Above the mage

Chapter 242 [Manipulating Corpses]

What does it mean to search high and low without finding it, only to have it come to you effortlessly?

That's it.

Gao De traveled from the border of Dor to the Snowflakes clan for this map, and stayed in the Snowflakes clan camp for a whole week, but still had no clue.

Now that Gao De had given up, Gilles Snowflake, the patriarch of the Snowflakes, handed the map to him.

Of course, this is not without conditions.

It's essentially a delivery mission now. Completing the mission will reward you with "Northern Map *1, and increased affinity between Baruch and Gilles Snowflake".

Four hundred kilometers, at his own speed, would take about 12-15 days. Gaode calculated it in his mind and finally nodded.

"Okay, I can help you deliver the message."

Firstly, it was for the map, and secondly, he couldn't bear to refuse Baruch's pleading gaze.

Putting everything else aside, the fact that Baruch taught him [Wild Acumen] for free was enough to make Gord agree.

After all, it was just running errands and delivering messages; it wasn't a particularly difficult task.

Although he couldn't do what Baruch did, risking his life for a tribe he didn't know, he was still willing to do what he could.

Baruch took the map from Gilles Snowflake, examined it carefully, and then pointed to a spot with his finger. "It's right here. If you go here, you'll find our Snowfield Guardians' branch in this area."

Gao De nodded, took the animal hide map, and examined it carefully.

Although the map only records a portion of the northern region and is not detailed, many symbols are marked in the areas that are recorded.

These different symbols and colors mark many important landmarks, including several important tribes, the grazing areas selected by the Snowfar clan, and so on.

At the same time, there are some handwritten annotations on the edge of the map, marking some places that need special attention.

For example, there are dangerous areas where powerful ley line creatures need to detour, areas where herds of beasts frequently appear, and even some important resource points.

This demonstrates the value of this map, which represents important knowledge accumulated by the Snowfield clan over generations.

Gillette Snowfield would never have taken it out unless there were special circumstances.

The location Baruch was pointing to was right next to a blue dot on the map that marked a lake.

"I understand," Gao De said readily. "Then I'll get ready to leave now."

He has always been a person with extremely strong execution skills.

"Wait a little longer," Gillette Snowfield called out to God again.

He went out of the tent, called over a member of his tribe, gave him a few instructions, waited a while, and then returned to the tent with some dried meat.

Gillette Snowfield handed the dried meat to God, then apologized, saying, "It's always good to have some provisions for a long journey. The tribe suffered heavy losses this time, so this is all we can offer."

"Thank you." Gao De naturally wouldn't complain about anything. As someone who had personally experienced the beast tide, he knew all too well the heavy losses the Snowflake Clan had suffered this time.

Human casualties are one issue, but the deaths and fleeing of reindeer are even more serious.

Because reindeer have always been the most important food source for the Snowfield clan.

For the people of the North, food often means life.

With his provisions and map in hand, Goddard left the Snowfield clan.

"Can we really trust a stranger?" Gilles Snowford asked Baruch, who was still lying weakly in bed, after watching Gaudí's figure disappear completely from sight outside the tent.

"Outsiders are generally cunning and treacherous."

“No, he’s not that kind of person,” Baruch said with absolute certainty. “He has a kind heart.”

After leaving the dilapidated Snowfield camp, God took out a map, first used the [Northward Spell] to confirm the north, then quickly checked the map before heading northeast.

A tiny figure popped out of Gaode's pocket.

"Aren't the Snowfield Guardians supposed to protect the snowfields?" Flora asked, puzzled.

She had just heard Baruch's account as well.

Clearly, she couldn't understand why, as guardians of the snowfield, one would incite a beast tide to slaughter the tribe, while the other would be willing to sacrifice his own life to protect it.

"Many things start out with good intentions, but they always start to change over time because it's hard to stay true to your original intentions," Gao De explained.

"Is it difficult?" Flora muttered. "Lady Flora just wants to plant trees."

"So, Lady Flora is truly wise in her apparent foolishness."

"What do you mean?"

"Lady Flora is so clever."

"Master, you're not being honest."

Snowfield Camp.

Just half a day after Gaode left this place.

A muffled thunderous sound rang out again, rapidly approaching from afar.

As the sound drew closer and grew louder, the ground began to tremble slightly.

Baruch, who was still resting in the tent, suddenly opened his eyes, and his expression changed instantly.

"Beast Tide!"

With his experience, he immediately understood what the sound meant.

"Silence them!"

The next moment, Baruch blurted out another word.

Beast tides are unlikely to erupt one after another in a short period of time unless they are manipulated by humans.

