Chapter 25: A Powerful Alliance
The black-robed man’s shout from afar not only startled Linley and the necromancer grand mage but also alerted the four rank-9 experts, including Lampson, who were inside the two-story building.
“What’s going on? Why isn’t Casartes here?” Lampson shoved open the door and immediately roared in anger from the second-floor corridor.
At that moment, the other three rank-9 experts also emerged from their respective rooms.
Inside Seyler’s room.
Hearing the shout, Seyler’s expression shifted. He immediately instructed Linley beside him, “You killed one rank-9 expert, and there are five left. I’ll handle three of them, and you take the other two. Don’t tell me you can’t manage that.”
Seyler was confident enough to deal with three rank-9 experts.
“You just need to kill one,” Linley said calmly, waiting quietly for the enemies to gather outside the door. Once they did, Bebe and Hei Lu could strike from behind, while he and the necromancer grand mage attacked from the front, sandwiching them and leaving them no chance to flee.
Hearing Linley’s words, Seyler sneered, “You really do boast about anything.”
“Big brother!” The black-robed man finally spotted Casartes’s corpse and let out a mournful cry, also noticing the two people inside.
With a few whooshes of wind, the four rank-9 experts from upstairs leaped down.
When Lampson and the others saw Seyler and then Linley, their expressions shifted dramatically.
“Hello, everyone. Our last encounter wasn’t enough; let’s continue this time.” The necromancer grand mage Seyler smiled cheerfully at the five rank-9 experts before him.
“The magic-suppressing manacles are broken,” exclaimed a silver-haired rank-9 elder.
But Lampson was staring at Linley.
“Lampson, Red Archmage, long time no see.” Linley held the blackadamantine heavy sword, his dark golden pupils sweeping coldly over the group.
Most high-ranking members of the Radiant Church knew about Linley’s terrifying transformed appearance.
“Linley!”
Lampson’s voice was low, and his expression grew even darker.
“Are you the Linley who killed our six brothers?” Casartes’s brother, the black-robed man, stared at Linley in disbelief. “How is that possible?”
The necromancer grand mage Seyler looked at Linley with some surprise. The Radiant Church experts’ reaction suggested this ‘dragonman’ was quite formidable: “You’re called Linley? It seems you’re more famous than I am?”
Linley replied coldly, “Stop the nonsense. Get ready to fight.”
“My forces are already here, ready to strike.” The necromancer grand mage Seyler grinned smugly. Two golden skeletal archers appeared behind him.
Linley was startled.
He had heard of ‘necromantic summoning’ in necromancy, but this was his first time seeing it. These two golden skeletal archers exuded an aura no weaker than rank-9 experts.
“Linley, you seem pretty impressive. Let’s see who kills more,” Seyler said with a smug smile. At the same time, three powerful golden-furred zombies, each three meters tall, materialized at the doorway. Their eyes were a vivid green.
Two golden skeletal archers and three golden-furred zombies—each possessed the strength of a rank-9 expert. That made five rank-9 experts in total.
Lampson glanced at Seyler, then at Linley. Finally, gritting his teeth, he ordered in a low voice, “Retreat, let’s go quickly.” Lampson hated giving this command.
They had sacrificed too much to capture Seyler.
Moreover, if they could obtain the necromancy cultivation methods from Seyler, the Radiant Church could secretly train a batch of necromancers.
“Bebe, Hei Lu, attack,” Linley transmitted through his soul.
“Kill.”
The necromancer grand mage Seyler commanded coldly, continuing to chant a magic spell silently. Though the golden skeletal archers and golden-furred zombies had rank-9 strength, they were only at the early rank-9 stage.
He, Seyler, still had his two proudest summoned creatures.
He had expended great effort in the necromantic realm to subdue those two. Seyler’s lips moved continuously as he chanted the summoning incantation. These two necromantic creatures were far harder to summon than the previous five.
“Quick, the corpse dragon is about to appear.” Two special executors, two ascetics, and one Red Archmage all rushed frantically toward the courtyard exit.
