The Third Return of the Necrotic Magic Swordsman

The towering flower swayed gently in the middle of the pristine lake, its five-story petals glistening in the sunlight.

Evan stood at its crown, a calm figure cloaked in black, the mask hiding his identity.

A moment ago, he had claimed three fist-sized fruits, blue and radiant, tucking them into his inventory.

That single act shattered the stillness.

The forest trembled.

The air split with the howls of beasts.

The lake rippled with an ominous rhythm, as if the world itself rejected the theft.

Evan’s eyes swept the tree line, where countless shadows surged.

”Figures…” he muttered.

”So it begins. Beasts first. Then maybe humans.”

The forest exploded. Dozens—then hundreds—of creatures broke from the undergrowth, their eyes bloodshot, their hunger aimed squarely at the fruit thief atop the flower.

They had waited for years. He had stolen their chance.

Unforgivable.

Evan chuckled and lifted his hand.

”Fine. Then let’s see how much you’re worth to me.”

With a snap of his fingers, magic circles unfurled around him.

From the air, black feathers scattered—then skeletal wings spread.

The Undead answered their master’s call.

A group of Undead Rock Claw birds, raised from his earlier hunts, screeched and dove in formation. Their bone talons gleamed as they ripped into the charging horde below.

Heavy thuds followed. More Undead lumbered into view, hulking silhouettes of beasts reforged into his summons. They crashed into the mob, their rotting frames unflinching as they tore flesh and bone apart.

Evan’s lips curved.

”Slay them all.”

The battlefield ignited.

Flying beasts swooped from above, razor beaks and claws ready to tear into him.

But Evan was faster.

Mana surged. Two spheres of Ashen Duskflame spun to life in his hands, each one flickering with deathly embers that whispered hunger.

”Burn.”

He hurled them like a machine, one after another, a relentless barrage that lit the sky. The fireballs shredded wings and charred feathers, turning graceful predators into falling comets.

~Boom.

~Boom.

~Boom.

Bodies rained into the lake. The cursed flames clung stubbornly to their prey, burning even beneath the water’s surface. Steam hissed, rising into a thick, choking mist that rolled across the battlefield.

Evan narrowed his eyes. His breathing was steady, but his mana dipped fast.

’One-third gone already. Tch... These flames cost too much if I keep spamming.’

Still, the slaughter was efficient. His summons pressed forward, ripping through the survivors. The beasts faltered under the relentless assault, panic in their roars.

And then—everything stopped.

Not because of him.

Not because of his Undead army.

But because something else stirred.

The forest went silent.

The lake grew still.

Every beast froze, their bloodlust drowned beneath something far greater: fear.

Evan’s gaze sharpened. A pressure rose from below, ancient and suffocating, crawling up his spine like a thousand serpents.

The flower shuddered beneath him.

From its roots, coils thicker than tree trunks began to rise.

Water cascaded down as the lake itself split apart.

A monstrous body uncoiled from the depths, scaling the flower as though it were nothing more than a ladder.

And then he saw it.

A serpent. Not the kind that lurked in shallow swamps. Not a common beast.

This was a giant, each scale glistening like obsidian, its body stretching skyward until it nearly rivalled the flower itself. Its eyes burned with a draconic gleam, filled with fury and hunger.

The aura it released was crushing. Every lesser beast scattered, their courage shattered to dust.

Evan’s heart thumped once, hard. He knew that smell. That weight in the air.

Dragon blood.

The monster wasn’t just a serpent. It carried a lineage forbidden, still lesser one, not to be trifled with. And its strength—just from the aura alone—placed it at the very edge of Tier 0.

His eyes narrowed at the Lesser Draconic Serpent. A dangerous foe for most… but nothing he hadn’t slain countless times before in his previous lives. The real problem was the timing.

’Lv. 99… no wonder nothing dared to approach the fruits.’

The truth clicked instantly. The fruits had been untouched because they belonged to this guardian. It had waited patiently, silently, for them to ripen—planning to devour them and ascend with its bloodline.

But Evan had stolen them.

