The Undead of the Desert were not to be underestimated. There were countless of them, and none of them seemed weak or timid.
There were Skeleton Spearman wielding spears and carrying shields. Nehkarabia Warrior Skeletons with two sabers, great combat prowess and spatial awareness, Tomb Guard Skeletons wielding halberds, Crypt Ghouls that were as large as Elephants, Skeleton Archers and many more.
However, the ordinary defensive units of the Primedival Pyramid were only slightly annoying for most. They wouldn't be enough to wreak havoc in the rows of the four Lords' armies.
That was different for the Undead Cavalry, the Desert Warbeasts, the Monstrous Infantry, and the Monsters of the Primedival Pyramid.
The Undead Cavalry was put together with Nehkarabia Horsemen riding on Skeleton Horses, and the Nehkarabia Knights riding on Giant Ghoul Serpents that were as long as a crane. Their combat prowess was terrifying, especially when the unpredictable movements of the Giant Ghoul Serpents were taken into account.
But the Warbeasts made everything even worse. Undead Dire Wolves and Soul-devouring Death Vultures shot out of the sand. The Death Vultures covered the cloudless sky while the Undead Dire Wolves charged through the vicinity with terrifying speed and power.
All those units of the Sacred Desert's Undead were already enough to cause chaos even though the strongest of them were at the Peak of Tier-1. The Giant Ghoul Serpents, the Crypt Ghouls, and the Soul-devouring Death Vultures were on the verge of Tier-2, and their combat prowess could be compared to weaker Tier-2 Warrior Units.
However, the Monstrous Infantry and Undead Desert Monsters of the Primedival Pyramid's army were even more fearsome.
Danny discovered Anubirats and Kleshabits in the rows of the Monstrous Infantry – Superior Existences that had reached the Peak of the 2nd Tier. Anubirats were large guardian statues carved into the likeness of the Gods and Goddess that were loved and prayed to during the Second Epoch.
The guardian statues appeared around the black gate, standing guard and protecting the perimeters of the Primedival Pyramid. The Anubirats were imposing monuments reminiscent of the former glory of the Desert Gods in the Second Epoch, who were awakened in times of need using powerful incantations.
In ancient times the living warriors of the Sacred Desert took great strength from the fact that the Anubirats fought alongside them, believing that their Gods guided and protected them whether it was in life, or in death and as for the Anubirats' appearance, it resembled their image of Anubis.
Kleshabits were like the Anubirats, guardian statues the size of an elephant. However, they didn't fight alongside their warriors. They stood at the back with a huge six-meter-long great bow in their hands – their arrows representations of the fragility of life. Each arrow would find its target, impaling a poor soul, and pulling it into the Sacred Desert where all traces of its existence would be washed away.
Just seeing a handful of those Anubirats and Kleshabits emerging near the southern gate was enough for Danny to curse aloud. He immediately issued orders, manifested his armor and one-handed longsword before he dashed forward with great speed.
The Reinforced Sword Qi of his Soultrait shrouded his sword in silver light all while several compressed Sword Qi blades manifested around his body. He released the Sword Qi blades in hopes of killing the Anubirats and Kleshabits with a single blow. However, the Kleshabits released a deadly arrow to burst the Sword Qi coming their way, while the Anubirats slashed their sickle-like swords at the Sword Qi, shattering it with much more ease than Danny expected.
Danny clicked his tongue, issued a few mental commands to his subjects through a True Link of Loyalty, and moved closer to the Guardian Statues. He didn't want them to kill the Saharit Elephants as they continued to smash the southern gate.
He used more Reinforced Sword Qi around his sword and activated the enchantment of his boots. [Sand Dash] was the enchantment he activated. It allowed him to run across the desert as if he was running over an ordinary plain. His feet didn't sink deep into the sand. Instead, it felt like the sand beneath his feet was firm, pushing him from the ground to accelerate his steps further.
Circulating energy through his body, Danny emerged in front of the closest Anubirats. The Undead Guardian slashed at him with both sickle-like weapons. Its movements were rapid, equivalent to the movement speed of a Low-stage Tier-3 Adventurer. Fortunately, Danny had advanced to the 3rd Tier not too long ago.
He was even able to use some of his connections to get a Saint-rank Blacksmith to create an artificial 5-Star Tier-3 Weapon Artifact for himself. The Artifact and the Lord Seal combined together drained everything Danny had accumulated over the course of four years. He didn't have a single cent in his savings account, and he was even forced to be indebted to the blacksmith. His territory's income for the next three years would be used to pay the Saint-rank Blacksmith.
That was also why Danny wanted to give his all to raid the Primedival Pyramid. He hoped to find a few treasures to pay his debt before using the remaining gains to expand his territory. Once the other Lords were dead, he could focus on turning the isolated area of the Sacred Desert into his headquarters before slowly expanding his territory across the mountain range.
