Leon rolled his injured shoulder once before lowering the sword in his hand.
"Fine, then let’s stop holding back."
The Qi surrounding his body suddenly changed, what had previously remained concentrated around his weapon spread through his arms, chest and legs before erupting outward in a thick golden layer that completely covered his body.
The stone beneath Leon’s feet cracked.
"Martial Saint Descent."
His presence increased several times within seconds and even Karl raised one eyebrow as Leon tightened his grip around the sword.
[Martial Saint Descent activated.]
[All Attributes increased by 500%.]
[Duration: 5 Minutes.]
Leon grinned toward the priests. "Now we’re talking."
Mira gave him a brief glance before lowering both daggers and darkness spread beneath her feet.
Unlike the ordinary shadows cast by the surrounding buildings, this darkness continued expanding across the street until it reached the priests, Karl’s undead and nearly every creature fighting around them.
"Shadow Domain."
Mira disappeared, Karl immediately turned and found her standing inside the shadow beneath the Fortress Commander’s horse almost twenty metres away.
She vanished again before appearing behind one of the revived guards, then crossed another shadow and emerged beside Leon.
Her movements had become considerably faster as well.
Leon looked toward her. "You had that?"
Mira smiled. "You never asked."
Karl released a quiet sigh while watching both of them.
Talent skills were one of the greatest immediate advantages possessed by high-ranking talents and both Leon and Mira had received abilities perfectly suited to direct combat.
Necromancer was different, it was a profession that became increasingly terrifying as its resources, skills and undead accumulated, but its greatest strengths were never supposed to appear one day after awakening.
Slow burn.
Karl looked toward the Fortress Commander, skeletal wolf and the lesser undead already surrounding him.
Then Death Energy gathered around the Death Stick again.
Not that I have much to complain about.
"Go."
The Fortress Commander charged first as his warhorse rushed directly toward the Scripture Priest while the skeletal wolf accelerated beside him, forcing the surrounding priests to react almost immediately.
Black pages appeared across their path but this time Leon reached them first.
His Qi-covered sword descended against the barrier and the entire formation shook violently, several pages tearing apart beneath a single strike.
The Fortress Commander’s spear followed through the opening but another barrier formed behind the first.
Mira disappeared into a nearby shadow.
The Choir Master’s halo immediately shifted toward the Scripture Priest and the damaged pages began repairing themselves, but Karl had already expected it.
Hellfire.
Dark flames erupted beneath the Scripture Priest and the barrier protecting his front did nothing to stop the fire rising directly around him, forcing the priest to divide his attention for barely a moment.
That was enough as Mira emerged from his own shadow and both daggers crossed his back.
The Scripture Priest jerked forward and immediately tried to form another barrier around himself, but Leon’s sword broke through the remaining pages from the opposite side.
The Fortress Commander’s spear entered through the opening and it pierced directly through the priest’s chest.
His hands froze around the black scripture, Mira appeared beside him again and drove one dagger across his throat.
The Scripture Priest collapsed and every barrier throughout the battlefield disappeared at once.
Karl’s eyes immediately moved toward the priest’s Health bar and his expression changed slightly.
It had already fallen to zero.
Despite all the trouble his barriers had caused them, the Scripture Priest himself had possessed surprisingly little durability once they actually broke through his defence.
Leon looked equally surprised. "Damn, that’s it?"
Karl glanced toward the remaining priests.
So their individual bodies are much more brittle than their formation makes them look.
"One down," Leon said.
Karl was already looking upward; the black scripture did not fall beside its owner, Instead it trembled once before tearing itself from the dead priest’s fingers and flying toward the Choir Master.
The man above them calmly raised his tome and the scripture broke apart into hundreds of black symbols and flowed directly into its open pages.
A new pattern appeared across the tome’s cover seeing the phenomenon a frown appeared across Karl’s face.
What was that?
The Choir Master turned another page and black pages suddenly formed in front of the skeletal wolf and knocked it backwards before it could reach the Bell Priest.
Leon stared upward.
"You have got to be kidding me."
Karl understood immediately.
"Killing them transfers their relics to him."
Mira appeared from another shadow beside them. "So every one we kill makes him stronger?"
"Looks like it."
Leon glanced toward the five remaining priests.
"Should we stop?"
Karl raised the Death Stick.
"No."
Hellfire gathered around him again.
"We kill them faster."
Leon grinned. "Much better answer."
The loss of the Scripture Priest had broken the original formation and the five remaining priests were already being forced to spread farther apart.
Karl immediately pointed toward the Censer Priest.
"Next."
The corrupted mist had already covered most of the street and their Mana recovery continued slowing inside it, while the weaker undead around Karl had become noticeably less responsive.
The Censer Priest swung his relic again as more grey mist poured outward.
Mira disappeared again and crossed three separate shadows in less than a second and appeared directly beside him, but chains immediately burst from beneath her feet.
The Confessor had anticipated her movement but Mira vanished again before they could close and the chains failed to catch anything.
The Censer Priest turned toward another shadow but Mira emerged behind him instead.