But at that moment—
“Whoosh! Whoosh!”
Two golden arrows tore through the air, shooting directly at the two ascetics. Simultaneously, two black figures suddenly emerged from the courtyard outside.
“Lampson, none of you will escape.” Linley’s cold voice rang out as he shot diagonally upward like lightning.
Linley was incredibly fast. At peak rank-9, he inherited the speed advantage of the Spiked-Back Adamantine Dragon. With the auxiliary spell ‘Swift’ and leveraging the power of heaven and earth, his speed far surpassed that of the two special executors, let alone the Red Archmage and the two ascetics.
“Roar~~”
The black-striped cloud leopard, Hei Lu, lunged recklessly at one of the special executors, clawing and biting. The executor, terrified, swung his sword desperately at the leopard.
“Ah!” The executor’s head was crushed into pulp by the leopard’s claws, while his full-powered sword strike failed to harm the beast at all.
“Hmph.” The black-striped cloud leopard snorted disdainfully.
Back when Linley was at peak rank-9, even with his blackadamantine heavy sword, he couldn’t harm the leopard. It was only through the combined use of the gravity spell and wind wings that he forced it to submit.
In terms of defense, the leopard surpassed Linley, falling just slightly short of Bebe.
“Slash, slash!”
Bebe, catching the executor off guard, tore through his defenses with two claw strikes, then plunged a claw into his chest, crushing his heart.
In an instant, two magical beasts killed two rank-9 experts.
“Roar~~” The black-striped cloud leopard turned to attack the nearby ascetic, who was completely stunned. Two magical beasts had suddenly appeared and killed two special executors.
Bebe attacked the other ascetic as well.
Both ascetics and Lampson were utterly shocked. They were skilled in light magic, but casting spells took time, and instant spells couldn’t stop such beasts.
“Lampson!”
Linley roared, wielding his blackadamantine heavy sword like a demon god. The sword came crashing down from above, causing the very space to tremble.
Lampson, horrified, felt as if the space above him was sealed shut.
“Linley!”
In the moment before death, Lampson recalled the first time he saw Linley—at the auction of the stone sculpture ‘Awakening.’ Back then, Linley was a bright, talented youth. He never imagined that a few years later, Linley would become so terrifying, now coming to take his life.
“Thud.”
With Lampson’s unwilling gaze, Linley’s blackadamantine heavy sword struck his body. At that moment, Linley’s fragmented insights into the laws of the earth and the use of the blackadamantine heavy sword coincidentally manifested.
Like the pulse of the earth.
A heavy vibration, impossible to resist. The terrifying force, channeled through the blackadamantine heavy sword, transformed into a vibration akin to the earth’s ‘pulse,’ transmitting directly into Lampson’s body.
Lampson’s body trembled like a sieve, then collapsed limply to the ground. There wasn’t a single wound on his surface, but blood oozed from his mouth, nose, and ears.
If someone cut open Lampson’s belly, they would find his internal organs reduced to mush.
By then, Bebe and Hei Lu had also killed the other two ascetics. The timing of this battle was too perfect. Seyler’s summoned necromantic creatures, combined with Linley’s intimidation, had frightened Lampson and the others into fleeing. Just as they were about to leap over the courtyard wall, they were ambushed by Bebe and Hei Lu, two terrifying magical beasts.
The outcome was predictable.
Bebe, Hei Lu, and Linley easily killed all five rank-9 experts. Including the one killed earlier, that made six.
“Roar~~”
At the center of the courtyard, space churned, and a dimensional rift opened. A black dragon’s head emerged from it.
A necromantic creature—the corpse dragon!
“This, this…” Seyler stared at Linley, along with the black shadowmouse and the black-striped cloud leopard Hei Lu, completely stunned and speechless.
He had been so arrogant earlier, saying Linley should handle two rank-9 experts while he handled three.
But his necromantic creatures hadn’t killed anyone, while Linley and his magical beasts had slain all the enemies.
