The Black Necromancer

"I can't raise him yet." Leon muttered to himself when he failed to raise Onyx's soul and turn him into a summon. Instead, he only collected the soul and added it to the collection that he already possessed before turning around to see that Artox had already rushed to unshackle his son from his binds.

The young Diamond Pangolin was bruised, battered, and deprived of mana. His lifeforce was so weak that it was comparable to a flickering candle flame in the wind. The young Diamond Pangolin laid prone on the ground as Artox curled around him, infusing him with energy and a tiny bit of high value lifeforce from his own body.

Leon saw this and sent over a few of his Undead Priests to assist with healing. The young heir was only C rank, so healing him would not be a problem as long as it was gradual and deliberate.

Artox appreciated the gesture and moved aside a bit for the Undead Priests to get close and start walking. He did not try to hinder them, as he knew now that if Leon truly wanted to, then he could easily suppress Artox and claim his son.

Leon directed his attention elsewhere now that most of the problems were taken care of. His gaze drifted to the center of the rock eye that floated in the sky. The structure remained as it was even after Onyx's passing.

"That should be the entrance to the dungeon core." He said to himself when he noticed that the center of the eye was glowing.

Whoosh!

He took off and approached the center of the eye. When he got close enough, he discovered that a round portal had appeared in the center of the eye. Without wasting a moment, he stepped through it to arrive at the Core Room of the dungeon.

When Leon's vision cleared, he was stunned to find himself in a disarrayed and partially collapsed Core Room. The creamy white background was damaged with entire patches of it covered in open spatial cracks. Two dimly glowing orbs stood in the distance, but there was no Dungeon Consciousness.

"What happened here?" Leon mumbled as he stepped through the place and arrived at the cracked pedestal that held the two cores. Their glow was dim and sickly, instead of bright and energetic. "That Onyx must have drained them of their power!" Leon came to a realization.

Onyx had wrestled control from the dungeon butler, destroying or severely damaging it in the process, and then claiming control of the twin cores in order to harness their power for his own goals.

"No wonder he was so powerful." Leon said as he took the two cores into his hands. Like that, he gained ownership of the dungeon so easily. There was no dramatic process as the dungeon butler was missing to make the whole process dramatic.

"Time to go back." Leon said and returned to the boss room. He made his way over to Artox where the Diamond Pangolin King was doting over his child that had just regained consciousness.

"Artox, I will be returning to my home now. I want to invite you over. A strong being like yourself will make a fine ally." He offered. Already, he was thinking of the benefits that Artox could bring him if he followed Leon back to the Desolate Lands.

"I am afraid I cannot come with you, my unexpected friend. I still have my people to lead as well. Perhaps we will see again soon. I am truly grateful for your aid. I will ensure to return the favor in full when the time presents itself." Artox thought for a moment before bowing his head slightly and replying.

"I see. Well, I will look forward to our next meeting, then." Leon nodded his head and turned around, revealing the golden medallion that Michael had given him long ago. Artox just managed to catch sight of it from the corner of his eyes and he turned around in a hurry. However, he was a tad bit too slow as a flash of light engulfed Leon's body and he vanished in the next moment, leaving Artox staring wide eyed.

"He... really was sent by the Gods..." Artox mumbled, recalling all the words that Onyx had been saying.

.

.

Boom!

A tree was blasted to smithereens behind Elena, the force of the explosion forcing Elena down to the ground. She felt pieces of wood pepper her back, with some pieces stabbing into her leather armor and scratching her skin.

Whoosh!

The explosion created a shadow that Elena escaped into, utilizing the skills she had gained from her Shadow Dancer Class to escape from the blast radius, allowing her to avoid the worst of the explosion.

"Elena!" Elena's fellow scout, Hana, saw her drop out of the shadow of a tree and quickly ran over to her. She was aware of the attack on their wing of the battlefield, and had been prohibited from moving out at the moment. The combat personnel had already been deployed in full swing. The job of the scouts was not pointless at this time, but her skills were a bit more unsuited for this than scouts like Elena.

When she saw Elena in such a sorry state, she immediately knew how bad it was up front.

"What happened to you?" Hana asked Elena as she propped Elena up on her back and took to the trees. She moved quickly and deftly, in a hurry to return to their camp so the younger girl could get the treatment she needed.

"They were too many. I wasn't able to escape in time." Elena cracked a pained smile.

"They've been watching out for you. You garnered too much attention from the enemy. I warned you." Hana scolded Elena. She had told Elena to tone down her expeditious tendencies a bit more in order to reduce the heat on her tail, but the young Beastkin did not agree. Instead, she took up even more scout missions that led her right into enemy territory, and surely, the enemy had taken note of this.

They had slowly taken note of her ability to dive into shadows and had set up an ambush for her this time in order to trap her. Fortunately for her, she was able to escape, if only barely. However, she was injured.

Whoosh!

An arrow tore through the air at a high speed, giving Hana barely a moment to react. Elena's sharper and faster reaction time was much better and she grabbed on tighter to Hana as the shadow of the tree over them seemed to swallow them partially.

The arrow harmlessly sailed past them as they appeared only a meter away from where they were a moment ago. Elena had drained almost half of her remaining mana reserves as she forced herself to use an advanced technique of the Shadow Dancer, Shadow Phase!

Technically, the Shadow Displacement technique that she used to instantly transport between shadows was of a higher level than Shadow Phase, but the burden of carrying another person with her almost tripled the mana cost and mental strain that she had to endure to pull off the move.

"Ugh!" Elena slumped weakly against Hana's back as the latter regained her focus and put more effort into evading the incoming attacks. They were almost within safe borders! Only a little bit more!

Whoosh!

The path ahead burst into flames as a dozen fireballs erupted among the trees, forcing Hana to a stop. She turned to follow another route but noticed several shadows approaching from there.

"We're surrounded." She realized with a start.

"Then we fight." Elena grunted as she made Hana let her down.

"Fight? But you're injured. You should be able to escape. I'll slow them down." Hana turned to Elena with a serious expression.

"I'm not leaving you. Drop it. I came here knowing I could die at any moment. It's my choice." Elena responded firmly while staring right into Hana's hardened eyes. The woman's gaze softened for a moment before she nodded and turned to face the Demons that had encircled them.

Vicious expressions could be seen on the faces of the approaching Demons. They were all combat oriented Demons, unlike their scout counterparts. They possessed the strength and confidence to deal with the two little women in front of them.

Unfortunately, they were wholly unprepared for what was to happen next.