Her dagger cut across his shoulder and the Bell Priest immediately raised his hand to interrupt her.
Dong!
The shockwave rushed toward her, but Leon stepped between them with his shield already covered in dense Qi.
The impact struck him directly and his body slid backwards several metres, yet he remained standing.
"Keep going!"
Mira disappeared again and Karl sent the skeletal wolf toward the Confessor while the Fortress Commander charged the Bell Priest, forcing both away from the Censer Priest.
For the first time, nobody remained close enough to protect him and the Censer Priest realised it as well.
He swung the relic rapidly and an enormous wave of corrupted mist burst toward Mira.
Karl raised one hand and dark flames entered the mist, igniting the entire cloud.
The Censer Priest staggered backwards as black fire rolled across his robes and Mira appeared through the shadow behind him.
Her daggers struck repeatedly as one entered his side, another opened his arm and the final strike pierced beneath his jaw.
The priest collapsed before the censer could hit the ground.
The relic immediately rose.
"Again," Mira muttered.
The hanging censer flew toward the Choir Master and dissolved into dark symbols before entering the tome and grey mist began leaking from around the floating man.
Karl clicked his tongue, four priests remained, the Confessor became their next target almost without discussion.
His restraints were becoming increasingly troublesome as the battlefield narrowed, and the moment he attempted to bind Leon again, Karl redirected the skeletal wolf toward him.
Black chains wrapped around the wolf’s body and the Confessor closed one hand.
The undead stopped but Leon appeared in front of him and Qi exploded through his sword.
The Confessor barely avoided the first slash before Mira emerged from his shadow and cut through the prayer beads wrapped around his wrist.
Several beads scattered across the street and for the first time, surprise appeared across the priest’s face.
"There is still time, children."
Dark chains burst around all three of them.
"Kneel and—"
Leon punched him directly across the face and the Confessor flew backwards.
"I’ve heard enough of that."
Karl almost laughed, the priest tried to rise, but Death Severance had already formed beside the Death Stick.
Karl crossed the remaining distance and swung; the curved blade tore through the Confessor’s chest.
[Death Mark applied.]
Mira appeared behind him immediately afterward and both daggers entered his back and Leon finished the attack from the front.
His Qi-covered sword passed through the priest’s neck and its body collapsed.
The remaining prayer beads and chains rose together before flowing toward the Choir Master’s tome.
Karl watched the third relic disappear into its pages as the black tome become noticeably thicker.
More importantly, chains were already moving around the Choir Master’s body.
"Three left," Mira said.
The Bell Priest apparently disliked hearing that.
"HERETICS!"
He lifted the handbell with both hands.
"YOU SHALL ALL BE PURIFIED!"
Dong!
The shockwave spread through the street and some of Karl’s undead were thrown away while several nearby windows shattered simultaneously.
Dong!
A second followed before the first had fully disappeared and Leon raised his shield to block it.
Mira entered a shadow and Karl hurriedly went behind Leon.
Dong!
The third shockwave was considerably stronger adn the skeletal wolf was forced backwards and the Fortress Commander’s horse nearly lost its footing.
Above them, the Choir Master’s halo rested behind the Bell Priest.
The Bell Priest raised his hand again but Mira disappeared again.
The Execution Priest immediately moved to intercept her, but the Fortress Commander charged into his path and forced him to block the approaching spear.
The Grave Priest struck his funeral staff against the road and dead guards began rising around Mira’s possible shadows.
Karl raised the Death Stick and every undead under his control rushed toward them at once.
The Bell Priest rang his relic.
Dong!
Leon moved through the shockwave as Qi covered his entire body as he lowered his shoulder and forced himself forward despite the pressure.
The Bell Priest’s eyes widened as Leon reached him and his shield slammed directly into the priest’s chest, the man flew backwards and crashed through the wall of a nearby building.
Mira appeared inside the darkness of the destroyed room before he could recover and two rapid slashes crossed his chest.
The Bell Priest desperately raised the handbell again but the skeletal wolf bit down upon his arm adn the bell never rang.
Mira’s dagger passed through his throat and the shouting finally stopped.
Leon released a satisfied breath.
"Peace at last."
The handbell rose from the corpse and Karl’s expression immediately became less satisfied.
It flew into the sky and dissolved into the Choir Master’s tome, the man calmly turned another page.
Dong!
A shockwave descended from above and all three were forced backwards.
Leon stared at him.
"Never mind."
Only the Grave Priest and Execution Priest remained below. The battlefield had become noticeably quieter, but the pressure coming from the centre of the formation was growing with every relic absorbed.
Karl had no intention of slowing down.
"Grave Priest."
The Grave Priest must have understood he was next because his whispered prayers immediately became louder.
The funeral staff struck the ground and every usable corpse throughout the surrounding streets reacted.
Dozens rose and then more followed from between the buildings. Corrupted guards, believers and creatures they had killed earlier began gathering around him until a wall of undead separated the priest from Karl’s group.
Leon stared toward them.
"That’s a lot."
Karl smiled.
"Not really."
