Chapter 156: Soul Erosion

"I am merely a beginner, and I was just about to ask for your guidance!" Bryan said, standing alongside Emily, the dark magus. Facing this person together with two people meant they certainly wouldn't suffer any heavy losses. Therefore, upon seeing the necromancer floating closer, Bryan did not look nervous at all.

Moving with the unpredictable agility of a phantom, the necromancer constantly shifted his direction as he closed the distance between Bryan and Emily. When he was still about ten meters away from the two of them, the magus-level necromancer suddenly waved his bone staff and chanted a low necromantic incantation.

An evil knight materialized—covered entirely in black iron armor, possessing deep brown skin, standing over three meters tall, and riding a howl-beast that was sturdier than a wild rhinoceros and covered in brown scales. Wielding a heavy mace as thick as a grown man's torso in his grip, the evil knight urged his mount forward, charging ferociously toward Bryan and Emily.

The evil knight was a dark entity of a higher tier than an abomination, summonable only by necromancers of magus rank. Hailing from the dark abyss of a different dimension, the black iron armor on its body possessed exceptional physical defense. The ferocious momentum, combined with the charge of the howl-beast beneath it, presented a nightmare for anyone.

The moment this evil knight appeared, it drove the howl-beast into a fierce charge toward Bryan and Emily, raising its mace to strike down like an iron pillar.

Seeing the evil knight appear, Emily retreated backward without a word. She began to chant a dark magic incantation under her breath, and under her manipulation, the massive reaper's scythe that had not yet dissipated swung once more to slash at the evil knight.

After summoning the evil knight, the necromancer did not take another step forward; instead, he quickly retreated. While summoning a squad of gargoyles to attack Bryan, he continued to launch bone spears from all directions.

Compared to the duels among students in the academy, this necromancer was clearly battle-hardened and grasped the timing of combat with extreme precision. His erratic approach toward Bryan and the others earlier was precisely to summon the evil knight right in front of them, using the close-range charge to deny them any opportunity for defense.

Following Bryan's will, the Demon-Slaying Edge swept through the air once again, wreathed in scorching fiery-red demonic flames, and shot toward the incoming squad of gargoyles. Bryan chanted a "Bone Shield" spell, instantly blocking his front to fend off the piercing bone spears.

After parading two bone spear strikes, the "Bone Shield" exhausted its magical energy and shattered. At that moment, Bryan's mental energy condensed and flowed rapidly as he suddenly summoned the little skeleton, communicating through his mind to have it deal with the evil knight.

The evil knight riding the howl-beast was a very high-tier dark entity. Facing the attack of Emily's reaper's scythe formed from dark magic, it very agilely utilized the iron-pillar-like mace in its hand for defense. The mace that had appeared with it in this realm was exceptionally sturdy, colliding with the magic-forged scythe of Emily without breaking at all.

"Hah, do you only know how to summon skeleton warriors?" The necromancer appeared extremely puzzled when he saw Bryan finish a quick chant only to produce a bizarre little skeleton warrior.

A calm smile lingered at the corner of Bryan's mouth. He did not answer, merely commanding the little skeleton through his mind to attack the evil knight.

With a sudden spring of its leg bones and a shake of the seven bone spurs on its back, the little skeleton actually leaped into the air. Its firmly gripped bone knife shot out ahead of the rest, hurtling with the speed of lightning toward the evil knight's back.

The evil knight, currently facing the reaper's scythe, seemed somewhat disdainful. It merely gave a slight shrug, and black iron armor immediately covered its back. The necromancer wore a mocking smile as he watched the little skeleton's attack, completely unconcerned about the evil knight he had summoned.

Just as the little skeleton's bone knife was about to reach the evil knight's back, the blade miraculously froze in mid-air for a split second, then abruptly altered its direction and pierced with a whoosh into the exposed neck of the evil knight. The evil knight, caught up in the struggle against the reaper's scythe, suddenly emitted a series of strange, piercing shrieks, wildly flailing the massive mace in its hands.

With a thud, Emily's condensed scythe bypassed the sweep of the mace and slashed directly into the howl-beast beneath the evil knight, severing its head and releasing sparks of light.

