Star Forge Titan

Therefore, Kelu's strategy was to constantly summon low-level undead to disguise themselves as wild monsters, and continue to harass ordinary travelers on the road from Flanders to Avonmore, as well as the inns and camps where they stayed to rest.

If he encountered a team whose resistance was obviously too strong or too fast, he would secretly note it down or even go to spy on them himself. If necessary, he would also wipe out the enemy team to avoid any possibility of missing out.

But this is almost the limit. Although the speed of information dissemination in this era still depends on messengers and word of mouth, the nearby temples and lords should react no matter how slow they are.

Therefore, Kelu planned to fake a monster riot tonight and eliminate all the suspicious targets screened out in the past few days in batches. Even if he couldn't find the princess, harvesting a batch of fresh materials and souls would be a good choice.

Anyway, we can always think of other ways to continue the search later.

At this time, the zombies under the necromancer Kelu had almost wiped out the caravan's last resistance.

The mercenary captain, the only professional in the caravan, half-knelt on the ground with his broken sword in his hand. Around him lay a circle of shattered pieces of flesh and blood. Those were the remains of zombies that he had destroyed with his last bit of strength.

Behind the mercenary captain was a destroyed carriage, inside which were the last few survivors of the caravan.

"You devil!" the mercenary captain cursed angrily, his whole body trembling.

As a second-level swordsman, he was already considered a top-notch fighter in this field. The usual bandits and robbers or the wild beasts and monsters that had undergone mutations due to magic were no match for him.

But the group of zombies that suddenly appeared tonight exhausted his physical strength by relying on their numerical advantage.

What's even more terrifying is that some of the healthy and capable players in his team were only slightly bitten, but they turned into zombies after a period of time!

It's not like they haven't encountered undead before. It's not uncommon for corpses in the wild to transform into undead due to the natural negative energy environment, but this unprecedented situation made everyone terrified.

Being hesitant caused the front line to collapse quickly. When the mercenary captain decided to break out alone, he found that he was surrounded by transformed zombies and could no longer leave.

It was not until the caravan was completely in dire straits that the despicable necromancer appeared before them, looking disappointed.

"Devil?" Kelu just smiled disdainfully at the mercenary captain's curse.

He was fawning and respectful in front of the chief and the mentor, but in front of these people who were no longer able to fight back, he seemed arrogant and looked down on everyone.

"I'm still far away." The necromancer waved his hand, and a dozen zombies surrounded the remaining living people in the caravan and came to the captain.

"Captain, no, uncle, save me!" A young mercenary, no more than sixteen or seventeen years old, couldn't help crying out. His limbs were bitten by zombies and he couldn't move at all. He could only stand there in a "big" shape.

"Little Hans." The captain smiled bitterly. He could hardly save himself now, so how could he have the energy to rescue others, even if the other person was his own nephew.

"Young man, do you want to live?" Kelu, who had been busy for a long time but had not found his goal, suddenly got angry and planned to find some fun to cheer himself up.

"Sir, please be merciful for the sake of the gods," cried the young mercenary, sobbing uncontrollably.

Seeing this, the captain secretly shook his head. This nephew was clearly frightened. Even in Elrond, where undead research was not prohibited, raising the undead en masse without permission was a violation of the law. How could the other party let them, the witnesses, go?

"Well, I'm not a devil, so of course I can do this. But if I help you, you have to help me too. Can you do something for me first?" Kelu walked to the young mercenary, Hans, and patted his tender cheek.

Little Hans nodded vigorously with snot and tears on his face.

"Okay, I like direct young people like you." Kelu clapped his hands and laughed, controlling the zombies to release little Hans, and then threw a sheathed dagger into his arms.

"Your captain is too weak to even stand up. Kill him with this dagger, and I'll let you go."

The necromancer's smiling voice was like a gust of cold wind blowing into little Hans's head, as if freezing his entire body and soul.

"No, no, no, I can't do this. He, he is my uncle." The young mercenary threw away the dagger in his arms as if he was holding a poisonous snake or a hot charcoal.

"Oh? Then it will be difficult for me." Kelu put on a distressed look, and the zombies that had just retreated a few steps moved closer to little Hans again.

