This Necromancer Just Wants to Plant Trees - Chapter 88 (Patreon)

Gulping sounds

The dark, rolling mass on the ground finally came to a halt when it collided with the stone wall on the right side of the group.

Matthew squinted his eyes and realized, "Isn't that Edson's head?"

"You killed him?"

Taking into account the recent gift they received, Matthew understood the whole situation.

Peggy nodded emphatically, "I'm Lysanna. I used to work for the Cataclysm Cult.

"Now, I'd like to make a deal with you, as a gesture of goodwill, I've brought Edson's head first.

"He was the southern high priest of the Cataclysm Cult, and there are only six others of his level in the entire cult.

"By doing this, I'm cutting all ties with the cult for good. I believe this should alleviate some of your concerns."

Martin gave Matthew a meaningful look and warned, "Be cautious!"

He then raised his large sword in readiness for battle.

At this moment, Peggy took a step forward, and the group was startled. Just when they were about to take action, the Zeller Warriors decisively removed all their clothing, silently.

Piece by piece, the fabric slipped off her ankles.

The group couldn't help but widen their eyes in shock. Her body was a shocking sight—skin once tightly covered by clothing was now revealed to be marked with bruises, scars, festering wounds, and stitches, not to mention her left breast, which had been partially severed!

This scene sent shivers down their spines.

"Is this what your cult did to you?" Matthew asked in a somber tone.

Peggy, emotionless, started dressing herself one by one, "It wasn't just our cult. Regardless of whether our cooperation is successful or not, I am no longer a member of the Cataclysm Cult.

"He's called Father, and I don't know his real name, but he holds the highest position within the cult. Even Edson had to bow down to him.

"I suspect he's a scion of the dark god, and his sadism terrifies me.

"During my last punishment, he even removed my spine. He told me that perhaps becoming spineless might please the supreme being he spoke of. He asked if I was willing. At that time, I was already completely broken inside.

"That's why I'm standing before you now. I never want to face that maniac again."

After seeing her wounds, Zeller's once intense gaze softened, though he continued to question, "What kind of deal do you want with us?"

Peggy calmly replied, "I once swore allegiance to the dark god, and now, I've betrayed the cult. There's no way he'll let me go. So, I want to become an 'Oathbreaker.'

"This ritual requires a lot of help from others. I hope you can help me bear the wrath of the dark god during this process.

"In return, I can provide you with all the information about the Cataclysm Cult and some information about the Cult of the Black Dragon.

"If you want to know about the Shadowed Lands, Black Dragon City, Deepholm, and other places, I'm willing to consider sharing that as well."

Zeller pressed, "What if we ask you to provide the information first?"

Peggy readily agreed, "No problem!"

Zeller seemed puzzled, "Aren't you afraid we might break our word?"

Peggy replied calmly, "While I was in the Shadowed Lands, I didn't trust any of the underground creatures. Nearly all of them were untrustworthy, double-crossing individuals. This has never been proven wrong.

"But I've heard surface world legends—they say surface dwellers are naive and kind, rarely betraying their comrades, and they keep their promises.

"I don't know if this information is true or false, but I'm willing to give it a try.

"If, in the end, you kill me, it'll be a form of release for me."

Though her tone was cold, her words were sincere, leaving no room for doubt.

Zeller glanced at Lichen, who just shrugged.

So, he patted Matthew on the shoulder and took a step back, saying, "This is your team, and it's your decision. Personally, I don't trust any Zeller, but she might be an exception, or she might not be."

Matthew thought it over and found working with Peggy worth a try.

He believed she wasn't lying.

But, as Zeller said, dealing with underground creatures required utmost caution.

So, Matthew spoke, "I'm willing to trust you. However, before we proceed with the formal cooperation, I'd like to know more: for example, why are you here, and what's the deal with Edson's head?"

Peggy immediately answered, "After the failed attack on Boulderstone Town, I returned Edson's head to the 'Sanctuary.' The self-proclaimed Midnight God used a secret ritual to resurrect him, but turned him into a grotesque monster. Edson had always held a grudge against what happened in Boulderstone Town, and he even changed his name to the Avenger, declaring his desire for revenge.

"Three weeks ago, Father claimed to have received a divine revelation, instructing us to come here and establish an altar in an underground cavern.

"Later, we learned that the purpose of building this altar was to collaborate with Blorken from the Cult of the Black Dragon.

"Just this evening, Blorken offered a strange little orb as a sacrifice at the altar, and then the dark god behind the Cataclysm Cult granted him a few pages of blasphemous texts.

"I don't understand what that means, but I do know that Blorken became very excited after obtaining those texts. However, he was nearly killed by them, even though I could have taken that opportunity to kill him.

