Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix
Chapter 1255 - 1255: Cursed city

Rain was probably stronger than a five-thousand-year-old dragon… but since the enemies always get stronger, he didn't feel himself that much progress.

After not so long, the group was eventually able to find the enemy base. What they encountered left them in surprise and disgust. The enemy base was unlike anything they had seen before—it was a city constructed entirely from giant bones. Towering skeletal structures formed twisted buildings and fortifications, creating an eerie and macabre cityscape.

The bones seemed to have been summoned and arranged in a way that mimicked a functional city, a disturbing display of the enemy's dark abilities.

The air was thick with a foul stench as the bones emitted a noxious toxin that permeated the surroundings. The smell was so putrid that it was hard to believe anyone could endure living in such an environment.

Rain and the others realized that the toxic atmosphere served a dual purpose—besides the discomfort it caused, the toxin also weakened the enemies invading the city, making them more susceptible to attacks.

That wasn't all; the walls were so massive that the entire city was like a massive maze. Everything looked pretty much the same, even from a distance.

"I can't see the enemies… do you see anything, Rain?" Jori asked.

"Nope," Rain said.

Jori waited for Rain to say anything else, but nothing happened. Then he realized that unless he asked, Rain wouldn't say anything since he wasn't the leader of the mission. He wasn't used to that kind of role when Rain or Seadrei were around.

"We can't waste time since the others must be fighting already," Jori said. "While we can fly above the city, it will be hard to find anything from above, and the poison is gathering in the air more than on the ground, so we should avoid suffering too much damage by doing that. Even though it's pretty obvious that the enemy wants us to do that."

When Rain looked around, everyone seemed nervous for some reason. They had already fought those enemies a bunch of times, but it looked like the differences in each fight wouldn't let them relax that much. Only a few fights and victories would improve their mood.

Regardless, the group moved toward the city without trying to hide their presence. Even if they tried, the massive cloud of miasma would reveal their position. In any case, the miasma was quite something… it made them feel sluggish, and Rain could feel the power of corruption in the air.

"Are all the enemies have to go that kind of power?" Rain furrowed his eyebrows while looking around.

The power of corruption was obviously easier to wield and tap into compared to the intricate effects of the virtues. Rain understood that harnessing the virtues required a level of mastery and understanding that might be impossible to achieve without the guidance of a system like the one they had.

It struck Rain as odd that only their group seemed to have access to that power. If the enemies they faced also possessed this ability, it would mean that there was more to the mysterious powers of this world than met the eye. The corrupt power was a double-edged sword, offering a shortcut to strength but at the cost of some compromises.

Regardless, Rain knew that relying solely on the corrupt power wasn't the best solution, only the easiest one. The virtues, with their complex nature, held the key to unlocking a greater, more refined strength with minimal constraints. The challenge lay in figuring out how to access and utilize these virtues without the aid of a system, a task that seemed daunting, if not impossible.

"Equip the diligence path. It will help," Jori said.

Rain felt sluggish, even though his diligence path was at such a high level… the others should have felt way worse. Still, they began to feel better quite soon… even though their diligence path wasn't at the same level as Rain's.

While crossing the landscape filled with giant bones in all directions, everyone felt like they were being watched. At the same time, their sense of direction and depth immediately started to get weird… and that wasn't an effect of the miasma. Rain wondered if he should destroy one of the bones to check their durability, but that was risky.

He would be fine if he were alone, but not in that large group.

Moreover, Rain wasn't leading it, so he couldn't just do whatever he wanted to check what would happen. After walking for a couple of kilometers, Rain realized that they couldn't see anything that would be a place for the undead king to use as his castle… that kind of enemy certainly would create that kind of structure to show off his might and importance, after all.

Eventually, the aura in that place changed, and then everyone raised their guards… it felt like the enemies would come out from anywhere and everywhere, and their gut instinct wasn't wrong. All of a sudden, a bunch of skeletons appeared behind them and like out of nowhere.

As the group braced themselves to face the first group of skeletons, they suddenly felt an eerie gaze coming from the opposite direction. Turning around, they were taken aback to see yet another group of skeletons emerging from the bone-covered landscape. The feeling of being surrounded intensified as the skeletal army closed in from all sides, creating a daunting wall of bones.

The skeleton army was armed with equipment crafted entirely from bones, showcasing a grim and macabre aesthetic. Shields made from large rib bones were held in the hands of some skeletons, providing rudimentary protection. Others wielded spears made from the elongated bones of unknown creatures, the tips sharpened to menacing points.

In the skeletal ranks, archers stood ready with bows formed from flexible ribcages, their bony arrows prepared to rain down upon the group. A few skeletons brandished swords created from the fused spinal columns of massive creatures, the edges surprisingly sharp.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.