Undead, Invincible!

Music was very much a matter of personal taste. Just because Anbaixiu found it awful didn't mean the tune was truly terrible. If it could ward off three instances of fatal damage, Anbaixiu would gladly listen to it on repeat for the rest of his life. Poet was delighted to hear his praise and said to Anbaixiu, "Although the effect doesn't stack, if you'd like to hear more, I could..." Anbaixiu cut in decisively, "Next time! I will definitely listen to Senior's beautiful music next time. It looks like time is running short—it's time for me to go arm-wrestle that bunch of goddesses." What a joke! Who would listen to this garbage without a benefit attached?! With a swift cast of Misty Step, Anbaixiu teleported away, vanishing before everyone's eyes. Anbaixiu's departure marked the official beginning of the battle. Rose of Decay wasted no time, addressing Gareth immediately: "The terrain of this city is too complicated for a large army to deploy properly. Gareth, I'll need you to pave the way." Gareth pulled on the reins of his eight-legged horse and laughed heartily. "Just what I had in mind!" The giant eight-legged steed broke into a wild gallop, smashing straight through the walls of the temple and charging into the ruined city. As Gareth charged, violent dark energy gathered before him, coalescing into a colossal whirlwind that pulverized everything in its path. Whether rock or masonry, walls or pillars, nothing could halt Gareth's advance. Furthermore, the dark whirlwind was a full thirty meters wide. What it carved out as he charged wasn't some narrow alley, but a wide avenue. With such a deafening commotion, even deaf and blind drow elves would have noticed. Yet the assault came far too suddenly. The driders who showed up in scattered trickles were entirely incapable of halting Gareth's charge and were ripped to shreds directly by the dark vortex. Previously, Gareth had wanted to test his mettle against the Silvermoon Knight. That hadn't been arrogance, but the pride befitting Ryan's Pillar of Shame. Regrettably, the paladin who once sundered a city with a single sword had already passed away, leaving Gareth no chance to measure himself against him. Last time he had bullied paladins, he had to hold back most of his strength for fear of killing them with an impact. This time, however, Gareth charged with absolute abandon and full power—truly, even a glancing graze meant instant death. By the time Gareth had pierced clean through the entire city, still no one had been able to stop him. Then, Gareth wheeled his horse around and charged in another direction, looking poised to reduce the entire city to ruin. Just as he prepared to charge once more, however, a massive shadow rose from the ground. It was an enormous black spider, several times larger than Gareth, who was already a four-meter-tall giant. The giant spider spat a massive spray of venom toward Gareth, intending to intercept the terrifying giant. But before the venom could fly very far, a ball of green flame flew in, reducing it all to nothingness. A colossal bone dragon skimmed low across the air, sweeping its tail viciously across the giant spider's body and smashing it into a pulpy mess. Gareth was not fighting alone; Bone Dragon Eldest Miss had remained concealed by his side from beginning to end. This bone dragon assassin disposed of the giant spider with a single strike, dealing a heavy loss to the drow. This branch of drow had never possessed much strength to begin with; otherwise, they wouldn't have resorted to sneak attacks and would have long since marched directly on Rose of Decay's City of Quicksilver. That giant spider was already among the formidable combat assets they could muster, yet before legendary undead, it was utterly fragile. It was much the same elsewhere. Rose of Decay's undead army marched along the avenue Gareth had carved open, surging into every corner of the city like a tidal wave. The drow elves had no ability to fight back whatsoever, for Poet had long since drifted into midair above the city and begun strumming his lyre. The indescribably bizarre melody resonated throughout the subterranean city. Every drow elf who heard it trembled violently, lacking even the strength to stand. Such power struck fear even into Rose of Decay as she watched. For this music was by no means ineffective against the undead; Poet had merely reined in its power. Otherwise, Rose of Decay's undead army would have suffered the exact same fate. Looking at Poet in the sky, Rose of Decay couldn't help muttering to herself, "If this power could help me deal with Ryan..." With the Elegy Poetry Society unleashing full firepower, the destructive might was staggering. There were tens of thousands of drow elves in the city, but in the scant ten-odd minutes since Gareth initiated his charge, their casualties were estimated at four to five thousand already. The battle was completely one-sided; there was no force whatsoever that could halt this host of undead. This was a disparity of absolute power. Even Heji Stone, the weakest vampire among them, was a legend who could cut a swath through the drow elves unimpeded. He condensed blood into dozens of sharp blades, shredding all nearby enemies into pieces. Heji Stone thoroughly enjoyed fighting alongside these big shots; killing in the desert was never this effortless, and drow blood tasted