Chapter 268: Killing the Necromancer.

"Don't worry. Leave it to Ilio!"

Shu Li spoke to his human teammates with complete confidence.

It wasn't just the humans who needed to advance in rank. Dixio, Angel, and Budno needed to improve as well. After all, only upon reaching the rank of Grand Mage could they form a contract with the Mother Tree and travel through the spatial passages within its roots.

The moment Hector heard Ilio's name, a chill ran down his spine.

Given Ilio's sadistic teaching methods, they might actually become Mages within two years. But the process would undoubtedly be sheer torture.

While Shu Li was plotting to enlist Ilio's help, Ilio himself was busy cleaning up the aftermath of a battle in the Woba Grand Canyon.

More than a thousand meters underground, an enormous crater had formed.

It was filled with skeletal remains and corpses. The earth had been severely corroded and was releasing poisonous fumes. Every plant had withered, and the creatures that burrowed through the soil were fleeing in all directions. Those too slow to escape had already become corpses themselves.

A man lay at the center of the crater.

It was the necromancer Sheen Purson.

A massive hole had been torn through his chest, and black blood had pooled around him. His face was twisted into a hideous expression, his eyes still wide open in death.

Ten meters away lay Sarn's corpse.

His upper body remained intact, but everything below his waist had been pulverized. It was a gruesome sight.

Ilio hovered in midair, supported by the wind. A wall of swirling air surrounded him, keeping the poisonous fumes at bay.

He looked somewhat worse for wear.

His disguise had fallen away, revealing his true Elven appearance. His hair was disheveled, his robes torn, and a thin trickle of blood ran from the corner of his mouth. His brows were tightly drawn together, and his ice-blue eyes were filled with cold fury.

With his current strength, defeating a Saint Mage-level necromancer would have been easy enough.

But adding a nightmare demon that had lived for ten thousand years to the equation had pushed him rather close to his limits.

Ilio raised a hand and elegantly wiped the blood from his mouth.

His icy gaze settled on Sarn's corpse.

What a pity. That nightmare demon had escaped.

After suffering a devastating injury, the creature had abandoned its physical body and fled. It had moved too quickly for Ilio to intercept.

Still, after today's battle, it would take the nightmare demon at least two years to recover its strength.

Without a compatible human body, it could exist in the world only as a soul.

And a nightmare demon in its disembodied state was considerably less dangerous.

The necromancer had devastated the surrounding land, leaving it saturated with death. A light-element mage would have to purify the area before its former vitality could be restored.

Judging by the time, Danlov should be arriving soon.

Ilio took a bottle of disguise potion from his storage ring and drank a mouthful.

His eyes turned black, his long, pointed ears shortened, and his skin darkened several shades.

Ten minutes after he finished disguising himself, a streak of white light flew toward him from the distance.

It descended abruptly nearby and transformed into Danlov, dressed in white mage robes.

"Ilio, you're injured?" Danlov asked in surprise when he saw his torn robes.

"It's nothing. Just a few scratches." Ilio waved a dismissive hand. "One of them escaped."

Danlov looked down into the enormous crater.

The corpse with the gaping hole in its chest belonged to someone he recognized.

Sheen Purson.

A necromancer on the Mages' Guild's wanted list.

Most of the Magic Instructors and Grand Mages dispatched to investigate the canyon had been killed by him.

For him to die so easily was far too merciful.

Sensing Danlov's barely restrained anger, Ilio said, "Don't worry. His death was anything but pleasant. He watched helplessly as his body was hollowed out before he finally drew his last breath. His soul tried to escape, too, but I tore it to pieces. As for the other one..."

He pointed toward Sarn's corpse.

"He escaped."

Danlov examined the body.

"Was he a swordsman?"

"No. He was a human possessed by a nightmare demon."

Danlov was startled.

"A nightmare demon? A demonic creature?"

Ilio brushed a few strands of hair away from his forehead and sighed.

"That's right. The swordsman had been possessed for ten thousand years. I imagine his soul was devoured long ago."

Danlov fell silent for a moment.

Then he raised his magic staff and began chanting a light-element purification spell.

Several seconds later, an enormous magical formation of light appeared above the crater.

As particles of light descended, the corroded earth gradually returned to its original condition.

Once the purification was complete, Danlov turned to Ilio.

"We were fortunate to have your help this time. Otherwise, the Mages' Guild would have suffered catastrophic losses."

Danlov had only advanced to Mage Sovereign a few years earlier.

Although he was somewhat stronger than a Saint Mage, he would have stood no chance against a Saint Mage-level necromancer and a nightmare demon that had survived for ten thousand years at the same time.

Ilio truly deserved his reputation as the strongest warrior in the Elven Kingdom.

With only five hundred years of cultivation, he had killed the necromancer, severely wounded the nightmare demon, and emerged from the battle alive.

"I am the King's disciple, after all," Ilio replied, sounding regretful. "Unfortunately, I didn't know enough about nightmare demons, and it managed to exploit that weakness."

Once he returned, he would have to visit the library in the Elven Kingdom and search through the ancient texts concerning demonic creatures.

He needed to make up for his lack of knowledge about their various species and habits.

Danlov, who was also a disciple of the Elven King: "..."

"Ahem."

He cleared his throat.

"I'll have people keep an eye on the Kingdom of Cecilia."

"That territory is controlled by the dark forces," Ilio said. "I'm afraid mages will have difficulty infiltrating it."

Danlov smiled.

"Not all of my people are mages."

During the eighteen years that the current king of the Kingdom of Cecilia had occupied the throne, he had launched wars of aggression against neighboring countries and annexed four kingdoms: Pedam, Masha, Hadan, and Lidrun.

Countless people had been displaced by the wars, reduced to subjects of a conquering nation.

There were many who longed for revenge.

They had united into a resistance movement and had been fighting against the Kingdom of Cecilia for years.

All Danlov needed to do was provide them with some assistance, and he could secure the loyalty of those determined to reclaim their countries.

The Central Court was forbidden from interfering in the governments of other nations.

But that didn't prevent Danlov from secretly cultivating other forces.

Ilio had no interest in humanity's internal conflicts.

How Danlov intended to overthrow the Kingdom of Cecilia was entirely his own affair.

"I should be going."

Ilio glanced up at the darkened sky, bid Danlov farewell, and teleported away.

He needed to report today's events to the King.

The Royal Palace of the Kingdom of Cecilia.

Inside a dimly lit chamber, Danton held a young girl by the throat.

Her once-beautiful face was contorted with terror. A wound had been cut into her pale neck, and blood flowed steadily from it.

Like an injured swan, she sat slumped helplessly against the side of the bed, fragile and deathly pale, forced to watch as her life slowly drained away.

After drinking the girl's blood, Danton finally managed to suppress the violent impulses and pain raging within him. ℴ𝗆

He discarded her with a look of disgust and extended a hand.

An attendant immediately presented him with a clean handkerchief.

Danton accepted it and leisurely wiped the blood from his fingers.

Without his hand supporting her, the girl collapsed onto the cold floor.

Her body twitched uncontrollably.

Once he had finished cleaning his hands, Danton tossed aside the bloodstained handkerchief.

"Dispose of her."

The handkerchief fluttered down, covering the girl's terrified face.

The attendant swiftly picked up the barely living girl and carried her out of the chamber, leaving a long trail of blood across the floor.

A cloud of black smoke drifted into the room.

It gathered into a vaguely human shape, raised one hand, and released a mass of black flames.

The moment the flames touched the bloodstains on the floor, they flared up and consumed them.

A moment later, the fire died out.

The bloodstains had vanished as well.

'Not having a body really is inconvenient.'

Sarn knelt on one knee.

"Master, please forgive my failure."

Danton lounged lazily against the bed, his ink-black eyes fixed on him.

"Sheen is dead, you've lost your body, and you've come crawling back in this pathetic state. Do you really think this was merely a mistake?"

Sarn lowered his head.

Under the terrifying pressure emanating from his master, even his voice trembled slightly.

"Master, we encountered an Elf."

Sarn had originally intended to capture the Elf alive and present him to his master.

Instead, the Elf had inflicted devastating injuries on him, forcing him to abandon the body he'd used for ten thousand years.

It was an unbearable humiliation.

Ten thousand years ago, Sarn had been nothing more than a low-ranking demonic creature.

After finding a compatible human body, he had concealed his aura, escaped notice during the War of the Gods, and managed to survive.

Over ten thousand years of devouring other beings, he had finally evolved into a high-ranking demonic creature.

He had then manipulated the Kingdom of Cecilia's second queen into allowing a fragment of the Dark God's divine soul to be conceived in her womb.

When Danton was born, he had not yet fully awakened.

Sarn had protected him throughout his childhood.

At twenty, Danton had finally awakened completely and obtained the Dark God's power.

Unfortunately, the human body was far too fragile to withstand a divine soul.

Every month, Danton suffered agonizing pain as the power within him turned against its vessel.

To ease that pain, his master had no choice but to drink the blood of pure young maidens.

Three years earlier, Sarn had discovered the sealed gates of hell more than ten thousand meters beneath the Woba Grand Canyon.

Using his power as a nightmare demon, he had guided the Demon Lord Ansedram out of hell in his weakest form.

Ansedram had also brought out a seed of blood-hell grass.

If they could successfully cultivate the blood-hell grass, they would be able to control the King's power effectively.

