The sky was now completely bright. After Thor and a few disgruntled mercenaries led the villagers on their way, the campsite was more or less cleaned up. It was also time for everyone else to set out.
However, unlike what I had expected, the first to set out were the mercenaries. They were led by Mary and Winston, who were also mercenaries. Mary and Winston made up the majority of the group.
According to my new plan, they would openly enter Starwood City, the capital of the new Knight's territory. The fully armed mercenaries would naturally attract the attention of the adventurers, and they would act as a cover for another group of people in the dark.
Old Barton was also among them. My mission for him was to not be afraid of trouble and to cause trouble … Yep, that's right, I wanted him to cause trouble for me. Even if it was a trial where he could make a name for himself, it was still to cause trouble.
"Even if I don't go, I can guess at the current situation in Starwood City. Nobody likes people who stand in their way, especially those who stand in the way of making money. The Sala Dukedom's officials will definitely provoke both sides to hate each other. You can use your identity as an adventurer to provoke the officials and make a big deal out of it. Many people are just waiting for a fuse. "
With the dragon lich supporting me, I really wasn't afraid of making a big deal out of it. I was only afraid that it wouldn't be big enough.
If the mercenaries were in the light, then the other group would be in the dark.
The other group, or perhaps I should say three people and a ghost, was me, the Anti-Holy Knight Tiana, and Catalina. Yep, there was also that Death Council disciple named Brad.
As for that ghost, it was naturally the dark ranger Shink, who had already become my undead servant.
There was a ranger, an undead mage, and a melee Knight. There was a damage dealer, a tank, and a maid in charge of cleaning and taking care of daily necessities. Although we didn't have a priest who could heal us, and although we didn't have eight job classes, this game … this team was still quite balanced.
"… Listen up. From now on, I'm the disciple of the great lich Slaine, the legendary undead mage Karo. You, the maid Lina, and you, my personal guard Tiana. I listened to my mentor's instructions, and also because of my own ambitions, I joined the Death Council. "
The great lich Slaine really did exist. He was one of the councilors of the Xiluo Empire's Dark Night Council, which had colluded with the Undead Emperors from the Death Planes. However, not many people knew that he had completely perished in the Undead Plane's civil war. It would be quite easy for someone to use one of Slaine's relics and impersonate Slaine's successor. Since Slaine had connections with the Undead Emperors to begin with, it would be completely logical for him to have his disciple join the Death Council.
Necromancers didn't need to find any reason to join the Death Council. The dark rangers under their command were undead themselves. As long as Tiana put away her identity as an Anti- Knight and disguised herself as an ordinary dark elf martial artist, they would be a standard evil team. They would naturally be able to gain the friendship of the Death Council and the enmity and vigilance of normal government organizations.
As for bringing a maid with them … Actually, there were quite a few mages with strange habits who were difficult to serve. Although this would attract some unnecessary attention, compared to the trouble this "key" might cause if it left my sight, it would definitely be better for me to slightly tarnish my reputation.
As for the tragic scene when the "father and daughter" left, the joke about how "Boss Huang angrily tried to steal a farmer's daughter", and the pitiful expression in her eyes as she cowered in the corner of the carriage, let's just forget about it.
After those mercenaries disappeared from my sight, I began to get busy.
"Let's paint it black first."
Pure color wouldn't mean anything, but if an undead mage really did ride this thing and appear on the streets of Starwood Town with those strange gargoyles, I would probably instantly become famous, and the rapid spread of interesting news would make any disguise meaningless.
Of course, if I only painted it black, my skill level would be too low. And so, I performed a small ritual.
After I pretended to say an incantation, a certain river and part of the river connected to this place successfully, and a small hole in front of me was filled with some reddish-black blood. Then, I took out some white gemstones (jades) and tossed them into the blood pool.
"Demon transformation."
The gay gargoyle was directly tossed into the blood pool, and the white gemstone sank into his forehead. The next instant, a large amount of blood was absorbed by the gemstone, and then the gargoyle's entire body began to distort.
