v2c26: Don’t Even Think About It
Abyss paused, looking down at the bone spike protruding from his rib. It had branched from his rib, pierced through his chest, then curved back inwards, impaling his heart. Blood trickled from the wound, but the flow was slow, staining his sea-blue dress with a dark red blotch.
“Knowing I’m a Bone Necromancer, you shouldn’t have let your guard down. I’m quite skilled in this art,” the necromancer said, a triumphant smile on his face, as he slowly got to his feet. “I’ve shattered your heart.”
Abyss looked up at him. “Don’t leave yet. You haven’t told me your name.”
“I am Legnas. The Necromancer Council sends its regards,” the necromancer said, his voice cold, staring at Abyss as if he were already dead. “We can have a proper conversation once you’ve passed.”
That crossdressing freak is dead! Legnas thought, confident in his spell’s effectiveness.
He was an eighth-tier necromancer. Once a mage reached the seventh tier or higher, even against a stronger opponent, there was always a chance for a counterattack. A high-ranking combat mage’s destructive power could bypass any passive defense, unless the enemy anticipated the attack and countered it directly! It didn’t matter how powerful or mysterious this Abyss was. With his heart shattered, he couldn’t possibly survive, unless he wasn’t human!
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Legnas. I didn’t realize Bone Necromancers were so skilled these days. I almost didn’t react in time,” Abyss said, his voice calm and even, his emerald eyes meeting Legnas’s gaze, a hint of amusement in their depths.
“What?! Why aren’t you injured?!”
“To be precise, I suffered a minor flesh wound,” Abyss said, casually grabbing the bone spike protruding from his chest. He snapped it at its base, then pulled it out effortlessly.
Legnas stared in horror as he saw the bone spike in Abyss’s hand. It wasn’t the expected crescent shape, but a loop, as if it had encountered an obstacle and curved around it.
It had bypassed Abyss’s heart! This meant that Abyss had somehow intercepted and controlled his spell, a spell so swift that it had seemed impossible to react to!
Abyss tossed the bone spike aside, the sound of it clattering on the ground echoing through the basement. “I’m actually quite curious about the other necromantic schools and their current progress. It’s been a while since I’ve encountered a competent colleague.”
Fear gripped Legnas.
This gray-haired boy had effortlessly neutralized his supposedly ingenious attack, and instead of anger, he seemed intrigued?
Either Abyss was a nightmare, or he was an entity beyond Legnas’s comprehension, completely indifferent to his attacks!
He had to escape! This boy must be connected to the Lord of Submergence’s disappearance! He had to report this to the Council!
But Abyss had other plans. He was genuinely curious about the current state of necromancy.
He had never specialized in any particular school during his training. He learned every spell his master taught him, regardless of its school. Specialization was for those who sought to excel in a specific area. Abyss didn’t need that. His master’s carefully crafted training regimen had been completely unnecessary.
His understanding of necromantic schools was purely theoretical, based on his master’s teachings.
Every magic school had different branches, and necromancy was divided into three main schools: Summoning, Bone, and Corpse Puppetry. The spells Abyss used to resurrect his followers belonged to the Summoning school, capable of awakening the souls of the deceased, either as wraiths or by returning them to their bodies. The Bone school specialized in manipulating bones. Their most basic spells involved using bone dust and mana to create bone spikes and armor. It might seem unimpressive, but it was the most practical of the three schools. And finally, there was the Corpse Puppetry school, whose practitioners manipulated corpses without recalling their souls. A high-ranking Corpse Puppet Necromancer could control an entire army of undead, even utilizing a portion of their former combat abilities. Limb manipulation was one of their basic spells. Abyss had used this spell to control the Lord of Submergence’s billions of tentacles.
The Bone school did have spells that could manipulate an enemy’s bones, growing spikes to inflict damage. But this was the first time he had encountered one so fast. And since many of the spells he learned as a child were ancient techniques gleaned from deceased necromancers, he was curious about the current state of necromancy.
However, Legnas, having lost his will to fight, was looking for an opportunity to escape. He summoned his bone armor again, this time intending to fly away.
Abyss, seeing through his intentions, sighed. He flicked his finger.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
“Aaaaaargh!”
Legnas screamed in agony as bone spikes erupted from his own body! They pierced his skin, burrowed into the ground, and continued growing, anchoring him like a plant!
Excruciating pain shot through his body, and he instinctively tried to struggle, but he was firmly rooted to the ground, unable to move.
“Don’t even think about it. You attacked me, so I retaliated. If you don’t attack me, I won’t harm you. Let’s set aside the school discussion for now. Tell me, what’s your purpose here?”
Abyss remained seated, his posture relaxed and composed.
Faced with this insurmountable power disparity, Legnas finally abandoned his futile attempts at escape.
“I… I’m here to find Rebecca’s body… to acquire the secrets of Shadow Demons…”
“See, you should have just told me. We could have avoided this misunderstanding,” Abyss said, a smile spreading across his face. “Rebecca is with me. I’ll introduce you to her later. We’ll see what she says. Then, you can tell me about the Necromancer Council’s goals, and I’ll let you go. Everyone wins, how about that? Oh, and before that, I’m going to free your undead servants. I won’t ask for your permission. They have the right to decide their own fate.”
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