It was a cloaked skeleton. Even half its torso reached straight into the vault of heaven, and any single rib seemed larger than a giant dragon.
Where had such a terrifying colossus come from? Even giants were not this tall, were they?
This terrible skeleton was like the physical embodiment of the God of Death. The moment it appeared, every Githyanki felt their entire body go numb. The red dragons in the sky barely managed to hold on, but the beating of their wings grew distinctly sluggish.
Next, the terrifying giant skeleton extended its right hand toward the Githyanki and slowly raised its index finger.
The giant tapped lightly, and ripples spread through the air—no, not through the air, but through space itself.
The instant the giant's finger descended, space shattered. Countless terrifying phantoms and shadows surged forth like a black tide made of monsters, sweeping toward the Githyanki in violent waves.
This was no spell, merely dark mana concentrated to the absolute extreme.
Back when Anbaixiu detonated the skeleton body he had nurtured for so long, the bursting dark mana had taken the shape of various venomous insects, turning every golem puppet around him into scrap iron.
This time, when this godlike skeleton unleashed an astronomical surge of dark mana, it was not as simple as turning into insects.
Countless horrific shadows surged within the black tide, each grotesquely formless and taking the shapes of the most savage demons. Three heads and six arms, needle-beaks and fangs, tentacles lined with barbs, gaping bloody maws spewing flames... All cruelty and evil were given physical form, turning into a surging wave that engulfed every single Githyanki.
Not only those in the sky, but also the Githyanki who had already dived into the sea.
Dark mana recognized neither friend nor foe, blanketing everything from the sky to the ocean depths.
The pitch-black tide surged violently across more than a dozen kilometers before it finally began to dissipate.
In the direction the giant pointed, across a fan-shaped expanse with a fifteen-kilometer radius, every living creature perished—not even a tiny shrimp survived.
The black tide had come swiftly and receded just as fast. By the time the sky and sea regained their original colors, only Gareth and Canggu remained in the air.
Such turbulent dark mana could only be endured by the undead. Whether Githyanki or Astral red dragons, all had been killed in an instant, plunging into the sea, where their corpses were already decomposing heavily.
Gareth scratched his helmet and said in astonishment, "Does the Dragon Tomb's defensive magic have a move like this? Why didn't I know about it?"
Canggu was equally shocked. "I didn't know either! What on earth happened?"
Gareth chuckled. "What else could it be? My brother did it, of course."
Gareth had supreme confidence in Anbaixiu. Whenever anything illogical happened in this world, it was usually the lich's handiwork.
He had banished an entire kingdom—what was pulling off a move like this in comparison?
Still, couldn't he have given a heads-up a little earlier?
The excessively dense dark mana had ruined Gareth's armor, reducing it to a heap of scrap metal. This set of armor was high-tier magical gear he had spent hundreds of years continuously reinforcing—he had taken a massive loss this time.
While undead could wield dark mana, when it was this overpowering, it still caused damage.
Gareth gave a wry smile, but could not bring himself to complain. He had been a bit reckless earlier. Reflecting on it now, the Githyanki's target had not been him, but Canggu. He could not imagine what would have happened if Canggu had been harmed while he was banished—Gareth would have lost his mind completely.
Anbaixiu had basically saved his life—no, something far more precious than his own life.
As for gear, if it was ruined, so be it. At worst, he would spend another few centuries forging a new set.
As the two slowly flew toward the Island of Eternal Rest, they spotted a figure skimming rapidly across the sea's surface, swiftly stashing the corpses of the Githyanki and red dragons into his personal space.
His personal space, roughly the size of a castle, had always been more than sufficient, but after stuffing two red dragon carcasses inside, space became tight. Anbaixiu simply cast spells to turn the rest of the corpses into skeletons.
The Astral red dragons twisted their rotting bodies and paddled toward the Island of Eternal Rest, sprawling flat the moment they crawled ashore.
Bone dragons raised on the fly like this had zero combat capability; being able to move at all was already impressive.
After the red dragons dragged themselves ashore, the Githyanki corpses followed—Anbaixiu had turned them into skeletons too, and they marched one after another out of the seabed onto the beach.
After finishing all this, Anbaixiu felt a bit worn out.
With so many corpses and red dragons, powering them purely with dark mana was truly no easy feat.
For a moment, Anbaixiu had even considered summoning the Golden Throne to boost his mana, but after some thought, he resisted. It was just a matter of spending a little more time; there was no need to burn a mountain of gold.
Fortunately, Aige lent a hand. The ghost ship made a few sweeps through the sea, bringing him a massive hoard of carcasses—not just Githyanki, but also numerous gigantic marine creatures, especially those ixitxachitls. Monstrosities with demonic bloodlines, their carcasses were worth even more than ordinary Githyanki.
"No idea how they tamed these ixitxachitls. These monsters are the pets of Demogorgon, Prince of Demons."
Anbaixiu looked at the harvest piled high across the beach, his jaw practically unhinged with glee. He had hit the jackpot this time.
"Brother, stop counting your money for one second, will you? What on earth did you just do? The Dragon Tomb doesn't possess power like that." Gareth was intensely curious, ignoring his minor injuries as he pressed for an answer.
Anbaixiu did not hide anything either. He confessed frankly, "I drained all the divine power accumulated in the Dragon Tomb in one go. I have to say, your father-in-law knows absolutely nothing about necromancy. No wonder the success rate of bone dragon conversions is so pitifully low—what an utter waste of heavenly gifts."