Simultaneously, the airborne little skeleton had already landed upon the evil knight's body. Its bone knife danced as if executing a frantic flurry of blade techniques, stabbing wildly into the parts of the evil knight's body unprotected by the black iron armor.

The bone knife embedded in the evil knight's neck was also pulled out by the little skeleton, who held it in his hand and continuously thrust it deep into the evil knight's body. The evil knight, whose black iron armor had previously gleamed, along with the howl-beast that had roared so fiercely, suddenly underwent a drastic transformation.

The black iron armor abruptly rusted, and the solid, glossy body of the evil knight weathered away into flying ash, vanishing without a trace in the blink of an eye. Even the howl-beast it rode turned to dust right along with it—a manifestation of its life essence being thoroughly erased.

Once the evil knight vanished, Emily let out a light sigh of relief, calming her tightly racing heart, and the reaper's scythe dissolved into nothingness as well. Remaining in place was still the little skeleton, holding his bone knife. He gave the knife a flourish, and the seven scattered bone spurs flew backward to reattach themselves to his spine.

By this time, the look of scorn and contempt on the necromancer's face had long since vanished entirely. Staring at the little skeleton in utter disbelief, he cried out in shock, "Impossible! Absolutely impossible! A hundred skeleton warriors couldn't even harm an evil knight—this violates the fundamental laws of necromancy!"

Still wearing a calm smile, Bryan said quite casually, "Nothing is impossible. Although I may not command as many necromantic spells as you do, I don't find anything here incomprehensible."

With a single command issued, the leg bones of the bone-knife-wielding little skeleton gave a tremor. Having locked his sights onto the necromancer, he swiftly darted through the air toward him.

Startled, the necromancer let out a strange, chuckling laugh and said, "Fine, very well. Then let me see what secrets you really have."

A necromantic incantation was chanted in a low murmur from his lips, after which the necromancer rapidly closed in on Bryan. Just as he and the little skeleton were about to reach him, the necromancer soared extremely high into the air, casting away the bone staff in his hand so that it hovered directly above Bryan's head.

In an instant, a vast wave of evil mental energy poured through the bone staff and straight into Bryan's brain. Acting like a magnet, it attempted to seize the memories within Bryan's mind as its own. A triumphant smile bloomed on the necromancer's face as he barked darkly at the panicked Emily beside him, "Don't make any rash moves! Right now, my soul is connected with his. If I die suddenly, his soul will also scatter and he will become a complete idiot!"

Upon hearing these words, Emily froze instantly. Then, her bright eyes looked at Bryan with extreme anxiety, only to find that within a mere fraction of a second, Bryan's expression had turned vacant, his eyes losing focus as he stood frozen in place like a statue or a stone figure.

Even the little skeleton, which had just received Bryan's command to attack the necromancer, suddenly froze in place, holding its bone knife and looking around blankly as if waiting for a new order from Bryan.

"Haha! This is a necromantic spell called 'Soul Erosion' that I've only recently mastered. Using this spell, I can claim a person's soul as my own. Once I erode their soul, I can obtain all their secrets. During this process, my soul is linked to the spell's target; if I were to suddenly die, the target would not escape doom either. Haha!" The necromancer proudly explained to Emily as he watched the evil power of the bone staff invade Bryan's mind.

Gazing at Bryan's current state, Emily felt anxious to the extreme, torn over whether or not she should take action against the necromancer.

As a magus, Emily could clearly perceive the massive waves of evil mental energy pouring from the bone staff hovering above Bryan's head into his body. Consequently, she simply did not dare to disbelieve the necromancer's words.

Just as Emily was frantic with worry and at a loss for what to do, Bryan—whose expression had been completely dull—suddenly let out a sharp, piercing shriek. Both of his arms erupted with blazing, violet-red flames, wrapping his entire figure as if consumed by purplish-red fire. His face twisted into a ferocious and terrifying expression, and his entire body radiated an aura of extreme danger.

At the same time, the necromancer, who had been overflowing with triumph just moments before, suddenly turned ashen white. The relaxed and smug expression instantly drained from his face as he shrieked in utter terror, "No! Stop!"