When Philip Zeri, who heard the noise, came running with two other Ankhtans, he saw such an absolutely suspicious scene - four people lying on the ground, including Harriat and Hoan Shaw, but only one elf was standing.

“...... Norvi, you know what this looks like, right?" asked Fili, rubbing his forehead, the impulsive young warrior behind him already drawing his weapon.

"Khaliat is controlled. The elf replied simply, "It does explain everything, but not everyone believes it." Fili could immediately understand what was happening, but the other two had already rushed towards Norvi.

"Hey, don't be impulsive!" Fili dragged one and watched as Norway flashed the other with ease, and with a lift of his leg tripped the other to the ground, smashing straight into Harryat.

The hapless man woke up groaning and cursed loudly, "What the is going on!"

"You're being controlled!" Filly told him aloud, not caring if it would damage the young leader's majesty.

Haryat shoved aside the man who had fallen on top of him and staggered to his feet.

"I remember that the little imp glanced at me......" he glanced at the boy lying on the side in disgust, "So, he's really a necromancer?"

"He does use mind control, and he clearly wants to escape...... Noway said. Controlling the souls of the living, like summoning the dead, is not a spell that only necromancers use, but in this case, Hoan is indeed very suspicious.

"If we kill him, the skeletons outside will stop?" asked Haryart, a little hesitantly.

"If he stays here, the ones outside shouldn't have been summoned by him, and even if he kills him, it's useless. Filly replied.

Khaliart seemed relieved. Even if it was certain that it was a necromancer, the person lying in front of them was nothing more than a thin child who had not yet reached adulthood.

"But what he should know, we can ......"

A loud bang came through the long hallway, interrupting Fili.

“...... Door. The elf whispered, a hint of tension in his tense voice, "The door has fallen." ”.

"I'll just say the fires are too close to the door!" Tess grumbled as she snuffed out the fire on Akhan's body. When the gate crashed to the ground, a pile of burning wood flew away, and Akan, who was too big a target, was unfortunately hit, and the big man only cared about the skeletons that were surrounded by flames and did not rush towards them for the time being, and did not pay attention to the small flames that were rising on his body.

In the face of the completely counterintuitive, free-moving Sensen skeletons and their ancient, but apparently more sophisticated weapons, even through the flames, people began to involuntarily retreat. Outside the gate, night had already fallen, and looking out of the bright hall, it felt like the whole world had been swallowed up by darkness, and only more skeletons were being attracted by the breath of life and frantically pouring in.

The pastor's prayer sounded at the right time. I don't know how many people could tell that it was not praying to Nesses, but Andukh's blessings came to everyone equally, stirring up courage and hope in their hearts. Another spell sent a faint blue glow to the weapons in the hands of those close to the priest. The unarmed men picked up the burning wood, and the people held their breath in the same silent enemy, except for the voice of the priest and the sound of crashing against the skeleton......

"Weird. Narya muttered to herself.

A skeleton jumped high and seemed to want to leap over the fire, and Akan roared and threw the hammer out, smashing the hapless fellow out the door.

“...... Fool, how are you going to pick it up!" Narya shouted, and then had to drag the big man who wanted to rush out the door with his hammer.

Tess laughed and shoved Akan with a stick. The skeletons in the front row fell under the priest's spell, but more skeletons began to jump over the fire and rush into the crowd.

The first human screams rang out. The battle has begun.

"Cut off their heads!" Risek roared, "Protect the priest!"

He soon realized that even if they could win, they would pay a terrible price.

There are more humans than skeletons. But in terms of weapons and combat skills, these undead creatures are far superior to humans, and each skeleton's fall is accompanied by more human deaths. The big guy and the two girls -- and a mongoose -- are the most powerful of the bunch. Mochi was able to distract his enemies, allowing Akan to knock the skeleton to the ground as quickly as he could, Naria would protect her big friend who only knew how to attack, and Tess would happily and neatly plunge her dagger into the hollow eyes of the enemies she had knocked down, killing them completely. But it didn't take long for them to fall under siege, locked in a corner of the hall with great effectiveness by the skeletons who were also closely coordinated, and could only protect themselves.

