Proofread by Peter Gong

“Thank you…” Rowen quietens his tone a little.

“In fact, today we invite Mr. Wolf here for another thing.” Miss Molly suddenly changes the subject.

“For what?” Rowen asks.

“Here is an urgent task which is extremely difficult for average people. But it is possible for Mr. Wolf to fulfill it and the bounty is high. So I wonder whether you will accept it.” Says Miss Molly.

“Miss Molly, could you tell me what it is?” Rowen asks hurriedly. After a pause he adds,“and how much is the reward?”

“The task is to save a person from the Valley of the Undead.” Miss Molly says slowly, “As for the reward, if the targeted person can be saved alive, the employer would like to pay a reward of 100,000 gold pieces; if the saved person is dead and the body can be brought back, you can also get 10,000 gold pieces.”

“The bounty is so high!” Rowen is quite taken aback.

“For a father, he won’t mind even going bankrupt if only his daughter can be saved. Moreover, even though the amount of 100,000 gold pieces is large, it is a small amount for this father.” Miss Molly seems to take it for granted. “And if the target has died, her father won’t want her to be an undead creature. Therefore, he will be grateful even if you just bring back her body.”

Miss Molly pauses and then continues. “I know the feat Mr. Wolf has accomplished in Wagga City. Therefore, I believe you should be able to fulfill this task. Of course, accept it or not is up to you.”

“I accept it!” With little hesitation, Rowen makes his decision. He needs money now, especially when he seems to know the whereabouts of his parents. He is more in need of this bounty.

“All right. Although Mr. Wolf should know the Valley of the Undead, I will give you a map. Besides, Mr. Wolf also has known the targeted person.” Miss Molly chuckles. “Her name is Diana. The captain of the Knight’s Bodyguard in the Royal Knight College. People call her the Enchanted Princess.”

“She?” Rowen is surprised. “Miss Molly, but I have seen her this morning!”

“She came to the Valley of the Undead this morning to rescue a student trapped in the valley. Unfortunately, now she gets trapped there, too. Along with her there should be also many members of the Knight’s Bodyguard, but you just need to save Diana.” Says Miss Molly evenly, “If possible, Mr. Wolf had better go there early. It would be best if you can find Diana before dark.”

A white delicate hand suddenly reaches out of the window, on which there is a golden-brown card. “Here is the certificate of your assignment, please keep it.”

Rowen takes it, glances at it, and puts it in his pocket casually. “Miss Molly, I’m leaving for the valley.”

…

The Valley of the Undead is one of the most dangerous areas in the Empire, where there are no other creatures but numerous ghosts. It is a territory of the undead. Any living thing that enters it and fails to escape from the valley will ultimately be transformed into one of those undead creatures in the valley.

The smooth steep cliffs skirt the long narrow valley on both sides. This is the terrain of the Valley of the Undead. Its breadth is just about 200 meters, but it has a total length of more than 1.5 kilometers and only one entry.

Even throughout the Cang Yun Continent, a weird terrain such as the Valley of the Undead is extremely rare. It is said that a long time ago it was a plain. About 800 years ago, there was an earthquake and the valley emerged from underground. But it was about 300 years ago that this valley became a valley of the undead.

In the year of 33, when Alan Fox, the first emperor of the Empire passed away, which caused a panic in the Imperial City, the notorious undead enchanter Wimbledon seized the chance, led hundreds of thousands of undead soldiers to attack the Imperial City and nearly occupied it. At that crucial moment, the quarrelsome Warrior Union, Enchanter Union and Summoner Union joined forces to beat back Wimbledon and resolved the crisis.

Undead enchanters were not accepted by the three Unions. Therefore, after repulsing Wimbledon, the Unions ensued a pursuit, aiming to wipe out Wimbledon and his undead troop. Wimbledon backed all the way and eventually arrived at the impregnable Valley of the Undead, in which three Unions launched several attacks in vain while Wimbledon also found it impossible to escape. There was a standoff for some time.

Afterwards, Ariston, a level-X lighting enchanter at that time decided to set a powerful light barrier at the entry of the Valley of the Undead so as to trap Wimbledon and his troop in the valley. Even though the barrier can’t exterminate the undead, it prevents them from leaving the valley.

Up to now, the barrier still exists. Although the undead creatures in the valley can’t leave, their number seems to keep increasing instead of decreasing. As for Wimbledon, the undead enchanter, some people claim that he has died while others say he has transformed himself into an undead and survives in another way. Now he is the master of the Valley of the Undead.