The serpent’s head snapped toward him, its slit pupils narrowing into a glare filled with primal rage.

”...Well, sh*t,” Evan muttered under his breath.

The serpent roared, a sound that shattered the sky and churned the waters. Its colossal body whipped forward, launching its first attack.

Straight at the thief standing atop its flower.

The serpent’s roar split the air as it lunged, jaws wide enough to swallow a carriage whole.

Evan leapt from the flower just as the colossal fangs snapped shut. The petals shattered under its strike, the once-pristine bloom collapsing into ruin.

He landed lightly on the lake—though not on water. The surface had frozen beneath his boots, transformed into a glittering plain of ice by his will.

Looking up at the diving monster, he smirked.

”So eager to devour me?”

The serpent’s head crashed down, splintering the ice like glass. Evan had already moved, his figure blurring toward the lakeshore. Cold water sprayed skyward as the beast’s fangs crushed the frozen sheet into fragments.

Kneeling by the water’s edge, Evan dipped a hand into the lake. His eyes narrowed.

”Let’s test something…”

Lightning crackled. A surge of volt arcs raced through the water, blanketing the lake in a web of electricity.

The serpent shrieked, its massive body convulsing. But the cry was more annoyance than agony.

Its gleaming scales shimmered, dispersing most of the attack. To a creature of dragon blood, the strike was little more than a sting.

”Tch. Figures.”

Without pause, Evan conjured dozens of crystalline spears. With a flick of his hand, the barrage of icicles screamed toward the serpent.

Shards embedded into its flesh. Frost spread instantly, coating scales and seeping deep to gnaw at organs.

The serpent hissed, rage twisting into calculation. With a violent twist of its body, it plunged back into the lake, using the water as its shield.

”Running into your nest?” Evan’s lips curved into a cold grin.

”Then let me drag you out.”

He raised his hand.

Above his palm, a small flame orb bloomed. In seconds, it swelled, devouring air and heat alike, until the very trees around the shore began to curl and blacken.

The lake hissed violently as the fireball pulsed, bright enough to turn shadows white.

”Burn.”

The blazing orb fell into the water. For a moment, nothing happened. Then—

—BOOM.

A deafening hiss erupted. Steam geysered skyward, swallowing the battlefield in white. The entire lake boiled away in a single breath, its waters vanishing into clouds.

When the mist thinned, the serpent was revealed at the bottom, writhing from its wounds, exposed and vulnerable.

Evan stood at the shore, eyes gleaming.

”Caught you.”

He gave no time for the beast to recover. Shadows swelled behind him as Undead after Undead surged forth, hurling themselves at the serpent. Claws raked. Jaws snapped. Blades carved.

The serpent fought savagely, but even a creature with dragon blood could not endure forever.

Every strike drained mana. Every injury siphoned energy as Evan leeched its power through his necromantic bond. Slowly but surely, the tide shifted.

Still, Evan frowned.

’This will drag on too long. And with this much noise… others will come. Sylen, Kael… even worse. I can’t afford to be exposed yet.’

His gaze slid to his summon storage. Rows of units flickered before his eyes—numbers shifting as elites and fodder died in combat. But his focus wasn’t on them.

It was in the final section.

The one he had never touched. The one reserved for last.

His lips curved into a thin smile.

”…Maybe it’s time.”

He lifted his hand. Shadows stretched across the ruined stem of the flower, coiling like snakes until they reached its withered crown.

From that abyssal darkness, something stirred.

”Rise,” Evan whispered. His voice was steady, reverent.

”Rise, my soldier. Let them tremble before your flames.”

The world froze.

From the shadow, a figure stepped forth. Heavy. Majestic. Radiating a power that crushed the air itself.

Every beast in the area dropped instantly. Some cowered. Others collapsed unconscious, their minds unable to bear the weight of its presence.

Even the mighty serpent, moments ago a predator full of rage, recoiled in dread. Its body trembled, pupils dilating in primal fear.

Evan dismissed his lesser summons with a wave, his eyes fixed on the battlefield.

