Chapter 253 - 113: Ancient Elf Ruins! Harvesting Ghost Units

Chapter 253: Chapter 113: Ancient Elf Ruins! Harvesting Ghost Units

Uh...

Lynch was speechless.

’Avril, that explanation of yours... Never mind. Just don’t try to explain next time.’

But thanks to the interruption, the Ghost, bound by Holy Light and battered by repeated heavy blows, had little strength left to struggle.

Lynch seized the opportunity. The Magic Staff in his hand flared with a ghostly light as he began to chant the incantation for another spell.

[Soul Imprisonment].

Soon, a tide of death energy enveloped the weakened Ghost like a siphon bridge.

Provoked, the Ghost once again let out a piercing soul-wail, its Soul Body struggling desperately. But under the binding of the Holy Light and Lynch’s continuous spiritual pressure, its resistance grew weaker and weaker.

Finally, it gave up the fight, sending a pulse of soul-waves to Lynch to convey its willingness to submit.

Seeing that it knew what was good for it, Lynch mercilessly plunged his Spiritual Power deep into its core, branding it with a [Death Mark] that would give him control over its life and death.

Through the Death Mark, Lynch could not only sense its status at any time but also establish a spiritual link to issue commands directly.

"Haaa... Success." Lynch let out a breath, a hint of joy appearing on his face.

This was the first Ghost Unit he had ever possessed. It was worth giving it a name.

He then said to it, "From now on, you’ll be called ’Ghost Yi’."

The Ghost sent back a pulse of soul-waves, seeming to understand its new name.

However, a wild Ghost forcefully controlled through [Soul Imprisonment] and a [Death Mark] was different from a contract Ghost summoned or nurtured through a formal pact.

He could only command it directly himself, or have it commanded by a higher-level Ghost also under his control. He couldn’t delegate command to a lesser general like Bone Jade, as he could with other Soul Fire units.

Furthermore, this Ghost’s intelligence seemed average at best. Its ability to comprehend commands was worrying, and it acted more on instinct and obedience to the Death Mark.

Amadis’s contract Ghost, on the other hand, was also only Tier Three, but its intelligence was clearly high. She could lend it to him, and it could even perform complex, independent tasks. He had no idea where she had gotten it or how she had successfully formed a contract with it.

Additionally, after subjugating this Ghost, Lynch immediately felt the strain on his Spiritual Power—already stretched thin from commanding his large number of Undead—increase even further.

In fact, after more than three months of training, his Spiritual Power had grown considerably, now sitting at around 35 or 36 points. However, because of his contracts with the Hell Cerberus Zombie and the Bone Curse, his Commanding Power was still tight.

Now, with the addition of this Ghost, his Commanding Power was definitely running short.

He had to once again adjust the command structure of his Undead Corps. He delegated some Soul Fire units—for example, he tossed Bloodfang back to the Corpse Demon to manage—and retained direct command over only his core Undead Units, which freed up some Commanding Power.

With his first successful "capture" under his belt, Lynch began to repeat the process.

Afterward, he summoned another Bone Valor.

This time, however, Lynch didn’t rush to send it in. Instead, he first took a large burlap sack from his Storage Ring, strapped it to the Bone Valor’s back, and secured it to its skeleton with a sturdy rope.

"This time you go in, I don’t care if it’s metal, stone, or seemingly intact fragments—stuff it all into the sack for me."

After giving it the command, Lynch sent the Bone Valor through the Teleportation Gate once more, stepping into the Ancient Elf ruins to begin a "locust-style" sweep.

Sometimes, the Bone Valor would fill the sack with assorted junk and manage to crawl back to empty it. Other times, it would get possessed by a Ghost and return as a turncoat Bone Valor, ready to kill.

This cycle repeated over and over.

During this period, the Bone Valor was possessed by Ghosts a total of six times.

These six Ghosts varied in strength, and their resentment and will to resist were all different.

Four of them were fiercely aggressive and would rather die than submit. Even after being beaten to near-dissipation by [Soul Lash], they still tried to launch a final soul-shock to take him down with them. Lynch, showing no mercy, used [Soul Harvesting] to tear them apart completely, turning them into pure [Soul Crystals].

As for the other two, Lynch and Avril worked together to successfully subjugate them, allowing Lynch to brand them with the [Death Mark].

One of them was stronger, having impressively reached the Tier Four level.

As soon as it was subjugated, it used its stronger Soul Power fluctuations to unceremoniously seize the "boss" position in the hierarchy of Lynch’s ghosts. Taking the cue, Lynch named it "Ghost Yi."

As for the original Tier Three Ghost, it had to begrudgingly step down to become "Ghost Two."

The other newly acquired Tier Three Ghost naturally became "Ghost San."

The three Ghosts floated together, exuding a cold aura. They already had the makings of a Ghost Squad.

In future battles, having them would make Lynch’s tactics much more flexible.

Meanwhile, without him even realizing it, the "spoils" that the Bone Valor had hauled back in the sack had already piled up into a small hill on the ground.

Although this stuff looked like "trash," some of it might hold unknown value. At the very least, it could be sold as antiques.

Building the Teleportation Gate this time was a massive profit~

Not only had he obtained a special unit type like Ghosts, but he had also scored a "backyard" in the form of an ancient ruin that might hold immense wealth.

However, it seems good luck always runs out.

As the Bone Valor stepped into the Teleportation Gate for the eleventh time to carry out its scavenging mission...

Since the nearby "trash" had all been collected, it wandered a bit farther from the teleportation altar, deep into some ruins that might have once been a side hall or a corridor.

Just as the Bone Valor was trying to drag what looked like a long metal handle from under a pile of rubble...

Suddenly, an indescribable, dangerous premonition struck Lynch’s mind.

Lynch’s heart went cold. He instantly knew something was wrong.

But before he could react, an incomparably terrifying pressure suddenly erupted from the depths of the ruins, as if some ancient, horrifying existence had awakened.

The next moment, a vast power spread out, as if that terrifying existence had noticed something and cast its gaze upon the Bone Valor.

"CRACK!"

There was no warning, no sign of a Ghost possessing it.

The Bone Valor’s Soul Fire was extinguished, and it instantly crumbled into a pile of bones.

But what terrified Lynch even more than that was...

Even though the Bone Valor was dead, the spiritual link between them hadn’t been severed. That gaze had actually traveled along the spiritual link to "look" over, and it glanced at Lynch.

HOLY SHIT~~!!!

’This thing can follow the signal back?!’

Lynch felt his scalp go numb and the hair all over his body stand on end. The feeling of imminent doom instantly washed over him.

...