Where Did This Archmage of the Undead Come From?!

An officer who was at least a Rank 3 Extraordinary, one of the base's top six figures. A Swordbearer tactical squad armed to the teeth, forged specifically to counter Extraordinaries. Dozens of commissioners brought along by the officer, plus an enigmatic Swordbearer captain whose true depths remained unknown. Accompanied by a carpet search, their inescapable dragnet had already spread wide. A suffocatingly extravagant lineup. It had to be admitted: Bai Zhou simply did not possess the strength to take them on. He was practically pinned down in the brush, not daring to make a reckless move. Encircled by them, unless he stayed hidden until they left of their own accord... Otherwise, Bai Zhou was not even confident he could break out of here. —And yet, he had no intention of running. These people had come for him. There was no reason for innocents to be dragged down on his account. Right now, Bai Zhou would actually be glad if Old Qiao spilled everything about him without holding back. They were strangers who had only met by chance anyway; it was no big deal. Yet that was not where the problem lay. Bai Zhou had witnessed the officer's unmasked arrogance, and he had seen the Swordbearer captain's shift from fleeting concern to cold detachment. A familiar sensation welled up in his heart— Bai Zhou understood at once: if these people failed to find him today, everyone here would likely be carted off along the way. So, even though it went entirely against his usual cautious way of doing things... He knew he had to step forward. After all, he was an Adventurer. There were only ever tales of Adventurers accepting a villager's commission to slay monsters. There was no record of an Adventurer standing idly by while monsters slaughtered villagers. Even if the Adventurer held the finest rusted sword in the village, or a battered lance with no edge left... even if their foe was a roaring dragon. ...Fortunately, he was not completely without a chance of victory. —Leveling up on the eve of battle was fairly common for an Adventurer, wasn't it? *Rustle...* While Old Qiao spoke with the officer, The brush stirred with a motion so faint it was barely perceptible. Bai Zhou glanced down at the time on his wristwatch. "23:59:57." Midnight was approaching. Through the brush, Bai Zhou took one last deep look at the crowd gathered before the unfinished building. With one hand he withdrew the *Dead Sea Secret Scrolls*, and with the other, the Zhuluoji Pass... *See you in a bit.* Leaving the silent parting words in his heart, he channeled spirituality into the pass. The next instant, At 00:00 sharp, Bai Zhou vanished from the brush. —He would return at 00:00:01. *Buzz—!* In the distance, the mysterious compass suddenly flared with brilliant light, vibrating violently without pause. The Swordbearer captain jerked his head up and looked around, his eyes filled with alarm. "Someone used spirituality nearby!" "It's..." He let out a low cry of shock and confusion: "Did someone... enter the Reflected Ruin Realm?" ... A crimson crescent moon hung high in the sky. An inverted mega-city drifted beneath the moon. *Rumble—* Above the boundless Battlefield Ruins, The Great Skeleton General galloped past once more in grand fashion, leading his vast army. Steering his winged steed and commanding legions between heaven and earth every single day, the Skeleton General had long treated this as routine work. —It was as though even he had almost forgotten the purpose behind it. *Scratch, scratch.* Finger bones scraped twice against a smooth, polished cranium. The Great Skeleton General reined in his steed and raised his sword. His jawbone clacked open and shut with crisp snaps. Adopting a solemn cadence steeped in delusions of former glory from which he could not break free... This mad skeleton, whose mind was easily ninety percent unhinged, bellowed his slogan for the hundred and eight thousandth time with practiced ease: "O my Immortal Legion—!" "Follow behind me! Match my stride! Forward march!" Behind him stretched densely packed skeletons and mummies, clad in armor, clutching sabers and gripping spears. This was his "great army." Yet this army stood crooked and askew. Upon closer inspection, they were actually strung together by an endlessly long horsewhip, standing lopsided, missing arms and legs. Several heads rested tilted against their "comrades'" collarbones, displaying an appalling lack of military discipline. Whenever the wind blew, their bones rattled and clattered as if about to fall apart. "..." They all remained dead silent, clearly feeling zero resonance with the general's lofty ambitions. Yet the Skeleton General was immensely satisfied. *Crack!* He gave the whip a sudden yank. He misjudged his strength. *Snap!* The crisp sound came from his right. A junior skeleton officer strung up near the front of the ranks—whose neck had already been rather flimsy—had his head pop clean off. The skull rolled down the earthen slope like a rubber ball, its empty eye sockets gazing blankly up at the fractured sky bathed in the blood moon's glow. "...?" The Skeleton General's speech came to an abrupt halt. Immediately afterward, he covered his embarrassment with an even louder voice: "Hahaha! O fearless vanguard! Art thou so eager to charge into the fray?!" "What magnificent valor! All generals should take him as their paragon!" With that, he urged his steed forward, attempting to casually hook the skull back with his long blade— He couldn't reach it. Just as he was pondering whether he should condescend to dismount... "Huh?" Without warning, a wisp of black mist seeped out from between his finger bones. Then came more. The black mist rose in delicate wisps, drifting light as fog yet deathly cold, laden with ill omen. They seeped from every fissure in his bones, drifting upward one after another. "What is this...?" Something was draining away from his body. —The death energy of the undead! The Skeleton General turned his head and realized it was not just him. More and even denser black mist was rising from every single skeleton and dried corpse. The corpses were like so many chimneys, billows of thick black smoke pouring from all of them. An endless tide of black mist surged roiling into the sky. "Who is gathering the death energy of the undead?" What could anyone even do... with such a thing? The Skeleton General looked up in shock. The dark wisps spiraled high into the air, converging into one. *Whoosh—* A wind arose. Beneath the blood moon, across the desolate plain, A colossal black vortex that blotted out the sky was taking shape! A hurricane formed from the death energy of the undead dimmed the blood-red light of the heavens. Sand flew and stones rolled; ghosts wailed and spirits wept. The violent winds rattled the Skeleton General's bony frame until it creaked. Far away, At the edge of the hazy horizon— A figure appeared, walking at the very eye of the black hurricane. The person seemed to be cradling a book, looking at first glance like a scholar. Yet vast billows of black smoke blotted out the sky, and in the haze, one could even hear eerie, sinister cackling. —No matter how one looked at it, he did not resemble a good person in the slightest. "That is...?!" Shielding against the black gale with his hand, the Skeleton General peered toward the figure. Utterly bewildered, he could not help but cry out: "—Where did this Archmage of the Undead come from?!" As the gale intensified and the terrifying suction grew stronger, The man surrounded by roiling pitch-black death energy drew closer and closer. —Death energy leaked from every pore; he clearly came with ill intent! Once he caught a clear glimpse of the delicate, handsome face concealed behind the black smoke... The eerie green ghost fires within the Skeleton General's eye sockets suddenly flared and danced wildly. Like candles flickering in a tempest. "It's..." "That kid from last time?" That kid named Bai Zhou was the center of this hurricane of black mist? He was siphoning and refining the death energy of the undead from his own body? —How was that possible?! He thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. Yet soon, he had no further doubt about the newcomer's identity. Because that person was actually standing at the center of the howling black smoke, waving warmly toward him from afar! ...As if old friends were reuniting. In the distance, The moment Bai Zhou caught sight of that familiar, glowing green skull, a brilliant smile of sheer delight broke across his face. As if he had laid eyes on a treasure waiting to be unearthed. That look in his eyes clearly said: *I finally found you!* Set against the dramatic backdrop created by the hurricane of death energy, His clear, bright eyes sparkled. Bai Zhou even greeted this familiar general with immense warmth. "Good evening, General!" He called out, "—Long time no see!"