Volume 1, Chapter 86 – The Headless Knight

In a distant plane.

Outside a massive skeletal gate built entirely of bones, rows upon rows of knights on skeletal horses stood silently, staring at the colossal gate.

The sky was gray.

On the other side stood liches cloaked in frost-covered robes, banshees manifesting only as souls without bodies, and undead mages wielding staffs, their hollow eye sockets burning with pale blue flames.

Zombies, ghouls, abominations, vampires, gargoyles, skeletal knights, skeletal swordsmen, and…

Above the heavens, enormous Bone Dragons flapped their skeletal wings, and among them were their evolved forms, Ghost Dragons.

The entire Graveyard faction’s army seemed to have gathered here. The great figures of the Graveyard, renowned across the realms, gripped their blades and swords tightly as they watched the enormous skeletal gate.

Before the portal stood a tall man holding a Frost Sword, facing the entire Graveyard faction alone.

From his viewpoint, he could see a sea of undead stretching endlessly toward the horizon, so vast that its end could not be seen.

“Billions of undead… three million Bone Dragons and Ghost Dragons…”

The man murmured to himself.

These were the forces of the Graveyard army at that very moment.

Billions of undead, three million Bone Dragons… With such numbers, if any single faction tried to resist them alone, it would eventually be swallowed whole by the tide of the Graveyard’s undead.

“And this… is the foundation that my Graveyard has quietly accumulated over a million years.”

Even with the great number of troops, transferring them all through the massive portal would take an enormous amount of time.

So, despite the overwhelming numbers, the man remained calm. He knew this was not yet the time to act recklessly or declare war on the Seven Great Factions.

However… What about a probing attack on a single faction first?

Such a plan had long been brewing in his mind. His first goal in invading the Main World was to establish a foothold.

“I have decided who will serve as our vanguard this time.”

After a long pause, his deep voice echoed through the frozen land.

“Fischerna, this time you shall serve as the vanguard.”

“I swear upon the honor of a knight. This battle will be victorious.”

As his words fell, a knight stepped forward, armored from head to toe, holding a long lance, but without a head.

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And upon closer inspection, it was clear that the armor’s design was something only a woman would wear.

“Fischerna. You were once a Paladin in life. I do not doubt your strength, but do not bring the Paladin’s habits into your fight against the enemy.”

The man warned calmly.

The Headless Knight planted her lance into the ground.

“Grand Duke, I abandoned those hypocritical doctrines of the Paladins long ago. Paladins are nothing more than tools used by the Sanctuary in the Main World to spread their faith. You need not worry. After all, it was those same false angels who brought about my death.”

“Don’t speak of it like that. I never doubted you, Fischerna. But remember, if you encounter angels from the Sanctuary faction, do not let hatred blind you. Now is not the time for an all-out war.”

“I understand.”

“Good. Then lead your Dread Knight Order. Depart.”

…………

At this moment, the battle at the Northern Fortress had reached its peak. Countless magic arrows flew through the air as screams and roars filled the battlefield.

No one noticed that the corpses lying lifeless on the ground were beginning to change…

……

And in one of the inn lofts inside the Northern Fortress…

“Xiaobingxue… you… what’s wrong?”

Tianyin’s mind went blank after being suddenly hugged tightly by the undead girl and hearing those words that sounded strangely like a confession.

Just moments ago, Xiaobingxue had seemed perfectly normal, yet now she felt like a stranger.

Yes, a stranger. Her clothes, her face, her expression, all unchanged.

But Tianyin could sharply sense that the girl before her was no longer the Bingxue she knew.

Her once azure hair had turned an icy blue.

Her light-blue eyes became even colder.

If one looked closely, faint flakes of frost were drifting around her.

“Bingxue?”

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Under Tianyin’s gaze, the girl slowly opened her small mouth and spoke.

Her voice was crisp and cold, but Tianyin couldn’t even appreciate how beautiful it sounded.

“That was her name? How laughable. She’s just a mere false existence.”

“False… existence?”

A faint unease welled up inside Tianyin’s heart, though she couldn’t tell where it came from.

The girl merely looked at Tianyin coldly with her icy blue eyes, and that single glance was enough to send an overwhelming pressure crashing down upon her.

