This necromancer is going to seduce the beautiful girls who are already dead.

“Necromantic magic, as expected.” Abyss’s small, beady eyes narrowed. “This is a node in a necromancy circle. By arranging the skulls of intelligent races into a specific shape and performing a magical ritual, the lifespan of the person within the circle can be extended. Theoretically, if the ritual is successful, as long as the skulls serving as nodes do not collapse, the person in the center of the circle can have an infinite lifespan—even if he has decayed and turned into bones, he can still live. There’s something like this inside the wall; things are starting to get interesting.”

"Let's go see Queen Sianana!" Leona suddenly realized something. She quickly crawled down through the hole in the insulation material to the ground, then her body ignited with translucent battle aura flames. In no time, she used her claws to scratch out a small hole big enough for her to pass through.

Three mice quickly scurried out of the hole, and immediately smelled a suffocating stench.

An elderly woman with sparse white hair, dressed in a gorgeous dress, sat quietly at a table with her back to three rats. The stench emanated from her emaciated body as she applied makeup to herself in front of a mirror, illuminated by the dim light of a copper lamp. Her breathing was labored and labored, as if her throat were stuffed with sand.

At this point, there was no need to continue using the rat form. Abyss immediately deactivated the transformation effects on himself and the two girls. The three of them rapidly grew larger, and their clothes appeared on their bodies at the same time. In the blink of an eye, the three of them, now back in human form, were already standing behind the old woman.

The old woman continued applying her makeup for a while before realizing someone was behind her. She slowly turned her head back and looked at the three people standing behind her.

Just by looking at her face, Leona could no longer recognize that the withered old woman in front of her was once the beautiful and dignified Queen Sian.

One of her eyes was covered by a jewel-encrusted eyepatch. Her full head of white hair, which seemed intended to be styled into an elaborate updo, was instead so thin and dry that it resembled weeds. A priceless headdress, inserted into her hair, looked as if it had been forcibly hung on. Her face was covered in wrinkles, and her skin, thin as bones, was smeared with vibrant makeup, but it could not salvage her lost youthful beauty. Her remaining eye was cloudy and lifeless, and most of her teeth were missing, protruding from her parted lips.

“Oh… Leona… my Leona… you’re back… I’ve been waiting for you…” When Queen Sian saw Leona, her eyes lit up noticeably. She tried to get up from her chair, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t manage the simple action.

"The one who killed me with a curse will wait for me? What for, to come to your door and make you atone for your sins?" Leona stared coldly at Queen Sianana without moving.

"Hehe... It was me, I killed you... Ah... My Leona, you only truly belonged to me after your death... No, to my lord..."

The fragmented remarks coming from Queen Sian were not only chilling but also made one feel uneasy.

"Ah...come quickly...come and embrace me...I crave your embrace...hehe..." Queen Sian turned her body around, lifted her buttocks off the chair, and fell to the ground with a thud, but she still did not stop. Instead, she stared intently at Leona and crawled towards her on her hands and feet.

Leona took a half-step back in disgust: "Abyss, explain what's going on. I'm afraid I'll kick her head off."

"It seems that Queen Sian is already a dying person. It is the necromancy array outside that is keeping her alive. If it weren't for the array outside, she would probably be lying in bed unconscious, having nightmares, and spending the last days of her life."

Abyss showed no disgust; he had seen plenty of things more disgusting than Queen Sianina. He simply stared quietly at the old woman crawling toward Leona's feet, while shielding Flora, who was about to vomit, behind him.

"Look at this...look at this! After you see this, you'll fall into my arms...my Leona...my Leona!"

Suddenly, as if remembering something, the Queen reached out a hand and removed her blindfold.

What was under the blindfold wasn't an eye at all, but an orange-yellow rhomboid gemstone, embedded in the empty eye socket. The surrounding flesh was rotten, and the stench emanating from her body was coming from there.

Leona's disgust deepened, and she took another step back.

“Leona…Leona? Why didn’t you come to embrace me…why…” The Queen’s expression suddenly turned blank. She stared intently at Leona’s upper abdomen with her one eye, weakly questioning, “Ah…you…your tongue, your tongue is gone…why is your tongue missing? Who? Which shameless thief? Ah ah…”

Chapter Thirty-Four: She Was Just a Pawn Too

The moment Abyss saw Queen Sian remove her blindfold, he realized what was going on with her.