Thick black hair grew out of his face and limbs, and his gemstone eyes glowed with a pitch-black light. His white elf-like skin shattered, and his original magic runes and stone parts actually merged with the black blood in the blood pool, becoming new muscle tissue. Soon, the gargoyle's final human form was gone.
He was now two feet taller than he originally was, and his muscles were abnormally muscular with strange magic runes. The horn on his forehead and his gemstone eyes gave off a ferocious light, and his original feathered wings had been reconstructed into demonic black wings. His entire person had transformed into an evil demon from hell.
In the eyes of others, it was as if a handsome elf had been tossed into the blood pool, but what came out was an ugly demon. It could only be said that this was an extremely evil and terrifying magic spell that could transform an undead creature into such a state. Catalina had already finished hiding behind Diyana's back.
It wasn't any high-level incantation or magical ritual, but I was probably the only one in this world who could do such a thing. After all, these materials and rituals weren't from the mortal world.
After the experiment was successful, I sent other gargoyles in. This time, the female gargoyles didn't turn into ugly demons. Although their faces and skin were covered in magic runes, and their skin had become much darker, they still retained their beauty. In contrast, the cute little curved horn on their foreheads and their red lips, which had become even more alluring, made them seem more real and alluring.
This wasn't something I intentionally did. It was just a natural characteristic of the Ghost race. The males were strong and mighty, while the females were beautiful and moving. However, seeing how everyone else was looking at me, it was likely that I couldn't take off my "gentleman" hat anymore. After all, these naked gargoyles that "belonged to me" were already my precedents.
I helplessly shook my head and ignored the silly cat's snickering through our soul connection. It would seem that some things would be difficult to escape from. Now, it was time for proper business.
One undead creature after another was tossed into the blood pool, and their appearances underwent fundamental changes. In the end, the ghost carriage and the unicorn also completed their transformations. Our group had now completely transformed into the evil faction. Even if the mercenaries were still here, they probably wouldn't be able to recognize us.
"Let's go. We'll talk on the way."
…
Starwood City. Calling it a city would be too much of an exaggeration. As the capital of a Knight territory, it was indeed the largest city in the territory. However, the title of Knight was the lowest of all domain lords. So, the title of "largest" was actually quite pitiful.
Starwood City had a population of sixty thousand people squeezed into a small city. There were only about a hundred city guards, and the city walls were only slightly more than three meters tall. The domain lord's residence was nothing more than a tattered bunker without any heavy defense machinery. The only local specialties were the local crops and stone-like black bread. It couldn't be any worse.
After the news about the treasure map spread, this super-remote city suddenly received many visitors. Not only were all the inns full, even the residences were full. In fact, many tents and temporary camps had even appeared outside the city.
Not to mention, there were also the Sala Royal Army stationed outside the city. In just a short period of time, the city's population had nearly doubled. The atmosphere in the city was quite tense. Passersby hurriedly came and went. It could be said that a storm was brewing.
Meanwhile, in a temporary camp outside the city, my team was currently resting and organizing. Shink had taken Brad to the city to leave a communication imprint. We could only wait for them to come find us. Finding an evil cult that was skilled at hiding itself wouldn't be that easy.
Barton's group had already entered the city. However, it still seemed rather peaceful. However, the camps in the outskirts were rather chaotic. That was because many treasure hunters were desperados. Not to mention, the fact that the path into the mountains had been sealed off made everyone even more frustrated.
Murder, robbery, gambling, and other crimes were all good ways for desperados to vent their frustrations. And since I was here, the demons would appear at night. The nighttime here had been slightly quieter for two days, and I had more undead materials in my storage.
Of course, I was riding in a ghost carriage, bringing so many strange-looking high-level undead into the city in such a high-profile manner. Plus, I had Shink execute a few troublemakers as an example to the others. I had gained quite a bit of notoriety in this area. This would probably make it easier for the Death Council to "confirm" my identity.
During a critical mission, a "helper" who suddenly appeared would always be suspicious. If the Death Council came looking for me of their own volition, then it would naturally be much less suspicious.
While I was waiting for the Death Council to come looking for me, a familiar person actually came looking for me right before the Death Council arrived.
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