Chapter 168: I Recommend the Sudden Death King as the Holy Son of the Holy Church

After making his decision, Lu Ran began to conserve his energy. Out of respect for his enemy, he naturally wanted to be in his best state for the sneak attack.Once well-rested, Lu Ran donned a black robe, which made him look quite menacing, and mounted General Ha, the giant dog, ready to take off.

With his current identity as a member of the Cult of Necromancy and General Ha as his steed, Lu Ran felt like a character from an animated film, “Princess Mononoke.”

Of course, he couldn’t possibly be the princess, but he hoped his dashing appearance wouldn’t make the enemy faction mistake him for a necromancer prince.

“General Ha, let’s go!” Lu Ran patted General Ha.

After a week of boredom, finally having a battle to fight put General Ha in a good mood. He no longer minded being a steed. His eyes rolled up and down, left and right, as if he was preparing some big move.

“Awwooo~~~” General Ha howled, stepping on the air, with Gale swirling around him, as he ascended step by step into the sky.

Walking on the wind, riding the wind!

General Ha’s speed was swift. Lu Ran deliberately had him ascend higher, as they needed to be cautious and slowly search for the enemy’s exact location.

However, before Lu Ran could get far from the City Lord’s Mansion, suddenly, a necromancer shrouded in gray mist, wearing a black robe, and surrounded by the phantom soul of a vulture, appeared in the air, blocking Lu Ran’s path.

“Hmm?” Lu Ran frowned.

“I am Huo Di, the assistant of Lord Gory.”

“Ordered to protect Your Excellency, the Sudden Death King.”

“Where are you headed, Your Excellency?” The necromancer’s hoarse voice made Lu Ran exasperated.

Gory, you sly fox, sending Hei Yu alone to monitor me wasn’t enough; you even planted a more powerful assistant nearby, huh?

Lu Ran figured that trying to head to the empire’s faction alone was now out of the question. Gory would never let him go on a “suicide mission.” Sᴇaʀch* Thᴇ N0vᴇlFire(.)nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

“How are you protecting me? That Space guy came back just now.” Lu Ran turned the tables, making a passive situation active. “Being targeted again and again, I can’t take it anymore. I’m going after them to take them down.”

“What??” Gory’s assistant’s expression changed upon hearing this. Had that Space guy infiltrated again?

“Sudden Death King, calm down. If you chase them, you’ll fall into their trap. Let’s go meet Lord Gory and discuss how to counter the enemy together, okay?”

“Woof!!” General Ha glared at Huo Di, feeling like smashing something.

Blocking it from fighting, this grudge was noted.

At this moment, the commotion in the high skies outside the City Lord’s Mansion also caught the attention of several necromancers. Seeing this, Lu Ran said:

“Alright.” Lu Ran had no choice. Gory had continuously provided him with cultivation notes and Soul-Calming Stones, so he couldn’t make things difficult for him.

So, he agreed to go see Gory with this vulture ghost.

…

“This is outrageous!”

Not long after, upon learning that Lu Ran had been harassed by that Space enemy again, Gory was quite angry.

However, facing an equally “angry” Lu Ran, Gory had to soothe him. “Sudden Death King, calm down. Calm down; you’re being too impulsive.”

Hearing from his assistant that Lu Ran wanted to chase down the remnants of the imperial army, Gory’s mouth twitched.

This abstract way of doing things did fit with Lu Ran’s previous behavior patterns.

“Huo Di, Hei Yu, how are you two protecting the Sudden Death King? You let the enemy infiltrate again without noticing.”

He looked at Huo Di and Hei Yu, scolding them.

Hei Yu and Huo Di felt quite innocent.

The Space enemy was inherently difficult to detect! They honestly hadn’t noticed a thing.

“It’s not their fault, but should we just sit here and wait?” Lu Ran said.

“One, two infiltrations to gather intelligence. The imperial army is clearly planning to target Mingan. If we sit and wait, we’ll be too passive.”

“Gory, that guy is too annoying. Let’s go kill them together.”

“Rather than waiting for them to prepare and attack the city, why not use the necromancers’ advantage to strike first and end the enemy.”

Gory: “…”

What he said made so much sense, Gory couldn’t refute it.

After being discovered, Lu Ran laid all his cards on the table, trying to persuade Gory to lead a large force and attack together.

However, Lu Ran quickly sighed, noticing Gory’s hesitation.

“The other side is, after all, a regular army. We need to plan carefully. Although they are remnants, their Army Commander, Kane, is a tough character, not weaker than me.”

“Furthermore, they might have received help from civilian forces.”

