Spellcasting Gods

"Hmph! Just making a fuss..." Zhang Cheng curled his lip in feigned disdain and turned his gaze back to Eric, who was on the verge of collapse.

This unfortunate fellow had completely lost his initial arrogance. He knelt on the ground, arms outstretched, letting out a painful roar.

The frenzied influx of tens of thousands of souls overwhelmed his own still-untransformed soul, making it seem as if it could be torn apart, devoured, and completely vanish from the world at any moment.

Moreover, because he had absorbed too many souls, he had long since completely lost control of his body. The two points of cold light in his eye sockets had turned into white vortexes, and from time to time, hideous human faces would appear.

Even without getting close, Zhang Cheng could clearly see countless souls fighting, tearing at, and devouring each other, trying to seize control of this body. However, none of the souls noticed that during the devouring process, some of their most precious things were rapidly being lost, slowly forming a channel and bridge that tightly connected Eric with the Death Dragon.

As the passage grew larger and clearer, about a third of the souls suddenly collapsed, turning into a sky full of silver flashes. The rest seemed to realize something and fled in all directions like madmen.

Unfortunately, before they could run more than a few steps, they were firmly bound to the spot by a huge magic circle that covered the city center, and no matter how much they struggled, it was to no avail.

As he gazed at the fear, despair, and resentment emanating from these ordinary souls, Zhang Cheng revealed a rare serious expression. He raised his right hand, which was tightly gripping the staff, and began to concentrate on guiding the most important and final step of the ritual: completely erasing Eric's original personality and memories, and creating a completely new, blank-slate evil soul.

In fact, the magical techniques he used were the result of research conducted by the archmages of Dalaran during the Second War, who captured the corpses of the first generation of death knights on the battlefield. In essence, they still did not deviate from the category of necromancy, which is to use the death energy generated by blaspheming the dead to give the corpse a new life, and then inject an evil soul into it.

According to the proper procedure, orc warlocks would usually first kill powerful human officers, or find their corpses and process them specially. Then, they would use necromancy to inject the soul of an orc warlock who was accidentally killed into the body, thus creating a death knight with terrifying power.

In the past, the orcs used this magical technology to conquer cities and territories in the Second War, winning victory after victory. Among them, the most well-known was the first Death Knight to be born - Talon Bloodlord.

However, Zhang Cheng was clearly not satisfied with creating a death knight in the ordinary sense, because the humans in the world of A Song of Ice and Fire were far less physically strong than the humans in the world of Azeroth. He had to make up for it in some way, otherwise even if he created one, it would be a complete weakling.

Of course, Eric, with his half-dragon physique, theoretically already met the minimum physical requirements to become a Death Knight, but he wanted to make his creation even more perfect and powerful, so he added a small modification...

As one soul after another dissipated into the air, a dazzling silver light burst forth!

Eric, who had been struggling in agony, finally stopped trembling and knelt lifelessly on the spot. A chilling black mist continuously emanated from his eyes, mouth, nostrils, and ears. Even the dragon of death seemed to be affected by something, its silver-gray scales completely turning into the black symbol of death.

After a full seven or eight minutes, he suddenly trembled, then slowly stood up, looked up at the sky shrouded in dark clouds, and asked in a magnetic, hoarse voice, "Who...who am I? Where am I?"

“From today onwards, your name is Huma, and I am your creator and your only master.” Zhang Cheng pursed his lips and gave a long-prepared answer.

"Humar? Creator? Master?" The newly born Death Knight was clearly in a state of extreme confusion, his face filled with doubt.

Zhang Cheng had anticipated a similar situation and nodded with a smile: "Yes! You are someone I created! Look around at the scene; all of this is the price paid for your birth."

The Death Knight glanced subconsciously at the ghouls, zombies, abominations, and enormous corpse monsters scattered throughout the Old Town port area, as well as the twisted and evil aura emanating from the ground beneath his feet. He seemed to understand something, and knelt on one knee, saying in an extremely devout tone, "Great master, thank you for everything you have done. From this day forward, I am your most loyal servant—Humar."

“Excellent! Take your dragon and go hunting. Kill everything that moves in the streets, whether it’s alive or dead.” Zhang Cheng gave the order without hesitation.

