One figure wore a robe dyed in bloodlike black and crimson.
A necklace strung with tiny animal skulls hung from his neck. His eyes were sunken, his body emaciated to the point where skin clung tightly to bone. In one skeletal hand he held a staff, while the other grasped a jewel overflowing with negative energy.
Rather than a man, he looked more like an undead creature wrapped in human skin.
Beside him stood a woman who appeared to be in her early twenties. Crimson pupils, short golden hair, pale skin, and well-defined features combined into a wild, predatory beauty—like a mother leopard ready to pounce.
She wore a hooded cloak that had already been shrugged aside, revealing light armor underneath.
In Soren's eyes, it resembled the kind of "bikini armor" seen in games.
Reality, of course, didn't reward less fabric with greater power.
Yet her sexy, feral attire—paired with the malicious grin curling her lips—was more than enough to awaken a powerful urge to conquer in any man.
"Well, well," Clementine said lazily, hands on her hips as she leaned forward like a beast preparing to hunt.
"Seven adventurers ran away earlier, and now two more show up. Since when did this disgusting cemetery—meant only for the dead—become so lively?"
Her smile grew even nastier.
"Perfect timing. I was already in a bad mood… and now you've delivered yourselves right to me."
The glow of Holy Light faded completely.
Clementine casually crushed a pile of dry bones under her boot.
Unlike the ninja profession she wasn't familiar with, magic casters were her specialty. She had slaughtered countless ones already—long since perfecting her harvesting routine.
(She's much stronger than Eldis… very likely a Deviant.)
(The Four Weapons are missing exactly one member—Clementine is perfect.)
Soren and Lilynette arrived at the same conclusion almost simultaneously.
The intent in their gazes made Clementine frown instinctively.
Standing atop the temple steps, the gaunt Khajit raised his Shadow Staff.
The sentient Orb of Death in his hand flared with violet-black light.
"First-Tier Magic — Summon Undead!"
Bones had long been buried throughout the temple grounds.
As magic surged, the sound of soil being pierced echoed one after another.
In the blink of an eye, over a hundred low-tier undead—skeletons, zombies, even animal corpses—burst from the ground, surrounding Soren and Lilynette at a brisk marching pace.
"Third-Tier Magic — Summon Undead!"
"Fourth-Tier Magic — Summon Undead!"
Multiple skeletal warriors and necromancers clawed their way up, forming an army of the dead as they advanced.
Third-tier Fireballs were already forming in the hands of the necromancers.
"You're the backup those brats called, right?" Khajit sneered coldly.
"Too bad. They escaped… but you won't."
His gaze landed on the beautiful, full-figured woman now showing signs of tension.
The man beside her, however, remained utterly calm.
Khajit didn't know what trump cards they possessed—but with the two of them working together, very few could stand against them.
Even if their hideout had been exposed, he felt no panic.
To conquer this cemetery he had managed for five years, the Kingdom would need at least a thousand troops—or an adventurer party on the level of Blue Rose.
And his plan was already nearing completion.
Just one more month—no, even one or two weeks would suffice.
Once enough negative energy accumulated, he would cast the same grand necromantic spell used by Zuranon's leader, turning E-Rantel into a nation of death…
And resurrect his mother.
Because he had been playing outside and failed to return home in time, he had missed the critical moment when his mother collapsed from a sudden stroke.
Khajit believed everything was his fault.
For thirty years, he had lived for this single purpose.
Now, at last, he could see the dawn of hope.
Surrounded by undead, Soren could no longer see Clementine.
Judging by her temperament—and the pride of someone who would never beg even at death's door—she was probably still standing where she was, watching with a mocking gaze.
"Lilynette," Soren said calmly.
"Test your hand first."
"Understood, Lord Soren."
Lilynette took a deep breath.
The Holy Staff she had carefully selected from the Kingdom's treasury flared with seven-colored light. Her earrings and rings lit up simultaneously, magic circles spinning into being.
"Second-Tier Magic — Summon Angels!"
Sixteen Guardian Angels descended, white wings spreading wide and flooding the area with brilliance—only for dense negative energy to begin pressing in from the distance.
"Third-Tier Magic — Summon Angels!"
Eight Energy Angels materialized in midair, radiating fire and frost. Undead struck by their presence immediately showed violent reactions.
Together with the guardians, holy power surged through the undead army, white smoke rising everywhere as corruption was burned away.
"Fourth-Tier Magic — Summon Angels!"
Four Authority Angels unfurled magnificent wings, drawing sunlight from the heavens and piercing straight through the cemetery's shroud of dark mist.
Though Lilynette's own level was only that of a Special Jōnin, the resonance between holy power and ambient magic—combined with the lower angels—formed a unified force equivalent to fifth-tier magic.
Low-tier undead began collapsing on their own.
"Destroy them all!"
Sweat beaded across Lilynette's fair skin as massive amounts of mana were drained.
Her body and spirit were exhausted—but her eyes shone with exhilaration.
This was power of the Hero Realm—something she had never even dared to imagine before.
Power and authority were the deepest instincts of humanity.
Water flows downward.
People climb upward.
The necromancers' fire and water spells were intercepted by the Authority Angels.
Bone warriors met flaming swords and ice hammers from the Energy Angels.
Guardian Angels cut through lesser undead like wheat before the scythe.
Seeing this, Khajit snorted coldly.
His staff and Orb of Death flared violently.
"In a cemetery, there's no shortage of corpses or negative energy. Let's see how many you can kill!"
As he continued summoning lesser undead, he poured magic into the Orb and roared—
"Come forth, my Bone Dragon!"
Negative energy gathered violently in the air.
Countless bones flew up from the ground, assembling into a skeletal dragon—three meters tall at the shoulder, nearly ten meters long.
A powerful undead entity capable of ignoring all magic below the seventh tier.
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