‘This guy is a bit strange…’

  Rusty arrived at the scene and immediately defeated one of the humans attacking his new summoner. The man was barely a lesser D-rank in terms of power, someone Rusty could deal with casually at this point. Unfortunately, there were many more enemies nearby, and a large number of them were already moving in their direction. To make matters even more peculiar, the necromancer who had summoned him was in the middle of an enthusiastic monologue, cackling loudly to himself.

  “Yes! I knew this wouldn’t be the end for me! Rise, my champion! Show these zealots the folly of crossing Vesperus Mortis!”

  The necromancer threw his arms wide, his cloak flapping dramatically despite the near absence of wind. His laughter echoed far too loudly for someone who was supposedly hiding, and Rusty could already hear multiple sets of footsteps converging on their position.

  “So that’s my new summoner… He has a lot of mana, but he looks fragile.”

  One of the biggest problems with summoners was their overreliance on their minions. Their bodies were weak, they lacked stamina, and they required constant protection. Worse still, if they were injured too severely, the summon would be canceled, and everything would be over. Now Rusty had to protect this man from the approaching attackers while he continued to draw attention to himself.

  “Vesperus Mortis was it? Can you be quiet? You are going to get yourself killed like that. Aren’t necromancers supposed to be smarter than this?”

  “Ha… ha?”

  The Necromancer was taken aback by Rusty speaking to him directly. Rusty knew that talking summons were quite rare, and his reaction was similar to Gwen’s, yet still different.

  “This armor is truly special. Of course it is. I am the one who summoned it!”

  The man cackled even louder before continuing.

  “Minion! You shall protect your master and kill all of those pesky paladins for me!”

  Rusty stared at the necromancer for half a second longer than necessary.

  “…Right.”

  There was no time to argue semantics. The forest erupted with motion as more figures burst through the bushes. The previous encounter had alerted everyone to the Necromancer’s presence, and Rusty needed to deal with the situation quickly.

  Steel boots advanced through the undergrowth, along with blue and white tabards bearing a strange religious symbol he did not recognize. It looked like a seven-pointed star with a circle in the middle. The paladins wore mostly half-plate armor, with breastplates layered over chain mail. Their primary weapons were swords, with some carrying shields as well. There were several obvious weak points. None of them wore helmets, and the chainmail did not cover their legs, leaving their thighs and knees exposed.

  “There he is, kill the Necromancer!”

  One of the paladins charged at full speed, a two-handed sword raised high, his eyes locked not on Rusty but on the frail man behind him. Rusty stepped into the charge instead of backing away, meeting the strike with his shield. His recently gained parrying skill activated, and the clash between the two began.

  Sparks flew on impact as Rusty pushed back, his shield absorbing far more force than a normal human could endure. The paladin’s momentum carried him forward, but Rusty shifted his stance, pivoted, and drove his sword upward into the attacker’s unprotected thigh. The man went down screaming, and moments later, his head flew through the air as Rusty followed up with a swift secondary strike.

  “Be careful. That creature is not a simple living armor fiend!”

  Once the remaining paladins realized they were not facing an ordinary suit of possessed armor, they slowed their advance. One of them had fallen, but two still remained. Before they could form a tactic, Rusty pressed forward. The enchantments on his body glowed as his skills enhanced his strength, agility, and reaction time. He knocked the two men aside with ease, though the wounds he inflicted were not especially deep.

  ‘Are they healing themselves?’

  As Rusty backed away, he saw a strange aura erupt from one of the paladins while the other assumed a defensive stance. A golden light spread across the ground as the praying man channeled his power, and Rusty watched as the shallow wounds and nicks he had inflicted began to mend at an alarming rate. While the paladins were not particularly strong, they possessed an unusual ability to heal themselves, and the golden aura also seemed to extend to the summoner standing with them.

  “Gah, blasted light of healing. Get them away from me, my minion. Kill those two now!”

  Vesperus Mortis appeared to be a human, but the radiant glow of what was likely holy magic clearly affected him. Rusty was familiar with divine magic. While it did not harm him since he was not undead, he had seen priests use it to destroy groups of zombies. This necromancer seemed similar to those creatures in more ways than one.