"But Edson didn't want to do it. He had some sort of connection with Blorken, so he let him go. Of course, this could also be the will of that dark god.

"Edson had the ability to communicate with the dark god, but even though the dark god claimed to foresee the future, he couldn't foresee my dagger. Hmph!"

When she said the last sentence, Peggy's tone was clearly smug.

Matthew couldn't find any fault in her story after hearing everything.

He asked Peggy with curiosity, "Why are you so certain that the god you serve is an evil god?"

Peggy replied with a question, "What else could it be? A true god? Real gods employ dark sorcerers? That's too ridiculous, isn't it?"

Matthew wore a strange expression, "Is this what everyone in your cult believes?"

Peggy nodded, "Mostly, yes. Except for a few fanatics, the rest of them don't believe the self-proclaimed 'Midnight God' identity as the truth.

"According to the elders in the Shadowed Lands, when past dark gods sought the service of mortals, they liked to present themselves as true gods and had their followers address them with divine titles.

"But the dark god behind the Cataclysm Cult, who calls himself the Midnight God, doesn't dare let us use the title 'Midnight God'!

"He's only got the guts to make grand statements, but can't even allow us to address him as the Midnight God!

"He's nothing more than a big-name demon, in my opinion!"

The phrase "big-name demon" nearly made Matthew burst into laughter.

He really wanted to tell Peggy that what she had been serving before was indeed a true god, but due to circumstances, the Supreme Being had to use a demonic alias.

If the Midnight God himself heard his underlings describe him so bluntly, he would probably spit blood.

At this point, Matthew started to believe that Peggy had genuinely switched to the right side.

He discussed the situation with his group, and they all intended to go and check the altar, partly to verify Peggy's account and partly to destroy it. An altar dedicated to an evil god could easily bring disaster to the local ecosystem.

As they weren't far from the surface world, Matthew felt it was right to eliminate the altar.

"Lead us to that altar. This is the first step of our cooperation," Matthew emphasized.

Peggy wasn't surprised; she was mentally prepared for this after revealing the altar's existence.

"I'll guide you, but you don't have to stay too close," she advised. "The monsters along this path have been cleared out by the Cataclysm Cult. You can proceed with torches."

With that, she turned gracefully and headed into the darkness.

The others quickly followed.

Twenty minutes later, the terrain in front of them changed significantly. The narrow tunnel suddenly expanded in all directions, leading to a vast underground cavern.

The cavern was at least ten meters high, adorned with hanging stalactites resembling inverted glaciers, with colorful gemstones embedded in them. In the darkness, they refracted a brilliant, multicolored glow.

Beneath the stalactites stood a massive, square altar.

The group approached the altar slowly. As they reached halfway, Lichen suddenly sniffed the air and asked, "Did you kill Edson right here?"

Peggy, who was leading the way, turned around and nodded casually.

But in the next moment, much to everyone's shock, a purple flame erupted from the altar and swiftly latched onto Peggy's back, moving at lightning speed!

In an instant, Peggy let out an excruciating cry as her entire body was engulfed by the purple flames.

This was divine retribution!

"Traitor, you will repent endlessly in the burning flames, you shall burn for forty-nine days, until your wretched, insignificant soul is completely erased."

A deep voice echoed from the altar.

Within a few short seconds, all of Peggy's clothes, hair, and even her skin were incinerated by the flames, leaving nothing behind!

The purple fire danced on her skin's surface and eagerly burrowed beneath her flesh!

"At this rate, she'll die, Matthew!" Lichen exclaimed.

Matthew made a quick decision, "Peggy! If you want to live, perform the 'Oathbreaker' ritual now!"

Peggy, writhing in pain on the ground, was enveloped by the purple flames. She cried out in agony as the flames scorched her.

Lichen hurried over but didn't dare get too close. Instead, from a moderate distance, he sent two streams of energy to alleviate her suffering.

At this critical moment, Peggy's forehead was nearly creased into three layers. Sweating profusely and in intense pain, she bit down hard on her teeth and slashed her arm thirteen times with her dagger!

"I choose to break my oath. Even if I am condemned to burn in flames for eternity, even if I have to dance on the edge of a blade, I am willing to spend the rest of my life hating my former master!

"I shall be faithless, I shall be heartless, I shall be merciless, I shall be unjust!

"I shall descend into endless darkness, never to see the light of day again.

"I shall become a despised and tormented spirit, with no chance of redemption.

"But I will still curse all in this world. I will overthrow all that is impure, and I will be reborn through the fire—

"Oathbreaker!"

