"Necromancy?!"
Ganyu paused, subconsciously feeling a sense of repulsion towards the staff. "This is a necromancy wand?"
Ryen nodded. As he gently waved the wand, its sinister aura grew even more concentrated.
Everyone frowned. To be perfectly honest, even Advanced-tier necromancy wands were somewhat perverse and cruel, let alone a Master-tier one. The sheer power it must possess was unimaginable.
Baizhu pursed his lips and glanced at Xiao beside him. "A necromancy wand is..."
Xiao shook his head, frowning slightly as he explained. "Among all the spells in the Wizardry mod, there are many miraculous and powerful ones. Elemental spells are actually the least worth mentioning. Others, such as Mr. Ryen's Time Stop that controls time, or Director Hu's Transcendence that steps outside reality to ignore all attacks, or Rex Lapis's Diamond Skin that grants absolute immunity to all physical and magical damage. These spells are unimaginably powerful."
"But if we are talking about the most terrifying and bizarre, it is absolutely necromancy. It is also the type of magic everyone resists the most." Pausing for a moment, Xiao's voice turned grave. "Necromancy spells manipulate dead souls, bewitch minds, and play with souls and curses. Every single spell is an entity of extreme evil, defying the natural order."
"It is a wand that brings endless pain and torment to the enemy. Its direct offensive power might not be strong, but from the necromancy spells we know of... Possessing bodies, sharing damage, soul curses, summoning monsters, calling down plagues... Every single necromancy spell is extremely evil. Calling them perverse and cruel is no exaggeration."
Baizhu fell silent. Looking again at the Staff of the Nether Realm's Calling, he only felt that it was unprecedentedly terrifying.
That was a Master-tier necromancy wand. Any necromancy spell cast with it would receive massive buffs, allowing for endless, twisted variations. It was hard to imagine what an evil person could do if they got their hands on it. It would be a catastrophe for all of Teyvat.
Sighing inwardly, Baizhu abandoned any thought of exploring this wand. He wouldn't get it since he wasn't participating, but even if he did, he would never touch it. His conscience as a doctor wouldn't allow him to use it. On the other hand, if he held it, Ningguang and the others would never feel at ease.
"Don't be so tense." Ryen waved his hand, chuckling lightly. "Although necromancy spells are evil, power itself has no good or bad alignment. It all depends on how the user utilizes it. Regardless, this is still a Master-tier wand."
Venti blinked and said with a grin, "Well said! However, this wand is still quite dangerous. I think only someone with a firm will like mine can control it. So, everyone, don't fight me for it."
Aether sneered. "You aren't even allowed to fight tomorrow, so what does this wand have to do with you? If you ask me, I'm the most suitable for it. My Abyssal attributes naturally match a necromancy wand. Moreover, my will is resolute; I am a traveler who crosses the sea of stars. Only in my hands can this wand unleash its full potential."
As soon as he finished speaking, Lumine curled her lips and decisively stabbed him in the back.
"Absolute nonsense! If a guy like you gets a necromancy wand, you'd become Teyvat's number one terrorist! Only a pure-hearted maiden like me is qualified to have it!"
Pure-hearted? Aether felt a surge of contempt in his heart.
Don't think he didn't know. These past few days, whenever Lumine had free time, she sneaked into Ryen's house, deliberately choosing times when Ganyu and the others weren't around. A lone man and a lone woman in a house, what could they possibly be doing? Studying philosophy?! She actually had the nerve to call herself pure-hearted! She was probably already molded into Ryen's shape, far from being a pure maiden anymore.
But Aether only grumbled internally. In front of so many people, especially Ryen, he absolutely didn't dare say such things out loud. However, in private, this would be his leverage to suppress Lumine. After fighting with his stupid sister for so long, he could finally win for once.
Lumine secretly shot Ryen a meaningful look. Ryen understood her meaning perfectly. It was basically an offer: if he pulled some strings and let her get the wand, she would let Ryen 'pull some strings' with her later.
Ryen chuckled inwardly. Among all his women, Lumine was the most open-minded and adventurous. Many techniques that Ganyu and the others were too shy to try, Lumine actively researched and deduced with Ryen.
However, a competition had to be fair and just! Besides, whether Mondstadt could even win was a whole other matter. Lately, everyone's Bedwars skills had grown significantly stronger; Mondstadt and Liyue no longer held an overwhelming advantage.
Seeing that Ryen didn't respond to her, Lumine felt a bit annoyed and muttered, "Stingy. I won't let you play tonight!"
Paimon scratched her head, feeling like Lumine was thinking about something very dirty.
"In summary, this necromancy wand holds immense value. Plus, I've checked it; there are no exceptionally perverse spells on it. No matter what, it's a powerful source of strength. There's no reason not to use it, right? Otherwise, who should I give this wizard armor set to?"
Saying that, Ryen flipped his hand and took out the matching Necromancer armor set.
"Ryen, you went to the Twilight Forest by yourself?" Ganyu looked at Ryen with worry. It would have been fine if he brought some people, but going alone... Even for Ryen, that was too dangerous.
Seeing that Ganyu's first reaction was to care for his safety, completely ignoring the armor set, Ryen felt delighted. He rubbed Ganyu's head and said softly, "Did you forget I have the Sword of the Cosmos? It's fine."
