Chapter 107: Something’s Off About This Guard
Something was definitely wrong with the guard.
Without hesitation, Abyss chanted a spell. A faint pulse of magic, imperceptible to ordinary senses, emanated from him, spreading outward before returning a few moments later.
Heartbeat detection. This spell wasn’t part of the Necromancy school. It was developed by Healing mages to check if their patients were still alive. It could detect any beating heart within a certain radius and relay the information back to the caster.
However, heartbeat detection was an essential skill for any mid-level necromancer. It allowed them to confirm whether their targets were truly dead, with high accuracy and efficiency, a more elegant approach than simply stabbing a corpse to make sure. Using necromancy on a living or partially alive person was ineffective, wasting precious materials.
Thus, this life-saving spell was widely adopted by necromancers for their own purposes, much to the chagrin of Healing mages.
The returning magic pulse delivered its verdict: The guard had no heartbeat.
A smile played on Abyss’s lips. Good thing he noticed early, otherwise, he might have discovered this only after the assassination attempt.
He stopped peering through the doorway and stepped out of his room, walking straight towards the guard. He tapped him on the shoulder.
“Hey, buddy, I’m quite interested in what’s under your shirt. Would you mind taking it off for a moment?”
He asked with a friendly smile, observing the guard closely.
The guard froze, his eyes slowly swiveling in their sockets. “No,” he said.
His voice was faint, almost a whisper, as if air were leaking from his mouth. The shirt beneath his leather armor visibly deflated.
Abyss didn’t wait for his consent. The necromancer’s creed demanded respect for the living and the dead, but this creature was neither. He had no qualms about disrespecting what was likely a mass-produced monster.
He grabbed the guard’s leather armor, his arm transforming into a sharp, bony claw. With a gentle tug, the thick leather armor, the chainmail beneath it, and the shirt disintegrated like a spiderweb sliced by a hot knife, revealing the guard’s body.
Or rather, what was supposed to be a body. The guard’s entire abdomen and back were gaping holes, devoid of any internal organs. All that remained were pale, bloodless muscles and a layer of glistening fat.
Abyss frowned, looking at him with a puzzled expression. “Tell me, how can you stand upright without a spine?”
The guard, of course, didn’t answer his nonsensical question. Realizing he had been discovered, he drew his sword, twisting his body and slashing at Abyss’s neck in one fluid motion.
A burst of Dou Qi flames erupted around him, and runes flickered on his blade—he had enchanted his attack.
Clang!
The blade struck Abyss’s neck, a shower of sparks erupting from the point of impact. A layer of bone armor protected him.
But the attack wasn’t over. The magic imbued in the blade activated, pushing downwards with immense force, but Abyss’s bone armor held firm.
“A Magic Warrior?” Abyss said, smiling faintly. This creature was strong. If Abyss were an ordinary mage, he would be dead—the attack had magic-piercing properties, capable of bypassing most magical defenses.
Since this creature had no internal organs, Abyss saw no reason to keep it alive. He chanted a rapid, tongue-twisting spell, channeling powerful magic towards the fake guard.
Crack! Crack!
The fake guard didn’t even scream. His remaining bones deformed and grew rapidly under Abyss’s spell, transforming into sharp spikes that erupted from his body, piercing his skin and muscles, shattering his armor.
Within a breath, the fake guard was dissected by his own bones, his body a mangled mess, collapsing at Abyss’s feet.
A pungent, fishy odor emanated from the corpse. Abyss crouched down, examining it closely.
Definitely not a living organism. Abyss’s eyes narrowed. The exposed flesh and muscles were a facade. The creature did have bones and skin, but its muscle tissue was unlike any biological organism’s. It was just a sack of black goo that was now corroding… No, assimilating its own bones and skin, turning them into goo as well.
So that’s how the enemy’s corpses turned into black goo. Abyss nodded, understanding dawning on him.
Dissection was pointless. These creatures sent by the Lord of Nightmares weren’t biological entities. Dissecting them wouldn’t reveal anything of value, just more sacks of black goo.
Disappointed, Abyss stood up, looking around.
While he had been preoccupied with the fake guard’s transformation, several other guards had surrounded him.
Abyss calmly scanned their faces, quickly recognizing a familiar one—Burke, the bearded soldier who had been killed by a dwarf crossbow bolt in the dream he had observed earlier.
“I see. You’ve infiltrated our ranks while we were unaware, using some method to remain undetected,” Abyss said, nodding approvingly. “Replacing deceased soldiers, blending in seamlessly. No one noticed anything amiss, not even me. I was fooled like a fool… Lord of Nightmares, your methods are impressive indeed.”
“You flatter me.”
A voice echoed from in front of Abyss, its gender indistinguishable, its tone playful, laced with a hint of excitement.
“You were here all along. Tell me, when did you target us?” Abyss asked calmly.
“Initially, I was just looking for a little fear, helping Prince Kevin eliminate that princess. But then I discovered you while following your caravan,” the voice said slowly. “I’m very interested in you now. I’ve been wanting to taste your fear ever since.”
“You feed on fear?” Abyss nodded. “By the way, if I’m not mistaken, I’m not in the real world right now, am I?”
Leave a Reply