City of Desire: Chapter 1068 Night (Patreon)

Proofread by Thomas F

General Stone

I walked through the secret passageway, which was quite tight.

I am glad that I can now keep my giant blood dormant. If I had been like before, it would have been quite an uncomfortable walk.

A few minutes later, the passage turned damp, with water leaking from it.

I am under the sea now, walking through the natural tunnel.

Soon, I reached the area that was filled with water, which reached up to my waist as I stepped in it, and a few minutes later, it rose to my head until it fully submerged me.

I held my breath and swam through it for a few minutes until I finally broke the surface into an air pocket.

I stepped out of the water into a natural cave. As I did, I heard footsteps.

“General,” Orok and the other officers greeted me, while Baroness Leila and others nodded.

“Everyone,” I said, and looked at the people. All twenty-six of them. This is an assault party.

“Is the route clear?” I asked.

“There are scouts, but I am sure we will get past them,” replied Jon as he became visible and looked at Miss Wells, the green mage.

She is the backbone of this operation; she is the one who will take us near the enemy.

To succeed, we will need to get closer to the enemy, and that will be her job.

“Does anyone have reservations? You can back out now,” I said. This is extremely dangerous. So, I am giving the people a choice.

Nobody said anything. Not even Miss Merro, the gladiator; she must be a really good friend of Lord Silver’s mother to take such a risk.

Seeing that, I nodded to Miss Wells.

“Gather around me,” said the Green Mage. Immediately, everyone gathered around her. Many had doubts; aside from John and me, nobody knew the whole plan.

Her staff lit up, and soon, a pale green spherical bubble formed, covering us all.

As it did, she muttered something.

Immediately, everyone sensed it: the massive power that came out of her. The power was so different and powerful that it couldn’t be hers.

It fused with the bubble; nothing changed visibly, but aside from that, everything did.

“Witchcraft!” Miss Merro cried.

Miss Wells is special; she is a High Mage, and her class is attuned to the legacy. So, Miss Caena wove the spell into her. 

A single spell of stealth that will make her invisible to all senses.

It is very powerful and very expensive. She used to drop of core essence in it. So, one could imagine how powerful it would be.

We may be physically leading the attack, but the biggest contributor is still Miss Caena without her abilities. I wouldn’t even dare to think about such an operation.

“Miss Wells, let’s move,” I ordered.

The spell may be powerful, but it will not last long. To gain maximum stealth, she had to shorten the time. So, we have a little over fifteen minutes.

We have to reach the enemy before that.

Soon, we reached the end of the cave, and the bubble moved into the sea before floating up. It didn’t move to the surface; it remained near the middle.

“Fuck, there are scouts this far?” declared Lt. Colonel Halewright, looking at the undead scouts.

The man is still injured, but we used our best measures to heal him. Especially his spirit. If his unique abilities weren’t needed, I wouldn’t have selected him for this mission.

There are twenty-six of us.

Of them, Baroness, Jon, Miss Merro, and I are Lv. 40, with Colonel Orok, Colonel Banse, Lt. Colonel Halewright, and Paladin Magleth, who could fight the Lv. 40s.

The rest are mid to late Lv. 30’s. Each one is capable; they need to be, given what we will be facing.

“The undead are extremely cautious. If not for the Great Witch’s spell, I wouldn’t have even thought about something like this, much less do it,” replied Jon, and he shuddered.

Both of us were part of such a mission on the island, where only a few survived.

On many such missions, there was not a single survivor.

I wouldn’t have planned it. I wouldn’t even if it had been any other Great Witch. It is only that it is Miss Caena; her bloodline is royalty among the witches, both revered and feared.

The spell also has the power of Velvet Garden behind it and the blood of Lord Silver.

He is a Lord of Dominion, and this is his territory.

The scouts were everywhere, and a few minutes later, their number had increased even further. Now, there are even rogues moving around with layers of detection skills and spells.

These bastards have perfected the system; it’s extremely hard to sneak up on them.

Even Jon couldn’t do it, despite his stealth skill and that new artifact he had. They have a massive advantage here, and to anyone, it might look like we are walking into our deaths.

“Stop!” Jon said suddenly.

Their bubble stopped, and a few seconds later, I saw a rogue swimming by us. We could be undetected by sight and senses, but the spell would break if something living touched us.

“Resume.”

Minutes passed, and we got closer and closer, until everywhere we looked, we could see the undead.

Most are still, but they kept many in the sea for a quick attack. The bubble slowed down as it moved through it, which is not easy.

Still, the woman is capable; she is moving the bubble expertly, avoiding the undead, some only by inches.

Finally, at the sixteenth minute, we have reached our destination.

“I can’t believe it.”

“We reached here without being detected!” The Baroness whispered, looking at the tens of undead ships above us.

“Two and a half minutes before the spell runs out,” Miss Wells informed us.

I nodded and turned to Jon, who had already taken out his charm and whispered the word. Immediately, the smoky power covered him.

“Good luck,” I wished him.

His job is the most dangerous, and that charm will keep him undetected for a minute and a half. In that time, he will have to achieve a monumental task.

He nodded and disappeared out of the bubble, while I kept my eyes focused on the pocket watch.