But just as the plant was about to be harvested, an Elf had appeared and ruined everything.

Grinding his teeth in fury, Sarn reported the situation to Danton.

"My King, he was too powerful. His swordsmanship and magic had both reached extraordinary heights. Sheen and I... were simply no match for him."

He lowered his head in shame.

Danton closed his eyes, seemingly falling asleep.

A long silence followed.

So much time passed that Sarn was beginning to struggle to maintain his human shape.

At last, Danton spoke slowly.

"You're saying that Elf named Ilio barely managed to hold his own against you?"

"Y-yes," Sarn replied firmly. "Although he killed Sheen and destroyed my body, if I had fought without restraint and unleashed all my power, I could certainly have dragged him down with me. It's just... I cannot afford to die yet."

He still had to serve his master.

How could he throw his life away so easily?

Danton opened his eyes and stared coldly at Sarn.

Sarn was seized by terror.

Unable to maintain his shape any longer, he dissolved into a cloud of black mist.

"Someone else killed Seandram," Danton said.

Sarn was astonished.

He wanted to ask how Danton had reached that conclusion, but his master offered no explanation.

Instead, he issued an order.

"Since the Elves have begun interfering, it's time we invited some of our old friends out to stretch their legs."

Sarn condensed into human form once more.

He bowed to Danton, a crazed expression spreading across his face.

"Master, I'll depart for Wanaku immediately!"

It was time to ignite the flames of war across the Austin Continent.

Shu Li returned to St. Velia Magic Academy, intending to find Ilio and discuss the special training program.

Unfortunately, Ilio was nowhere to be found.

Zephyr, an elder of the Dragon Clan, told him that Ilio had gone to the Magic Tower at noon to meet Danlov and had yet to return.

Shu Li knew why Ilio had gone to see Danlov.

Since he'd been gone for so long, they were probably still discussing how to deal with the necromancer and the demonic creatures.

There was no harm in waiting until tomorrow to speak with him.

Shu Li decided to return to the Elven Kingdom first and ask the Elven King about that mysterious plant.

He poked his little head out from among the Mother Tree's branches.

He'd expected to be surrounded by enthusiastic Little Fairies, just as he had been yesterday.

To his surprise, the courtyard was completely quiet.

Even the young Elf who usually waited for him beneath the tree was nowhere to be seen.

What's going on?

Shu Li fluttered his wings and flew around in confusion.

There wasn't a single Little Fairy in the young Elves' dormitory.

Don't tell me they've gone back to the divine tree?

Feeling a little disappointed, Shu Li flapped his wings and flew out of the courtyard.

After flying for quite some time, he finally encountered his first Elf.

"Galot, good morning!"

"Good morning, little Sperien."

Galot, an Elf with silver hair and golden eyes, saw the Little Fairy flying enthusiastically toward him and extended a hand to catch him.

He gave Shu Li's little head an affectionate rub.

Having paid that small price for the greeting, Shu Li immediately flew off his palm.

"Um... where are all the other Little Fairies?"

Galot chuckled.

"Dagmon sent them to work in the wheat fields."

Shu Li was astonished.

"This early?"

It was only seven or eight in the morning!

The Little Fairies already had to start working?

Yesterday, they'd all been lounging around on the Mother Tree's branches, waiting leisurely for him to appear!

"Well," Galot said, "since they agreed to harvest the wheat, they can't slack off! They neglected their work yesterday, so they'll have to work extra hard to make up for it today."

So that's what happened!

Shu Li couldn't help observing a moment of silence for his fellow Little Fairies.

Dagmon was notoriously strict.

If they failed to complete their assignments, they could expect a spanking on their little bottoms!

"Where's Isral?" Shu Li asked.

The Little Fairies had been sent to work, but surely the young Elf didn't have to work too?

Galot smiled.

"Isral went to Lake Shengze'an."

"Lake Shengze'an?"

Shu Li froze for a moment before his face lit up with delight.

"Is he going to awaken his magical attributes?"

On Gest Island in Lake Shengze'an stood the ancient Miradi Palace, which had once served as the gods' residence in the Human World.

After the gods returned to the heavens, Miradi Palace became a sacred temple where Elves and Fairies offered their prayers.

Every Elf and Fairy awakened their magical attributes there.

But Isral had only been born a few months ago!

Was he already going to pray to the gods and awaken his power?

Galot nodded, confirming his guess.

Shu Li scratched the back of his head.

"Isn't that a little early?"

Fairy cubs normally went to the temple to awaken their magical attributes at five years old.

The same was true of young Elves.

Galot reached out a finger and gently touched Shu Li's forehead.

"You were all only a few months old when you awakened your powers, too."

"Uh... oh, right!"

Shu Li blinked.