  Rusty surged forward again, refusing to give the paladins time to fully organize. His sword flashed in tight, efficient arcs, each strike aimed for a quick kill or a critical blow. A shield bash crushed one man’s jaw, and a swift thrust pierced another through the eye socket. Moments later, the last paladin took a brutal kick to the chest that sent him flying into a nearby tree.

  Rusty raised his weapon, ready to deliver the finishing blow, but then the necromancer shouted to stop him.

  “Stop, my minion! Leave this one alive. Just hold him down for me!”

  “Hm… okay?”

  Rusty was not sure what the man was planning, but his summoner was not his enemy. He was also curious about what the pale necromancer intended to do. He soon had his answer when the man placed a hand on the paladin’s shattered face and began to channel a strange form of magic.

  The paladin began to squirm and thrash, his body jerking as if struck by a powerful lightning spell. Sickly green energy flowed out of him and into Vesperus. It appeared to be some kind of life-absorbing magic. The paladin’s skin grew pale while the necromancer’s complexion became more rosy. Though Vesperus remained pale overall, his body gained visible vitality and even additional muscle mass.

  For a moment, all seemed well. Soon, however, the momentum shifted as more enemies arrived. Their boots thundered through the forest as at least a dozen more paladins burst from between the trees. Rusty’s life detection skill warned him, and it seemed they were approaching from multiple sides.

  “Form up! Shields forward!”

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  “There’s the abomination. Surround it!”

  “By the Light, purge them both!”

  Metal rang as the newcomers locked their shields together and advanced as one. This was no longer a simple battle where Rusty could defeat them one by one. They pushed forward relentlessly, even as his own shield strained against theirs.

  “What are you doing, my minion? Push them away. Kill them all for your master. I command it!”

  The necromancer seemed rather poor at battle strategy, as the situation did not look promising for either of them. Even if Rusty could defeat a dozen paladins on his own, he was almost certain that Vesperus would be attacked at some point. The man looked more lively after draining one of the paladins, but he was still far from being in peak condition.

  “There are too many of them. This calls for a strategic retreat!”

  Rusty replied to his so-called master as he turned around. Vesperus looked utterly confused when he suddenly found himself lifted off the ground and slung over Rusty’s shoulder.

  “What are you doing, minion? I told you to kill them. Are you going against your master?”

  “Um, I suppose I am. Your plan is kind of stupid, so hold on.”

  The necromancer was taken aback by the response. Shocked that a monster he summoned would call him stupid.

  “How dare you…”

  Before he could finish speaking, Rusty took off into the dark forest at full speed. Both Vesperus and the paladins were stunned by the sudden turn of events. Only after exchanging glances and losing a few precious seconds did the paladins react and give chase.

  Rusty crashed through the undergrowth like a living battering ram, branches snapping and bushes exploding outward as his metallic frame forced a path through the forest. Roots threatened to trip him, rocks slid beneath his boots, but his balance held. His body enhanced by skills assisted in carrying the necromancer faster than any man in full armor would ever be able to, but behind him, chaos erupted.

  “After them! Don’t let the abomination escape!”

  “Loose arrows!”

  “Spears, now!”

  He twisted his torso mid-run, angling his shield backward just as the first volley flew. Thud. Thud. Thang. Arrows shattered against enchanted alloy or glanced off at sharp angles. One spear clipped his shoulder plate, skidding away in a spray of sparks instead of punching through. The force still staggered him a half-step, but he did not slow. Vesperus bounced painfully against Rusty’s back, half-dangling over his shoulder.

  “Unhand me, you insolent construct! I am your master! Put me down at once!”

  “If I put you down, you die in about three seconds.”

  Another spear whistled past, close enough that Vesperus yelped and clutched at Rusty’s armor.

  “I… you make a good point, my minion… Go faster, don’t you dare drop me!”

  “Sure… but where?”

  Rusty asked because he had no idea where he was or where he was supposed to go. The mission description implied there was some kind of destination the necromancer needed to reach, and that it would be completed if he managed to get there.

  “Where? Of course, we need to reach the…”

  Vesperus cut himself off, his teeth clicking together as Rusty leapt over a fallen log without slowing. The necromancer bounced hard, hissed in pain, then cursed under his breath.

  “The Deathly Primeval Woods! Only there is the death energy strong enough to harm those blasted paladins! I will construct my new lair there!”

  “Okay, so where are these Deathly Primeval Woods? Aren’t we already in a forest?”