”Now,” he said coldly.

”Let the world witness your might.”

The Hidden Summon stood at last covered in flames of Ashen Dusk.

And the war changed.

The Hidden Summon stirred.

At its master’s command, it gathered energy within itself.

A chill spread across the battlefield, freezing breath and thought alike. The serpent’s body stiffened. Its instincts screamed to flee, yet it could not move.

Then the world erupted.

A torrent of flame consumed the serpent whole. The monster had no chance to dodge, no chance to resist. Its proud scales, its massive body—reduced to ash.

When the fire cleared, a gaping hole yawned through the beast’s chest. The lake had vanished into steam. The land behind it lay scarred for miles.

Evan’s eyes widened despite himself.

”…That power…”

Even he felt a shiver. One strike from that creature, and he was certain—he’d be crippled for months, if not dead outright.

A grin split his face.

”This summon is a cheat among cheats.”

He pulled open its panel.

[Name: ????]

[Level: 100]

[Tier: 0]

[Race: ??????]

[Abilities: ?????]

He recalled it at once. Such a monster could not be allowed to walk openly. Not yet.

Around him, the battlefield lay silent. Beasts are either dead, unconscious, or still trembling in fear. Evan sent his skeletons to finish the stragglers. None survived.

Only when the last soul faded did the system chime.

[You’ve killed 238×Lv.70-95 Beast, 1×Lv.99 Flood Serpent.]

[You’ve gained an enormous amount of experience points.]

[EEP Gained: 11,626. T.P: 67,997 EEP.]

[Souls Stored: 239. T.S: 1,235]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Respective stats have been allocated to host data.]

Evan ordered his summons to drag high-ranked corpses into a neat pile. He stood before the ruined crater, gazing at what had once been a lake. At its center lay the Flood Serpent’s broken body.

”Perfect.”

He raised his hand. Shadows bled out from his palm, coiling around the corpses like serpents.

[Plunder]

The darkness devoured flesh and bone.

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[Stats Absorbed] ➤ +119 STR | +93 AGL | +64 INT | +99 VIT | +87 END | +101 STA]

[Skills Absorbed] ➤ ⟪Flood Surge⟫⟪Battle Rush⟫⟪Lightning Veil⟫

[Bloodline is found to be too low to extract. Bloodline ejected out...]

[Few Skills Absorbed are found to be incompatible with the host body. Skills are being broken into lower forms.]

[You’ve gained 71 Skill Fragments. T.F: 885] 

[⟪Flood Surge⟫: When submerged in or surrounded by water, the user’s body adapts instinctively to the fluid environment. Strength, Agility, and Endurance temporarily increase by 20%, while movement speed in water doubles.]

[⟪Battle Rush⟫: Instantly heightens the body’s primal reflexes, increasing Strength and Agility by a significant margin for 1 minute. Muscles feel lighter yet more explosive, allowing rapid bursts of speed and devastating melee strikes.]

[⟪Lightning Veil⟫: Envelops the weapon in dense arcs of lightning, amplifying attack speed and striking power. Each hit delivers an electrical burst that can paralyse weaker foes.]

Evan chuckled darkly.

”Not bad… not bad at all.”

With another wave, the corpses rose once more—stripped of flesh, reborn as Undead. Their soul flames burned brighter than ever, each carrying remnants of their former might.

At the center of them all slithered the Flood Serpent, its massive body now reduced to bone and shadowfire. It joined his storage as a Mid-Boss unit, though a jagged hole still gaped in its chest where the Summon had erased it.

Evan only laughed softly at the sight.

Satisfied, he summoned his great eagle. The massive bird spread its wings, lifting him toward the distant town before any adventurers could arrive.

...

An hour later, footsteps echoed in the shattered land.

A figure stood where Evan had fought.

Their gaze swept the steaming crater, the charred earth, the corpse remnants.

”...Was I too late?”

-->To be continued…

Who was it? Is it a normal adventurer or someone special like Kael or Sylen?

If you want to know, then add it to your library for more such exciting chapters.