Xiao Lin clearly remembered that it had only been about two months since the time he came out of The Final Land and back into New Washington. Based on Lilith’s information, Asabanor used necromancy to control a gang of bandits after leaving The Final Land and subsequently used them to provoke Judge Academy by harassing their merchant caravans.
Of course, Asabanor would not do such pointless acts for no reason. Xiao Lin guessed that it was probably to buy some time. As to the question of what Asabanor was trying to buy time for, Xiao Lin felt that they might get the answer soon enough.
The mine tunnel was now their last hope, but before leaving, Xiao Lin suggested that he and Lilith return to the town square to try and find ways to destroy the strange black resurrection tower.
Xiao Lin initially planned to leave a complete resurrection tower for future people to come in and research, but in the present situation, he was likely to become Dawn Academy’s abandoned boy. Even though he still believed that the dean would never make such a decision, it was still very difficult to quell the resentment in his chest. He felt that he had to do something to vent his anger out.
Since they wanted to leave him to his death, Xiao Lin felt that there was no need to leave the complete resurrection tower behind. In any case, the current black tower was completely unable to resurrect the colonists too.
Destroying a resurrection tower was no small feat. The design of a resurrection tower was to prevent ordinary Black Iron- or Bronze-rank individuals from destroying it on a whim. However, the black tower before them could no longer be regarded as a resurrection tower. Perhaps it would have been better to call a resurrection tower for the undead.
A defiled resurrection tower was actually a shadow of its previous self, a fact that Xiao Lin and Lilith found out when they inspected the resurrection tower on the first day. The surface of the black resurrection tower had obvious pits, as if it had been corroded by sulfuric acid.
Lilith was heartily welcomed in the proposal to vent out her anger. Without further ado, she flicked her wrist and acquired her scythe so the two of them could join forces and destroy the resurrection tower. The roaring flames raised the temperature of the town square by several degrees. Ibeiya watched from a distance, her blue pupils turned around in her eye sockets and she seemed to be thinking of something.
Five minutes later, Xiao Lin—who had been attacking with all his strength—was the first to stop. He had to take some rest after using the Miracle state. Lilith immediately stopped too, and the two of them were feeling somewhat speechless as they looked at the completely undamaged resurrection tower.
Could its so-called reduction in hardness be a mere illusion?
Or did it mean that their attacking ability was far from enough even though the hardness was already reduced?
“I remember that the resurrection tower has self-destructive devices,” Lilith consciously pointed out.
“Don’t put your hopes on it. The device does exist, but the magic scroll which activates the self-destructing device must have been kept at the center of the academy. It won’t be in Wildfire Town.” Xiao Lin had some knowledge of it since he had learnt quite a lot during the third monthly exam.
“Actually, I think we’re using the wrong methods.” Xiao Lin pondered and put forward his own point of view, “This black tower does seem to be seriously damaged, but think about it carefully. What could possibly cause such a degree of damage?”
“It has to be that dead old fart.” Lilith thought for a while, then suddenly realized, “Death energy? You’re right, maybe this is the reason why Asabanor gathered so much death energy in this insignificant town. but you and I are just beginners in necromancy, are you sure can— Ah, okay, I understand now.”
Lilith suddenly stopped talking, as Xiao Lin’s triumphant expression reminded her that his Holy Soul Sword had an undead soul in it!
She had earlier reminded Xiao Lin not to use the attached skill lightly, because Asabanor would probably control it. However, it no longer mattered because there were basically no other people in Wildfire Town anymore.
Summoning the undead swordsman could be done by killing a certain number of creatures and accumulating enough blood, but the method was not absolute. In particular, he understood from necromantic meditation that the so-called murder and blood-tainting could simply be explained as an accumulation of enough death energy on the Holy Soul Sword. It was due to the balance of nature energy in most normal environments that led to the scarcity of death energy, and the only way to temporarily increase it was through killing.
However, it was unnecessary in Wildfire Town. The concentration of death energy there would probably exceed that of a cemetery with hundreds of years of history. It should be possible to summon the undead swordsman without the need to kill and taint the sword with enough blood.
In order to ensure that the concentration was sufficient, Xiao Lin chose to summon the soul in the town’s fringe area, since the gray fog there was the strongest. Xiao Lin wielded the Holy Soul Sword and waited quietly for a moment. Sure enough, the Holy Soul Sword produced a grayish gas about ten seconds later. It materialized quickly in mid-air, with the figure of the undead swordsman and his old armor becoming clearer and clearer before gradually landing on the ground.
Clang!
The swordsman in full-body armor landed heavily, producing a cloud of dust. It was the same undead swordsman from back then. Xiao Lin circled him a few times and took a closer look, as he somehow felt that the soul was a little different. Even so, he could not find out why even after looking at the swordsman for a long time.
There was an urging from Lilith some distance away. Xiao Lin shrugged and gave up looking. It was not the first time he had summoned that undead being, and after skillfully giving orders through mental power, the undead swordsman followed him mechanically. As he walked toward the square, Xiao Lin did not notice that behind him, a pair of green flames flickered briefly before returning to calm in the swordsman’s barely distinguishable eyes under that old helmet.
The undead swordsman’s strength was not that strong, and undead creatures themselves had no thoughts, which made its actions seem like a rigid machine. Despite being quite useful as a human shield of sorts, it was still difficult to rely on its combat power.
“However, since it’s an undead creature, its own attacks will be accompanied by undead aura. At the very least, the effects of its attack on the resurrection tower will probably be better than either of us.”
Xiao Lin mentally issued an attack command as he made that remark. The swordsman dragged the huge sword and walked forward slowly. He raised it up high, then swung it toward the center of the resurrection tower.
Clang!
A crisp impact sound was heard. The undead swordsman was slightly shaken back a few steps by the rebound force coming from the hilt, but there were finally traces of a crack on the surface of the resurrection tower.
One strike, two strikes, three strikes…
The uninterrupted attack lasted for more than ten minutes, but Xiao Lin noticed the numerous gaps in the undead swordsman’s weapon and could not help but feel frightened again by the hardness of the resurrection tower.
That was the extent of it however, and a dull cracking sound was heard right after the sword’s last strike. The whole resurrection tower began cracking from the center, and countless cracks began spreading out to all directions. The tower was about to crash in the blink of an eye, as the cracks had reached deep into the black tower, causing the entire structure to be fragmented. Xiao Lin took advantage of the situation and lightly produced a flame bomb. Following the burst of flames, the black tower collapsed.