Facundo looked at the dark green skull in his hand.

The body he had long yearned for was sealed within it.

Even without facial expressions or flesh and blood, the emotional fluctuations radiating from him still let everyone feel his excitement.

"After so many years, I've finally gotten my body back."

From the shattering of the world, all the way to being swallowed by the Mist.

The length of those years was known only to Facundo himself.

Excited as he was, he was, after all, an Ascender who had weathered great storms.

"Well then, this is my gift to thank you."

As he spoke, Facundo reached his hand into the Void, then slowly pulled something out.

A skeletal arm?

The entire skeletal arm was forged wholly from gold, with all kinds of precious diamonds inlaid upon it.

The edges of the arm were trimmed with some unknown precious material.

The entire arm screamed nothing but extravagance.

Though the style… had a very strong Undead flavor.

Facundo held up this skeletal arm-like object and spoke to Kane and the others.

"This is the key to open the treasure vault. As long as you hold it, you can open the door leading to the vault at any time."

With that, he handed the skeletal arm to Kane.

He added with a hint of emotion, "You know, in my youth I cherished these riches more than anything. Now, I find I don't really care anymore."

Kane accepted the arm.

He had thought it would be fairly light, but once in his hand it was exceptionally heavy.

Just this one skeletal arm, about the size of a normal adult's arm bone, felt like it weighed a full ton in his hand.

?

What kind of thing is this, to be so heavy?

Obviously, the precious materials on the surface weren't the whole of its construction; there were far more, far more secret Magic Materials within.

The golden sheen on the surface and those diamonds felt more like the personal kink of whoever crafted it.

Fortunately, his Constitution was at the gold level; otherwise, he really wouldn't have been able to lift it.

Looking at the heavy golden skeletal arm in his hand, and all those diamonds and Gemstones covering it.

Kane could tell at a glance that these diamonds and Gemstones were all extremely precious Magic Materials, inlaid in a specific sequence and pattern.

They actually functioned as a Magic Array.

The materials used were so lavish that no wonder, at a casual look, one couldn't tell this thing was a piece of Magic Equipment at all.

The first thing Kane did after receiving it was, unsurprisingly, to appraise it.

This was a Magic Item.

[Hand of Wealth Exploration]

[Key]

[Color: Golden]

[Attributes:]

[Extremely Durable]

[Prophecy Protection] (Cannot be detected by any prophecy-type magic.)

[Magic Negation] (Casting magic on it will trigger a silence countereffect.)

[Skill: Extraterritorial Treasure Vault] (Can only be used when this Equipment is received from the original owner as a sincere gift.

After using the Skill, you can open a Teleportation Gate leading to an extraterritorial treasure vault.

The vault is a personally crafted, reinforced space that moves randomly while concealing itself in the outer realms, and can absolutely be called an excellent treasure hoard.)

[Explanation: The key to the treasure vault painstakingly crafted by the Undead Ascender Facundo, who poured countless efforts into it. As time passed and his strength grew, it now has a new owner.]

Looking at the Skills on the Equipment, Kane briefly probed it.

He could indeed open the vault, and from the Explanation it was clear Facundo hadn't left any hidden tricks behind.

Once the appraisal was done, Kane stretched the arm into the Void and stowed it away in his Space Equipment.

"Then the deal is done."

"Of course, I should be going as well—ah, it's time to move forward."

As Facundo spoke, he accepted the few Contract Books Kane handed him.

Then he turned to look at the four Undead at the side who had already returned to their original forms.

"You four really did exceed my expectations. As a reward, I can grant you one small request that isn't too excessive."

As he said this, Facundo held up his index finger and thumb, showing a tiny gesture.

"Go on, tell me what you want."

Hearing Facundo's words, both the Zombie Undead and the Eye Demon turned their gazes toward Steel Bone.

Steel Bone stepped forward, the Soul Fire in his eye sockets blazing fiercely, showing that his emotions were far from calm.

"Facundo, you know that the so-called loyalty we showed you wasn't true loyalty. We only did it because we had no choice."

Facundo waved his hand, indicating that he didn't care.

Would he not know what he himself had done?

"Doesn't matter. You know I don't mind such things."

Steel Bone nodded, then said solemnly, "The four of us don't wish to be loyal to you, nor do we wish to be dragged along by those former idiots anymore. Now we want true freedom."

Hearing this, Kane at the side was instead a little puzzled.

These Undead had pledged loyalty in the first place so that their strength could continue to grow.

In essence, it was an exchange of benefits.

So why the sudden enlightenment now?

If they'd come to this earlier, couldn't they have just left the Undead territory and gone somewhere else?

"True freedom?" Facundo was somewhat puzzled as well.

If they wanted true freedom, they could have simply refused to sign new contracts earlier.

Why go through all this fuss?

Steel Bone explained, "There's no particular reason. It's just that we've thought it through during this time."

Facundo was unusually easygoing about their request.

He directly opened the Contract Book, found the contracts for the four Undead, and tore them out right in front of them.

Ghostly green flames roared to life.

