I Became My Healer Elf Character - Chapter 24

Chapter 24: Betrayal
Lord Thalmus looked at the shoddy attire of Gregore in disgust. “You’re still as drab as ever, I see. Tell me, have you been keeping tabs on our little elf angel?”

The necromancer lord nodded. “The people I sent to the guild told me she left for the dungeon. Are you still going to continue with the plan?”

The demon shook his head. He frowned remembering what the demon lord told him. “I have a different plan. How many necromancers can you mobilize? Is it possible to get an undead army into the city?”

Gregore put a hand on his chin. “It’s possible. With all of us here it won’t take long to do it. But there is one problem. We lost the skeleton king. If we set up something against the capital now…”

Lord Thalmus narrowed his eyes. “You don’t seem to realize who you’re speaking to. The skeleton king is no problem. With me here, your little group should be able to summon the dead from the demon realm itself.”

“From the demon realm!? Is that really possible? How would we conduct the magic?”

Thalmus sighed and shook his head at the incompetent subordinate. “It’s just that necromancers now are too weak. Back in their heyday, they’d have summoned an army of undead demon dogs, souls of the damned, and wraiths who lost their way. Do you mean to tell me none of you know of this?”

“Of course not! It’s just that the mentions of those summonings proliferated over a thousand years ago. Nowadays necromancy is way less understood. We’re only able to gather their writings.”

“This is the problem with you mortals. You only have the words of your predecessors to go off of, relying on the shaky recordings of ancient scribes or relics. There is a way to bring back the necromancy of old.” The demon grinned at Gregore. “However, one also has to make a promise.”

“A pact? We already made a pact before! Isn’t that enough?”

“You fool! What we need now is way beyond your station. If no pact is made, I will consider your previous employment…terminated.”

“That wasn’t the deal! The deal was…”

“The deal was for you to do your job. Now that you’ve failed in your duty we can no longer call it a pact.”

The necromancer ground his teeth together. He looked towards his warhammer staff, considering it briefly, but he knew there was no way to contest the demon. Everything that he built up to this point started to dissipate after his meeting with the angel. How many years did it take him to amass that army? All of it was for his pact with the demon.

He was tired of living in the shadows, forced into hiding by the characters of Amelia’s country. He’d seen it in the recordings. A thousand years ago things were not the same. Necromancers fought toe to toe with the elites under the goddess’s coven. They’d use the fallen men of her side against them, and there seemed to be no way for recuperation.

In a different world, it could have been a country of necromancers and practitioners of the dark arts. Yet, the recordings spoke of an angel who descended and turned the tides against them.

Every corner of the kingdom the necromancer’s strongholds began dropping like flies, and it was all because of one angel. Gregore glanced at the shady character. However, at that time they didn’t have a demon. Maybe things will go different? Can we really take the capital?

As a young boy, he’d lost everything, but now he was trying to claim everything as revenge. No, I’ve lost those feelings years ago.

The demon realized something and smiled. “It seems you’ve made your decision.”

“I will take the deal. What is it this time? More of my lifespan?”

Lord Thalmus shook his head and started pointing at each of the hooded individuals in the room. “No, you will be claiming each of their lives.”

Gasps could be heard from the surrounding men.

“You can’t be serious!” One of them shouted. “Gregore would never take that deal!”

“I am very serious. The decision now rests with your master. It’s simple really, even if he doesn’t claim your lives. For losing face and facing failure, I will take everything.”

The cave grew quiet except for the murmurs of the hooded men. They each whispered to each other.

“I am not very patient, and time is waning,” the demon said, gazing at Gregore. “I will give you one minute to make the decision.” Thalmus leaned back and watched them despair as if watching a fun game. He could feel the fear and uncertainty coming from them.

“Lord Gregore!” One of the right hand men of the necromancers ran up to his leader. “There is no need for a demon in our plans. Even if we must wait—”

Everyone stood in stunned silence. The skull of the most trusted of the council was caved in almost instantly by the blunt hammer in Gregore’s hands. The loud crack echoed in the cave, and blood splattered against the wall.

“Lord!?”

“Quiet, we are all necromancers here. Death has no permanence. Just watch and see.”

Gregore’s tainted magic traveled down the bloodied warhammer, and the newly made corpse began to click back to life.

The body groaned as it stood up slowly. Because of the spectacle, most were too confused to move. The person closest to the newly formed zombie wasn’t so lucky.

Screams of another necromancer followed as the zombie bit into his unguarded neck, severing his connection with this world.

Another necromancer began acting quicker than his comrades and started to cast a spell.

Gregore swung his hammer again, sending the hammer into his sternum, and rendering the life of the caster.

The dying screams played out while the necromancer lord swung his hammer again and again in derangement.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m sorry,” he said. For each of the fallen, he’d give a life ending apology. Each zombie revived made their resistance more and more futile, until the last one was claimed by the weakening strikes.

Gregore slammed the hammer into his chest once, twice, three times. Swinging it until the death throws were no longer heard. In a field of zombies, the lord stood as their ruler.

Rhythmic claps echoed off the walls. “Bravo. Bravo! You’ve truly outdone yourself this time.”

The tainted souls of necromancers were engulfed by the demon as he sighed in pleasure. “It’s hardly what I would call a proper meal, but I think you’ve earned the reward.”

The bloodied face of the necromancer lord glared at Thalmus, but he didn’t speak.

“Come now, don’t look at me like that. You will be making perfect use of them as the fodder for what’s to come.”

Gregore took heavy breaths and stood on unsteady legs. “I kept my end of the bargain. You do yours, demon.”

“No need to be so cold. The next part is simple. You channel mana into that thing you call a weapon as if you were casting a normal summoning, and my magic will handle the rest.”

The necromancer obeyed the request with what little strength he had left, and the demon’s mana began to descend on him. Gregore felt unbelievable power flow through him, but it was power that brought an immense amount of pain. His veins were on fire. His eyes began to by dyed in red.

He coughed onto his hand, spurting out a large amount of blood. Words tried to leave his mouth, but they were stopped by the internal hemorrhaging. Slowly, he felt his vision growing darker and darker, even while he finished casting the spell. A sharp pain attacked his chest, prompting him to fall face first on the floor.

“You couldn’t possibly think that such a weak being as yourself could accommodate this power? Let alone casting the magic. You really are a bigger fool than I thought.”

“What?” Gregore’s heart beat faster and faster, his vision had completely gone.

“You made me look like a fool, and now you will pay with your life. But don’t worry, I will make good use of you in the opening act.”

We had a deal! He tried to speak the words, but he could only choke on them as his life slowly faded. In the end, he felt the pulling of his entire being—his soul—dragged towards the monster who’d betrayed him, never knowing exactly why.

Thalmus stepped on the head of his corpse. His laughter slowly erupted until it came in waves. “I can’t believe humans are so stupid! This idiot really thought I’d let him go so easily!”

The lingering feeling of betrayal was savored by the cruel demon. He licked his fingers as if tasting the sauce of victory.

A stunning red glow penetrated around the room. The summoning circle began calling forth hell dogs and tainted souls. The corpses of demonic creatures sprung from the circle of hell.