318. Chapter 316 – Baroness Pixie Dark’s “Meeting of the Old”

Chapter 316: Baroness Darkness’s “Meeting of the Old”

“This is a necromancer, the role of a low-level psychic in the undead creatures, the most important feature is that it can completely retain the thinking and intelligence of the living, and there will not be too much loss of memories, and it can prepare the rituals in advance in case of a sudden death.

This is the best choice for many low-level psionics when they may meet an unexpected death, however, this kind of ritual still belongs to the category of evil magic, and the production of necromancy requires the assistance of others.

At least as far as I can remember, there has never been a similar spread of forbidden learning in the great lands of Transylvania”

In the area where the Smuggler’s Woodland and the Tainted Swamp were connected, Lady Tris, who had immobilized the culprit who had stirred up the woodland in the air with her Evil Fixation, saw through the guy in front of her with a single glance.

She didn’t even need to lift the cover of the other party’s hood that hid his head, she was able to discern the identity of this fellow just from the faintly putrid odor emanating from his body as well as the special smell of herbs.

She loosened her fingers to let the Serenade Scepter hang over her shoulder, and took the Command Sectional Staff that Murphy had handed her in her hand.

This thing was a bone weapon, i.e., a special spiritual energy magic weapon made from skeleton, and its appearance was not outstanding being made in the shape of a cross-jointed scepter, and it was impossible to tell which school the craftsmanship of the Commanding Scepter belonged to just from its appearance.

But fortunately or unfortunately, Tris had traveled the continent during her long time as a Scarlet Witch.

She was no stranger to this thing in her hands.

Under Murphy’s gaze, Tris used her hoarse voice to chant a very strange language, forming a seven-part incantation coupled with the transformation of the nature of dark psychic energy, transforming into a more cold and ominous death psychic energy and injecting it into it, easily opening up the “use restriction” that was hidden inside this thing.

The gesture was no more difficult than opening a lock with a tapping spell.

With a flick of Tris’s hand, the noisy smuggler’s woodland quickly quieted down.

Under her manipulation as the Spiritual Energy Master, those elite skeleton armies that were besieging the small players immediately entered a state of retreat and readiness, and they detached themselves from the battlefield under the cover of the fog of war released by the skeleton mages, returning to where they were supposed to be without the slightest bit of delay as the small players watched in dismay.

“I always can’t help but wonder how much more the legendary Scarlet Witch is capable of that I don’t know about?”

Murphy asked in a small voice:

“So, what the hell is this?”

“An ‘Undead Controller’ based on a poor imitation of the secret arts of death mastered by the Moon Priests of the Sanghai Empire, I have visited the Moon Sacred City in the Land of Origins in times past, where I have seen with my own eyes the Moon Priests using the ‘Scepter of the Underworld ‘ to control tens of thousands of Underworld Pharaoh’s forbidden guards in a crusade against traitors.”

Tris tossed the Commanding Sectional Scepter in her hand up and down in a rather disdainful manner as she said:
“Not only is the one in front of us small in scale, but it doesn’t provide those elite skeleton armies with any more bonuses from the death breath of the Plane of Hades, so I can only say that it’s better than the best. I’m more curious about how this secret art was passed down than the craftsmanship of this thing.”

The Blood Vulture Archduke blinked her demonic eyes as she stared at the necromancer in front of her as she asked:
“Where did you learn this death psychic energy technique? This is not knowledge that a casual third-rate psionicist can grasp, the priests of the Moon Holy City firmly hold these arcane teachings from the underworld.

I wasn’t even qualified to enter their great library of ‘Eternal Silence’ in that capacity back then.

So, there are Sanghaians among you rats?
Let me guess a little deeper, there are renegade Sanghai Moonlight Priests among you?

Tch, the power of the Dusk is really daunting.”

“Ah, you spoke that name! Dammit! You’ll get us all killed!”

The immobilized necromancer quickly calmed down after his initial panic, and he let out a fearless chortle also ignoring the staff sword that was already sheathed in Murphy’s hand, seemingly undaunted by death.

And so it was.

As a special necromantic creature, it had already died once and naturally wouldn’t return to death again, and the profession of necromancer was the same as its superior profession, witch demon, which had special abilities.

They have a device called “life box” to keep and hide their souls.

For these cursed people with immortal souls, a rotten body is just a piece of clothing that can be changed at any time, as long as the life box has not been found, he can keep on waving, no matter what kind of horrible opponents he faces, he doesn’t have to worry about it.

“I advise you not to act so fearless, necromancer.”

Tris said coldly:
“Even with the protection of the Life Box, you will suffer irreparable and heavy injuries on the level of consciousness and spirit after experiencing the second death, and as the price of immortality, each of your injuries will cost you something else valuable.

Memory, thought, sanity .
Death is never merciful, and if it can’t take your soul it has to take something else as collateral.

