Chapter 008 – Black Knight and the Plague Cult
Cleaning up the battlefield is a tiring task. But if there are valuable spoils of war to be taken, the situation is different.
"Clatter~"
Matthew grabbed a handful of gold coins and poured them into a small clay jar, then placed it into the folded space of his Mysterious Spell Satchel. Throughout the whole process, the pleasant sound of metal rolling could be heard.
"There's no sound more pleasing than this."
Arsonists were extremely wealthy. Coupled with the loot from the cellar, Matthew gained over 500 gold coins overnight! In the past three years, even during the best economic times, he didn't have even a tenth of what he had now.
"This money can be used to buy a lot of green potions. Maybe I should consider purchasing higher-level catalysts... This means I can plant many more trees this spring!"
Apart from the gold coins, Blackwood's collection of items dazzled Matthew, a poor villager from the countryside. Blaze glue, incendiary bottles, dragon oil... These were all excellent materials for arson. In low-level encounters, these items could unleash unimaginable power. Without these items, Matthew would have already flattened them! Now that he had these items in his hands, he certainly wouldn't give up using them just because undead were naturally afraid of fire. He just had to be more cautious in their usage, in case he accidentally harmed his lackeys.
"You have used the Appraisal Technique on the 'Ring of Invisibility' (unidentified)!
Appraisal successful, your proficiency in Appraisal +10;
Ring of Invisibility (First-tier artifact): When worn on the index or middle finger, it allows the wearer to enter an invisible state anytime, anywhere. Can be used 9 times per day.
Attribute: Perception +1
Note 1: In the invisible state, movement, attacks, and spellcasting are not possible, otherwise the invisibility effect will disappear.
Note 2: In the invisible state, you still have a collision volume. If you collide with someone, the invisibility effect will disappear."
"This is more like a 'Ring of Concealment'."
Matthew examined the silver-white ring with a black snake pattern with great interest. This item was still far from being a true Ring of Invisibility, but it had the advantage of being usable more times and without the need for casting. The attribute increase of "Perception +1" also befitted its status as a first-tier artifact.
He polished the ring and then put it on his middle finger. The remaining items were somewhat unremarkable—
There was still half a bottle of "Advanced Sprinting Potion", which he could use later after wiping the bottle mouth. The "Silver Frost Brotherhood" token was from an unknown city's gang organization, and he had no idea how valuable it was. It was just a nuisance in the pile of junk. As for those illusion scrolls, they were even more ridiculous. Matthew didn't expect that Blackwood's shiny muscles were actually the result of illusions. This guy was less than 1.7 meters tall and his body was loose. There was no sign of any training.
"Perhaps he thinks that appearance helps with burning, killing, and looting..."
Matthew glanced at the arsonists on the ground. Blackwood's face still had the horrified expression from his death. The knife marks on his shoulders and the hole in his chest added a touch of horror to his corpse. On the surface of the corpse, dark red marks were spreading tirelessly—those were the "corruption spores" that Matthew had released into the air earlier.
Once inhaled, these spores would quickly generate extremely itchy sacks of corruption on the body. The sacks of corruption were creatures from the negative plane, and they could replenish negative energy for necromancers in battle. Matthew currently possessed the ability of "Corruption Sack Mastery". When he reached a higher level, he could detonate the sacks of corruption, control them, and manipulate the infected! This was the terrifying aspect of a necromancer.
Blackwood's "Toughness" and "Immunity" were both off the charts. The sacks of corruption on his followers' bodies had long been used up, but he could still suppress them. Only now, after his death, did the sacks of corruption in his body spread everywhere like fireworks.
"Crackle~!"
The low, crisp sounds continued one after another. Matthew immediately paused reading the confidential letter.
"I should deal with this first, otherwise it will look too ugly."
He took out a dark green bottle from his Mysterious Spell Satchel.
Plop.
The bottle cap was pulled out, and a group of butterflies shimmering with a faint green glow flew out. They circled around Matthew a few times before eagerly landing on Blackwood and the other corpses. As the green light moved across the surface of the bodies, the dark red marks disappeared. These were "Phantom Butterflies", creatures from the negative energy plane that fed on the sacks of corruption and their spores. They were excellent scavengers. Matthew rarely used the sacks of corruption. After each use, he would always use the Phantom Butterflies to clean up the surrounding area—it had nothing to do with the system, it was purely his own obsession with cleanliness. If he let the corruption spores spread, the environment here would quickly become similar to the negative energy plane. This was why the living conditions of most necromancers were always so terrible. They didn't pay as much attention to cleanliness as Matthew did.
