Blavi waved his hand and sent a large fireball towards the phantom dragon. The mages around him followed suit, summoning and launching hundreds of fireballs towards the dragon. An attack like this was no different than a high level spell, like the meteor spell.
The ghost dragon flapped its wings and dove down, flying through the fire. The dragon roared and was blown into pieces. A few fireballs flew past the dragon and towards the necromancers behind it. Unfortunately, the attack was blocked by the bone shields.
The scroll that enabled the necromancers to summon ghost dragons was very rare and usually reserved for use against a difficult opponent. Using it on some mages was a waste, but the necromancers did not have time to regret their decision. "Hurry," one of the necromancers called. "Let’s go!"
"Who said you can go?" Anfey said sharply. He jumped up and lunged at the necromancers, gripping his fire sword in one hand. He pulled out his other sword, gripping it in his other hand.
More lightning appeared in the sky. The lightning flew towards the necromancers like hundreds of relentless whips.
Jacob had not given Anfey and Suzanna any important weapons for their wedding because he knew that Anfey would get too many gifts that day. After the war began, he made several powerful weapons to protect those he deemed worthy. One of those weapons was the magic sword in Anfey’s hand.
The magic sword could release serial lightning and had taken a long time and lots of materials to forge. Jacob never mentioned it because he did not forge it for money. Otherwise he wouldn’t have given it to Anfey.
The necromancers summoned some magic shields, but the shields all shattered under the relentless attacks of the lightning. Lightning summoned by a normal mage could numb its target but could not kill anyone. Serial lightening released by Jacob’s sword, however, was very powerful. Not only could it numb its target, it was powerful enough to cause serious injuries and even death.
Lightning bolts were still hitting them, and the necromancers were already falling to the ground. Even if they were still conscious, they couldn’t do anything in defense.
Anfey dove after them, holding out his fire sword and returning the magic sword to its sheath. He swung the sword, slicing through the necromancers. The necromancers’ robes caught fire as they crashed into the zombies.
"Protect Warner!" Anfey called to the mages, then dashed off to find Suzanna.
On another battlefield, Fernando felt frustrated as he watched the sea of zombies. He had no problem supporting Anfey with a third of his men, but now that he stood on the battlefield of the final battle, he knew that he should have kept some of those men.
Fifty miles to the east of the main battlefield, a legion of two hundred thousand soldiers was waiting. At the head of this army was a young woman. She stood watching the battlefield with a deep frown.
A few specks appeared in the air. The griffin knights landed near the army and hurried up to the young woman. They whispered something to her, and she nodded. The griffin knights hurried away. She turned to her army and waved her hand.
"Raise your flags," she called to her men.
Anfey could not pay any attention to what was happening in the surrounding area. All he wanted to do was to break through this army of zombies. He had been trying to search for other necromancers, because he thought that the necromancers wouldn’t let him get away that easily.
However, no new necromancers arrived. Even those Knights of Death broke away as if they were opening a path.
After making sure that there were no more zombies around, Warner closed the Book of Life around dawn. He still had a lot of magic power, but he was exhausted. The mercenaries did not have time celebrate their victory. They did not even have time to set up camp. Instead of tents, they all sat down on the ground and slept huddling together. This was still a dangerous location, and they must be on their way soon.
The mercenaries were resting, but Anfey, Suzanna, and the other leaders could not. Along with the other mercenary leaders, they needed to calculate their losses.
Anfey had around 4,000 mercenaries under his command when he first arrived at Zagreen City. Now, he had around 2,600 men. They lost about 1,500 men while guarding the city for seven days.
Everyone knew that this was bad, but this was the way of war. The mercenaries that had survived were all powerful enough to survive, and the weak were eliminated. Most were senior swordsmen who were very close to leveling up to swordsmasters.
Country of Mercenaries had many powerful men and women who had not been discovered. If all these mercenaries teamed up against Ellisen Empire, Ellisen army would not stand a chance against them.
Even the smallest mercenary group had powerful members, or else it would be impossible to survive in the harsh environment of the Country of Mercenaries. These mercenaries were forced to work together because they were trapped in the same city by the zombies. Those that could survive were usually the strongest. Mercenaries believed in survival of the fittest, and strength was the most important thing in a world at war. When facing thousands of zombies, brilliance was secondary. The most important thing was raw power.
Guarding Zagreen City was an audition in a way. Shinbella’s legion lost only a hundred men, while Ozzic’s lost almost half. Thompson’s legion was formed from several different mercenary groups. He did not even know everyone’s names, yet he only lost fifty. This was because all the mercenaries Thompson recruited were strong and experienced fighters. After Thompson joined the alliance, there were four legions and each legion contained around seven hundred men.
No one was following them as they were heading into the mountains. If anything happened, the mountains would be a natural defense. Anfey and the mercenary leaders decided that they would stop for a day or two and regroup the mercenaries.
Shinbella did not appear shaken by the loss of her men. She was a senior swordsmaster and wasn’t worried about her reputation. Her men were very loyal and could easily take in any new members. Ozzic wasn’t worried, either. Anfey trusted him, and he had Ye to help him.
Thompson was very relaxed. He was the last to join and was popular among the mercenaries who had jumped over to the alliance. His legion did not lose a lot of men and did not require a lot of new members.
Orsie was the only one that was worried. He did not lose as many people as Ozzic, but he still lost a considerable amount. Two of his intermediate swordsmasters lost all of their men. He was worried what they might say about this situation. He wasn’t as powerful as Shinbella and had no assistants. He had to deal with everything alone.
After a day of rest, the mercenaries began marching to the northeast and towards where Band of Brothers mercenary group had settled. South of Zagreen City, a battle that could determine the fate of Country of Mercenaries was unfolding, and the necromancers were at a disadvantage. If they could not win the battle at night, there was no promise that the necromancers and their zombies could make it through the day.