“Sudden Death King, you are just a level 1 beastmaster, right? Although you are already very strong and have unique insights in some areas, you must understand the difference between level 1 and level 2 in a direct battlefield… There are still many level 2 beastmasters among those imperial remnants.”

“And besides, they are gathered in hundreds…”

“My suggestion is to defend Mingan. If the enemy doesn’t attack within a month, we can ask Lord Divine Envoy for help once he arrives. Dealing with them will be a piece of cake for him.”

“Are level 2 beastmasters that strong?” Lu Ran asked.

“I just don’t want to be harassed by that Space rat anymore.”

“If we don’t take the initiative, fine. But I want to take that Space guy down to stop him from bothering me.”

Gory’s mouth twitched again.

He felt he couldn’t persuade Lu Ran.

Indeed, no one would want someone constantly spying on them.

It was quite nerve-wracking.

If he were Lu Ran, he would also want to take out that Space guy.

“How about this?” Gory pondered and said, “I’ll send a team to investigate that Space beastmaster. If there’s an opportunity, we’ll take him out.”

“I want to take revenge myself. I’m a person who holds grudges,” Lu Ran blinked. What a joke, wasn’t this just sending people to their deaths?

Gory felt that Lu Ran was truly unyielding.

“It’s too dangerous…”

Gory hesitated for a long time and finally said, “But I understand your feelings.”

“How about this, Sudden Death King, you and I spar one-on-one. If your strength gains my approval…”

“I’ll dispatch a team to assist you in assassinating that infiltrator.”

“But if you lose, I won’t let you go to your death.” Gory’s expression was serious.

Gory also wanted to see the true strength of this genius. This was the biggest concession he could make.

“Alright,” Lu Ran was taken aback but smiled.

Initially, he was worried that going alone might be too dangerous. If he could have a bunch of necromancers backing him up, his safety would be greatly enhanced.

With some luck, he might even be able to take out the enemy in one fell swoop.

Lu Ran quickly analyzed the situation in his mind.

If the enemy was strong and he couldn’t handle it alone, having the necromancer faction supporting him would be crucial.

If the enemy wasn’t strong and he could take them down solo…

To prevent the enemy from escaping, having the necromancer faction help him seal the battlefield, allowing him to eliminate the enemy one by one, would be very useful for boosting his rating.

After all, even if the enemy stood still, with hundreds of pet beasts, he couldn’t handle them all at once.

“This…” Huo Di and Hei Yu were stunned. They hadn’t expected things to escalate so quickly to a fight between Lu Ran and Gory.

Soon, Lu Ran and Gory moved to an open area outside.

Beside Lu Ran was General Ha, holding the sword grass in its mouth. This peculiar pet beast of Lu Ran’s always puzzled Gory and Hei Yu.

Was this a dual-attribute canine beast of wind and grass?

“Your opponent is it,” Gory said, looking at Lu Ran and General Ha. The missionary took a deep breath and began summoning his pet beast.

“Roar!!!”

In the next moment, a black tiger beast with a spirit form, its green eyes glowing, seemed to emerge from the underworld, looking coldly at General Ha.

[Name]: Phantom Tiger Beast

[Attribute]: Spirit

[Species Level]: Lower Commander

[Growth Level]: Level 30

As soon as the Phantom Tiger Beast appeared, Lu Ran immediately saw its stats.

“You can attack first,” Gory said, waiting for Lu Ran and General Ha to make the first move. However, in the next moment, his pupils constricted as he felt a gale blow past.

Boom!!!

A blast of air surged around them.

Huo Di and Hei Yu, who were watching from the sidelines, hadn’t fully focused their attention when their black robes were blown by the violent airflow. Under their black hoods were expressions of shock.

In an instant, General Ha’s figure vanished from in front of Lu Ran and reappeared behind the Phantom Tiger Beast.

Ssshhh———

Without any warning, a faint sword mark appeared on the Phantom Tiger Beast’s leg, causing it to cry out in pain and topple forward.

With twenty times the wind force compressed under its feet, combined with gale, General Ha had mastered an explosive technique akin to “divine speed.”

In a flash, the gale allowed General Ha to injure the Phantom Tiger Beast’s leg before it even saw its enemy.

As the strike concluded, General Ha calmly turned its head to look at the incredulous Gory.

“How is this possible!!”

Gory, Huo Di, and Hei Yu all exclaimed in shock.

“Is this sufficient?” Lu Ran asked. “If it were an enemy, that strike would have been aimed at a more lethal spot with even greater force.”

“It wouldn’t have just grazed it like it did.”

“You—” Gory was stunned. “How can its strength and speed be this powerful?”

