Translated by XephiZ
Edited by Aelryinth
Mo Fan had already sent a Rebelling Shadow to the main fortress to follow Gangma when he was busy fighting Vani and Saks. Unfortunately, Gangma was too quick at running away. The shadow failed to find him in time.
Mo Fan could only follow the slight trace of the Dark Material, which never stopped spreading. The objects that the target came into contact with, the ripples of magic, and even some communication devices could be infiltrated by the Dark Material. Gangma was still stained by a thin layer of Dark Material. Mo Fan could barely stay on his trail!
The fortifications were around four kilometers from the front line. Mo Fan sprinted through the dark and cast Fleeing Shadow continually. He was not slow; he could already hear the deafening noises from the fighting at the front line after traveling for more than ten minutes in the form of a shadow bird.
Mo Fan was quite familiar with those noises. It was the same for every battle: the magic blasts, the energy explosions, the roars of demon creatures, and the cries of agony from the wounded…
After crossing a reserve trench, Fortress Cairo, built from soil and sand, showed up in front of Mo Fan. Every continent had quite a number of reputable fortresses. The East Maritime Fortress that Mo Fan had visited in Japan was the most frequently involved in battles there. Meanwhile, the scale of the wars in Africa, including the one that Cairo was involved in, were exceedingly huge. The war between humans and the undead had lasted for thousands of years, and was still going on today. Similar to the black land around the Ancient Capital, the tombs, underground, catacombs, mausoleums, and terrifying creatures that were unwilling to depart from the world even when they were dead could be seen everywhere.
“He already went inside, damn it!” Mo Fan grumbled, staring at the fortress.
There were a lot of Egyptian soldiers inside the fortress. There was no way Mo Fan could fight them all by himself…
However, Mo Fan was not willing to let Gangma escape just like that.
“Huh? He used magic?” Mo Fan saw a black fly approaching him from the distance.
The black fly was the feedback from the Dark Material. Gangma had underestimated Mo Fan’s tracking ability. He did not even bother asking a Light Mage to Purify him and his communication devices!
Not only would the Dark Material not dissipate, it would continue to spread inside his body. The spread might be slow, but once the Dark Material reached a certain level, Mo Fan could trigger the Dark Wither when Gangma was in deep sleep and murder him, just like Bei Jiang had murdered Leng Qing without alerting anyone!
Mo Fan had the same ability too, but the conditions were stricter. One of them was the need for a Commander-level Soul Essence.
A Commander-level Soul Essence was extremely valuable. Mo Fan could Summon an extra Commander-level Summoned Beast if he offered it to the Magic Medium Ring that Brianca had given him!
“Damn it, that son of a b**ch is going to harm more little girls if I let him live. I can always collect more Commander-level Soul Essences, but Gangma has to die!” Mo Fan clenched his teeth, deciding to take out Gangma!
Gangma had already fled into the crowded fortress, but it also meant the man had most likely let his guard down. Bei Jiang was able to kill someone more than a thousand li away, Mo Fan believed it was his turn to give it a try!
“I’ll sneak into the fortress and spread as much Dark Material as I can,” Mo Fan said to himself.
The fortress was currently fending off the undead army. It was unlikely that anyone would put too much attention on Mo Fan.
If he stumbled into some old generals with impressive cultivation, he would still be able to escape with the Dark Noble Mantle, so he was bold enough to give it a go!
—
He entered the fortress from the rear. The fortress was largely built of soil and sand. Only some of the important structures were built with sturdy rock; those structures were usually located on higher ground.
The terrain in the fortress was complicated and odd. There were sand dunes, twisting barriers that consisted of hard piles of soil, and interconnected buildings. The whole fortress resembled an enormous maze made of thick sand. The terrain was favorable to Mages when they were fighting against the undead.
The area of the East Maritime Fortress in Tokyo was less than a fifth that of Egypt’s Fortress Cairo. It was extremely convenient for a Shadow Mage like Mo Fan to move around in. He could easily avoid patrols by hiding in the buildings that were connected to one another.
There were many Mages with the Undead Element in Egypt. The battle at the front line was a great mess, as the undead Summoned by the Mages and the undead from the Pyramid of Khafre clashed with one another. Mo Fan could only see black masses of undead moving around from afar, and enough blood that it had formed a lake!
