Desolate World

There were a few extra pieces of information that made him worry after reading the letter. 

First, Jordan wrote that around 200 undead guardians would also go with the zombies. He just got the information after the first letter was sent. So he said sorry for the misinformation. 

Second, He wrote the information of the ghoul lord.

[Vesper] (lord)

Race: Ghoul (barbarian)

Level: 38

Third, there was a possibility that the higher-ups of Iron Gate Fortress, Goro would also send 10,000 low-level skeletons to escort the zombies, as he worried that a large troop of orcs, ogres, or beastmen from the North would ambush them. 

At the moment Jordan wrote the letter, Vesper was still debating with Goro about the matter. From their quarrel, the shadow knew that there were a few valuable goods that were transported. 

Goro —the skeleton lord— emphasized the safety of the journey, as some powerful groups of other races had entered the Prairie a few times. As Vesper was bringing a few valuable things, he didn't want to take a risk. He even said if not because of his role as the higher-up of the fortress, he would escort the zombies by himself.

However, Vesper was offended by Goro's statement. He was a lord, after all. So the two had quarreled for hours about this topic. 

At a point in their quarrel, Goro made a slip of tongue by saying that carrying five evolution stones was definitely not something that should be taken lightly. After that, the skeleton lord shut his mouth and said sorry. 

Vesper then made a ruckus because of Goro's slip of tongue. They then continued their quarrel. 

The content of the letter was quite long. But that was the summary. When he read it on the outpost, he tried hard to not show his frustration and then his excitement. 

He was frustrated because of the bad news in the letter. What was the concept of 200 guardians? If each of them had levels like the vampire that he had faced, then it would definitely be something that he couldn't face with the people he was bringing. He needed to request for reinforcement. That was for sure. With them came to help, he somehow could be sure to win the battle without casualties or a few ones if he was unlucky.

The level of Verper was somehow low, so he wasn't too intimidated by him. So he was sure, he with the people that he was bringing, could somehow manage to beat him.

Then, the possibility of the increase of the undead army gave him a headache. He almost gave up the operation because of that. However, he forced himself to open the second page of the letter. Then he widened his eyes. 

What is an evolution stone? He didn't know, but in his mind, he automatically knew that it was definitely something that was so precious. And Vesper had five of them in his inventory. Well, Jordan didn't say anything about the ghoul keeping them in his inventory. But wouldn't everyone be the same? After all, the inventory was the safest place to keep valuable things.

So he asked Sofia about the evolution stone. After some moments, She asked him whether he got it. He answered no. He then asked what it was. 

Sofia answered that the evolution stone had many names. The famous name of it was philosopher stone. It could be created by many methods, but each method either was very difficult to do, needed precious materials, or by doing a very cruel process.

In the human race's case, only a few professions could make it. They were the top alchemist, the powerful sage, or the cruel necromancer who studied the soul department.

If it was an alchemist who made it, he needed various precious materials and a certain secret method to make it. If it was sage who made it, he had to extract several essences of elements and then merge them to become a new balanced product. Something that was almost impossible to do.

The last method was very cruel. The necromancer had to harvest a million souls and then made them crystallize into a thing. The thing was called evolution stone or philosopher stone.

Sofia then explained that the functions of the evolution stone were many. It could increase a living creature's life expectancy to 200 to 500 years. It could be used to create an SS weapon, equipment, or other items. It could be used to make an elite creature into a lord creature. It could be used to launch a very powerful spell. Or someone could use it to summon a very strong summon. In conclusion, it was really precious.

Sofia then said, if the undead really had an evolution stone, it was a grave matter. So she asked from whom he had known it. He then answered the truth. 

After knowing that the undead not only had one, but five, she said that he must take them or at least destroy them. As it was very dangerous if the five evolution stones were held by the undead. Ace agreed with her about it.

So he asked her to tell Mars about it. He emphasized not to let anyone know about it. Sofia assured him that she knew how serious the situation was.

While waiting for Sofia's reply, Ace thought hard about how to increase their winning chance. He also thought about bringing the guardians to the battlefield. But, he gave up immediately. As even though they came, with their number that not even 200 and their low levels, they wouldn't help much. 

Then he looked at the vast prairie. He recalled Adrian's story. In that place, he and his family had also faced a large number of undead. Because of the low morals and the overwhelming number of the undead, they finally gave up to confront the undead and chose to enter the Misty Forest.

'Wait! A large number of the undead? Skeletons?' Ace thought. He then remembered that the vast prairie was a huge graveyard. Around hundreds of thousands or even millions of skeletons were waiting underground, ready to 'jump scare' any travelers that wanted to cross it. Because of that, Ace and the elders called it the Bones Prairie. Because no one knew where a group of skeletons was waiting underground.

It gave him an idea. He then shouted at everyone to stop. He then told them the new plan.

***

*Bam*

A cold current hit a group of skeletons, freezing them, and at the same time killing them. The group of level 3 to level 5 of around 50 skeletons were annihilated. 

"Good, by doing that, their bones were completed, so we don't have to collect the fragments of their bones. It would save our time," Uriel said.

"Geez… Director is always has a weird idea. And we are the ones that always suffer," Erica said as she killed five bats that wanted to escape with her droplet barrage skill. 

Uriel then smiled but didn't want to comment. After getting his punishment, he could somehow be calmer. In fact, he thanked Ace very much. At first, he hated him because his sister had complained that Mars heard Ace more than her. It made him angry. In his mind at that time, Ace was a bootlicker who was good at talking.

However, after knowing him personally for a few months, Uriel respected him very much. As he had done so much for the townsmen. He was the one who actively searched and saved the refugees. Even after being an elder and getting the director of Night Guards position, he still greeted the ordinary townsmen friendly.

Uriel then asked himself, if he hadn't been ordered by Ace to help the construction project of the town or hunted the strong monsters around the town, would he do it?

The answer was no. Because he was too exclusive, self-centered, immature, and had too much pride. He realized that after his sister made many contributions to the angels, other angels no longer dare to scold and guide him. So he still became a brat at his age. As for his sister was always busy with her work.

These months, by helping the common townsmen, he scraped his arrogance bit by bit, so he could see the right path. 

"Done. A total of 54 skeletons that we have gotten here. So our total harvest was 261. Finally, we had reached halfway toward our target," Eric said as he flew towards Erica and Uriel. 

Uriel nodded. He then said, "Let's give them to the director first. Like you know, that lich has an hour of cooling down for his resurrection skill could be used again." 

"Uh… I'm tired of this labor. What is the use of resurrecting the weaklings? They couldn't even face my two claws," Erica complained.

"If there are only ten or even fifty of them, then yeah it is meaningless. But, how about if they are 1,000, 2,000, or even 10,000? Then, they become a tremendous strength. Even we can't face them by ourselves," Eric explained.

"But we can always run away, right?" Erica said.

"Well, surely we can. But we need to kill their lord, right? We can't kill him by running away, right?" Uriel then asked.

Erica then seemed to be baffled. She then didn't say anything else anymore.

Before, Ace said that the zombies would be accompanied by around 200 undead guardians, and possibly 10,000 of low level skeletons. It shocked everyone. Although no one said it, from their expression, Uriel knew that they wanted to give up the operation. As he himself also thought that they hadn't been strong enough to challenge such a powerful army.

However, when Uriel heard Ace's plan to make as large an undead army as they could before the arrival of the enemies, he was shocked. He had never thought of such radical countermeasures.

***