Chapter 8: Seems Like We Have a Collision
Hearing Abyss’s words, Leiner frowned and looked around at his zombies. He was shocked to find that these zombies, who shouldn’t experience fear, were trembling and standing frozen, unable to take a step forward.
“What’s going on?” Leiner snatched the staff from the female elf beside him and chanted an ancient incantation, striking the ground with the staff. A dim green light spread outwards, affecting all the zombies. Their eyes glowed with a green fluorescence, and their groaning grew louder.
“Ah, the Undead Invigoration spell. It amplifies the bloodlust of the undead,” Abyss nodded calmly. “You’re quite proficient. You must have been studying necromancy for quite some time.”
“What!?” Leiner looked at his zombies in astonishment. Although they were groaning loudly, none of them, as he had commanded, lunged at the young man and woman in front of them.
Flora whispered to Abyss, “Abyss, do you need my help fighting them? Although I don’t know any spells, I’m at least very strong now…”
“Your job comes later,” Abyss smiled at her. “Let me take care of the trivial matters first.”
Enraged, Leiner pointed at Abyss and shouted, “What are you whispering about…”
“Kneel!” Abyss suddenly roared.
“Woo!!” All the zombies cried out in fear upon hearing this command. The Undead Invigoration spell Leiner had just cast didn’t even give them a moment’s hesitation. Their decaying knees buckled, and they prostrated themselves, not daring to look at Abyss’s face. Even the female elf beside Leiner, resurrected with his most advanced necromantic spell, was no exception. Since her joints weren’t as stiff and decayed as the others, she knelt in a more standard posture.
Leiner could hardly believe his eyes. His prized undead legion had surrendered without even putting up a fight?
“State your purpose. Why did you assemble this zombie army?” Abyss thought for a moment and stretched his neck. “You zombies up there, throw him down. I don’t like looking up at people.”
Before Leiner could speak, he felt his clothes being grabbed by two hands as strong as iron clamps. He was then flung through the air, falling from the second floor onto the first floor. His already aged and necromancy-ridden body couldn’t withstand such a fall. He felt his ribs crack, and his lungs struggled to take in air. He lay on the ground, gasping for breath, before finally managing to lift his head to meet Abyss’s cold gaze.
“Now talk to me,” Abyss said, his breath hitting Leiner’s face, devoid of any warmth, colder than the winter night outside. Frost quickly formed on Leiner’s face.
“You… You’re a necromancer too!” Leiner finally realized. “You can control other people’s undead?”
“Don’t answer a question with a question!” Abyss suddenly roared, grabbing Leiner’s collar. “Tell me your purpose!”
Leiner felt a bone-chilling coldness spreading from Abyss’s hand into his body. If this coldness continued to spread, he would freeze to death!
“I want! I want to break into Princess Leona’s tomb!” Leiner’s arrogance and ruthlessness vanished. Abyss’s grip on his collar wasn’t particularly strong, and his youthful face didn’t seem intimidating, but Leiner felt a genuine sense of suppression. Without Abyss even using any necromancy, a feeling of subservience from the depths of his soul forced him to shout out loud.
“You want to break into Princess Leona’s tomb too?” Abyss brought his face closer to Leiner’s, his turquoise eyes like bottomless abysses that threatened to swallow Leiner’s soul. “And what will you do after you break in? What’s your next step?”
“I… I need to retrieve an item from Princess Leona’s stomach for the Council of the Dead. I don’t know what it is! I swear!” Leiner’s voice was almost a whimper. He trembled all over, and a foul stench emanated from his lower body, nearly making Flora, who was watching from the side, vomit.
“And then!?” Abyss still hadn’t released Leiner’s collar.
“No… Nothing more…”
“You’re lying,” Abyss’s voice turned cold again. “I don’t like that.”
“I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you! They promised to give me Princess Leona’s body after the mission is complete!” Leiner blurted out, filled with regret. “I was an apprentice court mage in the Western Empire when I was young. I’ve always had a crush on Princess Leona. After she died, I wanted to find another way to have her, so I learned necromancy and later joined the Council of the Dead!”
“You’ve been preparing for over forty years?” Abyss couldn’t help but laugh. “Just for Princess Leona’s body?”
Leiner’s expression became frantic. “You don’t understand how beautiful and lovely Princess Leona was…”
“Does your Eye of Fear have anything to do with this Council of the Dead?” Abyss, unfazed by the man’s twisted infatuation, pulled out the pendant again. It seemed to be absorbing Leiner’s fear, emitting a soft purple glow.
“This is a part of the artifact ‘Face of Hell’ held by the Council of the Dead. They lent it to me because they were worried I wouldn’t be able to complete the mission!” Leiner quickly explained. “Please take it if you want!”
“I don’t particularly want it, but I won’t return it to you either,” Abyss said, putting the Eye of Fear away. “Tell me the location of Princess Leona’s tomb.”
Leiner immediately revealed the address. After hearing it, Flora thought for a moment and said in surprise, “It doesn’t seem to be too far from the city.”
“I was planning to collect zombies as guards on the way to the destination. After stealing Princess Leona’s body, I would immediately retreat. These undead are disposable. They’ll decay soon and won’t cause any harm,” Leiner hurriedly explained.
“So, you’re not keeping them around, but using them and discarding them?” Abyss seemed relieved.
“Yes, yes, yes! I was planning to retire after this job and never get involved with the Council again! Now I’m not even doing this job!” Leiner seemed to have revealed everything he knew, his mood slightly lifting. “Can I go now?”
“Go?” Abyss seemed surprised. “We’ll talk about that later. Can you recite the Necromancer’s Creed for me? You wouldn’t be ignorant of the rules of our necromantic school, would you? Every apprentice must memorize the Necromancer’s Creed before they begin their studies. You should know it, right?”
Leiner’s expression suddenly froze.
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