Chapter 1812: Chapter 1812

Although Ms. Hoffman lacked Jenkins’s ability to see through the frigid mist, she immediately understood what he meant.

“Yes, that’s what the records say. They’re not supposed to reappear for at least an hour... Could the coming of the apocalypse have changed them?”

The red dragon circling overhead and the other members of the Church descended, leveling themselves with Jenkins and Ms. Hoffman.

A new legion of Wraith Riders, mounted on armored skeletal steeds, had emerged from the cold mist.

But the one at their head was no longer the captain they had seen before, but a much taller, more imposing figure. His armor gleamed with the luster of polished black metal, its surface etched with intricate runes. Towering, spike-like ornaments jutted from his shoulders.

The faceplate of his helm was shaped like a skull, with curved, wing-like adornments extending from the cheeks. These swept-back, winged ornaments were not confined to his helmet; they appeared all over his armor, each one bearing runes that faintly shimmered in the night sky.

Though he carried only a longsword as a weapon, lacking any crossbows or daggers, this wraith—whom Jenkins mentally dubbed the ‘Commander’—looked far more terrifying than the two captains they had so easily dispatched before.

As the entire wraith regiment charged from the mist, two more commanders, nearly identical to the first, appeared just behind him. Following them were dozens of captain-level wraiths, and behind them, an innumerable host of common Wraith Riders. At a rough glance, their numbers seemed to have reached the maximum limit for a Cursed Item event.

“What is this? How can there be even stronger wraiths?”

The three new, more powerful Wraith Commanders carried only longswords, not even the staves wielded by the captains. Jenkins found this odd at first, but his confusion vanished when he saw the three commanders raise their right hands in near-perfect unison. Their black-gauntleted fists clenched around empty air, then slowly drew back as if to throw something.

The cry didn't come from Jenkins. Three lances of ice, coalescing from white frost and black smoke in the commanders' empty fists, were aimed directly at him.

There was no mistaking their target. The red dragon was still far behind; even if it were a stray shot, it wouldn't have singled out Jenkins at the forefront of their group.

Chains of black runes swirled within the solidified ice. With a sonic boom, the three lances appeared before Jenkins in an instant. Crystalline frost exploded outward, and the cold mist had, without anyone noticing, completely enveloped the space between the wraiths and the humans.

Faced with the dangerous projectiles, Jenkins didn't have to move. The unicorn tapped its hooves on the air, reared violently, and met the three closing lances with its horn, which shone with a hallowed light in the darkness.

The impact sent a shower of ice crystals into the air, some even landing in Jenkins’s hair. Two of the lances shattered against the horn, but the third was merely deflected. It continued its course, flying toward Jenkins’s left eye, until he shot out a hand and caught it.

Black smoke billowed from the lance’s shaft. With one hand, Jenkins spun it around, aiming its tip forward.

“Ice Solidification!”

The presence of the mist enhanced Jenkins’s control over the power of extreme cold. A fresh layer of ice coated the surface of the lance, and within it, he embedded a single seed.

He hurled the lance through the air, and the charging Wraith Commander caught it. In that instant, verdant vines burst from the ice, snaking up its arm and into the gaps of its armor like grasping tentacles. The growth dragged the commander from its mount, sending it plummeting toward the fields below.

But the charging wraiths made no move to rescue their comrade, sweeping toward the group in the air like an unstoppable tide.

A roar echoed from behind Jenkins. The dragon’s fiery breath descended from above, and the intense heat made even Jenkins, positioned beneath the flames, feel a wave of discomfort.

After the dragonfire subsided, the members of the Church surged past Jenkins, charging at the wraiths. But the riders emerged from the dissipating flames completely unscathed, their relentless advance toward Jenkins unbroken.

When the two charging lines met, there was no clash of steel. The wraiths passed through the Church members’ bodies like phantoms, which likely explained why they had been immune to the dragonfire.

“They’re not real?” Thıs content belongs to novel※fire.net

Jenkins thought in astonishment, but the ice lance he’d just caught had been undeniably solid.

He had no time to ponder it. The lead Wraith Commander was upon him, positioned slightly higher, its right hand already lifting the longsword from its hip.

Jenkins raised his own White Bone Holy Sword to meet the attack, and the two blades met with a resounding clang. To his surprise, his strike didn't shatter the enemy’s sword. He merely saw a small chip fly from the wraith’s blade.

“So now it’s not an illusion?”

Their high-speed charge carried them past each other after the blow. With no time to think, Jenkins swung his sword to meet the next oncoming commander. This time, the tremendous force of the impact sent a jolt of pain through his wrist.

The tide of wraiths quickly submerged Jenkins and his unicorn, yet for everyone else from the Church, including the red dragon, the enemy remained like intangible phantoms.

When the first charge finally passed, snowflakes drifted lazily through the air. Looking somewhat battered, Jenkins guided his unicorn to a higher altitude.

This time, it wasn't just the increased number of common Wraith Riders or the appearance of three more powerful commanders; the strength of each individual wraith had also multiplied.

He had dispatched the fifth wave so easily because his White Bone Holy Sword could inflict devastating damage on their armor. But this time, not only had their individual strength increased, but even their seemingly standard-issue weapons and armor had grown tougher and more resilient.

“It seems I’m the only one who can make contact with them. I don’t know why, but I’ll draw them away from the city. The rest of you, find out what’s happening as fast as you can.”

Jenkins turned his unicorn to face the wraith cavalry as they wheeled about in the sky, a vast and formidable host preparing for a second charge. As he shouted his plan to the Church members behind him, he watched the commander who had been felled by the vines rise back into the air, rejoining the oncoming ranks. Jenkins knew then that this would not be an easy fight.