"Ah! No, don't let them come over, please!" The young mercenary screamed in horror.

He seemed to know that this was extremely embarrassing, so he covered his face in pain and tried not to look at the other survivors. In particular, the incredulous expression of one of the young girls made the young mercenary feel even more guilty.

Noticing this, the smile on Kelu's face became even more intense. He did not particularly enjoy torturing others physically. On the contrary, causing mental harm to others made him happier.

The completely exhausted mercenary captain felt helpless and a little comforted in despair at his nephew's shameful performance, but suddenly a series of screams came from behind him.

Turning back suddenly, he saw that the carriage he was guarding was completely overturned by zombies that had come around at some point, and several survivors inside were bitten and dragged out and brought to the necromancer.

Seeing this scene, the young mercenary Hans was also stunned. He subconsciously grabbed the sheathed dagger that he had thrown away, but looked at the zombies around him and dared not move.

"It seems I need to give you some more motivation, my young friend." Kelu walked to the girl who was dragged by the zombies and lifted her chin with his hand.

Seeing this scene, the fat businessman who was controlled by magic struggled hard but could not break free from the restraints. That was his daughter. He originally planned to take her to the capital to marry her fiancé, but she was almost deceived by a gangster on the way.

"Kill him and I will let you all go." Kelu's voice was like the devil's whisper into the ears of the young mercenary.

"..." The young mercenary stood up slowly, trembling, holding the dagger.

"You, you didn't lie to me?" Little Hans' eyes wandered around, but his fingers holding the dagger became tighter and tighter.

"Of course! Of course! I didn't tell a single lie." Kelu opened his arms.

"If I go against my words, Odin will kill me with his spear."

After hearing these words, the young mercenary named Hans finally made up his mind. He slowly drew his dagger and walked towards his uncle step by step.

The corners of Kelu's mouth kept rising as the young mercenary walked forward. This was the scene he loved to see the most. Oh, it's coming, it's coming! The feeling of pleasure is coming!

A morbid fanaticism burned in the heart of the necromancer, and his twisted heart seemed to be beating wildly. The pressure from his mentor and colleagues, which he had no way to vent on a normal day, turned into pure malice at this time and was fully displayed.

Just as the young mercenary passed by the merchant's daughter, he suddenly stopped and looked at Kelu.

"What are you standing there for? Don't stop!" Kelu urged loudly.

"Okay." The young mercenary nodded, then knocked over the two zombies that were restraining the merchant's daughter and pushed her towards the dark forest where there were no zombies guarding her.

"Run!" Little Hans shouted, but he turned around and strode towards Kelu.

The smile on Kelu's face froze, he clenched his fists and was shaking with anger.

"You actually..." The necromancer retreated hastily, as if he was completely unaware that the other party would make such a choice.

"Go to hell! Devil!" Little Hans suddenly swung his knife at Kelu.

Just as he was watching the blade touch the opponent with hope, a shield suddenly appeared and directly bounced off the dagger that was chopped down. A first-level mage could maintain the shield for a long time, let alone Kelu, a second-level gravedigger.

The fallen little Hans looked up in despair and saw the necromancer looking at him with a teasing look.

"Be careful..." the mercenary captain shouted with all his might in a hoarse voice.

The sound of footsteps behind him made the young mercenary shudder, and the fat businessman who was controlled and kneeling on the ground suddenly let out a wail of extreme grief.

A pair of familiar white arms wrapped around little Hans' neck from behind, and then a sharp pain came from the side of his neck. Hans screamed and turned his head quickly, only to see the merchant's daughter, whom he had just pushed away, biting his neck hard!

The girl's eyes were covered with a layer of white film of death, and her skin was a strange blue color. It was obvious that she had been transformed into a zombie.

"What a good show." Kelu applauded as he watched the young mercenary being devoured by the newly transformed young girl zombie.

"Next, it's time to get back to business." The necromancer shrugged and snapped his fingers.

After wiping out the caravan, the zombies, now numbering in the thousands, devoured the few remaining humans. All the pain and despair were shattered by those gaping, bloody mouths.

