Chapter 168 Tail Sneaking

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"So, could the device locate another leakage?" Alistar inquired.

"Hold on a moment." Edelweiss activated her radar once again. This time, several motes of light flew toward four different locations. One of them was heading towards the government building where the black figure was. After she finished, she wiped the sweat off her brow with her hands and reported the results.

"There are at least three other leakages," she said.

"Do we have enough stakes?" Ghander asked.

"We have enough," Alistar nodded.

"We will go tomorrow. Rest up and recover your strength."

Due to the limited space, even the lords couldn't claim all the rooms for themselves. Edelweiss and Lily shared a bedroom with a few female soldiers sleeping on the floor, while Alistar and Ghander took the sofas in the living room. As usual, Lily slept while hugging me. With her petite body, the small one-person bed was sufficient for both of them.

"Your tail feels so soft," Edelweiss muttered beside me.

"Yes! This is Shiro! He has been my friend ever since I was a slave. Without him, I would have never escaped my days of slavery."

"Do tailfolk name their tails? Why name your appendages? Isn't it just Lily's tail?"

"He is alive. And he can talk too. And not appendages. For tailfolk, their tails are the most important part of their body!"

" I see. So, it was like a swordmaster who named their favorite swords, huh?" Edelweiss whispered. "May I touch it?"

"Okay! Be careful since it's quite sensitive."

With Lily's affirmation, Edelweiss reached her hand forward, sinking it into the fur of my tail. She began gently rubbing my tail, her hand moving awkwardly up and down. It wasn't the most comfortable sensation, but I let her do it. We were about to face a deadly battle tomorrow, so it was good to bond like this. I couldn't help but notice the female soldiers who were sleeping, occasionally stealing curious glances at my tail. She seemed curious but held herself back. It happened all the time, even in Edenthal. Showing off another's tail was like showing off their beautiful hair. And when we allowed them to stroke it, others also wanted to do the same.

Tomorrow came soon enough. We set out immediately towards the northern part of Northlandgard. Since the leakage was still within the city, reaching it took us less than two hours. The leakage was located in a house, and nobody was inside except for a few skeletons. However, we discovered a magic circle written in blood where the leakage was located.

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"Here it is. Death was using this leakage to power the barrier around the city," Edelweiss explained.

"Let's get moving then. Ghander and I will secure the perimeter while you seal this breach with Lily."

"On it."

"Please hammer the stakes here. We also need to erase the circle," Edelweiss instructed.

As we performed the ritual with the stakes, we could see the leakage spewing motes of light faster than the other leakages. It seemed as though the leylines were being forcefully drained by some external power. Edelweiss directed Lily and the others as usual, and we successfully sealed this leakage.

"Was the circle drawing power from the leylines?" Lily asked.

"Yes, that's why the surrounding lands were barren. The leylines were being forcefully drained. Come on, let's move to the other breaches," Edelweiss said, packing up. Without delay, we moved on to another leakage.

We were making progress. The other two seals were also unguarded. Every time we sealed a hole, we could sense the barrier weakening, and the undead corruption's oppressive feeling was further alleviated. On that note, I just realized how vast Northlandgard was. By the time we sealed the last one, the sun had already set, and darkness blanketed the land.

"We've done our job. Tomorrow is the big day. We'll locate the leakage and lure Death away while you seal it," Alistar said. He spoke as if it were a solid plan, but we all knew it had its loopholes. For one, sealing the leakage would require about five to ten minutes of our undivided attention, during which we would be vulnerable.

"Can we do it?" Edelweiss asked softly.

"Ghander and I will handle it. Trust us," Alistar nodded. "Though, it would be best to sneak inside rather than attacking from the front door."

"Sir, there are more undead roaming here," a male soldier reported.

"Are they attacking us?"

"Not yet. They are loitering on the street. I wanted to inform you that their numbers have substantially increased since the last time. I propose we extinguish our lights and lower our voices to avoid detection."

"Agreed. Lower our voices and turn off all lights facing the windows. Make sure no lights escape from this building. Now that we have closed all but one leakage, the enemy will be searching for us more determinedly than before."

"Yes, sir."

We ate our dinner in silence before going to bed. However, fate had other plans for us. Zombies and skeletons started to invade the neighboring houses. We barricaded our doors, but it was futile. The undead began banging on our house, attracting even more to the cause. Vargmuths had joined the mix as well.

"We need to escape!"

"But where? All the exits are blocked, and these zombies are clearly searching every house."

"Damn it. Let's get out of the city!" Alistar finally made the call.

When a Vargmuth tore down the wall, Edelweiss fired an ice spear at its head, and we all rushed outside. Alistar had warned Lily not to use explosions, as the sound would attract more undead. So, it was the usual swordplay for us. More undead crowded the streets as we ran. Ghander was panting as he cut down another one, clearly overexerting himself. He didn't use his clones this time. Apparently, yesterday's battle had taken its toll on him.

"Why were you guys in such a hurry? Did you really think I would let you escape?" Death floated in front of us. His shapeless black figure seemed to radiate with glee as he found us.