Chapter 154: Backlash

No one answered, nor did anyone know how to answer.

Luo Yong did not want to expose the existence of the Hoarder Spider in front of these people, so in a fit of anger, he drove everyone out, including his little sidekick Fiona.

Light and dark repel each other.

Luo Yong had always felt that she shouldn't have stayed by his side all along. Otherwise, how could he cast necromancy, and would he ever be able to use resurrection spells? Did he really have to wait until a situation became completely unmanageable before ruthlessly silencing her?

There was no need to go that far.

Just chase her away.

Chase them out, drive everyone out.

Only Luo Yong was left inside the secret realm.

Then, he retrieved the spellbook from the Hoarder Spider.

It was etched with intricate patterns and inscribed with text that Luo Yong could not understand, which must have been passed down from ancient times. However, this did not affect its use in the slightest.

Luo Yong reached out and gently pressed his hand upon it. Green light flared, and on the opened page, a line of text appeared:

"Command all the undead in the world!"

Beside it were rows of incantations recording various necromantic spells, including how to etch and construct magic circles, as well as how to use them.

"It really is the [Necronomicon]!"

Luo Yong slowly closed his eyes and chanted the incantation he had just memorized.

As his voice echoed through the secret realm, the ground all around began to heave and churn, and skeleton monsters crawled out from the earth, their eye sockets glowing with faint green light.

Row after row, rank upon rank, seemingly endless.

Boom, boom, boom!

Before Luo Yong could even say a word, the Empress had already stepped forward, commanding the magical energy mecha to wipe out all of these skeleton monsters in an instant...

"Ah!"

Suddenly, a flash of green light erupted, and a sharp pain pierced the palm of Luo Yong's hand, causing a drop of blood to fall onto the pages of the book.

The pain was so intense that Luo Yong found it almost unbearable.

It was not merely physical pain; it felt as though it were piercing directly into his soul!

A wisp of black Qi had already invaded Luo Yong's body, spreading from his palm, up along his arm, and creeping toward the region of his heart.

Swish!

The Holy Light Guardian was summoned. The moment she saw the situation before her, she immediately directed beams of holy light directly onto the Necronomicon.

However, although these sacred powers originally possessed formidable lethality against undead creatures, they were completely helpless against this magic book. All of her magical energy was absorbed and swallowed up as if it were mud sinking into the sea.

"Save me!"

Luo Yong glared, put away the Necronomicon, and extended his afflicted hand right in front of the Holy Light Guardian.

"Heal!"

The Holy Light Guardian waved her staff, channeling her magic into Luo Yong's body to combat the surging black Qi.

However, the effect was negligible. Although the spread of the black Qi slowed down significantly, it was not completely eradicated. Instead, as time passed, its entanglement with Luo Yong deepened, feeling as though it were sinking deep into his very bones.

"Does this damn thing want to turn me into an undead creature as well?" After his initial shock, Luo Yong quickly calmed down.

He chanted the incantation right there, once again summoning countless skeleton monsters, only to obliterate them all over again.

For the next period of time, he simply repeated this process over and over.

Until...

His level reached 18.

"This should be about enough!"

The black Qi had been temporarily suppressed, halting around his forearm, and Luo Yong had no intention of waiting any longer. He needed to seize the time to accomplish what he set out to do. Even though he was still two levels short, waiting any longer might bring about unpredictable variables.

Besides, Luo Yong did not want to die quietly and unnoticed inside this annoying secret realm.

Having packed up everything, Luo Yong opened the gate of the secret realm and reappeared at the stone circle.

"Oh?"

Both the Holy Light Priest and the Truth Priest were still there, curious to see what kind of person the leader of the Dawn Vanguard regiment was—the one who had driven away all his team members and remained alone inside the secret realm. After all, the several dozen members of the Dawn Vanguard had been lingering around here, refusing to leave for days.

However, the moment they laid eyes on Luo Yong, they both felt a sense of déjà vu, even though Luo Yong had disguised himself to a certain degree.

Yet, a woman's intuition was sometimes frighteningly accurate. Accurate to a terrifying degree.

"Are you injured? I can sense the aura of darkness coming from you..." the Holy Light Priest said with narrowed eyes, gripping her staff tightly, the tip of which was already glowing with holy light.

"I seem to have been corrupted," Luo Yong said calmly, his voice deep and raspy.

"This? Unexpectedly..."

Seeing the arm Luo Yong extended toward her, the Holy Light Priest was startled, then hurriedly channeled her magic to drive out the mass of black Qi.

"Captain, are you alright?"

At that moment, the members of the Dawn Vanguard gathered around, with the acting captain, A. Shiba, stepping forward to ask with concern.

Fiona was hiding among the crowd, wrapped up tightly from head to toe for fear of being recognized by the Holy Light Priest and the Truth Priest, so she didn't crowd forward, but she remained deeply anxious in her heart.

