Chapter 188: From This Day On, a Chatty Little Skeleton Appeared in Dawn City’s Plaza

Witherbone stepped into the Spatial Gate and in the blink of an eye appeared outside Green City.

The deep blue glow under his hooded cloak cast a lingering gaze at the sprawling city behind him, crouched like a giant beast.

"Viscount Berna, you really are something. I didn't expect you people would actually dare to target a transcendent being."

"Truly surprising."

"Hehehe, I hope you can escape the pursuit of the transcendent."

Witherbone's tone didn't reveal the slightest displeasure at being used as a pawn. Instead, there was an unmistakable glee in his voice.

When Viscount Berna's presence appeared in the City Lord's Mansion, he immediately understood what had happened. As an undead who had lived for who knows how many years, he saw through these schemes and plots with ease.

He had already sensed that something was off during this operation. He'd calculated that Viscount Berna might have other plans, but he hadn't expected such boldness: attacking the City Lord's Mansion to plunder a transcendent's wealth.

"The Dark Pact will be destroyed starting today," Witherbone floated midair, his voice tinged with a bit of reluctance.

Now that they had offended a transcendent, the Dark Pact had lost all ground for survival within Green City.

"To lose a plaything just like that is really boring. I heard that the Nolan Empire's capital is full of underground organizations. Maybe I should go take a look."

The undead necromancer Witherbone, with endless life, loved nothing more than joining various dark forces. Unfortunately, those forces never outlived him. He had witnessed the destruction of countless underground organizations.

Yet he never seemed to tire of it.

It seemed that only among humans could he feel the meaning of being alive. He had lived far too long, so long that time itself had lost all meaning to him.

"Lord Witherbone, please wait. I believe the Dark Pact is not finished yet."

Just as Witherbone was about to leave, a voice from below interrupted his movement.

He turned his head slightly, and out from the trees stepped a tall, strikingly handsome man.

His elegant aristocratic bearing was like a bright moon in the dark, truly captivating.

"You are... that vampire servant beside Emi?" Witherbone's deep gaze flickered when he saw Li De, his tone laced with irritation.

"A mere Level 13 vampire? Who gave you the courage to speak like that to the great Lord Witherbone?"

"Do you not realize that the great Lord Witherbone is the Vice President of the Dark Pact, someone of higher status than your master Emi?"

"Wretched servant, now kneel and beg the great Lord Witherbone for mercy. Otherwise, I won't mind grinding your skull into powder for alchemical materials."

Li De couldn't even get a word in, utterly speechless. This chatterbox, can't he let me say something?

"I..."

"Hmph, lowly vampire, it's too late now. I will make you understand that you should never offend the great Lord Witherbone."

"You..."

"Don't even think about begging. Allow me to bestow upon you death and destruction."

Li De, thoroughly fed up, glared at the pompous Witherbone floating in the air, then turned to look behind him.

"Ready? Do it!"

Witherbone froze, still not reacting, when a figure moving at a speed of a hundred blades per second lunged straight toward the sky.

Just as he instinctively tried to use spatial magic, the space around him instantly froze.

A Spatial Dimensional Anchor locked down the surrounding space completely.

Witherbone's position was less than a hundred blades high. That figure closed the distance in just a second.

He finally got a clear look: it was a woman, wearing a short leather skirt and jacket, eyes full of wildness.

Magic Shield, Magic Shield.

Witherbone was only Level 14, but he used the unique talent of a Level 15 caster, Dual Casting, and instantly cast two shields on himself.

But it was too late.

A giant sword, glowing faintly, swept down. Witherbone, at Level 14, stood no chance against Betty at Level 16.

Zzz!

The two layers of Magic Shield were like nothing at all and were instantly shattered.

The blade of the giant sword shifted slightly, and Betty smashed Witherbone's body with the flat of her sword, like hitting a baseball. Bang! The body beneath the cloak was sent crashing down from the sky.

At that moment, another burly figure shot up from the ground.

The Son of the North, Grote.

This towering warrior flapped his massive bat wings and took off precisely at the spot where Witherbone was falling. His giant sword slammed viciously into Witherbone's waist.

Bang! A home run.

The skeletal body beneath the black cloak, originally plummeting downward, was smashed back up into the sky.

Just then, Betty's figure, descending from above, happened to meet Witherbone as he soared upward again. A wild glint flashed in her eyes, and she brought the sword crashing down once more.

Bang!

Witherbone's body was like a baseball, getting smashed back and forth between Grote and Betty multiple times within just a few seconds.

Finally, after Betty dropped back to the ground, this little game ended.

Witherbone's body fell fast, the roaring wind making his wide black cloak whip wildly.

Rumble!

Even from over a hundred blades away, Li De could hear the booming sound of Witherbone slamming into the ground.

