This necromancer is going to seduce the beautiful girls who are already dead.

"How dare you insult me ​​like that?!" Macon was already a very arrogant person, and now, being insulted by a staff member and looked down upon by Hollick's apprentice, he immediately became enraged and shouted, "I am a mid-level councilor! Aren't you afraid of bearing my wrath?"

“How do you think I got this job? It’s a lucrative position, most people wouldn’t even qualify. My master is a high-ranking councilor, he personally brought me here.” The staff member remained unfazed. “Have you never seen a ninth-tier necromancer? If you don’t know, let me tell you—killing you is as easy as crushing an insect for him.”

"Senior brother, isn't this guy a coward? He only bullies his defeated subordinates, and he shuts up when he encounters someone he can't afford to mess with." Abyss whispered to Sophia in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear.

Sofia whispered back at the same volume: "Yeah, this kind of person is the legendary coward. He's strong when facing the weak and weak when facing the strong. He's nothing but a piece of trash."

Macon had just been feeling smug, having gained some respect from Hollik, when suddenly he was ridiculed by this staff member and Hollik's two apprentices in front of his own disciples, which infuriated him. Unable to bear such humiliation, his blood boiled, and he raised one hand, his magical glow instantly illuminating it, as if preparing to attack.

That staff member was a ruthless character. Seeing that Macon was about to launch an attack, he didn't dodge or flinch, but stood tall and proudly said, "Have you thought it through? What will be the consequences of making a move here? My master will definitely use you as his test subject. He has the power to remove you directly from the Intermediate Council and make you nothing."

Macon had intended to intimidate the staff member and force him to back down, but he hadn't expected the other person to be so tough, leaving him with no options.

After being annoyed by the staff, Macon couldn't cause any more trouble there, so he angrily turned his hand and said, "Let's go! I'm not buying anything!"

The five apprentices, who had initially been arrogant, immediately deflated after their master was humiliated in front of them. They, who had been leering at Abyss's alluring figure, could only stare at the floor as they slunk away with their master.

The other two staff members present also noticed that Macon was about to use magic, and they followed Macon out with him to make sure he left the area.

While the staff were temporarily away from the cell, Sophia excitedly shared her thoughts with Abyss.

"It really worked! Abyss! This went way too smoothly!"

“It’s not too far off from what I expected, but he didn’t make his move here as I thought. It seems he still has some brains.” Abyss smiled slightly and turned to look at the slaves hiding in the cells. “But the current situation is enough for us to carry out the next step of our plan.”

Before Abyss and Sophia entered the slave shop, they had already noticed that Macon and his disciples were going in to select slaves and that things weren't going smoothly (the two of them could easily hear the conversation inside). So, Sophia suggested that Abyss and the other person go in and try to provoke Macon into getting angry.

At the cave entrance, they had already noticed that Macon was a narrow-minded and extremely vain person, prone to conflict, and easily angered and irrational with the slightest provocation. Therefore, Sophia devised this plan, which proved successful on its first try.

The next plan will be carried out by Abyss.

Taking advantage of the fact that the staff couldn't see him, he chanted a prayer and used divine magic to temporarily conceal his magical fluctuations. Then, he quickly summoned a spatial rift on the ground and sucked all the slaves into it.

Soon, an equal number of corpses were thrown out of the spatial rift. They were wearing the clothes of the slaves from before, their skin was blackened, and their bodies were so withered that they were unrecognizable. Their deaths were extremely gruesome.

"It seems everyone in Eternal Night City is very efficient." Abyss nodded in satisfaction and closed the spatial rift.

At this moment, Sophia raised her voice and shouted, "Oh dear! What happened?! How did all the slaves suddenly become like this? Are they all dead?"

Chapter 280 Framed

Sofia's voice was full of energy, and the staff who had just stepped outside could hear it clearly.

The death of a slave was no small matter. If it wasn't handled properly, all those involved, including the master who was a high-ranking member of parliament, would be punished. Several staff members responsible for the slave trade were quite frightened and reacted quickly.

"You guys, keep an eye on them!" A staff member immediately called out to the people in the exchange hall who were responsible for maintaining order. Although the mages responsible for maintaining order had been idle for a long time, they were all necromancers and none of them were easy to deal with. Upon hearing this call, they all gathered over.

Just as Macon was about to leave the exchange to go home, he was suddenly surrounded by several people carrying staffs. Startled, he glared at the people around him and shouted angrily, "Who dares to touch me?"

“Something’s happened at the exchange, and no one can leave!” said a mage maintaining order.

The necromancers who were shopping were also quite surprised. They were just out shopping when something suddenly went wrong.

Macon, who was surrounded, wasn't particularly famous, but among the many customers, there were people who recognized him—namely, Hollick. Seeing Macon surrounded and hearing his apprentice's voice coming from the slave cell, Hollick immediately began to kick him while he was down, spreading the word about Macon to the surrounding necromancers.

