Chapter 146: An Unexpected Gain

"What a pity!"

Facing the enthusiastic zombie legion, Lando could only choose to retreat for the moment.

Just as he intended to withdraw first and devise another plan, the Zombie King let out a furious roar and unexpectedly charged at Lando ahead of its troops, a reaction that brought a strange smile to Lando's face.

Taking the lead and bypassing a crowd of guards, the Zombie King lunged forward to tear apart the little bug that had dared to disturb its sleep. Yet just as its hand was about to make contact, the space suddenly shattered, forcefully dragging it into the mindscape.

The scrawny zombie let out another shrill scream as a strange light beamed from its eyes, vaguely illuminating everything within the mindscape.

Lando cast a deep glance at the scrawny zombie hiding in the distance, then waved his hand to summon all his undead creatures—save for the Skeletal Bone King—ordering them to hold their ground while he entered the mindscape himself.

Upon entering the mindscape, Lando found that the hot-tempered Zombie King was already locked in an intense, evenly matched battle with the Skeletal Bone King.

In terms of sheer strength, the Zombie King still held the upper hand. However, as a rare mutated individual, the Skeletal Bone King—despite having just advanced to the legendary tier—was able to trade blows evenly with the veteran legendary powerhouse that was the Zombie King.

The undead outside were carefully selected by Lando and possessed astonishing potential; to avoid any unnecessary losses, Lando went all-out the moment he entered the mindscape, joining the joint assault on the Zombie King.

Chains erupted from the void, tightly binding the Zombie King. Despite the creature's brute strength, it managed to break free from only a few chains before countless more pinned it firmly in place, unable to move.

Layers of curses continuously washed over the Zombie King, draining its power bit by bit.

The Skeletal Bone King's fighting spirit suddenly dimmed a little, and the force behind its strikes slackened. Noticing this, Lando cursed softly under his breath about troublesome complications.

"For every minute we waste here, our people outside face an extra share of danger! As long as you follow me, battles like this will be plentiful in the future!"

The Skeletal Bone King's morale recovered instantly, and its attacks became ruthless once again. With the two of them coordinating seamlessly, they quickly beat the Zombie King to the brink of collapse.

To Lando's surprise, the Zombie King turned out to be stubborn, stubbornly refusing to submit no matter what. Could the brute think it was an unfair fight due to the two-on-one odds? Remembering the Zombie King's berserker-like persona, Lando decided that was highly likely!

However, it mattered little. At Lando's will, a Necromantic Pact condensed in the sky and drifted slowly down toward the Zombie King, rendering all its desperate struggles completely futile.

In the end, the Zombie King failed to resist the Necromantic Pact of the mindscape and was successfully subjugated by Lando.

Ignoring the creature's remaining will, Lando first commanded it to order the zombie legion outside to halt their attack.

The zombie legions looked at one another in bewilderment. With their low intelligence, they clearly could not comprehend why a battle to the death had suddenly turned into a peaceful truce, but since it was their king's order, they naturally obeyed.

Lando stroked his chin as he looked over the army before him, nodding in great satisfaction. Yet what delighted him even more was that scrawny zombie.

Returning to the mindscape once more, only Lando and the Zombie King were present this time, even the Skeletal Bone King having been left outside.

"I know you're unconvinced. Teaming up against you earlier was just a temporary expedient. Now, are you interested in making a bet with me? I won't use the power of the contract to fight you one-on-one. If I win, you will wholeheartedly assist me from now on, and I'll promise you a bright future. How about it?" Lando said to the Zombie King with a beaming smile.

The Zombie King slowly suppressed its surging anger and spoke in a low, hoarse voice, "And if I win?"

Lando chuckled softly and replied, "If you win, I will lift the contract and promise never to bother you again."

"Very well, it's a deal!"

A moment later, the Zombie King, pinned to the ground and utterly powerless to resist, began to question the meaning of its existence. Had the Skeletal Bone King been present, it undoubtedly would have found the scene exceedingly familiar.

Releasing the Zombie King—which had remained silent for a long time before finally radiating waves of submission—Lando injected the nourishing energy of [Nourish the Dead (Purple)] into its body. Feeling the physical changes within, the Zombie King's stiff expression seemed to soften slightly.

Having once again subjugated a powerhouse through old yet effective methods, Lando impatiently left the mindscape with the Zombie King. After a brief inquiry, he learned the origin of the scrawny zombie: it had been accidentally encountered during the retreat from a failed assault on the southern territories of the Imperial Court. Noting its peculiar talent, the Zombie King had kept it by its side to cultivate it, and it now possessed tier-eight strength.

Without a second word, Lando promptly dragged the scrawny zombie into the mindscape and bound it with a contract.

Following that, the scrawny zombie ushered in the darkest period of its undead existence.

***

Just as Lando was plotting his schemes in the southern regions of the Imperial Court, at the exact same moment, atop a certain towering mountain peak in the eastern reaches of the empire.

Claire sat cross-legged with a calm expression atop the peak, while a gray bone dragon boredly crawled back and forth across his body.

Suddenly, a middle-aged man materialized not far from Claire.

Upon spotting the middle-aged man, the gray bone dragon bared a surprisingly human look of malice and opened its jaws to spew a breath of dragon flame, only for an invisible barrier to block the attack just before it struck.

Triggered by the dragon breath, the invisible barrier revealed its complete form—it was an imprisonment formation that had entirely trapped Claire in this very spot.

Claire opened his eyes and said calmly, "Lord Dominic Swan, given your status and strength as the headmaster of the Central Academy, you should certainly be qualified to review the relevant information. So, do you still harbor any doubts about my words? Feel free to voice them. To be honest, I've grown quite weary of being trapped by you for so long."

Dominic Swan—headmaster of the Central Academy and one of the most powerful individuals in the entire Imperial Court—was currently displaying the posture of facing a formidable enemy, even though he was confronting a youngster whom he had trapped and who hadn't even reached the legendary tier yet.

"I still don't understand. Why did you come to my world? What on earth is your goal?!" Dominic asked in a deep voice.

"That is not something you need to know. All you need to understand is that the army of our Arcanist Empire could descend at any moment, and your only way out now is to surrender to me. Only by doing so can you preserve your Blind Spot clan. Although your personal strength is quite respectable among legends, there are no shortage of beings with your level of power within the empire who wish to pledge loyalty to me. The reason I am offering you more generous terms is entirely because your clan is immensely useful to me. As long as you submit, I will do my utmost to ensure the integrity of your clan."

At this moment, Claire's heart was burning with a certain fervor. After thoroughly understanding and studying the situation of the Blind Spot clan's ancestral awakening, he immediately realized that this clan was essentially a natural vassal race for him. That was why he had gone to such lengths to try and persuade Dominic, a top-tier powerhouse of the Imperial Court; otherwise, he would have long since resorted to his trump cards. As for whether he could eventually become a Great Arcanist, such an obvious outcome required no excessive consideration on his part.

Dominic fell silent for a long moment before finally speaking, "Our clan is called... Aatrox!"