All the strange things I had encountered before seemed to be strung together by a thread, and then stretched straight in an instant.

"Is this what you're looking for?"

Abyss clapped his hands, drawing Queen Sian's attention, then pulled out the blood-red gem he had taken from Leona's stomach and waved it in front of her.

"Ah... Greedy Tongue... Why is it in your hands! The coming of my Lord... The coming of my Lord has been thwarted by you, you shameless scoundrel... Ah!"

As the Abyss had anticipated, Queen Celine's single eye widened the moment she saw the jewel in the Abyss's hand. Squeezing strength from her emaciated body, she screamed almost desperately. Had the Abyss not been prepared and cast a small-scale soundproofing spell, the guards would likely have heard her screams clearly.

“My mission… my mission is not complete… the Lord will not let me go… I must continue… I must continue…” The distraught Queen Cianna changed direction and crawled toward the Abyss, her mouth agape, howling with all her might, “Give me back the tongue of greed! Give me back the tongue of greed!”

"Don't be in such a hurry." Abyss simply extended a finger and waved it, and several long white bones appeared out of thin air from the ground, trapping Queen Sianana like a grasping hand, rendering her unable to move. "Let Leona solve her problem first, then we can talk about your pathetic master."

Leona glanced gratefully at the Abyss and finally agreed to approach the immobilized Queen Sian.

What did you originally intend to do with me?

Leona knelt before Queen Sianana, looking into her cloudy, bloodshot eyes, and couldn't help but feel a sense of irony. This withered, pitiful, and pathetic old woman had, forty-two years ago, mysteriously killed herself with a curse, and had supported her son all the way to the throne—Leona knew without a doubt what had become of her own brothers and sisters, whom she wasn't even close to.

Such strategic planning, such ruthless cunning, yet now, this is the end they've come to.

“Leona, beautiful Leona, you were originally the vessel needed for the Lord’s descent…” After struggling, the Queen found herself unable to escape the cage of bones, and collapsed inside in despair, panting as she spoke, “You devoured the tongue of greed, and your body was slowly eroded by battle aura into a thousand-hole cheese. When the time is ripe, the eyes of fear and the eyes of envy will meet you by fate, and my Lord will descend. When the Lord dons the face of hell, the whole world will be redeemed…”

"What nonsense are you spouting?" Leona looked up at the Abyss. "Come on, ABC, translate for me what 'arrival' means."

"I have basically figured out what happened around you in the series of strange events."

Abyss and Leona squatted down side by side. Flora wanted to squat down too, but after thinking about it, she was still wary of the ghostly old woman and obediently stood behind her.

"The Necropolis exploited this power-hungry queen. They, or some of them, orchestrated a scheme. The queen wanted her child to ascend the throne, and to do so, she had to eliminate several children with higher right to succession—the descendants of the emperor's previous queen. The Necropolis, on the other hand, wanted your remains so that their master could possess them and descend upon Hay-Tever. They happened to have similar goals, so the Necropolis gave Queen Sian two treasures: the Tongue of Greed and the Eye of Envy."

As he spoke, Abyss pointed to the blood-red gem in his hand, and then to the orange gem embedded in the Queen's eye socket.

Leona frowned: "Why me? Wouldn't it be better to find a slimy sea monster in the Storm Sea to use as a body?"

"Don't forget what I told you. Part of your power comes from the highest god of this world, the creator god. This power shaped you into an unparalleled genius of battle qi. With the support of divine power, your physical strength is beyond the reach of even a sea monster. The only thing that could kill you was your most proficient battle qi, and the greedy tongue in your stomach did just that. It caused your battle qi to grow abnormally, bypassing the body's self-tempering process, and ultimately corroded your internal organs, leaving them riddled with holes, leading to your death."

Leona instinctively clutched her stomach; the Queen's words about being eroded into cheese still sent a chill down her spine.

