Necromancer, summoning 055? What the heck?

Chapter 125 Every Bullet Creates an Enemy

Lord Chen Mo's elegant and commanding demeanor, which seemed to be pointing out the flaws of the world, vanished without a trace as the dawn broke the next morning, like a thin mist blown away by a strong wind.

Some were even quite exasperated!
Although the exploration team only fought one battle, adhering to the rigorous and meticulous style inherited from Dongxia, the assault team continuously deployed a large number of hidden monitoring devices along the way.

Miniature cameras are scattered across the walls, in the cracks of the stones, and even among the remains of armor.

Their mission is to allow the Vast Ocean Territory to observe changes within the fortress during non-combat periods, summarize patterns, and prepare for the next attack.

Then, the personnel responsible for monitoring discovered a horrifying sight.

Those are images captured and transmitted back by a night vision camera.

At some point in the dead of night, a thick, ripple-like black mist began to spread out from the depths of the Blood Fortress.

The black mist gently stirred the dust, shook the gravel, and shredded the broken pieces of armor on the battlefield.

Inside the command center, the senior officers of the Han Hai Territory held their breath, watching intently as the massive screen displayed the scattered armor fragments left behind by the ruins guards who had been scattered in yesterday's battle, swaying slightly amidst the swirling black mist.

The amplitude increased, as if some kind of life had awakened, until at a certain moment, under the pull of some invisible force, a figure stood up unsteadily.

Without flesh and blood, only cold, twisted metal and shadows—a brand new guardian of the ruins was born under the lens of the camera!
One after another... On the battlefield that was swiftly cleared by the Han Hai Guard yesterday, the scattered parts wriggled and spawned a dense array of relic guardians, filling the gaps in the ruins.

This is a ruthless mockery of Han Hai Ling's victory yesterday.

That wasn't all. Right under the nose of a camera, a metal shell casing that hadn't been recovered was gradually stained a deep black by the black fog.

After a "gestation" that was far longer than that of the armor fragments, in the dead of night, in the stillness of the night, the bullet casing slowly "came to life"!

It twisted and stretched, eventually manifesting as a bizarre, staggering new guard, which wobbled into the ranks of Blood Fortress.

"In addition, according to our cross-observation, our cameras... our cameras were also infected."

"By 8:00 AM, all surveillance cameras within a one-kilometer radius of the Second Ring Road had lost connection!"

"This is...this is the scene recorded by our external cameras."

A camera embedded in a crevice in the rock, when monitored from behind and zoomed in with a high-powered lens in night vision mode, had its sturdy engineering plastic casing quickly curl and peel off as if corroded by strong acid, exposing the cold metal skeleton inside.

Then, like all the previous metal objects, it turned black, shook, stretched out its "arms," ​​and slowly climbed down the wall.

After a brief signal interruption, there was a large black screen.

The video surveillance team displayed a large number of captured photos on a large screen.

In addition to the ruins guards from yesterday that clearly showed characteristics of cold weapons, inlaid with armor plates or swords, a large number of new varieties have been added to the photos.

Some of them have the rotors of miniature drones on their heads, like wearing a "bamboo dragonfly on their head";
Some had a twisted cartridge case protruding from the side of their skull;

Some chest cavities are embedded with the remains of missing cameras; those cold "electronic eyes" sway along the body as if they are still scanning back and forth.
There was even a piece of wood that looked very familiar to everyone, sticking out from the shoulder blade of one of the guards!

Those are the wooden handles that Han Hailing added to the grenades.

"So, all our gains from yesterday were wiped out?"

“I’m afraid… it’s not as simple as just reimbursement, sir.” The head of the reconnaissance team swallowed hard and replied, “Although we have done our best to recover the spent cartridge cases, it is, after all, a battlefield where fire has been raging, and there are bound to be some that we have missed.”

"Furthermore, most of the crossbow bolts from the melee weapon group were not specifically collected..."

Another veteran from the Vast Ocean Territory added, "Judging from their actions, these newly formed ruin guards may be weaker than the previous ones, but their numbers have definitely increased significantly."

Chen Mo covered his head, feeling a bit of a headache.

"What's this? Every bullet creates an enemy?"

