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

"Who are you!" The leader also raised his crossbow, aiming it at the little girl's eyes. If the little girl dared to make any rash moves, he would immediately pull the trigger. He didn't care how old she was.

"I'm a passenger in the convoy below." The newcomer was none other than Leona, who was leaning against a tree trunk, leisurely watching the mercenaries. "Seriously, you guys are really stupid. Didn't you even know to stand where you could see us? Why did you have to hide here? Oh, I see, this terrain... is quite convenient for escaping. My god, you guys are such cowards!"

"Damn it, we've been discovered! Shoot her!" Upon hearing Leona's words, the leader immediately concluded that Leona was the enemy. Years of combat experience allowed him to issue the order without hesitation.

Someone pulled the trigger, which prompted the other mercenaries around him to do the same. In an instant, more than a dozen crossbow bolts shot towards Leona.

Leona's voice suddenly vanished. The mercenaries only felt a gust of wind whistling around them, and a faint orange figure flitted about. By the time they realized what was happening, their light crossbows were gone. Leona was back where she had been standing, clapping her hands. At her feet lay a pile of light crossbows, violently dismantled into parts.

"What!" The leader was shocked to see his empty hands.

……

Meanwhile, from the shadow of a cargo wagon on the road below, a tall figure emerged, twisting and contorting, holding a ready-to-launch explosive spell in its hand.

The guards, who were already on alert, also noticed the sudden appearance of the figure, but before they could shout, the person who emerged from the shadows had already launched a highly destructive explosive spell at the cargo wagon!

Boom!

The close-range spellcasting engulfed the carriage, which was full of potions, in flames.

A feint to the east while attacking in the west!

Chapter Sixty-Eight Nightmare Assassin

Everyone present was horrified. The guards' first cry of "Protect our master!" rang out only after the explosion. The power of elemental magic released at close range was astonishing; the entire carriage was instantly engulfed in a blinding flash of fire, and a powerful shockwave erupted from the blast center, even overturning several well-trained warhorses of nearby guards. The intense heat scorched everyone who witnessed the explosion. The harnesses binding the carriage horses snapped instantly, and the horses neighed and bolted away for their lives.

The guards immediately adjusted their formation, and under Santos's command, they positioned themselves on both sides to protect Gylvia's carriage in the middle.

The figure that emerged from the shadows was clearly visible to everyone in the flames of the explosion.

That wasn't human at all! Judging by her body alone, she was clearly a stunningly beautiful young female dark elf, nearly 1.8 meters tall. Her curvaceous figure was perfectly outlined by tight-fitting, lightweight leather armor—a physique that could even temporarily change the sexual preferences of a sexually normal lolicon. However, what drew everyone's attention wasn't her beautiful body—following her sexy frame upwards, one could see a pretty face as cold as ice… or rather, three-quarters of it.

Her left eye, along with part of her head, was missing, as if gouged out by some large animal. Pinkish brain matter was exposed at the severed head, yet strangely, not a drop of blood flowed from the wound. With such a gruesome wound on her face, even though the assassin's face was expressionless, just the sight of her remaining eye staring at the guards was enough to send chills down their spines.

However, the dark elf assassin did not continue his actions, but stared blankly at the carriage that was still burning fiercely under the residual effects of the magic.

"Oh, you've been found out. I thought you'd run away after you succeeded."

At that moment, a boy's languid voice came from the flames. With these casual words, the magical flames that had been radiating intense heat on the carriage seemed to be deleted, disappearing instantly with a "poof".

After the flames disappeared, the carriage, which should have been burned to ashes by the raging elemental magic, reappeared before the dark elf assassin.

The carriage was unharmed, and a leisurely figure sat on its roof—it was Abyss.

"I knew you guys would use a feint attack. If I had gone with Leona to deal with those mercenaries, I probably would have already fallen into their trap. But thankfully, Leona can handle those low-level rabble all by herself."

Abyss smiled as he stared at the dark elf assassins below, a hint of mockery in his eyes.

He wasn't bothered by the dark elf's bizarre appearance at all. After all, he was a necromancer who had seen countless mutilated corpses. This dark elf was only missing a quarter of its head, which wasn't even an appetizer in the eyes of the Abyss.

This dark elf was clearly a Nightmare. She didn't answer Abyss's question, but instead darted into the shadow of a carriage parked on the road, skillfully using shadow magic to blend into the shadows.