Now that the mission was complete, he naturally had to start cleaning up the mess, especially since the highly contagious magical plague, once it was leaked, would probably wipe out the entire continent of Westeros in no time.

Furthermore, the name Humar he chose wasn't inspired by the famous black lion king of Azeroth, but rather by a renowned hero from the world of Klein in the Dragonlance series—a true dragon rider…

Chapter 0252 Destruction

Back in the ruins of the Tower of Triumph, Zhang Cheng didn't rush to initiate the final step of the plan—to completely destroy the city shrouded in death and resentment. Instead, he calmly took out his notebook and began to organize and summarize the problems encountered during the experiment, as well as how he solved them, and also compared them with the knowledge he had learned from books.

Having experienced two worlds in succession, he has come to realize that he cannot simply and crudely use a single magic system to deal with all crises.

Whenever you enter a new world, the power you gained from the previous world will inevitably be greatly weakened, limited, or even completely incompatible. The only thing that can be retained is the knowledge and information that can be used for reference.

If he wants to go further in this dangerous game, he must find the commonalities between different magic systems and then slowly build a magic system that can be applied to all worlds.

Of course, innovation is never an easy thing.

In fact, no matter what it is, innovation can never be achieved overnight. So far, Zhang Cheng has no clue what to do and can only start by accumulating experience.

As time passed, the once blank notebook became densely filled with letters that no human could understand, as well as various uniquely shaped symbols, complex patterns, and so on.

To prevent outsiders from accidentally seeing this notebook, Zhang Cheng deliberately used several languages, including the common language of humans in the world of Azeroth, High Elf language, the common language of Westeros in the world of A Song of Ice and Fire, a small amount of source language obtained from the Children of the Forest, Valyrian language translated from the stone tablet, and so on.

In short, it's basically wishful thinking for anyone other than the person who wrote it to understand its contents. Even with the help of some mysterious magic, it would take a considerable amount of time to decipher it, thus ensuring that the secret would not be leaked to the greatest extent possible.

Just as he was completely absorbed in the unparalleled complexity and immense destructive power of death and necromancy, he suddenly felt a strong gust of wind rushing towards him. Looking up, he saw that it was Humar riding back on his dragon.

The newly born death knight exuded an aura of fear and despair as he jumped off the dragon's back, carrying a Valyrian steel sword he had picked up from who-knows-where in his right hand.

However, this Valyrian steel sword has been infiltrated by magical plague and death energy during the killing, and the blade is covered with a lot of black spots, as if it has been stained by something. If a living person is hit by it, the consequences will definitely not be as simple as a superficial injury, but will also be accompanied by terrible diseases and curses.

Gazing at the black and red ripples surrounding the surface of the longsword, Zhang Cheng suddenly recalled that after Eddard Stark, Duke of the North, was executed, the Stark family heirloom sword "Ice" seemed to have been obtained by Tywin Lannister, who melted it down and reforged it into two new swords.

One of the shorter swords, called "Widow's Howl," was given to the short-lived Joffrey as a wedding gift. The other, longer sword was given to Jaime, who, according to the original storyline, was supposed to name it "Oathkeeper" and give it to Brienne.

Clearly, based on its length and width, the Death Knight is currently carrying the latter.

It seems that, due to the flapping of the butterfly's wings, Jaime Lannister did not give away the Oathkeeper sword, but chose to keep it for himself.

Unfortunately, a mere sharp sword did not help him escape the terrible war and magical plague. Now that the sword has fallen into Humar's hands, his fate is self-evident.

Recalling their previous less-than-pleasant encounters, Zhang Cheng couldn't help but sigh slightly, close his thick notebook, and ask in a low voice, "Is everything cleaned up?"

"Yes, Master, it's all taken care of." The Death Knight knelt on one knee and gave an affirmative answer.

“Very good! Now take your mount and go take over this island. Turn it into a land of death with slaughter and pollution. Kill anyone who tries to approach. Understand?” Zhang Cheng took out a simple nautical chart from his pouch and handed it over.

"Understood!" Huma opened it, glanced at it, and nodded without hesitation.

Without the slightest hesitation, he put away the sea chart, mounted the Death Dragon, and soared into the air, flying towards the ruins of Valyria, completely unaware of what this action meant.