A dozen bones were stacked within reach of the priest's spell, but when Nigel silently picked up a skull's dropped sword and stood up, pushed away his protectors and began to use weapons against the enemy, Risek knew that the priest's strength was exhausted.

Someone retreated into the dark hallway on the left, and Risek's heart tightened—the women in the room next to the hallway were powerless to protect themselves.

Another spell sounded, and several people rushed out of the hallway.

"Khaliat!" Risek cried out, slightly relieved.

"We've caught the necromancer!" Haryat roared, "smash these broken skeletons!"

No one asked him why he had caught the Necromancer, and the skeletons were still alive, and the people who fought for their lives with all their might were simply motivated. A couple of skilled fighters make it less bad. After purifying two or three skeletons, Fili closed his mouth and began to swing his sword single-mindedly—he could use it much faster than he could recite a spell. Novi nimbly weaved his way through the crowd, luring the skeletons away from those who were no longer able to resist, and rushing all the way to the corner, freeing them from the encirclement and bringing more enemies to them.

Tess hurt her cheek, which made her furious: "Didn't anyone teach you not to hurt a girl's face?

The innocent and affected Norway only smiled bitterly and didn't hear it.

"Hold on!" Risek yelled, "hold on until dawn!"

As long as they can hold on until the sun rises, they will be able to live.

The battle became a stalemate. But skeletons have another advantage that humans can't do - they never get tired.

The cold wind of the night almost froze people's blood, but Ed was sweating all over his head at the moment.

"Let it go, Ed Singh. Eric's feeble voice seemed to be resigned to fate, "It's useless. ”

"Nope. Ed gritted his teeth and burst out a word, he didn't have the strength to say anything more now.

He was half-crouched, almost sitting on the ground, his feet digging into two deep pits in the snow, and pulling Eric back by the waist - a ridiculous position, but he couldn't laugh at all.

He regretted that he hadn't been resolute enough to stop Eric.

The paladin's right hand sank into it the moment it touched the corpse, as if it wasn't a corpse at all, but a cloud of mud, and a huge force pulled Eric down, as he frantically used his left hand to prop up the corpse in an attempt to get himself free...... Of course, even the left hand was trapped.

It was at that time that Ed came to his senses, jumped up and grabbed his waist and dragged him back desperately. Otherwise, Eric would probably have planted himself headlong on the corpse and merged with the dead man who didn't know who it was. But with his strength, there was no way to drag Eric out, and Eric himself couldn't use his strength on his knees, and by now, half of Eric's arm had been submerged in the corpse - they might have to merge sooner or later.

Ed looked up at the sky, trying to imagine something beautiful, to get the disgusting image out of his mind—even if he didn't think that the thing in his stomach was churning enough. Eric hadn't spit it out until now, and he was so impressed that he fell to the ground.

"This is the Dao Gate. Eric whispered.

"What?" Ed didn't hear.

"It's empty inside...... A door, a door to another world...... Maybe that's where I'm supposed to be. The paladin whispered in a trance.

"!" Ed cursed, "what the hell would a corpse be used as a door!"

"Hell?" replied Eric blankly.

"Your goddess saved your life just to send you to hell?!" Ed yelled, "Be sober!"

He felt Eric's body tremble slightly, as if he had been awakened from a nightmare.

“...... But it's really useless. The young paladin's voice calmed down a bit.

"I know!" Ed roared angrily, and what little strength he had left was reduced a little, "...... You say it's empty?"

It still sounds much better than touching the guts.

"Empty...... No, the part that was trapped in it didn't feel like it was completely gone, but it did feel like it was leading to ...... Somewhere in the door. ”

“...... The door can be closed!" Ed said categorically, trying to sound a little more confident in his voice.

Tess often said that the door could be opened, and vice versa.

"Think of your little story of paladins! Isn't there anything like that?! Great paladins close the terrible gates of hell or something...... Think about it!"

"If I still have the power of a paladin...... The power of the goddess may be able to fight against it, but ...... Ed, maybe this is the test for me, like the legendary first paladin, I need to walk through hell to regain her grace......"

"Shut up!" said Ed angrily. Something had just gobothered through his mind, and he was so angry with Eric's whims that he wanted to kill himself.

The power of the goddess......

His gaze went down, to his chest.