...
「A moment later.」
Lynch sighed and shook his head, pushing down the questions in his mind for now.
'Whatever,' he thought. 'Even a master angler gets skunked every now and then.'
It was getting late. Today's haul had been bountiful enough. It was time to find a hidden spot to stash his Skeleton Corps and then head back to the academy to rest.
「Night deepened.」
Lynch recalled Bone Jade and its unit of Fishman Skeletons, merging the forces. He began to move cautiously through a dark forest situated between the swamp and the main road.
The forest was filled with towering ancient trees, their branches and leaves so dense that the woods seemed deep and gloomy even during the day. After nightfall, the light grew even dimmer.
To be cautious, Lynch had Bone Jade kill a few forest squirrels along the way. He then cast the Skeleton Resurrection Skill, turning them into Undead Units.
These Squirrel Skeletons were small and their bones fragile, giving them practically zero combat ability. Resurrecting them gave him almost no skill experience and was a sheer waste of Mana.
But Lynch had his reasons.
He extended a few faint threads of his Spiritual Power to link with the Squirrel Skeletons, controlling them like marionettes and sending them scattering nimbly in all directions.
Two of them scurried up nearby trees, while the rest burrowed into the surrounding bushes.
The Squirrel Skeletons then spread out from the main army, moving silently within a hundred-meter radius.
They had become Lynch's extended "eyes."
Meanwhile, the Skeleton Corps continued its silent march through the forest. The only sounds were the rustling of their feet on fallen leaves, mingling with the howling of the night wind, which added to the chilling, terrifying atmosphere.
Just as the corps was about to cross the center of the forest...
Suddenly, Lynch's expression shifted.
Through the "vision" of a Squirrel Skeleton perched on a treetop, he faintly caught the fleeting glimpse of a Holy Light aura in the distance.
The aura was faint, but Lynch was all too familiar with it. He had taken too many beatings from Holy Light.
"Halt~"
Lynch sent out the mental command.
The quietly marching Skeleton Corps instantly froze, all movement ceasing.
He quickly ducked down, using a dense thicket of bushes to conceal himself.
Holding his breath and focusing his senses, he carefully tried to perceive the distant commotion.
A short while later, several more bursts of Holy Light erupted, none of them particularly strong.
And...
It seemed they were rapidly approaching his position.
Lynch's heart jumped in alarm. He hastily used his Spiritual Power to command his Skeletons to take cover.
The Skeletons faithfully carried out their orders, quickly scattering to find their own hiding spots.
Some Skeletons curled up deep within bushes, while others simply lay down in piles of thick, dead branches and rotten leaves, camouflaging themselves as unremarkable piles of old bones.
In the blink of an eye, the sizable Skeleton Corps vanished into the dark forest, like a drop of water dissolving into the ocean.
And without Lynch's command, they would not make a single move—not a whisper of sound nor a fluctuation of energy.
As for Lynch himself, he retreated with a few personal guards into an exceptionally dense thicket, even quieting his breathing to its faintest.
The commotion in the distance grew closer.
Faint voices drifted to his ears on the wind.
"Ba-Barry... I... I can't go on... Don't worry about me! Run, just go~~"
"Carl, what nonsense are you talking about? We came together, so we'll leave together."
"O Holy Light, I beseech you, grant your most loyal follower the power to smite evil~~"
Amidst the clamor of shouts, a cold and ethereal voice, dripping with mockery, could also be heard.
"You foolish, damnable little brats of the Holy Light! Heaven has a path, yet you refuse to take it; Hell has no gate, yet you insist on breaking in!"
"Your granddaddy here was hiding just fine, but you had to come and stir up trouble for me. Now, be good and leave your lives behind. Become my loyal corpse servants~"
As the sinister voice faded, a powerful wave of death energy washed over the area.
'Holy shit~~'
Lynch's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
'Isn't that fucking Barry and his gang?'
'What are they doing here!?'
'And from the sounds of it, they've pissed off another Necromancer?'
'Dammit!' Lynch cursed inwardly. 'If you want to get yourselves killed, I won't stop you! If you want to run, I won't stand in your way! But for fuck's sake, could you please not run in my direction!?'
Heaven have mercy. All he, Lynch, had wanted was to peacefully catch a few small fish, fatten his wallet, and maybe teach those clueless brats a lesson they wouldn't forget.
Who would have thought that the fish wouldn't take his bait, but would instead swim right into the net of a fellow professional?
'Now, what do I do!?'
'Run!?'
'No, they're too close. It's too late to run now.'
'Besides, the enemy is also a Necromancer. His sensitivity to Undead Creatures is even stronger than those Holy Light System people.'
And just as Lynch was cursing under his breath, silently praying for this pack of troublemakers to change direction...
Barry and his group, fleeing in disarray, were also cursing their rotten luck.
What kind of mess was this!?
They had suffered a loss at Lynch's hands and had been staking him out for days. When they finally got the chance to catch him out on a mission alone, they immediately gathered Carl and a few other close friends to follow him secretly, preparing for a sneak attack.
Who would have thought that after wandering around the edge of the swamp and forest for half the day, they wouldn't even catch a glimpse of Lynch.
Just as they were losing interest and about to head back, they unexpectedly discovered a small, sneaky-looking Skeleton peeking around in the woods.
The Skeleton looked weak and stupid.
Barry and the others subconsciously assumed it was one of that bastard Lynch's Undead summons.
"Follow it! We'll definitely find that bastard Lynch." Barry had been delighted at the time, feeling like he'd stumbled upon his prize after a long, fruitless search.
So, they secretly tailed the little Skeleton. After a long and winding chase, they found the entrance to an extremely well-hidden, vine-covered ancient tomb.
They watched as the little Skeleton slipped inside.
Barry and his friends exchanged glances, thinking their chance had come.
'Lynch must be hiding in there.'
"Let's rush in and teach him a lesson he'll never forget."
Blood rushing to their heads, they gathered their Holy Light Power and, yelling "O Holy Light, that enemy is worthy of a fight," they charged resolutely into the tomb.
However, what awaited them was not Lynch on his own.
But a strange Necromancer whose face was filled with gloom and fury.
What terrified them to their very souls was the dense and powerful aura of death emanating from this Necromancer.
They instantly made the connection to the wanted Necromancer who had been active near Saint Roland City recently and had yet to be captured.
Rumor had it that this was the guy who had slaughtered two remote villages, stolen all the corpses, and even led the night raid on the Holy Maiden Convent, setting up their big brother Leon.
This was a veteran Tier One official Necromancer.
Who could possibly understand the misery they were in right then?
They had just wanted to teach a classmate they had beef with a lesson, but instead, they'd barged right into the lair of a murderous maniac.
At that moment, Lynch was also cursing up a storm in his head.
Because Barry and his gang had fled right into his territory, bringing with them a powerful and evil Necromancer.
Lynch could already faintly sense the thick aura of death coming from the newcomer.
'Barry, you motherfucker!'
...