“Mr. Seyler, there’s no need to summon that corpse dragon, is there? Unless you want it to spar with Bebe or Hei Lu?” Linley said calmly.
The necromancer grand mage Seyler’s gaunt face twitched, and he sent the corpse dragon back to the necromantic realm.
“Linley, your two magical beasts are impressive, but my corpse dragon isn’t bad either. And I don’t just have the corpse dragon—I also have an ancient corpse demon,” Seyler sneered. “You should know that as long as the necromantic realm exists, a necromancer’s forces are endless.”
Linley was genuinely startled by Seyler’s words.
But Seyler knew in his heart that subduing necromantic creatures from the necromantic realm wasn’t easy—it had to be done one by one. For instance, to subdue that corpse dragon, he had lost quite a few necromantic creatures.
“Clean up this courtyard quickly. Don’t let the Radiant Church discover what happened here,” Linley said directly.
Seyler ordered his necromantic creatures.
The two golden skeletal archers and three golden-furred zombies obediently cleaned up the bodies. They worked efficiently, and soon all traces of the corpses vanished from the courtyard.
“Linley.” Seyler looked at Linley with interest. “Judging by Lampson and the others, you seem quite famous. Can you tell me about yourself?”
Linley glanced at Seyler. “Shut up and be quiet.”
Seyler saw the emotionless dark golden pupils in Linley’s eyes but laughed anyway. “Linley, it seems you have a deep grudge against the Radiant Church, don’t you?”
“So what if I do?” Linley replied this time.
“What grudge?” Seyler pressed.
“To the death, with no quarter,” Linley said in a low voice, as chilling as the winds of the necromantic realm.
Seyler’s eyes lit up, and he said excitedly, “Haha, good! Linley, you’ve got some strength. How about this—you help me, and we’ll take on the Radiant Church together?”
“Help you? With you in charge?” Linley looked at Seyler.
Seyler had to admit that being stared at by Linley’s dark golden pupils made him uneasy.
“No leader or follower—we’ll just join forces,” Seyler said. As a necromancer, his close-combat abilities were weak, and summoning necromantic creatures took time.
Linley’s dark golden pupils fixed on Seyler in silence for a long moment.
“Alright, I agree,” Linley finally said. He acknowledged that cooperating with this necromancer would strengthen their side.
Seyler was overjoyed. “Haha, that’s great! With the two of us working together, what’s there to fear? Hightens—one day, I’ll kill that old bastard Hightens. Linley, who do you want to kill in the Radiant Church?” Seyler assumed Linley harbored a deep hatred for a specific person in the church.
“Who?”
Linley shook his head. “I want to uproot the entire Radiant Church.”
“The Radiant Church?” Seyler was genuinely taken aback, then burst into laughter. “Haha, how thrilling! Good… then we’ll kill Hightens together and destroy the Radiant Church.”
Linley remained expressionless.
“Let’s go.” Linley led Bebe and Hei Lu toward the exit.
“Where to?” Seyler immediately followed.
“Do you have a destination?” Linley asked.
“No,” Seyler shook his head.
Linley said indifferently, “Then from today, just follow me.” With that, Linley, Bebe, and Hei Lu disappeared into the darkness. Seyler stood there, muttering to himself, “It seems life with this Linley is going to be interesting.” The over-eight-hundred-year-old necromancer grand mage then followed Linley away.
PS (The following is important)
Today’s update is complete. Tomorrow, Tomato will also update three chapters to make up for it. Tomato needs surging passion now, so I’ve decided to go wild!
Here’s the deal.
Starting now, the current monthly votes are 3721. From now until midnight tomorrow, for every additional 100 monthly votes, Tomato will add one extra day of bursts.
Tomorrow’s three chapters don’t count as bursts; bursts start the day after. From the day after, it’s three chapters per day.
If we get 500 more monthly votes, Tomato will burst for five consecutive days; 600 votes, six consecutive days… no upper limit. During the burst period, it’s three chapters per day, and I’ll keep going.