Struggling, she completed this prayer, and the damage inflicted by the purple fire on her body was instantly reduced by more than half.

Seeing the situation, Lichen rushed over, maintaining a half-meter distance, and used the energy of the Divine Dragon to suppress the purple flames.

Her condition gradually stabilized.

However, above the altar, a faint laugh was heard, "I knew it. You hypocritical humans can't even let go of a single traitor.

"I was originally planning to spare you, but you gave me such an opportunity.

"Know that the Oathbreaker must face the punishment of the gods directly!

"This is a righteous revenge even a Cataclysm Wizard wouldn't oppose."

As he spoke...

The altar suddenly emitted a burst of colorful light.

"We must destroy the altar immediately!" Matthew realized that the Oathbreaker ceremony gave the Midnight God an excuse to exert power on the mortal plane, and this altar would magnify the influence even further.

He felt conflicted. If they left Lysanna to her fate, everyone else could escape. But Lysanna possessed crucial information about the Cataclysmic Cult.

Matthew didn't want to let her die, but quickly destroying the altar was no easy task, especially with the Midnight God's increased power.

"Give me anything you have, the bigger and denser, the better!" At this crucial moment, Bobo stepped up and exclaimed, "As an engineer, I'm best at making explosives!"

The others searched their bags for suitable items. However, the situation was dire.

Three bursts of light occurred one after another, and the first burst scattered like a meteor. Then, a swarm of vampire bats flew in from the distant underground cave, clearly waiting for the right moment to strike.

After the second and third bursts of light, two portals appeared, and one of them released several hulking devils with horns and burning tails, along with a group of smaller lesser demons.

The other portal, however, remained empty, as if nothing had come through.

"Be careful; it's a stealth unit!" Matthew and Reiga shouted almost simultaneously. Reiga swiftly used bottles of revealing powder, covering the floor with the substance.

However, the sight of the three hundred plus tangible gelatinous masses unnerved them, despite being mentally prepared. Bobo's pale purple revealing powder was distributed evenly on their writhing bodies. However, it didn't seem to be enough.

"Damn it!" Reiga yelled and hit the ground with the revealing powder. Nearby, Lee Wei Qi, who was caring for Lysanna, cursed, "Didn't you just do that?"

Reiga, with his back to them, explained, "The monster types don't match; I need to do it again!"

Matthew didn't have the luxury of time. When he saw the gelatinous masses, he immediately ordered two of his assassins to deal with them. In comparison to living creatures, the undead had a slight advantage against the gelatinous masses.

Afei, in particular, as an incorporeal entity, was not threatened by the gelatinous masses. Given enough time, she could eliminate these creatures by herself.

"I'll handle those devils!" Lumiere volunteered, and Matthew readily accepted. By the way he lunged forward, it was evident that he had built up frustration during the day and was now eager to take it out on these devils.

With a loud roar, Lumiere leaped over the gelatinous masses on the ground and landed on the edge of the altar.

He quickly reached the nearest devil, which had a strong physique and was known for its incredible strength. Instead of retreating in the face of this human's provocation, the demon fought back. Several other demons playfully watched the confrontation.

Then, like pushing a train, Lumiere pushed the demon onto the pillar of the altar.

Crash! A part of the pillar broke and hit the demon's head, leaving some of them dazed, while others became angry.

They reached out to Lumiere, aiming to subdue him.

But Lumiere, the Rainforest's son, had no intention of dodging or evading. Roaring with anger, he pounced on the demons, like a human predator, grappling with them.

He clenched his hands, and his claws moved like a cheetah's as he quickly slashed at them. Within seconds, he tore open gaping wounds in the throats of nearly every demon, and blood spurted out.

But the devils, known for their powerful and robust bodies, didn't back down. They were not going to be intimidated by a mere human.

However, Lumiere, with his excellent close combat skills, held his ground in a fierce melee, taking on several demons at once.

Meanwhile, the group of vampire bats that had been waiting for an opportunity to attack finally dove down. However, they were unaware that Matthew had been waiting for them.

At the moment they dived down, Matthew swiftly performed a spellcasting gesture and executed a standard spellcasting harmonization.

"Warning: You have used a spell harmonization with the targets 'Wild Form (Wind Seraphim Wyrm)' and 'Death Shockwave.' After harmonization, 'Wild Form (Wind Seraphim Wyrm)' has been upgraded to 'Wild Form (Death Wyrm).' This transformation slightly increases your body size and grants a +2 intelligence bonus, along with the 'Death Breath' ability!"

Even though he hadn't prepared for it in advance, the final effect was quite similar to what Matthew had hoped for.

