Chapter 75: The Necromancer’s Grand Design

Since it was a skeleton, it was naturally impossible to see any eyes.

All they could discern in the skeleton’s eye sockets were two hollowed-out black holes, from which an eerie red glow pulsed.

As those two crimson beams swept over them, the three individuals instantly forgot to breathe. An invisible pressure abruptly descended, threatening to crush their bodies from the outside.

“Even now, you still don’t understand my identity?”

You spread his hands and shrugged, adopting the swaggering expression of a ruffian as he defiantly addressed the fools before him.

“It’s not merely ‘knowing how to use necromancy’; I am a true Necromancer!”

A Necromancer is an extension of the Mage profession.

The primary distinction between the two lies in their inclinations. While ordinary Mages, when not manipulating elements, often summon beasts or birds for amusement, Necromancers are still human.

They, too, require activities to alleviate loneliness, so they summon creatures to entertain themselves. The crucial difference, however, is that these creatures are not called forth in life, but after death.

Unless one considers the rare dual-class practitioner, Necromancers almost exclusively forgo elemental magic. Instead, they command hordes of undead in battle or wield various death-related spells.

Compared to the ubiquitous ordinary Mages, the prerequisites for becoming a Necromancer are far more stringent. It demands prolonged periods spent interacting with corpses and skeletal remains.

Moreover, this profession heavily relies on innate talent. Without it, even a decade spent sleeping among bones might not grant entry.

The harsh training environment, the societal discrimination, and the high entry barrier collectively ensure that the number of Necromancers remains exceedingly small.

Yet, from another perspective, a qualified Necromancer is never weak. The most exceptional among them can command countless skeletal specters, bending the power of these monstrous beings to their will.

The very skeleton now blocking the encampment entrance, obstructing the Legion Commander’s path, was no random apparition. It was, in fact:

“The very same allied general who, regrettably, fell in battle against the Demon Race this morning. Do you not find the sword hanging by its hip bone familiar?”

The Legion Commander stared intently at the saber held aloft by the skeleton. After a brief pause, his mind replayed the image of a middle-aged general he had met that very morning.

“So it was you…”

As he uttered these words, the skeletal figure brought down its sharp blade.

The Legion Commander, seeing the blade descend, instinctively drew his own weapon and raised it to parry.

Clang!

The skeleton’s strike was blocked. Yet, simultaneously, an eerie, faint glow erupted from beneath the Legion Commander’s feet.

The ominously colored light resonated with the very space around them, causing it to ripple with a strange fluctuation.

Before his opponent could even begin to analyze his intentions, You exhaled a long breath.

With that exhalation, a magic circle instantly flared to life on the tent floor. The air filled with fragmented moans of the deceased, emanating a sense of a death domain.

An aberrant energy permeated every inch of the surrounding space, causing everyone within the tent, save for You, to stumble and lose their footing.

Amidst the chaos, someone’s face suddenly contorted in alarm, and they cried out softly:

“You’ve set up a barrier!”

This ‘you’ naturally referred to You.

Indeed, among all present, no one possessed such profound cunning as he.

Believing this to be their final opportunity to speak, You addressed the people before him in a lighthearted tone.

“You wanted to kill me? What a coincidence, I was just thinking of killing all of you!”

No matter how meticulously the Legion Commanders had planned beforehand, their limited intellect could never have conceived that while they plotted against You, he had already been brewing a monstrous conspiracy for even longer.

Even if those who sought to kill You were to unite their forces now, they would still possess not a shred of victory.

For the moment the barrier activated, the vitality and life force within those trapped inside began to drain away at an astonishing rate.

Naturally, the absorbed life force surged into You’s body, further augmenting his power.

As one side diminished and the other grew, the Legion Commanders facing You felt as though their entire bodies were bound, completely unable to exert their normal strength.

And that was not all.

For every additional second the Legion Commanders remained within this barrier, countless specters seemed to wail in their ears, driving them to the brink of madness.

“You, you are shameless, you are despicable!”

In the depths of despair, someone cursed aloud. The recipient of the insults responded with an indifferent calm.

“Shameless and despicable? Is that all you have left for your last words?”

Suddenly, the flagstones beneath the dying men began to loosen. Their solid ground seemed to transform instantly into a mire of rotting earth.

Innumerable sharp, bone-white claws erupted from the ‘muddy ground’.

These countless bone claws represented the remains of countless soldiers, all allied troops who had fallen in battle that very day.

You’s willingness to squander the lives of soldiers during the morning’s conflict stemmed from his intention for these fallen foreign soldiers to become his pawns, turning against and eliminating their former superiors.

Encircled by the bone claws, the Legion Commander and his personal guards were dragged one by one beneath the earth.

Even the individual who had performed admirably moments ago, parrying the skeleton’s saber, found his resistance utterly suppressed in excruciating pain after a sharp claw pierced his thigh.

After a cacophony of curses and wails, a profound silence descended upon the encampment.

The situation outside the camp was equally tumultuous.

The soldiers of the three great nations had, not long ago, noticed a continuous tremor beneath their feet.

A colossal roar echoed, and small whirlpools began to appear around the ground, as if quicksand were swallowing countless living beings.

Even after devouring thousands of lives, the whirlpools themselves did not vanish; instead, they steadily multiplied in size.

The whirlpools’ consumption was distinctly targeted. You’s subordinates, for instance, were not drawn into them.

You had intentionally arranged it this way. He did not wish for too many of his soldiers to be lost, as these were his direct troops.

They would be crucial forces in seizing control of the kingdom’s government in the future, and he absolutely could not eliminate them now.

Those of value were spared; those not spared would only begin to generate value after their deaths!

When the whirlpools’ suction ceased, the ground instantly rose, allowing the previously swallowed soldiers to return to the surface.

Regrettably, as they once again basked in the daylight, their faces could no longer display any color beyond an ashen pallor.

This was the color of the dead!

Excluding the soldiers of one nation who had been deliberately spared, not a single living person remained on the battlefield.

Having concluded his harvest-like battle, You slowly stepped out from the tent and walked onto the field strewn with corpses.