The Takla sword was his Epic Tier-3 Artifact that had been engraved with enchantments that worked perfectly in sync with his Reinforced Sword Qi. It was a customized Artifact that could be considered better than certain natural Epic Tier-3 Artifacts.
Thus, as he kept using his Reinforced Sword Qi on the Takla Sword, Danny was not too worried. He continued to move rapidly, blocking the Anubirat's attacks.
He unleashed a Sword Qi blade to the right when the Kleshabits released one of its huge deadly arrows at him, but they destroyed each other upon colliding.
Danny jumped high into the air, coating his sword in silver light before slashing down on the sickle weapons of the Anubirats. The sickles shattered, revealing a big gap for Danny to slash down and behead the Anubirats.
Once the Guardian of the Primedival Pyramid lost its head, the rest of the body crumbled as well. However, Danny didn't receive an energy influx upon killing the Anubirats. That distracted him for a moment and he kept watching the fallen enemy intently, thinking that the Anubirats would move again.
However, instead of moving, the Anubirats stayed on the ground. Instead, the Kleshabits' arrows shot toward Danny in mid-air. This forced Danny to release a few Sword Qi blades which generated enough force to twist and move his body in the air, barely evading the deadly arrows.
When Danny landed on the ground, he threw a glance in the direction of his army. His army consisted of more than 20,000 members of which more than half were at the 1st Tier. Only a thousand were at the 2nd Tier, but they were extremely powerful. Danny had nurtured them thoroughly to ensure their combat prowess would not suffer in adverse conditions and their survival instinct would keep them alert in fierce battles.
Danny had witnessed the death of too many precious subjects to not care about their training progress. He would rather have a smaller army than others if all of them were well-trained with high combat experience and thoroughly mastered combat techniques.
Unfortunately, that was easier said than done. He had only a few veteran combat instructors in his territory with the capability to unleash his subjects' full potential.
Only a minority of them were able to find enlightenment during training, and even less were able to get promoted, gaining a higher star rating. It was truly not easy, but Danny always gave his best to provide his subjects with the best treatment and resources. That way, he could ensure a firm link of loyalty, and that his subjects wouldn't die so easily.
Danny was just about to change his target to the other Anubirats that had begun to wreak havoc with his Gigantus Desert Scorpions when the ground around him began to tremble.
It was not only around him. The sand all around the Primedival Pyramid began to tremble, revealing dozens of skeleton-sized heads. Swords and axes the size of bus shuttles were pushed out of the sand, held by humongous skeleton hands clutching the heavy weapons tightly.
Danny's expression turned sour, but he began to move without hesitation.
His entire body was shrouded in Reinforced Sword Qi at once, turning his entire being into a sword itself. His every movement turned sharp and deadly. In an instant, he appeared behind one of the humongous skeleton heads.
His sword artifact had expanded in size due to the Reinforced Sword Qi's influence. It reached a length of six meters, which Danny used to release a tremendous amount of energy to slash the humongous skeleton head and crush it at once.
The humongous Skeletons emerging from the sand were not ordinary beings. They were Bone Giants, Lesser Mythical Existences at the 3rd Tier. Danny had read about the Desert Giants in the Second Epoch a long time ago, but he had never expected to see them appear in front of him just like that. They were now Undead, but their size and strength didn't change much in comparison to the ancient letters he found about the Sacred Desert. In fact, the Primedival Pyramid might have increased the power of the Desert Giants upon resurrecting them from the dead.
'If the initial trial forces us to fight dozens of Lesser Mythical Existences at the 3rd Tier…what the hell awaits us inside the Pyramid?' Danny couldn't help but ask himself after realizing that his burst of Reinforced Sword Qi was barely enough to kill one of the Bone Giants. The Bone Giant had been in a disadvantageous position, pushing its body out of the sand, and thereby creating an opening for Danny.
Despite that, Danny had used nearly a quarter of his energy to strengthen his Reinforced Sword Qi before he could crush the Bone Giant's head. After all, the bones of a Desert Giant were the firmest. They grew even firmer under the constant tempering of the Primedival Pyramid's energy and the tightly compressed sand all around it.
But even then, Danny was certain that he could deal with a few Bone Giants as long as he had the support of his army. He had a few Tier-3 Adventurers by his side and Summons that were also at the 3rd Tier, ready to go all out if necessary.
However, the Bone Giants weren't the only monstrosities that emerged from the ground later than the others.
Four nightmarish existences emerged near the black gates, one near each of them, spreading terror and fear in the hearts of all beings around them.
The Necrosphinxs had surfaced!