They represented the master-servant contracts they had formed, turning to ash in the sky.

Facundo had never expected anyone to remain loyal anyway.

On the contrary, his mindset was now extraordinarily calm.

Maybe it was because his long-lost body had finally been recovered.

Even a request that offended his dignity like this, he still accepted with good grace.

After finishing all that, he no longer paid any attention to Steel Bone and the others.

They were just four Gold-ranked Undead. To him, they weren't worth mentioning at all.

Instead, he turned his head toward Kane and the others, bent slightly, and nodded.

"Well then, everyone, I'll take my leave for now. I hope we'll have more chances to continue our friendship in the future."

Kane and the others also bent and saluted. "Of course. May our friendship endure."

Maintaining friendship with a Tricolor-tier powerhouse was never a bad idea.

Then Facundo stomped his Scepter, and his figure vanished amid a flare of eerie green flames.

At that moment—

Kane turned his head to look at Steel Bone and the others beside him.

"Now that you're free, where do you plan to go?"

It seemed they had long since settled on their destination.

They solemnly came to stand before Kreya and half-knelt in front of her.

"Lady Kreya, please take us under your command and grant us the Soul-Burning Fire."

So it really was this. Not even Kreya herself was particularly surprised.

When Kreya was waging war all over within the Undead Influence, Kane had talked with her.

As her grasp of the flames deepened, Kreya finally understood the true name of that fire.

Soul-Burning Fire—its lethality against Souls was absurdly exaggerated.

And it could also be reversed, to provide an outrageously strong enhancement to Souls.

Especially during this period of constant campaigns among the Undead Influence, Kreya had been using it nonstop, eroding those Undead to seize control.

All to bring them under her banner in the shortest time possible.

Quite a number of intelligent Undead even voluntarily accepted the blessing.

After being infused with this fire, the most direct result was an extremely powerful Enhancement to their Souls.

Perhaps she had simply gotten much better at using Undead.

Later, Kreya inexplicably became able to transform certain non-natural Undead.

Through the Soul-Burning Fire, she turned them into true natural Undead.

And she could even let them wield this flame themselves.

Of course, the prerequisite was that Kreya was willing to bestow it.

This was precisely why, afterward, many intelligent Undead were willing to voluntarily follow under Kreya's banner.

Among them was a Death Knight who had once ranked seventh in power.

When Kreya campaigned everywhere, he had followed her the whole time.

Earlier, when Kane and the others were waiting in the Tower of the Dead…

The powerful Death Knight Kreya had brought along had also caught up with his old friends, Steel Bone and the others.

And he had explained all of this without hiding anything.

Perhaps from that moment on, Steel Bone and the others had already begun to make their preparations.

Only now did they formally swear their allegiance.

Although the situation didn't surprise Kreya, she still lifted her head and looked toward Kane.

Kane didn't think too long about it and nodded.

This was clearly something where the benefits outweighed the risks.

The Soul-Burning Fire wasn't something just anyone could control. Kreya could grant it to Undead, and just as easily take it back.

Compared to Facundo, Kreya's pull on these Undead was obviously much stronger.

Just judging by current behavior alone.

The reason things had turned out this way was obvious: in the hearts of these Undead, Facundo was practically a monstrously vile person.

By contrast, Kreya behaved far more like a true leader.

Whether it was Kreya's people or Kane's, they were never stingy toward those in their own camp.

Set side by side, the difference was immediately clear.

Seeing that Kane had no objections, Kreya had no reason to refuse.

Kreya directly shifted into her Soul State.

Black-and-white Soul-Burning Fire gathered above her head, condensing into an awe-inspiring Crown.

Flames coiled around her body, together with that imposing Armor and Cloak.

Her voice carried a trace of authority and pride.

"Then, offer up your loyalty! Accept the blessing of this flame!"

The Undead immediately lowered their heads and dropped the defenses around their Souls, declaring their fealty to Kreya.

Kreya slowly raised her right arm, slender yet powerful, encased in Hand Armor.

Her open palm, five long, graceful fingers, with a layer of crimson polish on the nails.

The black-and-white Soul-Burning Fire wound along her arm, spiraling forward like spirit serpents.

As she opened her hand, it blossomed into a fiery flower core.

It split into four blossoms and flew toward the four half-kneeling Undead.

The fiery flower cores split overhead above them.

The flames flowed down from their crowns, spreading across their bodies, threading through their Souls to rekindle them.

In the span of an instant—

They were wrapped into solid bundles by the black-and-white Soul-Burning Fire.

When the flames receded…

The fire-garments sheathing them dissipated and vanished.

Only at a few subtle points were small tufts of black-and-white fire still burning, marking their new status.

In front of them, a door leading to the land of death appeared.

The ancient Gate of the Dead swung open.

The four Undead stepped through at a measured pace. Inside were their former comrades.

All of them had pledged their loyalty to their new master together.

"Well then, everyone, it's time to take a look at our spoils."

As he spoke, Kane smiled and pulled out the heavy Hand of Wealth.

He gave it a little shake in front of everyone.