To be honest, when these people had first emerged from the secret realm, they had truly startled the Holy Light Priest, who mistook them for heretics gathering there to cause trouble. However, once she learned the details and realized these people had come out of the Skeleton Secret Realm, her vigilance relaxed.

After battling dark and undead creatures for a long time, it was inevitable that human heroes would become tainted by some of their auras. Thus, it was only her duty to bestow a baptism of holy light upon them to dispel the evil aura clinging to their bodies.

Therefore, when Luo Yong emerged, she had been fully prepared, but she hadn't expected Luo Yong's condition to be far more severe than she had imagined.

"What happened?" the Truth Priest asked, opening the Book of Truth.

"I suffered a backlash! I thought I had already gained control over this secret realm, but I never expected..." Luo Yong said with apparent strain.

As the Holy Light Priest administered her healing magic, the black Qi suddenly churned violently. The two streams of magical energy clashed head-on, using his body as a battlefield, neither willing to yield.

The agony felt as though it were acting directly upon his soul.

"This secret realm is far too evil; even those under the protection of the Holy Light dare not explore it lightly. You were much too reckless!" the Holy Light Priest reproached him slightly. "I advise you to hand this secret realm over so that the major factions can explore it jointly, or else destroy it to prevent it from harming others in the future..."

"Here."

Luo Yong immediately produced the key to the Skeleton Secret Realm and placed it directly into her hand.

"..." The Holy Light Priest was momentarily stunned, never expecting the captain of the Dawn Vanguard to be so reasonable, so sensible, and so straightforward!

"Aiya, that was refreshing!" The Truth Priest became so excited that even her regional accent slipped out.

"Cap... Captain..." The other members of the Dawn Vanguard, from the acting captain down to every rank-and-file member, stared longingly. The secret realm key that was just within their grasp had been handed over to the Hero Association just like that?

"I need to find a way to expel the black Qi in my body; I have no time to look after you all anymore."

Luo Yong withdrew his hand. The Holy Light Priest's healing had been useless after all this time—a waste of effort. The black Qi hadn't diminished in the slightest; it had merely retreated slightly further up his arm.

"Our Dawn Vanguard alone cannot finish exploring this secret realm, and there are strange occurrences within it anyway. It is better to leave it in the hands of the Hero Association to handle. When the time comes, you can follow along behind them as a cooperative venture. I believe with these two ladies present, you won't be treated unfairly."

Luo Yong looked over his temporary team members, sighed softly, and said, "It's just a pity that one of our members has left us forever and cannot be saved. If you happen to encounter him during your future explorations, remember to bring him back..."

"..."

The conversation suddenly turned heavy.

These team members wondered if they possessed some kind of special curse where whoever they followed would end up dying... The three captains they had followed for a long time had all perished the moment they entered a dungeon. And this newly elected captain was clearly not long for this world either.

"Alright..."

Luo Yong waved his hand, pushed through the crowd, and walked away into the distance.

"Captain!"

Just as Luo Yong was preparing to open a portal to speed up his journey, a shout came from behind as Fiona came running after him.

"Captain, I... I want to follow you, I want to keep following you..."

"..."

Luo Yong remained silent for a moment, smiled helplessly, opened a portal, and said, "Let's go."

"Yes, Captain!" Fiona instantly snapped to attention, saluted, and stepped through the portal right behind Luo Yong.

Outside the Goger Camp.

Luo Yong had prepared several items in one go, intending to put them up for consignment at the grocery store.

Fiona ran back and forth several times.

"Captain, those jars and bottles—what are inside them? Why are they just as expensive as those golden glowing spheres?"

When they were leaving the Goger Camp, Fiona asked curiously.

"Secret potions..." Luo Yong answered indifferently.

"Sec—" Fiona quickly covered her mouth, afraid she might exclaim out loud. She turned her head to look around, and seeing no one nearby, she asked in a soft whisper, "Are those the legendary secret potions that can enhance physical constitution and stamina? How could there... how could there be so many... and also..."

At this point, Fiona lowered her head and began twiddling her fingers.

"Here."

Luo Yong stuffed two secret potions, one red and one blue, directly into her hands.

"What are these?"

"What do you think?"

"Uh..."

Fiona whisked the items away in a flash, acting like a thief who was terrified someone would discover them and snatch them away.

However, after taking only a couple of steps, she stopped, pulled out the two small vials she had just acquired, and drank them down as she walked.

"Captain... where on earth did you get all these things?" As Fiona asked the question, she noticed Luo Yong was drinking one himself as well. "Captain, to what extent have you strengthened yourself? Last time you even lied to me and said it was just cooled boiled water..."

"They haven't synchronized yet."

Luo Yong produced a teleportation scroll, turned to look at Fiona, and said, "I am going to a rather special place. If you insist on coming along..."

"I'll be obedient!"

Before Luo Yong could finish speaking, Fiona straightened her posture and promised, "I promise to keep my eyes, mouth, and ears under control! I won't look where I shouldn't, and I won't talk nonsense! Please rest assured, Captain!"