You see, I understand you even better than you understand yourself, I mean, you’d better behave yourself and answer little Murphy’s questions!

Otherwise I have many ways to make you experience an end more painful than death, and I hope you don’t doubt the ‘creativity’ of a psychic master and distinguished blood torturer in that regard.”

The necromancer said nothing.

He knew that in this situation where his bottom was torn out, there was no longer any point in being strong, it was after all just a necromancer not a more powerful witch demon.

Murphy grunted and sheathed his drawn staff sword, he looked the guy in front of him up and down again seeing the somewhat agitated skeletal warhorse next to him, the thing caught his eye.

The warhorse’s size was a shade thinner than a normal warhorse due to getting rid of the flesh and blood leaving only the skeleton, but this necromancer had embellished his mount with a lot of artistic details.

For example, he used brass to inlay horns for the horse’s head for decoration, and he also embellished armor on various parts of the skeleton to give it a more imposing look and a gloomy oppression unique to necromantic creatures.

The skeleton warhorse was clearly more advanced than the carriers used by the skeleton cavalry, and instead of crumbling when its owner left, it could maintain a complete and independent body in place.

“This cool and racy contraption could perhaps be a ‘special reward’ at the settlement of this big plot at the moment? It could also be used to replace the season carriers that Fight Club has in store for the outstanding gladiators of the first installment.”

A good idea instantly popped up in Murphy’s head, causing him to once again look at the necromancer that was fixed in mid-air, and he suddenly realized that letting it live might be able to create more ‘value’ than finishing off this guy who was hiding his head.

Therefore the vampire lord thought for a moment and spoke to the silent necromancer:

“I know, the servants of a hidden power like yours must have many restrictions that prevent you from revealing the secrets of your organization, I’ve met Zweig before, that guy has a nickname ‘Calamity Rat King’.

Do you know him?”

“Heh, that stupid bastard.”

The necromancer didn’t hide its familiarity with Zweig as it sneered in a raspy, dry voice:
“He could have stayed in the swamp to enjoy his so-called ‘eternal’ life, but he had to run out to enjoy the prosperity of the earth, I knew when he left that his end would not be too good . This Vampire Sir, I see that you also seem like a person who understands, so why don’t we make a deal.

You don’t have to torture this poor man like me, I’ll tell you everything I can.

Then you let me go, how about it?”

“That’s not going to work.”

Murphy said, shaking his head:
“All this you have caused in the Smuggler’s Woodland has already resulted in casualties among the warriors under my command, you must come up with compensation, besides wouldn’t it look like we are incompetent in Scarlet Castle to just let you go?

There has to be at least some punishment, right?”

“Punishment? I lost the Command Scepter and made you realize the secrets hidden in the swamp! Those two things alone are enough to make me suffer a horrible punishment when I return.

My body will be chopped up and fed to the dogs of the underworld, and my consciousness will be thrown into the Soul Forge and burned for years!”

The necromancer shouted:
“Those Jackal Plague Warlocks are not nice characters to deal with, and the means by which they drive us are far more hateful than you can imagine. Like I said, I wasn’t actively willing to get involved in all this shit either!
I would have been dead.

O Avalon above, I’ve been dead for over twenty years.

I thought the cold treatment my soul encountered in the Underworld was torture enough, but I didn’t realize I was going to have to return to this fucking earth as the cursed dead!

It is not a choice I can make, my two vampire lords.

I don’t ask you to pity me, I just hope you can understand my situation, I’m willing to cooperate, and I didn’t volunteer to help those jackals anyway” The guy let out a wail that made Murphy blink, he had already learned a lot from the guy’s howling, he looked in the direction of the filthy swamp and said:

“So it was a group of jackalope plague warlocks that woke you up?
And made you all labor in the swamp and continue to infiltrate and grow into Transylvania, and since you know Zweig it means that those jackal warlocks are also servants of the Dusk?
And finally, what are you looking for in the swamp?”

“I can’t say, it’s off limits.”

The necromancer shook his head:
“It’s not that I’m uncooperative, if Zweig dies at your hands, then you should know what will happen to me if I say something I shouldn’t.

I know that from the enemy’s point of view any torture I suffer is deserved, but the point is that it doesn’t make much sense, let me live and I can answer more questions for you.

But I will tell you that I do not serve Dusk.

I’m not ‘qualified’ for that.

I will tell you that those jackals are spellcasters belonging to the Bone Biting Clan.

It’s not their first day here either, I was awakened in the muck of the swamp three years ago, and by the time I was resurrected in this cursed position, those jackals already had an army of the dead at their disposal.

As for the materials
Oh, the number of lives the Filthy Swamp has engulfed over the past few hundred years is astronomical, and four Black Plagues have been enough to spread the bones of corpses all over that filthy place to form an avenue of white bones.

