32. UNINVITED GUEST

So Zachery shook himself out of his reverie and gazed appreciatively at the [Soul Devouring Art]. If he could truly devour souls and gain strength without bothering his thoughts and soul. This skill was the greatest of the best.

As the final spell appeared in the grimoire, Zachery flipped through it. There was no individual in this spell, only an army. An army of zombies, ghouls, metal slaves, and other undeads were marching across a battlefield.

When the zombie army beheld the bodies of their slaughter, they were overcome by an uncontrollable need to consume. They became gluttons of flesh as they ate without regard for their surroundings.

After their meal, they were all covered with a fleshy membrane covering that was filled with some type of super liquid.

They emerged from their fleshly cocoon with renewed vigor after the process.

Zombies' broken holes were stitched up and a fresh layer of muscle filled with strength was added. As they evolved, the metal slaves' metal bodies were refined into a stronger form, and the ghouls increased with more muscles and strength.

Zachery merely maintained his surprise at what this technique meant as he closed the grimoire, which faded out of existence.

Zachery took hesitant steps down the stairs, a million thoughts flashing across his mind.

"Master," Zachery was taken aback because he was lost in his own world. He didn't notice Cornelius was by his side.

Zachery looked at Cornelius and indicated for him to continue as they both exited the dim room after Zachery had taken the book.

"Master, this palace is more than simply a place to hide. It is also not a temporary solution for our stay, The Legion, My Lord." Cornelius moved slowly as he communicated something vital to Zachery.

"I developed this masterpiece while I was at my most insane. What the maddeness had built in. I just do not know what genuine capabilities this palace has." Corenilus' head was hung with some type of shame by this point, and Zachery believed it was possible for a creator to be unaware of the potential of the artifact he produced.

"As a result, the palace may react at the most unexpected times..." Cornelius' voice trailed off, and Zachery continued his statement.

"Don't be concerned, Cornelius. Thank you for the caution; I will remember it. Now I'm going to leave. But don't worry, we'll meet together soon." Zachery smiled as he tapped the old man on the shoulder.

This old guy treated Zachery with such dignity that he felt helpless at times.

"We will patiently wait until you return." Because it is our duty as The Legion to keep the darkness at bay." Cornelius appeared to be peering into the emptiness in the last sentence, looking into the darkness with deadly accuracy.

Zachery squinted his eyes as he also looked with the help of the void.

It was just plain void.

Just plain blankness that was staring at you.

Zachery squinted his eyes as he felt a chill run down his spine even though he hadn't seen anything.

Something was there.

Something was staring at the palace with rapt attention.

It was almost as if you knew you had a stalker, only in Zachery's case, the stalker was in the void.

Zachery frowned and squinted his eyes. He hadn't even seen anything, but he was acting strangely; what was it that was staring at his palace?

The entire palace trembled as something sinister rumbled. Zachery, with his 60 years of experience in the strangeness of the Axis, instinctively knew one thing.

Something Ancient was coming.

No, the Ancients of Ancient was coming.

An Outer was coming.

"CORNELIUS, GET MASTER OUT OF HERE!!!" A shout from several sides with multiple voices bellowed out with power.

Krom, Luther, Alecna, and others yelled as Cornelius glanced at Zachery with a determined gaze, and Zachery groaned and nodded.

He was the most vulnerable piece of baggage here. They'd never be able to fight at full strength if he was here. He was confident that he could bring 120% with his superior analysis and multiple counter-attacks.

But that was only in theory.

He would go insane if he ever saw an Outer in his current state. Outer's had a massive store of existential power, as previously stated.

The sheer existence fueled with power would drive a feeble mind like Zachery's insane within a millisecond.

So, Zachery looked at Cornelius, who was now sweating due to Zachery's silence, nodded at him, and vanished out of thin air.

Cornelius breathed a huge sigh of relief as he stumped down on a magically appeared chair. He had dodged a bullet right now.

He suddenly looked upwards at the ceiling with a huge grin in his place.

His hammer's playtime had come.

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Zachery returned to the real world, and he watched Edda eating chocolate flakes and watching TV with rapt attention. When Edda noticed her father looking at her, she smiled the best smile she could give.

But she didn't know that her smile would reveal the flakes that stuck on her teeth, creating an adorable sight for Zachery that reduced the gloominess in his heart.

Zachery chuckled at his daughter's antics as he ruffled her hair. Edda smiled as she enjoyed her father giving her attention.

Zachery looked at the TV channels rapidly changing due to Edda's supposed favorite cartoon series ending.

Zachery squinted his eyes suddenly as he remembered the savage thoughts that affected him when he got infected with the X-12 virus. 'Did she truly try to kill me? Or was that an accident?'

The previous 'accident' where Zachery literally died was because of the 'inefficient' overlooking of the maintenance team from the company, Sky Will Co.

And the CEO of the company was Elsa Nicol. A very close acquaintance of Zachery. 'No, she doesn't hate me that much, but I can't completely dismiss the thought too.' Zachery grunted as he further sunk into the sofa.

'Anyway, today will be dedicated to Edda. I have to give her the best birthday ever. Money and all type of currency would lose their significance after today. So, whatever pitiful savings I have. I have to make it up to her.' Zachery nodded resolutely inwardly as he watched her daughter watching TV.

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My dear friends, I have to inform you of the reason why the updates were irregular.

I have caught dengue and chicken pox back to back. I have been cleared of dengue, but chicken pox is still here. So, writing is a bit uncomfortable with all these pimples in my hands.

But I will try my best.

So, all I could ask for is to support this novel. If you could, I would rest assured that my effort even in my weakest times was fruitful!