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

“Looks like this is the place.” Abyss nodded and continued walking inside. “The letter of commission is very detailed. It seems that Mr. Reiner, who wrote the letter, is a very efficient person.”

Flora followed behind the Abyss and even closed the door for him.

Abyss glanced back at Flora and gave her a slight smile.

Upon entering, one is greeted by a sizable hall. Judging from the abandoned candlesticks and chandeliers, this house once boasted a glorious past. Among these worn-out items, one thing stands out—a bronze jewelry stand resting on the fireplace in the hall, with a beautiful purple rhombus-shaped gemstone pendant hanging from it. The jewelry stand is clearly new, recently placed there, and the purple pendant reflects a captivating light under the moonlight streaming through the broken window.

Flora grew up in the Papacy as the heir to a sainthood, and had seen countless treasures. She didn't have any particular feelings about such a beautiful piece of jewelry. She glanced at the Abyss beside her, who also seemed uninterested in the pendant.

“This thing seems to be the key to the problem,” Abis said, pointing to the pendant. “It’s not very attractive to us, but it should be very attractive to mercenaries who often risk their lives for bounties.”

"Is there a trap here?" Flora frowned and looked around. The footprints left by the mercenaries on the ground were messy, and she wasn't a tracking expert, so she couldn't see anything suspicious.

Abyss did not answer, but simply strode forward and reached for the pendant.

As the pendant touched Abyss's finger, it suddenly flashed, and a purple light flashed before their eyes.

Flora felt nothing except for being momentarily blinded by the light, and she looked at the Abyss with a puzzled expression.

Abyss shook his head, took the pendant off the shelf, and casually put it in his pocket: "I see. I thought it was some kind of sophisticated trap, but it's just a magic pendant with a temporary deceptive effect. It's useless against us. The one hiding upstairs, come out. Your breathing is as loud as a giant's stomach. We both knew you were here a long time ago."

After a brief silence, slow footsteps sounded, and a thin, short old man dressed in a black mage's robe appeared on the second-floor steps. He coldly looked at the two people standing in the hall, two eerie blue flames burning silently in his eyes.

“You are different from other mercenaries; you are immune to my ‘Eye of Fear’,” the old man said in a hoarse voice, but with boundless confidence. “However, now that you’ve come this far, don’t even think about going back.”

"Mr. Reiner, what is your purpose?" Abyss looked up at the old man. "A necromancer wouldn't be killing for pleasure, would he?"

Reiner paused for a moment, then quickly regained his composure: "Oh? He told you everything? Humph, you can't rely on simple-minded idiots like that."

The Abyss fell silent, simply staring at Reiner as if waiting for something. Reiner, too, didn't bother to speak to the Abyss; he stretched out his withered, twig-like hand and clapped it twice.

"Uh..." Low groans echoed from all directions, and the sound of staggering footsteps filled the house.

Along with the sounds came a large number of zombies. They staggered from various rooms toward Abyss and Flora, their slightly decaying faces filled with confusion. Some zombies wore the mixed armor typical of mercenaries and wielded various weapons, while others wore mage robes and carried staffs. Flora clenched her hands to remain calm and counted the zombies—thirty-three in total. A dozen or so zombies still had relatively intact skin; these must be the mercenaries who had gone missing a few days ago.

“Sorry, you’re not leaving now. And please return the ‘Eye of Fear’ you took earlier.” Reiner let out a sinister laugh. “These are mercenaries, and not one of them is mediocre. My necromancy can preserve 100% of their fighting strength. My foolish ‘apprentice’ helped me drive away the weak ones in advance. You have no idea how ridiculous these self-important mercenaries looked when they were frightened by my Eye of Fear.”

Beside Reiner, another small figure appeared—a female elf, wearing a white robe stained with blood, tightly gripping a vine staff in her hand. She looked quite young, probably around thirteen or fourteen years old in human terms, and her pretty face bore the same bewildered expression as the other zombies.

"Finally, let me introduce you to my new loot from a couple of days ago, my favorite type." Reiner's laughter gradually turned lewd. "This girl only knows healing magic. She eloped with her boyfriend to become a mercenary, and this was her first job. Can you imagine how heartbroken she was, crying in her devastated boyfriend's arms when she was gripped by fear? I deliberately didn't turn her into a zombie immediately. Instead, I tied her up and then woke her up, slowly performing embalming on her while she was conscious. The screams she made then were absolutely beautiful."

