...

BANG!

As flesh and blood exploded, the death energy dissipated and faded away.

A Skeleton slowly rose in the moonlight. Its bones were slender and long, its joints appearing exceptionally flexible, and its entire form exuded an innate sense of lightness and agility.

Under the hazy moonlight, the skeletal frame gleamed with a faint, ivory-colored luster, giving it a strange, inexplicable beauty.

Most importantly, two clusters of eerie green Soul Fire burned quietly deep within its eye sockets. Though not particularly vigorous, Soul Fire was Soul Fire—a symbol of intelligence and potential.

"It worked! Haha!" Lynch laughed heartily, exclaiming with excitement, "Thank you for your blessing, Nether God."

Most Necromancers were believers of the Nether God. Of course, Lynch was merely a pseudo-believer. It was just that his luck had been good recently, creating several Soul Fire Skeletons in a row, which couldn’t help but give him a false impression.

’Could the Nether God really be blessing me in secret?’

Hiss...

Goosebumps erupted on his skin. He quickly shook his head, driving the frightening thought from his mind.

Being secretly watched by the Nether God was definitely not a good thing.

’But would a lofty being like Him even bother to notice a small fry like me?’

In any case, today had been a massive win.

Not only did this beautiful assassin deliver equipment and money, but she also thoughtfully gave him her body.

’What a nice person~’

An elite Soul Fire assassin unit.

It was a supplementary unit practically tailor-made for him.

After a while, Lynch calmed down a bit and tried issuing a few simple commands through their mental link, such as moving, jumping, and assuming an attack stance.

The beautiful Skeleton’s response was swift and precise. Its movements were fluid and without lag, its jumps were light and silent, and its attack posture was full of sinister ferocity.

Clearly, it had retained a significant portion of its combat instincts from its former life.

"Good, very good." The more Lynch watched, the more satisfied he became.

Only then did Lynch continue to look through the small leather pouch from before.

Besides the check for over seven hundred Gold Coins, the pouch contained several other key items.

There was a small, black metal badge engraved with the image of a dagger piercing a shadow.

This was the symbol of the infamous assassin organization, the "Shadow Hand."

Additionally, there was a parchment contract stamped with a wax seal. The seal’s mark was a bloody War Axe entwined with grapevines.

It was obvious. This was an employment certificate from the Draenei Brotherhood, bearing the female assassin’s codename, "Shadow Crow," and the duration of her employment.

It seemed "Shadow Crow" hadn’t been lying before she died. She truly belonged to the Shadow Hand and was employed by that rebel organization, the Draenei Brotherhood.

This put Lynch on high alert. ’I’ll have to be careful of these two organizations in the future,’ he thought.

Furthermore, there were three letters in her pouch.

He opened them and browsed their contents.

The first was an order from the Draenei Brotherhood: "Shadow Crow, proceed to the Saint Roland City area immediately and await Viscount Golding’s dispatch and arrangements. The Viscount will inform you of the mission details separately."

"Viscount Golding?" Lynch’s brow furrowed slightly. He had heard the name before; the man was said to be an unreachably powerful figure.

’That guy is colluding with a rebel organization. He’s probably no good.’

The second and third letters were unsigned. The handwriting was sloppy and distorted, as if written with the non-dominant hand to deliberately conceal the writer’s identity. However, the script was nearly identical to the letter found on the Bone Mage... It had to be the same person.

The second letter read: "Continue monitoring that Necromancer. If he obtains anything, seize the opportunity to take it. Remain hidden and do not alert the target."

A simple skull was drawn at the end of the letter.

Lynch glanced at the Bone Mage and chuckled. "Heh, so the assassin’s previous mission was to keep an eye on my Bone Mage."

The third letter’s content was: "Surveillance mission canceled. The target has unexpectedly slaughtered a village, attracting the full attention of the Holy Light Court. To avoid being traced, evacuate the area immediately. New mission: Proceed deep into the Dark Forest and contact the ’Blood Fang Tribe’ of the Goblins. Provide them with a batch of simple weapons and supplies, and incite them to increase the intensity of their raids to create more chaos around Saint Roland City..."

Reading this, Lynch’s expression turned completely cold.

"Well, well... Stone Crow Town, and the recent, increasingly frequent goblin raids around Saint Roland City... so you’re the ones behind it all!"

"To create chaos, you’d even stoop to colluding with other races and harming civilians..."

Instantly, Lynch became much more wary of Viscount Golding.

Not only did that guy collude with the Bone Mage in his previous life, but he also secretly sent the female assassin to monitor him. He was clearly after the Ashbringer’s treasure.

Unfortunately for him, he had no idea that the Ashbringer had played a trick on all the natives.

Other than that, the leather pouch only contained some vials and jars of poisons. After checking to make sure he hadn’t missed anything, Lynch carefully put everything away again.

Only then did he turn his gaze back to the beautiful assassin Skeleton and chuckle. "From now on, your name is Bone Shadow."

Bone Shadow’s Soul Fire flickered slightly, as if in response to its new name.

Having figured out the whole story, Lynch delayed no longer. He first commanded his Skeleton Servants to quickly clean up the scene.

Then, surrounded by his vast army of Skeletons, he headed back along the edge of the forest.

The newly added Bone Shadow followed at Lynch’s side, holding the bone dagger inherited from the Bone Mage’s former self.

He had no choice. Bone Shadow’s equipment from her past life might be standard-issue gear from the Shadow Hand. For safety’s sake, it was best not to use it. Lynch packed it all away, planning to dispose of it when he had the chance.

The journey back was uneventful. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

As usual, Lynch split up the majority of his Skeleton Servants, stashing them in batches at several hidden troop depots he had prepared in advance.

Once he was near the academy’s back gate, he stored all his elite units—the newborn Bone Shadow, the Bone Mage, the Black Corpse, and a few others—inside his bone bracelet.

In the end, he returned discreetly to his private dormitory with only a dozen or so elite goblin Skeletons.

After hiding his summoned creatures in the cellar, Lynch went to the faculty area. He found his mentor, Annabella, reported the situation, and handed over the evidence.

Annabella’s expression grew solemn as she listened.

She pondered for a moment before saying, "You’re quite lucky to have been able to counter-kill an assassin. For now, don’t worry about this matter."

"Thank you, Mentor." Lynch was deeply grateful.

"Your growth rate is very fast. It seems I can look forward to your performance in the academy’s unified exams," Annabella said, looking at Lynch with satisfaction. "By the way, have you had any trouble with your studies recently? Do you want me to give you some extra tutoring?"

Lynch’s heart skipped a beat. He quickly shook his head like a rattle drum and said earnestly, "Thank you for your guidance, Mentor. I don’t have any questions that need answering right now. If there’s nothing else, I will take my leave."

Seeing this, Mentor Annabella waved her hand dismissively, her interest waning. "Alright, then. Get lost."

"Yes, Mentor."

As if granted a pardon, Lynch fled from his mentor’s villa and hurried back to his own dormitory.

...