Although the party said that they would have to meet up with Heather, it was currently easier said than done. With the threat of the skeletal Naga looming behind the adventurers, she had no choice but to participate in the battle. It was unlikely they could sneak her out like how Kayden did for Aisha due to her role on the frontlines, so the plan was immediately off to a bad start.
"Perhaps we should participate in the battle? It could make the adventurers more forgiving of us, and if they do, we would not have to sneak out at all." Ezekiel suggested.
"That's… a little unreliable, don't you think? Some of them might be forgiving, but after Kayden's shenanigans, I bet a majority of them might be less willing to do so." Aisha replied as she snuck a glance at Kayden.
Indeed, any chance of diplomacy was thrown out the window by this man alone. Most of the party assumed that by 'shenanigans', Aisha meant Kayden's successful rescue attempt for her, which would definitely probably piss off the adventurers. But what she truly meant was Kayden luring the Skeletal Champion right into their ranks, letting it rampage and injure most of them.
Kayden felt a little ashamed and buried his face in the notebook. Anything to distract him from the accusatory look from Aisha would do.
'I had no choice, alright? It was the only way to defeat it! I think…'
Either way, things weren't going well. They couldn't take advantage of this ruckus to sneak out as the target escape hole would be in the direction where the barricade of adventurers was blocking. Perhaps the only way out was to fight alongside them.
Stumped for ideas, Kayden decided to read more pages of the notebook in his hand.
In this book, I have invented some spells that would let an undead retain its strength as if it were still alive. Not only that, it would retain its intelligence, effectively making this book hold the secret to immortality.
Hah! The quest for immortality is so easy that I solved it by my third book! Of course, your soul would be bound to a necromancer that cast this spell… but you earn some and you lose some, right?
'Isn't this a book of spells…? Why does this read like some sort of diary?'
The first spell in this book would be the most basic one. All other spells are variations of this one. I haven't decided what to call this spell yet, so I'll just use this placeholder name I made!
Create Lesser Strength Undead
Materials: Drop of giant's blood, target corpse, Death mana (Either in Death-mana rich environments or the right enchanted items)
Chant: Not actually required, but I recommend you to come up with a word to use as a focus. Preferably not words like "Rise!", "Resurrect!" or "Animate!". I know, it sounds cool, but you're screaming at your enemies that you're about to use necromancy. I prefer words like 'Bless!' or "Heal!". Make them can't predict any of your moves!
Casting time: It's instant! Or at least, the spell is. If the undead's rising up from the ground, you gotta give it some time.
Duration: It uses your mana as fuel, so it's as long as your mana doesn't run out! These skeletons can also live off death mana in the surroundings, so if you bring them into a Death-mana-rich environment, they can stay undead forever!
Effects: Undead created using this spell is unaffected by sunlight, and they retain their original abilities from when they are still alive. Unfortunately, their spells still require mana to use, and you will be paying the price. As such, don't expect them to be at full power unless you have some freakishly high mana reserves. I know I do!
Additionally, this spell doesn't let the undead retain their intelligence! Don't be impatient! That particular spell is on the other pages!
Kayden shut the book he was holding, he figured he would stop there for now.
'Man, necromancy is scary… but it does tell me their weakness. These skeletons cannot survive without Death mana, assuming that the necromancer is already dead, of course. So if they set foot outside these mountains, they would not survive for long.'
This information didn't help him much, since it was impossible to lure the skeleton all the way out of the Kelekona mountains, but it certainly gave him an idea. They could use this knowledge as some kind of leverage and alter it a little bit to suit their own needs. If the adventurers choose to follow the advice, they may be able to leave the dungeon without much trouble after all. Furthermore, if he played his cards right, diplomacy might not be off the table.
"Hehehe," Kayden gave an evil smirk, "I just learned something very interesting from this book. I have a plan that just might work."
***
Ryan was incredibly upset about the orders he had just been given, and many adventurers could tell. They gave him a wide berth from where he stood, which was directly in front, even further into the corridor than even the most close-ranged combatants.
"I know I said that I'm immune to venom… but me as the main distraction? Damn that Zhang, just because I joined your party doesn't mean you can order me to do whatever you like!"
And yet still alone he stood there, contemplating if he should go have a nice long chat with Zhang about work ethics when there was a sudden tap on his shoulder.
"Psst. Hey!"
He spun around in surprise to see the person who called out to him, but there was no one there. Confusion crept up to his face, and he nearly burst out in anger that someone would play a prank on him at such a time, but he quickly realized what was up.
"Oh. The thief. Shouldn't you be on your way to sneak your friends out? This should be an adequate time to do so. Or perhaps you need another potion? I was quite sure that the amount I gave you should heal them up nicely."
Kayden kept his voice down, trying not to alert the adventurers nearby.
"Nah. I'm here to propose a plan to your leader, and I'll need your help."
"Oh? Why don't you disguise yourself as one of the adventurers and tell him yourself? That's what you did to rescue the Crimson Menace, right?"
Kayden smiled underneath his illusion.
"Didn't get past you, huh? However, I think your leader may have developed trust issues after that incident. I'll need someone he trusts, especially since this information may be a little hard to believe."
Kayden pulled out the notebook and revealed it to Ryan, dispelling the invisibility around it so that it could be seen. From an outsider's perspective, it would look like Ryan was reading from a floating book. Not being stupid, Ryan grabbed the edges of the book to make it look natural.