"After your death, the Council of the Dead carried out other plans. Forty-two years have passed, and their plans seem to have achieved a stage of success. So, with the Eye of Fear, Reiner set off for your tomb. The pitiful and foolish man did not expect that he was just a pawn. When the Eye of Fear meets the Tongue of Greed, the Eye of Fear will gradually control Reiner, making him become your nourishment in some way. Then, that 'Lord' will parasitize your body, spreading His tentacles all over your riddled body, completing the first stage of His descent."

The thought of being parasitized by an unknown creature made Leona's expression even more complicated.

"Next, the two gems that have become part of your body will guide you back to your former home, the palace, to find the Queen. The Queen and her gems are also part of the plan to nourish you. By devouring the Queen, He will complete the second phase of His descent."

"How disgusting..." Leona began to regret having Abyss translate for her.

"Next, you should return to the Council of the Dead, or have someone from the Council of the Dead send you that 'Hell Face.' Once you put that on, you will be completely parasitized by Him, completing the final stage of your descent."

Abyss finished speaking with a smile, then shook his head: "What a pity, what a pity. It was supposed to be a mission that could have been completed in one go, and it would have been perfect. Reiner's Eye of Fear already allowed him to roam freely on the continent, and after your resurrection, you would be invincible. This mission should have gone smoothly, but unfortunately, Reiner ran into me, and you ran into me too."

"You...how did you know..." The queen's face was filled with fear. Clearly, she was not only mentally impaired, but also completely insane. Perhaps she should have been laid to rest years, even decades ago, but necromancy had kept her alive until this moment.

"What do you plan to do, Leona?" Abyss asked. "It seems she was nothing more than a pathetic pawn, but she did indeed kill you for power."

“I’m too lazy to settle scores with her. Destroy the magic circle and let her die. Actually, I just disliked her. Her death was so sudden that I didn’t even have time to feel hatred.” Leona stood up dejectedly. “She should have died a long time ago. Before she died, let her be relieved of her duties as a tomb guard and set those poor people free.”

“That’s easy,” Abis nodded.

"So, what are you planning to do next? Is there anything else you need to do?"

"And then?" Abis smiled mysteriously. "Then I want to find a place outside the city to sleep with you all."

"Huh?!" Leona was struck dumb. Was this scoundrel's true, lewd nature about to be revealed?

Chapter Thirty-Five: What exactly is a world-class divine sorcerer?

"Flora, do you know how to use the Light of Repentance?"

Leaving Queen Sian to wail and struggle in her cage of bones, the Abyss turned to Flora beside him. This was a rhetorical question; Flora certainly knew this trick, the Light of Repentance being one of the essential skills for priests of the Papacy.

The name of this divine spell is quite concise: it uses a beam of light to induce repentance in a target, amplifying their guilt and unease. The Vatican often uses it to interrogate prisoners who refuse to confess. Generally, the more serious the crime, the more easily the prisoner is affected by the light of repentance. However, sometimes it can be ineffective against psychopaths who feel no remorse whatsoever. It works well against ordinary thieves and murderers, but against highly skilled criminals with exceptional mental fortitude, this skill becomes somewhat useless.

Someone like Queen Sion, whose mind is completely deranged, could not be made to repent by ordinary priests. Her attitude was very clear when she explained why she killed Leona – she felt no guilt whatsoever, but rather pride.

"Tell me why you slept with me!" Leona shouted from the side, her face flushed.

"I'll explain in a bit, you won't lose anything." Abyss shushed Leona, signaling her to be quiet and not cause trouble.

Leona grumbled and stepped aside, "This...this is a matter of a lady's reputation...spending the night with a man with kidney deficiency..."

“I will use the Light of Repentance, but will it work on her?” Flora also stepped forward. Queen Sianna inside the cage still looked like a terrifying ghost. Knowing that the cage of bones was very sturdy and she couldn’t move an inch, Flora finally mustered up the courage to come up.

"Oh, just a moment." Abyss bent down and gouged the eyes of jealousy out of the Queen's eye sockets.

The gemstone didn't grow into the Queen's eye socket, and the Abyss removed it with almost no difficulty. The Queen naturally tried to avoid the Abyss's hand, but a chill emanated from it, rendering her immobile for a short time.

