Grabbing Flora's hand and helping her down from the horse, Abis snapped his fingers and led Flora away from Darkness, heading decisively towards the grand house standing in the wilderness.
It seemed to be an abandoned estate, with only crumbling walls surrounding it. The surrounding fields were completely barren, a paradise of weeds and bushes. The house was dilapidated, with even a part of the roof caving in. In the darkness, the broken glass windows quietly reflected the faint moonlight, perfectly fitting the description of a haunted house in a knight novel. Most people would instinctively feel a chill when they saw such a house at night, but the two approaching the house felt nothing - Abis had encountered more dead people than living, and Flora herself was undead, making this dark environment quite comfortable for them.
Abis pushed open the door of the haunted house, revealing the sight inside to the two: grass growing through the floor, dust covering the ground, and numerous footprints leading inside, with few leading out.
"It seems this is the place," Abis nodded, continuing to walk inside. "The contract was very detailed. The person who wrote it, Mr. Lina, seems to be a very efficient person."
Flora followed behind Abis and also closed the door on their way in.
Abis turned to look at Flora and gave her a faint smile.
Upon entering, they found themselves in a spacious hall. From the abandoned candlesticks and chandeliers in the house, it was clear that it had its own glory in the past. Among these old and worn objects, one thing stood out prominently - it was placed on the fireplace in the hall, a copper jewelry stand with a beautiful purple diamond pendant hanging from it. The jewelry stand was obviously new, recently placed there. The purple pendant, illuminated by the moonlight coming through the broken window, reflected a charming light.
Flora, who had grown up as the heir to the Holy See and had seen all kinds of treasures, didn't have any particular feelings towards this beautiful piece of jewelry. She glanced at Abis beside her, who also seemed uninterested in the pendant.
"It seems this thing is the key to the problem," Abis pointed at the pendant and said, "This thing may not have much attraction to us, but for mercenaries who often risk their lives for rewards, it should be quite appealing."
"Are there traps here?" Flora frowned and looked around, the footprints left by the mercenaries on the ground were chaotic. She was not an expert in tracking, and couldn't see any clues.
Abis didn't answer, but walked forward quickly and reached out to grab the pendant.
As soon as the pendant touched Abis' fingers, it suddenly flickered, and a purple light flashed in front of their eyes.
Flora didn't feel anything except being momentarily dazzled by the light. She looked at Abis curiously.
Abis shook his head, took the pendant directly off the stand, and casually put it in his pocket. "So that's it, I thought it was a clever trap, but it turned out to be just a Magic pendant with a brief confusing effect. It's useless for us. The person hiding upstairs, come out, your breathing sounds as loud as a giant's stomach. We already knew you were here."
After a brief silence, slow footsteps sounded and an old man dressed in a black mage robe, thin and short, appeared on the stairs of the second floor. He looked coldly at the two standing in the hall, two azure flames burning quietly in his eyes.
"You are different from other mercenaries. You are not affected by my 'Eye of Fear'," the old man's voice was hoarse, but filled with endless confidence, "But since you've come this far, don't even think about going back."
"Mr. Lina, what is your purpose?" Abis looked up at the old man, "A necromancer surely doesn't kill for pleasure, right?"
Lina paused for a moment, then quickly regained his composure. "Oh? He told you everything? Hmph, these simple-minded fools are indeed unreliable."
Abis didn't say anything else, just stared silently at Lina, as if waiting for something. Lina couldn't be bothered to talk to Abis anymore, he stretched out his withered hand like a tree branch and clapped twice.
"Groan..." a low groaning sound suddenly resounded from all directions, the shuffling footsteps immediately filled the house.With these sounds came a large number of zombies. They stumbled and twisted their way towards Abis and Flora from various rooms, their slightly decaying faces filled with confusion. Some zombies were wearing the mismatched armor typical of mercenaries, wielding various weapons, while others wore mage robes and leaned on staffs. Flora kept her composure, gripping her hands tightly and counting the number of zombies - there were thirty-three in total. Some of them, about a dozen, had skin that hadn't fully decayed yet, indicating that they were the mercenaries who went missing a few days ago.
"Sorry, but you can't escape now. Please return the 'Eye of Fear' you took earlier." Laina let out a sinister laugh. "These are all mercenaries, and not a single one was a mediocre fighter. My necromancy allows them to maintain one hundred percent of their combat abilities. My foolish 'apprentice' helped me get rid of the weaklings in advance. You have no idea how ridiculous it was to see these self-proclaimed experts among mercenaries being scared by my Eye of Fear."
Beside Laina, another figure appeared - a young female elf. She was wearing a blood-stained white robe and tightly gripping a vine-made staff. She looked quite young, probably around thirteen or fourteen in human years, and had the same confused expression as the other zombies.
"Let me introduce my newest prize from a couple of days ago," Laina's laugh became creepier. "This child only knows magic healing. She ran away with her boyfriend to become a mercenary. This was her first commission. You can just imagine how heartbroken she was when she cried with her collapsing boyfriend in fear. Instead of turning her into a zombie immediately, I tied her up and awakened her. While she was conscious, I slowly performed the preservation rituals on her. Her screams were truly wonderful."
Flora's eyebrows furrowed tightly. As a former saint, she rarely dealt with such worldly matters. The necromancer's words filled her with great disgust.
Abis, on the other hand, showed no expression, silently listening to the thin and wrinkled old man speaking from upstairs.
"I won't kill the two of you immediately. Grey-haired boy, I dislike your attitude. I'll extract your soul and mark it so you won't forget. As for the little girl over there, I don't like your body, your chest is too big, but your voice is quite pleasant. I imagine your singing voice will be delightful." Flames of desire burned brighter in Laina's eyes as he tore open his wrinkled face with a grin, appearing particularly grotesque under the moonlight.
"Were you trying to use verbal intimidation along with the fear-inducing power of this pendant?" Abis at this moment seemed bored as he pulled out the "Eye of Fear" from his pocket, which was twinkling. "Save your breath, it won't work on us."
"Hmph, a mage with mental resistance spells. Forget it then, I can easily bring out a few more zombies to subdue you." Laina's sense of being exposed quickly turned into disdain. "Servants, attack and subdue them."
A brief silence ensued.
"What are you waiting for, stupid zombies!" Laina yelled in frustration, stomping his foot.
"Hehe, don't force yourself. Your zombies seem to be quite hesitant now," Abis chuckled softly. "They are having a hard time deciding whether to kneel before me or before my Flora, it's a bit of a challenge for their intellect."
