by K R Zax
And talking about blood, I could see mine seeping back towards the wound. And for some reason it almost appeared to be black.
OK, it seems that I am going to be fine, because even if I don’t, there’s nothing I can do about it. So, let’s concentrate on those disgusting people.
Oh, man. I will make them pay! From now on, every Murim is a target. How dared they almost kill me, right after ruining my happy event?
Well, there was fault on my side too. If I used the space holes to redirect the attacks, this wouldn’t happen. And the reason for not using it, was me being a cheap asshole: ‘Oh, that spell uses a lot of mana, and I would like to save some so that I could play with Aliona when I get back.’
What a moron. I almost died because I hated to drink the mana recovery potions.
“Who are you?” Several soldiers rushed into the room and looked around. “Where is the High Priestess? You! What did you do with her?”
“Sir, that is Marques Miller. The Warden Empress told us that he would keep an eye on the Priestess.” Another soldier came to my rescue.
“Kriss! you’re hurt.” A pretty woman in white robes, who entered after the soldiers, approached worriedly when she saw me lying against the wall. “Light Heal!”
Her light magic washed over me as she touched the area around my wound. The Dark magic retreated and my flesh regenerated at max speed until there wasn’t even a scar left.
“Ah!” She groaned and fell on the floor, exhausted.
“You shouldn't push yourself,” I told the girl and threw her a blanket that I took out of my Storage. She really did a great job. Perhaps I should try to recruit her.
“I didn’t… Uh… You sucked my mana...” She coughed and then rolled on her back, breathing deeply. Her body was covered in sweat and I felt guilty.
“Is she alright?” I asked a man who also seemed to be a priest, when he started checking her condition with his light magic.
“Yes, she appears to be fine,” he assured me. “You are a Dark Mage, right? Dark and Light Magic don’t go hand in hand in some cases. I’ve heard of this kind of thing happening before.”
“Ah, sorry,” I took several mana potions on the floor. “Please take this.”
“What are you doing, my lord?” A soldier asked me when I leaned back against the wall with my eyes closed. “If you are still feeling unwell...”
“Screw that!” The one in charge was frustrated. “You should tell us what happened to the High Priestess. You saw something, right?!”
“That is correct,” I tried to find the whereabouts of my zombie. “The shitty guys took her through a portal. That is a guess, actually, since I was only able to see something that looked like a portal closing. I was too damaged to follow their moves. Anyway, they either have a Dark Mage or a magic item. Though, I think it was the latter.” If it was a Dark Mage powerful enough to open a portal, he should’ve been able to fight me, instead of the Fire Mage. And they wouldn’t be pressured to use a powerful magic item that shot laser beams.
God, I want that thing. I could fight a Wyvern with that.
My zombies weren’t sharp, I realized that a long time ago. But being stupid had advantages as well. You only had to follow orders. The little mouse I forced to follow the guys was still tracking them.
They were in the open somewhere in the south, but the distance was so great that I spent too much mana to only look through the undead’s eyes.
“Crap.” I reported my findings to the soldiers. “They are somewhere south, but I can’t pinpoint the exact location from here. All that I could see was a camp with about fifty people, maybe more, in a place that looked like a desert. Are there a lot of such places inside the Empire?”
I hope that they didn’t cross the border, then I would have to start a war to get her back.
Hmm, I should start a war regardless of where they are, that should be way too profitable for me.
“Yes, there are several such regions in the Empire, but it is most likely the one bordering two Murim kingdoms south from here, I think.” One of the soldiers shrugged his shoulders. “The Murims fight against each other regularly and their borders and kingdoms change names frequently, so it is a waste of time trying to remember how they were called.”
“Damn it!” The one in charge stomped his foot. “We can’t even send a Wyvern! Our knight would need a couple of days to reach that area, and they will be gone by the time he arrives.”
“Well, then. See you later.” I said while opening a Portal to the forest. The soldiers were about to stop me, babbling about how the Empress will be mad and stuff, so I had to put an Air Shield between us. I will just explain things to Nalisia later.
There isn’t much time to lose. Once I was outside Tsarigrad, I called a couple thousand of my zombies, and drank some mana potions while I waited for them.
Huh? When I looked at the hole in my clothes, I saw that it was repairing itself, just like it happened with my flesh, before the priestess healed me. But once again, it was using a lot of my mana.
Sigh. At least I won’t have to patch it up. Despite its failure to protect me against the laser attack, it was still a great piece of equipment. Well, now I know its limits.
When my zombies arrived, I put them all inside my Storage, except for one.
The undead Wyvern lowered himself so I could mount it, then I had to use my Dark Tentacles and some rope to make improvised reins.
Shit, I should’ve borrow a saddle and other equipment.
Ugh! I don’t want to waste more time than necessary, so this will have to do.