If the first man-made beast tide was merely intended to wipe out some northern tribes in order to obtain "fresh materials" needed to practice forbidden necromancy...

This second man-made beast tide, occurring less than a day apart, clearly had a purpose beyond the former; it was highly likely that they had discovered his traces and wanted to silence him.

Baruch had considered that the mastermind behind the beast tide would surely come to investigate and "gather information" afterward.

But in Baruch's view, once the mastermind discovers that the Snowflake clan still exists, he will inevitably have no choice but to retreat in frustration.

After all, the reason why the other side wanted to use the beast tide to attack the Northern tribes was because they were worried that if they did it themselves, their identities would be easily exposed.

Practicing forbidden necromancy is a major undertaking, enough to attract the personal attention of a high-ranking mage from the Snowfield Guardians Guild.

Since there is something to be wary of, one should act with extreme caution, like an assassin launching a sneak attack; if the first strike fails, one should flee far away.

This is the most logical judgment.

Baruch never expected that the other party would act so recklessly and leave no way out.

After dispelling the beast tide, the mastermind behind it all thought of silencing them!

A massive snow wolf beast tide, even larger than the previous one, surged in and completely surrounded the Snowford camp, which had just been ravaged by a beast tide.

The number of these snow wolves was astonishing, covering almost every corner within sight.

Strangely, these ferocious snow wolves howled but did not immediately launch an attack. Instead, they simply formed a huge encirclement, completely sealing off Snowford's camp.

All the survivors of the Snowfarer clan had left their tents, trembling as they looked at the ferocious snow wolves, their faces pale and their hearts filled with despair.

Before a beast tide of this scale, even at their peak, they would have faced utter annihilation, let alone after the devastating blow of the previous wave, which had severely weakened them.

However, the snow wolves' stagnation gave the Snowfowl a glimmer of hope.

Perhaps there is still a chance?

Just then.

The snow wolf pack dispersed to both sides, and a man wearing a silver-white hooded cloak, whose face was hidden in a mask with only a pair of sharp eyes showing, rode out from the pack on a golden-eyed snow wolf.

The man rode on the back of the golden-eyed snow wolf, looking down at Gillette Snowford, who stood at the front of the crowd.

Then, with a flick of his finger, a magical wave flashed, and a virtual human figure appeared in the air.

It is a portrait of Baruch.

Have you seen this person before?

The man asked in a hoarse voice, seemingly deliberately distorted, his tone carrying an air of unquestionable authority and domineering power.

Gillette Snowfield, feeling a chill run down his spine, took a deep breath, carefully examined the statue, and then nodded, saying, "I've seen it before. This is the man who saved our tribe when it was attacked by a beast tide."

"Very good." The man nodded in satisfaction, and with a wave of his hand, the figure vanished into thin air.

He naturally knew that Baruch had intervened, and the reason he asked this question was as a "test" for the Snowfield people.

"Tell me, where is he now?" the man asked coldly.

Gillette Snowfield wore a conflicted expression.

"Hmm?" The man snorted coldly, and the golden-eyed snow wolf beneath him immediately bared its teeth. Following closely behind, all the snow wolves also bared their teeth, and the heavy breathing of the snow wolves became one.

The snow wolves' intimidating presence stirred up the Snowfowl.

Gillette Snowfield seemed to have made up his mind. He pointed in a direction and said, "That man went in that direction. I wanted to ask him to stay and express my gratitude, but he said he had important things to do and didn't stay."

"You're quite sensible." The man chuckled coldly, quite satisfied with Gillette Snowver's answer, and then patted the golden-eyed snow wolf beneath him without warning.

Roar!

At his signal, the golden-eyed snow wolf let out a long howl.

That long howl was a signal.

The next moment, to the astonishment and fear of all the Snowfoxes, the snow wolves, their eyes gleaming with ferocity, pounced on them.

The Snowfarers tried to resist, but their efforts seemed so insignificant in the face of the overwhelming pack of snow wolves.

The continuous howls of wolves and the screams of agony echoed through the camp as one Snowfarer after another was tackled to the ground.

The snow wolves were tearing at each other frantically, and the blood and howls mingled together, creating a scene that was too painful to look at, chaotic and terrifying.

Baruch, who was severely injured and powerless to resist, remained remarkably calm as he watched the snow wolf tear open the tent and pounce on him, its saliva dripping with a foul stench.

When he heard the screams coming from outside, he already knew what his fate was.

In fact, Baruch thought of many other things in that instant.

Being able to organize two waves of beast tides of this scale in a short period of time is something very few, even among the Snowfield Guardians, could do; at least he couldn't.

He was already considered a key member of the Snowfield Guardians.

