Chapter 241 - 111: My Mom, Elegy, Is a Bit Strong

Chapter 241: Chapter 111: My Mom, Elegy, Is a Bit Strong

Once the terrifying, God-Demon Level aura had completely dissipated, Raymond and the garrison soldiers dared to trickle back, reassembling near the square.

But after such an ordeal, their earlier joy of victory had vanished without a trace.

Everyone silently went about cleaning up the ravaged battlefield.

Not daring to delay any longer either, Lynch quickly set about collecting his spoils.

He first checked the Catastrophe Mage’s body. After confirming there were no more "surprises" like the Crimson Pendant, he pried the Space Ring from its finger. Without even a glance, he stuffed it into an inner pocket, planning to take stock of its contents later.

Then, under Raymond’s wary gaze, Lynch procured several large flatbed carts. He directed his Purple Zombies and Black Corpses to pile them with the carefully selected corpses of the officers, as well as the body of the three-headed hellhound.

’This is a Tier Five hellhound. It would be a waste to turn it directly into a Skeleton,’ Lynch thought. ’It’s better to spend the extra materials to convert it into a hellhound zombie. Then my Red Rabbit can finally be retired.’

In addition, two of the carts were loaded with a large quantity of weapons and Armor that were only lightly damaged. The equipment was of decent quality; once they were taken back and repaired by a blacksmith, they could be put to immediate use.

Finally, there was the matter of the three hundred-odd Soldier corpses.

He had no intention of taking these bodies back with him. Instead, he planned to convert them right here on the spot.

A huge pile of naked bodies lay stacked in the square—a gruesome sight at first glance.

Lynch, however, was already accustomed to such sights. He worked together with his bone mage and began to cast the [Skeleton Resurrection Skill].

An aura of death energy suffused the square as, one by one, Skeleton Servants staggered to their feet.

The results of this "mass production" were quite good. Out of the three hundred-odd new Skeleton Servants, a surprising thirteen successfully awakened a Soul Fire, giving them the potential to become low-to-mid-level skeleton officers.

Although these newly awakened Soul Fire units had only average strength and intelligence, to Lynch, whose Sea of Skulls was growing larger by the day, they were a welcome relief.

By this point, Lynch’s Undead Army had grown to over one thousand strong.

This number was already pushing his Commanding Power to its absolute limit.

Even by only directly commanding his core Soul Fire units—like Bone Jade, his bone mage, and the Corpse Demon—through a spiritual link and having them manage the subordinate Skeletons and Zombie Corps in a tiered command structure, he was still feeling the strain.

’Looks like I need to focus on raising my Tier and Spiritual Power,’ Lynch mused. ’Either that, or I need to acquire one or two more Top Grade items that boost Spiritual Power. Only then will I have the capacity to expand my army further.’

Just then, Raymond came sidling over, rubbing his hands together and forcing a smile onto his chubby face. "Ahem, my dear junior brother..."

His eyes darted toward the spoils Lynch had "left behind"—mostly damaged or common-grade weapons and Armor, along with assorted military supplies. Of course, there was also a significant number of corpses.

"All this... what do you think..." he began, trailing off.

"Oh, Senior Brother, the rest is all yours!" Lynch declared with a magnanimous wave of his hand.

"Excellent, excellent! Thank you, Junior Brother!" Raymond breathed a silent sigh of relief. Although this was all just the "scraps" Lynch had picked over, the total quantity was still substantial. All together, it represented a handsome pile of resources.

’And the kid even has a bit of a conscience,’ Raymond thought. ’He left behind the [Lava Heart] from the Tier Seven Elite Flame Demon, as well as a dozen or so equally valuable [Lava Crystal Core Fragments].’

’If handled properly, those items alone are a huge fortune.’

But to Raymond’s surprise, Lynch seemed to remember something and turned back. "Oh, right, Senior Brother. That Lava Heart and those Magma Fragments—you’re well-connected, so help me find a reliable channel to sell them. As for the profits... you can take twenty percent for your trouble. Just send the rest my way when you’re done."

"Oh, and one more thing. Please collect the military merits for this battle and the Empire’s bounty on the Catastrophe Mage for me. I need to take some time to go into seclusion and train."

"Huh!?" The smile on Raymond’s chubby face instantly froze.

Seeing his reaction, Lynch put on a woeful expression. "Senior Brother, you have no idea how poor I am! I have so many Undead Units to raise, and every single one is a bottomless money pit!"

"On top of that, the population of Lakefront Town is approaching five thousand. Construction, defense, public welfare—which of those doesn’t cost money? And I have to come up with it all myself. Senior Brother, how about... you take a little more pity on me and allocate some supplies from the Battle Group’s warehouse?"

"No, no, no! I’ll sell the Lava Heart for you! I’ll collect the bounty and the merits! I guarantee you won’t be short a single coin!" Raymond waved his hands in a panic, as if trying to shoo away the god of plagues. "Seclusion is good! Raising your strength is what’s most important! Junior Brother, you should hurry back and go into seclusion. Lakefront Town can’t manage without you! Leave things here to me, you can rest easy!"

’He had finally figured it out. This junior brother of mine is even shrewder than I am. There’s no point in trying to take advantage of him.’

’But in all fairness, not only did he save Red Ridge Castle, the spoils he left behind are enough for the Thirteenth Battle Group to reap a windfall and make up for a lot of our losses.’

’All things considered, I’m definitely not losing out on this deal. In fact, you could say I’ve made a huge profit.’

As for Lynch, he had naturally made out like a bandit, improving his strength, army, wealth, and trump cards all across the board.

After an "enthusiastic send-off" from Raymond and his men, Lynch had his Purple Zombies and Black Corpses haul the spoils of war and departed from Red Ridge Castle under the protection of his Undead Army.

「Several days later.」

Lynch, leading his vast and mighty Undead Army, finally returned to Lakefront Town.