Gory initially intended to spar patiently with Lu Ran, but he never expected that his Phantom Tiger Beast wouldn’t last a single round against the opponent.

“Roar!!!” At this moment, the Phantom Tiger Beast was also shocked, finally sensing the faint sovereign aura emanating from General Ha.

“I told you, we are very strong,” Lu Ran smiled. “Although its level is low, as a sovereign, it can easily fight above its level…”

“Sovereign???” Gory was dumbfounded, looking at General Ha, who was holding the sword grass.

What a joke, this dog was actually a sovereign species?

Even in the Imperial City, sovereign species pet beasts were extremely rare.

A sovereign species… No wonder Lu Ran and his team could easily handle the Space infiltrators.

But why? Why would someone like Lu Ran, who owns a sovereign pet beast, choose the Death Holy Church?

“He’s so strong!” Hei Yu, who knew Lu Ran wasn’t weak, didn’t expect that even Gory, a missionary, would be at a disadvantage against Lu Ran.

Even though Gory the missionary didn’t use the necromancer’s signature possession skill, the fact that he was suppressed in a single encounter clearly demonstrated the terrifying strength of Lu Ran’s pet beast.

Huo Di’s expression changed, and Gory himself was deeply stirred.

“Sudden Death King, joining the Holy Church with a sovereign species pet beast, what exactly are you thinking?” he originally thought Lu Ran’s pet beast was a commander species… but it turned out to be a sovereign.

“It’s nothing, I just wanted to become a necromancer out of interest,” Lu Ran smiled. “Now, Gory, do you think I have the strength to go on the offensive?”

Gory’s expression was uncertain. A sovereign pet beast… Lu Ran’s status in his mind rose another notch!

Damn it, contracting a sovereign pet beast at level 1 and having such an interest in necromancy, once he gets taken away by the divine envoy, he won’t just be treated as a core member anymore—he’ll be groomed as a Holy Son candidate.

At this moment, countless thoughts surged in Gory’s mind, and finally, he made a decision.

They definitely couldn’t ignore that Space enemy. Otherwise, if Lu Ran got hurt even slightly, it would be a serious matter.

“Sudden Death King, whatever you say goes. From now on, I’ll assign 100 level 1 necromancers at your disposal. We’ll take the initiative and show the imperial army what we’re made of.”

“Let them know we aren’t to be trifled with.”

Lu Ran’s expression was strange. Indeed, having strength was beneficial—just like that, he had become the boss of a necromancer unit of a hundred people?

“Alright,” Lu Ran said with a pleased expression, but he added:

“However, since it’s my insistence to retaliate, I wouldn’t feel right dragging others into it.”

“Those who come with me don’t need to engage in the battle. Just stay on the sidelines, support me, cheer me on, and intimidate the enemy.”

“I’ll try to handle the enemy alone first.”

“I don’t want innocent comrades to get hurt or killed because of me.”

Gory, Huo Di, Hei Yu: ???

The three of them were shocked, feeling increasingly unable to see through Lu Ran.

Is he for real? I could cry…

It was the first time they had encountered someone like this. Was such a person actually real?

If it weren’t for their lack of authority, the three of them would have recommended Lu Ran to become the Holy Son of the Holy Church. They also wanted a leader like him.

“Sudden Death King, you…” Gory the missionary felt an inexplicable emotion rise within him. For the first time, he felt that Lu Ran was someone worth getting to know deeply.

When the time comes, he would definitely speak highly of Lu Ran in front of Lord Divine Envoy.

Of course, Lu Ran’s thoughts at this moment weren’t so “selfless.”

He just wanted to [enjoy the experience] alone.

If it weren’t for the rating and the rewards, he wouldn’t want to solo such a dangerous task.

“I’ve decided,” Gory the missionary said after a moment of contemplation, seemingly making some kind of decision. “I plan to temporarily retrieve that weapon buried in the land of death to assist you, brother Sudden Death King.”

“Hmm?” Lu Ran was taken aback.

“It’s okay. Bathing it in true life will be more beneficial for its growth.”

“What weapon?” Lu Ran asked. Oh, there was such an item. If it weren’t for him, and the empire’s faction attacked, Gory would surely choose to retrieve this to counter the enemy. This was… a key item that could change the situation.

“It’s a sword forged by an elder using special methods. The blade is composed of a thousand fragments of soul bones and teeth, capable of changing its shape and attacking enemies in various ways. It’s called the Bone Sword Thousand Blades.”

“Woof!” General Ha shivered beside him as Gory finished speaking. Bone Sword Thousand Blades? What kind of devilish forging method is this! Evil necromancers… Lu Ran, you mustn’t learn such wicked ways!