Volume One: The Hell-Level Lord World Chapter 77: The Undead Chieftain

Chen Gu was unaware of what Peter and the others were thinking. At this moment, all his attention was focused on the undead leader attacking the swamp. This time, luck favored him in the synthesis—a batch of twenty hydras yielded fifteen Holy Light Hydras. Including the one he'd previously acquired, he now commanded sixteen Holy Light Hydras, a formidable force by any measure.

“Now, it’s up to all of you. Deal with that bone beast first,” he said.

But even without Chen Gu’s prompt, Brufid knew exactly what needed to be done. The hydras had always possessed great combat strength, but they had never truly countered the undead. Now, with this new squad of Holy Light Hydras, Brufid was entirely confident.

The hydras, once entwined among themselves, surged forth, tunneling from beneath the swamp toward the undead. As they moved, Chen Gu finally grasped just how many hydras dwelled there. During the war between elves and humans, these hydras had likely never been sent to the battlefield. The swamp boasted 771 ordinary hydras—already outnumbering the carnivorous vines under Chen Gu’s command. And that was not counting the 315 mutated hydra monsters. Altogether, over a thousand hydras formed the true foundation of Crow’s Nest City; everything else was merely auxiliary.

The undead attacking Crow’s Nest Swamp had never imagined such forces lay hidden beneath its surface. The hydras, far surpassing ordinary creatures in strength, could each confront dozens of skeleton soldiers. Their ability to unleash elemental attacks made them highly effective against ghosts as well.

With the hydras joining the fray, the battle above the swamp rapidly shifted. Hydras burst forth from the mire, spraying and tearing into skeleton soldiers and phantoms who dared enter the swamp.

When the hydras appeared, a burst of laughter echoed from the white mist.

“I knew there would be treasures in this swamp. Hydras! So many hydras—perfect materials for building my city.”

Amidst the laughter, a colossal bone beast emerged. This beast stood over ten meters tall, but its body stretched nearly a hundred meters in length. Its form was constructed from countless bones, with houses built of wood and stone clinging to its exterior. Skeleton soldiers raced across its surface, and from up close, one could see white mist billowing from its body. It was a small, mobile city, providing the undead leader coveting Crow’s Nest Swamp with ample defense and logistical support.

The undead troops he had sent out earlier were merely bait to draw Crow’s Nest’s defenders. The bone beast was his true core force.

Standing atop the bone beast, the undead leader’s hollow eye sockets flickered with pale green flames.

“What a marvelous place—mud, corpses, and hydras. All mine for the taking.”

Behind him stood an ordinary skeleton, though it wore a meticulously maintained Western-style butler’s suit.

“You’re absolutely right, master. This is a splendid place. Once you seize it, your Holy City will be further elevated.”

“Good. Have the mage team prepare. When we emerge, those hydras will surely attack us. Use petrification to trap them, then strip their bones for me with bone-separation spells.”

“Rest assured, Atla is overseeing the mage team’s skeleton sorcerers—they’ll handle everything,” the skeletal butler replied quietly.

“Make sure you keep a close eye. Watch both the mage team and the necromancer group—I want them to compete, not sabotage one another.”

He was still speaking when a dozen hydras suddenly appeared beside the bone beast. The undead leader was annoyed by their abrupt arrival, but there was little he could do. Troops from Crow’s Nest had grown accustomed to moving underground, and the skeleton soldiers outside were powerless to hold back the hydras.

As the hydras encircled his bone beast, the undead leader barked out orders.

“Atla, prepare petrification—damn it! How are they wielding Holy Light? Atla, raise the defensive barrier!”

His commands came too late. All the hydras that had appeared were Holy Light Hydras synthesized by Chen Gu. Originally, they had intended to attack the bone beasts already inside the swamp, but with the arrival of the undead leader’s massive bone beast, Brufid changed plans. He understood this creature was the linchpin—destroying it would secure victory. Thus, Brufid left the ordinary bone beasts to the evolved hydra monsters, while the Holy Light Hydras stealthily approached the giant from beneath the swamp.

The undead leader, confident he held the upper hand, was caught off guard when sixteen Holy Light Hydras simultaneously appeared at the bone beast’s sides—eight on each flank. They unleashed breaths imbued with Holy Light. Compared to previous attacks of fire, ice, and poison, Holy Light was far more devastating to the undead.

Ordinary undead touched by Holy Light melted away like butter thrown into flames. The giant bone beast itself erupted under the radiant assault, its body exploding repeatedly. Bones painstakingly assembled earlier now fell away one by one. After a single barrage, the bone beast’s size was halved.

By the time the skeletal sorcerers on its back raised a defensive barrier, its height had dropped by at least three meters.

“All hydras, obey my command! Unleash your breath at full force—forget everything else!” Brufid, who had been observing the battle, issued his orders decisively.

Responding, every hydra surged from the swamp, spraying chaos upon the enemies nearby. Many targeted the bone beasts directly, their elemental attacks swiftly dispatching hordes of undead.