novelraw Chapter 122: Exchange of Interests
Chapter 122: Exchange of Interests
When the Wind Messenger stood up again, his demeanor had clearly changed, leaving no doubt that he had become a puppet controlled by the necromancer.
"Do I still have to be the one to act in the end?"
For safety, the necromancer would definitely choose to kill Loren, and Loren, to protect himself, had to kill that necromancer.
The two Wind Messengers strode straight toward Loren. After death they had lost divine protection and could no longer ride the wind, but their bodily strength remained, which still made them a serious threat.
"Hold on, we have no conflict of interest. Why not sit down and talk?"
Loren guessed that the necromancer must be able to share senses with the corpses, otherwise they couldn't make such precise judgments.
"How do you want to talk?"
Sure enough, Loren's guess was correct. As the Wind Messenger corpse approached Loren it spoke, proving that he really could share senses with those corpses.
"I know your goal. You want revenge on the Kingdom of Anselm, and I want your necromancy. Give me the magic, and I'll help you hide so you can catch them off guard.
"With my position, delivering you to the Pope is no trouble.""Continue."
From the tone, he seemed genuinely tempted, yet the Wind Messenger corpse kept slowly closing in on Loren.
"How about this: you reveal yourself first. We'll drink while we talk."
Loren took two small bottles of wine from his clothes, handed one over, and drained the other in one gulp.
"All right!"
As he spoke, the Wind Messenger corpse slashed out with his long blade, wind swirling around the blade like a battering force.
He had never believed Loren's words;
he was simply looking for a chance to ambush him.
Unlike the other Wind Messengers, he couldn't see through Loren at all, which is why he chose such an apparently cautious approach.
Loren also knew the man wouldn't trust him;
he merely sought an opportunity to take the Antidote Amulet.
The instant the Wind Messenger corpse struck, Loren's intuition warned him. He hurled his wine bottle at the Wind Messenger;
upon contacting the blade the bottle shattered and its contents erupted into flame, instantly engulfing the Wind Messenger corpse.
The bottle contained an explosive potion, a special Third-tier concoction meant for smashing people, not drinking.
A mere Third-tier potion didn't incapacitate a Wind Messenger entirely;
he bore through the flames and still swung his blade, but Loren used that momentary delay to successfully retreat.
By then the other Wind Messenger corpse had already reached Loren's back and closed in, and he too had drawn his blade.
They had encircled Loren during their earlier conversation. Loren could not have been unprepared;
before the long blade could land, Requiem had already been at his throat.
"Throat-Severing Slash!"
The Wind Messenger corpse's head was cleaved off by Loren's blade. Against Requiem's sharpness, the Wind Messenger's flesh was no match.
"Thrust!"
As Loren's foot hit the ground, he used another martial skill. Loren instantly reappeared before the other Wind Messenger and drove his blade through the man's skull.
Because Requiem could sever souls, it had certain suppressive effects against undead. Such wounds might be trivial on living beings, but after taking Loren's two strikes, both corpses were rendered immobile.
Without hesitation Loren turned and ran. If he escaped, the necromancer would be in trouble;
if Loren delivered all this information to the Church, the necromancer's future moves would be severely constrained.
So the necromancer would never allow Loren to flee.
A blood mist began spreading toward Loren. The blood mist was indeed controlled by the necromancer, and his control speed alone wasn't as fast as when wind magic interacted with it, but it was sufficient to catch up with Loren.
Realizing he couldn't outrun the blood mist, Loren stopped and quickly took pills before the new danger arrived.
By the time the blood mist enveloped him, Loren had taken every medicine that could briefly boost his combat ability.
Visibility inside the blood mist was poor, but Loren still saw a figure in a black robe. Sure enough, the necromancer stood within the mist.
"Eroding Wind Blood Mist, Seventh-tier magic. It spreads rapidly when it meets wind and is controlled by its user, provided the user stands inside the mist.
"You've been hiding inside corpses, quietly charging the Eroding Wind Blood Mist, then using corpse explosions to make it spread quickly;
corpses also amplify its power. Am I right?"
The moment Loren saw the blood mist spread under the influence of wind magic, he identified the spell, which is why he confidently believed the Antidote Amulet would resist the mist.
"Looks like I don't need to ask why the Eroding Wind Blood Mist doesn't affect you. Since you know so much, you must also know how to defend against it."
The figure in the mist began speaking to Loren, though this time she moved away from him.
After a brief exchange she had already assessed Loren's situation: well-read, versed in some Abundant Magic, strong in close combat, and wielding an extremely sharp blade.
She also realized Loren was like her—always holding back several layers of tactics.
Now the information was far from balanced;
Loren certainly knew more about her than she did about him.
"Oh? A woman. So secretive? Wearing a black robe and hiding in the blood mist."
From the voice, Loren determined the necromancer's gender. Of course, the person before him might not be the real necromancer either.
"Our deal still stands. You give me your necromancy, and I'll let you go, and I'll even help you. Deal?"
"I agree to your deal. I hope you'll keep your promise."
The necromancer had no choice. It was obvious Loren held the advantage. Even if she fought desperately to kill Loren here, it would be pointless, so she agreed to the exchange.
She produced a box from her chest and opened it;
inside was a book.
Having spent long periods at sea, bringing a box to keep the book dry made sense.
They slowly approached, and Loren got a clear look at the necromancer's face. She had lost all semblance of humanity: a fish gill had been sewn onto her neck, scales covered her body, and the exposed flesh looked like that of someone who had drowned. No wonder she could survive underwater for so long.
Loren could hear a heartbeat, which meant the figure before him was alive.
"Give me the book, and let me leave."
The necromancer handed Loren the Magic Book;
she seemed to feel she had finished learning, so passing it on was no great inconvenience.
"Fine, we'll meet again on the rivers and roads."
Loren put the book away and walked in the opposite direction. He stowed the Magic Book and silently counted down in his mind.
"Three, two, one!"
When his hand came out from his clothes, he had produced a pistol, and he suddenly turned and fired, a precise shot blowing the necromancer's head apart.
"Still trying to trick me. I knew what you handed me would be fake... holy hell, it's real..."
Loren flipped through the Magic Book for a couple of glances and discovered it was indeed genuine.
But Loren felt no guilt, because the Eroding Wind Blood Mist had not dispersed;
the spell required continuous maintenance.
The mist did not dissipate, which meant she was not dead.