"Come out." The Abyss showed no surprise at its opponent's escape, beckoning to a seemingly deserted corner. To the Abyss, any enemy using magic to conceal themselves was no different than someone carrying a torch in the dark—initially, this assassin had used some kind of Nightmare Spirit's ability to weaken its presence to sneak here unnoticed, something the Abyss couldn't do, as it hadn't studied this before. However, now that the assassin had revealed itself and attracted its attention, any further escape would require the Abyss's permission.

A transparent figure was lifted up by the Abyss. As the Abyss chanted a spell, the assassin's invisibility magic was quickly broken. The writhing assassin was held by an invisible force and brought before the Abyss.

Unfortunately, Abyss also had some knowledge of shadow magic, and it was easy for him to use magic spells to interfere with the effects of shadow magic.

"Can it talk?" Abyss looked at the assassin whose face was expressionless, who was struggling and trying to escape with magic.

Although the Nightmare Spirits possess intelligence, they seem to lack independent will, which is why the Abyss only tentatively raised this question.

The assassin did not answer Abyss, but continued to struggle.

“It seems you are of no use.” Abyss shook her head and flicked her hand. The dark elf assassin’s body was torn to pieces by the sudden burst of enormous pulling force. The viscous black mud filling her body was instantly frozen by Abyss’s magic before it could splatter out, solidifying into a large lump that fell to the ground with a thud.

Abyss sat atop the wagon, gazing at the black mud frozen into ice, and a sense of interest arose within him. He felt it necessary to investigate the similarities between this black mud and the black mud on the Shadow Demon. Although they possessed drastically different properties, it was clear that their origins were both related to evil gods, perhaps offering a breakthrough in his challenge against the Lord of Nightmares.

"I'm back! I've taken care of all the mercenaries, and I've captured their leader. What do you guys think we should do with him?"

Just then, Leona's voice came from behind. Abyss turned around and saw Leona dragging a mercenary who was bruised and battered, with both of his arms dislocated, as they walked towards them from the mountain.

Thus, the attack came to an end. The enemy's only achievement was scaring away a pulling horse—which was later found by the guards, and Flora secretly used a little magic to dispel its fear.

“I’ve dislocated everyone else’s joints, and they’re lying on the mountaintop now. Hey, you, if you don’t want to die, you’d better cooperate with us!” Leona walked to the middle of the group and casually threw the mercenary leader to the ground. The leader cried out in pain and sat up, covered in dust.

Still shaken, Gylvia jumped off the carriage and, under Santos's protection, walked to the side of the mercenary leader.

“Who hired you?” Gylvia asked.

The mercenary leader was clearly terrified after being beaten by Leona. He cried and pleaded, "Your Highness, we are really just a bunch of lowly mercenaries who do things for money. Please, just let us go!"

"I'm asking you a question!" Leona glared at her from the side.

"This... if I reveal the client's information, it will be harder to get jobs in the future..." the leader hesitated.

"Then you can look forward to the day I successfully reclaim the throne and issue a warrant for your arrest across the entire continent for attempting to assassinate a princess. Let's see if you're willing to take on any jobs then," Jivia said coldly, her usual gentle demeanor revealing a stern authority when dealing with her enemies. "Tell me, who hired you?"

“I’ll talk! I’ll talk! It was Mr. Apos, the chief spies of the Kingdom of Ossi! He ordered us and several other mercenary groups to wait on different roads and attack you as soon as you appeared, so as to cover the operation of their elite assassins!”

“Apos? The name sounds a lot like mine.” Abis raised an eyebrow.

"I won't allow you to compare yourself to him!" Leona exclaimed, suddenly becoming agitated for some reason. "He's a eunuch!"

“Alright, alright…” Abis quickly raised his hands in surrender, then asked Gylvia, “Is this guy named Abis a confidant of Prince Kevin?”

“Apos…Apos…” Gylvia frowned as if she were hearing the name for the first time. “I don’t remember having such a eunuch in the palace.”

Chapter Sixty-Nine: Methods for Storing Fragile Items

“But Mr. Apos is indeed the chief spymaster of the current king of the Kingdom of Ossi…” Seeing that Jivia was having some difficulty recalling, the mercenary leader quickly reminded her, afraid that she would think he was lying, “Think carefully, didn’t Mr. Apos serve King Ossi… oh no, Prince Kevin’s side very early on? He entered the court later with Prince Kevin.”

