Chapter 7: Who Are You Trying to Scare?
Holding Flora’s hand, Abyss helped her dismount. With a snap of his fingers, he brought Flora out of the Shadow Realm and walked resolutely towards the large house standing in the wilderness.
It seemed to be a long-abandoned manor. The surrounding walls were nothing more than crumbling ruins, and the fields were overgrown with weeds and shrubs. The house itself was dilapidated, with a partially collapsed roof. In the darkness, the broken windowpanes reflected the pale moonlight, perfectly fitting the description of a haunted house in a knight’s tale. Most people would feel a chill down their spines upon seeing such a house at night, but the two approaching figures felt nothing. Abyss had encountered more dead people than living ones, and Flora herself was undead. This gloomy environment made them feel quite comfortable.
Abyss pushed open the door of the haunted house, revealing the scene within: grass sprouted from beneath the floorboards, dust covered everything, and numerous footprints led inwards, with few leading outwards.
“This must be the place,” Abyss nodded and continued walking inside. “The request notice was very detailed. It seems Mr. Leiner, who wrote the request, is a very efficient person.”
Flora followed behind Abyss and closed the door behind them.
Abyss glanced back at Flora and smiled faintly.
They entered a spacious hall. Judging from the abandoned candelabras and chandeliers, the house had once seen glory. Among these dilapidated objects, one thing stood out—a copper jewelry stand placed on the fireplace mantle, holding a beautiful purple diamond-shaped pendant. The stand was clearly new, recently placed there. The purple pendant reflected the moonlight streaming through the broken windows, emitting a mesmerizing glow.
Flora, having grown up as a Saint candidate in the Church, had seen countless treasures and wasn’t particularly impressed by the beautiful pendant. She glanced at Abyss, who also seemed indifferent.
“This seems to be the crux of the matter,” Abyss said, pointing at the pendant. “It’s not very attractive to us, but for those mercenaries who often risk their lives for rewards, it should be quite tempting.”
“Is there a trap?” Flora frowned and looked around. The footprints left by the mercenaries on the floor were messy. She wasn’t a tracking expert and couldn’t discern any clues.
Abyss didn’t answer but walked quickly towards the pendant and reached for it.
The moment his fingers touched the pendant, it flickered, and a purple light flashed before their eyes.
Flora felt nothing except the momentary flash of light. She looked at Abyss quizzically.
Abyss shook his head and took the pendant off the stand, putting it in his pocket. “I see. I thought it was some ingenious trap, but it’s just a magic pendant with a brief disorienting effect. It’s useless against us. The one hiding upstairs, come out. Your breathing is as loud as a giant’s stomach. We both knew you were here.”
After a brief silence, slow footsteps echoed, and a withered, short old man in a black mage robe appeared on the second-floor landing. He looked coldly at the two figures in the hall, two blue flames burning quietly in his eyes.
“You’re different from the other mercenaries. You’re not affected by my ‘Eye of Fear’,” the old man said in a raspy voice, but with boundless confidence. “But since you’ve come this far, don’t expect to go back.”
“Mr. Leiner, what’s your purpose?” Abyss looked up at the old man. “A necromancer wouldn’t kill for fun, would he?”
Leiner was momentarily stunned but quickly regained his composure. “Oh? He told you everything? Hmph, that simple-minded fool is indeed unreliable.”
Abyss remained silent, staring intently at Leiner as if waiting for something. Leiner didn’t bother talking further. He extended his withered, branch-like hand and clapped twice.
“Ugh…” Low groans echoed from all directions, and shuffling footsteps filled the house.
Along with these sounds, numerous zombies emerged. They shambled towards Abyss and Flora from various rooms, their slightly decayed faces filled with a vacant expression. Some zombies wore the characteristic mismatched armor of mercenaries, wielding various weapons, while others wore mage robes and held staffs. Flora clasped her hands to maintain her composure and counted the number of zombies—thirty-three in total. More than ten zombies still had relatively fresh skin. They must have been the mercenaries who had disappeared in the past few days.
“Sorry, you can’t escape now. Please return the ‘Eye of Fear’ you took earlier,” Leiner said with a sinister chuckle. “These are all mercenaries, and none of them are pushovers. My necromancy allows them to retain one hundred percent of their combat power. My foolish ‘apprentice’ helped me weed out the weak ones beforehand. You have no idea how comical it was to see those arrogant mercenaries scared witless by my Eye of Fear.”
A small figure appeared beside Leiner—a female elf in a bloodstained white robe, clutching a vine staff. She looked very young, perhaps thirteen or fourteen in human years. Her pretty face wore the same vacant expression as the other zombies.
“Finally, let me introduce you to my latest trophy from two days ago. She’s my favorite type,” Leiner’s laughter became increasingly lewd. “This girl only knows healing magic. She ran away with her boyfriend to become a mercenary. This was her first request. You can guess how heartbroken she was when she clung to her crumbling boyfriend and cried in fear. I deliberately didn’t turn her into a zombie immediately. Instead, I tied her up and woke her up, slowly applying the preservation process while she was conscious. Her screams were simply delightful.”
Flora’s brows furrowed tightly. As a Saint, she had rarely encountered such worldly matters, and the necromancer’s words filled her with disgust.
Abyss, however, remained expressionless, listening quietly to the withered old man on the second floor.
“I won’t kill you two immediately. Grey-haired boy, your attitude displeases me. I’ll extract your soul and teach you a lesson with a soul brand—and that little girl over there, I don’t like your body. Your chest is too big, but your voice is quite nice. I imagine your singing voice must be very pleasant as well,” Leiner’s eyes burned brighter, his smile stretching his wrinkles, making him look particularly sinister in the moonlight.
“Trying to use verbal intimidation and the fear-inducing ability of this pendant to activate the Fear spell on it?” Abyss said, seemingly bored as he pulled out the glowing “Eye of Fear” from his pocket. “Save your breath, it’s useless against us.”
“Hmph, a mage with mental resistance, then forget it. A few of my zombies can easily subdue you,” Leiner’s expression shifted from embarrassment at being seen through to disdain. “Servants, attack! Subdue them!”
A brief silence followed.
“What are you waiting for, you stupid zombies!” Leiner yelled, stamping his foot.
“Hehe, don’t push them too hard. Your zombies are in a dilemma right now,” Abyss chuckled softly. “Whether to kneel before me or my Flora is a bit too difficult a choice for their intelligence.”
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