister opened his mouth, but could not utter a word.

The old man ignored him and turned to the burly general still kneeling on the ground: "Hey you, didn't you just say you were going to fight the monster to the death?"

The general raised his head, paused for a moment, then gritted his teeth and nodded: "Yes! This humble general is willing to go!"

"Alright." The old man nodded. "I'll have my shadow guards assist you later. You lead the Imperial Guard and stall for time."

The general stood up, clasped his hands in a fist salute to him, then clasped his hands in a fist salute to the ministers who were supporting the king, and turned to stride out of the hall.

Several ministers hurriedly helped the king up and quickly retreated to the back of the palace.

The old minister, supported by two men, kept looking back at the black figure standing there, his lips moved but he said nothing.

Although the methods were a bit crude, it has to be said that the old man's methods were quite effective.

The king was carried out, his body limp, but his eyelids twitched slightly.

They didn't open their eyes.

As a "Star-level" warrior, his body had long been tempered and refined.

Even if it was that old guy who delivered the chop, it wouldn't be enough to knock him out.

But he didn't open his eyes.

He knew that the old man knew.

Just keep going with this show.

If he were to open his eyes, he would transform from a "die-hard" king into a scoundrel who abandons his city and flees.

The old man withdrew his gaze from the departing figures, chuckled, and turned to walk out of the hall.

"A bunch of pedantic idiots."

...

East City Wall

The city has been under heavy attack from the undead; the walls have been breached and the defenses have collapsed three times.

At the critical moment, it was the burly general's three thousand personal guards, along with nearly a hundred masked shadow guards in black, who arrived.

They gathered their elite forces and fought desperately to repel the undead that had broken in from inside the eastern city wall, and withstood wave after wave of attacks.

They suffered heavy casualties, but fought to the death and are now holding this vulnerable spot.

The burly general stood atop the highest point of the city wall, his body covered in blood, indistinguishable as to whether it was his own or that of the dead.

His hand holding the sword was trembling, and the blade was full of nicks, but he kept swinging it.

"Hold on! Hold on for me!"

Another skeletal behemoth climbed the city wall, and the general rushed up and cleaved its skull with his sword.

The sword broke, and the giant beast's claws slammed down. He dodged to the side, drew a short knife from his waist, and plunged it into the giant beast's eye socket.

There, green soul flames are burning...

The short knife swung violently a few times, completely shattering the soul fire.

The giant beast collapsed, crushing him beneath it.

Several guards rushed over and desperately pushed the body aside, pulling him out of the pool of blood.