Chapter 317:

“Sylvia, my child, you will be the pride of Crowfield!”

Sylvia had always worked hard. Ever since she was young, she had put in immense effort.

Her father saw her as the family’s honor, teaching her that it was her duty to protect the people of their land.

Sylvia responded to that expectation, constantly striving forward. With her family’s support, she became the brightest emerald, even earning a reward from the king.

The coronation of honor.

The support of her family.

The admiration of the people.

Sylvia still cherished those beautiful memories.

Until disaster struck, shattering her life in an instant, turning everything into an unfamiliar world she no longer recognized.

“Kill… you… kill… you… protect… Syl… via…”

Her parents had turned into the undead, letting out hoarse voices—their final words before death.

Sylvia tried her best. She struggled not to cry, but in the end, she couldn’t shed a tear. Once more, she gripped the sword she knew so well, granting her parents release.

She buried their bones alone and ventured into a world a thousand years ahead, all by herself.

She wandered alone.

She endured alone.

Sylvia truly tried her hardest.

Knowing that people feared her appearance, she wore armor to conceal her face, silently protecting their safety.

Even though Crowfield no longer existed, she still upheld the knight’s oath, preserving the honor of the Crowfield family.

She didn’t want to disappoint her parents.

She didn’t want to disappoint the child she once was—the one who had cheered loudly for heroes in stories.

But… she was so, so tired.

The soil crumbled. The air reeked of blood. Leaves scattered over her damaged armor.

Sylvia had lost the ability to stand. Facing the next attack from the headless knight, she could only lie there in the pit, waiting for death.

She was too exhausted.

Too tired to keep going.

The so-called hero, Sylvia, was nothing more than a coward terrified of loneliness, using ceaseless action to numb herself…

“Father… Mother…”

“I guess… I’m not fit to be a hero after all…”

Whoosh!

A sharp spearhead descended from above.

The headless knight launched its final strike, intending to crush her skull with its bone lance. The wind howled, its glimmering tip radiating ghostly light—a strike impossible to dodge.

Sylvia had no strength left. She couldn’t move a muscle.

As she watched the approaching spear, fleeting thoughts crossed her mind.

Did the villagers escape in time?

Would her parents blame her?

Would the sorcerer remember her…?

So tired.

She just wanted to sleep.

She didn’t want to be alone anymore.

BOOM!

A deafening explosion erupted.

Centered around Sylvia, dust and smoke surged into the sky, followed by a violent hurricane.

Pale bones were hurled into the air.

Before they even hit the ground, they disintegrated into fine powder, vanishing with the wind.

Then, footsteps echoed.

Steady, composed steps approached Sylvia.

A hand reached out toward her.

It grasped hers and pulled her up.

“I think I was a little late, Sylvia.”

A familiar voice entered her ears.

A simple greeting, carrying a hint of apology.

Ah…

It wasn’t an illusion.

She wouldn’t have to die alone after all.

The human side of Sylvia’s face—the half that still remained—trembled, and her emerald eyes shimmered with light.

In the end, they transformed into the dazzling green gems that Xu Xi knew so well.

Even with her incomplete face, he could see the brilliance in them.

“That’s not true, Sorcerer,” she said softly.

“Thank you… for saving me again.”

[Now that you’ve advanced to a Two-Ring Sorcerer, your speed is far beyond what it was before.]

[Riding the Nether Crow, you rushed back to Crowfield as fast as possible, deeply worried that Sylvia’s strength wouldn’t be enough to withstand the undead tide.]

[Twenty days later, you successfully returned to Crowfield’s territory.]

[Your fears were confirmed.]

[Under the influence of the Dark Tide, even a remote place like Crowfield was flooded with tens of thousands of undead, including high-tier beings such as headless knights.]

[For Sylvia Crowfield, such enemies were overwhelming.]

[Her strength was limited.]

[Her training time was too short.]

[She had no chance of resisting the undead tide.]

[As she neared death, you arrived just in time, saving the lone hero who fought against the tide.]

[You decide to take action and wipe out this wave of undead—not only to harvest soul fire but also to help the weakened Sylvia.]

“Sylvia, go rest.”

“…No, Sorcerer, I can still fight.”

“Are you sure?”

“…Please believe in me, Sorcerer.”

Xu Xi had planned to handle the undead on his own.

But Sylvia refused.

She picked up her sword again, declaring that she would fight alongside him.

He couldn’t persuade her otherwise, so he agreed, letting Sylvia focus on the weaker skeletal soldiers.

It was an odd situation.

She had fought for so long—she should have been exhausted, too tired to continue.

But after Xu Xi arrived, her fighting spirit ignited once more.

“Then, I’ll take care of my side.”

Xu Xi looked into the distance.

Masses of undead roamed the forest. Their slow, plodding steps crushed all hope of survival.

The spectacle was immense, suffocating.

In the sky above them, the black sun loomed, amplifying the despair.

“If I were still a One-Ring Sorcerer, I’d have no choice but to retreat strategically with Sylvia.”

“But now… things are different.”

On the damp, decayed earth, Xu Xi calmly watched the approaching undead.

In his hand, a thick tome flipped open rapidly. The pages glowed with pre-prepared spells.

Two-Ring Spell: Resurrection of the Undead.

Two-Ring Spell: Corpse Explosion.

A miraculous sight unfolded.

The bones scattered across the ground—piled layer upon layer—began to shift, drawn together by an unseen force.

One skeleton rose.

Then another.

A third.

Until a hundred skeletal warriors charged toward the undead tide.

BOOM!

Of course, a mere hundred skeletons couldn’t possibly shake an army of tens of thousands.

But when each skeleton was rigged to explode…

The battle changed instantly.

“Corpse Explosion isn’t a powerful spell, but most of these undead are low-level. It works perfectly against them.”

Xu Xi nodded slightly, satisfied with the chaotic destruction before him.

As the corruption of the sorcerer world deepened, the undead would inevitably grow stronger.

By then, Corpse Explosion would become far less effective.

But by then…

Xu Xi would have even stronger spells.

[Your rigorous training paid off. With your intervention, the undead tide attacking Crowfield was quickly suppressed.]

[You gained much—not only the gratitude of many souls but also a vast amount of soul fire.]

[Sylvia was astonished by your strength.]

[The once-in-a-decade undead wave should have wiped Crowfield off the map, yet with your help, this land survived.]

[A few days later, you eliminated the last of the undead.]

[Sylvia thanked you.]

[She stood in the now-empty land, staring blankly for a long time.]

[After enduring the undead assault, the territory was left in ruins. The villagers who once lived here had lost their fragile sense of security.]

[They no longer believed that a hero could protect them all. They chose to flee—to seek shelter in fortified cities.]