"That kid is a psychopath; he loves to deliberately disgust people."

"He has absolutely no sense of public morality and is greedy for small gains."

“This man is vindictive. If you offend him, he will definitely seek revenge tenfold or a hundredfold. You could tell he was in a bad mood when he came out just now; he must have argued with the slave traders inside.”

“He washes his underwear once a month, saying it’s for researching different schools of thought on epidemics.”

"I heard that when he was in mainland China, he often heated his neighbor's doorknob with a candle and then knocked on the door."

"He touched my apprentice's butt when he came in just now. Isn't that disgusting? Ugh, even when I'm being a pervert, I know to turn off the lights!"

With Hollick's embellished version of the story, the necromancers all began to despise Macon. Macon was furious, but there was nothing he could do. He and his apprentices were now surrounded, and if they made any rash moves, things would only escalate further.

This exchange usually has a powerful member who hasn't yet entered the high council. If a fight breaks out on their home turf, Macon really doesn't know if he can escape unscathed.

The staff rushed into the slave cells and were horrified by what they saw: the slaves, who had been lively just moments before, had all turned into blackened, withered corpses in a short time. Judging from their contorted appearance, they must have suffered inhuman pain before their deaths.

The staff didn't care what kind of treatment the slaves received, but these were the property of the Council of the Dead, and if they all died, the loss would be enormous.

"What have you two been doing here sneakily!" a staff member immediately shouted at Abis and Sophia.

“By the Three Venerable Ones, we didn’t do anything,” Sophia said innocently, spreading her hands. “We are just two ordinary mages from the Soul-Stealing School, not even mid-level councilors. How could we possibly have the strength to kill all these slaves at once?”

“Take a good look at how these slaves died!” Abis pointed at the slave corpses. “We were hoping to find some suitable slaves here, but how are we supposed to inspect them now?”

"This...this manner of death..."

The staff looked at the dead slaves and the more they looked, the more something seemed wrong. How could ordinary necromancy turn people into this state? The slaves' bodies were blackened, as if some force had destroyed their bodies from within.

Necromantic magic that can destroy the body from the inside—it's obvious what that is.

“The Epidemic School!” a staff member shouted.

“You should really investigate that guy who was pretending to be angry but actually just wanted to escape,” Sofia said, guiding the staff’s thinking. “He’s from the plague faction.”

"What?! This beast!"

"I knew that guy was no good!"

The staff members ran out again, cursing and swearing, leaving one person behind to take Abyss and Sophia out of the cell as well.

The two remained expressionless, but their shared thoughts were filled with joy.

The bodies in the cells weren't those of slaves; they were actually defective products Rebecca had created when she was making highly realistic alchemical dolls. Because the attempt failed, they were simply abandoned. After the Abyss sucked the slaves into the spatial rift in Helheim, these dolls were thrown out.

These dolls are identical to human bodies in both structure and texture, with only some issues in manipulation. They are perfectly capable of masquerading as corpses. Moreover, before being thrown out, these corpses were treated with a magical potion at the Abyss's behest, causing them to dehydrate and turn black, making them appear as if they had died from an attack by some powerful force.

These corpses undoubtedly fooled the staff, making them believe that the slaves had truly died from a plague magic attack.

"You must compensate us for all our losses!" The staff member rushed out, pointing his finger at Macon's nose and shouting angrily.

Macon was completely baffled: "What loss? What did I do?"

"Stop pretending! You killed all the slaves because you argued with our people, then tried to leave quickly after casting a spell, but others discovered it. Was that what you did?" the staff member continued angrily. "You've got some nerve! Do you know what kind of punishment you'll receive for deliberately damaging council facilities?"

“What slaves did I kill? Don’t make false accusations!” Macon was naturally furious at being wrongly accused and retorted, “On the contrary, you’ve been the ones picking fights. I’m going to submit a protest to Parliament and have you all replaced!”

"Still being stubborn?" The staff all crowded around.

At that moment, a silent mage emerged from a doorway in the hall, holding a metal staff that appeared to be quite valuable. Judging from his demeanor, he was the mage in charge of this exchange. Those who could oversee an exchange were all highly skilled in combat; this matter had truly escalated.

Looking at the scene before him, Abis suddenly said to Sophia:

“I still feel the situation isn’t chaotic enough—Sophia, I have an idea that I need your help with.”

"Isn't it chaotic enough? Do you want them to start fighting? There's no point in fanning the flames anymore, and we can't use illusions here..."

"Come, let me tell you about it..."

Chapter 281 Adding Fuel to the Fire

"There are ninety-one slaves in the cell. You must pay for each and every one of them!"

“I told you, I don’t know what happened, and I didn’t kill the slaves inside! Why would I kill your slaves?”

