Who Said A Necromancer Can't Be A Priest?-Chapter 38: Demon Worshippers (1)

Aaran hid in the bushes, waiting for Darius's signal. Since no one could see a ghost, he was the perfect scout. At least in theory.

As usual, several knights were patrolling the border. Aaran had no desire to fight against them and wanted to slip into the Dead Forest as stealthily as possible.

"It's done, little liege!" Darius waved him over.

Without wasting a second, Aaran rushed toward the border. His feet barely made a sound as he ran across the open field. He was about to slip past the barbed wires when a voice stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Halt!"

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Aaran slowly turned around, and sure enough, it was a knight. He looked up at Darius, who looked as shocked as Aaran. He had watched the patrol over a dozen times, but this knight hadn't appeared before.

"This is a restricted section. No one is allowed inside!"

"I—I'm sorry, it's my first time here, so—"

Aaran thought acting innocent would bail him out. After all, he wasn't there without a reason. As long as he acted the part, he could get out of the mess. But luck wasn't on his side.

"Quiet! Get on your knees, hands behind your back!"

Aaran let out a frustrated sigh and did as he was told. The knight approached him, wondering what a kid was doing there as he reached for the restraints.

But the next moment, the knight was kicked to the ground by an invisible force. Baffled, he looked around but couldn't see Darius.

Taking advantage of the moment, Aaran opened the vault behind him. The undead goblins jumped out, strangling the knight. But they were no match for him.

He shrugged off the goblin on his back before focusing on the ones holding his leg. Before he could reach for his sword, Aaran kicked him below the belt.

No matter how strong a knight was, no one could eliminate a man's ultimate weakness.

With the wind knocked out of his lungs, the knight rolled on the ground in pain and was quickly subdued by the goblins.

"Hold him," Aaran instructed the goblins.

"You're an evil god worshipper—!?" the knight asked.

Before he could finish, a goblin shoved its foot into the guy's mouth.

Aaran looked at the goblin, wondering where they were learning these things. But the goblin looked proud and even gave him a thumbs-up.

What's going on with them...?

[We're running out of time, boy.]

"Right."

[Skill: Hypnotic Gaze activated.]

Aaran looked into the knight's eyes. A moment later, the guard stopped resisting.

[Target was hypnotized.]

"You will forget about me," Aaran instructed him. "Return to patrol and continue as if nothing happened here."

"I... will forget..." the knight repeated. "I will... return to patrolling."

Aaran gestured for the goblins to step back. The knight got up and left without a word.

"Tsk, you should have killed him," Darius clicked his tongue.

"Is that why you didn't do your job properly?"

"Little Liege, I already told you. I didn't see that man patrol before."

Aaran looked at the knight's back and wondered if something was off. Darius wouldn't lie to him, and it was unlikely for a random knight to join the patrol out of nowhere.

Something's off...

***

A few minutes later...

"This is the Dead Forest I know of," Aaran mumbled, running his fingers through the red soil.

The red soil was the first thing anyone would notice in the forest. However, it wasn't naturally red. Over the years, the soil had absorbed the blood of countless creatures, including humans, and even had a faint metallic smell of blood everywhere.

Aaran looked up, checking the moon's position. An hour had already passed; he had to move. Fortunately, he didn't have to look far for his first prey.

A low growl was followed by the snapping of twigs scattered around. Aaran looked over his shoulder and saw the Dead Forest's scavenger standing there.

It was a lava hound.

The beast looked like a demon's pet. It had a lean frame similar to that of a hyena, but instead of spots, its skin was covered in cracks that glowed like lava.

Whenever it panted, a little flame flickered on its nose. Just like the little embers that danced around its paws and tail.

That's why it was called a lava hound.

But unlike hyenas, lava hounds didn't hunt in packs. They lived a solitary life, filling their stomachs through scavenging. Hence' their attacks were simple and predictable, which made it easy to hunt them.

One could say lava hounds were the weakest creatures of the Dead Forest, feeding on rotting carcasses. But that didn't mean they couldn't hunt, especially a human child.

The creature snarled as it charged at Aaran.

Aaran didn't move. He stood still, waiting for it to get closer. The hound jumped, its jaw snapping as it aimed for Aaran's neck.

Just then, a hand whizzed past Aaran's head. A sickening crunch followed as the hound's head was crushed into a paste.

"Nice one," Aaran mumbled, looking over his shoulder.

Brute walked out of the vault, eager to fight more. But before that, he picked up the lava hound's twitching body and ripped the corpse apart. The creature's blood splattered on the ground, mixing with the red soil.

Aaran looked at Brute and shook his head.

"I was planning on resurrecting that."

The Dead Forest was a massive place. It would have been good to have a mount to move around. But Brute had other plans.

"Next time, stop after killing them," Aaran reprimanded the summon.

Brute grunted, tossing away what remained of the hound and walking behind Aaran like a bodyguard.

"Little Liege—"

"I know," Aaran whispered.

The rustling of leaves gave life to the forest. In any normal forest, it wouldn't mean much. But this was the Dead Forest.

No creatures in the forest lived on trees, and with no wind blowing, nothing could have made the leaves rustle like that. Unless someone was hiding in the trees, watching him.