The Black Necromancer

Leon examined the souls for a moment before making a gesture with his fingers. Instantly, a black vortex appeared and sucked all the souls into it in one swift move. They would be processed by the Abyss of the Undead and turned into loyal soldiers for his Undead Army.

"Good work. You can carry on with what you want to do." Leon nodded at Grokus and the latter bowed and disappeared from view.

Leon reclined in his chair and continued to bask in the sunlight for a good while longer before he felt a presence probe at his mind in a way that was asking for permission. Confused, he consented, and a mental connection was formed with him.

"Hello, Your Excellency, Leon. Please, forgive my rudeness, but I have been ordered by my leader, Drukali, to contact you and ask for an audience with you." A young, timid male voice came from the mental connection and Leon realized that it was the Dragons that had contacted him.

'These people just don't give up.' Leon thought to himself and shook his head.

"Tell him I will be there within the hour." Leon replied and cut off the connection. He got up from his seat with a sigh. It seemed he would need to attend to them sooner rather than later.

"I need to go and meet the dragons now. They are very... insistent on getting what they want." Leon told Nedra, even though she was already aware.

"Take your time. I reckon we have a lot of time before anything too big comes up this time around." She said with a smirk.

"You're right. With all that's been going on, I doubt anything too big is going to bother us soon." Leon agreed and turned to leave. He did not teleport to the place the dragons had landed. Instead, he planned to take his time and walk.

Leon was not taking his time because he looked down on the dragons. It was not that. Rather, he was thinking of how he would go about this meeting. The dragons were adamant about taking Mica, and he did not want that to happen. This would only lead to them butting heads, and he was in no way a good diplomat to come to a good consensus on this matter.

'Ugh... I really need to shore up on non-combat professionals.' He thought to himself.

Now that he was not fighting all the time, he was coming to realize the urgent lack of proper diplomats and other professions in his budding kingdom. While he could find rather ordinary professionals like architects, carpenters, blacksmiths, and the like in Fort White already, more important professionals that had to do with government work and the like were rarer, as they had already been gobbled up by other powerful kingdoms.

As he thought, Leon walked over to the place that the dragons had landed. All forty of them had remained in their true forms, as it was more comfortable.

Leon did not need to search for Drukali. The Dragon Chieftain was large and imposing, standing at over fifty meters in height, and even longer in length. His head was framed by four thick, black dragon horns and thick, glistening scales that looked as if they were made of gems.

"Leon."

"Drukali."

The two stood opposite each other as they acknowledged the other party. A tense silence passed before Drukali shrunk in size. His body morphed into a humanoid figure, but instead of a human form, he adopted a humanoid form that was a mix between human and dragon. He stood at three meters in height and was covered in bright red scales. His fingers and toes were also tipped with sharp claws.

"I apologize for coming unannounced, but I have made a decision." Drukali spoke first. "We will like to speak with the young dragon. We want to know if he is willing to learn from us."

Leon tilted his head. "You want to bribe him with knowledge?" He asked, not even hiding his doubtful tone.

"No. We will also extend an offer to the person he has grown with. It could be a win-win situation." Drukali shook his head.

"...If this was left to me, then perhaps I could have accepted your earlier offer. And aside from that, I am not comfortable with exposing them to danger." Leon said after a while. He also discreetly reached out to Nedra and told her to pass the news to Elena.

Right now, Elena was roaming the battlefields of the south and prowling, searching for any Demon that was lagging behind. The war had basically come to an end, but some Demons and demonic beasts had been left behind because of how quickly their forces rushed in retreat. They had been unable to join them to return to their continent.

Immediately, Nedra did as she was told and reached out to the White Millipedes that had been sent to watch over Elena. They immediately responded and passed the message to Elena.

The message was that she should return to Fort White. It also included the reason why so that she would know what was going on.

"The young dragon and his master are on their way." Leon told Drukali when he received a response.

"Ah, thank you." Drukali smiled, but the smile was vicious and looked like the mocking grin of a blood thirsty creature. "Before they get here, there is something I want you to have. As a sign of peace and cooperation between my people and yours." