Chapter 67: The Druid

"Leimowus, how long are you gonna hide in there?"

The Necromancer spoke, his voice hoarse and unpleasant, yet there was still no movement from within the cave.

"Fine, since you refuse to come out, I'll take action!"

The Necromancer produced a black crystal orb. Black crystal, the finest among all types, was exceedingly rare and possessed an extremely strong affinity for magical elements, almost comparable to Xu Feng's Dragon Soul.

A series of strange, dry incantations spilled from his lips, and the crystal orb immediately emitted a cloud of black mist. Piercing shrieks echoed in the wind—wrathful spirits...

Wrathful spirits, as the name implied, were created through a sinister dark magic that trapped the souls of the deceased, preventing them from reaching the land of the dead and enslaving them to the Necromancer.

The greater the resentment of a wrathful spirit, the more powerful it became. Thus, some evil Necromancers even resorted to torturing and killing the living to obtain them, which was also the reason they are so hated.

Amidst the chorus of ghostly wails, even from hundreds of meters away, Xu Feng could feel a chill creeping over his skin, indicating that the wrathful spirits summoned were anything but ordinary.

Xu Feng frowned. This dark energy invasion was harmful to the body, yet he couldn't use magic to shield himself, as any elemental fluctuation would draw the other's attention.

After a moment's thought, he retrieved the Dragon Soul from his storage ring. As the essence of the world's most formidable creature, it could negate all negative effects.

Sure enough, as soon as the Dragon Soul was taken out, all discomfort vanished.

The cloud of black mist contained dozens of wrathful spirits. They shrieked, roared, and harbored hatred for this world and everything in it. A satisfied smile twisted onto the Necromancer's face as he raised a hand and pointed. Instantly, the spirits split into three streams and poured into the Skeleton Soldiers.

Crack, crack-crack...

A bone-chilling sound echoed as the Skeleton Soldiers' bodies began to transform. Their originally pale-white bones turned black, and a murderous aura radiated from them. Within their hollow eye sockets, even more sinister and frenzied soul flames ignited.

Whoom!

Just like the battle aura of human knights, a dense aura of death enveloped the wrathful skeletons, which also possessed terrifying lethal power.

Xu Feng was stunned, inwardly gobsmacked. Fortunately, he hadn't acted rashly. This Necromancer was at least high-tier mid-grade or higher. With just him and the little Snake Woman, they'd only be able to turn tail and run.

Holding his breath and focusing, Xu Feng became even more cautious, determined not to be discovered.

Roar!

The wrathful skeletons completed their fusion and stormed into the cave with furious roars. Meanwhile, the Necromancer himself retreated several meters. Xu Feng wondered what could make him so wary.

Boom!

A deafening explosion, like a thunderclap from the sky, echoed. The once-ferocious wrathful skeletons were sent flying out.

Shock upon shock—Xu Feng's jaw dropped. Skeleton Soldiers were weak, but these skeletons enhanced by wrathful spirits could be described as top-tier. Their combat power... well, if his estimation wasn't wrong, they were at least equivalent to a mid-tier mid-grade knight. Yet, all three top-tier skeletons were sent flying in a single encounter. Who was the opponent? And if he was so powerful, why was he hiding in a cave?

Countless questions flooded Xu Feng's mind. The situation was dangerous, but curiosity kept him from leaving.

Heavy breathing echoed as a hulking man emerged from the cave. Standing over two meters tall, he was almost comparable to the northern barbarians, yet his physical features clearly indicated he was not one of them.

He wore exquisite armor, a world apart in style from ordinary knight armor, and on his chest hung a medal.

The emblem, the design...

Xu Feng's eyes widened. It belonged to the Druid Legion of the Temple of Light.

Druids were a unique race. Outwardly, they were indistinguishable from humans, but they possessed the ability to transform into various animals and, like elves, had a deep affinity for nature.

Druids were few in number, with only about twenty to thirty thousand across the entire continent, all residing in the Taige Empire. Though not human, they enjoyed the same rights as human citizens. This was possible due to the strong support of the Church of Light.

The Temple held immense authority within the empire, with independent taxation rights and even its own armed forces: the Knights of Light, the Druid Legion, and the Radiant Clergy...

Your Holiness the Pope and the emperor of the empire were both recognized as human leaders in the legal code, theoretically equal in status. Thus, although humans were exclusionary, with the Temple's support, it was no surprise that Druids fully enjoyed the rights of imperial citizens.

No one knew the exact relationship between the mysterious Druid race and the Church, but it was undoubtedly very close. For millennia, the Druid Legion had been one of the Church's three major armed forces. Though small in number, their combat prowess was formidable.

Huan Yu: Second update, more to come tonight.

Also, the ultimate summon... the Sacred Dragon... no, what's a Sacred Dragon? Recommendation votes are truly invincible. Bring out the recommendation votes!