Those time travelers that year

Basically, other reconnaissance teams can obtain this kind of intelligence as long as they approach this area. However, this intelligence is largely useless. In civilized society, the appearance of so many undead would be a major event. But this is ultimately a wilderness, far, far away from civilization, so this kind of intelligence is of little use.

So, another round of voting ensued, this time ending in a 3-1 vote. The halfling's suggestion to leave was once again rejected by his teammates. This greatly worried the halfling rogue. The foreshadowing of danger had already kept Sam up all night; continuing onward could very well lead to unpredictable perils and desperate situations. However, his teammates clearly did not want to leave just like that.

The helpless halfling had no choice but to continue walking with his teammates.

Strangely, however, they encountered no trace of the undead for the rest of the journey. They walked for two days without encountering a single one. It was as if these undead monsters that blasphemed life had all been wiped out.

With the thought that 'this is a conspiracy by evil forces,' the half-elf quickened the pace of their advance. They needed nothing more than to find the main force of the Scourge, and their mission would be perfectly accomplished.

However, the halfling grew increasingly agitated and even had a heated verbal altercation with the team members… especially the half-elf who was their leader. Sam believed they could not proceed any further; going any further would be far too dangerous. Tauriel, on the other hand, believed that as a reconnaissance team, they had to fulfill their duties and absolutely could not let the evil forces' plot slip by.

After the conflict, realizing that the chances of returning safely on his own were slim, the halfling thief had no choice but to accept the situation and continue accompanying the half-elf.

how to say?

As a low-level harpist, Tauriel was clearly not calm enough. Or rather, the passion of youth and the desire for fame had somewhat clouded her vision.

Among her party members, the priest Boromir, a devotee of the god of courage, would never back down. Even though continuing forward was indeed dangerous, retreating in the face of potential danger would be unacceptable, even if Tom didn't reprimand him. More importantly, as the party leader, Boromir's unwillingness to retreat left the priest with no recourse. The druids were in an even stronger position. The large gathering of undead had spread the power of death throughout the area, beginning to disrupt the balance of the natural ecosystem—something the druids could not tolerate.

In the end, the halflings chose to back down, and the team continued onward.

After crossing a steep cliff, the group heard some commotion and felt an uneasy atmosphere in the air. When they finally arrived at a place with a wider view, the scene before them made the four-person team feel as if they had fallen into an ice cave.

That was a war.

On one side were orcs, hordes of orcs, countless orc tribes gathered together, their figures filling the mountains and plains as far as the eye could see. And their opponents were the Scourge, the undead.

Why have the undead been nowhere to be seen for so long? It turns out someone has already come to cause trouble for these undead creatures. The orcs have amassed a massive military force, a force powerful enough to shake the entire human society.

Tens of thousands of orcs, assembled under the will of the orc gods, launched an attack on the undead, whose numbers far outnumbered them. Logically, the undead's advantage usually lay in their numbers; facing an orc force far outnumbering them, they should have been annihilated.

Unfortunately, most of those who died were summoned cannon fodder; the true core suffered no losses whatsoever. Not to mention, in terms of high-level power, the undead temporarily hold the advantage.

Three legendary corpse dragons soared through the air, emitting terrifying roars, and clashed fiercely with flying creatures summoned by orc priests and shamans. However, ordinary creatures were no match for these three fearsome corpse dragons.

On the ground, the fearless and highly skilled undead, led by nine other legendary-level undead, were engaged in a brutal melee with the orc army.

598. The entire tabletop role-playing game was wiped out.

Although the orcs also had legendary warriors and priests of the orc gods, it was clear that the orc chieftains who stepped forward to block the legendary undead were fighting with considerable difficulty. Most importantly, the priests of the orc gods discovered that spells designed to target and banish the undead were completely ineffective against these undead, whether they were the legendary ones or the others.

Under the influence of the [Cage of Death's Servants], ordinary spells and divine arts used to banish undead are ineffective against the undead created by Voban himself. Even if these undead are directly killed or annihilated, Voban can simply revive them with full health and mana at the slightest thought.

Supported by the Death Force, Voban didn't expend much power at all, and as killing and death occurred on the battlefield, Voban's power continued to grow.

Meanwhile, the four-person harpist reconnaissance team observing the battlefield clearly couldn't comprehend such advanced details. Even if they couldn't understand, they knew that with their combined strength, they simply couldn't possibly play any role in a war involving tens of thousands of people.

Frankly speaking, in the material world, wars involving tens of thousands of people are extremely rare. In a world where a few hundred people can be called a war and a few thousand people can be considered a battle, a war involving tens of thousands of troops is truly unimaginable.

