The army of 20,000 plus undead were slowly marching towards the castle as news of Mammon's demise had yet to reach them. It was fairly easy to surmise that Mammon had something to do with this army as well because the timing of their movements were too perfect.
Tyler had regularly received reports from Flare and Kali of the undead king's movements at a Fixed schedule he had set for himself. So naturally, he was aware Zerahut was gathering corpses to fill his forces. Last he heard, there were only around 3,000 weak undead but in the span of a few days, that had suddenly grown to 20,000 so it was obvious someone else had helped him.
While their March was slow, they were still undead creatures that didn't require food or sleep and could move all day and without rest.
Because of that, a trip from the western parts of the forest that would normally take at least two to three weeks on foot would only take them a single week. However, even that short time frame would still allow Tyler some breathing room and a chance to get himself together as well as improve his forces as it turned out reinforcements were heading towards him.
From what he had been told, a freeman settlement called the 'Raven Settlement' has decided to come under his protection although with what had happened in the past day, he wasn't sure if that was a good idea but still, he decided to accept them as he required more manpower.
He was glad he had somehow managed to maintain his cool throughout the entire situation with Mammon and the Brimstone family's research lab as if it had been a situation he could not handle with brute force alone he would've lost everything.
Such a situation had really been a waking call for him as he could no longer just go with the flow and do the bare minimum to protect himself and his apparent followers. None of them seem to be doubting his capacity as they seem to be assuming he had everything under control and the Great Five were the ones that cowardly used a behemoth to surprise them.
They were constantly overestimating his capabilities but up till now, Tyler had never felt so much pressure to live up to their absurd expectations. Due to his poor judgment that got his own people killed, he now felt like he had no choice but to take this very seriously and not just focused on himself and the library.
This was why the people from the Raven settlement had now become important to him. However, their trip here would still take more than a week so he had no choice but to have Albert send Jarret who had fully recovered, along with Nadine and some others so they would use all their Magic carriages and head out to retrieve the settlement in order to accelerate their arrival here. Till then, he would have to handle the situation here.
However, with most of his fighters still suffering from severe injuries and curses, their priority was to help Erin recover as she was the only one that could save Rain and Liz as well as the rest of his subordinates.
For them to do that, they needed to find a lake overflowing with natural energy or essence and using a ritual, connect Erin to it with the aid of the bottle of water from her original source. The process itself would've been relatively simple if she was able to do it herself but as she was currently unable to move, they needed to force it using a ritual and that only serve to complicate things and the requirements became extremely high.
Which was why they needed to find the perfect location for her soul linking. However, the problem now was, there were no lakes anywhere close to the castle that met their extreme conditions.
While there were springs in the Darkin Mountain Range and swamps in the Northside of the Darknar forest, those were not only too far, but weren't rich in natural essence.
With that, they were left with only one option and that was the Red River. However, although Erin was a fresh or flowing water Nymph and a river should be fine, it didn't seem like it would be a stable source for her as they needed to perform a ritual they had never done before and her source may be swallowed up in a rapidly running water if they failed the first attempt.
The Red River was the largest River in the Darknar region and contained all sorts of water creatures dwelling in it. It had also become quite a filthy place over the past few centuries due to the lack of regulation of the aquatic creatures' growth within it.
It was water filled with blood, dirt, weed, bones, and rotting corpses of monsters for years on end but as such should be overflowing with pure natural energy. Moreover, the water itself could be purified with the scrolls in Albert's possession as that was a necessity for any freeman settlement.
They had considered building a dam across the river but that would take too long and may disrupt the natural energy around the waters. Ideally, it was best if they found a lake but since there was no one nearby, making one themselves seems to be the next best thing. However, they would need to make it in a location overflowing with dense mana and natural essence.
Places like the Darkin Mountain Range and the Darknar forest were prime but Tyler didn't think that was a good idea leaving her source in such dangerous locations especially since they don't have the manpower to protect it. He considered all his options and thought of the least worst Choice he could make as no one could come up with the perfect solution when he suddenly remembered something.
'A place overflowing with dense mana and is close to the castle. Somewhere we can build a lake to become Erin's new source.'
His eyes casually drifted downwards and he smiled faintly. Such a place did exist and yet he had failed to realize it sooner.
