Amber Sword-Chapter 63 - 24 Acts Withered Tree_2

There are undead nearby! He was startled, then realized that even if Madara didn't control this area, they could send a squad over for surveillance to ensure no one got away. But just a small squad, thinking of this, Brand relaxed a little, a few low-level undead were nothing to him, but he must be careful not to alert the withered beasts in the canyon.

He drew his sword, and when the Azure Light Piercing pointed in a direction, the glow on the blade became a bit brighter. Brand immediately knew that small squad of undead was in that direction. He gestured for Roman to stay back, then extinguished the torch and crept forward step by step.

*****

Indeed, there was a small squad of undead in the canyon, but these skeletons had encountered some trouble. Leading them was the Corpse Witch Cabka, who had let the human scout escape in Buchi, which also led to a colleague's demise. Rosco had exiled it here — partly to punish its disappointing performance and partly to remind it not to act too clever in front of its superiors or masters.

Cabka understood, but the more pressing matter was how to fend off the three monsters attacking.

Initially, it and its skeleton soldiers had taken down a creature covered in thorny branches, resembling a humanoid bush standing on end. Now, it seemed that three of its kind had come to their doorstep. These monsters, with two ghostly fire lights under their withered branches, stared at the undead creatures, and there were several fractured bone skeletons scattered around them.

The battle seemed imminent.

What are those root and grass things? The green flames in Cabka's eye sockets flickered.

As the enemy prepared to attack again, it had no choice but to have its skeleton soldiers equip strong bows, draw from the ghostly blue soul fire to ignite the arrowheads, and release a volley of arrows — unexpectedly, two withered beasts caught fire quickly and screamed miserably, turning into two blazing flames in the sand. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

The Corpse Witch immediately cackled, these things were tougher than its skeleton soldiers, but as long as they were plants, they feared fire. Right, why hadn't it thought of that before? What a misstep. Cabka raised the Bone Staff, and with a bang, the body of the last withered beast exploded, scattering wood chips everywhere.

Watching from a prominent white rock, Brand couldn't help but laugh at the sight of the Corpse Witch wildly gesturing below. How brazen to use magic here. Magic was one of the Golden Magic Tree's favorite nutrients, craving it like a drug. Any magical fluctuation in this area would immediately be detected, and the Corpse Witch was still oblivious, truly courting death.

But he also had a problem; since he and Roman are here, he needed to find a way to get to higher ground quickly, or they'd end up buried with these mindless undead.

He turned back to pull Roman up. Miss Merchant blinked at the sight of the small squad of undead below, her bright eyes showing curiosity instead of fear.

"I recognize that Corpse Witch," she whispered.

"Shh!"

Undead are not that easy to distinguish, Brand thought she was joking. Skeleton soldiers and corpse witches all looked nearly identical, with differences only in soul fluctuations, even high-level undead were identified by ornaments or distinct features.

"I really do recognize it, Brand, I saw it from afar at your house last time," Miss Merchant insisted confidently.

"Mm, mm, quieter, if they get alerted, we're in deep trouble."

Brand squinted; he had already noticed some shadows stealthily approaching within the dark, likely withered beasts. He could count about thirty before losing track, there were too many, and it was too dark. Yet, the Corpse Witch hadn't ordered its skeleton soldiers to extinguish the soul fire on their arrowheads, plants were attracted to light, and he concluded it must have mistaken their fragments on the ground for skeleton remains.

"Seems like there are a lot of things around us, Brand," Roman said.

"Mm, follow me. Stay low, don't disturb them—"

The two continued to climb higher, Brand leading and Roman inching forward on her knees. He now appreciated having Miss Merchant with him, she remained unflustered in this environment, which was rare.

He recalled playing games with female teammates who screamed in fear when entering spooky places. This wasn't the most awkward part, the embarrassing part was when some men did the same.

Thinking of this, he quietly glanced down—

Centered around the Corpse Witch and its skeleton soldiers, the withered beasts had formed several currents. Cabka finally sensed something was wrong, instinctively chanting the Dark Curtain spell, but only halfway through, two entirely dark red monsters burst from the rock crevice and shredded its skeleton soldiers to pieces.

Marsha above, Lord Rosco! What the hell are these things, there's no need for surveillance here!

Cabka had no attachment to its subordinates; Madara's army had no compassion. Of course, preserving itself was permissible, so it leapt onto the rocks behind, the Corpse Witch's dexterity and strength were not low, although its mage appearance often deceived people.

But Brand was not at all pleased as the Corpse Witch jumped towards them.

Come on, can't you pick a better direction?

At this point, he didn't even dare draw the Azure Light Piercing, holding a glowing stick-like object in the dark would make him a target immediately.

Then he saw a dark red withered beast suddenly leap, grabbing the Corpse Witch's leg bone and dragging it down. The canyon was now surrounded by withered beasts; the skeleton soldiers were likely already torn apart, and a second's hesitation from Cabka would mean following suit.

"Kill it!" Brand couldn't help but shout inwardly.

Meanwhile, he felt Roman tightly grasping his shoulder from behind, sharing his tension. Anyone could see if the Corpse Witch got any closer, the withered beasts would likely find them too.

However, with her breath sweet as orchids, still distracted Brand. He glanced back only to see Miss Merchant staring intently in another direction.

Huh?

Following her gaze, he suddenly gasped.