Chapter 26: Planting the Abyss

Lisa stepped cautiously into the temple’s boundary; the temple normally had no walls, but its edge was clearly defined—when the Silver Skeleton grew angry, barriers would rise from the ground, invisible under normal circumstances, marking the temple’s perimeter.

Lisa extended one foot inside, saw no reaction from the Silver Skeleton, then stepped fully in, keeping watch on the Silver Skeleton as she hurried toward the Angel Skeleton.

Her attention was fixed entirely on the Silver Skeleton, so she didn’t notice the wings behind the Angel Skeleton as she drew near.

As she approached, the Angel Skeleton tilted its head blankly, then bent its body forward like a drawn bow—when Lisa stepped into its attack range, its wings snapped open and it lunged at her.

“Hey, what are you doing, wings? Birdman? Ouch…” Lisa was knocked back, hair disheveled and disheveled, barely escaping.

Watching the Angel Skeleton, still tethered by a rope around its neck, trying to kick and thrash, Lisa laughed bitterly: “Now I know why you’re tied up—you’re a fighting bird, huh? What’s going on? Why is there a fighting angel here?”

Anna slipped in cautiously, studying the Angel Skeleton: “Not a fighting angel—no holy aura.”

Lan, pinned by the Silver Skeleton’s gaze, couldn’t get inside and shouted frantically from outside: “Whatever you do, get some clothes on her first!”

“Oh oh oh,” Anna fumbled with a ring on her finger, then flipped her hand—a white garment appeared in her palm. It was a storage ring.

She approached carefully to dress the Angel Skeleton, but unsurprisingly, was met with an attack.

Anna stepped forward, lowered her shoulder, stomped, and slammed her shoulder into the Angel Skeleton’s body, sending it flying.

A single shoulder tackle revealed the Angel Skeleton’s strength level—this emboldened Anna; she reached out and grabbed its ankle, yanking it back from midair.

She crossed her feet, backing up rapidly, dragging the Angel Skeleton to the end of the rope, until both body and rope stretched taut, suspending it in midair.

The rope looped around its neck, Anna held its ankle—the Angel Skeleton hung helplessly, unable to gain purchase, kicking uselessly.

Anna tossed the garment to Lisa, then seized the Angel Skeleton’s other leg, holding it more securely aloft: “Hurry, dress her.”

Lisa glanced nervously at the Angel Skeleton’s neck and couldn’t help saying: “You—you’re being too rough! Be careful, you might snap its neck.”

“No, you won’t—if you hurry. If you dawdle, it’ll tear itself free.” Anna snapped.

Lisa fumbled to dress the Angel Skeleton; as soon as she set it down, Anna regretted it—the garment she’d pulled out was a long white dress, too long on the Angel Skeleton, and the moment it touched the ground, it rolled over.

Anna lunged again, taking several punches to her body, pinning the Angel Skeleton down, tearing off the excess fabric until only a length covering the knees remained. At least it wasn’t dragging now, but the stains couldn’t be cleaned—the fabric was now splotched white and gray.

“What the hell is this thing?” Anna finally had a moment to voice her question. She noticed the creature moved with surprising agility, but was restricted by the rope—and its strength was weak. Otherwise, restraining it wouldn’t have been so easy.

Lisa, now free to observe with her soul, quickly reached a conclusion: “Skeleton—covered in flesh. Oh my god, a flesh-covered angel skeleton. Definitely something Master Angr created.”

“Uh… where did Master Angr go?” Anna asked.

Honestly, finding someone in the Necropolis who could communicate normally was hard. Finally, the Ox-Woman told them: “Oh, the Master went to find new farmland. The Lord Mayor took him.”

…

Under Phelin’s guidance, Angr arrived at the underground city’s farmland zone—the primary food source for the city’s five-thousand-plus inhabitants, grown right here.

Called a farmland zone, it was in fact a series of sunken pits in the earth—water had eroded the underground, causing the surface to collapse into vertical shafts. Over centuries, fertile soil accumulated at the bottom, making them suitable for cultivation.

Dozens of such pits existed near the underground city; seven of the best were developed into farmland. Phelin now brought Angr to one of them.

Deep underground, the Resting Wind from the surface couldn’t reach the pits—but this created another problem: insufficient light.

Along the pit’s rocky walls, a massive Light Spell array was engraved. Ascr was standing before it, pouring his last bit of mana into the array, then panting with his tongue out: “Ugh, getting old, getting old—can’t take it anymore. Only three trips and I’m exhausted. Back then, I did seven a day without breaking a sweat.”

Phelin’s face darkened at this—wasn’t this a jab at him?

“Are you older than me? You’re under sixty, young man. Don’t go saying you’re old—you’re lazy, not old.”

Ascr sprang to his feet, turning to Phelin with a nervous smile: “What brings you here? Uh, who’s this? Huh?”

Everyone in the city knew about the mysterious stranger—especially after the Necropolis reopened and the glowing moss fields were shown to visitors, making everyone acutely aware of his presence.

Though Phelin kept it strictly secret, everyone guessed it was tied to the Necropolis Empire, since Phelin had been scavenging soul crystals to trade for food.

Knowing it was one thing, but Phelin forbade anyone from disturbing Angr, so Ascr had never met the stranger—only heard others say he was a skeleton.

Now, the skeleton walking beside Phelin with such reverence—there was no doubt it was the mysterious stranger. But why did this skeleton look so familiar?

Angr waved at him, tilting his head.

That head-tilt instantly confirmed Ascr’s suspicion: “Is it really you?”

The long-rumored mysterious stranger was the dull-witted skeleton he’d brought back? He’d taken it in because he worried it’d be too dangerous in the wild—and had blithely told it the underground city was safe.

For a being of this caliber, where could be unsafe? So embarrassing. So humiliating. Ascr’s face flushed.

“What are you two doing here?” Ascr quickly changed the subject.

“Farmland. Master Angr wants to see the abandoned fields, see if there’s any way to cultivate them again,” Phelin said.

“Master Angr?” Ascr suddenly remembered something else: “The glowing moss for supplemental light—that’s Master Angr’s technique? Brilliantly practical. Before the moss, we had to recharge the lights seven times a day and still didn’t get enough light. Now, three recharges are enough.”