Zephyr completed his preparations and waited. The necromancer busily ordered the undead to finish injecting all the life essence they had gathered. And by the time they were done, the temple rose a few more meters above sea level and stopped.

The red hue covering the giant concave altar deepened.

Any second now, the sacrifice would begin.

Zephyr didn't have much time to waste. The villagers were about to be sacrificed.

'The mind-controlling magic he is using is based on dark magic. All of them look as if they are in a deep trance, but can still move around just fine.'

'The necromancer must have fed them and kept them healthy. After all, it is their life essence that he wanted to harvest. Healthy villagers meant more life essence and quicker hatching of the godspawn.'

'He kept them all alive and well for this exact reason.'

Zephyr couldn't see the face of the necromancer. The robes the man wore completely covered his face. Still, he believed the man must be smiling underneath it.

The way he walked and ordered the undead mirrored his excitement.

The necromancer seemed thrilled to reach the final stretch of his grand plan.

"The day I have been waiting for is here. It's time for them to pay with their life for what they have done to me," the necromancer laughed, gazing at the altar.

"It's time for the western sun to set."

"It's time for the Azure sky to turn red."

"It's time for them to know pain."

The necromancer said and glanced towards the villagers standing to the side.

They were separated by a few dozen meters.

Zephyr felt his chest tighten when he saw the mad eyes of the necromancer move over to his side. The aura he exuded was unbearably heavy and melancholic.

Like all people in this damned world, he too looked like he had a story to share. Zephyr could sense the emotions rising within the necromancer. The mana around them was trembling slightly as if responding to these emotions.

"Boy, you will be the first to die," the necromancer pointed at the group and said.

Then he lifted his head to look at the villagers, tightly packed together.

"...and no one can save you," he added with a smirk.

Zephyr could vaguely see the smile form on the necromancer's lips.

Responding to his command, a young boy, no older than four, stepped forward alone.

It was the same young boy Zephyr knew.

Watching it, Zephyr's fist tightened until it turned red.

'He knows,' Zephyr realized.

'The necromancer knows of my existence. I failed to fool him.'

Zephyr was gazing forward with an unfocused gaze. But he could feel the necromancer's gaze linger near him.

'There was no point in trying to hide anymore.'

'The man knows it.'

Zephyr didn't know when he was caught, but he was sure the necromancer had found him.

He selected the child, knowing Zephyr was hiding amongst the villagers.

'He is trying to toy with me.'

'He wants me to step out on my own.'

'"No one can save you" was said to me. He wanted me to hear that.'

'He is challenging me.'

A thousand thoughts blitzed through his mind as he returned to a chilling calmness. The fact that he no longer needed to hide made him calmer.

"Are you sure?" Zephyr asked and stepped out of the group.

The necromancer glanced over, unsurprised by the way he walked over.

"Well, if it isn't our unfriendly neighborhood half-mage," the necromancer commented jokingly.

Although he looked haggard, the necromancer joked around without a care in the world.

Meanwhile, Zephyr strolled forward and stood in front of the group of villagers and asked, "How did you find me? I thought you couldn't detect me through mana sense."

Zephyr was tightly controlling every sliver of mana he used. He was not letting even a bit leak out of his body or interact with the environment.

While in this mode, his stealth was enhanced with the caveat of not being able to absorb mana.

So, how did the necromancer find him?

He wanted answers.

"I keep a close eye on the number of bodies I have. It is an occupational habit of sorts."

"You counted?"

"Yes, I did."

He nodded.

"Hm…I understand."

Zephyr had some quirks of his own. So, he could understand the necromancer.

"This time, I miscalculated. I thought you wouldn't notice it since you failed to find me when I hid and killed your undead," he added.

"Zephyr Venturi, are you mocking me?"

"I didn't intend to…but if you do feel that way, I won't stop you. You are free to feel whatever the heck you want." Zephyr stretched his arm.

At that moment, the necromancer finally noticed the missing arm. He pulled back the hood covering his face and asked with a smirk, "Did Gale cut off your arm?"

"Yes." While replying, his eyes focused on the pale, white, sickly face of the necromancer. He appeared to be a handsome man in his thirties. But Zephyr was sure it wasn't his real age.

"He did it while I cut off his neck."

"I never thought you would survive when I sent Gale to kill you. This is a miracle indeed," the necromancer was curious. "I thought you were a defective mage. How did you survive against him?"

"Ah! Mostly luck and a little bit of skill." Zephyr smiled. "If you need any tips and tricks, I can share them for a measly sum of 100 gold sols."

Sols were the currency of the world, and a gold sol was a denomination that corresponded to 1,000,000 sols. So, 100 gold sols were 100 million sols in value. It was an exorbitant amount of money that could even make the Kings of the human domain think twice before spending.

Zephyr had thrown the number out just for fun and to see how the necromancer would react.

"How about I pay you in time? I can let you live for a few more minutes, until I sacrifice your villagers. Is your lifespan worth the money?" The necromancer returned a smile. "I heard you can't trade anything for time. So, this is a golden opportunity to do it once. Think about it," he added.

Zephyr's lip curled up, seeing the nonchalant way the necromancer was speaking.

Both of them looked as if they had the same temperament.

However, that was anything but true. Zephyr was just going along with the play to buy time and execute his plan.

He would have never wasted time like this if he had victory in sight.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.