"Praise my Lord, I will bring your love to more people." Kelu drew an evil symbol on his chest, then turned his head to look in another direction.

"There is still one suspicious target left. I hope to find that noble prince."

The necromancer's laughter, accompanied by the low roars of the zombies, continued to echo under the dark, starless and moonless night sky covered by dark clouds.

At the same time, the hotel where Alvin was staying was also surrounded by a group of zombies.

Kelu had previously let the zombies spread out in large numbers, intending to surround all possible targets and prevent them from escaping easily. Then he would clean them up and check them one by one.

At present, although there are a few lower-level demons who have been transformed by magic among the guests of the inn, most of them are messenger-type demons who have absorbed the flesh and biological characteristics of common livestock such as rabbits or goats, and thus their leg structure has changed and they are very good at running and jumping.

The only ones who still had some fighting power were a few lower-level demons who had integrated the blood and flesh characteristics of horses and two farmers who had absorbed the biological characteristics of oxen.

Needless to say, the latter is very strong but has a honest and non-combatant character. The former's appearance is similar to the legendary centaur. These demons are mainly responsible for freight work, and their strength and weight allow them to easily deal with ordinary monsters.

But right now there are a large number of zombies wandering outside, and even the lower-level demons who have undergone transformation cannot rush out.

There are not many residents around this building built next to the commercial road, and even if there are most of them, they have been killed. At this moment, more than a hundred zombies are attracted by the breath of the living in the hotel like ants attracted by candy cubes, and they are surrounding it.

The only thing to be thankful for is that the inn owner obviously spent a lot of money when building the inn.

The entire building is a mixed brick and wood structure. Although the parts above the second floor and the frame of the house are still solid wood structures, the exterior walls of the first floor hall and the foundation of the entire building are all made of rectangular bricks and stones, and lime mud is used to fill the gaps between the materials to increase the overall strength and durability.

This type of brick and stone wall was originally developed by alchemists as a method for building large buildings such as temples and castles. It was not until a few decades ago that the cost was reduced and it became widely popular among the people.

The walls built using this method are extremely strong and cannot be easily destroyed by low-level undead like zombies.

"Pile all the tables and chairs at the door! Use wooden boards to block the windows! How many entrances does this store have besides the main door?" Alvin asked loudly to the innkeeper while giving orders.

"There is a back door in the kitchen, which is used to purchase goods on weekdays." The hotel owner said quickly.

Astonishing strength, unusual height, but the body structure is not much different from that of ordinary people. To Elrond, this almost indicates that the other party is a high-level demon who has undergone transformation through advanced spells and secret rituals. Even if he is not from a prominent family, he is at least a descendant of the nobility.

Coupled with the other party's decisive handling of the zombies with one blow, most people in the hotel did not object to accepting his command.

Elrond's harsh natural environment allows the people of Elrond to calm down faster than others when facing emergencies. At the same time, they are also willing to obey the command of capable people and work together to fight against sudden monsters, monsters and various natural and man-made disasters.

"Frei, take your men and seal the back door." The black-haired boy took the initiative to command everyone to strengthen the defense of the hotel.

"I understand." Afrediya nodded.

After realizing that her side might have been exposed, she did not want to abandon these people and run away. Neither the education she received since childhood nor her own moral code allowed the princess to abandon her people.

As for Alvin, he also had the ability to attack directly, but the mastermind's practice of consuming his own strength made him realize that the other party's strength was probably limited. If it were a fourth-level wizard, he would have attacked directly.

Besides, passively avoiding and escaping is not Ivan's style. He prefers an active and proactive defense method.

For example, first capture a villain who doesn't care about morality when beating people up and interrogate him.

Chapter 26: Simple Folk Customs

Koru Wejers considers himself a cautious person.

Even if it causes some unrest, it can be well hidden behind the incident and not be discovered.

Of course, a big part of the reason why he dared to do this was because of the harsh external environment in Elrond.

In Elrond, the cold climate, complex magical environment and rugged terrain mean that even on trade routes that have been developed for a long time, wild monsters will appear from time to time.

