< Corpse Explosion [EX] >

Detonate a corpse, or corpses, dealing AOE damage to everyone within a forty-meter radius.

Deals 2,000 Necrotic Damage to enemies within range per corpse.

You will have the option to detonate any corpses within a thirty-meter radius of the first body that you detonate, forming a chain effect of explosions, dealing greater damage.

If you detonate a corpse within a 20 second interval of each other, the damage will increase by 50% per corpse. This effect stacks, and the maximum damage that could be dealt by the corpse explosion skill is 2,000%. Damage dealt can't go any higher than this for single corpse explosions.

If you detonate 10 corpses at the same time, damage will increase by 500%

If you detonate 20 corpses at the same time, damage will increase by 1,000%

If you detonate 50 corpses at the same time, damage will increase by 2,000%

If you detonate 100 corpses at the same time, damage will increase by 3,000%

If you detonate 200 corpses at the same time, damage will increase by 4,000%

If you detonate 500 corpses at the same time, damage will increase by 5,000%

The maximum damage dealt by Chain Corpse Explosion [EX] can't go higher than 5,000% stacked damage increase.

Note: If you use this skill in the battlefield, the chances of wiping out entire armies is high. The only problem is that this ability doesn't recognize friend from foe. Make sure that your allies have retreated a good distance away to prevent them from getting wiped out by this skill as well!

-----

This was the skill Lux and Asmodeus unleashed at the same time, creating a devastation that even they didn't expect.

Lux knew that using Animate Undead to revive the dead soldiers of the Yelan Empire would be futile.

The Ammarian Army had sent around four hundred thousand of their soldiers to scale up the abandoned Yelan Encampment, leaving only two hundred thousand of their men to guard their main camp.

Over a hundred thousand Yelan Soldiers had died in the Poisonous Smoke Warfare that Malcolm had used.

But this was a tragedy that no one could have predicted beforehand, forcing Watson to order a hasty retreat, leaving their encampment behind along with their supplies.

Before leaving earlier, Asmodeus told Half-Elf to send his skeleton fighters to descend down the mountain while the smoke was still active. Although Lux didn't know what the Archlich was planning at that time, he still decided to do what his Named Creature asked of him.

Now that the enemies were making their escape, the Archlich finally told the Half-Elf about his plan, which made Lux feel as if a pale of cold water was spilled on top of his head.

It was such a nefarious plan, no less than what Malcolm had done. Just like Asmodeus had mentioned earlier, Humans had a way to fight against Humans, and Necromancers had their own way of fighting against the living.

The entire mountain shook as if it was being bombarded by cannonballs from a distance. Clouds of red mist, carrying the scent of blood, erupted over the entire mountain, drenching it in crimson color.

Lux had detonated the corpses at the rear of the army, while Asmodeus detonated the ones in the front. These simultaneous explosions created a chain reaction that sandwiched the Ammarian Army, leaving them nowhere to escape.

The Chain Corpse Explosions was truly horrifying, making Lux understand that this wasn't something that can be used lightly. If he used this ability when two warring kingdoms were duking it out with each other in close combat, the consequences would be an all out genocide of friend and foe alike.

"Diablo, Ishtar, Pazuzu, Orion, Charge!" Lux ordered and his named creatures began to scale up the base of the mountain.

Diablo's entire body glowed crimson red, due to the overpowering boost that he was getting from Bloody Fervor.

This skill was one meant for war, and whoever had it would gain an incredible advantage on the battlefield the longer it was. Now that the number of the dead had climbed up to more than two hundred thousand, the Death Knight's damage had reached a staggering one million.

Although this was not enough to one-shot Pseudo-Deimos Ranked Monsters, anything below that Rank would be easily annihilated!

"You guys join as well!" Lux summoned all of his skeleton minions, including his golems, in order to scale up the mountain. "Find the enemy's general! Once you see him, notify me at once!"

Asmodeus chuckled as he, too, summoned his Undying Army.

"This has gotten quite exciting, hasn't it, Master?" Asmodeus commented as he continued to use Corpse Explosion to trap the Ammarian Soldiers, who had nowhere to go.

"Indeed!" Lux agreed. "We just need to find the enemy's general and end this once and for all!"

While Lux and Asmodeus were busy detonating corpse after corpse and sending their minions to look for General Moriarty, Malcolm and his comrades were trying to look for a safe place to hide.

Explosions surrounded them, and the screams of the dying reverberated in the surroundings.

Moriarty, who was being protected by his Elite Soldiers, was also looking for an escape route, but Lux and Asmodeus' strategy to encircle them with detonating corpses, ensured that there was no place for them to run into.

"General, we need to get out of here and fast!" Malcolm, who was nearing the end of his rope, yelled as he approached the Ammarian General, hoping the latter could think of a solution to their problems.

"Thank you for stating the obvious, Malcolm," Moriarty replied. "But that is easier said than done, however, we are not out of options just yet. All mages, aim your spells at the ground in front of us and create a big, and deep enough hole for us to hide in."

Malcolm and his comrades, who hadn't even thought about that solution, immediately sprang into action and bombarded the ground in front of them, creating an ever expanding hole, which was their last resort.

---

Entrance of the Domain of the Fallen

"Malcolm is still too green," one of the high-ranking officials of the Skystead Alliance commented as they watched the war that was happening in real time.

"Indeed." a commander nodded his head in agreement. "Still, if it weren't for that Lich or Necromancer, this battle should have been won already. Him using smoke tactics was brilliant."

"Well, I can't refute that. Perhaps this war would allow him to grow to new heights. Are we perhaps witnessing the birth of yet another great general?"

"The youngins really carry the hope of our nation."

The members of the Xynnar War Pact and representatives of the Six Kingdoms from Solais all had solemn expressions on their faces as they snuck glances at the projection on the wall by their rivals.

They were also surprised when Malcolm had used such a strategy to thin out the forces of the Yelan Kingdom, which made them feel that he was a threat that must be disposed of while he was still young.

Unfortunately, they wouldn't be able to do that anytime soon because, if any of the representatives of the Skystead Alliance died after during this joint exercise, an all-out-war would start, which was something that their side wasn't too keen to see happen.

Among the representatives of the Six Kingdoms was a High-Ranker that belonged to the Rowan Tribe.

He was none other than Xander's father, Hector, and he had come to ensure that his son would return home safely.

While he observed the Corpse Explosions that caused the entire mountain shake, the image of the Half-Elf with red hair suddenly appeared inside his mind.

He knew that it was impossible for Lux to be there, but for some reason, he couldn't remove this idea from his mind.

'I'm just overthinking things,' Hector thought. 'That boy, Lux, couldn't possibly be in the same Instance Dungeon as Malcolm, right?'

The reason why no one thought of this possibility was because Instance Dungeons, as the name suggested, were created on a different plane. Meaning, even if people were to enter the same Dungeon, they would not see each other because they would be brought to different "replicas" of the dungeon.

However, the Sacred Dungeon was different. It followed its own rules, and right now, it had made it possible for Lux's party and Malcolm's party to face each other in a war that was getting more intense with each passing minute.