Plains of the Dead…
The dozen Necromancers that had been staying at the Ancestral Grounds all watched from a distance as Lux and Lorelei faced off against each other.
Gaap and Kieran stood a few meters apart from each other on the side as they waited for the battle to start.
"It has been a while since I've seen a duel between Necromancers as young as the two of you are," Dracul said. "This battle is anything goes. Try not to kill your opponent, but if someone were to really die, I guess it can't be helped.
"Although I am the referee, I am merely here to stop the battle if someone surrenders or loses consciousness. I'm not your parent, so don't look at me to ask for fairness. Both of you should bear the responsibilities of your actions, as proper Necromancers do. Do I make myself clear?"
"Loud and clear," Lux replied.
Lorelei only nodded her head and smiled at her opponent. "Don't think that I will take it easy on you just because you're an Initiate."
"Sure," Lux smirked. "Knock yourself out."
"I wonder. Just where is that confidence of yours coming from, Half-Elf?"
"You're about to find out."
Since the two teenagers were raring to go, Dracul no longer delayed the battle and declared the start of the duel.
"Duel Start!"
As soon as he gave the cue, Lorelei summoned a horde of Skeletons that numbered in the tens of thousands.
For Necromancers, the bigger their Undead Army was, the stronger they were. This was a fact, and most Necromancers who had become a Ranker could command over a thousand of them.
But, Lorelei's Undead Army was simply too many. It numbered in the tens of thousands, which could only mean one thing—she had either desecrated an entire graveyard, or she found an ancient battlefield and raised the fallen soldiers to become her minions.
Gaap and the other Necromancers who saw this glanced at Kieran, which made the latter chuckle.
"What's wrong?" Kieran asked everyone with a smile.
"Where did she get this many Undead Soldiers?" Gaap asked.
"That's a very silly question to ask, Gaap," Kieran answered. "Wars are constantly happening everywhere in the world. My disciple and I simply cleaned up what remained from the battlefield, that's all."
"Or you wiped out an entire Kingdom and turned their soldiers into Undead Minions," Gaap snorted. "That's what you're known for, right? Kieran the Undertaker."
"And you're known as Gaap the Coward," Kieran laughed. "The Necromancer who ran away when his Master was being besieged by the Champions of the Divine Army."
Gaap sighed. "This joke of yours is getting old, Kieran. Both of us know that you're spouting bullsh*t."
"Really? When my Master was surrounded by the Champions of the Divine Army, I stayed and fought until the bitter end," Kieran stated. "Even if I had died that day, I would have not abandoned the person who raised me to be who I am today. You and I are different. You ran away, I didn't."
This was the main reason why Kieran hated Gaap.
When she was still alive, Kieran was taken care of for a time by Hereswith. Back then, he was very jealous of Gaap because his Master was a very kind, gentle, and a beautiful lady.
(E/N: What???)
Everyone liked Hereswith, even the stubborn Elderly Necromancers of Memento Mori. That was why, when she decided to break ties with them, they all felt betrayed. However, none of them hunted her down and forced her to return to the organization.
When they learned about her death, all of them raged and attacked the cities of the Divine Army.
Even their leader, who was a Supreme, shattered entire mountain ranges and killed countless members of the Divine Army as vengeance.
Naturally, the Supreme of the Divine Army didn't stand idle, and two of them fought tooth and nail, destroying the surrounding lands, and changing them forever.
Both had been seriously injured and were forced to retreat and recuperate. However, the battle between the two sides never stopped.
Finally, after seeing that continuing the battle was pointless, one of the Elders of the Divine Army brokered a compromise with Memento Mori to stop the carnage.
In order to compensate Memento Mori for their loss, the Divine Army ceded several important territories to the Necromancer Organization, which put a stop to their battle.
Since then, no large-scale battles between the two sides have taken place. But, that didn't mean that there weren't small skirmishes every now and then whenever they met in the lands of Elysium.
"That's a lot of Undead." Lux whistled. "Amazing, the weakest are Rank 4 Monsters."
His gaze then landed on the six Undead Creatures that stood beside Lorelei, all of whom were emanating a strong Unholy Aura.
'Five Deimos and one Argonaut,' Lux thought. 'They must be her Named Creatures.'
He was quite impressed by Lorelei's Undead Army, which made him understand why she was so confident in beating him.
"Summon your army," Lorelei said in a challenging tone. "Let's see which one is better."
"If you say so," Lux smirked as he raised his hand. "Arise!"
An Army that was only a little over a thousand appeared behind the Half-Elf, which was a stark contrast to what Lorelei had summoned.
This made the other Necromancers shake their heads, including Dracul who thought that Lux would be able to give him a surprise.
Actually, the number of Skeletons that Lux currently had wasn't bad for an Initiate of his Rank.
In fact, it was already good, considering he hadn't done anything underhanded like robbing graveyards, which would have increased the number of his Army by many folds.
Lorelei laughed internally after seeing the quality and quantity of Lux's summons.
Just like her, the Half-Elf's subordinates were all Rank 4 Monsters, with the exception of the Named Creatures that stood beside the Half-Elf, which were at least Rank 5 monsters.
Since Diablo and the rest of Lux's Named Creatures would always have the same rank as him, they were only Rank 5 Monsters.
The same could be said for Bedivere, Zagan, and Revon.
Only ALL-MITE, who was a Deimos-Ranked Monster, made Lux's army look somewhat decent.
"This will be a one-sided massacre," one of the Necromancers said.
"Maybe he thought that having one Deimos-Ranked Monster was enough to allow him to act arrogant," another Necromancer commented. "Perhaps he should have waited until he became a Ranker before he challenged her. Maybe he would have stood a better chance after unlocking Greater Undead Warriors."
The other Necromancers shared the same opinion as the first Necromancer that commented.
It was only Gaap, knowing full well the level of Lux's true power, who arched an eyebrow.
'He's not summoning Leoric and his Wraith Knights?' Gaap thought. 'He's not even using his clones. Just what is Lux thinking?'
"I guess I have overestimated you because of your cockiness earlier." Lorelei smiled. "Is this the best you can do?"
"No," Lux replied. "But this is enough to play with you, Little Girl."
"… Little Girl? You called me Little Girl?"
"What's wrong with being called Little Girl? I think it suits you nicely."
The beautiful High-Elf's expression became as cold as ice. Her Named Creatures all glared hatefully at the Half-Elf who dared to belittle their mistress.
"Enough talk," Lorelei said as she pointed her delicate finger at the red-headed teenager in the distance. "Off with his head!"
Immediately, her Undead Army surged forward like a tide. As per their Master's order, they would obliterate the Half-Elf's undead army and present Lux's head to their Mistress to appease her anger.
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