As the nineteenth Spectral Shaman wailed in dismay, its soul returning to the ether, Qin Ruo floated down from the sky upon his Angelic Wings.

He knelt, and the pure white wings automatically folded up behind him. They continued to sway gently as he moved, elegant and saintly.

His gaze swept over the coins and unremarkable Golden equipment that lay strewn across the ground.

“Cheap bastard!” Qin Ruo muttered.

Paying no heed to even the Golden equipment, he bent his knees, spread his wings, and soared into the air. Qin Ruo wasted no time once he was aloft again, hurtling at full speed towards his final destination.

The previous eighteen Spectral Shamans had dropped Golden items as well, and now his backpack was nearly stuffed full with them. If he picked up anymore, Qin Ruo was seriously worried he wouldn’t have room left to accept the Legendary-quality reward from Darius.

Below, the Amethyst Orc was keeping pace with great, loping strides, completely ignoring the scattered groups of Undead it encountered along the way. The one in the air would draw them away, while the one on the ground would evade them and keep on sprinting.

Everyone was pushing themselves to reach the mouth of the mountain pass at the foot of Eternity Peak, and the Undead horde gathered there.

Peering across the distance, one could see countless Skeletons, Zombies, Hellhounds, and Skeleton Dragons headed over from the direction of the Buried City. They formed a black-and-white column several dozen meters wide—a great torrent of Undead, moving toward Eternity Peak.

And nearby, where the Undead were the most tightly packed, there was a familiar mass of black mist, standing out clearly amidst the vast sea of Undead that surrounded it.

The last Spectral Shaman.

With a slight motion of his wings, Qin Ruo cut his speed to zero, hovering in mid-air.

Turning away from the Spectral Shaman, he looked out at the Undead horde, over three hundred meters long, as well as the dozens of Skeleton Dragons circling overhead.

Qin Ruo’s brow furrowed. Curse his luck—he had found the most cowardly Spectral Shaman of them all.

***

It was a bit of bother, but thanks to the advance information from Slayer’s Heart, Qin Ruo did not have to expend too much effort himself. He shot past in a flurry of wings, and the several-dozen Skeleton Dragons immediately whirled around to give chase, leaving the main body of the Undead horde.

Five minutes later, Qin Ruo and his two companions had reduced the entire flight of Skeleton Dragons to a scattered pile of bones. Now that the skies were clear, the rest of this business became a simple matter.

Leaving the Amethyst Orc behind on the outskirts, Qin Ruo brought Poochie with him and dove down at the Spectral Shaman.

With deft familiarity, he erected the Twelve Frostramparts Formation!

Poochie took advantage of the resulting chaos, pelting the Spectral Shaman out of the crowd, and far away from the Undead horde. As for the Undead themselves, their main goal was to assault Eternity Peak—whatever happened to the Spectral Shamans was no concern of theirs! The moment Qin Ruo was out of their sight, they completely lost interest, and resumed their advance through the mountain pass.

After a few rounds of this, the Spectral Shaman was sent flying again, haplessly bowling down a dozen Skeleton Warriors as it collided into them. Just like that, it had been ejected from the horde entirely.

Its vision cleared in time to see the enormous Amethyst Orc rushing at it with enthusiasm, grinding fist into palm as it approached!

***

‘Spectral Shaman Massacre’ completed! Ten Honor Points awarded.

Thirty-seven minutes remaining. Please return to the Eternal Barrier immediately, and report back to Darius!

The moment the last Spectral Shaman fell, the system notifications began chiming in.

Without the Spectral Shamans and their ability to raise the dead en masse, the Undead horde in the area had been visibly reduced in number. The Undead pouring into the mountain pass now had plenty of room to stroll as they made their way towards the top of Eternity Peak.

And now, Qin Ruo noticed a more serious problem.

The Amethyst Orc was also considered an intruder within the Buried City. If he couldn’t get it back through the Eternal Barrier before its three hours elapsed, would it then be discovered by the ‘Eye of Hades’ that Darius had mentioned?

Feeling his heart tightening, Qin Ruo ordered the Amethyst Orc to stay where it was. Then, bowing his head and crouching low, he shot up towards the top of Eternity Peak.

***

Darius had been observing the events beneath the Peak, and the moment Qin Ruo finished his quest, he could clearly sense the diminished strength of the Undead horde. So when Qin Ruo returned to the Eternal Barrier, he greeted him heartily.

“Haha! Well done, brave warrior! You actually managed to help me get rid of those Spectral Shamans—I can’t believe you’re still just a low-level champion!”

He did not seem to realize how ungrateful he sounded. Feeling a touch of contempt for him, Qin Ruo did not bother with any pleasantries himself, and went straight to his concerns about the Amethyst Orc.