"Even so, you shouldn't take risks!" Ganyu said seriously.
Ryen nodded with a smile. "I won't do it next time."
"Alright, alright, stop showing off your affection!" Venti urged. "Quickly, tell us about the spells on this wand! Everything else is secondary!"
Ryen rolled his eyes and held out the wand. "How about you experience it firsthand?"
Venti gave an awkward laugh and immediately shut his mouth.
Ryen stood up and walked toward the door. "Let's go. We'll head to the ranch and find some pigs and sheep. Necromancy spells don't have massive destructive power, but they are very bizarre. A visual demonstration will be easier to understand."
Everyone nodded and followed Ryen. Before long, they arrived at the ranch. The ranch was now located outside the villa area. It covered a massive expanse and housed tens of thousands of cows, sheep, and pigs. Ryen casually gathered a dozen or so animals and took out the wand.
"Like I said, this wand doesn't have any uniquely heinous necromancy spells, but to be honest, it's not exactly friendly either."
Upon hearing Ryen say this, everyone's heads began to ache. Ryen's definition of "heinous" was vastly different from theirs!
"The first spell is a relatively simple and practical minor curse. Soulbind Curse."
Hearing the word "soul," an ominous premonition instantly washed over everyone. Ryen thought for a moment, then turned to look at the crowd.
"Who is willing to cooperate for an experiment?"
"Klee! Klee is willing! Brother Ryen! Klee can do it!" Klee jumped up joyfully.
Ryen paused for a second, then quickly placated her. "No, no. Little Klee can't use such evil spells, otherwise she won't be a good child anymore."
Saying that, Ryen looked at Aether. Aether shivered and slapped Endis on the back.
"Endis, you go!"
Endis's face fell, and he stepped forward reluctantly. Ryen chuckled and handed the wand to him.
"Cast the Soulbind Curse on that pig."
Endis nodded, raised the wand, and cast the spell at the target pig. A sinister purple light successfully struck the animal. However, the pig didn't seem to undergo any visible changes.
Ryen cheerfully drew his iron sword and looked at Endis. "Don't worry, it won't hurt too much."
With that, without another word, he slashed Endis with the sword. Endis's health dropped sharply, but he simply frowned slightly and endured it.
"Mr. Ryen?" Endis looked at Ryen in confusion.
Ryen pointed at the pig that had just taken the spell. The pig, which had been resting quietly, was now squealing anxiously and running around as if it had been attacked.
"This is..." Zhongli's brow tightened, and he said in a deep voice, "Damage sharing?"
"No, it's unilateral damage." Ryen took out a rifle and shot the pig dead with one bullet. Endis checked himself. Aside from the attack by Ryen, he hadn't received any additional damage.
Zhongli's expression darkened, and his voice turned cold. "An unequal contract of life and death!"
"Exactly!" Ryen nodded and took back the wand. "Soulbind Curse, an Advanced-tier necromancy spell. It is quite terrifying, especially when cast through a Master-tier necromancy wand. It forcefully binds an unfair contract. For example, if Zhongli and I were fighting. If Zhongli is hit by my spell, when he attacks me, we both take damage. If I kill him, nothing happens to me."
"It's like a blood contract. As long as you are hit by my spell, even if I hide away and hurt myself, you will still die. But the twisted part is, I can damage myself while eating food or drinking potions to heal, whereas you can only suffer the equivalent damage. A thoroughly unfair contract of life and death."
Everyone fell silent. After a long while, Venti spoke softly, "This is what you meant by 'not exceptionally perverse'? This is way too terrifying! Once cursed, doesn't that mean I absolutely cannot attack the caster, and I even have to prevent the enemy from hurting themselves? This is way too bizarre! It has no direct destructive power, but its mechanics are incomprehensibly weird!"
Ryen spread his hands. "But you have to admit, it's extremely practical."
No one replied. The very first spell of this wand had already left them feeling deeply unsettled. It was hard to imagine what the other necromancy spells were like. Even the Khaenri'ahns, who had survived in the Abyss for five hundred years, felt a sense of dread upon seeing such a spell. Such a bizarre existence had never appeared in Teyvat. Even Aether, who had traveled the sea of stars, had never heard of such an outrageous curse.
"Look at the second spell. It's also a practical curse, though not quite as bizarre as Soulbind."
Ryen cast the spell on a sheep. The next moment, under everyone's watchful eyes, the sheep, bathed in sunlight, burst into flames. Within moments, it turned to ash and dissipated into smoke as it ran around frantically.
"Undead Curse, an Advanced-tier spell. The cursed target becomes just like the zombies of this world: the moment they are exposed to sunlight, they will spontaneously combust and die. It is worth noting that milk cannot remove this curse. It can only be cured using Purifying Holy Water or specific status-clearing spells."
Everyone uniformly massaged their temples and sighed.
Great. This was what Ryen called a "not exceptionally perverse" spell. So far, two had been shown. One was an unequal contract of life and death. The other was even better. It directly cursed a person into a zombie completely unable to live in the sunlight.
Compared to these two spells, the Khaenri'ahns suddenly felt that they were actually great philanthropists.
Baizhu looked at the two creatures that had died in the blink of an eye, feeling goosebumps erupt all over his body. He had truly underestimated necromancy.
This wasn't just evil; this thing was the very incarnation of evil itself!