The light barrier prevents the undead from leaving. However, it is ineffective for average people. Therefore, except for the undead and undead enchanters, anyone else may pass through the Valley of the Undead without hindrance. When the barrier was just set, there were many people straying into the valley. All of them failed to leave there and soon became undead creatures. As a result, the Empire once proclaimed that the Valley of the Undead was off-limit to anyone.

But about 100 years ago, people found that the undead in the valley were also distributed with regularity. While the time when each of them becomes an undead varies from one another, their abilities vary. They can be divided into three levels: the junior undead stay in the entry of the valley, while the intermediate stay in the middle area and the senior undead stay in the innermost region. It seems that there is a hierarchical undead empire.

This phenomenon is confirmed gradually. So, the Valley of the Undead appears to be not so dangerous, since many people can deal with those junior undead at the entry, who do not have high ability. As it isn’t that far from the Royal Knight College, no more than 10 kilometers away, more and more students in the Royal Knight College take it as a training field for actual combat. The Empire hasn’t lifted the ban, but it also permits students in the Royal Knight College to test themselves.

Occasionally there will be some students stuck in the valley, but in most of the cases students who come here for trial can return safe and sound and get a good workout. Therefore, even though the valley is one of the most dangerous places, it is also the best testing ground for the Royal Knight College.

It is getting dark when Rowen reaches the periphery of the valley. But it won’t be a problem for Rowen. For the iron armored beast, there is no significant difference between night and day.

He pushes the button on the bracelet and starts the man-machine integrated fight mode. Quickly activating the lightsaber, Rowen steps into the Valley of the Undead.

Although Rowen has mentally prepared himself, a chill comes over him when he sees swarms of skeletons surging towards him. He knows there are lots of undead creatures, but he has underestimated their number.

With a casual slash of the lightsaber, Rowen strikes down many undead creatures around him. But for the countless undead soldiers, such casualty rate makes no difference. This understanding prompts Rowen to decide immediately not to waste time on killing them. Instead, he’d better take the advantage of the speed and unparalleled defense capability of the iron armored beast to break in. Once Diana is found and taken out, the task is finished.

Rowen looks ahead. With the help of the man-machine integrated mode he can see things in the far distance, however, the Valley of the Undead zigzags rather than go straight. Here he can only see the place of no more than hundreds of meters. Beyond that, his eyesight is blocked.

Tinkles…

The undead’s bone axes strike at the iron armored beast and clatter. As expected, they can’t do harm to the iron armored beast. Thus, Rowen ignores the undead and charges straightforward, searching for Diana.

Rowen charges about five to six kilometers. Perhaps he reaches the middle area. Now Rowen can hear the roars coming not afar and see the burning enchanting flames. He follows the sound and eventually finds Diana, the coquettish Enchanted Princess. She is still alive.

Diana is standing back against a cliff, protected by more than ten boys before her. It seems that all the boys are warriors. They are fighting endlessly against undead creatures with their swords, while Diana releases her magic power ceaselessly. Besides the lighting magic, the undead fear the fire magic the most. As a result, her attacks seem to be more effective than what all the boys do together.

Obviously, these boys spare no effort to protect Diana, not just because of her beauty, but also because her magic is the strongest means to deal with the undead. They must count on Diana if they want to survive.

However, there are so many undead creatures that no matter how hard Diana tries, they can’t be completely wiped out. So far, these students have stood next to the cliff, slowly moved towards the outer area while fighting against the undead. But at this speed, it is unlikely for them to reach the entry by daybreak. At that moment, perhaps Diana will have run out of her magic power, while these boys also die of exhaustion.

“Rowen?” Quinn cries out in surprise when an iron giant suddenly comes into his sight. At this point, seeing anyone will be a pleasant surprise. The long battle has made them tired and exhausted. It is only through an effort of will that they can continue to survive. From their perspectives, whoever appears will be the savior.

“Rowen?” Diana also freezes, “Why is he here?”

Diana is still in a daze, but Rowen has come to her. With a wave of his hand, the undead around him are cut down.

“Diana, I come here to save you.” Rowen says indifferently. “Please cooperate with me. Now I will take you out.”

“All right. You lead the way, we dash out together!” Agrees Diana readily.

“This doesn’t work.” Rowen simply says. “I will take you out in another way.”

As he speaks, the iron armored beast starts to transform. Rowen switches to the in-cabin operating mode. In this way, he believes that Diana will be absolutely safe once she enters the cabin, and he can fulfill the task successfully, too.