In any case, the four members of this small team had never imagined a war with a scale of tens of thousands. Although the Blood War had always been a legend in the Prime Material World, most people, even most adventurers, just listened to it as a story and would more or less not believe that the Blood War was on such a large scale.

This is why beings from outer dimensions often look down on those from the material world as country bumpkins. Compared to these beings who have seen it all, mortals who have been peacefully raised by the gods in the material world are indeed country bumpkins.

Right now, the four country bumpkins here are completely dumbfounded.

“Sam…” the half-elf leader said, his face pale, “You are right… this is not something we can interfere with.”

"Run!" The halfling thief, who had been wanting to leave for a while, quickly tugged at Tauriel and shouted as he ran back the way they came. The other three also realized what was happening and, filled with fear and panic, took off running as well.

Just as the halflings worried, this was indeed beyond their control. They weren't demigod heroes from epic tales; on this endless battlefield, they weren't even worthy of being a part of the action. Both sides in the conflict possessed the power to crush them instantly.

It's just that it's very likely a little too late now.

Voban wouldn't care about these four guys who weren't even ants. In his original world, these scouts wouldn't even qualify as a formal knight or magician, so naturally he didn't take them seriously.

The same goes for the hostile orc tribes, or rather, the orc gods; a few insignificant insects are no one's concern.

However, there are not only these two sides on this battlefield, but also some other forces, such as the Red-Robed Mage, or more precisely, the Red-Robed Chief.

"You little harpist..." A polite but unsmiling voice echoed in the minds of the four members of the team. "It seems I can find you everywhere!" As the voice rang out, the surroundings suddenly turned cold, and a noisy hallucination appeared in their ears, causing them to scream.

Then they saw a figure suddenly appear on their path. This figure floated in mid-air, wearing a long, blood-red robe adorned with intricate magical patterns—clearly an extremely valuable magical item. However, to the newcomer, this red robe was merely an insignificant piece of clothing.

In the material world, there are many people who wear red. But there is probably only one force that wears red robes: the Red-Robed Mage, one of the Harpist's main enemies.

When the four finally saw the newcomer's face, despair overwhelmed them. It was a skeleton, a skeleton dressed in a red robe, or rather, a lich.

A red-robed mage and a lich—in today's prime material world, perhaps only…

“Saz...Sazastan...Red Chief…” The half-elf looked at the newcomer in despair. For harpists, remembering their main enemies was a necessary lesson, but Tauriel never imagined that she would encounter a notorious Red Chief in such a desolate place.

Moreover, he is the most influential member of the Torre Empire, the leader of the Necromancer school—Sazastan.

"Oh, little half-elf, looks like you recognize me!" Sazarstan said calmly, his Soul Eye observing the adventurers. "Of course, perhaps you wouldn't mind letting me know what those shameless bastards in Silvermoon City have been up to lately!" Without waiting for the team members to respond, the red-robed leader extended his skeletal hand, gently clenching it. Negative energy gathered, instantly stripping all four of their lives. Then, Sazarstan slightly beckoned, and four transparent souls howled as they were extracted from their dead bodies.

"Hmm... let me see, a druid, a follower of Brandobliss, a follower of Tom, and a ranger of Merikay..."

"...Sure enough, the harpists and their hounds can be found everywhere!"

Logically speaking, directly addressing a deity by their name would most likely draw their attention. But Sazarstan didn't care at all. As one of the strongest legendary spellcasters in the Prime Material Plane, he was confident enough. Unless an avatar of immense divine power descended, he wasn't afraid of a few deities of at most mid-level divine power. Besides, even if he directly addressed those deities by their names and intercepted the souls of their followers, those deities would be powerless against him; whether they would even notice him was another matter entirely.

"It seems... this god-slayer brought from another world by that being has quite interesting power!" After casually reaping the souls of the four-person squad, Sazarstan turned his gaze to the battlefield.

As a legendary spellcaster, this lich was also a 'big shot' who had access to the Sea of ​​Force, and naturally could sense the Force of slaughter and death that gathered here.

The undead, especially those directly transformed by Voban, shocked Sazarstan, who was also skilled in necromancy. They were immune to almost all targeted spells and divine magic, and could not be destroyed at all. Even if their bodies were burned to ashes by the Sunfire Burst, they could be rebuilt from scratch with just a thought from their controller.

This is no longer within the realm of magic, but rather an unpredictable power that alters the rules of reality—the very secret of divine power that legendary mages like him have always yearned to glimpse.

The new book has been released.

My new book, "Those Evil Gods Who Traveled Through Time," has been approved. I hope you will all support it. I will update it every day until the end of "Those Time Travelers." By the way, since it is a new book, I am not asking for monthly tickets or knife attacks. I only ask for collections and clicks. Starting tomorrow, for every 500 collections, I will add an extra chapter. I have 20 chapters in reserve, tens of thousands of words, and I am not afraid of running out of them!