Watching the colossal dragon of death shrink to a tiny dot in the sky, a cold smile finally appeared on Zhang Cheng's face. He muttered to himself in a voice only he could hear, "My dear Kronada, since you so yearn for freedom and so desperately want to break the seal that imprisons you, then I'll add an insurance policy to the seal. Let's see how long it will take you to succeed without any outside help, relying solely on your own strength."

Without a doubt, the island he had the Death Knight occupy was none other than the island where the Valyrians imprisoned dragons, and also the only entrance to the underground chamber.

The purpose of this was twofold: to retaliate and to prevent Cronada from doing something similar again.

After all, given its sensitivity to magical energy, it would quickly detect the Death Knight's corruption of the land. And when it discovers that the person responsible is none other than the servant it sent out in the first place, its expression will certainly be quite interesting.

Imagining the old dragon's furious reaction, Zhang Cheng's face broke into a malicious smile. He then carefully pulled a sealed metal box from his pocket, took out a stone that shimmered with a crimson light, and said softly, "Dust to dust, ashes to ashes. It's time to put an end to this..."

The words had barely left his mouth!

He tossed the stone, the size of a baby's fist, into the air, raised his hands, and began chanting in the ancient Valyrian language!

Accompanied by strange syllables, the already bright stone emitted a light as intense as the sun, resembling both a blazing flame and a massive ball of light.

Just as the light slowly rose and expanded outward to its limit, a deafening sound suddenly echoed over the old town.

Boom!

The thunderous roar made the ground tremble!

next second...

The enormous orb of light began to fall to the ground like a meteor, its terrifying power sending chills down one's spine.

As the spellcaster, Zhang Cheng was undoubtedly well aware of the destructive power of this thing, so he jumped onto Kuro Kerba's back without hesitation and flew towards the sea.

Before they had flown very far, a light that defies description pierced through the sky and the earth. Whether it was the dark clouds hanging over the city or the ruins and corpses on the ground, everything turned to dust and scattered before this light.

A terrifying energy storm emanated from the point of impact, tearing everything within a radius of over two thousand meters into tiny, sand-like particles!

Zhang Cheng, who was nearly thrown off his horse in mid-air, barely managed to regain his footing. He squinted and looked at the harbor, only to discover that a crater over 150 meters deep had formed near the landing point, and the crater had engulfed the entire old town. Currently, there wasn't a single building within the city walls that could be considered intact...

Chapter 0253 The Final Conversation

Watching the residual energy storm relentlessly destroy everything on the ground, Zhang Cheng nodded in satisfaction and sighed softly, "Truly worthy of being the culprit that destroyed the Valyrian civilization. Even a small piece can unleash unparalleled destructive power instantly when activated by magic. The only drawback is that it is uncontrollable, and it might even harm itself."

Clearly, the crimson rock we just saw was a piece that had been pried off from the meteorite.

In order to test the total energy contained within it, he made a near-mad decision: to detonate it in the most extreme way possible. This would allow him to determine the energy of a fixed unit volume of meteorite and, incidentally, clean up the serious consequences caused by the magical plague and necromancy, achieving two goals at once.

It must be said that the power contained within this roughly one-thirtieth fragment of the meteorite far exceeded his initial expectations. No wonder the aftershocks from the impact alone destroyed the capital of Valyria and triggered a series of disasters, including a terrible earthquake, tsunami, and volcanic eruption.

Even today, a few abnormal energy fluctuations still remain around the ruins of Valyria, and few who have entered have ever come out alive.

Despite his reflections, Zhang Cheng, pressed for time, did not linger for long. Once the energy storm had subsided, he rode Kuro Kerba toward the Shield Islands.

Before returning to King's Landing, he had to see one person, a guy who should have been dealt with long ago, a true master strategist and schemer—Varys.

After several overt and covert confrontations, he realized that as long as "Eight-Clawed Spider" was alive, it was a threat. What the other party cared about was not money, power, or social status, but the strong beliefs and faith in his heart.

Such people cannot be bought or swayed by any benefit; they are willing to give everything for their beliefs, even their own lives.

Without a doubt, compared to Littlefinger, who has clear ambitions and goals, Varys is the lingering ghost hanging over the continent of Testaros, so he must die to put Zhang Cheng at ease.

Without any hesitation or wavering, Zhang Cheng immediately issued the attack order as Kuro Kerba's massive body swept over the Shield Islands.