Sure enough, this strange magical world is not as simple as it seems!
For some reason, a bizarre, unrestrained, and infinitely terrifying scene inexplicably appeared in his mind.

On a vast, seemingly endless open space, tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of abandoned shared bicycles are piled up densely, yellow, blue, green... covered in rust, forming an endless "bicycle graveyard" that exudes a sense of decay.

Then, ripples of black mist swept across, climbing up every frame and every wheel hub...

Chen Mo couldn't help but shiver, and every hair on his body stood on end.

The meeting room was completely silent. After a while, Chen Mo finally managed to clear his mind of those chaotic thoughts and ordered the guards to summon the members of the [Nightblade] team.

When the leaders of the Nightblade mercenary group heard this unbelievable and devastating news, they were filled with despair.

After yesterday's fierce battle, they have seen hope of completing the mission, which is not just about money, but also about great fame and honor.

If this achievement is added, the credibility and bargaining power when taking on future missions will be much stronger.

But this is the result.

But they wouldn't dare to talk nonsense.

“My lord, I am familiar with this mechanism, which is called element manifestation.”

The speaker was Gedi, the vice commander of the [Nightblade] guild. The veteran stared intently at the photo on the screen, then explained in a tone of utter awe:
"Many powerful relics have their own unique mechanisms for manifesting elements. As long as these elements exist within the relics, various kinds of spirits can manifest."

"For example, in the Green Pine Kingdom, there is a ruin where books have manifested. Any book that is placed in it will, after a period of time, turn into a terrifying monster that will keep asking you questions from the book."

Those who cannot answer will be attacked.

"And the Silver Alliance even took the initiative to build a nest that manifested gold."

"As long as gold is invested, a golden humanoid spirit will manifest, making it a famous lair that all professionals passing through the Silver Kingdom must visit!"

At this point, Gedi took a deep breath and bowed deeply to Chen Mo, almost at a ninety-degree angle.

He had already heard that during yesterday's exploration of the ruins, the exploration team from the Vast Ocean Territory had asked the Nightblade mercenaries to retreat.

Although they were deeply moved, there was a guess at the time that the lord was so powerful that he felt he had victory in his grasp and was willing to take care of them mercenaries.

But what if this lord discovers that the plan to conquer Blood Fortress has become a pipe dream? Would he be furious, or perhaps, in order to save on commissions, forcefully order Nightblade to launch an attack to fill this bottomless abyss?

Gedi didn't know, so he could only plead in advance.

"Some people have previously speculated that the Blood Fortress's key element is the manifestation of blood, because a mercenary group once discovered that their comrades who died inside had been infected and transformed into guardians of the ruins."

"Now it seems that it is probably a manifestation of two elements, a manifestation of 'iron and blood'!"

"If that's the case, then...we have no hope of breaching the fortress for the time being, sir. Perhaps we should withdraw our troops as soon as possible!"

Doyle also stood up. During the final period yesterday, the necromancer summoned a large number of underworld creatures to attract fire, which seemed to have overloaded him. His face was still a little pale.

"We, our mercenary group, are ashamed that we were unable to complete the task assigned by our lord, and we have no right to accept your commission. I will go and get it to return it to you right away!"

His face twitched, and he added with difficulty, "And, there's one more thing I'd like to offer, please accept it."

"You're overthinking it!" Chen Mo waved his hand sharply, his movements carrying an undeniable decisiveness: "Whether or not we take Blood Fortress, it's none of your business, and the commission is rightfully yours."

"I'm not that petty."

"Don't worry, I won't send you to your deaths. Tell me, can you think of any useful solutions?"

The solution is actually quite obvious.

Since this element manifestation occurs within a specific timeframe, we should concentrate our forces and push straight to the end, destroying the entire Blood Fortress before the element manifestation occurs.

Even if they can't push it all away, they must arrange for personnel to remove all metal objects and fallen soldiers, so as not to give the fortress a chance to be reinforced.

However, this is ridiculously difficult.

Chen Mo did a quick calculation and concluded that, based on the intensity of yesterday's consumption, he would run out of ammunition in at most three more uses.

Even if we completely disregard the damage to firearms and cannons and focus solely on replenishing ammunition, even if all the ammunition for the next Bloodline Altar, or even the one after that, is transported entirely from Dongxia, it might still not be enough to cover this steel fortress that has been built up over a hundred years and whose number of guards is unknown.