The dark mana in the Dragon Tomb was converted through a "conceptual deity," something inherently otherworldly and powerful. Sefris had never studied necromancy; over the years, his use of this dark mana had been downright abysmal. In Anbaixiu's eyes, he had handled it better back when he was an apprentice.
After using the Dice of Fate to blaze a trail, Anbaixiu had found the true nexus of the entire Dragon Tomb—the ring enshrined by Sefris upon an altar, a gift from the President of the Elegy Poetry Society to Sefris.
Without question, it was a mighty artifact, one far beyond Anbaixiu's comprehension.
Yet thanks to the divine knowledge Leira had shared with him, Anbaixiu was barely able to manipulate the ring and the magic formation spanning the entire Dragon Tomb.
Then, using the dark mana the Dragon Tomb had accumulated over countless years, he unleashed that move just now.
In truth, Anbaixiu had intended to cast Finger of Death with it. But such colossal power was completely beyond control; he had barely begun before the spell fizzled. The result was that the dark mana ran wild, erupting from the giant death-god's fingertip and obliterating every living soul.
Anbaixiu explained helplessly, "I really planned to leave some behind for the Dragon Tomb. After all, you still need it to convert bone dragons. But I truly couldn't control such a massive amount of power."
These were honest words; without summoning the Golden Throne, Anbaixiu had pushed himself to his absolute limit.
As for spending his own money just to save a little mana for the dragons?
Not a chance!
Emptying all the stored dark mana in one go began causing malfunctions in the Dragon Tomb's magic formation. What was even more absurd was that after slipping the ring onto his finger, Anbaixiu had not taken it off. Consequently, the Island of Eternal Rest was growing unstable, and the Dragon Tomb might soon be completely exposed.
Of course, that had nothing to do with Anbaixiu.
Gareth said dismissively, "If it's spent, it's spent. No matter how precious dark mana is, it can't compare to Canggu." Gareth then pulled Anbaixiu into a fierce hug, nearly crushing him flat.
Gareth said emotionally, "Brother, I owe you a life... No, two lives! From now on, just say the word, and my blade is yours to command."
Anbaixiu had a hard time shoving Gareth off. This terrifying brute—his mithral body had almost been deformed. That single hug had cost Anbaixiu several gold coins in repair bills.
Canggu also hurried to thank Anbaixiu. Though the Bone Dragon Eldest Miss had not seen many grand battles, she understood how dangerous her situation had just been. If Anbaixiu had not intervened, she would not have gotten off with merely replacing a few bones.
Anbaixiu said hurriedly, "Don't be so quick to thank me; the most important task isn't done yet. We still don't know Sefris's whereabouts. The Githyanki brought troops to cause trouble at the Dragon Tomb, but what about the other living dragons? Are they accomplices, or has something gone wrong?"
Yes, hurry and focus on this important issue, and don't pay any mind to the ring from the Dragon Tomb.
Canggu panicked at once and said hurriedly, "Right, Father! Let's go search the other dragon islands for Father right now."
Gareth offered a few words of comfort, then turned to Anbaixiu. "Brother, I know you already have a plan, right?"
Anbaixiu smiled and produced an incomplete soul.
"This is the soul of a Githyanki. Judging by its strength, he was probably a decent wizard, maybe even a legend. Pity he'd never seen a true deity strike. If he had run sooner, he might have escaped."
The earlier eruption of dark mana had been far too violent; weaker souls had vanished completely within the black tide. He had initially assumed the red dragons' souls would be stronger and leave something behind, but every red dragon had been utterly annihilated, leaving not a shred of slag.
Surprisingly, the soul in Anbaixiu's hand had retained most of its form under the shockwave of the black tide.
This was prime material. Even left to itself, it would passively absorb dark mana and slowly turn into a formidable wraith or lich—in short, extremely valuable.
However, right now Anbaixiu could only reluctantly dismantle the soul to read the memories within.
The soul unraveling like thread, Anbaixiu extracted every remnant memory. After several hours of meticulous searching, Anbaixiu told Canggu and Gareth, "Fortunately, your father is safe for now. He was only lured elsewhere by another band of Githyanki, not placed under control. With any luck, he should return in a few hours."
Canggu and Gareth had barely exhaled a sigh of relief when Anbaixiu added, "However, the problem isn't solved yet. The Githyanki moving directly against the Dragon Tomb means they are ready to drop all pretenses. Unfortunately, this Githyanki's soul is severely fragmented. I only saw that they've erected a massive altar on a certain dragon island, but couldn't uncover its specific purpose.
"Whatever it is, it must be related to the dragon race's return, and the sacrificial offerings are likely all the bone dragons. Otherwise, they wouldn't have dispatched their elites to attack the Dragon Tomb."
Anbaixiu rose to his feet, crushed the ragged threads of soul in his hand, and said with utter gravity, "These toads truly don't fear death. Gareth, do you still have the strength to fight?"
Gareth chuckled, and the flaming longblade materialized in his hand once more. "Those superficial scratches from before don't count for anything; they're already healed," he said confidently. "Come on! This time, we wipe out all these toads once and for all!"
Aige smiled at Anbaixiu as well. "I promised to show you what I'm capable of, but haven't had the chance. Now is perfect. I'll ferry you to hunt down those Githyanki, and rally my crew while I'm at it. It's been a long time since they've stretched their bones."
Anbaixiu nodded. Though not everyone was here, half the members of the Elegy Poetry Society were assembled.
The Githyanki were dead meat!
Chapter 378