The night air was a bit chilly the further up I went, and it was difficult to breathe as the Wyvern flew at full speed. I was pissed, but then I used my Air Magic to make a Barrier around myself to protect me against the wind.
So, I will need masks, googles, riding equipment. And I should consult with the Wyvern Knight. Maybe he could give me some more tips.
I could see campfires and caravans as I flew over the south road. The traffic here was several times bigger than on the road for Tolia. And there were also more villages and small towns along the way.
The south looked prosperous, and that was exactly the kind of thing I wanted for my territory. Along with a Mega Brothel.
I drank some wine to wash the terrible taste of the mana potions, and then I concentrated on my little mouse. His presence was clearer now, and I could see more details of the Murim camp.
Saril was tied to a stake, but she seemed to be fine. Um, her expression is a bit unnatural for that situation, so maybe they gave her some drugs.
Around the aroused elf girl, there were tents and a couple of bonfires. I could only see six men watching the surroundings, so the others were probably asleep.
My zombie Wyvern couldn’t get tired at all, and I was able to cover more than half of the distance in several hours, but if I continue flying, I will probably reach them some time before noon.
“Down.” I told my zombie, and he obediently descended, then disappeared inside my shadow.
I waited for my mouse to move away from the camp, then I drew a huge amount of mana, then jumped through the Portal I hastily created. And I almost regretted it! I could barely control the spell since the distance between me and the mouse was huge. My feet didn’t even touch the ground when the portal closed, if I was a bit late…
Shit, I’m tired now and almost out of mana. Which means another few mana potions. And even an energy potion.
Oh, Lord! Why can’t they improve the taste?
Sigh. I should look at it from the brighter side and be thankful that it wasn’t a suppository.
Chapter 16.
I spent the whole night near the Murim camp, drinking potions and crying.
Twice I was about to vomit, and then I had to force myself to swallow the disgusting liquid.
I hate them. I hate this people with a passion! It was their fucking fault that I had to suffer this much here, hiding behind a heap of sand, when I could ha
ve been in my office instead, having sex with a mature woman. With my own personal secretary! Living the dream!
DAMN YOU!!!
And why did I need so much mana? Well, I used my meager Earth Magic to make a depression in the sand, and to build an Earth Wall with the sand, so that the enemy couldn’t see my zombies when I summon them. A nice surprise attack was coming.
Sure, it was still nighttime. But I want to be fully prepared when I attack them.
These people used some strange magic items, and god knows how many of those they had at their disposal. I would be the King of Stupid if I charged blindly at them after what they did to me in the capital.
When all the undead I brought were out, I drank another potion and rested for a bit. I needed to be in the best possible condition when I strike at them.
The morning sky became brighter as the time passed, and I started hearing more and more voices coming from the camp. This much should be enough, even if I am not 100% recovered.
“Go,” I told my zombies while concentrating on the elf girl. “Don’t touch her! Kill humans. Don’t touch elf.”
While I peeked from behind the dune, I saw the Murims. They just got up and were eating their breakfast when 1000 of my undead run at them. I was ready to release more zombies if there was a need for it, but it looked like this much was enough. The surprised screams from the Murims were refreshing, and it was funny to watch how they tried to fight with the monsters.
Boom!
Crap! They even had bombs! And there was that laser again!
They were surely strong, but my Darkness Zombies outnumbered them, and once my undead got too close, it was late for the Murims.
There was sand in my boots, but I didn’t care and still walked happily to the camp.
The cultists managed to destroy more than a hundred of my Darkness Zombies, which means that they had a lot of fighting force. Man, I saw three of my Trolls and two Raging Bears lying motionless on the ground. If they were able to do that to my B-rank monsters, I would have a difficult time fighting with them if I was alone.
No, that’s wrong. I would run away if I had the chance. And then I would bring reinforcements.
“Hi, there,” I kicked the human corpse in the head. “Not so tough now, huh?”
I looked around and saw a bunch of my zombies gathered around a big fire, so I went closer to inspect it. Oh, it was a protective Fire Circle. That means that there were survivors. Shit, they must be strong.
“Go.” I gave the order to a few orcs and kobolds, an Armored Turtle and a Troll.
The Armored Turtle was the size of a car. Her shell was greenish-brown and had the hardness of a top B-rank material.
When the turtle approached the fire, my troll pushed it from behind. I grimaced while watching my tough zombie burn, but it was able to pierce the wall. It would be different if it was and Earth or even Air Wall, but Fire consumed more mana to maintain that degree of defense.
Of course, you could condense the Fire and make it harder, but you would need a lot of mana to maintain that kind of big circle. And I also had a few orc and kobold Mages threw Water spells at the fire. Whoever is maintaining that fire should run out of mana at any moment.