His success is integral, as only after it will we launch our attack.

“So, is he gone to assassinate someone?” asked the Baroness.

“No,”

She looked at me, but I remained quiet, my eyes focused on the clock.

It’s not like I don’t want to hide it, but there is no reason to tell her when she is going to see in less than a minute and a half.

Assassination, even if it worked. Would not be useful; it would not make them leave.

No, if we want them to do that, we have to force them.

Time passed fast; I wished it could move more slowly, but it did not. Soon, there were only ten seconds, and John didn’t arrive.

There were fewer than three seconds when the bubble rippled, and he reappeared.

“Done?” I asked, and he nodded.

“Now, we will watch the show,” he said with a grin.

I looked up. As I did, I saw it. We all did; it’s very hard to miss.

…

A few minutes before.

Lich Davenor

I cut off the spell, and the visual of the wall disappeared as I found nothing unusual about it.

I looked at it every hour.

Silver is wily; many I know have lost their lives to him. I don’t want to be one of them. So even with sensory scouts and mages, I monitor the enemy personally.

I sat down, and a moment later, a book floated in front of me.

It’s a book on advanced magic theory. Found in a dungeon a few years ago by that bastard Yartoz. It comes with a spell.

I had to pay him a lot of money to get it. I don’t mind, as I have already benefited a lot from it.

It helped me improve my bone spells.

I was reading it when I sensed the pinprick sensation all over my body.

“Mard, what do you want?” I asked, without even looking. He is the only person who gives me this skin-crawling feeling, and I don’t like to be in his presence.

It isn’t just me, but every lich; the divine magic is not acceptable for us.

“I am getting a bad feeling,” replied the Paladin of the Church of Edras.

Immediately, the book disappeared, and I activated Life Sense Range and cast Lemador’s Detection.

These church people have great instincts. Many say it’s a warning their gods send them, and I have seen enough to take them seriously.

“I am not sensing anything,” I said, and he nodded.

“That’s the thing. Me too, but the feeling is getting worse.” He looked confused.

This is not an act; he is being truthful.

I thought for a moment and cast the mass message spell, and was about to send the order when all hell broke loose, with my Dangersense screaming.

I heard the explosion before the blue-green fire burst out, covering the ships all around us.

“Alchfire!” said Mard and unsheathed his blade.

“Attention: The enemy has commenced the attack. Gather for war,” I ordered, while casting a spell to assess damage, before sending it to the command, while simultaneously casting spells to save my powerhouses.

“More than half of the outer ring ships are burning; only three command ships remain in the center, " he stated; he didn’t have to; I could see it plainly.

The enemy didn’t attack the three ships where Lv. 40s are, but the ships that have undead and the pillars.

The powerhouses begin to gather, with the Lv. 40 appearing beside me.

Soon, all five of them appeared beside me, along with those Lv. 30’s.

They were gathering when sensory spells caught the unfamiliar presences right before they burst out of the sea.

I saw them and the large group of twenty-nine. How did we not sense them? I couldn’t help but ask myself. Even if they had teleported, I would sense it.

I pushed those thoughts away and looked at the group, and I recognized them from the information.

I focused on the four: the bronze elderblood, the Great Mage, the archbishop, and the gladiator, and the hidden assassin, along with the young orc, the noble, and the paladin.

These are the most dangerous targets.

I am shocked that they are here, leaving Panar and Greltheaven. The command had said the chances of that happening were small.

They expected one or two to leave, but not so many.

“You have saved us a lot of trouble, General, by bringing yourself to us,” I said to the giant-blood, who until now had stayed away from the battle.

The giant blood didn’t reply. Instead, metallic bronze light shone out of him, making his size balloon.

I watched, commanding my men to surround them and the undead to move toward them, but also toward the city. So many had come; the city would be undefended now.

“The trouble.” He laughed, his voice booming in all directions.

“Indeed, we are here to save you from that.” With that, his eyes sharpened, and I felt every instinct I had warning me not to underestimate this Giantblood.

“Attack!”

…

A few seconds before

General Trask

I watched as an explosion rang out, and in a moment, green and blue fire enveloped the ships.

“Good luck, General,” wished the Archbishop as the priest and paladin appeared behind her. As they did, dusky light covered her, and she disappeared.

It’s her skill that lets her teleport to her people she had left a mark on.

I stared at her for a couple of seconds before turning to my men.

“Listen, everyone. The enemy is going to come at us soon, and they will come in numbers we have not faced here before.”

“So, steel your heart and get ready to face them!” I ordered my men.

The general said that they would attack here and asked me to defend it.

Baron Fenleigh and I remained on the wall, and we were not Lv. 40. Sands and Archbishop had been, but both of them had gone to attack the undead.

The only support I have is that of the Governor, but she is not a warrior.

She does not have any battle experience.

If possible, I don’t want her in battle. I am the General; she is a governor. Défense is my responsibility.

“They have started fighting,” informed Colonel Skarn. I could sense it, and what I could see and had sent shuddered through my body.

I took a deep breath and gripped my spear tightly, waiting for the tide.

“Soldiers, blades out!” I ordered as the horde finally came; the first of the undead taking a step onto the shore, followed by hundreds and then thousands.