Two hours after Lux ordered Shax to bring Sam to him, the Nightgaunt appeared, carrying the merchant like a sack of rice on its shoulder.
Lucius glared at the traitor with a face filled with injustice, while Sam only looked down at the ground, avoiding eye contact with the Head of the Merchant's Guild in Whitebridge City.
"Now that the traitor is here, tell me, what do you want?" Lucius demanded. "Do you also want me to betray Twilight Rain? I can do that for you. If you want to know where their hiding places are, I know some of them as well. I am more useful than that country bumpkin over there. So how about it? I promise you won't regret collaborating with me."
Sam, who had been called a country bumpkin, raised his head to look at Lucius with contempt. Although Wisp Tree Town wasn't as big as Whitebridge City, it was still a Dungeon Town, which held great importance to the Kingdom.
For Sam to become the Head of the Merchant Union in his own territory proved that he had the ability to do it. Although he was far from Lucius' influence, that didn't mean that his connections were lacking either.
"You're right," Lux replied. "You are more useful than Sam."
"I know, right?!" Lucius stated. "So work with me instead. I'll show you that I can exceed your expectations!"
Lux nodded his head before summoning a sword in his hand.
Then, without any warning, he stabbed Lucius' chest, catching the merchant, as well as Sam, by complete surprise.
"Since you are more important than Sam, I will need to have your unconditional loyalty," Lux stated in a cold voice that made Sam shudder subconsciously. "There are many people that I trust in this world, and you are not one of them. However, since I need you to become one of my trusted subordinates, there is only one way to make that happen."
There was nothing that Lux trusted more in the world than his family, as well as the Undead. Since the Dwarf could betray him at any given time, there was only one way to make him loyal to him without fail.
The light in Lucius' eyes slowly faded as his entire body started to become stiff.
"Animate Undead," Lux said before pulling the sword out of the Dwarf's chest. "Half-Life Zombie."
Lucius' heart, which had been stabbed by the sword, immediately healed. A few seconds later, a scream of pain escaped the merchant's lips as he reached out to grab the air in front of him.
Lux watched the scene with great curiosity because this was the first time he used this kind of Animate Undead ability.
This skill was passed to him by Gaap, which was something that the Half-Ling's Master had invented when she was still alive.
Half-Life Zombie. This was a monster that was alive and dead at the same time.
The zombie's heart would still beat like a normal heart, and its bodily functions would remain the same as if it were still alive. The only difference was that they would gain a boost in their sense of taste, hearing, vision, touch, and smell.
Their strength would also improve significantly, making them stronger than their normal self.
Since Gaap's Master aimed to become a Heaven's Necromancer, she wanted to create a skill that would turn a person into a half-living, half-dead creature.
Hence, the Half-Life Zombie was born.
However, there was a very strict requirement to activate this ability.
The first one was the most important one, and that was for the Necromancer to kill the person themselves by stabbing their heart.
The second condition was to revive the slain person while they were still hovering between life and death.
The third condition was that the person that they were trying to revive must be weaker than them.
If the target was stronger than the caster of the spell, the revival would not be complete, and the target would turn into a full Zombie, instead of a Half-Life Zombie.
Last, but not the least, only Necromancers who didn't possess the Unholy Aura, who were similar to other Necromancers like Gaap, could use it.
In short, only Necromancers who didn't embrace killing as a way of life could use this ability.
Lux met all of these requirements, allowing him to use the Legacy Skill that Gaap's Master had invented through years of hard work.
Also, this spell had a special ability. Those that had become Half-Life Zombies couldn't be detected as Monsters. The ranks of the people that died would remain as they were as well.
"I-I'm still alive?" Lucius patted his chest to check the wound that was given to him by Lux. However, he found nothing as the stab wound had healed completely, making it seem as though nothing had happened to him.
"It looks like it worked," Lux said with a smile. "How are you feeling?"
"I-I… I must be out of my mind for trying to defy you earlier, Master," Lucius replied as he knelt down to pay his respects to the Half-Elf that revived him. "I hereby swear that I will serve you faithfully and loyally to the best of my ability."
Lux nodded and patted Lucius' shoulder.
"Rise, Lucius," Lux ordered. "I expect great things from you."
"Yes, Master!" Lucius rose up and bowed reverently to the Half-Elf as if he was his savior.
The Half-Elf then shifted his attention to Sam and gave the Merchant a devilish smile that made the latter feel as if something terrible was going to happen to him.