This means that the mastermind behind this is a "high-ranking" member of the Snowfield Guardians, a high-level mage whose strength far surpasses his own.

Thinking of this, Baruch felt a surge of helplessness.

His only consolation was that Gao De, who was in charge of delivering the message, had left half a day earlier.

This was his last hope.

On the hills outside Snowfield Camp.

The man who had just been arrogant and disdainful in front of the Snowfowl was now respectfully reporting the situation to an old man.

According to the tribal chief, after killing Aikin, Baruch did not stay in their tribe at all, but went straight to the northwest.

Aijin is the name of the golden-eyed snow wolf that Baruch killed earlier.

"Northwest direction." The old man's voice was filled with a cold and solemn tone: "He must have discovered something and is preparing to report the situation to headquarters."

"Even if headquarters finds out about the situation here, they may not be able to trace it back to me, but it's always better to be safe than sorry."

"We can't let him take the message back. We have to find him before that and kill him!" the old man said coldly.

"I understand, Elder. Rest assured, I immediately found out the details as soon as I discovered that Aijin was in trouble and reported it to you."

"Baruch has only been gone for less than half a day, so he can't have gone far. I'm sure I can find him and eliminate him before he can bring the message back."

"Do this neatly."

"You can rest assured about what I do," the man assured him.

He hesitated for a moment, then couldn't help but say, "Elder, with our current strength, we can completely take their place. Why be so cautious?"

The old man gave the man a deep look and then said, "You are still too young. There are many secrets among the Snowfield Guardians that you do not know. All you need to know is that the Snowfield Guardians are far more powerful than you think, and their origins are extraordinary."

"Even if I succeeded, I would still need the title of Guardian of the Snowfield."

After saying this, he glanced at the Snowfar camp, which had been engulfed by snow wolves, and said casually, "These remains are yours."

Upon hearing this, the man quickly and respectfully replied, "Thank you, Elder!"

Although his face was covered by a mask, the man's joy was still evident in his tone.

Half an hour later, the once bustling Snowford camp was now deathly silent.

A row of mangled corpses were neatly arranged in the open space in the center of the camp, including the body of Chief Gilles Snowver.

Each corpse was covered with bite marks and scratches, and the blood had long since congealed, making it look particularly horrifying.

These corpses once belonged to the Iceborn mages, who were the most powerful force in the tribe in life, but now they can only lie silently on the cold snow.

Those ordinary Snowfoxes became food for the snow wolves. Not only were their bodies chewed up and swallowed, but even their bones were chewed up and swallowed by the greedy snow wolves.

However, the ice-blooded mages of the Snowfox were able to preserve the body relatively intact at the man's suggestion.

The man stood before the corpses, a sinister glint in his eyes.

He slowly raised his hand, and an invisible magical energy immediately filled the air.

The next moment, the man pointed, and a grayish energy beam shot out from his hand, embedding itself in one of the corpses on the ground.

An extremely bizarre scene unfolded:

As the energy beam was injected, the previously still corpse suddenly began to tremble. Something seemed to be wriggling under his skin, and his bones made a slight cracking sound.

Soon, the bones in the already dead corpse began to separate on their own, as if driven by some unseen force.

The muscles and tendons between the bones atrophy rapidly and soon fall off, leaving only a white skeleton.

The skeleton seemed to have its own will; first, its fingers and toes twitched slightly, then its limbs began to bend, and finally, a complete skeleton crawled out of it.

Every bone in the skull was trembling, as if it had regained some form of life.

It slowly stood up, and a ghostly green phosphorescence flickered in its eye sockets.

The phosphorescent light was like the guiding light of its soul.

The skeleton's joints creaked and groaned as it stood motionless, awaiting the next instruction.

A third-circle necromancy spell, one of the forbidden spells.

Manipulating corpses!

The man ignored the skeleton and continued casting his spell.

More beams of energy shot out from his hands, disappearing into the other corpses one by one.

Each injection of energy beams triggers a similar reaction.

One skeleton after another crawled out of the corpses, as if summoned from the abyss of death.

The appearance of these skeletons shattered the surrounding silence, filling the air with a suffocating atmosphere.

Although the skeletons had lost their flesh and blood, they seemed more active than any living creature at this moment, with an inextinguishable, flickering flame burning in their eye sockets.

The man stopped casting spells only after all the Iceborn mages' corpses had turned into skeletons.

He looked around and saw a group of skeletons standing silently, waiting for his next command.

The skeletons stood out starkly against the snow, like heretics amidst the pristine white landscape.

The scene looked extremely bizarre, enough to send chills down one's spine.

But looking at this scene, the man nodded in satisfaction.

(End of this chapter)