LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 72: Beast tide (1)
As the afternoon approached, less than ten hours remained until the beast tide. All Lords were scrambling to enhance their strength.
Alex's undead were spread out beyond the castle's territory, leveling up. John had successfully reached level 7, thanks to all the Skeleton Soldiers yielding their kills to him.
Alex was confident that after the beast tide, even if John didn't reach Commanding level, reaching level 9 should be feasible.
Arthur did not disappoint Alex; he advanced to Commanding level.
[Bone Dragon King (Arthur)]
Race: Undead
Loyalty: 100% (Never Betray)
Life Tier: Commanding level
Level: 1 (can be increased by killing enemies)
Health Points: Immortal as long as the soul fire burns
Mana Points:150
Strength: 100+10
Stamina: ∞
Agility:** 100+10
Growth Limit: Divine level
Active Skills: Nether Dragon Breath, Withering Space
Passive Skills: Elemental Magic Immunity, Dragon's Presence
Withering Space: Creates a barrier that drains the life force and souls of enemies within it, temporarily enhancing its own attributes.
Arthur's advancement to Commanding level added a powerful group active skill, perfect for the upcoming beast tide.
Alex herself was also busy. Every two hours, as soon as her Mana Points were fully restored, she would assist the necromancers in summoning, aiming to have all corpses summoned by midnight.
To ensure she had enough energy to face the beast tide, she planned to rest at 10 PM, ensuring her Mana Points were full and she was ready for battle.
The World Chat fell into an eerie silence, a tense atmosphere pervading everyone's mind.
In the evening, Sophie sent a private message.
[QuartzStriker]: "Big Shot, the equipment has been sent."
[Hamburger]: "Okay."
Their conversation was brief and to the point, with no time wasted on small talk.
It seemed Sophie also understood the importance of the last day; the equipment was clearly rushed.
Alex checked the Warehouse, confirmed everything, and immediately listed the weapons for sale. There couldn't be a better time to sell equipment.
[Hamburger initiates a trade!]
[One ordinary piece of equipment trades for ten magic crystals.]
[Remaining quantity: 10,000 pieces.]
Alex's listing caused some stir, but not much.
These Lords were now only concerned with their survival. Seeing Hamburger list equipment, and knowing their troops needed it, they began to frantically buy up the gear.
No one could be sure they would survive the beast tide; what use were magic crystals if they were dead?
[Blood Moon in the sky, darkness descends!]
As night fell, Alex's equipment sold out.
She immediately sent fifty thousand magic crystals to Sophie, who might rely on these to boost her strength at the last minute.
Inside Sophie's castle, over two hundred dwarves had stopped mining and working, now gearing up for the beast tide at midnight.
Sophie used the magic crystals from Alex to upgrade her Barracks, unlocking dwarf warriors, ready to be summoned after midnight.
Sophie felt the time was excruciatingly slow. Although her location had few wild beasts, it didn't necessarily mean the scale of the beast tide would be small.
"Suddenly, I envy those powerful Lords. They must not have these worries..."
[QuartzStriker]: "Big Shot, I hope I can still see you tomorrow!"
[Hamburger]: "You've never seen me, have you?"
Alex replied.
[Hamburger]: "Believe in yourself. Once your castle upgrades to a town, you'll see me."
[QuartzStriker]: "I'll upgrade to a town as soon as possible!"
[Hamburger]: "Good luck!"
Thanks to the relentless efforts of Alex and the necromancers, all 1,500 Moon Silver Wolf corpses were finally summoned.
Alex's undead army expanded to over eight thousand, with more than five thousand Skeleton Soldiers alone.
But don't underestimate these five thousand Skeleton Soldiers; each one was level 5 or above. Just the thought of five thousand level 5 Skeleton Soldiers was terrifying.
"Disassemble!"
Alex could finally disassemble the mountain of corpses.
[Congratulations Lord, you have successfully disassembled 1,500 Moon Silver Wolf corpses, obtaining 30k units of food, 3k magic crystals, and 1,500 Moon Silver Wolf pelts.]