Flora frowned deeply. As a saint in her lifetime, she rarely came into contact with such worldly affairs, and the necromancer's words aroused her considerable disgust.

Abis, however, remained expressionless, quietly listening to the gaunt old man speaking from upstairs.

“I won’t kill you two right now, you gray-haired brat. Your attitude really annoys me. I’ll extract your soul and brand it to teach you a lesson—and that little girl over there, I don’t like your body, your breasts are too big, but your voice is quite nice. I imagine your singing will be very beautiful.” The flames in Reiner’s eyes burned a little brighter, and his smile tore open the wrinkles on his face, making them look particularly ferocious in the moonlight.

"Trying to use verbal intimidation and the power of this pendant to activate the fear spell on it?" Abyss seemed bored at this moment and pulled out the "Eye of Fear" that was flashing in his pocket, saying, "Save your breath, it won't work on us."

"Hmph, a mage who can resist mental spells? Forget it, a few of my zombies can easily subdue you." Reiner's embarrassment at being exposed quickly turned into disdain. "Servants, attack! Subdue them!"

A brief silence followed.

"What are you standing there for, you stupid zombie!" Reiner yelled, stomping his feet.

"Heh, don't force them. Your zombies are in a dilemma right now." Abis chuckled softly. "Whether they kneel before me or before my Flora is a difficult choice for them to make."

Chapter 8 seems to have crashed.

Upon hearing Abyss's words, Reiner frowned and looked around at his zombies. To his shock, he discovered that these zombies, who shouldn't have felt fear at all, were all standing there trembling, not daring to take a single step.

"What's going on?" Reiner snatched the staff from the female elf beside him, chanted an ancient incantation, and slammed the handle on the ground. A dim green light spread outward from the staff, affecting all the zombies. Their eyes glowed with a green fluorescence, and the grunting sounds they made grew louder and louder.

"Ah, the Undead Exhilaration spell can amplify the bloodlust of the undead." Abyss nodded calmly. "You're quite skilled at using it. You must have been studying necromancy for quite some time now."

"What!?" Reiner looked at his zombies in surprise. Although the zombies were groaning loudly, none of them pounced on the young couple in front of him as he had hoped.

Flora whispered to Abyss, "Abyss, do you need my help fighting them? I may not know anything, but at least I'm very strong..."

“Your work comes later,” Abis smiled at her. “I’ll take care of the trivial matters first.”

Enraged, Reiner pointed at the Abyss and shouted, "What are you whispering about...?"

"Kneel down!" Abis suddenly shouted.

"Woo!!" All the zombies let out a terrified wail upon hearing those words. The necromancy spell that Reiner had just cast on them didn't even give them a second's hesitation. Their already rotting knees slammed to the ground, their bodies collapsing, unable to look the Abyss in the eye. Even the female elf resurrected by Reiner with the highest-level necromancy he possessed was not spared—because her joints weren't as stiff and rotten as the others, her kneeling posture was actually more perfect.

Leiner could hardly believe his eyes. His proud undead army had surrendered without even a fight.

“State your purpose. Why did you form this zombie army?” Abis thought for a moment, then stretched his neck. “Throw down the zombies up there. I don’t like looking up to others.”

Before Reiner could even speak, he felt his clothes suddenly grabbed by two strong, iron-like hands, and he was sent flying, crashing from the second floor to the first-floor floor. Already aged and weakened by necromancy, his body couldn't withstand the fall. He felt his ribs were broken, and he couldn't breathe. He struggled on the ground for a long time before finally raising his head to meet the Abyss's icy gaze.

“Speak to me now.” Abyss’s breath hit Reiner’s face, but it had no human warmth; it was even colder than the winter night outside. Frost quickly formed on Reiner’s face.

"You...you're a necromancer too!" Reiner finally realized. "You can manipulate other people's undead?"

"Don't answer questions with questions!" Abyss suddenly roared, grabbing Reiner by the collar. "Tell me your purpose!"

Reiner felt a bone-chilling cold spreading from the Abyss's hand to his body; if this cold were allowed to continue to spread, he would soon freeze to death!

"I want to! I want to break into Princess Leona's tomb!" Reiner's arrogance and coldness had completely vanished. The hand that Abyss was holding onto his collar was not strong, and Abyss's still somewhat immature face did not have much pressure, but he could clearly feel the other party's suppression of him. Even without Abyss using any necromancy, a sense of submission from the depths of his soul made him shout out loud.