"Looks like I've found the perfect spot."
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The former two had been made to sit down by Tyler as they were actually planning to remain standing their the entire time. They all turned their heads to look at Tyler as their eyes seem to say, 'Naturally if anyone could figure this out it would be Lord Ty.'
Tyler forced himself to ignore those adoring gazes that placed enormous pressure on him and without waiting for anyone to ask, he immediately stood up and Rain who was still holding on to him stood up as well. Before anyone knew what he wanted, their field of view changed as they appeared to be located in a dark underground cavern.
The place was dark and a little gloomy as only grayish-brown rocks could be seen all around them. Still, they could all see quite well in the dark and some of them even had darkvision so their sight wasn't limited to the space around them as they observed the entirety of the cavern.
The walls around the cavern were similar to the ones on the ground but there were incredibly green moss and thick vines growing on them.
There was also a deep crater at the center of this cavern with a human-shaped hole at the middle but that was not the focus of everyone's attention as there was a massive concentration of mana and nature's essence flowing around it as though it had contained something beyond the understanding of this world.
This place was very familiar to Tyler, after all, this was the place he had first awakened on in this continent. The dried-up underground lake that was directly underneath the demon king's castle for some reason.
There was something about this place that he had failed to realize before until he had actually thought of it. This place was incredibly rich with mana and natural energy. The vines and mold that were growing on the walls even though they did not touch the ground were incredibly rich in nutrients as they were being nourished by the ambient mana in the air.
"Where are we?" Rain asked surprised. Tyler hadn't touched the others so it had surprised them a little when they had suddenly arrived here without warning.
"We're currently underneath the castle. This right here is a secret cavern that once's contained a certain lake but that's dried up now. This place will be Erin's new source."
"As expected of Lord Ty, this is the most optimum place to establish her source. Even if we just fill the lake with ordinary water, there would be a high chance of success." Zomatsu complimented as Albert couldn't help but sigh in relief.
However, this wasn't enough for Tyler as he didn't just want a high possibility for success. He wanted there to be no chance of failure.
"No, we'll be filling this lake with preserved and purified water from the Red River instead. We can also focus on the protection of this place at a later date so for now let's get started."
"As you wish. Please leave the procuring of the water to me." Z spoke as he took a knee. He had a few teleportation scrolls with him but had exhausted his mass teleportation scrolls. Still, Tyler was unsure of how he planned to transfer so much water as it was unknown if a storage box could contain the formless form of water without it being placed in a container.
However, Tyler couldn't just leave it to him as he wanted to preserve the nature's essence around the River as much as he possibly could so there would be very little chance for failure.
"Do you have a way to transport that much water?"
"Yes."
"Alright, here we go."
Before Z understood what he meant his field of view changed once more and they were currently in front of the Red River. This was the spot the group had crossed back when the Red ogre settlement was making their way to the castle.
"I'll freeze the space around the water so you can store it without losing any natural energy."
Upon hearing his words, Z's eyes flashed with understanding as he realized why Tyler had come with him. To think he had even thought this far ahead and had a way to perfectly execute his plan. Such a thing was truly only possible for this extreme individual. This was the first time he had seen someone at his level go so far for his subordinates and Z could not help but resolve himself to faithfully serve this master.
Tyler finished freezing the space around the river alone without affecting Z and after giving him a knowing nod, he teleported back to the underground cavern. Not bothering to watch how Z would store the water.
Upon his appearance back in the underground cavern, he then tasked Albert with preparing the ritual as he would need to manually draw the magic circle Erin had taught him around the lake before Tyler teleported back to the castle to bring Erin.
Albert was already a third of the way complete with his magic formation when Z finally returned with a teleportation scroll as he was now wearing his gauntlet instead of the white glove he had worn before his departure.
He then waited for Albert's magic circle to be complete before walking to the dried-up lake that already had signs of erosion, he stretched forth his hand, and water gushed out of his gauntlet as it slowly filled up the lake.
The rich and purified water visibly had an effect on this place as the signs of erosion slowly disappeared. In less than 10 minutes, a new lake was formed underneath the demon king's castle as Tyler arrived back with Erin in his arm.
The lake that would soon become her source would one day be known by all as Nymphime's Breath.
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