After hearing about the matter, Darius was deep in thought for a moment, before looking up at Qin Ruo. “Regarding your question: I’m not sure myself. What I know is that the Eye of Hades is quick to spot anything that isn’t Undead, so the presence of the Amethyst Orc is quite likely to attract the Liches of the Buried City. You’ll either have to get your summoned creature back to the Eternal Barrier, or else release it.”

After a pause, Darius added, “There’s still another thirty minutes before the next scan by the Eye of Hades. It’s probably impossible to get your summoned creature back up Eternity Peak in time, so… I’m afraid it would be best to just let it go. There’s no point in keeping it around any longer, anyway.”

As Darius told him this, Qin Ruo thought he detected something odd in his tone. Searching the man’s eyes, he noticed traces of guilt and frustration.

Something leapt in his heart, and Qin Ruo raised his voice to shout, “Darius! The Amethyst Orc is my partner! We are battle brothers! It’s only because of its help that I was able to defeat all those Spectral Shamans for you. How can you ask me to turn my back on it? Is this how you treat your comrades?”

At first, Darius’s suggestion really did seem like the most practical solution. Qin Ruo had even been thinking about spending the remaining bit of time down in the foothills, slaying monsters alongside the Amethyst Orc. And then, at the end, he would release it from his service, and withdraw to the Eternal Barrier once more.

But there was something about what Darius had said, and it was giving him other ideas.

For instance, blackmail!

Terribly dishonorable, of course—but after defeating twenty Tier 5 Minibosses and not finding even a single piece of Dark Gold equipment, Qin Ruo was in that kind of mood, and put on his performance with gusto.

It worked!

The faint hint of guilt in Darius’s expression immediately became an outright blush of shame upon his greenish skin. Hurriedly, he rushed to explain, “No, it’s not what you think…”

“Friend… I, Darius, make this vow on behalf of the noble Ary Carqis, Ruler of the Buried City! I never meant to do you any wrong, nor suggest that you abandon your comrade! First, I wish to extend you an invitation to become an ally of the Buried City. Besides that, I would share with you a plan so that, once your treasured friend returns to the ether, I may return it to your side once more.”

That last thing Darius had said aroused Qin Ruo’s full attention. Breathing heavily, he whispered, “What did you say? Return the Amethyst Orc to my side? How do you mean? Are you serious?” Qin Ruo pursued this notion desperately, as though there was nothing he craved more in the whole world.

“That’s absolutely correct.” Seemingly eager to rectify Qin Ruo’s “misunderstanding” about him, he answered sincerely, “I can see that you and your Amethyst Orc have formed a close bond of kinship with each other. Therefore, when using a Sealed Mana Core of equal level, the monster that you summon will be the same one. In our Buried City, we lack the natural resources of the outside world, but we have no shortage of material wealth.”

Qin Ruo was beginning to understand. “What you’re saying, is that you have the Sealed Mana Core for a Tier 5 Miniboss?”

“Not on my person, right now. We ten Guardians of Eternity Peak never carry such things around ourselves. However, I have heard that the Eight High Lords of the Buried City have collected many treasures from the outside world, including Legendary-tier equipment and Sealed Mana Cores.”

“Eight High Lords? Darius, didn’t you say that the residents of the Buried City have all perished, along with your rulers? What’s this about Eight High Lords?” Qin Ruo asked.

Darius’s expression turned dark. “… The Eight High Lords are eight of our greatest Divine Champions, second only to the Ruler of the Buried City himself! Normally, they rule over eight towns linked to the Buried City. After our ruler commanded us all to return to the city, the Eight High Lords took it upon themselves to become the protectors of the eight districts of the Buried City.”

“However, when the Spawn of Hades descended upon the Buried City, aided by the Eye of Hades, they slew our Eight High Lords, who became soulless Demigod-tier Revenants.”

“Demigod-tier…”

Qin Ruo found this news disturbing.

Demigod-tier Revenant—that sounded like a Tier 6 Boss. In a manner of speaking, these Eight High Lords had been demoted to become Tier 6 Bosses? That explained their fondness for treasure. This rascal Darius, sharing such a worthless tip with him—without the Amethyst Orc, there was no way he’d tangle with such behemoths!

Qin Ruo came back to reality with a start, and turned to gaze silently out over the vast ruins of the Buried City in the distance, still bearing some hints of their former glory.

Now he knew that there were eight Tier 6 Revenant Bosses within the Buried City, and that was in addition to the cabal of Tier 6 Lich Bosses!

‘Damn! Doesn’t that mean…’

A shiver ran down his spine, as an idea popped into Qin Ruo’s mind that scared even himself!