"Then tell me, are there any other people in this exchange who know the plague magic? This style is very niche; there aren't many people who can master it to the point of instantly killing a group of people!"

The staff and Mekansm started arguing, and the other necromancers in the exchange were temporarily prevented from leaving, all watching as the two sides argued fiercely. Meanwhile, Hollick was busy recounting Mekansm's "dark history" to everyone, though of course, most of it was fabricated.

Abyss and Sophia stood against the wall, behaving very well, neither making a fuss nor stirring things up like before.

Beside them were Macon's five apprentices. These five were all arrogant and domineering, but now that their master was in trouble and couldn't get out of it, they had quieted down and dared not provoke Abyss and Sophia, for fear of causing trouble and making it even more difficult for their master to extricate himself.

"I told you! I didn't kill the slaves! Why should I pay compensation?" Macon's patience had run out, and he was now roaring hoarsely, "Do you think I can't afford to pay? I have plenty of money! But why should I be responsible for something I didn't do? Why don't you investigate those two brats? They were alone in the cell after you left. What if they killed the slaves?"

Abyss and Sophia weren't worried at all, after all, they were now disciples of the Soul Stealing School and their strength wasn't too great.

"Those two are just the apprentices of that councilor over there, and they belong to the Soul Stealing School. Do you think they had any chance of coming into contact with such advanced plague magic?" The staff member pressed on, angrily rebuking the "shameless" Macon. "You should admit what you did, instead of pushing the problem onto two juniors. Have you no shame?"

"I didn't! I didn't! I didn't!" Macon jumped up and down on the ground in anger.

"Pah! Shameless!"

While the argument raged on one side, Abis and Sophia's mood improved more and more.

The ninety-one people rescued by the Abyss have been given a temporary settlement in the City of Evernight and will move in once the new city is completed. Abyss's men have reported back to him: the slaves were initially terrified upon entering Helheim, but after receiving food and water, they gradually calmed down and are now resting or receiving treatment. These long-term enslaved people seem somewhat numb, and the educators of the City of Evernight will need to work on them further.

However, apart from Abyss and Sophia, who had learned the good news, everyone present felt inexplicably irritable.

Was it because the argument over there was so intense that it stirred up the emotions of everyone in the room? Does Macon have such a strong influence when he argues?

Or rather, who used illusion magic to amplify everyone's negative emotions?

The necromancers, feeling agitated, subtly glanced around but found no one using illusion magic. No one was deliberately using magic to disturb their peace. Perhaps it really was Macon's arguing that had affected everyone.

Not only were the audience getting impatient, but tensions were also rising between Macon and the staff who were arguing.

"I'm going to kill you all!" For some unknown reason, Macon suddenly roared out these words.

Hearing his threat, the staff glared at him with bloodshot eyes and cursed, "You're asking for it! You really think you're so tough?"

"You, you, and you! You're all going to die!" Macon realized he might have said something wrong, but since things had come to this, he decided to go all out and pointed at the three staff members he had just clashed with.

A fight is about to break out on the scene, and the necromancer in charge has already cast a shield spell, ready to deal with any unexpected situations.

"Well, it's about time to start the fight," Abis said to Sophia at that moment.

Just as Abyss uttered those words, Mekansm suddenly sprang into action, unleashing a lightning bolt at the staff member in front of him.

This was a basic elemental spell; although its effect wasn't very strong, the incantation was extremely short, and a skilled mage could cast it instantly. This caught the opposing staff member off guard, and he was struck directly by the lightning. His mage robes absorbed most of the damage, but he was still blasted away by the force of the lightning.

This sounded the battle cry. To the astonishment of the audience, the necromancers on the exchange side launched a counterattack. Gravity, Lightning, Grease, and Spell Shield were swiftly unleashed, instantly illuminating the exchange with a dazzling array of magical flashes. The crackling sounds of magic filled the air.

"Aren't you going to protect your master? What kind of disciples are you?" Abyss provoked the five disciples of Macon who were standing obediently to the side. "If your master loses, none of you will get away with it."

The five apprentices were startled by Abyss's words. After thinking about it carefully, they realized it was true. After a slight hesitation, they rushed forward.

This time, the battle became even more intense. Some of the people who were selling things inside the window hid, while others rushed out of the room to join the fight.

"Can we leave now?" Some necromancers, frightened by the scene of the battle, asked the gate guards who had just rushed in in a low voice.

The guard at the door waved his hand: "Now that the culprits are cleared, and you're not suspects either, hurry up and leave! Don't touch anything from the exchange!"

The necromancers hastily retreated, leaving Mekan and his five apprentices to fight the exchange staff. As the battle escalated, Mekan's side began to employ plague magic, while the exchange's resident mage unleashed even more powerful and deadly spells…