Khafre’s army was unstoppable. When Mo Fan glided across the tall buildings, he could see more undead further away reinforcing the army of undead at the front line.
The enemy undead kept coming. Even if the Mages stacked their Summoned creatures like walls of flesh, it was only a matter of time before they collapsed to the ground. Loud, colorful spells poured down like raindrops, but the undead still managed to climb to their feet, swaying with broken limbs.
The army of snake and scorpion demons was the real problem for Cairo’s army. They were positioned on both sides of the enormous lake of blood. They kept ambushing and harassing the troops, resulting in great losses to the Egyptian soldiers.
Mo Fan landed on a building, just as an enormous scorpion demon rammed into the first four levels of the building. The floors below collapsed instantly.
There were a few Hunters and members of the Magic Association on the building. A Huntress in her thirties was giving orders to them. Mo Fan did not understand her since she was talking in Egyptian.
“Which troop are you from? Why aren’t you running away still? Do you want to die!?” the Huntress scolded angrily when she saw Mo Fan running around.
Mo Fan landed on the ground and dodged the building that was now collapsing on him. Unfortunately, the black scorpion had its eyes on him. It spread its legs and produced the sound of a crop reaper!
The Huntress noticed that Mo Fan was not an Egyptian, and quickly yelled at him in English, “Find somewhere to hide, you idiot!”
Mo Fan remained motionless. The building broke into pieces less than six meters from him. The huge black scorpion was extremely close to him, too. The Hunters nearby all let out a sigh, as they all assumed he was dead for sure.
A faint silver light flashed. Mo Fan’s eyes sharpened as the debris falling from the building was eerily encapsulated by the silver light. It all came to a stop in the air, not even the dust particles were falling.
“Go!”
The debris that was supposed to fall on him flew at the huge black scorpion at an even greater speed!
The black scorpion had thick skin and sturdy flesh. The Hunters had not inflicted any injuries on it after casting a few Intermediate Spells, but the debris that Mo Fan had sped up smashed the black scorpion flat. Its pulped meat and blood oozed out of its carapace and scattered across the ground.
“A…A Space Mage!” The Huntress and her allies were dumbfounded.
They had failed to kill the black scorpion despite putting in so much effort, yet the young man had killed it in an instant, so easily!
“Can I ask who’s commanding this battle?” Mo Fan put on a friendly smile, looking at the blank-faced Mages.
The Lightning Element was already a very impressive Element among ordinary Mages, so these Mages were utterly shocked when they saw anyone with the Space Element.
Mo Fan, on the other hand, was constantly surrounded by geniuses, elites, talented Mages, and even the people he came across in other countries were all from the upper class. Therefore, Elements like Space, Lightning, and Summoning were not that special to them.
“It’s General Ethan!” the Huntress replied after a brief pause.
“Can you tell me about him while you are treating your injuries?” Mo Fan asked.
“That won’t be a problem, I’m Jenny,” The Huntress was a lot friendlier than before. Her eyes purposely looked him up and down.
Jenny was a Hunter. Her squad consisted of seven people, each with some injuries. The poison was spreading, too. It was going to be a tough fight between them and the black scorpion, but Mo Fan had shown up in time to rescue them from the pinch.
The truth was, in addition to the soldiers fighting at the front line, the members of most factions would form squads when the city was at war. Mo Fan did not have to disguise himself. He would not gather too much attention, despite his nationality, as long as he did not enter the areas forbidden by the military.
There were countless squads similar to the one led by Jenny in Fortress Cairo. Some were recruited by the army, others were voluntary.
“The commander-in-chief of the battle is General Ethan, one of five Generals in Cairo. He’s from the renowned Maekar Clan. He has been serving in the military since he graduated from the military academy. Even though he’s from a renowned clan, he’s been slowly climbing through the ranks, starting from being appointed to the secondary towns at the head of the Nile, to his current position. I remember that he was the General of my city when I was studying in Lita. The demon creatures kept invading the plantations around the safe zone and endangering the city. It was General Ethan who defeated the demon creatures and took back our important land…” Jenny obviously admired General Ethan. He was a military prodigy, and national hero to her!