Chapter 266 Dark Aura (1)
Chapter 266 Dark Aura (1)
The more Jerico talked, the more Ashton realised a full-scale invasion wasn't something he could have handled on his own. Unfortunately, he wasn't sure if anyone on the planet could do such a thing.
The undead's plan was well thought out. They had considered the smallest of inconveniences. On top of that, Jerico didn't even know the full extent of their plans as he was merely the leader of a brigade thus he only knew what he should be concerned with.
Also, the undead already had more than thirty thousand soldiers hidden away in Lycania. All of whom were already in action. No one had any idea how they managed to accomplish something like that.
After all, it was a very difficult task to fool a werewolf's nose. Yet, they managed to do it so effortlessly. Ashton wanted to know more about it, but unfortunately, Jerico wasn't important enough to know all the details.
Ashton was once again feeling helpless in the face of crisis. The only reason Livan was safe was because of Sheera's warning. If it hadn't been for her... Ashton didn't even want to think about what could have happened in Livan.
'I wonder what happened to the rest of the cities they attacked?'
[Most of them are probably dead or well... undead.]
'You sure about this though? If we fail, who knows what will happen?'
[If there's someone who can find a cure for this, it's him. Just get the container and we'll leave.]
Ashton nodded. There wasn't much he could do but put his faith in Astaroth's words. At least if they failed, the people of Lycania would be safe from harm. Meanwhile, the entire city was placed on a lockdown and the portal had been taken off the grid so that no more undead would be able to attack them.
After making sure everything had been taken care of, Ashton was ready to leave.
"How do I do this?"
[Just use your authority to summon a portal.]
'...'
[Hm... try and imagine walking into the Eastern Palace. I'll handle the rest.]
Ashton did as he was told and the following moment, a pitch-black portal presented itself in front of his master. It had a striking resemblance to the Instance Dungeon he saw in Transylvania. Only this time, he knew the portal was there because he wished for it.
[The heck are you waiting for, get going. It's tough to maintain a portal with the shitty level of authority you have.]
Ashton hurriedly grabbed the 'Corpsification explosive' as it was called and rushed inside. A second later, he found himself back on the island of Doom, only this time, there were no creatures that were hunting him down relentlessly.
[Let me do the talking from here on out.]
'And let you take over my body-'
[Brat, if I wanted to, I would have already done so. Now shut up and leave the rest to me.]
If it hadn't been for the delicate nature of their mission, Ashton would have never let Astaroth take the steering wheel. But after all the time they had spent together, he decided to trust the Xyran. Ashton collapsed on the ground for a brief moment, before getting back up as if nothing happened.
"Aah... I never thought I'd say this but I've grown to like this brat." Astaroth mumbled while he stretched a bit.
"I'm still here you know?" Ashton replied.
Astaroth got startled as soon as he heard Ashton's voice.
"Damn, now I know how weird it must be to have someone else's voice inside one's head." Astaroth smiled and headed deeper into the palace.
He didn't have to go much deeper though, as the forgotten Arch Lich was waiting for him at the entrance.
"I have been expecting your attendance." The lich mumbled through his hallow mouth, "I can feel the unrest caused by our brethren. They have grown too ambitious for their own good."
The lich almost sounded sad as he uttered those words. Astaroth, on the other hand, dropped the explosive on the ground and bowed before the creature. he didn't like bowing before others, but he had to play the lich his respects if he wanted his help.
"I greet the great Arch lich."
The lich acknowledged him with a nod before turning his attention to the explosive, "This device might be a curse for everyone but for the undead, it's a blessing."
"It empowers them," Astaroth mumbled while the Lich nodded.
He had noticed that the undead were acting a bit too aggressive against werewolves, a species that was supposedly stronger than them. There had to be a reason for them to act so cocky and he assumed the explosive had a secondary function as well. The Lich's nod only confirmed his theory.
"You want my help, don't you?"
"That was my objective, yes."
"Then call out the creatures hiding in your shadows." The Lich instructed.
Astaroth didn't waste any time and called forth all three of the summons Ashton had captured. The undead creatures under the Lich's command surrounded them. However, they weren't behaving like that to intimidate Ashton's summons.
They were simply curious about them. Ashton's summons were similar to them, but at the same time, they were different. After all, unlike them, there weren't merely undead beings, but they had a new soul in an immortal body.
While they could be burned to ashes and never rise again, no matter what happened to Ashton's summons, as long as their master was alive, they would,d continue to exist. Even the Lich appeared to be interested in them. Sadly, it wasn't the right moment to talk about them.
"Open the container."
"Pardon?"
"I know you heard what I said, my disciple. It might not seem like it, but it is the only path if you want victory over your misguided undead beings."
Astaroth was still on the edge about whether he should do such a thing or not. After all, Ashton's body was the only one compatible with him. If anything happened to him then it was game over for him as well.
"Do it. We can only put our faith in his hands." Ashton's voice echoed and Astaroth kicked open the container.
A moment later, the black smoke swallowed everything in sight. Forget about finding anyone else, Astaroth couldn't even see his hands. But what he could see was a notification floating in front of his eyes.
[The Host's health is deteriorating rapidly due to the presence of an <Unknown substance>.]
[The Undead genes are reacting positively to the <Unknown substance>.]
[Would you like to absorb it?]
"Yes!"
[Command acknowledged.]
[The host has awakened their second Innate ability.]
[New Stat: <Dark Aura> had been created.]