"Now it's ready, give it a try. I've already set up an illusion, so don't worry about anyone seeing the light when you use your divine magic."

“Okay, I’ll try it out.” Flora pursed her lips and extended her index finger to Queen Sianana.

Queen Cianna, imprisoned and devoid of her jealous gaze, writhed and screamed in fury and despair, her emaciated body twisting and cursing, even as her aged throat could no longer sustain the cries: "Ahhh! I curse you! You will all turn to pus and blood under the glory of the Lord of Depravity! I will kill you! I will tear your throats! I will devour your flesh and blood! Leona! My Leona! Why do you only watch! Do you truly not belong to my Lord?!"

"Repent, Sienna." Flora's voice floated out after she finished reciting the prayer. A point of light flashed at her fingertips, and then a dazzling light, ten times brighter than the midday sun, turned the Abyss and Leona's vision into white.

"ABC! I'm blind! I'm blind! Help me!" Leona's panicked voice came from a milky white light.

"What's the panic? Flora's divine spell isn't finished yet!"

"You never told me that Flora would make such a big fuss over a simple confession!"

"Didn't I already tell you that she's a super genius on your level?"

"Abyss, I'm sorry! Actually, when you said you wanted to sleep with me, I wanted to take your balls off!"

"Think what you want, what are you repenting for here! The Light of Repentance is a single-target divine spell!"

"I suddenly feel so sorry for you!"

Leona was still repenting for her violent thoughts when Flora's spell ended. She remained in an elegant squatting position, her long, slender, white index finger pointing at Queen Sianana.

Looking at the Queen in the cage, she who was cursing just moments ago is now silent, her only remaining eye staring blankly at Flora's face, her mouth agape as if in a daze.

"Is it all over?" Leona rubbed her eyes and found that her vision had indeed not been damaged.

“Leona…Leona…” The Queen suddenly burst into tears, “I shouldn’t have killed you for power…They promised that if I killed you with my greedy tongue, they would help me get rid of the other heirs and let my own child ascend the throne…I was jealous of their right to the throne, jealous that they were more capable than my child, but I dragged you down with me…”

Her wrinkled features were contorted in pain, tears streamed down her single eye, and her voice trembled, completely devoid of the madness and malice she had displayed moments before.

"It's so useful..." Leona softly praised Flora's divine magic, but did not accept the Queen's apology so easily.

“You were born out of wedlock, and had no right to the inheritance. You could have lived happily as a princess, oblivious to the world's troubles. You could have grown into a beautiful young woman, found your beloved husband, and lived a life free from worldly strife.” The Empress coughed as she cried, but her mouth didn't stop, pouring out her words like beans spilling from a bamboo tube. “It was me who made you stop growing at the age of twelve. It was me who ended your happy life… It was me… It was me…”

“I don’t want to forgive you, but I want you to listen to me,” Leona said to the Queen.

The queen gripped the bone cage tightly with both hands, ignoring the cuts and wounds inflicted on her palms by the sharp barbs on the bones: "I'm willing! I'm willing to do anything!"

“I’m too lazy to think too complicatedly. You have three things to do.” Leona squatted down and held up three fingers. “First, tell your confidants to stop inspecting my tombs and let the tomb guards go free. Second, put all the money you’ve made from your power over the years into the national treasury. Third, reveal the hiding places of those fools in the city who believe in some Fallen Lord that you’ve been scheming for. I want to personally eliminate them all.”

"I can do the first and the second, but I can't do the third." The Empress did not agree immediately.

"Flora? Your Light of Repentance isn't quite there yet." Leona was a little surprised.

"...I have fully repented, but the corrupt acolytes in the city were not created by me; someone else did it...I...I don't know the specifics," the Queen said, trembling with fear.

"Tch, fine then. Now summon your trusted men over tonight and assign them the new task. Think through the specifics yourself, and make sure there are no mistakes. Oh, and the second point: how much money have you embezzled over the years?"

"Thirty million Imperial Coins... not including various jewelry and ornaments..."

"You're really bold," Leona said, pursing her lips. "I'm too lazy to talk to you anymore, let's get to work."