At that moment, Emi, who had been hidden in the shadows, sprang into action. In less than two seconds after Witherbone hit the ground, Emi appeared right beside him.

He clamped a pair of shackles forged from Anti-magic Stone tightly around Witherbone's wrists, at the same time dispelling the magic around him. His hands moved in a blur, and in the blink of an eye, he had stripped every item from Witherbone's body.

When Li De arrived at Emi's side, he saw the true form of this undead necromancer for the first time.

Witherbone, truly just withered bones.

Lying on the grass, a full skeletal frame made entirely of white bones stood out starkly. A ghostly blue soul fire flickered inside the skull, rising and falling erratically, as if weakened from the heavy damage.

Betty and Grote, the two well-coordinated Northern warriors, also walked over to Li De, looking curiously at the undead necromancer.

It was their first time seeing an undead mage.

"Legend has it that undead necromancers are created from corpses. As long as their soul fire doesn't extinguish, they will never die," Emi said with a hint of awe in his eyes. "These beings have no concept of time. Witherbone existed even before I joined the Dark Pact. No one knows how long he has lived."

Li De stroked his chin. A Level 14 undead creature, and on top of that, one that owned a Bone Dragon, was undoubtedly a valuable prize.

But an undead necromancer wasn't human; he couldn't be turned into a vampire. This raised a crucial question: how to handle this prize.

"Emi, do you know how to deal with an undead necromancer? Or is there a way to control him?"

Emi thought for a moment, then gave a wry smile.

"Lord Progenitor, undead necromancers are extremely strange and unpredictable. Their soul fire holds who-knows-what inside.

So, normally, control methods like Soul Contracts are useless because they can easily abandon the split-off part of their soul fire."

Li De glanced at the two Northern warriors. Betty shrugged and spread her hands, making it clear that while she was good at fighting, figuring out how to control an undead necromancer was way out of her league.

Grote shook his head without hesitation; this former Son of the North obviously didn't have a clue about such matters.

"Is there a way to get his Bone Dragon?"

Li De didn't care much about Witherbone himself. What he really coveted was the powerful Bone Dragon, that was the true treasure.

A Level 14 undead necromancer who could suppress five Level 15 top fighters owed his strength entirely to that Bone Dragon.

"Hehehe, foolish vampire, to think you can get my little treasure. What an ignorant thought."

Bound tightly on the ground, Witherbone suddenly spoke up.

Li De looked at him with great curiosity. That bony skull opened and closed as he spoke, and the voice seemed to be produced by vibrating air directly, not by vocal cords like a human's.

"Oh?" Li De nodded without saying more.

Witherbone, completely restrained by chains made of Anti-magic Stone, couldn't muster any magic at all.

He turned his skull around, his hollow eye sockets flashing with a ghostly blue light. Li De's lack of questions seemed to annoy him.

"Hmph, ignorant vampire, my little treasure has already fused with my soul fire. As long as I die, you can forget about getting the Bone Dragon!"

Li De nodded again.

"Oh."

Witherbone was instantly furious.

"Don't doubt me, vampire! Don't use your ignorant brain to imagine the greatness of Lord Witherbone, I…"

"Oh, I believe you."

Witherbone's soul fire flared wildly with rage; Emi even wondered if it might ignite his skull.

"Take him back to Dawn City and lock him up. Better yet, put him in the plaza so all the residents can admire our prize. Maybe they'll take an interest in this little skeleton," Li De said, not even bothering to mention getting the Bone Dragon, knowing full well it would be pointless.

Threatening an undead creature was the dumbest thing one could do. These beings had lived who-knows-how-long and cared nothing about death.

In fact, in the belief system of undead creatures, the concept of death didn't even exist. To them, death was merely a kind of slumber.

They were a very peculiar kind of entity, hardly even life in the usual sense.

So Li De preferred to have his mages research how to forcibly seize the Bone Dragon from the necromancer, rather than rely on empty threats.

Witherbone was instantly enraged by this.

"Curse you, vampire! I am a great undead necromancer, not a little skeleton, not!"

"Lord Witherbone will make you taste the flames of a dragon's breath, I swear!"

Li De completely ignored the blabbering necromancer. Although they had captured him, figuring out how to turn this prize into something useful for Dawn City still required serious study.

"Emi, once the Dawn Mage Tower is built, set up a research branch focused on undead magic. I want thorough research on these undead creatures."

After saying that, he glanced at Witherbone, who was still rambling on.

"As for this guy, keep him in Dawn Plaza for now and let the residents see what an undead creature looks like."

Catching prey but not knowing how to make use of it really was a pain.

But thanks to Li De's decision, from that day on, Dawn City's plaza gained a curious new feature: a chatty little skeleton who constantly boasted about his powerful Bone Dragon.

The residents of Dawn City scoffed at his claims, often mocking him for fun, and their peaceful lives became a lot more entertaining.