"Well, that doesn't seem to make much sense..."
As everyone knows, undead creatures neither fear death nor tire. Even if they knew a bar of soap lay ahead, they'd still stoop to pick it up without hesitation. The only thing that can truly terrify an undead is a being even more powerful than itself.
But looking at Leon, is there anything about him that even remotely resembles an undead?
Could it be the Sage's Chapter at work again?
No, that's not it...
Just now, I put the Sage's Chapter in my pocket.
And this isn't just any pocket. Twenty years of surviving the apocalypse taught me to keep all important things close. So, after arriving in this era, the very first enchanted item I made was this black robe I'm wearing. Especially its pockets—I used three separate alchemical arrays on them. Besides keeping potions at a constant temperature, they also seal off any magical fluctuations.
When the Sage's Chapter was in my pocket earlier, even Soul Fire couldn't reach it. How could it possibly affect a skeleton warrior?
To make sure, Leon even ran a little test. He placed the Sage's Chapter on the ground, then used a delayed fireburst to lure over a skeleton warrior.
The result? The skeleton warrior passed right by the Sage's Chapter without even glancing at it, charging straight ahead...
After finishing off the skeleton warrior with a single Flame Spear, Leon bent down to pick up the Sage's Chapter. This experiment was enough to prove his earlier judgment was correct—the skeleton warrior's strange behavior had nothing to do with the Sage's Chapter.
But if it wasn't the Sage's Chapter, then what was it?
Leon carefully recalled his recent experiences. The only thing that could possibly be linked to undead creatures was the Prince's Crypt in Venomfog Gorge. And within that crypt, the Death Garden was the most suspicious...
But the only thing I brought out of the Death Garden was the Sage's Chapter...
"Wait!" At that thought, Leon suddenly froze. No, that's not right. The Sage's Chapter wasn't the only thing I brought out of the Death Garden...
I myself also walked out of the Death Garden!
It's an ability!
It's an ability I gained from the Death Garden!
The moment that thought surfaced, Leon remembered someone.
After the Lich King Sandro, the second legendary conqueror of the Undead Plane—a Worldshaper who nearly single-handedly opposed Sandro's undead legion: Charles the Conqueror.
When Charles the Conqueror was only eight, his entire family was slaughtered under the iron hooves of Sandro's undead army. Barely escaping with his life, Charles struggled at the bottom of society for ten years, fueled only by his hatred for Sandro. By the age of twenty, he became a mage. Honestly, a twenty-year-old mage wasn't anything special; at that time, Charles could only join a second-rate mercenary band.
Yet it was in that second-rate mercenary band that Charles soared. At twenty-one, he became a Grand Mage; by twenty-five, an Archmage; and at thirty, he was counted among the Title Archmages.
What followed was a life that became pure legend.
With that mercenary band, Charles conquered dozens of planes over the course of a century. His dazzling achievements earned him the title of 'Conqueror.'
In the end, Charles entered the Undead Plane alone, wiping out the undead legion Sandro left behind. He made sure not a single undead remained. That battle shook the entire Northend World, and Charles was worshipped as a legend. But after conquering the Endless Plane, Charles didn't hesitate—he followed in Sandro's footsteps, and the two vanished into the rifts of time and space, never to be heard from again in Northend.
During the golden age of magical civilization, these two were living legends.
Leon remembered that Charles the Conqueror had also entered the Death Garden. He even publicly admitted that the ability he gained there was called 'Bane of the Undead.'
Back then, Charles—wielding the Bane of the Undead—could exert a natural aura of dread over any undead creature. Even spectral ancient dragons or bone titans, beings found only in legends, would tremble before him. Charles spent his life fighting undead, slaughtering thousands, and became their ultimate nemesis. Any undead who faced him would feel terror deep in their soul.
Even after Sandro and Charles both vanished into the Endless Plane, their legends remained in Northend. Countless powerful mages searched everywhere for the Death Garden, all hoping to obtain two abilities: the Undying Pact and the Bane of the Undead.
Especially the Bane of the Undead...
Back then, nearly every mage agreed: Charles's greatest pride was a life spent fighting the undead, but his greatest regret was also a life spent fighting the undead.
If Charles had faced more varied enemies, perhaps he would have discovered that this ability wasn't limited to just the undead...
Unfortunately, when Charles the Conqueror vanished, the Bane of the Undead disappeared with him. Even as Northend World fell to magical exhaustion and ruin, no one ever managed to prove those old theories.
Now, Leon has that chance...
Because Leon is almost certain—the ability he possesses is, nine times out of ten, the same Bane of the Undead that Charles once wielded.
No wonder I didn't notice anything at first. It's because the Undying Pact and Bane of the Undead aren't the same—the Undying Pact is an active ability, while Bane of the Undead is passive.
In other words, as long as I stand here, the Bane of the Undead is always active. This ability won't change my body in any way.
As for why I have this ability, Leon more or less has an idea now.
Didn't that unlucky Grandmaster say...
"Every choice you make in the illusion could affect your final reward."
Back then, Leon had worried that, in the illusion, he'd spent the whole time casting spells and fighting, never making any real choices. Would that mean he'd end up with nothing in the end?
Now Leon understood...
Constant spellcasting and endless battle were choices in themselves.
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Second update of the day, classmates! Rolling around and begging for Sanjiang votes—I've been dropped by over a hundred votes, it's unbearable!!!