Facing the overwhelming army of the dead, Alan remained unperturbed. His body surged with magic, radiating a silver electric light, his eyes glowing like two blue-silver electric orbs. His hair stood on end due to the intense electric field, making him look like a Thunder God descended upon the world.
Alan was now exerting his full power; his current state was achieved by infusing Wild Thunder into his body, allowing him to reach a state similar to when he had previously endured the tempering of a thunderstorm. In this state, all his physical functions were comprehensively enhanced. His physique, activated by the Wild Lightning, greatly improved his body's agility, movement speed, and physical strength. Now, he could easily run faster than a world champion, and his strength was comparable to that of a giant bear.
Additionally, the boost to his mental and sensory power was significant, greatly enhancing his control over the Wild Lightning and his general magic. Tests showed that in this state, his spellcasting consumption decreased by about twenty percent, while his spell power increased by ten to twenty percent. If Wild Lightning was used, the amplification could even reach thirty percent.
Of course, he couldn't maintain this state for long. Although he had undergone a lightning baptism when forging Eclipse—meaning that infusing Wild Lightning into his body would not cause him physical harm—entering this berserker-like state dramatically accelerated his magic consumption. With his current magic reserves of less than a thousand units, he could probably only sustain it for five minutes. Therefore, Alan rarely revealed this ability unless absolutely necessary. It was precisely because the positive and negative effects of entering this state were so obvious that Alan called this move Overload!
After entering the Overload state, Alan pointed his longsword toward the sky, and a rapidly contracting and rotating thundercloud quickly condensed above him, forming his signature technique, Stormeye. At this moment, Stormeye was also empowered by Overload, with both the volume of the thundercloud and the frequency and intensity of its lightning strikes far exceeding their usual limits.
Those Netherworld Guardians, holding weapons and baring their fangs, had just rushed toward Alan when they were blasted away by the lightning bolts striking down from Stormeye, preventing the armored skeletons from getting close at all.
But being able to protect himself was far from enough. There were already dozens of undead troops summoned from the Sludge Fountain, and none of them were weak. It was impossible to approach or attack the portal through them. If Alan were to be bogged down by these undead, he would eventually be defeated due to the exhaustion of his magic, and this undead army would further endanger the surrounding Muggle communities. Even more troublesome was the prospect of Phoenix escaping in the chaos; they, who had always targeted the Silver Spears, would inevitably be exposed, which could disrupt all subsequent plans.
Therefore, Phoenix must be dealt with directly here, and to approach her, one must pass through this army of the dead. To pass through this army of the dead, one must be fast enough!
"Overload: Swift Sword!"
At this moment, Alan, looking like a ghost or god, held his longsword with both hands. Soon, the sword's surface flowed with plasma like mercury, making the blade appear as if it had been coated with a blue-silver lacquer. Immediately after, Alan rapidly swung the thunder sword in his hands, crossing and turning his wrists as if he were wielding a staff, creating rings of sword-wheels around himself with Eclipse.
At the same time, he did not hesitate to move his feet, charging straight toward the Sludge Fountain. The Netherworld Guardians who came to block his path were all sliced apart by the sword-wheels wielded by Alan using his Overload: Swift Sword. Even though these undead armies wore armor and clutched weapons, when struck by the longsword, which had been enchanted with highly active Wild Lightning, they became as fragile as butter cut by a hot knife, unable to withstand a single blow.
The Netherworld Guardians roared as they lunged at Alan, only to turn into a pile of mangled limbs and flesh, splattering around. In addition, Stormeye above his head continuously unleashed lightning bolts at the enemies. Under this dual attack, Alan advanced several meters in the blink of an eye.
Just then, Phoenix, submerged in the mud, seemed to notice Alan's actions, startled by his ferocity and efficiency. At this moment, the portal formed by the Sludge Fountain suddenly exerted greater force. The continuously churning mud in the fountain accelerated. Originally, only a few Netherworld Guardians would emerge per second, but now that number instantly multiplied, with about ten undead surging out in a single second.
Before, those Netherworld Guardians at least appeared to actively rush out from within the portal, but now it was as if they were being passively thrown out. Many of these ejected Netherworld Guardians didn't even appear standing; some flew out sideways, like a high-pressure water gun with its switch turned on, directly spraying the undead outward.
And the target of this high-pressure water gun was naturally Alan, who was constantly approaching Phoenix. The sudden surge in the number of undead indeed put considerable pressure on him. Originally, Alan had already charged to within a few meters of the opponent, but the numerous Netherworld Guardians formed an impenetrable human wall in front of him, pushing him back relentlessly. Although Alan killed quickly, he couldn't keep up with the speed at which these undead appeared, causing him to be pushed back several meters by the newly appearing monsters.
*It seems Phoenix is desperate. Attacking the undead at this density is no different from cutting a wall that automatically repairs itself. Continuing like this would just be a waste of time. It seems I need to change my strategy. Should I use Fiendfyre?* Alan pondered silently as he surveyed the sudden development. *No, Fiendfyre is too difficult to control. This is the city, after all, and if Fiendfyre were to spread, the casualties would undoubtedly be significant. Besides, the black mud on these Netherworld Guardians seems to have high resistance to fire and high temperatures. Even Wild Lightning struggles to scorch them, mostly exerting tearing and destructive effects. Does this mean Phoenix specifically fire-proofed these undead?*
*That's very possible!* Alan nodded inwardly. *Phoenix has probably been wary of the other leaders for a long time, and Thunderbirds are best at Fiendfyre, which is most effective against those who excel at controlling the undead like her. I don't believe Phoenix wouldn't find a countermeasure for this. I'm afraid these Netherworld Guardians can even endure Fiendfyre for a while.*
However, just as Alan was contemplating a countermeasure, several landing sounds suddenly came from behind him. Without a doubt, it was Andre and the Schmidt brothers arriving as reinforcements.
In truth, although Alan had exchanged blows with Phoenix for several rounds, both sides had acted extremely decisively and swiftly. The time consumed during this period was only about a minute, and while Andre and the others only arrived at this moment, they were actually quite fast.
The three who had just landed were clearly startled by the sight in the basement. What the hell was going on? How were there so many undead in this small, confined space? It was like a living hell. And was the person covered in electricity Alan? How did he suddenly turn into something so terrifying after not being seen for a minute?
Among the three, the Schmidt brothers were the most surprised. To be honest, these two had never experienced such a brutal battle scene. Looking at the scattered undead corpses around their feet, the air was filled with a putrid stench. And from Alan, who was rapidly swinging his longsword in attack, fragments of undead bodies frequently splattered, leaving almost no normal place to step on the ground. This bloody scene made the Schmidt brothers' stomachs churn.
In contrast, Andre, who was beside them, was quite composed. As an Auror, he had been fighting in the wizarding world for decades; what kind of situation hadn't he seen? It was just a bunch of undead, wasn't it? So, as soon as Andre landed, he only paused for a moment before immediately casting several fire spells, attempting to help Alan out of trouble.
But Alan's previous speculation was clearly correct. Andre's powerful fire spell had extremely poor effects on these Netherworld Guardians, who should have feared fire. When struck, as the flames mixed with the black mud on their bodies, apart from a sizzling sound, they simply couldn't be ignited.
"These undead are special monsters summoned by Phoenix. They have extremely high resistance to fire and high temperatures. Other methods must be found to clear them. Phoenix herself is blocked by these undead. I have a way to close the portal, but I must get close to her!" Alan, still vigorously mowing down enemies, noticed Andre's attempt and quickly warned him.
Watching Alan single-handedly block this undead human wall with his fierce swordsmanship and lightning magic, and even constantly trying to push forward, Andre nodded thoughtfully. *Undead that are not afraid of fire... I wonder how high their resistance is to cutting attacks.*
After thinking, Andre raised his hand and shot out two wind blades, one large and one small, formed by compressed air. Although the Netherworld Guardians' main attack focus was on Alan at this moment, they instinctively raised their weapons to defend against the incoming attacks. Immediately after, the smaller wind blade cut off the weapon in the undead's hand, but its subsequent power was no longer enough to harm the opponent. The other, larger wind blade, however, was able to steadily cleave into the undead's body, almost cutting the opponent in half.
"This level of defensive strength? Understood!" Andre nodded solemnly, then shouted to Alan, "Give me ten seconds, and I will clear a path for you!"
"No problem!" Alan had great faith in his teammate's strength. If Andre said he could clear a path for him, it meant he truly had a way.
Andre wasted no time. He deftly reached into his embrace, then was seen pulling out a blade from his spatial pouch! These blades were not small, each nearly twenty centimeters long, with an overall slender S-shape, like two curved sword blades combined.