Versatile Mage (Web Novel)
chapter-524

Chapter 524: Hatchet Corpse General

Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales

Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

“Magic Vine: Entangle!”

Shi Shaoju’s hands were agile as she waved them around; flexible vines were summoned instantly around her, turning into sturdy ropes entangling the legs of the giant creature before her!

They were nowhere near the village, and the Zombies had managed to surround them. Now, the squad of nine was fighting for their lives!

The enormous creature leading the Zombies had a body similar to a giant ox. The rotten flesh on its body was falling to the ground, from which wriggling worms burst out. Plague-bearing worms crawled toward the soldiers.

The Magic Vines had trapped the creature’s legs, but its hatchet-like arms hacked down wildly. The impact almost broke the ground open!

Brown Rock Barriers were established around the soldiers in an arc to protect them, but the situation did not look favorable. Lots of undead were breaking their way through the barrier to reach their prey on the other side!

Their sharp claws were able to slice through the stone like it was mud. They almost broke through the Rock Barrier. The rotting corpses had no sense of pain; some even slammed their skulls into the Rock Barrier, resulting in their heads falling apart and their brains splattering everywhere. However, their claws continued to dig through the stone!

Zhang Xiaohou’s forehead was covered in sweat. He had encountered many kinds of demon beasts before, savage, cunning, and cold-blooded, but this was his first time encountering a demented horde like these walking corpses.

The corpses had no sense of pain, no consciousness, no fear. They were merely chasing and tearing apart any living things nearby. Their only weakness was sunlight, but the day had fallen dark a few moments ago. By the time the sunlight came, their group would have turned into more undead…

“What should we do? Once these things break through our defense, we’ll simply be slaughtered by that giant corpse!” yelled Wang Tong.

Similar to demon beasts, the Undead were also categorized into Servant-class, Warrior-level, Commander-level, and Ruler-level…

The Undead attacking them were only the common Zombie Undead. They were most likely dead for less than ten years. Their buried bodies had not fully rotted yet.

The rank of the Zombie Undead was the lowest, the Servant-class, yet their numbers were overwhelming. They always attacked their prey in groups, so it was extremely dangerous to stumble into them in the wild.

Within the groups of Zombies, those that were buried longer and had absorbed more essence of death would evolve into generals among the walking corpses.

The huge creature with a body of a strong ox, a tiny head and limbs like hatchets was an infamous Corpse General. It was categorized as a Warrior-level creature, yet it was definitely stronger than an ordinary Warrior-level demon beast.

Normally, it was possible to inflict damage on demon beasts. When their legs were attacked, it would affect their speed and movement. If their limbs were attacked, it would weaken their attack. If their critical parts were damaged, their body would become weak and force them to retreat.

However, there was no such thing as being injured for these corpses. Even when destructive Spells penetrated their abdomens or blasted their limbs apart, they were still mobile as long as there was still energy in the body parts. Even a broken arm on the ground would still rise on its own and grab onto its prey.

A Corpse General was able to take on three Warrior-level demon beasts because of this!

Most importantly, this particular one they had stumbled into turned out to be a superior Corpse General, which had been nurtured in this land for more than ten years!

Trying to fight against it was no different than asking for death. Even if they managed to kill the Corpse General by teaming up, they would still be bitten to death by the horde of hundreds of Zombies surrounding them.

They had no choice but to run… there was slightly over a kilometer left until they reached Sunny Goat Village. They were able to see the wooden fences around the village once they crossed the little hill before them. They had to escape from these filthy creatures.

“Sink, you bastards!”

“Flowing Mud: Earth Wave!”

Zhang Xiaohou’s hands glowed brown. He channeled the Spell for quite some time, stacking up a few Earth Spells on top of one another, before slamming the energy into the ground!

The nine of them were all in the same area. Everywhere apart from the ground they were standing on suddenly became slimy. They could easily tell that the soft soil had turned into mud, and some even had the shape of a whirlpool…

Anything standing on mud would naturally sink, and together with the spinning and sinking motion, it was similar to quicksand; a huge number of Zombies were now half-sunken into the ground!

When Zhang Xiaohou had arrived at the Ancient Capital, he immediately sold the diamond he found at the Burning Valley and bought himself an Earth Element Magic Tool. It allowed him to stack up his Basic Earth Spell to a certain degree before releasing it, multiplying the effects of Earth Wave!

Although it would take a longer time to channel, it was more effective than casting the same spell many times!

The Earth Wave cast with the Earth Seed Flowing Mud had a shocking outcome. As lots of the Zombies sank into the mud, Zhang Xiaohou immediately hardened the ground to stop them from coming back up!

In the end, the Zombies were stuck in the ground with half their bodies on the surface and half below. They could neither rise to the surface nor sink into the ground!

The group was overjoyed. As they were about to give some compliments, Shi Shaoju screamed, “Run, quick!”

The Corpse General had already broken through the last line of defense. Due to its enormous size, the muck produced by the Flowing Mud Seed could barely cover its ankles. Even when the mud turned as hard as concrete, it was nowhere enough to hinder its movement!

Blood splattered as its hatchets swung wildly. It was impossible to tell who was injured in the midst of the chaos. They could only take hold of the chance to run down the hill.

The furious roar of the Hatchet Corpse General rose behind them. The soldiers felt a chill running down their spines as they felt the gust of it sweeping across their back!

However, no one dared to turn around; they could only run with all their might. Under the icy brilliance of the moon, they could vaguely see black shadows charging in their direction while uttering hungry cries!

Unlike the slow-moving Zombies in the movies, both the Corpse General and the Zombies were extremely fast while their legs were still intact. A Magician running at full speed would still be easily caught by them without relying on movement Spells or Boots Equipment…

In addition to that, their jumping ability was shocking. They could easily leap over ten meters, even the Servant-class Zombies. As such, the Undeads chasing after the group were not slowly dragging their legs, but sprinting and leaping like wild beasts!

“AHHHHHH!”

A painful screech came from behind. It seemed like someone was caught by the Undead, resulting in a cry for help.

“Forget them! If not, our whole squad will be wiped out!” ordered captain Qin Hu mercilessly.

The group did not dare to turn around. They could only hope that the one caught was not a friend.

“She’s not dead yet!” Zhang Xiaohou turned around and saw the person to be the other Battlemaga in their group, Jia Xi!

The Battlemaga Jia Xi was entangled by the long tongue of the Corpse General. She was an Ice Magician, hence she barely sealed off the Corpse General’s movement with Ice Lock. Otherwise, the Corpse General would simply have swallowed her with one bite!