"Vile humans, you dare to encroach upon the holy land of the Stonekeeper Marasmus?! Very well, you only have yourselves to blame for the consequences then. I am Goiter, the Protector of the Necropolis. Prepare to be destroyed.

" The undead threatened coldly before raising his hands to both sides of his body.

The various combatants here became solemn as they prepared themselves to defend against any attack. Darius and Gunner moved a good distance away from the others, concealing themselves in some withered foliage.

Mikey and Joneson had been silently desummoned as Darius wanted to collect information. According to the report the duo had brought back, this fellow was a powerful Adept undead that was very close to the Stonekeeper.

However, that was all they had managed to find out. Goiter's powers and his abilities had remained unknown since this Protector had hardly participated in the battle against the living. He had only briefly shown up after the first skirmish with the undead had yielded great wins for the various factions.

In their next engagement, he had only appeared in the sky above the battle and opened his arms in a grand manner, chanting loudly. From within the shaking earth, the Bone Dragon had emerged and become the thorn in the side of the encampment.

So one could imagine the solemnity and worry these various fellows felt when he repeated the same actions. The strongest coalition made up of 12 different factions stepped forward to deal with this fellow.

While they were reluctant, they refused to ask for help, since their rules dictated that asking for help, would allow the helping party to join the fight. As such, if everyone repelled the attack of Goiter, they would use it as an excuse to bombard Marasmus without a care.

At that time, it would be hard to come out unscathed as the fight to claim the head for the rewards would be even more brutal than the fight against the undead himself.

This time, the earth did not shake. Goiter simply maintained his position for a minute or two, baffling the various fighters. Whatever the case, the first coalition began firing long-ranged attacks to disable the Protector's fighting ability.

However, this proved to be futile as the projectiles crashed against a greenish barrier that looked like the carapace of a bug. It was clear to the various parties that the Necropolis had some form of magical defense, which gave them a headache.

After all, when dealing with such things, many factors needed to be ascertained. The first was the damage threshold of the barrier. What was its limit? Exactly what kind of damage would be enough to shatter it? Could rapid-fire weak attacks eventually overwhelm it or was one concentrated massive attack the only way?

The second was the power source. Was it powered by many individuals using their mana, acting as living batteries? Was it powered by some sort of formation, sucking in the surrounding natural energies in the air, and if so was there a storage of such energies?

The third was the restoration rate of the barrier. Did it accumulate damage without fixing it, then break and reform from scratch to save energy, or was damage repeatedly fixed at the cost of more energy, yet making the barrier last as long as necessary?

These were just some of the problems created by this defense. Not to mention that the Goiter fellow was still channeling something, making the first coalition who were attacking feel desperate.

The other factions nearby were becoming restless, as they wanted to join in. After all, it was wiser to fight as one at this point, even though it would create issues later on. However, the fear that something grand would happen and cause great casualties also made these factions unable to sit still.

They might have agreed to go in one after the other, but nothing was stopping the floating undead to deal with them all at once.

Even Darius agreed that at this point, that silly agreement should not be upheld. His perception backed by his high Intellect was telling him that something seriously bad would happen if Goiter was allowed to complete his work.

"Work together!

"

It was unknown who shouted this, but it became the straw that broke the camel's back. The various factions that had been hesitating lost their worry and began assisting the first coalition in their bombardment.

This made the group depressed, but they understood that this was not the time to be childish. As such, the help was welcome and with the increased firepower, the barrier began to quickly waver and crack despite trying to repair itself quickly.

This was already a good result after withstanding the bombardment of so many Adepts and Journeymen. The encampment's fighting forces, after the losses from the previous battles, consisted of over 500 fighters, at least 200 at the Adept stage, with the rest being Journeymen of great power.

It was proof that the various factions of Andrato had really pulled out all the stops this time. In that same vein, if these fellows were to be vanquished here, Andrato's power would be greatly diminished.

Many of its peripheral territories would be lost, and it might even lose some towns to other kingdoms due to its weakness.

This was why Darius's conscription of so many parties to be his 'shield' in his quest was a critical point of fate for the entire kingdom.

If they succeeded, they would receive transmuted resources so great that the base foundation of the kingdom would rise greatly. A few decades later, they would no longer be regarded as a joke but feared as a force to be reckoned with.

Fail, and the kingdom would be set back by at least 200 of out its short 300ish years. From here on out, the future became veiled in murky light, and various sages who tried to divine the outcome of this conclusion could not tell what would happen from this point on.

As for Darius and Gunner, they were no longer hiding within the withered foliage while watching the battle. Darius had already executed his first plan, which was to enter the Necropolis and meet with the Stonekeeper to gauge his personality.

This was done with the help of a transmuted Short Warp Scroll that took both Gunner and Darius right into the mausoleum behind Goiter, the undead Protector not even aware of the intrusion.

This was only possible due to the item's quality and Marasmus being willing to allow it. As such, when Darius entered, he bowed to the undead levitating above the First Pedestal with respect.

"Lord Marasmus, I've come to bargain.

"