Watching Marcus kneeling on the ground, his eyes empty and his spirit completely broken, Leo’s face showed not a trace of pity.
As a lord, he was well aware of what happens to those who show mercy to their enemies.
“I’m actually not that fond of using undead units,” Leo said lazily.
He waved his hand, and the legion of fifty skeleton soldiers, along with the skeleton archers and mages, instantly dissolved into black motes of light, as if they had never existed.
“After all, I’m a proper lord. If word got out that I suddenly have an army of undead at my command, it would easily cause all sorts of unnecessary misunderstandings.”
Marcus raised his head, a glimmer of hope for survival flashing in his eyes.
“You… you’re going to spare me?”
“What are you thinking? You nearly killed me and everyone in my domain,”
Leo raised his hand, and a magic circle exuding the stench of decay and plague unfolded before Marcus.
“What I mean is, dealing with underhanded trouble like you requires a more ‘professional’ tool.”
A bloated, obese monster stitched together from countless corpses, dragging a massive, rusty iron hook, emerged from the magic circle.
It was [Abomination].
The overwhelming stench coming from its body was so strong that even Irina, standing to the side, couldn’t help but pinch her nose.
“Ugh… Leo, can’t you summon something from this world for once!”
“And isn’t this also an undead unit?”
“Solving problems—efficiency first.”
Leo replied blandly.
Marcus looked at the stitched-together monstrosity before him, the last light in his eyes extinguishing.
He knew he was doomed today.
“Do it.”
Leo gave the concise order.
Abomination flung out its arm, the flesh hook in its hand slicing through the air and hooking Marcus squarely in the shoulder.
“Ah—!”
A shrill scream rang out, but it was quickly cut short.
With a violent yank, Abomination dragged Marcus over without mercy.
What followed was a gut-churning sound of flesh being torn apart.
Leo watched the whole process with an expressionless face, utterly unmoved inside.
Not me, but the soldier.
It was Abomination who killed, what did it have to do with Leo?
He was just a peace-loving summoner, after all.
A few seconds later, the battle was over.
Abomination vanished into points of light, leaving only carnage behind.
The entire stone chamber finally quieted down.
Alice still stood behind Leo like an emotionless bodyguard, as if nothing at all had just happened.
Irina, however, was pale-faced, mumbling in a low voice, “Too… too brutal… but, nicely done.”
Just then, a blue screen only Irina could see suddenly popped up in front of her eyes.
[Emergency Quest: Lost Knowledge]
[Quest Description: You have discovered notes and magic books left behind by an Ancient Necromancer, which hold great significance for the history of Necromancy research.]
[Please retrieve them and deliver them to the Royal Library in the Royal Capital.]
[Quest Rewards: Experience +10,000, Gold +50, Scroll of Skill: ‘Summoning of Skeleton Soldier’ x5, ‘Summoning of Skeleton Archer’ x5, ‘Summoning of Skeleton Mage’ x5.]
Irina’s eyes widened in an instant!
Ten thousand experience!
And fifteen Scrolls of undead summoning skills!
What a windfall!
She was so excited she nearly jumped up, about to shout to Leo, “Don’t touch those books, they’re quest items,” when she saw a scene that left her dumbfounded.
She watched as Leo walked over to a Rune Wall, pressed something she couldn’t see, and with a rumbling sound, the wall opened to reveal a Secret Chamber.
On the stone platform inside the chamber were several thick books bound in human skin and a pile of yellowed parchment notes.
Without even glancing at them, Leo summoned a [Fire Elemental].
“Burn them.”
Irina’s mind blanked out on the spot.
“Huh?”
Under her dazed gaze, the Fire Elemental breathed a blast of scorching flames, instantly engulfing the precious books and notes.
The human-skin covers curled and blackened in the heat, quickly turning to ash.
“Wait, stop! No—!!!”
Irina let out a heart-wrenching scream, but by the time she rushed over, nothing but ashes remained.
She whipped around, staring at Leo in disbelief.
“You, you, you… what did you do?! That was ten thousand experience and fifteen Scrolls of Skill!”
Leo was a bit confused at first, but from her reaction, he guessed she must have triggered some kind of emergency quest.
Seeing her losing her mind, he couldn’t help but show an expression of sheer delight, even a bit “villainous.”
He reached out, touched a bit of ash on the ground with his finger, and brought it up to his face, blowing gently.
“As long as I burn all these things, then in this world, probably only I will have such comprehensive Necromancy spells.”
He lowered his voice, speaking in a deep, magnetic, villainous tone.
“Kekekekeke…”
She felt her fists clench involuntarily.
This guy did it on purpose!
“My experience! My scrolls! My precious undead babies!”
Irina was on the verge of tears, hugging her staff and squatting to draw circles on the floor.
“All right, enough with the drama.”
Leo kicked aside a pebble next to her.
“It’s just a few summoning spells. Is it really that big a deal?”
“Those were Scrolls of Skill! You can use them anytime!”
Irina protested.
“What’s so rare about those?”
Leo shrugged.
“If you want Scrolls of Skill for summoning, just get some blank scrolls and come to me. I’ll just stuff the Summoning Magic in for you, no big deal.”
“Eh?”
Irina was stunned.
“You’ve never messed around with this in a game? Magic scrolls aren’t hard to make,” Leo explained.
“And you’re a mage, so all you need is some decent paper, then look in your skill list and learn ‘Scroll Crafting’ magic,”
“It’s basically like making a folder. You give me the blank folder, I save the appropriate spell in it, and the Scroll of Skill is done.”
“Then, not just undead, except for intelligence units like Alice, but elementals, magical beasts, whatever I can summon, you can have your pick.”
Hearing this, Irina’s eyes lit up again in an instant.
So it’s like that?!
“Really? You’re not lying?”
“Why would I? Just come and try it for yourself.”
“All right!”
Irina was instantly full of energy again.
She slapped her thigh, “It’s a deal! You can’t go back on your word!”
Watching her excitement, Leo lazily raised a finger.
“Of course, but…”
“You have to pay.”
Irina’s smile froze.
“Huh? I have to pay? Aren’t we from the same hometown? Shouldn’t this sort of thing be totally free?”
“Even real brothers settle accounts.”
Leo replied with conviction.
“It costs me mental energy to inscribe the spells too, you know—it’s tiring.”
“And besides, I’m a lord now. I have a whole household to feed.”
Irina’s mouth twitched.
She felt like she’d been hit with a CPU error.
“T-Then… how much?” she asked cautiously.
Leo stroked his chin, giving her an up-and-down look, and showed a sly grin.
“Two gold coins per scroll. How about it?”
“Pfft, two thousand bucks per scroll? Why don’t you just go rob someone!”
“This is expensive? How about, since we’re so close, I give you a discount?”
“That’s still pricey! And unlike you, I don’t have that much money!”
“Is that so? Well, if you can’t pay with money, you could always pay… with your body, you know?”
“Hey, you!”
Irina’s face instantly turned bright red, from cheeks to ears.
Shamed and infuriated, she grabbed her staff.
“Leo, you pervert! I’ll knock you silly!”