Chapter 239: The Undead Plague (Part 2)

Phew…

When the last mastiff soldier finally fell, Wu Qingsong let out a long breath. The overwhelming exhaustion hit him once again, making him feel a bit unsteady.

Since the middle of last night, he hadn’t stopped for a moment—marching, fighting, converting the dead into undead, then marching and fighting again. He repeated this cycle over and over, even a man of steel wouldn’t hold up. And on top of that, he had so much more to do.

At first, he tried to convert all the soldiers’ bodies into ghouls, but as time went on, he didn’t have the time or energy for that. Just collecting the soul fragments from the battles, purifying them, and putting them to use had already drained nearly all of his strength and time, not to mention the immense pain it caused him. He simply couldn’t manage anything more.

Aside from the initial twenty mastiff ghouls and six war wolf ghouls, the rest were all just regular zombies. But in battles of this scale, they were good enough.

After wiping out the entire regiment, he was in control of twenty ghouls, six war wolf ghouls, over fourteen hundred zombies, and nearly three hundred war wolf zombies. A regiment typically only had about a thousand soldiers, so how did he end up with so many more? 

It turned out that when they broke into the regiment’s camp, they discovered it wasn’t just a supply depot but also a place for treating wounded soldiers.

From those wounded soldiers, Wu Qingsong finally got some accurate intel.

The remnants of the Silver Moon Wolf Clan still numbered about six thousand. They were split into three groups and trapped in the mountainous area about thirty miles to the northwest.

No one knew which group Nina was in, so the Sentalus army, consisting of four regiments and around five regiments of local garrisons, was under the command of Roderick and Raman. They steadily closed in on the Silver Moon Wolf Clan, driving them toward a single location for a final, decisive blow.

But in fact, their location had been known to the two elven commanders all along. But to ensure Nina wouldn’t abandon her troops and flee, and to completely eradicate the Silver Moon Wolf Clan once and for all, they had held off on closing the net. Instead, they methodically maneuvered their forces, slowly constructing a massive trap from the outside in, and were now tightening it bit by bit.

With such tactics, the remnants of the Silver Moon Wolf Clan trapped in the center of the encirclement had no way of knowing what was happening outside. Each time they escaped from their pursuers, they remained unaware that they were steadily marching toward their ultimate doom.

Nine regiments…

Daryl was numb to these numbers by now.

Including the force they had just wiped out, over ten thousand soldiers had entered the Tecks Mountain region. 

What had driven the Sentalus family to suddenly come down so hard on the Silver Moon Wolf Clan?

Wu Qingsong sighed but still explained the reason to him.

After they left the capital, the conflict between the conservatives and reformers escalated further, fueled by the continued agitation from the Dark Moon. While they no longer had the means to assassinate elven nobles in Padamia, they could still target the half-elven stewards in the lower city and spread rumors among the common folk, stirring up trouble.

The situation became extremely tense at one point, with both the Duchy of Sentalus and the Duchy of Yagata mobilizing their forces within their territories, preparing for a potential crisis.

But for some unknown reason, under the mediation and intervention of the royal family, the two sides eventually reached a reconciliation.

t was said that the legendary archmage, Daran Sentalus, who was supposedly semi-retired, personally stepped in and overruled the Duke’s decision. This action even caused a heated argument between father and son that ended on bad terms.

Following that, this force, originally intended to defend against the Yagata, was redirected westward into the Tecks Mountains.

“In the previous incidents, the Silver Moon Wolf Clan was involved. Eliminating them and capturing Nina Lams would reveal who was really behind the schemes.”

This information was accidentally overheard by an adjutant from the leading officers.

Daryl was stunned, and in truth, Wu Qingsong felt just as conflicted when he heard it.

The Duke mobilized such a powerful force to wipe out the Silver Moon Wolf Clan simply because he was reprimanded by his father. Then, he recalled a lead from a previous investigation. Among the suspects involved in the attacks on the garrison in Elyar and those who entered Sentalus was a young, silver-haired wolfman.

“Is this all my fault?” Daryl could barely breathe, finding it difficult even to stand. 

Ling, who was standing beside him, had to reach out to steady him.

“This isn’t your fault,” Wu Qingsong said firmly.

“If I hadn’t insisted on saving those people…” Daryl muttered. “If I hadn’t meddled…”

“I was the one leading the team. If there’s any responsibility to bear, it’s mine, not yours,” Wu Qingsong shouted.

“If it weren’t for me…”

Finally, Wu Qingsong had enough and punched Daryl squarely in the face.

“This has nothing to do with you! Got it?” he shouted at Daryl. “I’m the one who decided to kill that half-elf in Sentalus! I’m the one who killed the pursuers in Yagata! I’m the one who chose to help Dark Moon with those assassinations in the capital! I was the one in charge, and you were just a foot soldier. Don’t go thinking you’re that important!”

“But…” Daryl’s face stung, but inside, he was completely lost.

“Silver Moon Wolf Clan was right to resist tyranny, and we were right to stand up for justice. We were right to fight back against oppression. The mistake isn’t ours, it’s theirs. Our only fault was not being strong enough, not having enough power to defeat and destroy them. And now, what we need to do is not sit here dwelling on pointless thoughts, but to defeat them and save the remaining members of the Silver Moon Wolf Clan! Do you understand?”

“But…”

“No buts!” Wu Qingsong grabbed him and pulled him close. “Have you rested enough? If you’re ready, then go scout the enemy positions to the north. Find out where they’re storing their supplies. We’re going to take down that isolated regiment and steal their provisions. Then, we’ll make sure these bastards starve, freeze, and run themselves into the ground. We’ll wear them out, break them down, and finally, completely annihilate them to avenge the fallen. Do you hear me?”

“Revenge… Revenge! I got it.” Daryl nodded firmly, then rode off to the north on an undead war wolf.

“Wu, what about us?” Liuli, shaken by Wu Qingsong’s outburst, asked cautiously.

“I need to sleep for a bit,” Wu Qingsong sighed. “Ling, Liuli, I need you two to help me carve more hearts out of ghost pine, both beastmen and war wolves. The more, the better.”