599. Great idea.

"Truly impressive..." The Scourge has always relied on sheer numbers to win, yet at this moment, despite being far outnumbered by the combined forces of the major orc tribes, the undead were fighting a force several times their size against the orcs, putting them on par with their numbers. This truly caught the red-robed lich's attention. Facing tens of thousands of orc soldiers, including several legendary figures, and with the orc gods watching intently, he would have already turned tail and run.

However, instead of choosing a strategic retreat, the incredibly arrogant old man Voban gathered all his undead servants, formed a battle formation, and prepared to fight to the death here. No one else could pull that off. Among all the villainous bosses in the Prime Material Plane, only Sasha Dejanstad Voban from another world dared to be so arrogant.

"Although I think it's a foolish thing to confront the gods directly..." Just as the red-robed lich was watching this rare 'grand' scene in the prime material world from the outskirts of the battlefield, another voice rang out behind Sazarstan, "But I must say, this visitor from another world does indeed have enough power to confront the orc gods directly."

“Ah! Dusukslem, my friend, you’ve come.” Sazarstan said without turning his head. “After all, you were brought here by the one who brought you here personally—the Chaos Hound that once bit off Tyr’s arm. Without sufficient power, you would probably have died at the hands of Mara’s followers long ago.”

Suxleim, the chief archduke of the Alteration faction and a legendary red-robed mage, ignored the supernatural power of the aura of fear surrounding Sazarstan and the negative energy possessed by the lich. He calmly approached Sazarstan and looked at the battlefield still entangled in conflict.

“Yes! This time, that foolish beast Mara is in big trouble.” Dusuxlem sneered. “And who knows how many of the orc gods are planning to send down this time… But unless it’s an avatar of Gruush, the others are probably just going to their deaths.”

“It’s too early to say!” Sazarstan replied. “If this Campione—well, that’s the word! Well, if this Campione were at his peak, I’m sure that among the orc gods, apart from Gruul’s, no one would be his match, but now that’s a different story.”

“Sazantan, don’t tell me you didn’t feel the killing and death that permeates this place. The orc gods who don’t understand their opponents at all are going to suffer a great loss this time.”

"Hehehe, it's all the same. No matter who wins or loses this time, the gods' attention won't be focused on us anymore." Sazastan let out a low laugh. "...Although that being has ill intentions, it must be said that with the divinity and knowledge provided by that being, our speed of analyzing divine power has greatly increased."

"By the way! How are the research on Dusuxlem, Lauzorel, and Misrella going?"

“Just as we initially suspected, we’re on the right track.” As he spoke, Dusuxlem’s face lit up with excitement. “The mystery of divine power, once you peel away the veil that the gods have covered it up, isn’t that complicated… The so-called divine nature is just a core system like the Tower Spirit. However, the Tower Spirit controls primordial magic, while the divine nature controls divine power that is transformed from the Sea of ​​Force through the power of faith.”

"Just as the great arcanists of the Netheril Empire once guessed, the so-called gods were indeed just 'ultimate great arcanists'..."

“Very good, very good…” Sazastan exclaimed. “Although that person has ill intentions, a little risk is worthwhile for the sake of immortality. So what if the Torre Empire is destroyed? As long as the Chief is still alive, one day we will be able to rebuild, no, create an even more glorious immortal empire.”

……

Speaking of ambition, in the material world, no mortal's power is greater than that of the Torre Empire controlled by the Red-Robed Mages. Of course, the current rulers of this empire, the eight Red-Robed Chiefs, no longer aspire to rule the world; they have instead set out for something far greater.

With the Lich God as a living example, these eight chiefs standing at the pinnacle of the prime material world naturally wouldn't let this opportunity slip by. Just as Sazarstani said, the destruction of the Torre Empire didn't matter, as long as the red-robed chiefs were still alive, it was as if the red-robed mages still existed.

Therefore, these eight seemingly estranged political rivals have begun to join forces, secretly transferring their core power to their private demi-planes. Once they successfully achieve godhood, those demi-planes will be transformed into their divine kingdoms, and those who have moved in beforehand will become their first followers.

And these chiefs had already begun doing this even before Charles arrived. What could be safer than studying the mysteries of divine power in a private demiplane? In the entire material world, apart from the chosen ones, all the other legendary spellcasters are ambitious individuals, and their secret research into divine power and divinity is an open secret.

Now that they have the divine power provided free of charge by President Xia, the red-robed chiefs are naturally brimming with arrogance and planning to pull off a big heist. Of course, if they accept it directly, they don't need to prepare anything at all. Even in his busy schedule, President Xia will find time to help them ascend to heaven, just like he did with Raistlin not long ago.