Moreover, there must be even more powerful relic guardians entrenched deep within the fortress.

Do we really have to slink back and train for another year or two, raise our level a bit more, and increase the altar's output before we can make a comeback?

"Let's adjourn the meeting first, let me think about it!" During the time when the lord was troubled and tossing and turning, Doyle became the lord's temporary magic advisor, responsible for answering the lord's strange and incomprehensible questions about necromancy.

For example, today, there's the issue of the distinction between summoners and necromancers.

"I've always had a question: judging from the job classification and etymology, the original meaning of 'Summoner' in the Starry Continent was 'Cross-realm Summoner.' Why did it later become almost synonymous with 'Undead Summoner' or 'Undead Mage'?"

Doyle followed closely behind the lord, the hem of his wide gray robe dragging like a clumsy tail across the uneven ground, kicking up clouds of dust.

His robe could be tied up, but he himself didn't know how.

There are plenty of people serving the regimental commander on a regular basis. He has auxiliary soldiers in the regiment and even a "black knight" at home.

Yes, even a highly intelligent Dark Knight can do housework.

But now, because Chen Mo got up early and called him in a hurry, the mercenaries and undead creatures who used to be his assistants were all kept outside the isolation line at a distance.

The guards of the Vast Ocean Territory would not allow these guys to get close to the lord, especially a weapon of mass destruction like the Black Warrior.

These members of the Nightblade could only watch from afar as their fourth-tier archmage leader followed closely behind the young lord, who was supposedly a first-tier mage but did not have a first-tier badge, with a slight bow and step by step.

"My lord, the summoning altar, the medium through which summoners communicate with otherworldly lords, was not originally intended specifically for the undead."

"In the glorious ancient era, summoners could summon all sorts of creatures, even entire races from other worlds."

"For example, the vampires in history were summoned from some other world as a whole."

"But at the twilight of the ancient era, a great event occurred: the god worshipped by the Summoner race fell!"

"Huh?" Chen Mo turned around abruptly, somewhat surprised.

"Is this believable? Can gods really fall? What could be the reason?"

“Yes!” Doyle nodded, his robes tripping over a weathered rock, and he stumbled before regaining his balance. He didn’t stop talking, though: “We don’t know the reason for their fall. Mortals cannot see into the world of gods.”

"However, our Summoning lineage has a heritage. Although many things cannot be found in publicly available historical records, they have been passed down from generation to generation, and I believe they are indeed true!"

Chen Mo became interested and couldn't bear to see Doyle so disheveled. He gestured for Doyle to sit down on a large rock nearby, finally saving the mercenary leader from further embarrassment: "Go on!"

Doyle: "Before the ancient era, interdimensional summoning was protected by the gods, and living beings could pass safely through the summoning altar shrouded in divine power without being affected."

"But after the god who was summoned falls, the summoning channel is only maintained by the summoner's own magic power. Most life forms simply cannot withstand the power to cross space, and what is summoned will only be a corpse."

"From that time on, the life lords of distant worlds no longer responded to the summoners' prayers."

"This is the first time a summoner has fallen!"

At this point, Doyle smiled helplessly: "Summoners used to have a very high status. My teacher heard from his teacher's teacher's teacher that summoners who could communicate with hell and summon succubi were honored guests of lords from various countries!"

"Unfortunately, we missed that era!"

After a brief moment of reminiscence, Doyle withdrew the longing in his eyes.

"From then on, apart from a very few who could advance to the top as Grand Summoners, other Summoners could only summon undead creatures, elemental creatures, and... non-living things!"

Lord Chen nodded; at least logically, the explanation was quite clear.

"By the way, you said that if it falls into decline the first time, then there will be a second time."

"Yes, the second one is called the Tragedy of the Elements."

"It was probably around 300 years into the Celestial Calendar. At that time, the Celestial Empire still dominated most of the stars. There was an ambitious emperor who wanted to build a super elemental pool in the Celestial Empire's capital city, which was said to be unparalleled in the world."

"He used a large number of magic arrays to coordinate with the summoners to summon a large number of elemental creatures from other worlds, including many of them commander-level elemental creatures."

