Chapter 2428 Death Guard
No, this situation was clearly wrong. Even a moderately reinforced intermediate undead could at most be immune to normal bullets, and should not be able to resist the steel nails from steam guns, let alone leave almost no trace.
Seeing that the steam gun’s volleys were ineffective against these Death Guards, a command was given from behind, and a lot of grenades were thrown into the formation. These were military bombs made by stuffing gunpowder into ceramic jars, and I had also been bombed like this by the City Defense Army before.
The grenadiers threw the grenades into the middle of the Death Guards. With explosions, the remaining skeletons, zombies, and other undead around were blown to pieces, but the Death Guards stood in place, unmoved, as if the explosions were merely fireworks.
Their rusted black armor carried a special divine power, the divine power of one of the Death Trinity. And this divine power was the one I was most unfamiliar with.
The one I was most familiar with was, of course, Baal, the Lord of Murder. I had received His favor and could use His divine spells, so I was sure this was not His divine power.
The second one I was familiar with was Milgo, the Lord of Death. I had encountered His followers and held a funeral for Lorna’s mother, so I had somewhat felt His aura. It was clearly not His either.
Then there was only one possibility left: the head of the Death Trinity, the Lord of Tyranny, the God of Strife, the Dark Lord Bane. The Death Guards’ armor also bore His holy emblem, a black skeletal hand.
That black handprint was not carved or attached; it looked as if a skeleton had dipped its hand in ink and directly pressed it onto the breastplate, leaving this pattern.
Even though the Death Guards’ rusted armor was black overall, it could not hide the black handprint on their chests. It was different from other blacks, as if it were a bottomless abyss, as if the breastplate had been hollowed out, and inside was an emptiness.
It was the divine power emanating from that black handprint that made the rusted black armor invulnerable. Even the steel nails shot from steam guns and the grenades could not harm the Death Guards in the slightest.
They continued to advance, their steps slow but persistent, closing in on the shield wall. Seeing that nails were useless, the soldiers directly poked these Death Guards with the long halberds attached to their gun barrels.
Facing the rain of bullets and guns, the Death Guards showed no hesitation. They were already a group of dead men, devoid of fear, and charged forward, pushing against the halberds.
Even with the halberds pressed against them and firing at point-blank range, it was not enough to injure these Death Guards. Instead, they were pushed back into the formation with immense strength.
The Death Guards rushed directly to the front of the shield wall, raising their rusty weapons and smashing them down on the shields. The immense force made even the shield-bearing soldiers feel unable to hold on, and they were pushed back step by step, even with iron spikes at the bottom of their tower shields anchoring them to the ground.
But even so, the tower shields held firm, protecting the front row of soldiers. Even as the shield surfaces were scored with sword marks by those rusty weapons, they managed to maintain the formation.
These tower shields were all made of spiritual metal, wrapped in a layer of monster skin. Behind them were steam storage tanks and nail guns, and below them were iron spikes to secure the shields. They were exquisite tower shields that only the Royal Imperial Guard could afford.
Even though the Death Guards’ weapons were empowered by Bane’s divine power, capable of cutting iron like mud, they were not enough to completely penetrate the outer skin of the tower shields. The toughest part of these tower shields was not the spiritual metal, but the layer of monster skin on their surface.
The two sides were locked in a stalemate. Just as I was thinking about how these Death Guards could break through the shield wall, they opened their mouths.
The Death Guards were actually skeletons. They were skeletons with blackened bones and armor. Most of them were warriors or soldiers in life, so they could be resurrected by Undead Magic into more powerful undead.
When they opened their mouths, which were filled only with teeth and bone, a black mist spewed out, piercing through the gaps in the shield wall and permeating the soldiers.
Immediately, they seemed to be poisoned, showing expressions of pain, their bodies convulsing, and they could no longer hold up their shields.
The aura of the undead was like deadly poison to living people. They absorbed the death qi from the cemetery and sprayed it directly into the army. Instantly, the soldiers at the front line were in disarray.
Then, the first row of the shield wall was broken. The Death Guards, along with the surviving zombies and skeletons, charged into the formation and engaged in close combat with the soldiers, a chaotic battle ensuing.
In white bladed combat, the advantage of the undead began to show. They had no fear, no pain, and under the enhancement of the God of Strife’s divine power, they were invulnerable and immensely strong, truly perfect super-soldiers.
Even the most ordinary zombie, once engaged in close combat, could fight evenly with these elite Imperial Guards. Even if they were injured, they would continuously absorb the surrounding death qi to heal their wounds.
The bones of the skeletons were as hard as steel, completely different from the common skeleton soldiers encountered in the wilderness. Normal weapons could not wound them at all; only weapons coated with silver solution, which were specifically effective against undead, could injure them.
As for the Death Guards, they were even more absurd. They were not afraid of steel nails earlier, and now they were invulnerable. Even silver-coated weapons, which were designed to counter undead, could only inflict wounds on their black armor, not fatal ones.
And their seemingly rusted weapons were truly capable of cutting iron like mud. The plate armor in front of these rusty weapons was like cardboard, shattering with a single blow. The soldiers suffered heavy casualties.
Moreover, these Death Guards were constantly emitting death qi, which corroded the surrounding soldiers. Charging into the army formation was like engaging in an unrestrained slaughter. It was only because these Royal Imperial Guards were elites that they did not break apart like a lord’s private troops would.
I hadn’t expected the Royal Family to gather so many soldiers to attack, only to kick a steel plate at the very beginning. Although the Falbedy Cemetery was the main base of the Death Trinity Church, the strength they displayed was indeed astonishing, and this was definitely not their full potential.
I was just worrying about Lavias’s safety, but now it seemed less urgent. As long as the undead army led by the Death Guards could not be broken through, no matter how many Imperial Guards came, they could not charge in.
Next, it should be that after suffering some losses, the Imperial Guards would retreat, and then the negotiations and back-and-forth would begin. I did not need to worry about the Death Trinity; I only needed to find a way to rescue Lavias.
Just as I was thinking this, those Clerics suddenly moved. They no longer guided their divine spells to bombard the death mist, as it could not be dispersed in a short time. Instead, they rushed towards the battle formation, chanting and unleashing waves of area-of-effect divine spells.
Light emanated from the soldiers. Their bodies, contaminated by the death qi, recovered. Their wounds began to heal, their strength surged, and their weapons were engulfed in golden flames.
