Chapter 173: Chapter 173: A greedy spirit
Just from the magic circle in the sky, he could see that the caster was in an entirely different league than anything they had faced before.
"Get ready for the worst!" Ley shouted, his voice barely audible over the deafening roar of the firestorm descending upon the city.
"Focus! Channel all your energy into the barrier!" Ley commanded with all his might. "Protecting this city!"
The inferno crashed against the barrier, causing it to crack and strain.
Many Spirit Warriors were frozen in shock and fear.
This barrier was there to protect the people of the city who couldn\'t fight. It was to protect their families. As far as they remembered, this barrier had never been broken. But when they saw cracks, they couldn\'t believe their eyes.
On hearing their Captain\'s voice, they came to senses and started putting everything they had in the barrier to strengthen it.
The black robed figure in the distance did not stop walking towards the city at his own page. His malevolent laughter didn\'t stop as he enjoyed the futile struggle of the Spirits.
"Kek, Shall we spice it up a little?"
He snapped his fingers. A second layer of magic circle appeared right above the first one. With the stacked effect, the Inferno became even stronger.
Ley was giving it his all to keep the barrier in place. But when the Inferno suddenly became stronger, he watched the barrier shatter in front of his eyes.
His pupils trembled as a storm of flame descended upon the city, followed by many short yet painful bursts of screams from the city.
"What? It only took two stacks? Were they really supposed to be that weak?"
The black robed skeletal figure looked at the city with great disappointment.
He could create seven stacks of a magic circle at any time. The only reason he started with one major circle was because he wanted to watch them struggle and have fun.
He didn\'t expect his fun to stop with just two stacked magic circles.
"I wanted to try so much, but these weaklings..."
The black robed skeleton sighed in disappointment.
"Kek, fine. It\'s not like it\'s the end of the world. Their Queen should be able to give me some entertainment."
....
The inferno left nothing but destruction in its wake. By the time it disappeared, the city was unrecognizable.
All the buildings were left in ruins, and charred bodies were scattered everywhere. The ordinary spirits of this city hadn\'t even reached the safety of the shelters when the inferno descended
A small and weak barrier flickered in the city amidst the rubble. Soon, the barrier also disappeared. A hand with burn marks came out of the rubble and moved the stones aside.
A person came out of the rubble, most of his body having burn marks despite the barrier.
Ley stood alone in the ruined city, looking around at the destruction. Except him, not even a single person had survived this attack.
All his subordinates who were talking about returning to the capital city and enjoying a peaceful life were gone. No single structure was left standing in the city.
Most of the city was turned black from the flame that had raged through it, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. Only a spatial portal was left standing.
"I..."
Ley didn\'t even have the time to mourn his friends as he weakly started walking towards the portal. The defenses had fallen.
He had to return and close the portal from the other side. He couldn\'t let the invaders reach the Royal City!
In the real world, the spirits had spiritual bodies, but in the Spirit Realm, they were truly like humans. They had flesh and felt pain just like a human.
Despite the constant pain of burn, Ley ran towards the Portal, running past the lifeless bodies of his subordinates.
Soon, he reached the portal. He reached out his hand, but just as his fingers were about to touch it, something grabbed him by the neck.
He was forcefully pushed back and tossed aside.
He quickly regained his balance and prevented his fall.
He raised his weapon and rushed to attack the person who had pulled him back. But the moment he saw the person, he came to a sudden halt.
"H-how...? You are alive?!"
For a moment, happiness flashed in Ley\'s eyes. The person who pulled him back was one of his subordinates.
It was the same subordinate who was telling him that he wasn\'t allowed to take back his words about the party.
Ley was excited to see that he wasn\'t the only person who was alive. But when he saw him clearly, he noticed that something was wrong.
This person... It didn\'t look the same as before. His eyes didn\'t have the same shine in them. They were lifeless and darker.
"What happened to you?" he asked, his expressions turning darker. His subordinates had the same eyes as those invaders in the past.
"Kek, How is my gift?"
While Ley was confused, a voice came from behind him. He turned around and his expressions twisted even more as he saw a skeleton whose face had living flesh.
"I didn\'t expect anyone to survive the moment that barrier broke. But a person managed to survive. Not bad at all. Hence, I decided to give you a gift."
The Skeleton laughed at the sight of Ley\'s twisted expressions.
"What? You didn\'t like it?" he asked, his grin getting wider. "Kek, What a greedy spirit you are. It\'s alright. Let me give you a bigger gift then."
He raised his bone fingers and created another magic circle in the air. But this time, the magic circle was pitch black.
The sight that unfolded before Ley next was even more disgusting for him. All around him, the charred corpses started rising from the dead, their eyes turning pitch black and lifeless as well.
"I brought all your friends back. Kek, are you happy now?" The strange skeleton cackled.