The moment Khajiit's smooth, bald head emerged from the underground passage, his cold eyes scanned the scene through the gaps between the shuffling zombies.
Gravestones lay scattered beneath leafless trees—Not a single undead creature in sight beyond his immediate summons.
Khajiit's eyes narrowed.
He had stationed low-level undead around the exterior of the ruined temple precisely to repel intruders—or at least warn him of unwanted guests.
As a necromancer, he maintained a spiritual tether to each of his creations. When such a link was severed, he could feel it—a disquieting sense of absence, like a candle extinguished in a sealed room.
Of course, he had eventually cut off contact with those scattered undead.
After more than a year of operating within this cemetery, he'd realized few dared venture this far, let alone enter its inner sanctum.
Still—
Even if that tether had been broken by choice, the absence of corpses told a different story.
There were no shattered bones. No traces of decay. No remnants at all.
That meant the undead weren't destroyed—
They were led away.
Khajiit's expression darkened.
"They came prepared."His eyes gleamed with a calculating coldness."And more than one of them."
Yet despite this conclusion, his expression remained calm, his aura unreadable.
E-Rantel was a border city filled with only middling adventurers. None had the strength to truly threaten him.
If someone had the gall to do this—They weren't from around here.
"They'll regret targeting me."
Khajiit stepped fully into the open, and the surrounding zombies parted to make way. A thin mist lingered across the cemetery, disturbed only by the echo of his footsteps.
Then he saw it.
Floating one or two feet above the ground—A guardian angel, glowing with divine radiance, hovered a hundred meters away.
In this gloom, its sacred aura and halo of light stood out like a beacon.
Khajiit's lips curled in disdain.
Too conspicuous.
He wasn't alarmed by the angel itself—it was only a diversion.
The real threat would be elsewhere.
"Detect Magic."
Khajiit whispered, and the world shifted in his senses.
The angel's magical signature flared clearly—undeniable.
But fifty meters to his left, he felt another response.No visual. No sound. Just movement.
Suddenly—The invisible signature began rushing toward him.
"You think you can sneak up on me?"
Khajiit sneered and thrust a hand toward the source.
"Negative Light!"
A beam of dark purple energy lanced out from his fingertip—It struck the invisible figure dead-on.
Boom!
The impact of magic forced the intruder back.The veil of invisibility shattered—revealing another guardian angel.
Khajiit's eyes narrowed.
Two summoned angels?
He had expected a rogue or stealth-based adventurer. Instead, it was another divine construct.
"Are they both summons? Two casters? A divine caster and… someone else?"
The question flickered in his mind—
But he didn't have time to finish it.
"Charm of the Human Race!"
The words rang out in a coarse male voice from behind the glowing angel.
Khajiit's eyes widened.He immediately barked a counterspell:
"Immortal Spirit!"
But even as the anti-charm magic activated—He realized something was wrong.
There had been no resistance. No pressure.No magical coercion.
Khajiit's face paled further.
"You're kidding me…"
—
From the shadows behind the guardian angel, a figure emerged.
Wrapped in a black robe that obscured his face, Minori stepped forward with a calm, measured gait.
His voice was dry, as if scraped across stone.
"Just saying hello."
He glanced briefly at a translucent panel only he could see.
[Skill Points: 41 → 40]
Skill: Undead Spirit (Level 3)
MP Cost: 15
Effect: Grants complete immunity to mind-control effects such as charm, suggestion, and hypnosis.
Minori chuckled softly, but in Khajiit's ears, it sounded like cruel mockery.
He assumed Minori had tested him—to confirm whether he had countermeasures against charm magic, while draining a sliver of his MP.
Petty trickery from a cautious weakling. Or so Khajiit believed.
"Fool. You don't understand what true strength is."
Gripping his black staff tightly, Khajiit's voice grew cold as frost.
"Call your companions. I'm no longer interested in your motives."
"I'll show you what happens when you cross me."
His voice echoed across the cemetery like a curse.
"Companions?"
Minori tilted his head slightly.
"Sorry. That doesn't exist."
He raised a hand. The injured guardian angel, its silver armor pitted and corroded by negative energy, returned to his side.
With its partner, the total returned to two.
The trap had worked.
Using a holy construct as bait had drawn out Khajiit's attention, and allowed Minori to probe his reaction, abilities, and—most importantly—his level of caution.
Information warfare.
The greatest weapon in Minori's arsenal.
His eyes flicked to the angel's chestplate. The corrosion was significant. Negative Light was clearly effective.
A stark reminder:Just as undead were weak to holy and fire, divine beings were vulnerable to death and darkness.
—
"Hiding, are you? Fine—then I'll kill you first, and tear the rest out afterward!"
Khajiit didn't believe a word Minori said. When he saw both angels still active, a thought flashed through his mind:
Two simultaneous summons?Was it a rare item? A divine specialization?
He didn't know.
But it didn't matter.
"Prepare to scream, fool! I'll make your death an example!"
Khajiit slammed his staff into the ground.
At the same time, the Orb of Death in his left hand began to glow with malevolent black light.