Foreign Land Reclamation By a Vegetable-growing Skeleton

“Quick, get your people out of there.” Negris instructed.

Despite his reluctance, Rogge ordered a retreat. Even though they didn’t understand it, the well-trained witches of Dark City obeyed and swiftly abandoned the barricade, retreating behind Ange and the others.

In the dangerous terrain of the desert, without the protective walls of their vehicles, they became exposed to the sure fate of being crushed under the hooves of the cavalry.

Rogge, growing impatient, queried, “God of Knowledge, our people have retreated. Now what do we do?”

“Just wait,” was all Negris replied.

Terek was also surprised by Rogge’s retreat; he approached the barricade with caution and saw no traps. That was when he realized that the forces of Dark City truly were retreating. Yet they hadn’t retreated far, just beyond a sand dune they watched him. The leading Black Warrior even gestured a ‘please’ at him.

Terek mumbled to himself, “When did these undead start to think smart?”

After a few murmurs, Terek yelled out, “The despicable enemy ambush killed young Knight Klee. There must be more traps. We can’t act recklessly. Let’s retrieve Klee and his men’s bodies and retreat.”

The Silver Knights gathered Klee and his men’s corpses and beat a clean retreat, leaving behind only spears, arrows, and bloodstains as silent testaments to the battle that ensued.

Rogge was puzzled, “Why would it end like this? What does the ‘please’ gesture mean? Why did they retreat? Was it a secret signal?”

“…I wonder how you have survived until now,” Negris muttered, facepalming.

Brooks realized what happened and said, “It’s appeasement, appeasing the enemy while gaining strength.”

“But what did the ‘please’ gesture mean?” Rogge accepted the upsetting reality of becoming an appeased enemy but still didn’t understand how a simple gesture could make their foes retreat.

“They needed their comrades’ bodies. The scent of souls on the wounds of the corpses can prove that they were killed by the Undead. They can then justify their actions. If you hadn’t retreated, they would have broken your barricade and taken back the bodies themselves,” Negris explained.

Just then, Ange looked skyward and a row of explosive fireballs formed in front of him, shooting across the sky.

The glow of the fireballs illuminated the descending figure of a plump human woman. She wore a rough sackcloth dress and was dropping from the sky at high speed. Facing the incoming fireball, she didn’t even blink as the fireball hit her directly.

The fireball exploded, the flames fizzling out as they slid around her body, failing to even singe her as if they couldn’t adhere to her at all.

However, withstanding one, two, three, she began to falter around the twelfth. Manoeuvring in the air, the flames couldn’t touch her, but the explosive impact was not pleasant.

But Ange’s eyes were fixed firmly on her. No matter how much she zigzagged in mid-air, the fireballs followed relentlessly.

The new fireballs were released continuously, and the old ones were relentless in their pursuit. The longer she flew, the more fireballs were left in the air. If they were to hit her simultaneously, the combined force would likely be too much for her to bear.

Brooks stepped in front of Ange with a wry smile, “Please, show some mercy.”

Ange tilted his head, raised his hand, and all the fireballs in the sky just stopped.

The human woman flew over, her aura overwhelming. Little Zombie, Little Angel, and even Rogge all stood protectively in front of Ange.

But the woman ignored everyone else and flew directly to Brooks, grabbed his ear, and roared, “You dare to steal my dragon egg! Do you want to die? Do you want to die!”

Brooks calmly responded, “The child has hatched.”

“What? Hatch…Hatched?” The woman’s rage evaporated in an instant, replaced by full-body trembling and disbelief.