Miss Witch’s Devotion Has Gone… Twisted

”Hatsune Miku, you came after all.”

The necromancer recognized Gwen, showing not the slightest surprise at her appearance.

Although the name Hatsune Miku had been used for so long, Loren still found it hard to keep a straight face whenever someone called it out seriously. Loren, far away in the Gedlan Kingdom, couldn’t help but laugh, though it didn’t stop Gwen from maintaining her icy expression.

”You don’t seem surprised by this.”

Gwen raised her staff. The Drowning Soul Cage at its tip emitted light, and the souls imprisoned within were immediately released, their shrill, mournful screams piercing the sky.

This time, hundreds of undead were released. A normal necromancer would be considered powerful if they could control just a few dozen at once, yet the number Loren could control was dozens of times that.

”Just who are you? Even the Bardo Kingdom couldn’t possibly afford to support a necromancer as powerful as you!”

Even he couldn’t help but panic upon seeing so many undead. Chanting an incantation, he plunged his staff into the flesh mountain, which then began to stir, its body glowing with a phosphorescent light.

In this transformed state, the flesh mountain gained spiritual power capable of harming spiritual entities. Each swipe of its tentacles could directly scatter several undead.

Gwen simply thrust her staff into the ground. The light from the Drowning Soul Cage grew increasingly dazzling, and the released undead became somewhat clearer. The area visible to the necromancer’s naked eye was crammed full of undead; he could only see the light radiating from the Drowning Soul Cage.These undead tore at him. Although their attack power wasn’t high, a single claw swipe could still rip his skin. Surrounded by hundreds of undead, just one swipe from each would be enough to tear him to shreds.

For every undead the flesh mountain destroyed, the Drowning Soul Cage would release a new one. Loren was not stingy in the slightest. On the battlefield, undead were the least scarce resource. Even if Loren used up all the undead in the Drowning Soul Cage this time, it wouldn’t take long at all to replenish them fully.

”This is the only way.”

The necromancer’s black robe was already torn to shreds, his body covered in wounds. The undead’s attacks carried soul damage, making these wounds far more agonizing than they looked.

He suddenly pulled out an ancient-looking bronze bell and began to shake it.

The bell’s chime struck directly at the soul. The agitated undead suddenly froze upon hearing the ringing. Seizing this opportunity, the necromancer launched a counterattack.

The flesh mountain opened its mouth... if that could still be called a mouth. A beam of blood shot from its maw, striking the glowing Drowning Soul Cage dead center.

”Is it dead... What?”

The blood beam scattered the undead in its path, and the necromancer finally saw the scene ahead. Gwen’s figure had long since vanished, leaving only the shattered staff and the Drowning Soul Cage.

Then, the necromancer felt a push from behind. Someone had directly shoved him off the flesh mountain.

In mid-air, the necromancer twisted his body and finally saw the person behind him. Gwen stood there, one hand outstretched, thick with the aura of death.

Sixth-tier necromancy magic, Death’s Grasp. Touch meant death, one of the most terrifying spells among sixth-tier magic.

And now he had been hit. He could clearly feel his life force draining away, but before he could utter any last words, a Crimson Blade severed his throat.

Even after using an instant-death magic, Loren hadn’t forgotten the Finishing Move, thoroughly implementing the principle of double insurance.

It was also at this moment that the necromancer saw the fine dragon scales on Loren’s black robe. This robe was made from Murmuring Dragon hide, possessing a cognitive shielding effect. Combined with Void-walking, this was how Gwen had silently appeared behind him.

”The final material is also collected.”

Loren picked up the bell from the necromancer’s corpse and took all the other valuable items before casting Abundant Magic to destroy the evidence.

The identity of the alias Hatsune Miku was a survivor of the destroyed Wheat Ear Country, so knowing Abundant Magic was perfectly normal.

The Bardo Kingdom Commander was still standing there in a daze, not even noticing the rotting flesh at his waist.

A mortal witnessing a battle between immortals—that was the Commander’s current state of mind.

When the flesh mountain appeared, he had no idea how to deal with that necromancer. And then Gwen showed up and instantly killed him.

After dealing with the necromancer, Loren paid no attention to these people. Taking the items, he headed towards his own safehouse.

That bell was called the Soul-Suppressing Bell, the final material Loren needed.

After obtaining the material, Gwen swiftly rushed back to her safehouse. The distance between the two countries wasn’t far, and that very night, Gwen returned to her safehouse in Bardo. Down in the basement, the ritual Loren had been preparing for so long could finally begin.

In the center of the basement was a huge jar filled with oil. This was corpse oil Loren had collected over this period. Collecting this much corpse oil wasn’t difficult; the hard part was extracting only a little from each corpse. Loren had searched through thousands of corpses to gather this amount.

Gwen retrieved a piece of dark purple cloth from the corpse oil. This was Soul Crystal Cloth, an excellent material for crafting items or clothing. Loren had also killed many necromancers to gather such a large piece.

Surrounding the jar were many runes; this place had long been transformed into an Altar.

Loren placed the Soul Crystal Cloth on the Altar, positioned the Drowning Soul Cage at the center, and finally took out ink to inscribe rune after rune upon it.

This was the highest-grade magical ink, typically used for writing Magic Scrolls. Loren had mixed dragon blood into the ink to grant it a suppressing effect.

As Loren inscribed the runes, the Altar activated. The Drowning Soul Cage gradually sank into the Soul Crystal Cloth, eventually leaving a core pattern in the cloth’s center.

Simultaneously, the Soul Crystal Cloth began to stir. Freed from the Drowning Soul Cage’s control, the souls previously locked within also began to break free. This situation only ceased after Loren finished writing the runes.

But it wasn’t over yet. Gwen hung the Soul Crystal Cloth on a pole. This pole was made from Styx Sunken Wood. At the top of the pole was the Blind Eye Loren had obtained earlier. This item could cause souls trapped within to become utterly lost, unable to escape, eliminating the trouble of sealing souls and allowing for nearly infinite capacity.

Finally, Gwen hung the newly acquired Soul-Suppressing Bell on the Soul Crystal Cloth. The Altar began to operate, and these materials started to truly fuse. At the same time, the souls previously sealed within were being consumed, as necromantic rituals require vast amounts of soul energy.

When the ritual was complete, a banner exuding an eerie aura appeared before Loren, black mist curling from its surface.

”Success. The Ten Thousand Soul Banner!”

This item originally didn’t exist; Loren had researched and created it himself. He felt the tools used by other necromancers were insufficient, which led him to develop the Ten Thousand Soul Banner.

Gwen picked up the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, her entire person becoming increasingly sinister.