T he place where they arrived, following the flower’s residual energy, looked like nothing Raven had ever seen before. The plain that opened up before them was covered with bones like snow. Blindingly white in the sun, the remains looked peaceful, but there was an aura of danger around them.

The necromancers moved slowly, as if they were taking a stroll in the park and not walking on an ancient graveyard, looking around closely for the flower. Surrounded by a host of undead servants, they were still careful, aware that they were entering the den of a powerful monster.

The silence was getting to each of the six men, and the dazzling whiteness of the picked bones hurt their eyes. Despite their power to raise dead monsters, these necromancers weren’t strong enough to transform themselves into liches so they feared that which they worshipped — death: the final destination, the point of no return.

Raven followed his unwilling benefactors, keeping a distance of about sixty feet between them and himself, when the snow-white glade suddenly stirred into motion. The remains came rolling, like sea waves, from the edges of the plain toward the middle. When they collided with a loud crash, a giant snake-like alligator came roaring from beneath.

The monster’s body was hollow, only consisting of bones and compressed energy, as dazzling-white as the bones it enveloped.

Fucking fuck!

“Dorin! Where the hell have you brought us, you idiot?!” Lorik, the stocky, pale-faced necromancer, growled at his younger colleague. As far as Raven could see, Dorin was everyone’s errand boy, probably a novice, and only admitted because of his flower-detecting device.

“Don’t be brash.” Kerrg raised a hand, stopping Lorik, and smirked. “The boy did everything right. It’s just bad luck.”

Duk, the group’s leader, pointed his chin at the waking monster’s head, drawing everyone’s attention to it.

Looking at where he was pointing, Raven saw what he had been looking for.

The flower.

Resembling something between a lily and a lotus, the bony plant was the source of the white energy that was spreading around in waves. Unmoved by the wind, it seemed to be deeply rooted in the monster’s skull.

Cursing Hendelson, Raven used Identification — and his anger immediately gave place to amazement.

Name: Kharses the Collector

Rank: Marquis

Level: 145

HP: 615,000

A tamable Marquis! As Raven rejoiced at this opportunity, the necromancers had already put the Silent Guards between themselves and Kharses and begun a complicated group spell.

“Ah, no. Not on my watch,” Raven muttered and rushed toward them, activating Stealth.

He wasn’t going to fight them; not until he tamed Kharses at least. But he had to interrupt the apparently powerful spell brewing in the air. Hundreds of barely visible clots of gray dust that looked like swirls of raising ash were pulled into the center of the circle formed by the necromancers to give birth to a strange creature. Wriggling and growling, it struggled to break free. Fortunately, its half-formed body wouldn’t allow it.

Covered by Stealth, Raven took out his crossbow and, choosing the best position, unleashed Metal Rain on the group — but the result surprised him. Although all bolts hit their target, the damage was completely absorbed by the Silent Guards.

There were no bleeding wounds on any of the necromancers. None of them seemed to pay any notice to the attack, continuing their spell. Their creation was rapidly coming to life, gaining speed and strength, and forming distinct facial features, already on the verge of storming into this world.

Raven gritted his teeth. His invisibility had been ripped off by the attack so he took his dagger and used Leap. Landing, he summoned Hade and his clone for distraction as he targeted the closest necromancer — Lorik.

The veil of smoke should’ve hidden him from the Silent Guard, but once his dagger was an inch away from Lorik’s neck, a blade of bone that seemed to appear from thin air parried his blow. With a screech, the Heart Dagger passed a hair’s breadth below Lorik’s jugular.

Raven fell, losing his balance, and rolled to the side. Touching the barrier by accident, he felt freezing cold. This magic seemed eager to take over his body. The summoned creature could become a real pain in his ass if he didn’t find a way to stop it.

He had to destroy the circle, or interrupt at least one of the necromancer’s chants before he could try to tame Kharses. But the moment he thought about it, the monster wheeled around, its tail raising a small tornado of bones, then looked up and let out a roar that stopped the projectiles in the air and hurled them at the undead.

The blow was so powerful that it ripped apart the first rows of skeletons, zombies, and ghosts, sending them back to whence they came. About twenty undead puppets perished within five seconds. This kind of damage was comparable with that of Ultimate skills possessed by spellcaster classes.

Raven’s clone was evaporated by the attack, forcing the skill to enter cooldown. Hade was seriously wounded, her HP near zero, so he had to send her back.

Good reptile... I like you.

Even when the monster wounded Hade, he felt no anger, just an even greater desire to tame the thing.

The chanting necromancers remained his main problem. There was no time to enjoy their performance as their monster could kill his future pet.

The cult members could do nothing to stop Raven, just grit their teeth, and put their hopes with the Silent Guards. If their spell were interrupted, the powerful backlash would make them so weak that they wouldn’t be able to even beg Raven to spare their life.

That was the exact purpose they had created the Silent Guards for. Necromancers had many powerful group spells; but to use them, they had to focus and remain put.

As Raven considered his plan, the Silent Guards focused on him. They didn’t move, just watched, ready to stop any of his attacks.

You guys are annoying...

Raven went over his skill list, looking for the one most suitable for this situation. And then he got an idea. He pulled out one of the remaining scrolls from his inventory and, tossing it into the air, broke the seal.

The parchment flashed with blue fire. Once it was reduced to ashes, a peal of thunder came from the sky and a ray of incinerating energy hit the necromancers.

The scroll Raven had just spent was extremely rare and meant for crowd control, which was why he had been reluctant to use it until now.

As a rogue with a peculiar specialization, he had many powerful skills, but this scroll was comparable to a nuke: too strong to be wasted on a single enemy. If there ever was a good moment to use it, it was now.

The attack was too powerful even for the Silent Guards to block.

ENERGY RAY OF HEAVENLY RETRIBUTION

Type: Scroll

Rank: Diamond

Description: In the hour of need, call to the Heavens to incinerate your enemies.

The targets will be reduced to ashes by a powerful ray of energy.

Does 3,000–4,500 sacred magic damage.

Effects: Disorientation, Faintness, Smoking Flesh

Activation: Break the scroll.

Casting time: 5 seconds

Range: 80 feet

Affected area: 15 feet

Duration: 4 seconds

Cost: 1,200 mana

With his Intelligence currently at one hundred and twenty-five points, he had enough mana to use this scroll, which was extremely uncommon for a rogue.

The Silent Guards failed to completely protect the necromancers who received their fair share of damage. Considering that the damage was sacred, this spell was perfect against this group. As were the time and place.

Once Raven saw the necromantic spell dispersing, he dashed toward Kharses and, retrieving the Obedience Crystal out of his inventory on the run, activated it.

Do you want to tame Kharses the Collector?

“Yes!”

Before he could rejoice at his success, the flower on the alligator’s head, previously unshaken even by the beast’s most violent trashing, swayed, releasing a flash of light that intercepted the Crystal’s blue energy.

You have used the Obedience Crystal.

Taming failed.

Shocked, Raven came to a sudden halt, struggling to believe his eyes. His brows jerked up and his jaw dropped.

That fucking flower. It messed up my plan! That fucking dwarf!

Cursing Hendelson again, Raven realized that this quest had just reached a new level of difficulty.