Loser System and Berserker Me - Chapter 164: Archmage of Holysnow
Flames burst forth, releasing puffs of black smoke.
The towering metal walls that looked permanently embedded in the snowscape were shrouded in flames and black smoke. Screams and war cries filled the air, as weapons clashed nonstop.
The Tibetan soldiers were in a fluster. Their eyes were filled with despair and fear. Many of them even carried bloodied wounds.
“Save me!”
“Please have mercy on me!”
“Lord Ghosts, please spare my life!”
“You bastards!”
“Those goddamned vengeful spirits!”
The usually lofty Tibetan soldiers and mages looked like rats who had their nests flooded in water. They scrambled around in a fluster, often stepping on one another.
The reason behind their pandemonium was obvious. One just had to look at the skull-faced terracotta soldiers armed with bone swords and the specters flitting amongst them.
“How did this happen?!” the chief commander of Iron Gate Pass bellowed as he watched in horror as his base fell into shambles.
Rewinding time a few hours back, Iron Gate Pass was still as lofty and impregnable as ever. Undead troops that dared to approach it were smashed into smithereens before falling down the steep cliffs.
There was just one tiny problem—there was no end to the undead army!
The Tibetan soldiers shot all their arrows and tossed all their rocks, and the mages emptied every potion bottle they had… but they still fell short of eradicating the terrifying army of undead! There was still no end in sight to the undead army!
How could there be such a terrifying calamity?!
When the soldiers had exhausted themselves; when the warriors could no longer swing their weapons; when the mages were feeling light-headed from mental fatigue…
…the undead suddenly stacked their bones in front of Iron Gate Pass to form a massive ramp, and then they charged right onto the walls!
The merry specters went around depleting the mana of artifacts that were still operational.
The terracotta soldiers hunted down every living being who was still able to move.
The Tibetan chief commander rallied the soldiers together to muster a resistance, but how could the exhausted Tibetan soldiers be a match for the undead army?
Succumbing to despair, the Tibetan soldiers started deserting their posts.
“How did this happen?”
The Tibetan chief commander watched in shock as the fleeing Tibetan soldiers were hacked down by the pursuing terracotta soldiers. He wondered how could the world be this ridiculous.
“Hm?”
Just then, he felt an icy chill on his face.
He instinctively raised his hand and saw a snowflake falling toward his palm. A snowstorm was brewing in the sky, unbeknownst to him.
“Snow?”
The Tibetan chief commander was first stunned before trembling with joy
The Archmage of Holysnow has made a move! I have long heard that he resides in the vicinity, but I never thought that it was true!
“The Holysnow Eminence is here! Brothers, we are saved!”
Kak kak, kak kak!
A terracotta soldier marched forward and swung his sword down on a horrified Tibetan soldier, only for its hand to freeze in place.
It looked at its hand in confusion.
A thin layer of frost had formed on it. Its joints were frozen, robbing it of its ability to move.
Bam!
The frozen terracotta soldier’s leg suddenly shattered. It fell forward upon losing its center of gravity, and the impact of the fall smashed it into pieces. The soulfire in its eyes extinguished, and it stopped moving altogether.
“…” The confused Tibetan soldier stared at the terracotta soldier, followed by his surroundings.
He realized that the same sight was happening everywhere. The undead army which had surged in like an unstoppable flood was collapsing. Countless terracotta soldiers were crumbling apart as shattered bones and mud clumps.
“This snow…” The Tibetan soldier cried tears of joy. “The Holysnow Eminence is here to save us!”
“Long live the Holysnow Eminence!”
The Tibetan soldiers cheered in relief and delight, knowing that they had survived this ordeal.
Ta ta, ta ta.
A massive yak strutted leisurely across the Tibetan soldiers.
Lying on top of the yak was a withered figure dressed in a white mage robe that resembled a young herder, but no one would dare make light of this Tibetan archmage.
“Our savior is here!”
Be it soldiers or mages, they kneeled on the floor with tears in their eyes, laughing and crying simultaneously as if they were overwhelmed by the presence of their savior.
The Archmage of Holysnow didn’t let down their expectations.
Wherever he went, the terracotta soldiers crumbled.
“Kikiki!”
Specters floated over and attempted to siphon his mana.
“Detestable things.” It was a voice so hoarse that it sounded like it had come from someone who had been smoking for hundreds of years.
The Archmage of Holysnow lightly tapped his finger.
“Vanquish.”
An invisible ring of ice rippled outward from his finger.
Any specter that came into contact with that frightening frost was instantaneously turned into a frozen sculpture.
Kcha, kcha…
The frozen specters crumbled apart like a shattered mirror.
“Your Eminence!” The chief commander of the Iron Gate Pass hurried over with his aides to pay respects to the Archmage of Holysnow. “We have nothing but utmost gratitude to the great Holysnow Eminence for saving pathetic ants like us…”
“We can talk after we deal with them,” the Archmage of Holysnow unhurriedly replied.
His yak slowly strutted to the corner of the walls, and with his turbid eyes, he glanced at the massive ramp made out of white bones and mud.
“I see.” The Archmage of Holysnow nodded placidly.
He raised his withered hand. Runes flowed on his hand like flickering flames, emanating a mysterious light.
A cataclysmic snowstorm descended on the battlefield.
The sky darkened, and rocks cracked. The piercingly sharp winds felt like they had come from the deepest abyss to unleash devastation. It was a terrible force that could unravel everything in the world.
Even the massive ramp made out of mud and white bones was no exception.
The ramp disintegrated in a matter of moments, and the remaining dust was blown into the abyss. Nothing was left of the massive structure that had threatened the Tibetan soldiers.
“Hooray!”
“All hail the Holysnow Eminence!”
“We are saved!”
The cheers of the Tibetan soldiers shook the sky.
“That’s right!” The chief commander of Iron Gate Pass wiped his tears. “Those Tang bandits will never breach Iron Gate Pass as long as Your Eminence is here! Hmph! That Tang necromancer must be reeling in pain after losing so many of his troops. He must be regretting his reckless act now…”
But the reality diverged from his expectations.
“OH YEY!”
Shu Yichao was delighted to see so many of his troops vaporizing in an instant.
“This is amazing! There truly are many kind souls in the world, saving me so much in terms of maintenance fees!”
So, without any hesitation…
“Let me deploy my other troops over to get cleared.”
…
The following day, before daybreak, the Tibetan garrison troops guarding Iron Gate Pass felt an all-too-familiar tremor.
“They are here again!”
The Tibetan soldiers were dumbstruck.
“Just how many of them are there?!”
Even the Archmage of Holysnow’s hands, hidden in his robes, trembled a little.
He had made vanquishing the terracotta soldiers look like a walk in the park, but in truth, he had to use a huge amount of mana for that.
It has barely been a night, and I haven’t recovered my mana. Why are these terracotta soldiers here again?
However, he couldn’t just turn his eyes away from the situation now.
Haa. I’ll work harder now and rest longer once I have settled the situation here.
Thus, the Archmage of Holysnow made a move once more.
He wasn’t going to do all the work by himself this time, so he assumed the role of a reclusive master, watching the Tibetan soldiers pit their lives against the terracotta soldiers on the snow.
He waited till the Tibetan soldiers couldn’t hold their ground anymore before finally making a move, turning the terracotta soldiers into frozen smithereens.
The Tibetan soldiers cheered at having destroyed the clowns who dared to invade Iron Gate Pass once more.
Their happiness didn’t last long.
Another army of terracotta soldiers had appeared on the horizon.
“…” A shudder ran through the Archmage of Holysnow.