Breath of the Undead

Chapter 11: The Dead City

Chapter 11: The Dead City

"This city is already dead."

With a glance around, Gu Xi directly made this statement.

As a necromancer, Gu Xi could clearly feel that the land before him was filled with the aura of death.

This aura wasn't from the gathering of numerous undead or the negative energy they produced. Instead, it was the ethereal sensation of an entire city having perished.

Standing on this land, Gu Xi felt as if he were inside the body of a fallen giant whale.

At this moment, Luna floated over, sticking close behind Gu Xi, and whispered in his ear, "Master, take over this city."

Gu Xi was taken aback. Take over this city? Did she mean the dilapidated castle before them, or...

As he looked around, Gu Xi suddenly realized that this place seemed quite interesting.

Though the castle was collapsing, the grounds and the original materials were still intact. Gu Xi could tell at a glance that this place had once been used for military and residential purposes.

As a necromancer, if he could indeed take over this city, he would have a place to station his troops in the future.

Just as Gu Xi was about to agree, Luna flew towards the castle's gate.

She turned her head to look at Gu Xi as she flew, "Come, hurry up!"

Now Gu Xi was a bit puzzled. Wasn't she saying to take over this castle? Why leave in such a rush?

Although he didn't understand, Gu Xi still trusted Luna and quickly followed her.

At the same time, behind him, 180 skeletons moved into action.

The skeletons in the battle squads advanced in formation, while those not assigned to any squad haphazardly followed behind Gu Xi, occasionally bumping into each other and making clattering sounds.

But Gu Xi had no time to worry about that. Following Luna out of the castle gate, he realized that the city Luna referred to was not this castle.

It was a huge, empty city before them.

The legendary mirror city of Victoria.

This city clearly had the architectural style of the 15th or 16th century. The layout was somewhat chaotic, with stone houses seemingly built at random, lacking any planning.

The ground, however, was quite clean, unlike the typical streets of the 15th or 16th century.

Gu Xi noticed that, like the castle, this city was filled with a sense of deathly stillness.

It was as if the city had already perished.

Though the buildings in the city were intact, Gu Xi felt as if he had entered a dead city.

As Gu Xi marveled at the city's condition, he suddenly heard Luna speak.

"Alydov."

"What?"

Startled, Gu Xi blurted out.

Luna snapped back to her senses and turned to ask, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. What did you just say, Aly..."

"Nothing." Luna shook her head firmly, unable to recall what she had just said.

Seeing her expression, Gu Xi calmed down.

Looking at the relatively small city, a thought flashed through Gu Xi's mind.

Could Luna be the spirit of this city?

He had heard that if a city was ancient or special enough, it might develop a city spirit, existing as its guardian.

If Luna was indeed the spirit of this city, her previous reaction made sense.

A newly dead city, with its spirit turned into a contracted undead because of Gu Xi, would still retain some attachment to it.

If they hadn't entered this city, Gu Xi might have treated Luna as just an ordinary contracted undead.

Once he left this game world, Gu Xi planned to strengthen his undead army and, if possible, contract a powerful undead once he reached level 3.

But now, knowing the possible identity of Luna and being in this mirrored city, Gu Xi had more choices.

"Luna, lead the way. Don't be afraid; I'm right behind you."

With this thought in mind, Gu Xi quickly made a decision.

"But, but I don't know where to go."

Luna hesitated.

"No problem. Go wherever you want, follow your heart."

Gu Xi reassured her.

With his reassurance, Luna calmed down and her hollow eyes gazed towards a direction outside the city.

Before Gu Xi's words, Luna hadn't felt anything.

Now, it was different. She felt an impulse to go there immediately.

While speaking, Gu Xi kept an eye on Luna's emotions.

Seeing her reaction, he knew they had a chance.

"Don't overthink it. Let's go."

Upon hearing this, Luna did as Gu Xi said, heading directly towards the place attracting her, ignoring the path ahead.

Gu Xi followed behind Luna, surrounded by four battle squads and miscellaneous skeletons.

After exiting the city, Gu Xi looked back and saw that the castle had vanished into the mist.

It seemed the abandoned city, just like the legend in Victoria, was merely an entry point to this mirrored city.

Inside the castle, it hadn't been noticeable, but now it was clear.

The castle's disappearance in the mist signified that the way back was gone.

While contemplating this, Gu Xi suddenly heard rustling sounds nearby.

He turned towards the sound and saw shadows flickering in the depths of the mist.

Gu Xi glanced at the oblivious Luna and pointed to a skeleton.

The skeleton, however, didn't react.

This made Gu Xi somewhat angry.

These summoned undead were not as reliable as contracted ones.

Some actions needed direct orders, and without clear commands, they didn't know what to do.

They would just mindlessly follow Gu Xi, attacking any enemy they saw.

Gu Xi, accustomed to Luna communicating with the undead, found himself almost unable to command effectively now that she was distracted.

Fortunately, Gu Xi reacted quickly. Pointing at the skeleton, he said, "You, go into the mist and see what's going on with those shadows. The rest of you, gather around me."

Following his command, the skeletons moved swiftly.

As they did, Gu Xi suddenly noticed something odd—an enemy had somehow infiltrated his ranks.