The Moon Silver Wolf corpses vanished in an instant, and Alex's castle yard was now much emptier. These undead, having been summoned in batches, had already been enhanced by the Blackwater Altar.
Alex also needed to prepare for the beast tide. She summoned all her undead back and ordered them to surround the walls outside.
"John, take a thousand Skeleton Soldiers to Chi-Chi's castle, protect her, and help her withstand the beast tide."
Alex commanded John, hoping that a thousand level 5 Skeleton Soldiers would be enough to handle Chi-Chi's beast tide. Since John hadn't reached Commanding level, Alex also sent two Commanding level Skeletal Demons.
Two Commanding level and a thousand level 5+ Skeleton Soldiers—if this formation couldn't withstand the beast tide, Alex figured that 99.9% of Eldoria's billions of Lords would perish.
Sending John was mainly to let him gain more experience and quickly increase his strength.
If John stayed by Alex's side, he would struggle to gain significant experience, especially with the Bone Throne's boost and the many Commanding level undead in the castle.
...
Meanwhile, Chi-Chi was shivering in her castle, surrounded by her eight Red Blood Gorillas, each now above level 5, but she felt no sense of security.
"Oooh, oooh, oooh, oooh, oooh!"
At that moment, the eight Red Blood Gorillas made strange noises. Chi-Chi looked out and saw a vast array of skeletons appearing outside the castle.
Leading the skeletons, one wore heavy armor and wielded a broadsword, looking like a grand general, flanked by two huge skeletal giants.
Chi-Chi recognized these skeletons.
"These are Miss Alex's troops!"
She hadn't seen so many skeletons at Alex's castle before; it was like an army!
As John entered Chi-Chi's territory, she checked their levels and was shocked again.
The two skeletal giants were not only Commanding level, but all the skeletons, even those Chi-Chi thought were just ordinary soldiers, were incredibly strong—all one thousand skeletons were above level 5!
"My God, are these really troops?"
Chi-Chi turned to look at her eight monkeys: What are these things? The difference is too huge!
Although somewhat disheartened, Chi-Chi's worries vanished with Alex's help; surviving the beast tide was no longer a problem for her.
John led the skeletons to surround Chi-Chi's castle. Compared to Alex's, Chi-Chi's castle was much smaller, and a thousand skeletons could defend it without any blind spots.
As midnight approached, all Lords were ready for their final, desperate struggle.
Time: 23:50
With the last ten minutes remaining, all Lords seemed unable to withstand the immense psychological pressure. Agony, fear, and even despair spread among the Lords.
The World Chat became lively at this moment, perhaps as a way to relieve their immense stress, or maybe to say one last word.
[Tunnel Rat]: "I don't know if I can survive, if I'll see tomorrow's sun again."
[Crow]: "Don't talk like that, aren't you a Tunnel Rat? If your castle is breached, you can just hide!"
[CtrlAltDefeat]: "Sigh, I'm done for, see you all in the next life."
[SirLaughsALot]: "Look on the bright side, maybe dying will let you exit the game and return to Earth."
[Orc]: "Quick, say you want to live!"
[QuartzStriker]: "I hope everyone survives!"
[Sardine]: "This isn't a game, it's the real world, we can't go back, everyone must survive!"
With one minute left, Alex was already on top of the wall, her gaze fixed on the horizon.
Today, Alex wasn't wearing a skirt to facilitate movement. All her troops were fighting outside; she wouldn't cowardly stay inside the castle. She planned to personally join the battle and keep the beast tide outside the walls.
Alex noticed the protective shield in front of her beginning to flicker. As time drew closer, the flickering became more frequent, like a light bulb about to burn out.
Time: 0:00
As the protective shield flickered rapidly, it finally vanished completely. At this moment, all Lords lost their last line of defense and faced the harsh realities of Eldoria.
The upcoming beast tide would be the first step for all Lords transitioning from novices to participants in the All-Races Battle Royale!