The shrewd red-robed chiefs, while knowing that directly accepting these divine titles would at least allow them to ascend to the level of minor gods, were not entirely willing to follow the path arranged by Charles due to their own ulterior motives.

Therefore, what the chief of the red robes needs now is time—enough time for them to fully extract the residual divine power and divinity from their godhood, and then use the blank godhood to achieve godhood, thus minimizing Xia Er's influence. Even if they only become demigods with a godhood level of 0 by then, it doesn't matter.

But is it really that easy?

Ha ha……

These chief red-robed figures were all shrewd and astute, but how could Ciel not have considered this? In the dream dimension of this multiverse, Ciel, having completely transformed the last dream pupa that had not escaped the dream world into an ice cream cake, smiled and then looked in a certain direction.

Now, having almost complete control of this dream world, Shire could easily use this dimensional springboard to observe the various planes of this multiverse. He also knew a thing or two about what was happening in the Prime Material World. He made no comment on the thoughts of the Red Robe Chiefs.

The idea was good, but reality was harsh.

They had already thought of everything they could think of. Unless they were willing to give up the opportunity to be deified, they would definitely fall into their own trap. But was that possible? Impossible!

Although extra meals are not needed, it is feasible to have a few more hardworking servants to manage the world he controls.

600. Incarnation

Meanwhile, the two chief red-robed figures secretly traveled a great distance to the edge of the battlefield. Inside the battlefield, the situation remained tense, with no clear victor. However, the scales of victory were slowly tipping in Voban's favor.

This is not surprising. After the orc army wiped out Voban's cannon fodder, they were then met with elites personally transformed by Voban using his power. Most of these elites were either 'bandits' occupying ruins or influential figures in society who did shady things. In any case, in the Prime Material World, anyone who does this kind of thing needs to be quite skilled.

This resulted in the orc army suffering heavy losses upon contact with these elite undead (cannon fodder)... Well, to be honest, if both sides had effective commanders, they might have achieved even better results. However, Voban had no interest in, nor had he studied, troop deployment. Conversely, if the orcs on the other side had any sense, they wouldn't have been forced to live a savage life in the wilderness by humans, elves, and dwarves.

In short, it's a mindless melee combat between the two sides. In this situation, even using spells, launching arrows, or throwing spears will almost certainly result in friendly fire. The undead don't care, since they won't die anyway, but even the most clueless orcs know that in this situation, a saturation attack would likely kill more of their own people than the opposing side.

Of course, even if the orc commanders were brain-dead, the orc gods above them weren't that incompetent. They were just there to cause trouble, not to send their henchmen to their deaths.

But the twelve legendary-level undead on Voban's side were far too weak; any one of them could easily wreak havoc among the orcs. Not to mention, even now, the three corpse dragons still held the aerial advantage. They barely needed to breathe negative energy; their massive and sturdy bodies were enough to carve up large swaths of blood with a single dive.

While Voban wasn't interested in continuing to use the [Cage of Dead Servants] to convert new slaves, he was now focusing more on the orc gods who hadn't yet descended. However, that didn't mean the undead he'd already converted into servants wouldn't be interested in the recently deceased orcs.

Theoretically speaking, this world doesn't have magical versions of biological weapons like natural disasters and plagues, so the undead creatures in this world are either born naturally or are slowly transformed through artificial selection... But that doesn't mean that there aren't spells in the world of magic that can create cannon fodder.

So the dead orcs were quickly resurrected by the necromancers or priests on Voban's side (who had gained divine magic from the Death Force after transformation), who joined forces to cast spells and then turned the tables on them.

It can be said that, as the battle has progressed to this point, the Orc gods' original plan to use cannon fodder to wear down Voban's power has not only failed, but their own people are on the verge of collapse.

This was not in the interest of the orc gods, and therefore, Ger'Ush's roar echoed loudly throughout the divine realm of the orc kingdom of Nishak. It could be said that, compared to Talos, who was merely an alias, Ger'Ush's temper was far more violent and utterly irrational. One wonders if, when he created this alias, Ger'Ush had sacrificed any semblance of rationality within himself—

— No matter how you look at it, the Lord of Storms' intelligence is slightly higher than that of Gruush.

Faced with the wrath of the chief god, the other orc gods had no choice but to grit their teeth and prepare to descend in their avatars. With so many powerful gods watching, even the most impulsive Gruush knew that if he dared to descend in his avatar, he would soon be ganged up on by a large group of 'masked men'.

Not every powerful deity is as considerate of its subordinates as Losanda. Even the God of War doesn't match the decisiveness and resolve of this God of Dawn in readily engaging in battle at the slightest provocation.