“Wuu…”

With her low level and frail body, Light Body, Easy to Push Down, Tianyin’s body nearly collapsed under the sudden pressure.

“To think you managed to lead me to an appropriately strategic location, human. As a reward, I shall grant you the privilege of knowing my true name.”

In Tianyin’s senses, the girl’s aura grew even more commanding, her eyes glinting with a soul-piercing gaze.

“My name is Ysera, the Frost Dragon who sits atop the Graveyard’s highest throne.”

“Y… Ysera?”

Tianyin’s eyes went blank with confusion.

“Your name is Ysera? No… you’re Bingxue, aren’t you? Xiaobingxue?”

“Bingxue? Such a lowly name is unworthy of my status as the Frost Dragon.”

Ysera’s eyes glimmered with disdain, her tone dripping with mockery.

“As your guide, human, you shall have the honor of witnessing my noble and elegant form.”

As soon as her words fell, the undead girl’s body was engulfed by darkness.

Within seconds, the darkness expanded rapidly, shattering the loft around them and rising high into the sky above the Northern Fortress.

Tianyin could only stare blankly at the mass of darkness swelling in the air.

“Th… this is…”

……

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The Kingdom soldiers patrolling the fortress noticed the strange phenomenon in the sky.

Within moments, the darkness expanded to an unimaginable size, completely covering the skies above the fortress.

“What is that?”

In an instant, both the Beastmen warriors of the Tribe and the soldiers of the Alliance stopped fighting. All turned their eyes toward the heavens, their expressions filled with shock and fear, watching as the darkness continued to spread.

Then, in the next moment…

“Roooar—!”

A mighty dragon’s roar split the heavens.

The source of that roar was the mass of darkness expanding across the sky.

“That’s a dragon! A dragon!”

“Why would a dragon appear on the battlefield?!”

Everyone could only stare dumbfounded at the black mass above.

An invisible pressure spread through the air, weighing down on every living soul present.

“Roooar—!”

Another deafening roar.

And with it, the darkness above began to fade away, revealing a colossal dragon whose wings alone blotted out half the sky.

Countless ice shards swirled around the dragon, drifting down like snowflakes.

“A… a dragon? A dragon that huge? Impossible…”

A middle-aged Paladin in armor muttered blankly as he gazed at the enormous creature covering the sky.

That Paladin was Karl, the commander of the Northern Fortress, and leader of one of the Ten Great Paladin Orders, the Holy Hand Knights.

“Heavenly Father… a dragon of this magnitude… could it be one of the Dragon Kings? Wait… that’s…”

Karl’s pupils shrank sharply.

He finally saw clearly that the dragon’s enormous wings… were made of bone.

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It had been hard to tell under the dim light before, but now that his eyes had adjusted, the details became unmistakable.

Bone wings, a dragon’s body wreathed in frost, and enormous eyes burning with pale blue fire…

That was…

“The Graveyard’s Frost Dragon…?”

Wait, why would the Frost Dragon of the Graveyard appear here?

The moment he realized what it was, Karl’s heart sank.

“Could it be… the Graveyard? Impossible… impossible. The Graveyard has remained silent for a million years. They’ve never started a war. Such meaningless conflict… it can’t be…”

The Graveyard’s million-year neutrality made Karl instinctively reject the idea that they would initiate battle.

But… the next moment.

“Let the living taste the terror of death, Dread Knights!”

At the rear of the Stronghold faction, a troop of black-armored knights suddenly appeared.

At their front rode a knight who raised her long lance high, pointing toward the Northern Fortress.

From afar, it was clear, this knight had no head.

“The Headless Knight… Fischerna! And her Dread Knights…”

Even if he didn’t want to believe it, Karl could no longer deny the truth before him.

The Graveyard, silent and uninvolved for a million years…

Had begun its invasion of the Main World.

“Dread Knights, charge!”

At the Headless Knight’s command, the black-armored riders on skeletal horses shrieked horribly as they charged toward the Beastmen forces.

At the same time, the Frost Dragon in the heavens opened its massive jaws.

And in the next instant, a vast wave of icy breath poured down from the sky!