Free Web NovelAnother morning arrived, and Loren helped the unconscious Laila pull the covers over her. These past few days had been a bit too frequent—even Laila was starting to swell up a little. It was time to head back.
But before that, Loren needed to take care of loose ends. He had just acquired so many merfolk corpses; it would be a waste not to use them.
"Good morning, Master Mentor..."
Even though Loren had already appointed the Bishop as the new Headmaster, he hadn't returned immediately. Instead, he continued dutifully serving Loren right here.
"Mm. I'll be leaving tomorrow. Arrange a carriage for me. Also, I need to check on the beach today—make sure no one comes near."
"Yes, Master Mentor!"
Given the major incident that had happened at the beach recently, no one would dare go there even if Loren hadn't said a word.
Though the beach was now clean and beautiful, nobody approached it.
"Alright, I'll go after breakfast. Prepare my meal first."
"Yes, Master Mentor."
The Bishop acted like a servant, but he had no complaints whatsoever.
...
"This is my first time playing at the beach..."
Laila gazed out at the ocean, a hint of excitement in her voice.
"Me too. Well, actually, this is my first time going out to play with Daddy."
"..."
Reflection Naclis's way of addressing Loren didn't bother him, but there was something off about her tone.
It didn't sound like she was calling a family member—it sounded more like she was addressing a master.
"You two play for now. I'm going to deal with those merfolk I acquired earlier.
"I've prepared some swimsuits. Since no one else is here, feel free to change if you want. There's a changing tent set up too.
"Movila has been monitoring from above. She'll alert you if anything happens. When that happens, Reflection Naclis, you can hide in time."
Loren had prepared several options for them to choose from. He had brought them here with the intention of letting them have fun anyway, and dealing with these corpses wouldn't take long.
"Okay!"
Reflection Naclis was the first to enter the tent, starting to pick out a swimsuit.
"Movila, you've got one too. Go change clothes."
Loren stroked the crow perched on his shoulder as he spoke.
Movila hadn't expected Loren to think of her as well, and she felt a little touched.
"Got it, Master!"
Several crows collided together, merging into a pink-and-blue-haired loli. Movila skipped cheerfully into the tent.
"If you want to swim, changing into a swimsuit is more appropriate. Laila, you should change too."
Seeing that Laila hadn't moved yet, Loren reminded her.
"You're changing too, right? How about we do it together..."
Loren instantly understood what Laila meant. The past few days had already been intense enough, but she still wasn't satisfied.
"Fine..."
In the end, Loren agreed to Laila's suggestion and entered the changing tent together with her...
...
"Stay safe."
On the shore, Laila waved goodbye to Loren. She had already changed into her swimsuit. Swimsuits were the best at showcasing a figure, and without any concealment, Laila was indeed the biggest one among the group.
Because of this, Loren had just suggested that Laila join the church... She would be much easier to convert than Mirrorheart.
"I'm just going to deal with some corpses. No danger. Don't worry."
After giving these instructions, Loren entered the sea. Orianna had been waiting underwater for a long time; her movement speed in the ocean was much faster than Loren swimming.
Loren directly grabbed hold of Orianna, letting her accelerate through the water. Soon, they reached a spot far from the shore, where all the merfolk corpses Loren had seized earlier were gathered.
These merfolk were useful, but not by much. In essence, they were just cannon fodder—easily cleared out by a single AOE attack.
Loren had plenty of cannon fodder. The Ten Thousand Soul Banner still held many souls; if he wanted trash mobs, he could just summon some using the banner without needing these merfolk.
This was the purpose of Loren's trip: to use these merfolk to create a more powerful undead creature.
"You died at Mara's hands. I've already killed Mara to avenge you. Consider your corpses my payment for that."
Corpse refining was somewhat morally questionable, but luckily, Loren didn't have much morality to begin with. Saying this one extra sentence before starting was already more than enough benevolence.
After so long, their souls had probably already dissipated. Even if Loren said this, no one could hear it anyway.
"Let's begin."
Before Loren arrived, Orianna had already set up the ritual here. Now, all Loren had to do was activate it.
The ritual required Loren's own blood, which was why he needed to come here in person.
Orianna held Loren, floating on the sea's surface. Loren cut his palm, letting his blood drip into the ocean.
Just a little blood was enough to dye a large area of seawater red. At the same time, the runes and ritual array in the ceremony began to emerge. The corpses stirred and started fusing together.
The five staffs Loren had confiscated earlier were positioned at the five corners of the ritual. As the ceremony progressed, the staffs rose above the water, and a pentagram materialized.
Loren planned to fully integrate the staffs' abilities into the merfolk corpse. This would prevent the scenario where the staffs might be snatched away at a critical moment.
The ritual proceeded quickly. The merfolk corpses fused together, then gradually shrank down to the size of a normal merfolk.
The blood-red light of the ritual faded, revealing the merfolk's form. She lay quietly with her eyes closed; the signs of being a corpse had vanished, while both her physical capabilities and magic power had been greatly enhanced.
Loren estimated she now possessed combat power on par with a high-ranking mage. In the ocean, her combat ability would be further amplified.
With the addition of Loren's blood, his control over her had been further strengthened. No other necromancer could seize control of her—not even a ninth-rank necromancer could manage it. And there probably weren't even any ninth-rank necromancers in this world anyway.
At the same time, Loren's control over her had become more flexible. Under his command, she opened her eyes. However, her eyes at this moment were still lifeless and devoid of vitality, consistent with corpse characteristics.
Once she opened her eyes, the merfolk swam off into the distance. Loren usually stayed on land, so keeping her around was useless. It was better to send her to search for the Angler's tracks. If things went well, she might even be able to deal with the Angler directly, saving Loren a trip.
Loren just wasn't sure whether deaths observed through controlling an undead could be recorded by the World Card. He planned to find a chance to test it out.
If it could record the Angler's abilities, that would be quite useful.
After taking care of all this, Loren finally headed back to shore. He stood on Orianna's back and rode back in a surfing stance.
By then, Naclis was playing in the sea with Movila. Naclis was very self-aware; she was wearing a children's one-piece swimsuit with a little skirt at the hem.
In such a tight fit, Loren could finally see a tiny bump—but it was still smaller than Movila's loli form.
