Chapter 12 The Departed Souls

"Roar...!"

As life ebbed away, the deceased opened their eyes and let out a beast-like growl. Their eyes began to dim like dust-covered glass beads, the power of death swept through their bodies with the speed of lightning, granting them a new life.

"Good, it seems everything went smoothly."

Looking at those who had risen, now turned into half-beast undead, Zane nodded in approval. This trip was indeed not in vain, not only did he take care of a Brain Eater, but he also gained a few subordinates. Although they were hardly of any use, it was still better than nothing.

As for that half-dark elf...

Zane glanced at the still unconscious Verna but said nothing, quickly turning to walk towards the crystal forest ahead. For him, the most important thing was the reward here. The dark elf lab rat would have plenty of opportunities for research later, there was no need to bother with her for now.

It wasn't until he reached the crystal forest that Zane realized it wasn't naturally formed. Beneath the enclosed crystal forest, one could see a structure resembling an altar. And it was the Brain Eater that had been guarding the altar, launching an attack on Zane and the others.

"This is more like it..."

Seeing the altar, Zane nodded in approval. Brain Eaters are a type of demonic creature that mostly lives in bottomless abysses, only coming to the surface if summoned. Zane couldn't understand why any Brain Eater would want to stay in the gloomy region, a place where even birds wouldn't shit, especially since it had been forced into hibernation due to a lack of food. If it weren't for those dwarves messing around, this creature would probably have slept till the end of the world.

Now, it seemed clear that the Brain Eater was summoned here to guard something.

The altar wasn't very high, and it didn't take long for Zane and Enya to reach the top. As they stepped onto the top, a bizarre scene unfolded before their eyes.

In the center of the altar, on a stone chair, sat a skeleton in tattered robes, its left hand resting on the arm of the chair, and its right hand tightly clutching a book with a black cover. Around it, one could see a stone table and various magical artifacts, worn and damaged by time. Judging by their condition, besides the ones originally here, the rest were probably the Brain Eater's trophies.

"It seems it was a mage in life..."

Approaching the skeleton, Zane squinted, carefully examining the unfortunate soul before him, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes. It was no wonder, after all, this skeleton was indeed quite strange.

Typically, bones are white. But the bones of this skeleton were very peculiar; its left half was no different from normal white bones, but the right half of its body was completely crystal. At first glance, it looked as if someone had crafted an exquisitely detailed human skeletal model out of crystal.

Had it been those ignorant adventurers, they might have been somewhat wary by now. However, neither Zane nor Enya took it seriously. Whether it was Zane, with his vast knowledge, or Enya, being an undead herself, both could tell at a glance that this unfortunate soul was dead beyond dead, and the skeleton before them was merely a piece of junk.

So, without any hesitation, Zane boldly walked up to the skeleton, picked up the book in its hand, and started flipping through it. And as he turned the first page, a series of beautiful yet somewhat unfamiliar characters immediately caught his eye.

"The year of the Frost, December 1st..."

This is the common language.

Seeing this, Zane glanced at the skeleton. He had learned much in the libraries of the Demon Palace, and he recognized at once that the script recorded in the book was the standard common language used by the humans of this world. That is to say, it was almost certain that this skeleton was once a human.

And the records that followed proved Zane's judgment.

According to this diary, the skeleton's former self was a noble named "Landon Draco." His story wasn't much to talk about, similar to the backgrounds of those pitiful protagonists in the web novels Zane had read in his previous life. It started with a young, beautiful childhood sweetheart fiancée and a happy family. Later, the family faced turmoil, the fiancée was taken by minotaurs, the family fortune seized, and the noble title stolen. Barely escaping with his life under the protection of his retainers, it was then the typical web novel protagonist's journey of defying fate...

Learning magic to increase his strength, encountering his second love in the process, adventuring around to accumulate experience, leveling up, gathering allies to seek revenge, and so on and so forth. Following the web novel formula, the protagonist eventually avenges his enemies and lives happily ever after with everyone.

However, reality and ideals are often different.

Landon's cousin, who had stolen his title, was no fool. While Landon was out leveling up and planning to defy fate, his cousin also leveraged his own power to curry favor and amassed overwhelming authority. By the time Landon returned triumphantly with his allies to settle accounts, his cousin had become the second most powerful person in the country.

Naturally, Landon's quest for revenge failed. His allies were eradicated by the king's forces, and Landon himself was nearly destroyed by a legendary mage summoned by his cousin, barely surviving thanks to the desperate rescue by his second love.

In the end, Landon fell into darkness, becoming a necromancer and resolved to turn himself into a lich to completely annihilate that country. However, the legendary mage continued to pursue him, forcing Landon to seek a quiet place to recuperate.

It seems this is why he designed the fake tomb.

In theory, with Landon's magical strength, becoming a lich wasn't difficult. However, our protagonist had big ideas; he didn't want to become just any lich but sought to innovate by using crystals to neutralize his body and become a demi-god lich. This way, almost no one could stop his path of revenge.

But as is well known, whether you're the protagonist isn't determined by whether you have adventures, but by whether you're lucky enough to always make the right gamble... Unfortunately, this guy lost his bet.

So, what followed was simple. Life is full of choices, and sometimes one wrong step can ruin everything, as evidenced by this half-finished skeleton.

"Haste makes waste."

After finishing the diary, Zane sighed. Landon was also to blame; with his magical strength, if he had calmed down and taken his time, he would have eventually succeeded. But his biggest problem was impatience, for his enemies were humans, who at most could live a hundred years. Landon could certainly take his time to recover and cultivate, then seek revenge when his powers were fully realized—by then, perhaps his enemies' great-grandchildren would have been born.

So, in a rush for time, Landon had no choice but to gamble.

In a way, this is also the tragedy of humanity.

A clichéd, poorly-ended web novel.

This was Zane's only comment on Landon's diary. However, the last record in the diary piqued Zane's interest.

"...My gamble has failed, death is approaching, and this is my fate. I know my days are numbered, but if someone sees everything I've recorded, I hope you can help fulfill my wish... As a reward, I will give you everything I own..."

"Huh...!"

Just as Zane finished reading this sentence, suddenly, a ghastly scream erupted from the book, and immediately after, a black misty arm shot out from between the pages, reaching for Zane!

"Hmph!"

Seeing the arm, Zane's expression remained unchanged. With a cold snort, he swiftly reached out with his free left hand, grabbed the black arm firmly, and with a tug, pulled a black figure out of the book!

It was a baby, or at least it looked like one. At first glance, it resembled the malnourished refugee babies Zane had seen on TV, with thin arms and legs, a disproportionately large head, and the entire body shrouded in black mist. Only its eyes were wide open, looking particularly frightening.

And at this moment, the baby stared at Zane in disbelief.

"You, how could you...!?"

"Not a bad idea, but... it's just a good idea..."

Facing the surprised expression of the soul before him, Zane shook his head helplessly. He, of course, knew what this guy was trying to do. In fact, just before the arm reached out, Zane knew there must be something fishy about this book. Think about it, it's been hundreds of years, even the robes on the skeleton had become tattered. Yet this diary, which couldn't even be considered a magical tome, was still as good as new—how could there not be something fishy?

And the moment the arm stretched out, Zane knew what was happening. Landon, the necromancer, indeed failed to turn into a lich, but he didn't truly die; instead, he hid his soul in this diary. Whoever finished reading the diary would have their soul appear and be linked to the reader's soul through a contract.

Once connected by the contract, the two souls could never be separated. Then, whether to control the person as a puppet or directly devour their soul would depend on Landon's wishes.

Admittedly, Landon had a good idea, just like his plan to use crystals to create a demi-god lich.

However, unfortunately, as Zane said, it was just a good idea.

Had it been someone else, they might have fallen for Landon's trick. But the problem is, Zane is a demon! In this continent, contracts are either empowered by divine or demonic forces. As a necromancer, Landon couldn't possibly seek help from gods, so his contract power naturally came from demons. And Zane is of the demonic royal family; using demonic power to bind a demon king, isn't that asking for trouble?

"Please, spare me... spare me..."

At this moment, the baby was trembling with fear, its face showing terror. It wasn't stupid; the opponent had effortlessly broken its contract power and even bound its soul. This wasn't something just anyone could do!

"Sir, please, if you spare my life, I am willing to serve you, and also, my treasures will..."

But before Landon could finish, Zane interrupted him.

"Not a bad idea."

"Eh?"

Facing the puzzled soul before him, Zane slightly smiled and pushed up his glasses.

"I said your idea wasn't bad, still trying to play tricks at this time. But unfortunately, I don't need you to tell me anything..."

Saying this, Zane looked forward.

"Enya, it's up to you now."

"Understood, Master."

Not knowing when, Enya had silently arrived behind Landon. Upon hearing Zane's command, the girl simply smiled gently.

The next moment, her delicate fingers mercilessly pierced into the opponent's head.