Accompanied by piercing screams, bursts of scorching dragon flames rained down from the sky, scattering the troops who had stayed behind to occupy the port and castle. They had no courage to resist and were only thinking about how to save their own lives.

This mixed army was forcibly brought together by Eric using the power of dragons, and its very core was filled with awe and fear of dragons. In addition, the sudden appearance of the enemy on the Shield Islands meant that their evil master had failed to enslave them. If they didn't run away now, would they wait to be buried with them?

In an instant, everyone desperately squeezed onto the ships, wanting to return to their homeland on the eastern continent. But in their panic, they clearly forgot one thing: in the dragon's eyes, the ships were nothing more than slow-moving sitting ducks. In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen ships slowly sank into the sea amidst a dazzling burst of fire.

Whether they were mercenaries who risked their lives for money or so-called brave and fearless Dothraki warriors, there was not much difference between them at the moment. They were like a swarm of headless flies, running around in all directions to avoid the scorching flames spewed by the dragon.

Zhang Cheng ignored the demoralized ordinary soldiers and went straight to the airspace above the castle on South Shield Island. He signaled Kuro Kerba to lower his altitude and then leaped onto the deserted castle wall.

This place was originally the fiefdom of the Xirui family, but now only a large amount of dried bloodstains and a dozen or so corpses hanging on the walls remain.

It goes without saying that these corpses must be direct members of the Xirui family. Perhaps it was to show off their military power, or perhaps it was simply to intimidate the island's residents. In any case, barring any unforeseen circumstances, this family is basically wiped out.

In fact, it wasn't just the Ciri family; the Chester family on Green Shield Island, the Green family on Gray Shield Island, and the Green family on Oak Shield Island all lost everything in the war. Even the men on the islands were enslaved and forced to do heavy manual labor, while the young women were used by the invaders to satisfy their lust.

"Roar!!!!"

Kuro Kerba seemed to have discovered something, and suddenly raised his head and roared at an arrow tower.

Zhang Cheng glanced at it subconsciously, then immediately smiled and patted its head to comfort it, saying, "Relax, leave this to me. You go and continue clearing out the deserters. Remember, don't let any enemy escape."

Kuro Kerba nodded its enormous head slightly, flapped its wings, and flew towards the river mouth, disappearing from sight in the blink of an eye.

Watching his dragon depart, Zhang Cheng turned around and gave a slight bow towards the dark entrance of the arrow tower, greeting it with a light laugh: "Good afternoon, dear Lord Varys. You probably didn't expect we'd meet again so soon, did you? Don't hide, I know you're inside. By the way, your much-vaunted disguise skills are completely useless against me."

How did you find me?

Accompanied by a familiar voice, "Octopus Spider" walked out of the arrow tower, feigning composure.

He was dressed as a servant, and the tight belt around his waist greatly altered his physique. At first glance, probably no one would recognize him as the "plump and round" chief intelligence officer of King's Landing.

“Hehe, how I found you isn’t important. What’s important is what I’m going to do to you next. You know, to some extent, you and Count Petyr Baelish can both be considered my teachers. I learned from you how to manipulate intrigue and power. But you seem to have overlooked one thing: many times, methods like intrigue and assassination can only be used against ordinary people. Someone like me, who possesses powerful magic, can crush it with sheer force…” With that, Zhang Cheng raised his hand and made a fist.

moment!

Varys, whose face was already pale, immediately clutched his chest and knelt on the ground, sweat pouring down his forehead like raindrops.

He felt as if his heart was being gripped by an invisible force, unable to beat normally to provide the power for blood circulation in his body.

Seeing the terror in the other person's eyes, Zhang Cheng loosened his clenched fist and said meaningfully, "Look, this is power—the power to take someone's life effortlessly, without swords or bloodshed. The victim may not even know who killed them. I respect your wisdom and your unwavering beliefs, but you made a mistake—you mistakenly treated me as an enemy. So, I have no choice but to treat you as an enemy as well. When dealing with enemies, I only care about the result, never the means."

"I understand, you're here to kill me, aren't you?" Varys, feeling his heartbeat return to normal, wiped away his sweat, looked up, and asked expressionlessly.

"Yes!" Zhang Cheng answered affirmatively without hesitation.