"You're going to break into Princess Leona's tomb too?" Abyss brought his face close to Reiner's, his blue-green eyes like abysses, seemingly ready to devour Reiner's soul. "And after you break in, what's next?"

“I…I want to retrieve an item from Princess Leona’s stomach for the Council of the Dead. I don’t even know what it is! I swear!” Reiner’s voice was almost choked with sobs. He was trembling all over, and a stench emanated from his lower body, almost making Flora, who was watching from the side, vomit.

"And then what!?" Abyss still didn't let go of Reiner's collar.

"No...that's all..."

“You’re lying,” Abyss’s voice turned cold again. “I don’t like it.”

“I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you! They promised that I could have Princess Leona’s body after it was all done!” Reiner was filled with remorse. He reported loudly, “When I was young, I was an apprentice court mage in the Western Empire. I had always secretly loved Princess Leona. After Princess Leona died, I wanted to get her in other ways, so I learned necromancy and later joined the Council of the Dead!”

"You've been preparing for over forty years?" Abyss couldn't help but laugh. "Just for Princess Leona's remains?"

Reiner's expression was somewhat manic: "You have no idea how beautiful and lovely Princess Leona is..."

"What does your Eye of Fear have to do with that Council of the Dead?" Abyss didn't care about this guy's twisted love affair at all, and took the pendant out of his pocket again. This pendant seemed to be absorbing Reiner's fear, emitting a soft purple glow.

“This is part of an artifact called ‘Hellface’ held by the Council of the Dead. They were worried I wouldn’t be able to complete the mission, so they lent it to me!” Reiner said immediately. “Take it if you want!”

“I don’t particularly want it, but I won’t give it back to you.” Abyss put the Eye of Fear directly into his pocket. “Tell me the location of Princess Leona’s tomb.”

Reiner immediately gave her an address. After listening to it, Flora thought for a moment and said with some surprise, "It doesn't seem to be too far from this city."

"My original plan was to collect zombies as guards on my way to the destination, steal Princess Leona's body, and then retreat immediately. These undead are disposable and will decompose quickly, so they won't harm anyone," Reiner quickly explained.

"I see. So you don't keep it with you all the time, but just throw it away after use?" Abyss seemed relieved.

"Yes, yes, yes! I was planning to go into seclusion after this job and never get involved with the council again! Now I'm not even doing this job anymore!" Reiner seemed to have revealed everything he knew, and his emotions rose slightly. "Can I go now?"

"Let's go?" Abyss seemed surprised. "We'll talk about that later. Could you recite the Necromancer's Creed for me? You must know the rules of our Necromancer's School, right? Every apprentice must memorize the Necromancer's Creed before starting their studies. You should be able to recite it, right?"

Reiner's expression suddenly froze.

Chapter Nine: The Necromancer's Creed

"First creed: I am a guardian of life and death, and I uphold the dignity of both the living and the dead."

Creed Two: I am the scales of life and death, and I defend the balance between the living and the dead;

Third creed: I am the messenger of life and death; I listen to the will of the living and the dead.

My fourth creed: I am the historian of life and death; I write the stories of the living and the dead.

Reiner recited a few simple phrases, but even these simple maxims were incredibly difficult for him to memorize, not because he couldn't remember them, but because he lacked the courage.

"You remember it quite clearly, not a single word is wrong. It seems you learned well when you were an apprentice." Abyss closed his eyes, a satisfied expression on his face. "Oh, right, the second one, the second one, I seem to have forgotten the specific explanation. Could you please explain it to me?"

Reiner swallowed hard: "Necromancers... cannot... cannot kill unwilling living beings and turn them into undead for their own selfish reasons, nor can they order the undead to slaughter the living for their own selfish reasons."

"You remember it so clearly!" Abyss suddenly opened his eyes, grabbed Reiner by the collar, pulled his upper body up, and shook him violently, roaring angrily, "Setting traps, deceiving the living and then torturing them! Turning them into short-term zombies that are ultimately left unattended and rotting in the wild! Commanding them to attack the living! Is this the creed you recited?! You damned beast, what did you recite!"

"I have my reasons..."

"You're only doing this for your own desires!!"