"After the summoning is complete, kill it immediately and fill the elemental creature's remains into the elemental pool in the celestial array."

"Ultimately, the elemental lords discovered the truth."

Doyle chuckled self-deprecatingly: "Actually, these things will definitely be discovered given enough time. They're just blinded by greed and have lost their minds!"

"They thought that once they had summoned the creature and had a summoning contract, they could treat it like a slave and trample on it at will."

"But high-level summoned creatures are intelligent, even emotional; how could they tolerate such a thing happening!"

"Several enraged elemental lords joined forces, using the summoners' channels to unleash a massive influx of chaotic elemental creatures, unleashing a frenzied slaughter in the imperial city of the heavens."

"After the Elemental Tragedy, elemental creatures no longer respond to the summoners' calls from the Starry Continent. Summoners have become undead summoners."

"The Sky Dome... It was from that time that the Sky Dome Empire lost too many top professionals and fell into decline."

"The Sky Empire, which once enjoyed boundless glory on the continent alongside the Summoner, also suffered the same fate as the Summoner, retreating again and again, suffering defeat after defeat, and watching helplessly as the Qiyue Dynasty and the Wuyue Divine Court became the new overlords of the continent."

This is truly...heartbreaking.

Chen Mo felt a pang of regret. If he could go back to the time before he summoned the fallen god, he could have easily summoned tens of thousands of elite soldiers from his hometown with a wave of his hand. Why was he stumbling and falling like this?

Oh right, I wasn't even born back then!
It seems that even if people from my hometown came back then, we couldn't beat them... So it's alright.

I can only keep trying on my own.

"So, only high-level necromancers can summon living beings, right?"

"What specific level is it?"

Doyle shook his head helplessly: "I really don't know. Necromancers are not exactly declining on this continent, but they are no longer the mainstream."

"During the Elemental Tragedy, almost all of the continent's top necromancers were wiped out by the chaotic elements. We had to figure out a lot of things about necromancers on our own."

He paused, looking at the young and promising lord before him, his tone slightly ingratiating: "I only know... the first rank is probably not enough. At least the second rank is needed to have any hope!"

"However, Lord, you are still so young and have such outstanding talent. As long as you take care of your health, the second transformation will be a piece of cake. At that time, I will have to call you a senior and ask you to guide me!"

Although he knew Doyle was flattering him, Lord Chen was currently stuck in a limbo by the Blood Fortress. Hearing that he might be able to invite his comrades from his hometown to help at some point in the future, even though he knew that achieving the goal was still a long way off, he couldn't help but feel a little relieved.

He also developed a good impression of Doyle, who was so knowledgeable and forthcoming.

Looking out over the vast desert, Chen Mo rubbed his stiff shoulders and casually cracked a little joke with Doyle.

"Yes, good health is essential. I carry the hopes of a nation and a territory on my shoulders!"

"If I hadn't been sitting up straight, my cervical spine would probably be deformed and I would have a herniated disc by now."

"There's no MRI or CT scan available here!"

Doyle smiled ingratiatingly, offering words of good fortune and wishing the lord eternal health, before finally asking curiously, "Then... nuclear magnetic resonance, is that some kind of new kind of magic?"

"Oh, that's a device for examining the body. It can scan out any problems inside the body."

Doyle frowned slightly: "Isn't that a built-in reconnaissance eye? Using psionic energy to scan inside the body, wouldn't the body be unable to withstand it?"

"What's there for the body to not be able to handle? As long as you're not carrying any metal, that thing isn't dangerous..."

"?"

"NMR? Metal?"

Chen Mo stopped and turned to look at the Blood Fortress shrouded in mist behind him.

An extremely audacious idea, like a lightning bolt piercing the night sky, exploded in his mind!

Iron-blooded manifestation, right? Relying on metal, right?

Imagine a permanent magnet with hundreds of thousands of times the Earth's magnetic field strength. I wonder if you could withstand it.

　I'm really fed up with you guys. I add extra chapters, and you say I'm skipping chapters, and you all criticize me relentlessly...

　　That's an extra chapter. If you read it together with today's first chapter, wouldn't it be more harmonious?
　　I posted 12,000 words yesterday. If I had posted 2,000-word chapters, that would have been six chapters, yet my ranking still dropped several places...

　　I'm so sad~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)