"Please, don't kill me," Sam pleaded as he kneeled in front of Lux. "I beg of you. I promise that I will do as you say. I will not do anything to harm your interest, just please spar—arghh!"
Lux didn't even listen to Sam's pleading and stabbed the Dwarf's chest, targeting his heart directly.
"Animate Undead," Lux stated. "Half-Life Zombie."
Just like what happened to Lucius, Sam turned into his fateful minion who would serve him with unconditional loyalty.
"Don't worry," Lux said as he looked at his two new subordinates. "The two of you may live your life in any way that you want. However, when I need your assistance, both of you will help me without fail. Do we have an understanding?"
"Of course, Master," Lucius replied.
"Understood," Sam nodded.
Lux then shifted his attention to Lucius, who had to play an important role from this point onwards.
"Lucius, we will drop you off somewhere away from the city," Lux stated. "What you will do is pretend that I am still looking for you and hide in one of Twilight Rain's bases. Once you have reunited with them, act as you usually would. Feel free to curse me if you have to in front of the members of Twilight Rain to make it believable.
"Also, when you reunite with Ferron, handle things the same way you would have done in the past. However, do not offend more people this time. One more thing, you must take the initiative to report me to Twilight Rain and make sure that I become one of their high-profile targets."
Lucius nodded. "Understood, Master. Is there anything else that I can do for you?"
Lux pondered for a bit before giving Lucius another order. "If ever Aina, her Guild, and her sister are being targeted by Twilight Rain, make sure to warn them in advance as subtly as possible. I will talk to her later about you, so make sure to make this your priority."
"Okay," Lucius replied. "What about that investment that Nevreal talked about earlier, Master? Was that only an excuse for him to meet me, or were you serious about it?"
"I was only half serious about it. But since you mentioned it, let's proceed with this project," Lux commented. "Invest in the construction of an outpost, and make sure to tell them that you will get 20% of whatever gains they get while exploring the Savage Lands."
"Very well." Lucius gave Lux a brief nod of understanding. "As for the resources that I will gain from the Savage Lands, I will set them aside as Master's personal funds."
Lux was quite impressed that Lucius was taking the initiative to make money for him. Although he expected that the spell would make the merchant loyal to him, he didn't expect it to be like a brainwashing ability that made the Merchant go beyond, volunteering to become Lux's personal fundraiser.
"How about me, Master?" Sam, who didn't want to lose to his rival, asked.
"Don't worry, I have something planned for you as well," Lux replied. "From now on, you will coordinate with Guildmaster Keelan of the Adventurer's Guild and help my Branch Guild, Ars Goetia, expand. Your goal is to create shops that will sell consumable items."
"Just shops, master?" Sam frowned. "Will this be of great benefit to you?"
Lux smiled. "These shops are only a front. Their true goal is to gather information within the city that they are based in, similar to what Twilight Rain is doing with the Merchant Guilds. Help them in subtle ways, but don't let the members of Twilight Rain suspect you of anything."
"Consider it done, Master." Sam patted his chest with confidence. "I will do this without fail."
"I know you will." Lux rested his hands on Sam's and Lucius' shoulders. "Now let's talk about how we can make Twilight Rain feel as if their house is on fire. Lucius, tell me the names of the people who you know that are part of your organization. My friends will give them all a friendly visit."
"Yes, Master," Lucius replied.
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Somewhere in the Kingdom of Gweliven…
Sid pushed the dead body of the Merchant he just stabbed onto the floor of his bedroom.
Having been an Assassin for many years, all he needed was the name and the location of the target, and he would head there to carry out his mission.
After receiving the name of one of Twilight Rain's avid supporters from Sam, the Dhampir didn't hesitate and went to find his target.
"One down, two more to go," Sid said softly as he opened his bat-like wings and flew toward the dark sky.
The night was still young, and he still had more people to kill.
Sid didn't shy away from killing people—especially the bad ones.
Now that he was working on behalf of his Master, Lux, the Dhampir, who was considered a genius Assassin when he was still alive, would become one of the many hunters that the red-headed teenager would unleash against the members of Twilight Rain.
The Dark Guild had no idea that two of their Honorary Elders were already working for the person who wished to pay them back for all the hardships he had suffered they had caused him in the past.
For a few months, none of their members dared to make a stir out in the open, in fear that these unknown hunters would knock on their door and paint the ground under their feet with their blood.
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