Earlier, he had controlled the raven and the corpse sac, resulting in a basic template. Now, he realized that spell harmonization's effects, while random, followed certain patterns.

For instance, if the Wild Form was combined with a certain type of magic, it would grant the Wild Form a corresponding magical ability.

The next moment, a beam of moonlight radiated from Matthew as he rapidly transformed into an archnemesis for his enemies—the Death Wyrm!

In contrast to the normal Wind Seraphim Wyrm, the Death Wyrm's feathers and skin turned gray, symbolizing negative energy.

Matthew raised his hand and a mass of ashes rained down, instantly transforming into a Death Breath attack aimed at the swarm of bats!

Huff, huff, huff, huff!

The terrifying negative energy spewed from his mouth. Unlike the earlier Death Shockwave, the Death Breath retained the heavy injury feature and added a minor instant death feature.

The vampire bats, despite their high levels as a group, had weak individual life forces. Under Matthew's chaotic onslaught, they dropped from the sky one after another, just like mosquitoes sprayed with potent insect repellent.

Matthew couldn't help but feel dissatisfied with this result and turned to Bobo.

"Have you found something suitable yet?"

Bobo, who had already emptied her bag, looked disappointed and said, "The items I carry don't have a high enough energy density to completely destroy the altar's core."

Matthew glanced around, trying to come up with a solution. Then, suddenly...

He spotted something and flew over to grab it, tossing it in front of Bobo.

"How do you think this thing is? It seems to have a high energy density, maybe it belonged to a high-level dark sorcerer!" he pointed at Edson's head.

Bobo hesitated for a moment. "But I've never tried infusing a human head before."

Matthew asked, "Do you have a better option?"

Bobo looked at Regan's giant sword, which he guarded protectively. "No, using this is out of the question. It's my family heirloom, and it needs to be passed down to my grandsons or my great-grandsons!"

Matthew persuaded her, "If there's no better choice, let's give it a try."

"If we can't destroy the altar, we'll have to retreat," he continued.

Fighting a true god near the altar was not wise, even if the god was weakened.

Matthew had made up his mind, and if Bobo's infusion failed, he would order a retreat. He cared more about the lives of his team members than Laila.

Bobo reluctantly said, "Alright, I'll give it a try. Although, even though we alchemists are good at turning anything into an explosive, I've never done anything like this."

She placed her hand on Edson's forehead and began using her unique ability - Item Infusion.

Sizzling sounds, like an electric welder, echoed as a chaotic blue light radiated from Edson's head.

After a few seconds, Regan stood up, full of enthusiasm. "I'm ready. Let those bloodsucking bats come!"

But before he could raise his massive sword, Bobo pushed him from behind, panic-stricken.

"What's going on, Bobo?" he exclaimed.

In her hands, she held a head that shone as brightly as daylight.

"Matthew, Matthew! Something's not right. While infusing it, it seems like it's about to explode on its own!"

Nervously, Bobo exclaimed, "I can't delay the explosion like I can with regular items!"

Matthew, who was busy eliminating monsters in the air, quickly rushed back, transforming into his human form.

"We need someone to take this bomb and throw it onto the altar!" Bobo cried out.

Matthew could see the unusual nervousness in Bobo's expression.

"Leave it to me," volunteered Lumiére. He had already dealt with the group of horned demons and returned to the group, covered in blood.

Regan hesitated but was stopped by Matthew.

"Don't do this in front of me, or do you want a necromancer in the team to volunteer for suicide missions?"

After a brief debate, Matthew ordered a corpse of a horned demon to hold the bomb and head towards the altar. The others quickly moved away.

Even Li Weiqi, taking care of the weakened Zorro Warrior, joined the group.

"Are you sure it's going to explode?" the group watched from a distance. But Regan pointed out a problem. "Don't you think it's clumsy? It might not even make it to the core area of the altar."

"But this god wouldn't just watch us destroy the altar without any action," Regan said.

Just as he said that, a group of hellfire birds emerged from the portal, and they were headed straight for the corpse, intending to take Edson's head away from the altar.

But then, without warning, a burst of blue light erupted from Edson's head. As the dust settled from the recent explosion, the ground was still trembling.

After the initial explosion, huge rocks and rubble had blocked their retreat path. Bobo was ready to try another infusion and save the day, as soon as they could find another high-density object.

Matthew went to check on everyone's condition to make sure they were all right before re-examining their surroundings. However, he didn't get far before stumbling upon a wooden object half-buried under a pile of rubble.

He bent down and cleared the debris, revealing the true identity of the object.

"Notification: You've discovered an 'Unlocked Interdimensional Chest'."

Chapter 89 >>

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