After the mercenary leader's reminder, Gylvia finally remembered: "Right...you're right. Prince Kevin didn't live in the palace before and didn't receive a good education, which may be why he became so savage and violent. In that case, it's understandable that he would feel a lack of belonging after entering the palace from outside, and it would be more reasonable for him to rely on people who have been with him since before..."

"You remember now?" the mercenary leader asked tentatively.

“Hmm, I remember now. This Abos seems to have been Kevin’s assistant before. I remember someone mentioning it to me, and I have a vague recollection of it.” Jivia nodded and then looked at the mercenary leader who had a strong will to survive. “It’s pretty much what I guessed. It turns out that Kevin left the attack on us to his subordinates.”

"Your Highness is wise and insightful, discovering us so early and averting disaster. I admire you greatly!" the mercenary leader hurriedly flattered. "To be captured by such a hero is a great honor in my life. When Your Highness becomes queen, I will definitely tell everyone about this, so that everyone knows that Your Highness is a hero of extraordinary strategy and magnanimity. As long as Your Highness lets me go, I will stay far away from this matter and never help your enemies again!"

"Stop flattering me. Now that you know how strong my companions are, I doubt you'll dare to act recklessly," said Gylvia, glancing at Abyss and Leona standing beside her. Abyss nodded slightly to Gylvia. This mercenary leader was weak, and he hadn't lied earlier; he genuinely didn't intend to get involved in the affairs of the Kingdom of Ossi anymore. Leona, on the other hand, didn't care. She had already beaten up the entire mercenary group, which, while not entirely satisfying, had at least given her some exercise.

Santos, still not convinced, pressed his drawn sword against the mercenary leader's chin, making the latter afraid to even breathe: "Since Her Highness the Princess is so merciful and has agreed to let you go, then go far away. The affairs of the Kingdom of Osiri are not for small fry like you to meddle in. Next time, think twice before accepting a mission. You should be glad you didn't do anything today, otherwise, if you had angered the princess, none of us would have let you off the hook."

"Yes! Yes!" The mercenary leader wanted to nod, but dared not. Santos then sheathed his sword.

Abyss casually chanted a spell, manipulating the mercenary leader's humerus. With two cracking sounds, the humerus snapped back into place on the leader's shoulder. Feeling his arm return, the mercenary leader immediately kowtowed twice to Gylvia, then scrambled to his feet and ran off. He still had to go back and reattach the joints of his brothers, whose limbs Leona had dislocated.

"Fortunately, there were no major losses this time." Only then did Jivia wipe the sweat from her forehead with her fingers. "Santos, were any of our men injured?"

“Thanks to Mr. Abyss’s foresight, none of our men were injured,” Santos replied, glancing gratefully at Abyss. These accompanying guards were all loyal soldiers he trusted, and the loss of any one of them would have pained him deeply. Abyss had anticipated that the enemy might use a feint attack, thus preventing any potential casualties.

“Their main target this time is the potions we sent back. It seems the enemy is aware of our movements.” Jivia said seriously as she watched the guards put new harnesses on the draft horses that had been frightened but had now calmed down. “We undoubtedly have to protect these potions, but if the enemy continues to attack us with such cunning tactics, things will become very troublesome.”

Abyss nodded. He didn't immediately tell Princess Gylvia about his magical catfish. He wasn't worried about Gylvia herself revealing the secret, but he was concerned that if he used the magical catfish to store the potions, the guards would definitely see it. Then, the enemy could easily obtain information by checking through their dreams. Without potions as a target, they would definitely attack people. Protecting the potions was simple, but protecting living, moving people was more difficult.

At this moment, Rebecca suddenly stepped down from the carriage. She hadn't intervened in the battle just now; instead, she had been inside, deep in thought.

“Your Highness, could you give me some of the potions you purchased? I'd like a little of each, not too many.” Rebecca made a direct request to Gylvia. “I want to study the properties of these potions. Perhaps I have a way to protect them from enemies.”

Gylvia was somewhat surprised. She knew that this girl named "Lei" was highly skilled in alchemy, but she was still very curious about how an alchemist could protect some fragile bottles.

Many potions react with metal and become ineffective. Therefore, most of the potions that Gylvia buys from the Black Hat Gang are packaged in glass bottles. Although this glass is a reinforced and sturdy material, it is still glass at its core and will shatter after being subjected to a huge impact. This is a very troublesome fact in the alchemy world at present—most of the potions made cannot be put in sturdy metal bottles, making transportation a real headache.