In the notebook, there were words for him to read, and it was the spell for Create Lesser Strength Undead. This time, however, Kayden had translated the words to Common by forming illusory text over the original, allowing Ryan to understand it. Of course, some small details were changed.
It took a minute or two for Ryan to read the entire thing, and another for him to think things through. Eventually, he asked,
"You want us to shift the battlefield outside?"
"Right. I heard the enemy's a Naga? Then it's even better. The poisonous gas won't be trapped indoors, and the undead will be weakened from the smaller concentration of death mana outside."
"Hmm…" Ryan bit his lips for a long while, before finally saying, "It's a good idea, but Zhang won't be easily convinced. How am I supposed to explain how I got this information?"
Kayden smiled mysteriously, not that anyone could see it.
"You won't have to. We'll be the ones doing the convincing. You just need to show your support, and also to keep Brandon in check."
Ryan was confused but ultimately decided to work with him first. Anything was better than him being the sole bait for a monster. As he got up to go speak with Zhang, he left a warning to the thief.
"…I don't know what you're planning, but don't try to back out of the duel. Reputation is a volatile thing, and being the disciple of an A-ranked adventurer won't help you when someone actively tries to destroy it."
His tone was serious, but Kayden immediately dismissed it.
"I would never dream of it! You see, this duel is really important to me. I can use the chance to prove that I'm not a pushover before elegantly 'passing away'. Imagine the surprise of everyone when I suddenly came back alive! I'll become a legend!"
Ryan couldn't help but be suspicious, but nevertheless, the plan was beneficial to both of them. For now, he would go through with it.
And so, following through with his part of the plan, Ryan quickly met up and relayed the information to Zhang. As he had expected, Zhang wasn't so eager to accept this information
"I see the strategic value of this information, but are you sure about this? Wouldn't this just let that Kayden fellow be free to wipe this place clean? I won't allow that."
"But there will be more casualties!" Ryan made a last-ditch effort to convince him, "The venomous breath of a Naga won't be so deadly outside!"
Zhang shook his head. "Do I look like I care who dies? I already told you when we made the deal, I want the majority of the loot. The lesser the adventurers, the lesser the competition."
"That's not something you want to hear from the unanimously chosen commander…"
Ryan only heard a scoff in reply, and that was when he decided to give up. Perhaps it might be a good thing that the thief's plan didn't succeed. There was just no way to know what he was thinking. As he turned around to leave, a sudden commotion drew his attention.
"I-it's them! They're coming out!"
"They sure have guts! If I were them I wouldn't even try to show my face!"
Both Ryan and Zhang turned toward the source of the commotion at the same time, and they were shocked and speechless. Someone in the crowd shouted aloud, conveying their thoughts in a single sentence.
"Oh my god, it's the Crimson Menace and her group!"
Zhang's face visibly darkened as he swiftly pushed through the crowd. Ryan hurriedly followed behind as he tried to make sense of what happened.
'They're revealing themselves? Even after all that trouble, they went through to hide? Just what are they thinking?'
Ryan almost concluded that what everybody was seeing was just an illusion but was quickly proved wrong. Ahead of him was a sight that consisted of many adventurers shaking hands with the Crimson Menace, which shouldn't be possible with illusion magic.
"How the hell can she be so popular even after all this? Damn…"
Never before had Ryan felt so disgusted… and so jealous. Before he could even make sense of his emotions, a lady stepped out of the group.
Now, this lady was incredibly beautiful, even more so than the Crimson Menace, Ryan would say. Her long, silvery blond hair cascaded behind her back, and she wore loose-fitting robes that somehow still managed to accentuate her curves. None of them had seen goddesses before, but they presumed that this was what they must look like.
"Ehem! Good day to all of you lovely adventurers! We have a proposal, and it is something everyone here should be happy to hear!"
Her voice really didn't suit her. It was far too high-pitched and nasally, unfitting for a woman with such mature beauty. Unfortunately, it is what it is.
Nonetheless, the adventurers' curiosity was piqued, and they quietened down to listen to her speak. There was a sort of natural charisma she had that came from her beauty alone that made everyone hand onto her every word, but Ryan felt that something was off. The face almost looked inhumane, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Perhaps his special reptilian eyes had something to do with it.
The lady continued to speak.
"Let's work together! We'll fight the Naga outside! I know that we had our differences, and it would be difficult for you to quickly forgive us, but that's why we have this offering!"
The lady pulled a piece of parchment and held it in front of her for all to see. It was a map, and there was no mistaking it. The rooms and corridors are all aligned to what they have been through in this dungeon. Ryan could see the jaws drop from many people around him, including Zhang. Such a thing was incredibly valuable, to the point that adventurers would be willing to buy it for hundreds of gold.
Naturally, Zhang couldn't let this stand. If the treasure was shared so easily like that, how could he ever secure an advantage?
"We do not accept your offering! The fact that you're willing to give us this means that your party already got something far more valuable, right? Don't try to play with us!"
He tried rallying the adventurers to side with him, and it worked, to a certain extent. Unfortunately, adventurers are easily blinded by greed, and if they let this chance go, who's to say that they'll get another opportunity?
Many of them began voicing their agreement, much to the dismay of Zhang. He tried convincing them again, but his voice was drowned out by cheers. Eventually, he had no choice but to give up. Although he had commanded them briefly, he wasn't actually their commander, and none of them were obligated to follow his orders.
Ryan sighed.
"It seems like victory belongs to them… Crazy bastards. Let's see what they have in store for us."