Because the Phantom Butterflies only fed on the sacks of corruption, they would quickly perish if there wasn't enough food. So every time Matthew cleaned up, he would scatter them generously. He would only stop when the fluorescent green light was blindingly bright. Next, he had to deal with the bodies of the arsonists. This was the first time Matthew had come into contact with such intact and fresh corpses. He was a bit nervous in handling them. The followers of the arsonists, except for the one that Peggy had smashed into minced meat at the beginning, could all be summoned as zombies. Their physique and build were decent. That scar-faced one even had the chance to become an elite zombie! Matthew used "Corpse Oil" and "Negative Energy Secret Water" to perform a simple preservation treatment on their bodies. Then, he commanded the Skeleton Soldiers to drag them into his "Secret Cave". Zombies had much greater combat power than skeletons. Correspondingly, summoning zombies was much more troublesome than summoning skeletons. He needed to think it through.
Blackwood's corpse was an extremely excellent material. In Baiyan City, the corpse of a third-tier professional would definitely be sold at a high price by necromancers. Because it was the perfect material for creating the advanced undead summon, the "Black Knight". Matthew didn't have the ability to create a Black Knight yet, that was something for after reaching level 12. And he hadn't even advanced yet. The Black Knight was still far away.At the moment, the options in front of Matthew were as follows—
First, store the corpse and wait until he has the ability to create a Black Knight.
Second, transport it to Baiyan City and sell it at a high price.
Third, turn it into a zombie, with the chance of cultivating a Zombie King.
Fourth, bury it in the oak forest and see if there is a 'Gift of Nature'.
"Let's rule out the second and third options." Matthew's eyes flickered.
He was currently well-off and didn't lack money. Moreover, using a third-tier corpse to create a zombie was too wasteful. It wasn't easy to cultivate a Zombie King, and there was a 99% chance of a loss. Between the 'Black Knight' and the 'Gift of Nature', Matthew was torn for a moment. In the end, he leaned towards the fourth option. It wasn't that he coveted Blackwood's abilities. More so, he wanted to explore the mechanism of the 'Gift of Nature' in terms of burying corpses.
"If it doesn't work out, and there's no news after burying it, I can always dig it up again..."
"But if the integrity of the corpse decreases, the combat power of the Black Knight will also be greatly reduced."
Once the decision was made, Matthew didn't hesitate. He found a geomantic treasure spot in the oak forest and buried Blackwood's corpse. At the same time, the victims in the farm were properly settled. The Skeleton Soldiers were average in fighting, but they were quite good at hard labor.
After finding a wasteland in the north of the farm and burying everyone, Matthew finally had time to read the secret letter. A few minutes later, Matthew's face changed slightly.
"To those of the same mind:
The 'Odd Day Change' is set, Yukrus has awakened, He is watching every person on this continent, given time, His power will make the world tremble. The world pattern is changing, in the near future, sky fire and sea water will pour into the mainland, every piece of land we are familiar with will become an endless purgatory. I have received reliable news, the southern guardian Ronan is trapped in the Star Realm, the eastern guardian and the sea monster are both injured, the western guardian disappeared years ago, and the northern guardian never steps beyond the mountain range. Witherers, Warlocks, inheritors of the Undead, Avengers, Red Letter Hunters, descendants of Voodoo, Arsonists, Plotters... Don't be afraid, this is the time for us to rise and practice the legendary path! We have established a base in the secret place northeast of Rolling Stone Town, and we welcome every brother and sister who is called to join us.
Signed: Fain, the Southern Shepherd of the Cataclysm Church"
This was the excerpt from the secret letter.
The letter also contained a lot of inflammatory rhetoric, encouraging all kinds of evil professions to come out and cause trouble, with a sense of urgency that if they didn't cause trouble now, they would miss the opportunity.
Matthew wasn't interested in these. What he cared about was that the person in the letter claimed to have established a base north of Rolling Stone Town. He would hold a blood sacrifice to please 'Void Overlord Yukrus'. After this blood sacrifice, he would gain supreme power, easily flatten Rolling Stone Town, and bring down the sky fire, burning everything.
"Burn everything?"
Matthew's brow furrowed deeply. This cultist named Fain seemed somewhat reckless. At this point, the truth was clear.
The bloody clothes in the cave, Sif Bloodflag's kidnapping, the arrival of the Arsonist, the intercepted merchants, and the ghost's account.
All of these pointed to this 'Fain' and the Cataclysm Church behind him! Matthew looked at the task bar. Sure enough, after he finished reading the secret letter, the task changed.
"Follow-up Task 2: Maintenance is also important!
Description: A newly grown forest can easily be destroyed by an accident, please be sure to protect your forest.
Progress Update 1: You killed the Arsonist Blackwood and his subordinates, timely preventing the fire from spreading to the forest! (You have received the reward 'Wilderness Transformation')
Progress Update 2: You realize that the arrival of Fain and the Cataclysm Church not only poses a great threat to the security of Rolling Stone Town, but also endangers the forest you have painstakingly planted.
You can't tolerate this imminent threat. Please eliminate them as soon as possible!
Task Target: Fain (LV12 Warlock) and his accomplices.
Task Reward: 'Rapid Growth' Spell & Entry Ticket to the Moonlight Society"