“Of course, Rei is a trusted friend of the Abyss, so she is my friend too.” Despite her doubts, Gylvia was not petty in this matter.

After receiving permission, Rebecca smiled and nodded, then quickly walked to a covered wagon carrying potions. With the help of the guards, she opened several different boxes inside and took out a bottle of each of the various potions.

Then, she took out several droppers from a handbag she was carrying and took a few drops from each of the potion bottles.

These potions are all very expensive, but the few drops that Rebecca took out were not a lot and were within everyone's acceptable range.

Rebecca took a few drops of each of the various potions that Gylvia had bought, using the same method as before. Soon, she had a row of droppers in her hand.

Just as Gylvia was about to ask Rebecca if they needed to stop here to analyze the properties of the potions, Rebecca did something that left everyone speechless: she took the droppers and started tasting them one by one, like drinking beverages, letting the liquid swirl in her mouth and gently inhaling, just like a sommelier savoring a fine wine.

Chapter Seventy: Adding Some Flavor to the Potions

Gylvia was not familiar with Rebecca, only knowing that she was highly skilled in alchemy and that the Abyss trusted her quite a bit.

Gylvia knew that the Abyss was incredibly powerful, possibly the strongest mage she had ever seen, and the girls around him each possessed unique abilities. Gylvia didn't know their ultimate goal, but their strength was enough to earn her approval.

The Restoration Army is still struggling against Prince Kevin's forces, and its leader, Gylvia, is desperately seeking talent. It would be fortunate for both Gylvia and the Restoration Army to have a powerful and principled mage like Abyss on her side.

Therefore, when Rebecca tasted all the potions in a way that left everyone speechless, wrote down all the potion recipes, and then asked Gylvia to add something to these potions, Gylvia was very shocked and didn't know what Rebecca was trying to do, but she still gritted her teeth and agreed to her request.

Gylvia's agreement was undeniably bold. Santos had initially intended to dissuade the princess from taking the risk, but seeing the unwavering determination in her eyes, he relented. If Rebecca were a con artist, she might have added something to those hard-won potions, turning them into worthless junk. However, after weighing her options, Gylvia chose to trust Rebecca.

And so, the convoy stopped there, allowing Rebecca to use the various alchemical devices she had rented to concoct several different potions and open all the bottles of potions they had purchased. After carefully examining each potion, Rebecca added an unknown liquid, but nothing seemed to change.

“That’s it.” Rebecca added the last potion, straightened up, and looked at Princess Gylvia gratefully. “I’ve heard your story from the Abyss before, and now it seems that Your Highness is indeed a leader of extraordinary courage and talent. Thank you so much for trusting my skills, and I will certainly not let you down. The potion I added will react with the original potion and will not change its properties. It will just make them temporarily undrinkable, protecting these fragile items through some mechanism.”

Gylvia smiled slightly: "I believe you, and I believe Mr. Abyss. But could you tell me about the specific protection mechanism?"

“Of course, Your Highness.” Rebecca nodded. “However, this matter must not be heard by others; it is fine as long as it is known among the few of us.”

If everyone knew, the other guards might leak information to the enemy while they slept, a point Gylvia had considered, and thus agreed to Rebecca's request. The caravan resumed its journey, and after the five entered the carriage, Rebecca quietly revealed her methods for protecting the fragile items, and then took out a bottle of potion she had modified to demonstrate it to everyone…

……

"Your Majesty, the Nightmare Spirit's attack has failed."

In the royal palace of the Kingdom of Ossi, Abos knelt before Kevin and reported in a deep voice.

Kevin sat on a magnificent throne adorned with griffin skin. The hall was vast, but only Kevin and Apos were present; there were no guards or maids.

“I remember you said you wouldn’t mess it up.” Kevin maintained his arrogant attitude, not even glancing at Apos, nor ordering Apos to rise.

"I did promise before that I wouldn't fail, because I have a next plan. This time, my methods are unpredictable and will definitely be foolproof." Abos, however, was not flustered. He spoke calmly in his high-pitched voice, "Moreover, although this attack did not achieve the desired effect, we now know where they will go next, which will make it easier for me to set up an ambush. This attack is unstoppable by anyone. Please look forward to it, Your Majesty."