He raised the Death Stick and the Fortress Commander lowered his spear. The skeletal wolf moved beside him while Karl’s own undead gathered behind the two.
"Compared to a Necromancer."
Both groups collided and the street immediately filled with weapons, claws and Death Energy.
Karl moved directly through the centre alongside the Fortress Commander, destroying anything blocking their path while Mira travelled between the countless shadows created by the fighting bodies.
The Grave Priest continued raising every corpse that fell and Karl did the same.
The Grave Priest’s numbers soon stopped increasing and then they began decreasing.
His prayers became faster but Karl continued forward. The Fortress Commander drove his spear through three resurrected enemies and threw them aside, opening enough space for the skeletal wolf to leap through.
Its jaws closed around the Grave Priest’s staff, the priest tried pulling it free but Mira appeared behind him and her dagger pierced his shoulder.
The Execution Priest rushed toward her immediately, but Leon intercepted him with his sword and their weapons collided.
"You’re fighting me now."
The Grave Priest turned but Karl was already there and death Severance crossed his chest once and then again.
[Death Mark applied.]
[Death Mark applied.]
The priest stumbled backwards and began whispering another prayer as the Fortress Commander’s spear pierced through his stomach.
His funeral staff rose upwards and the Choir Master’s tome absorbed it.
Across the battlefield, several corpses immediately began moving without anyone below controlling them.
Karl looked upward again, the Choir Master was now using the abilities of every priest they had killed.
Barriers floated around him and Mist spread beneath his feet, chains moved through the air.
The bell rested somewhere within the dark light surrounding his tome, while revived corpses gathered below.
Yet his expression remained completely calm.
Only the Execution Priest remained, Leon and the priest had already moved farther down the street.
Their weapons collided repeatedly as Leon switched between the equipment stored inside his necklace.
Sword.
Spear.
Shield.
Every weapon carried dense Qi, but the Execution Priest had also become considerably stronger.
The Choir Master’s halo rested permanently behind him now, his ceremonial blade struck Leon’s spear and broke the shaft through the centre.
Leon immediately discarded it and pulled out his sword, the Execution Priest attacked again and Leon blocked.
The blade still opened another wound across his arm, Mira appeared from the priest’s shadow and struck toward his back, but he twisted before her daggers reached him and forced her away with a horizontal slash.
Karl frowned, the other five had been dangerous because they worked together but the Execution Priest was dangerous even alone.
And right now, all of the Choir Master’s remaining support was focused entirely upon him.
"Leon!"
"I know!"
Leon stored the sword and his shield appeared, Qi covered the entire surface as the Execution Priest’s ceremonial blade descended.
The impact cracked the road beneath Leon’s feet, his Martial Saint Descent was nearing its limit.
Karl could see the Qi around his body becoming unstable and Mira’s Shadow Domain had also begun shrinking.
They needed to finish this now, Karl sent the Fortress Commander forward. The mounted undead charged from behind, forcing the Execution Priest to turn and block the spear.
Mira entered the Commander’s shadow and emerged beneath the Execution Priest.
One dagger cut behind his knee and his balance instantly broke. The skeletal wolf rushed from the side and closed its jaws around his other leg.
Leon dropped the shield as another heavy axe appeared inside both hands and Qi flooded across the weapon.
The Execution Priest looked up and Leon swung, the axe struck directly against his chest.
The ceremonial armour shattered and the priest was launched backwards through the street.
Karl was already moving toward where he would land, Death Severance condensed beside him.
The Execution Priest struck the ground and attempted to rise but Karl swung and the curved blade crossed the priest’s chest.
[Death Mark applied.]
Mira appeared behind him and both daggers entered his back, the Fortress Commander arrived last, his spear pierced straight through the Execution Priest’s chest and drove him into the stone beneath him.
For several seconds, the priest remained completely still and then his hand released the ceremonial blade.
The final priest died.
Karl looked toward the weapon lying beside the corpse, it began trembling. The ceremonial blade slowly rose into the air and Leon released a tired breath.
"Here we go again."
The blade flew upward and entered the open black tome.
The powers of the other five relics stirred within its pages at the same moment before all six disappeared completely into the book.
The Choir Master slowly closed the tome.
Dark runes immediately began forming across its cover and spine, spreading one after another until almost every section of the black surface had been marked.
The entire city trembled.
Karl’s expression changed as cracks raced through the surrounding buildings and continued across the road beneath his feet.
The cathedral behind the Choir Master groaned under the pressure as a notification appeared.
[All six Choir Relics inherited.]
[Sevenfold Choir formation collapsed.]
The Choir Master slowly descended but stopped several metres above the street.
His fingers moved across the newly formed runes before he opened the black tome again.
The black halo behind him immediately expanded several times over, spreading outward like a dark circular crown while both of his eyes began shining with a brilliant golden light.
Another notification appeared.
[Choir Master has inherited the Final Lament.]
The pressure surrounding him increased again as windows shattered throughout the nearby buildings and several cracks spread across the dungeon sky itself.
Karl immediately activated Perception.
[Choir Master]
[Level: 30]
[Classification: Lord → Overlord]