Chapter 89: Chapter 82: Advancement to Official Necromancer

This made the Soul Fire in its eye sockets dance with joy. It instinctively straightened its skeletal frame and tightened its grip on the bone spear and Bone Shield, looking for all the world as if it was ready to die for its master at any moment.

"Excellent. Full of spirit!" Lynch nodded in satisfaction and began to fulfill an important duty as its master—bestowing a name!

He glanced at the conspicuous Skeleton Shield in its left hand and pondered for a moment.

"From this day on, you shall be called... Bone Shield-Steel Plate. From now on, you are the commander of my Personal Guard!"

Bone Shield’s body visibly straightened, standing even taller, and its Soul Fire danced with even greater joy.

Poor Bone Valor still had no idea what had just happened.

Having added a new Netherworld Skeleton Soldier to his ranks, Lynch settled in to rest.

Time slipped by unnoticed.

The night deepened, and the moon vanished from sight.

A thin mist filled the forest, with only the faint glimmer of starlight filtering down through the gaps in the canopy.

Yet, an army of over two hundred assorted Skeleton Soldiers, split into several groups, was now moving through the silent night.

At the head of the formation was Bone Valor, leading a vanguard of more than thirty miscellaneous cannon-fodder Skeletons.

Ever since Lynch’s army of the dead had swelled past the five-hundred mark, Bone Valor, once a core unit, found its strength and Commanding Power increasingly lacking. It had been demoted to roughly the same tier as the Fish Priests and Skeleton Wolves, truly treading ever deeper down the path of cannon fodder.

But Lynch needed to keep a Netherworld Skeleton in a sacrificial role to practice his Skeleton Summoning Skill, so it was impossible for him to invest precious resources in it.

Meanwhile, more than thirty Squirrel Skeletons were scattered throughout the woods surrounding the main army.

Since Lynch’s advancement to Tier One, his Spiritual Power had increased dramatically, significantly boosting his perception range and control precision. The old surveillance network of ten or so Squirrel Skeletons was no longer adequate, so naturally, he had to recruit more.

As for his number one beauty, the Skeleton Assassin Bone Shadow, she was already scouting several miles ahead. Even from that great distance, Lynch could still vaguely perceive her location and general status.

The most significant change, however, was to Lynch’s Personal Guard Team.

The former elite goblin Skeletons and other such "grunts" had long been phased out.

Now, the forces protecting Lynch were composed uniformly of special units—at a minimum, Bear Goblin Skeletons and Fish Giant Skeletons. Among them were even more powerful elite units, such as goblin Warrior Skeletons and Fishman Warrior Skeletons.

"Steel Fang," a vanilla but nevertheless Tier One unit, was also among them.

And commanding this elite personal guard was none other than one of Lynch’s newfound favorite officers: Bone Shield-Steel Plate.

With a bone spear in one hand and a Bone Shield on the other, it walked loyally at Lynch’s side, just a step ahead of him.

With it serving as the "Personal Guard Commander," Lynch could finally free up most of the mental effort required to control these elite guards. He now only needed to issue broad commands, leaving Bone Shield to handle the details.

This freed him up to devote more attention to the overall battle situation, and even to perform more detailed "micromanagement."

For instance, he could now precisely adjust a squad’s position at a critical moment, order ranged units to focus fire on a specific target, or command a particular Skeleton Wolf Rider to move five meters to the left.

Lynch himself was still mounted on Red Rabbit.

Now that Red Rabbit had successfully advanced to Tier One, its gait was even lighter and steadier.

Beside him, a bearded adventurer with his hands bound behind his back was being led along by a rope.

The bearded man was clearly being forced to serve as a guide.

Although he had learned the general location of the Blood Fang main camp during the interrogation, Lynch kept the man with him anyway.

’If he dares to give false information, I can just chop him into meat paste.’

And that wasn’t all.

At that moment, Princess Hai Ge was also sharing Red Rabbit with Lynch.

She was still in a weakened state, her pale little face appearing all the more delicately pitiful in the hazy moonlight.

Surprisingly, her signature light-gold fishtail was gone, replaced by a pair of long, straight, beautiful legs with skin as white as snow.

According to Hai Ge’s own explanation, when she was away from water for an extended period, her fishtail could temporarily transform into legs, allowing her to move on land.

But as soon as she was submerged in water, her legs would change back into a fishtail.

This made Lynch marvel. ’What a miraculous racial ability.’

This reminded Lynch of a joke he’d once heard.

If you were stranded on a deserted island, would you rather have a Fishman with the head of a fish and the body of a woman, or a mermaid with the upper body of a woman and the lower body of a fish?

’What a difficult choice.’

’But now, it seems I don’t have to choose.’

However...

Even though she had legs, Hai Ge still chose a more traditional and demure posture, sitting sidesaddle in front of Lynch, her hands nervously gripping Red Rabbit’s prominent shoulder blades.

She did her best to avoid excessive physical contact with Lynch behind her.

But the jolting of Red Rabbit’s gait inevitably made her lean back slightly, causing her to practically recline against Lynch’s chest.

Of course, Lynch hadn’t brought her along just to take advantage of the situation.

For one, Hai Ge was currently extremely weak; leaving her at the temporary camp or assigning guards wasn’t secure enough. He felt more at ease keeping her by his side.

For another, she was a hostage—the perfect bargaining chip to ensure that squad of Naga guards would obediently join the "righteous crusade" Lynch had initiated. Naturally, she had to be kept close.

At the thought...

The corners of Lynch’s mouth curled up slightly as his gaze swept over the Naga mixed in with his Skeleton Corps.