It was a shame that my undead Mages only used magic when I told them. Most of the time they just attacked monsters with their bare hands, unless I give them the specific order.
Suddenly, the Fire spell subsided and my orcs jumped on it. A few were destroyed almost instantly, but a couple made it through.
“Aaaaaa!” A woman’s painful cry could be heard a moment before the magic was canceled.
“Die demon!” Inside the circle, there were two men, and one of them cut the zombie's head with a sword. There was also a woman lying on the sand, with a smoldering spear sticking from her belly.
“Demon!” The other man charged at me. He was fast, but it was difficult to evade all of my zombies that were jumping at him. “Fight like a man! You coward!”
Pfft! “You are mistaking me with an honorable person.” I said and pointed Trinity staff at him. “I only care about killing you.”
The Murim fighter was enraged as he had to destroy the undead and defend himself from my barrage of Fire Bullets. He was probably peak B-rank fighter, with good protective equipment.
Crack!
My Troll hit him from behind with a tree trunk and broke his neck. Ha! Look at that! He even sunk to his knees into the sand, and then his dead body bent at the waist! Hilarious!
“Naruu!” The other man, who was defending the wounded woman, screamed when he saw his friend die. “You damn… Ugh!”
He looked down and saw the tip of a spear coming out of his chest. Yup, I opened a mini Portal and trust Trinity through it, striking the furious Murim from the back.
I loved learning new stuff. Why hadn’t I thought of this earlier? It would’ve saved me so much time and effort.
All this everyday stress and beautiful girls, have taken a toll on my mind. I used to experiment a lot, and now all that I think about is the kind of sexy underwear I would like to see on a girl.
I took a bag with crystals and went to work. Since they destroyed a lot of my minions, is only fair to have them compensate for it. Besides, the priestess seemed to be fine, so I don’t have to hurry.
“Uuugghhh...”
When I arrived in front of the woman who made the Fire Circle, I saw that she was barely alive. What a shame, she had such a nice body. Her black robe was covered in blood, and sweat. It stuck to her gorgeous curves and my hand lingered above her big breasts.
Should I wait for her to die, or kill her myself? Well, after I Absorb her life force she should die, so lets continue working.
Crazy, she had so much life force, that for a moment I thought the crystal may explode. Was it because she hasn’t died yet? I mean, she didn’t seem to be powerful at all. She was apparently a B-rank Fire Mage, but her strength was probably at D-rank.
The woman took her last breath, and I finished with the Absorption. Then, when I pulled the spear out and put the crystal inside of her body. I hesitated for a moment and finally added five more crystals.
Those contained the life force of B-rank monsters that I wanted to use to make strong Darkness Zombies.
In the end, I was intrigued by the amount of life force she had, so I made a gamble. At the very least, she should be a few times stronger than when she was alive.
I seared her wound and filled her body with a large amount of Dark Magic, and again, the crystal sucked most of it. Why would it do that? Crystals did absorb Dark Magic so they could be linked with every cell in the body, but not this much.
“God… My God...” The woman’s hoarse voice startled me, and I backed away from her.
What the fuck! My zombies did made noises from time to time, but none of them ever spoke.
She stood up and touched her body, like someone who couldn’t believe that he was still alive. She didn’t look one bit like a mindless zombie.
“My God!” She took a step towards me and I pointed my staff at her. “H-have I offended you, Lord?”
“Who are you? And why do you keep calling me God?” What was wrong with this chick? Was her head damaged? Um, she died, so maybe?
“I am Akifa,” she said proudly, while giving a respectful bow. “I died, but you brought me back. You are a true God! I can feel you, My Lord! I can feel you with my whole body!” Then Dark Magic appeared in her hands and she jumped gleefully. “You even gifted me with new powers!”
I didn’t do it willingly. That was probably the reason why the crystal sucked so much of my Dark Magic. “Yes, I did. And I can feel you, too,” just like I can feel the presence of my other zombies. Oh! I can try that.
“God, why are you moving my hands in such a way?” Akifa asked when I took control of her body. I moved her hands up and down, then like windmills, then I made her dance.
“Could this be a test, Lord?” She was baffled when her hands started massaging her breasts.<
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“Of course it is. How dare you doubt your God!” I yelled at the undead woman, and she fell to her knees.
“Forgive me, God! Please, do not send me to the nothingness!” Akifa’s hands were still moving. “This body belongs to you now! I swear to do your bidding! Please, use me!”
“Alright,” I release my hold of her. She really appears to be mine. But I will act carefully for now. “Tell me about the people you were with, and their motives to kidnap the High Priestess.”
“Yes, Lord.” There wasn’t a sign of compassion as she looked at the dead Murims. “They were servants of the Disgusting One, also known as N’Uruq. And I am ashamed to confess that I used to be one of them.”