So if they wanted to, they could even pull together an army of skeletons that would flood Transylvania, but that’s not what they want.

What do they want?
Well, I hope you’ve used your head, Lord Vampire, this is the Swamp of Filth!
This is the frontier that the Jackals have wanted to control completely for generations, this is the last boundary to the civilized world, and the Fifth Black Plague is coming!

What do you think they intend to do here?”

“I’ve had enough of your riddler attitude, I’m going to send someone into the Filthy Swamp to check it out, and you’re going to make a map for me.”

Murphy said leaning on his staff sword:
“It doesn’t even need to be particularly detailed, map out for me the area where your group is active to the extent that you can, after which you can spend the rest of your ‘reform through labor’ career as a captive in the Scarlet Fortress.

I promise I won’t hurt you, but you’d better behave.”

“You’re crazy!”

The necromancer roared:
“My life box is in their hands, they can order me to do a lot of things, and I told you I don’t want to get involved in a feud between the Jackals and you!

Can’t you just let me go like an ass?

What service can a little man like me perform for you, even if you hold me in your hands? No! I’m just a necromancer sent out to make some noise, my lord.

I was no great man while I was alive, and I’m not likely to soar after I’m dead.”

“I want this skeleton warhorse!”

Murphy didn’t be polite with this necromancer, he pointed at the quiet skeleton warhorse next to him and said to the necromancer:
“You make 500 no, 1000 for me, your labor reform is considered complete, I will set you free anyway you have eternal life to squander.

Don’t worry, I always keep my word on such promises.

By the time you finish your work, the jackal warlocks controlling you will presumably have been bulldozed by my warriors, and if you perform well, I may even give you back your life box.”

As he spoke, Murphy glanced at Tris.

Since the Blood Vulture Archduke who shared his mind did not stop it means that Tris was very confident in controlling this enemy necromancer and making it obediently become an artisan laborer under Murphy’s command in the Scarlet Fortress.

With Tris’s assurance, Murphy completely stopped worrying, he took the command scepter that Tris had already “unlocked”, and while infiltrating spiritual energy into it, he casually asked:
“One last question, your identity when you were alive! You just said ‘Avalon above’, which proves that you were once a follower of the old religion?

Dying more than twenty years ago, when the Old Religion was still in its prime, I’m curious, why did you die in the Filthy Swamp? Were you on some special mission at the time?”

“I refuse to answer that question, not because I can’t but because I don’t want to!
This is my private business, and by God, I have died and been brought back to life, I have lost all power to be born, and my memories are the last wealth I have left!
You!
Or anyone!

None of you will ever take it away from me!
That is something that belongs only to me!”

The necromancer yelled and refused to answer, and it was displaying vivid emotions that clearly went beyond the dead posture expected of a necromantic creature.

This showed that Murphy’s question had indeed touched this guy’s bottom line.

“Take it back.”

Murphy said to Tris:

“Let it acclimatize to the gloomy place of the Blood Wyvern Cloister, and then start working immediately, before the end of the Hundred Days’ Great Construction, I must have those warhorses that exist as rewards.”

“You’re going into the swamp?”

Tris reminded as she glanced at Murphy:

“Don’t go in now, no one can say what’s going on inside.”

“I know, I will let the jackals enter it first to poke around.”

Murphy said as he played with his command knuckle staff:
“I’ve learned not to take risks as I go along, after all, I’m carrying more than just my life and livelihood right now, you go back first, I need to meet with Hogg.

Also, will those plague warlocks be watching our city and secrets through this guy’s eyes?”

“They could, but they can’t.”

Tris said with a yawn as she waved her Serenade Scepter to open a rift to the Scarlet Fortress:
“At least not on my watch, they don’t have that ability.”

“That’s my good girl.”

Murphy laughed out loud, only to get a hard stare from Tris.

The Archduke then left the area with his captive, while Murphy patted the quiet skeletal warhorse and rolled onto his back to pull on the extravagant reins to turn his head and charge out towards the smuggler’s woodland again.

He wanted to see how his little players were doing.

On the other hand, Tris returned to the Scarlet Cloisters with the necromancer, calling for Adele to send the captive to one of the underground chambers that had just been cleared out to get it started.

Adele came quickly.

But upon seeing the necromancer, she and the necromancer let out almost simultaneous gasps of surprise.

“Adele? You’ve turned into a vampire? Avalon is up there!”

“You you’re Uncle Bella?”

The voice that was raspy and somber but still carried a familiar tone gave E-sister a jolt and quickly stepped forward to remove the hood that was hiding the necromancer’s face.

At the sight of the horrifying face in front of her, skin and bones like a dry corpse, the still familiar facial contours made even Mrs. Adele let out a cry of sorrow:
“No! What have they done to you .”

(End of chapter)