547: Chapter 262 Knight Order Marches Out_2 547: Chapter 262 Knight Order Marches Out_2 Boom——…
Beneath the crushing weight of a giant beast, whether ten tons or twenty tons, the earth trembled under its pressure.
The ferocious king of the forest lowered its massive head silently, emitting a low growl of intimidation.
Leon stared at the violently tempered mother bear, undaunted by its unpredictable nature.
After completing Lola’s contract, the Card Spirit couldn’t harm him in the slightest; it was entirely bound to his orders, more restrictive than the Command Spells he once saw in a certain work in his past life, ensuring that it wouldn’t summon some great overlord to dominate him.
Nevertheless, Leon had no intention of breaking his word to this mother bear.
He turned his head and saw the cub that had just been lying at the cave’s entrance.
Upon spotting its long-absent mother, it anxiously bit at the iron bars, trying to get out.
Even the other two cubs inside the cave, who had been gorgeously nourished with goat and cow milk, sniffed the scent of their mother and bolted unsteadily to the entrance, calling out to her.
Leon unlocked the iron chain securing the entrance, and the three cubs immediately dashed through the gateway and ran to their mother’s side.
Seeing the lively and bouncing cubs, the mother bear’s gaze softened noticeably.
With faint whimpers, the Horror Mountain Bear rumbled as it lay down, allowing the three cubs to grab at her fur one by one until they climbed onto her massive back, finally settling down.
The mother bear did not flee with her cubs; though her wisdom was not extensive, she understood that as a transformed Card Spirit, she had nowhere to go…
Leon did not rush her, patiently observing the giant bear as she bonded with her offspring on the open ground.
Hours later, when his Magic Power was nearly depleted, Leon clapped his hands to remind the Horror Mountain Bear he had named Callisto that time was up.
Only then did the mother bear, who had been lying on her side nursing her cubs, reluctantly rise and nudge the dozing cubs away from her embrace.
She roared a few times at Leon, dissatisfied, before dissolving into countless glowing particles scattered across the sky.
The newly formed Netti Card floated back into his hand as Leon gazed at the three cubs.
The cubs, suddenly bereft of their mother, panicked and ran in circles, forcing Leon to gather them one by one and place them back into the cave.
According to his agreement with the mother bear, he would raise the three cubs until they were weaned and learned to hunt and survive, after which he would set them free.
In exchange, the spirit of the Horror Mountain Bear would become his combat ally.
Even though Leon felt this was a perfectly fair and honorable transaction, he couldn’t shake the odd feeling that he had transformed into some kind of morally dubious character.
Over the next two days, Leon hosted the Illaril Knights who had arrived at Avalon, opening the castle for them to conduct their pilgrimage and worship.
At the same time, he convened the Avalon Knights’ leadership, along with his companions and advisors, to engage in final preparations for war—checking supplies, inspecting weaponry, and arranging for the departing soldiers to bid their families farewell.
Every expedition might be the soldiers’ last meeting with their loved ones, especially so when facing such truly merciless and horrifying enemies.
During the time he had been back in Avalon, Leon did not conceal the nature of their next adversary from his troops.
The senior Sergeants of the Knight Order worked day and night to educate all soldiers about the various types and characteristics of the Undead enemies.
The battle reports sent by Baron Yevan, detailing the Eastern Kantadar army’s encounters with the Undead Army, were laden with hard-earned wisdom paid for with countless lives.
According to the intelligence mentioned in Yevan’s letters, Leon classified the known types of the Undead Army into seven categories.
The first type comprises the most numerous: “Walking Corpses.”
They rely on claws and teeth to tear apart living organisms, forming the bulk of the Undead Army.
The second type is “Undead Soldiers,” divided into two variants.
One is the “Corpse Ghost Warrior,” armored Corpse Ghosts with dried flesh who were soldiers before death.
The other is the “Skeletal Warrior,” resembling skeletons forcefully summoned from tombs through unknown witchcraft, their joints assembled with bone spikes, entirely inhuman.
The third type is “Ghost Wraiths.”
Resentful spirits lack any tangible form, rendering ordinary swords and blades useless against them.
Only flames, Magic, and rare enchanted weapons can destroy them.
The fourth type is “Undead Beasts.”
This category contains an immense variety, including common “Winged Corpse Demons,” “Giant Bat Ghosts,” as well as others like “Undead Lion Scorpions” and indescribable monster hybrids stitched together, all conveniently grouped under this category.
The fifth type is somewhat unique: the “Undead Knights,” who were Knights of Valor before their deaths and seem to retain some combat wisdom.
Though they possess no consciousness nor the ability to communicate, they can summon lower-tier Undead to assist them in battle.
The sixth type includes the commanders of the Undead Army, divided into two variants.
One is the “Corpse Witch,” transformed from Wizards during their lifetime.
The other is the “Corpse Ghost Lord,” formerly Noble Lords in life.
These two command the dead armies as generals and act as the brains within the Undead Corpse Sea.
As summarized from Yevan’s observations, the Undead Army lacks any hierarchical command system apart from Corpse Witches and Corpse Ghost Lords.
No matter the scale of the Corpse Sea, these two types of Undead Lords solely oversee and direct its forces.
Ordinarily, they exhibit little to no tactical proficiency, merely concentrating their efforts on key targets and then pressing the entire army forward in an overwhelming advance.
Logically, if such a massive army were made up of the living and operated under such a crude command structure, even its intimidating scale would allow it to be defeated with ease.