Of course, there are also undead among them. Although the probability of encountering undead is much lower than other monsters, the occasional appearance of one or two will not attract too much attention.

At most, after a while, people from the temple will come to investigate whether there is a natural environment where negative energy accumulates around.

In places like public cemeteries in the suburbs, priests affiliated with the temple would come regularly to dispel negative energy, but the only person guarding the cemetery gate was an old drunkard. After all, few people were willing to stay in such remote places far away from cities and towns for a long time.

In addition, compared with strange beasts, ordinary human bandits are far less common in Elrond than in other countries.

People who have the ability to live in the wilderness of Elrond for a long time would not become bandits. They can directly join the regular army or the private army of the territorial nobles based on their abilities and at least become non-commissioned officers or junior officers.

Taking into account the rich and colorful ecological environment of the local wild, the caravans in Elrond do not simply hire a few mercenaries or adventurers for escort when traveling.

In the Elrond caravan, everyone had to carry weapons. Not only did everyone carry a spear, but everyone also had to carry a long sword or a scimitar. Even the few women would hide short knives, daggers and other easy-to-carry weapons on their bodies.

It is precisely because of this that the people of Elrond are simple and honest. Even if civilians encounter a monster, their first reaction is to draw their weapons. Screaming and fear usually come second.

However, when Kayan, who was hiding in the dark, saw Kelu secretly mass-producing undead in the public cemetery and began to harass the caravans and travelers heading from Flanders to Avonmore.

The secretly observing supervisor summoned his own magical pet, a gray-haired flying squirrel whose tail had been transformed by magic so that it could glide long distances, to send a letter to his mentor Lucius who was away on an inspection trip to report the incident, and even suggested that the mentor sever ties with this reckless guy in advance.

Generally speaking, power itself is neither good nor evil, but long-term contact with negative energy can lead to extreme personality traits in people. No wizard has ever given a theoretical explanation to completely deny this.

In short, holding each other back is a traditional skill of the Undead faction. Otherwise, how can they defeat other competitors, obtain more resources, and advance?

Khayon did not stop Kelu's actions, nor did he have any reason to do so.

Although doing so would alert the enemy, there was also a high probability that Afrediya, who was hiding her whereabouts, would be exposed.

After all, given their respect for civilians, they clearly wouldn't stand idly by. The speed at which they eliminated the undead would allow Kelu, who controlled the undead, to gauge their strength and identify the group where Princess Afrediya might be hiding.

So, Ka Yang just watched quietly, watching the annoying guy leading a huge army of zombies towards a roadside inn.

As for whether he will continue to just watch and do nothing, only the great god Odin knows.

"All those who are armed, move forward, and let the women and children retreat to the second floor." Alvin directed everyone to respond, treating this matter as an emergency task in the game.

Palladio already has this kind of unexpected encounter with enemies like stepping on mines in old-fashioned RPG games.

However, as the world's first fully immersive game, Paradiso will provide complete storylines and diverse endings even for emergencies encountered on the road.

Anyway, players are already accustomed to the special experience of "I have the aura of the protagonist, and when I walk on the road, the villains in the mountains will taunt me."

This is the case even in the game, not to mention that he is now involved in the vortex of struggle among the upper echelons of Elrond. It is perfectly normal to encounter such emergencies.

However, what Ivan, who didn't know enough about the simple folk customs in Elrond, didn't expect was that when he shouted "Everyone with weapons come forward", all the old and young in the inn drew all kinds of weapons.

The centaur freight demon dug out two scimitars from the cargo boxes on both sides of the horse's body. The demon farmer with bull horns picked up the pitchfork on the ground. The bard drew a long sword. The small businessman with a pair of fox ears took out a simple meteor hammer with a weight at the end from his pocket.

Including the timid maid who screamed earlier, women and children took out short knives and daggers hidden in their boots or under their skirts. The fat innkeeper even took out a long-handled two-handed battle axe directly from under the bar.

Seeing this, the black-haired boy couldn't help but slap his forehead.

"Men stay on the first floor, women and children go upstairs. Fulei, you go with them. Be careful of someone..." Ivan paused, "a monster may climb onto the roof and attack you."