Lord of the Magical Beasts

Maryse had been developing a preliminary plan ever since she heard about Yang Ling’s intentions that night at Wissen Castle.

Just as her teacher had said, she needed to dispel Yang Ling’s feeling of caution and misunderstanding of her identity if she wanted to complete her mission. Only by getting him to understand who she was could she show her true abilities and worth. Only then could she successfully drag him into the Association of Dark Magic; only then would she have the chance to obtain his trust, moving one step closer to destroying his psychological line of defense and charming him till he was head over heels for her.

Even though she could teach Yang Ling a harsh lesson using her powerful Dark Magic, turning him into a skeleton wouldn’t be enough to dispel the desire for vengeance in her heart. Mercilessly abandoning him after charming him and seeing his look of intense pain was the only way to satisfy the hatred in her heart.

Maryse believed that as long as she planned it carefully, Yang Ling would one day grovel before her.

Of course, completing the mission had to take precedence over revenge. Even though she was seething in rage, she still knew what was most important. The levels within the association were strict, and she could not act on her own whims even if she was the proud disciple of her teacher.

She needed a stepping stone to showcase her abilities and worth, a stepping stone that could attract the attention of everyone in the town. Without much thought, Maryse had set her sights on the unlucky Steve. She had quickly mobilized elite Dark Knights and Dark Spellcasters.

Maryse carried out her plan meticulously, while Steve, who had fallen in love with her at first sight, was kept in the dark. He was still trying his best to please her every day, completely unaware that he was being sacrificed so that Maryse could get closer to Yang Ling. He had no idea that a tempest was about to come crashing down on him.

On this day, after waking up early in the morning, Steve casually washed his face and headed to Shangri-La under the protection of his guards. Yesterday, after he had given his ninety-ninth rose, Maryse had finally agreed to meet with him at the outskirts.

Steve believed that with a little more effort, Maryse would become his woman, a suffocatingly beautiful woman.

Later, after I send my men away, I might even be able to get intimate with her in the wilderness!

Steve swallowed hard as he thought about Maryse’s slender waist and toned thighs, his imagination running wild. Yesterday, Maryse had hinted that she did not like going out with a large number of people. He immediately stated that he would only bring a dozen guards to prevent spoiling the romantic atmosphere.

Even though the attacks of the Rossi forces had been frequent of late, Steve did not think that he would be so unlucky as to wander into a random ambush. Furthermore, the guards following him were all warriors at the rank of Great Swordsman, and the guards wearing capes had even reached the rank of low level Sword Saint. Even if he were to encounter the Rossi forces, he was confident that he could retreat safely. As added insurance, the place he selected was not far away from the barracks; his army could arrive quickly if there were any accidents.

After successfully fetching the beauty, Steve excitedly took her to a scenic spot by a small forest. He draped a red carpet on the ground and invited Maryse to sit.

If he knew that this small forest was the location where Yang Ling had first ambushed the Black Armor Guards, and if he knew that the small hill nearby was holding the corpses of more than a hundred of his soldiers, he might not have been able to break a smile.

“Beautiful Miss Maryse, come, cheers!”

Steve was intoxicated even without the alcohol. He was growing more and more excited as he looked at Maryse in her black cloak and low cut dress. He became dizzy after just a few drinks, and he completely missed the faint, icy smile on Maryse’s face.

Silently releasing a magic communication spell, Maryse let out an alluring smile. “Sir Leader, congratulations on obtaining such a large piece of land at such a young age. Come, cheers!”

Looking at Maryse’s faintly visible cleavage, staring at her fair skin, taking a whiff of her subtle fragrance, Steve was overcome with the flames of lust. He had wanted to cool himself off by drinking a few mouthfuls of the cooling rum, but he found it harder to control himself the more he drank. He had no one in his eyes other than the alluring Maryse. He was oblivious to the fact that the fragrance in the air was getting thicker.

“There’s an assassin! Protect the young master, quick!”

Just as Steve was basking in his imagination, a warrior guard wearing a cape suddenly charged over like the wind. He blocked a dark, gleaming dart, which had clearly been coated with a lethal poison.

Steve’s personal guards reacted quickly to the shouted warning, but it was too late. A few knights dressed completely in black charged forward, killing with one blow. They killed many of the soldiers who were caught off guard in the blink of an eye. The soldiers’ heavy black suits of armor were pierced through as if they were paper by the sharp, pitch-black spears.

If the pitch-black knights killing the soldiers was a chilling sight; then what unfolded next could only be described as soul-shattering.

With a wave of low murmurs, terrifying corpses started to dig out from under the mound of soil. Some of them were missing legs or arms, and some were only left with half of their heads. They walked unsteadily toward the group.

“Young master, retreat, retreat quickly!”

The surviving personal guards surrounded Steve and Maryse, then looked at the bloodthirsty black knights and terrifying rotting corpses. The warrior guards were also pale in shock despite their experience in battle.

The group quickly retreated toward the barracks, and at the same time, one of the warriors blew a low sounding signal to request backup. But the black knights launched a fierce offensive before their reinforcements could arrive. Even worse, they had only paused for a moment before the rotting corpses surrounded them.

“Get into formation, protect the young master!”

“Oh Yiblis, fight it out with them!”

…

Seeing that they could not charge out of the fight, the guards could only go all out. They hoped they could last until the reinforcements arrived. The attacks of the black knights were powerful, but with the powerful defense of Steve’s Sword Saint guard, they were unable to land a blow on Steve. His many guards surrounded him closely.

In order to live on and to display his bravery and abilities in front of the beauty, Steve clenched his teeth and entered the battle, standing in front of Maryse.

In the chaotic battle, no one noticed that the undead army was following Maryse’s murmurs as it swarmed toward Steve.

While the guards were powerful, they were unable to hold up against the undead army swarming up like the tide. Coupled with the fierce attacks of the Dark Knights, the guards were soon covered in injuries. Steve was no exception; after being the focus of attacks, he was quickly covered in blood. If not for the Sword Saint and the other guards defending him with their lives, he might have already been torn to shreds by the undead army.

With the increasing number of rotting corpses and skeletons, a few sinister looking Dark Spellcasters appeared around them. Under their command, the undead army launched a strong offensive, manically attacking Steve’s guards in waves.

The situation was getting worse for Steve.

The guards were fighting too hard to notice the odd behavior of the undead. The corpses were continuously attacking Steve, but they didn’t seem to notice Maryse beside him. When they could not avoid it, the rotting corpses and skeletons would either charge toward the Sword Saint who cut them down like some god of war, or they would run into Maryse’s long sword as if they were committing suicide.