quite fine too. Today, he could drink his fill. The other one dining to his heart's content was the ghoul Youjiaxi. His moniker in the Elegy Poetry Society was "Non-Vegetarian"—a very honest friend, for he was truly a non-vegetarian. Moving like lightning, Youjiaxi raced all across the city. Any drow elf caught by him would have an arm or thigh ripped away. Fresh flesh and blood nourished his stomach, which had been empty for years, bringing a faint sense of fullness that was soon overwhelmed by an even stronger hunger. Ghouls could never be satisfied and were perpetually starved. This was their curse, but also the source of their power. Youjiaxi sprinted all the way, leaving behind countless mutilated corpses as he devoured the flesh of drow elves by the score, converting it all into bodily energy. His killing speed was several times faster than even Heji Stone's. Just as he was eating with relish, a crimson drider caught Youjiaxi's attention. He stopped in his tracks, looking curiously at the creature. "What are you? A mutant breed?" Driders were usually grayish-black, but this drider was crimson all over, with numerous intricate runes hovering around his body. Seeing Youjiaxi, the drider showed no fear at all. Instead, he taunted the ghoul, "You undead have no idea of the power of the gods! I shall grant you supreme agony and offer it to my goddess!" Youjiaxi didn't understand what he was babbling about. Unlike Anbaixiu, he wasn't fond of reading and knew very little about deities. A goddess associated with pain? Who was that again? Whatever, it didn't matter. Youjiaxi pounced on the mutated drider, ripping off one of his spider legs before he could even react. Two rows of sharp fangs chewed thoroughly on the flesh of the severed leg, and then Youjiaxi said in surprise, "Such an aromatic flavor! I've never tasted meat so delicious!" Missing a leg, the drider let out an enraged roar. Blood-red light flared at the stump, swiftly regenerating a new spider leg. He then curved his bloated abdomen toward Youjiaxi and spewed a massive spray of crimson spider silk. This silk was lined with tiny serrations and sawed frantically back and forth; if it landed on anyone else, it would instantly slice their body with hundreds of lacerations. This was Loviatar's blessing, allowing every attack from this drider to inflict excruciating pain on his foes. And whether it was his own pain or that of his enemies, it would fuel the drider's strength, empowering him to cast more and mightier spells. Seeing this eerie web of blood, Youjiaxi's eyes shone with excitement. Without the slightest hesitation, he threw himself into the webbing, letting it wrap completely around him as the saw-like strands quickly carved numerous wounds into his flesh. The drider thought he had successfully ensnared his foe and could easily dispatch him next. Yet the two rows of eyes on his face suddenly widened in disbelief. The ghoul was clearly trapped tight in the web, so why were his movements completely unimpeded? Wait—he was eating the webbing! Webbing as tough as steel wire was easily shredded by Youjiaxi's hands. Though the wounds covering the ghoul looked plentiful, they were actually just superficial flesh wounds. Entirely disregarding the cuts on his hands, Youjiaxi grabbed the strands and shoved them into his mouth. Chewing as he spoke, the ghoul shouted, "So aromatic! Truly delicious! Drow, you smell delicious!" Such a vast swath of webbing was devoured in mere bites by Youjiaxi, who then lunged blood-drenched toward the drider. This time, all eight of the drider's spider legs were snapped off, and his body collapsed feebly to the ground. Planting a foot on the drider, Youjiaxi tore hungrily into the hairy spider legs. "Delicious! So tasty!" He had clearly received Loviatar's blessing, so why couldn't he even defeat a single ghoul? Bloodlight surged from the wounds as new legs regenerated. The intense agony brought strength at the same time—ordinarily a blessing, but right now, the freshly grown spider legs were promptly snapped off by Youjiaxi and stuffed back into his mouth. The ghoul was doing this on purpose! He was keeping him alive just so he could keep feeding! The drider wanted to weep, but no tears came; the goddess's gift had become his greatest torment. Youjiaxi had indeed held back; this fellow smelled simply too fragrant, and he desperately wanted a few more bites. No matter how the drider struggled, unleashing all manner of vile spells, none of it mattered to Youjiaxi. What he loved was the divine power of Loviatar suffusing the drider, so anything condensed from that power was a delicacy to him. Thorn Whip? Delicious, so chewy! Curse of Frailty? Spicy enough, thrilling enough! Eldritch Blast? Shove it right into my mouth! ... Whether energy or physical matter, as long as it contained Loviatar's power, Youjiaxi welcomed it without reserve, devouring whatever came. His body seemed utterly immune to these attacks, and he literally ate the drider to the point of complete exhaustion until even the blessed runes on the creature's body vanished. Sensing that Loviatar's divine power had dissipated, Youjiaxi snapped off his head in irritation, gulping it down in a few quick bites. "Four goddesses—there shouldn't be just one blessed person! I want to eat more!" Youjiaxi bolted into the darkness, searching for his next divinely blessed foe.