"Wake up! Necromancers are not what they used to be!" Reiner seemed to have snapped, screaming hysterically, "Which necromancer these days still abides by these four outdated maxims! Necromancers, whether wild mages of the Necromancer School or the Supreme Necromancer of the Council of the Dead, no one follows them anymore! They are obsolete! The power of necromancers is not used to serve the world, but to satisfy themselves! My lord! Times have changed! You are not a god, you have no right to control other necromancers!"

"Aaaaaah!" Abyss slammed Reiner to the ground. Reiner trembled violently, his blue-green eyes shining brightly in the darkness, beautiful yet extremely dangerous.

Flora was stunned. From the first time she met the Abyss, he had always been calm and composed, with a slightly comical demeanor, even somewhat endearing for a man. She had never imagined that the Abyss would become so enraged in front of a completely defenseless scoundrel, nor had she ever expected that the Abyss could be so fiery when he lost his temper.

Reflecting on how the Abyss had treated him after his resurrection—though with a certain familiarity, he had never forced him to do anything and respected his will; he had summoned undead warhorses that obeyed his commands unconditionally, treating them like ordinary horses, even offering small compliments; and today, behind the guild, he hadn't casually killed that annoying and accomplice apprentice. He seemed to truly be acting in accordance with these principles.

Flora has only known the Abyss for a little over a day since she woke up. She doesn't understand the Abyss and doesn't know how he would react in other situations, but she can clearly feel his current emotions: it's not just anger, but more of a sense of frustration. He hates that he has the power of necromancy but can't save those hearts that have already begun to rot before they've even stopped beating, and can't awaken the precious beliefs that have already died in those hearts.

She slowly walked up and took Abyss's hand.

"You can do it." A soft, girlish voice rang in Abyss's ear.

The trembling in Abyss suddenly stopped, and his breathing, which had been disordered by anger, gradually stabilized. Abyss turned his head to look at Flora with slight surprise. The girl was looking at him with gentle, watery eyes, her lips slightly pursed, her expression sincere and firm.

She was a saintess of the Holy See, a genius sorcerer who looked down upon the world. It was impossible for her to gain the trust of a necromancer who used evil necromancy in a single day, nor was she obligated to understand the obsession of a boy who dealt with the dead all day long—but she did it anyway.

Abyss found that he was no longer angry.

“I will not kill you,” Abyss’s voice calmed, “but I will set your dead free.”

"Freedom? Freedom?" Reiner lay on the ground, his scalp lacerated by the fall, black blood flowing from the back of his head. A maniacal grin spread across his face as he questioned the Abyss, "What is freedom? What freedom do the weak have?"

"Freedom is being able to realize your own desires." Abyss looked at him coldly, then snapped his fingers.

The zombies, who had been kneeling on the ground, seemed to remember something after the snap of their fingers. They raised their heads, and a glimmer of emotion suddenly appeared in their previously lifeless eyes. They sluggishly shook their heads, scanning everything in the room, before fixing their gaze on Reiner lying on the ground. They then groaned softly and stood up.

Reiner watched in horror as the zombies, their eyes filled with hatred, slowly surrounded him. He tried to grab Abyss's leg, but Abyss easily dodged him.

"Roar!" The zombies let out a piercing roar at the same time, and then pounced on Leiner, who was howling in despair. The female elf zombie on the second floor even jumped down from the building, pounced on Leiner, and bit his throat.

Before Reiner could even scream, he was torn to pieces by the mercenaries he had killed with his own hands. A wisp of his soul, emitting a silent curse, drifted out from his corpse, but Abyss caught it with his hand and put it into a ring in his hand.

After venting their rage, the zombies, contrary to their previous foolishness, lined up before the Abyss and knelt down in perfect unison. This time, their kneeling was devoid of the previous panic; instead, a sense of reverence emanated from these soon-to-disappear spirits. Holding the Abyss's hand, Flora, standing beside him, could feel the dead' gratitude towards the Abyss and the relief of having personally killed their enemy.

“Flora, your work begins,” the Abyss said. “The undead have fulfilled their wishes. You must summon a holy light to dissolve their immortal bodies and let their souls find peace.”

"I can't use Holy Light anymore, that's divine magic..." Flora quickly shook her head.

“Who said you can’t use divine magic?” Abyss shrugged. “You don’t really think you’re one of those lowly undead who fear the Holy Light, do you?”