  “Stupid minion. We must pass through the Bottomless Chasm of a Thousand Poisons, then cross the Snowy Yeti Mountains, and finally traverse the Lake of Stormy Serpents!”

  “That sounds like a lot. How long will that take?”

  Rusty was surprised by this turn of events. Usually, when he chose a new summoner, the mission took only a couple of hours at most. This journey, however, seemed far longer than he had expected.

  “At this pace, we should arrive in a week or two, assuming those paladins do not get in our way. Can you not go any faster, minion? I believe they are getting closer!”

  Rusty glanced back and saw more paladins chasing after them. They were closing the distance, but he had one clear advantage over them. His stamina was unlimited. He activated his Lesser Twilight Embrace skill, which boosted all of his stats, including agility and running speed. He surged forward at a pace far faster than the paladins, who continued the chase on foot until they eventually vanished behind the dense forest.

  Rusty did not slow down. The forest blurred into a smear of green and brown as he navigated the uneven terrain, every branch, rock, and root anticipated by his enhanced reflexes. Vesperus Mortis thumped painfully against Rusty’s shoulder, shrieking and flailing in protest.

  “Minion! Minion, do you even listen? Let me down already. Those paladin fools are already gone!”

  “Are they?”

  Rusty ended the use of his skills as his mana ran dangerously low. While it was true that their pursuers were gone, that did not mean the mission was over. To make matters worse, this necromancer did not seem like someone who would cooperate easily. Even now, he had not lent a single drop of mana during the whole debacle, something Gwen would have done without being asked.

  “Why are you yelling? I can hear you just fine. We can rest for now, but let’s get you to that Deathly Primeval Wood quickly. I still have things to do.”

  Rusty decided to set him down. The old man stared at him with visible confusion, unsettled probably by Rusty’s appearance but also by the fact that he was talking back and clearly not following orders.

  “Now listen here, minion. I am in charge here, do you understand?”

  “You are in charge?”

  “Yes, indeed. I am your master!”

  “Are you, though?”

  Rusty stepped closer, his frame towering over the wiry man. The necromancer looked intimidated, but it did not stop him from speaking.

  “Now now, calm down, minion. We are all civilised here. There is no need for this. You certainly are not a normal creature.”

  Vesperus backed away.

  ‘Could the spell have malfunctioned somehow? This minion is still protecting me, but it seems to have a mind of its own.’

  Vesperus circled Rusty as he started thinking things through, glancing at him from every angle.

  “You know that I can hear you, right?”

  The last remark had been spoken only in the man’s thoughts. Much like Gwen, he could share them if he wished.

  “Fascinating. You heard that? Do you hear this?”

  Unlike Gwen, his learning capabilities were far greater. Almost instantly, he figured out how to block his true thoughts from Rusty.

  “No, I can’t hear that. You learn quite fast.”

  Vesperus froze, then straightened his robes with force as if the reaction was uncalled for.

  “Of course I did. I am Vesperus Mortis!”

  “Yes, yes, very impressive, but we should probably move again.”

  “Move? Why? We have already…”

  Rusty’s life detector warned him that more trouble was coming, and they needed to move. The two of them stood in an elevated clearing, and from that vantage point they could see a swarm of torches advancing toward them. These were not merely a dozen paladins but close to a hundred, perhaps even more.

  “Blasted… why can’t those people leave me alone! I haven’t even killed anyone in a while!”

  Vesperus complained, but Rusty reminded him of the man the necromancer had just drained of life.

  “Didn’t you just kill that one paladin?”

  “That doesn’t count… Anyway, let’s go, minion!”

  The necromancer stepped behind Rusty and tapped his metallic back.

  “Bend down. How do you expect me to get on your back like this?”

  Rusty was unsure what the necromancer had in mind, but he bent slightly anyway. Moments later, he found himself forced to act as a mount, carrying the man on his back. He had expected the mission to be difficult, but he had not imagined it would involve transporting this individual while avoiding open conflict. Still, if he wanted to earn more points and grow stronger, it was something he had to endure.

  “Well, go on then. We have a long way to travel before we reach our destination, minion!”

  “My name is Rusty, not minion!”

  Rusty nodded and finally took off, his metal limbs clanking briefly before he activated a silencing enchantment. Soon, the two of them disappeared back into the forest and continued on their way, with the paladins in hot pursuit.