The Black Necromancer

Leon subtly eyed the four Beastkin that followed him from a distance behind. It had already been several hours since they had started following him because he held Kai hostage. In that time, he had focused on getting through the floors of the dungeon as quickly as possible.

In order to speed up their pace, he had unloaded his summons into the dungeon. Whenever the boss monster was found, everyone else swarmed the position and a great fight took place.

Seeing Leon effortlessly controlling all these powerful B rank creatures made the Beastkin from the Gublin Empire realize how sorely outmatched they were by him. They knew that if he truly wanted to, then he could have done the same thing to them earlier.

"He's bad news." Leon heard Joseph whisper to Meredin. "Do you think we should jump him?" The boy tried to be discreet about his communication to his cousin, but Leon's sharp senses easily picked up their discussion.

"Are you nuts? He can totally hear us!" Meredin nearly freaked out and pulled on Joseph's ear. The boy was about to complain when Leon turned back and smiled at them. To him, the smile was just casual, but to them, who were being held hostage, they felt as if the smile was from a devil whispering in their ears. Tormenting them with a promise of death.

Leon turned back to face the front and continue to observe the battle. The boss this time was also a lizardman, but this one was a shaman! He was a slippery one, and his evasive skills were excellent! The lizardman shaman placed a greater emphasis on controlling the pace of the battle from the back, launching crippling spells and messing with the movements of Leon's summons by manipulating the swamp.

Splash!

Leon's neck snapped to the side as he felt the fluctuations of the unique mana belonging to the lizardman shaman. A thick, green vine rose from the water, holding one of his Sentinel Millipedes in the air. The vine tightened around it millipede, trying to crush it, but the millipede's exoskeleton was exceptionally tough. Not to mention, it was one of Leon's first B rank summons, so it was already close to Peak B rank!

Leon did not pay much attention to the squabble between the vine and his summon. Instead, his eyes traced the mana flow back to the source, and he instantly found the lizardman. This had been difficult. He had already spent fifteen minutes trying to find the lizardman.

However, the exercise had proved useful!

[Your Skill, <Spell Weaver>, has been upgraded to Intermediate grade!]

Leon grinned as the world seemed to subtly transform under the miraculous sight given to him by the new, Intermediate grade skill.

'There!' Leon exclaimed to his elite summons as he located the lizardman shaman.

Bzzt!

Instantly, Kaladin who had been keeping a powerful spell on hand let it rip.

Crackle!!!

It was as if the sky was being cracked like an egg as a bright white lightning bolt crackled through the sky, striking down in the distance, right on the head of the lizardman shaman.

"Success!" Kaladin cheered and raised his arms. The lightning in the sky spread, turning into a rain of lightning bolts that decimated the monsters down on the ground with frightening precision.

Graaaa!

Great Snakes, Great Crocodiles, and Bogmen all cried out in their own ways as their bodied were obliterated by Kaladin's lightning. Leon looked surprised, but he soon realized that Kaladin's skill must have leveled up with that strike on the lizardman shaman, which caused the power of his spell to explode!

With Kaladin's sudden leap in strength, he began to cause mass devastation with his lightning bolt rain.

"What frightening power..." Meredin could not help but say, shocked by Kaladin's strength. She was also a powerful mage, and she admired those who were stronger than her in the art of magic. It had been ingrained in her brain since childhood that she should look up to those who were stronger than her, whether they were on her side or not. Their strength did not come from nothing. They deserved that strength for putting in effort to reach that point.

"You're right." Meredin was startled when Leon replied her. "Kaladin was my first summon. He had always been exceptional when it came to offensive magic. Especially lightning." Leon chuckled, recalling the old days when he, Kaladin, and Nedra hunted down millipedes with a dozen Undead Ghost Millipedes.

"I..." Meredin did not know what to say. Leon was still an enemy to them, so she did not know why he was acting so casual in front of them. Did he think of them as so weak that he did not bother putting up his guard? She felt mildly insulted at that thought.

No more words were spoken as the battle went on. By the time the last monster fell, Leon was already converting the dead into his summons. He wanted to get everything done quickly so he could go and leave the Great Crocodiles and the other new summons at the shore. He still did not know when to expect the invading forces so he did not want to waste time.

"Master." Kaladin bowed in front of Leon when Leon walked over. Leon looked him up and down and nodded slightly.

"You did well." Leon hummed and patted Kaladin's shoulder. He did not want to check his status until this whole trip was over. That way, he would also check on the status pages of all the others as well.

Kaladin nodded his head, brimming with pride. Any praise from Leon was an honor in his eyes. He sent a subtle glance over at Nero, the third Obsidian Skeleton, and huffed. Nero grunted in response and followed after Leon. Although he tried to hide it, a fire had been lit under him, and his competitive drive had been stoked.

There was no way he would let Kaladin outdo him!