Starting from Ainz Ooal Gown, simultaneously traveling through time

Grote stared at his body, broken in two, looking as wretched as a certain Gojo teacher, and was so shocked that the fire in his soul almost went out.

"What kind of speed is that?!" He couldn't see the other person's movements at all.

Fortunately, he was immortal, so he wouldn't die even if he was cut in half at the waist.

But a strong sense of crisis overwhelmed him instantly.

"I can't win, I have to run!" The thought had barely formed in his mind when he was about to cast a life-saving spell—

Swish!Swish!Swish!

Several sharp blades flashed again, so fast they seemed to light up simultaneously.

Before Grote could react, he felt a series of rapid cracking sensations throughout his body.

By the time he realized what was happening, he had been chopped into a pile of scattered bone fragments, lying on the ground like disassembled building blocks.

Clearly, the gray-robed man realized that cutting someone in half at the waist had limited effect on the undead, so he simply dismembered him.

"Completely outmatched!" Grote thought in horror, his only remaining intact head still intact.

His mind raced, and with a powerful snap of his jaw, he snatched a ring from the bony finger of his right hand into his mouth, forcefully activating the magic stored within it—

"[Fifth-Tier Magic: Touch of Death]!"

The immense negative energy contained within the ring erupted instantly, surging into Grote's skull.

This is a deadly, highly toxic energy for the living, but an excellent healing power for the immortal.

The scattered bones seemed to be drawn by an invisible force, flying towards the skull and quickly reassembling.

In the blink of an eye, the dead archmage Grote stood up again.

Relying on this ring that can only activate [Touch of Death] once a day, he barely managed to complete the reconstruction.

However, he didn't even have time to feel relieved or run away—

The next instant, even denser and faster blades of light, like a net of silver lightning, enveloped him.

That is a moment, a faster, purer moment.

It was so fast that it exceeded visual persistence, like a stream of light passing by.

Grote saw only a dazzling, despair-inducing net of blades.

In his last glimpse, he vaguely saw that the pupils beneath the gray-robed man's mask had turned into a blazing, molten gold.

Then, he knew nothing more.

In this endless storm of slashing blows, every bone in his body was completely shredded and ground up, even the hardest part of his skull was reduced to fragments the size of fingernails.

This time, it was truly "shattered into pieces".

Under such destruction, even the most resilient undead met their true end.

The gray-robed figure, or rather, the gray-robed figure codenamed "Number 5"—

Standing quietly in place, looking at the pile of bone fragments on the ground, his dark golden pupils flickered slightly, as if he were analyzing or recording something.

A moment later, he squatted down and carefully collected all the bone fragments, wrapping them in the hem of his gray robe into a small bag.

Then, he left the scene without a word.

Not far away, the humans who had been abducted by Grote and were originally destined to become experimental subjects witnessed the entire brief and one-sided battle.

The mysterious gray-robed man easily killed the terrifying undead with overwhelming power.

That necromancer had cruelly murdered many of their companions, and they, the survivors, nearly followed in his footsteps.

"My benefactor! Thank you!"

"Please accept our bow!"

"I will never forget the kindness that saved my life!"

The survivors were deeply grateful.

Although they didn't know the gray-robed man's name, the image of his gray robe, white mask, and dark golden eyes was deeply imprinted in their minds.

They decided to spread the story of this mysterious and powerful figure and even erect a statue in his honor.

This was not only to repay a debt of gratitude, but also to use the "prestige" of this powerful figure to deter other evil entities that might threaten them.

This is perhaps the most practical way for these vulnerable people to protect themselves.

..............................

On the other side, in a hidden cave.

Leylin met with Number 5, who had returned after completing his mission.

"Is this the 'result' you brought back?"

Leylin stared at the white, carefully wrapped object on the ground, his eyes twitching slightly.

He carefully unwrapped the package, inside which were a pile of bone fragments of varying sizes with sharp edges.

"A bunch of...bone fragments? Are you OK?"

Raylin rubbed his forehead and looked at Number 5, who stood quietly with only his dark golden eyes showing.

"Are you sure this thing is a member of the [Abyssal Body]? Or at least related to them?"

Number 5's pupils contracted slightly. He first nodded, then hesitated and shook his head.

Leylin tried to interpret: "You mean, the target you found is an undead, but you can't be sure if it's a member of the [Abyssal Body]?"

Number 5 immediately nodded affirmatively.

"Alright... at least it's a clue." Leylin rubbed his temples helplessly.

He sent Number 5 to search for traces of the mysterious organization [Body of the Abyss]. He did find a suspicious undead—although the "clue" is now so shattered that it can't be pieced back together.

"But it's all shattered into pieces, completely dead. How can we make a pile of bone fragments speak?" Leylin found it a difficult problem.

He does indeed possess magic such as "resurrection of the dead," but that is a faith-based spell, usually used to resurrect recently deceased beings.

He wasn't sure if it would be effective against undead creatures, especially those who had already "died" once.

"Well, let's try anything, even if it's a long shot," Leylin sighed.

"At least the fragments are all there, so theoretically the body is 'intact.' Let's try piecing it together; what if it can be resurrected?"

We can't just throw away the clues we finally found.

He looked at Number 5 and commented with some helplessness: "Your [Instant] burst of power is strong, but it is really not suitable for dealing with targets that need to be captured alive, especially the undead. They are not afraid of physical stuns, and high-level undead can also use magic, so it is difficult to subdue them by force alone."

After thinking for a moment, he came up with a plan: "In this way, for the next operation, let Number 3, who is good at mind control, partner with you. You will be responsible for the main attack and suppression, while Number 3 will try to use mind control or restraint. If you work together, you should be able to capture one 'intact'."

A golden light flashed in Number 5's eyes, as if he was trying to understand the new instruction.

Next, Leylin had number 5 try to piece together the bone fragments, a process akin to playing an extremely difficult 3D jigsaw puzzle without any instructions.

It took No. 5 a long time to barely piece together the countless fragments into a roughly complete human skeleton.

Although it was covered with spiderweb-like cracks, it looked like a piece of cheap porcelain that had been broken and then glued back together.

It looks like Ge ware, but Ge ware at least has the beauty of being broken yet complete, while this is just terrifying.

Looking at the "Ge kiln style" skeleton, Leylin sighed, "This is the best I can do to restore it. I can't just put on another layer of glue, can I? Never mind, let's give it a try."

He took a deep breath, concentrated, and began to chant:

"[Fifth-Tier Magic: Resurrection of the Dead]!"

Soft magical light fell upon the broken skeleton.

A miraculous change then occurred: the dense cracks, as if smoothed out by an invisible hand, gradually healed and disappeared.

The shattered bones became whole and smooth again, as if time had turned back.

When the light faded, a complete skeleton lay quietly on the ground.

Immediately afterwards, the eerie blue flames of the soul reignited within the empty eye sockets.

The dead great magician Grote has been resurrected.

"I... I've been resurrected?" Grote's consciousness gradually cleared, filled with confusion.

The first thing he saw was a pair of eyes filled with curiosity and a hint of satisfaction.

Leylin gave him a friendly (though perhaps not so friendly, to Grote) smile:

"Congratulations, you have been successfully resurrected."

"Congratulations to me too, the experiment went smoothly."

"Finally—" Leylin raised his hand, his palm once again glowing with magical light, "Congratulations, you are about to become my 'guest'."

Before Grote could fully comprehend the situation, he heard the incantation that sent shivers down his spine:

"[Sixth-Tier Magic: Deep Mental Domination]!"

A powerful surge of magic instantly overwhelmed his consciousness.