“Pa?”

Eiko, who had taken a nap alongside her Papa, was the first to wake up. The first thing she did was poke Lux’s cheeks, in an attempt to wake him up.

It didn’t take long before the Half-Elf opened his eyes.

‘Was it all just a dream?’ Lux thought as he lightly patted the Baby Slime’s head.

It was at that moment that he saw the silver bracelet on his wrist with the emblem of a red phoenix at its center. This made him realize that what he experienced wasn’t a dream and that he truly met the God of Gamblers, whom he hadn’t seen for a long time.

“Pa?” Eiko looked at his Papa and wondered if he was still half-asleep.

“Sorry, I’m just thinking about a few things, Eiko,” Lux replied as he placed the Baby Slime on top of his head.

He then looked at the two ghosts that were huddled in the corner and motioned for them to follow him.

Lux turned around, not even bothering to look back to see if the brother and sister ghosts were following him. He needed to find his Master and ask him something important, which would determine his next course of action.

A few minutes later, he found Gaap playing chess with Asmodeus near the plaza of the city.

The two seemed to be focused on their game, so Lux decided to let them finish before he talked to his Master.

In the distance, rumbling sounds could be heard as his Named Creatures fought against low-ranked Abyssal Creatures, which had spawned in Zangrila, as part of their training.

For Lux, this was a good thing because the more Abyssal Creatures he could get, the more powerful Asmodeus’ Abyssal Legion would become.

Nearly half an hour later, Gaap groaned after Asmodeus placed his Queen chess piece beside the old man’s King.

“Checkmate,” Asmodeus said with a smile. “I admit, you got me in the first half. Comeback is real.”

“Hmph! I shouldn’t have made that move five rounds ago.” Gaap grumbled.

The old Halfling then glanced in Lux’s direction to see what he was doing. To his surprise, the Half-Elf was talking to the brother and sister ghost, asking them a few questions about Zangrila.

However, the ghosts weren’t replying to him. They simply stared and hugged each other as if they had long lost the ability to talk.

The only feelings that remained after being earthbound for hundreds of years were their familial bonds, with the older brother protecting his sister even long before they had died.

“It’s no use, Lux,” Gaap said. “Those two have very little sentience left. They are simply moving based on their instincts because their self had eroded after a few centuries of staying in this forsaken place.”

“Master, are all ghosts like this?” Lux asked. “Do they lose their sentience after staying in this world for a very long time?”

“Well, it really depends on how strong the willpower of that person is,” Gaap replied. “For example, children don’t have very strong willpower because they haven’t fully developed physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. If they were only dead for a year or two, they might still retain their intelligence.

“But, as the years go by, their senses deteriorate until they revert to their most primal instincts. These two ghosts’ strong feelings for each other are the only thing that has survived since the day this kingdom fell. However, there are always exceptions. Perhaps, out of the millions of ghosts in this city, you will find a few who still have their sentience intact. Those spirits are likely strong individuals who had high ranks when they were still alive.”

Lux nodded in understanding before asking his Master the thing he wanted to ask when he came to look for him.

“Master, you said that you planned to give me the spirits in this city as a gift, right?” Lux inquired.

“Right,” Gaap answered. “Since you are my Disciple, I plan to give all of them to you. Aren’t I generous?”

“You’re very generous, Master.” Lux smiled. “Since they are now mine, does that mean that I can do anything I want to do with them?”

“Of course.”

“No matter what happens, you won’t get mad, right?”

Gaap laughed after hearing Lux’s question. “Why are you even asking this question? I already said that they are yours. Whatever you want to do with them, I will not lift a foot, a finger, or open my lips to get in your way. Use them as you see fit.”

Lux breathed a sigh of relief after hearing his Master’s confirmation.

“Thank you, Master,” Lux bowed his head respectfully. “I will go back to my training now.”

“Mmm, you do that.” Gaap nodded before shifting his gaze to the Archlich, who had finished arranging the chess pieces on the board. “Another round. This time, I will not show you any mercy.”

“Hahaha. That’s what losers always say,” Asmodeus commented. “Come. Who’s afraid of who?”

Lux left the plaza and flew towards the outskirts of the city, away from the city wall.

‘Heaven’s Bracelet will not be fully charged until tomorrow night,’ Lux thought. ‘I will set aside my main goal for the time being and deal with the things that I can do right now.’

He then summoned his Skeleton Gangbangers, as well as Steel Golems, and fused them together to summon the Hundred-Armed Abomination, Hecatoncheires.

As soon as the Giant made his appearance, Lux immediately unleashed a Dragon’s Breath, targeting the monster’s heads that numbered around fifty.

The Half-Elf felt that, no matter what he did, he wouldn’t be able to make his latest Summon listen to his order, so he decided to just fight it and forcefully make it submit to him.

Seeing that her Papa planned to fight against Hecatoncheires, the Baby Slime became motivated and decided to unleash her own Dragon Breath that had the Mana Burn effect on the berserk Abomination that had locked its countless eyes in their direction.

Gaap glanced in the direction where Lux was fighting and shook his head helplessly.

“Your Master really loves to do unconventional things,” Gaap said before moving his knight chess piece. “Well, I guess that is one way to make his subordinate listen to his orders.”

Asmodeus chuckled before moving his pawn forward. “When Master does things, he does them in a grand way. Even I can’t count how many times I’ve been surprised by his actions, which defy everything a Necromancer stands for. Tell me, Gaap. What kind of Necromancer do you want my Master to become?”

“I want him to become a True Necromancer, but he is not ruthless enough. I’m afraid that if I force him to do something really vile, like desecrating a graveyard, he will resist it with every fiber of his being. What a troublesome child.”

“Ah. I can easily imagine that happening.”

The Archlich once again chuckled before moving his Queen chess piece to the side of the board.

‘Sometimes, the less obvious things make the most impact in the world,’ Asmodeus thought. ‘Regardless of what Lux chooses, we will all support him with everything we got. Even if that meant facing the entire world.’

The Archlich might not know what the Half-Elf intended to do with Gaap’s gift…

However, there was one thing he did know and that was, whatever Lux planned to do, it would certainly be different from the one the old Necromancer had in mind.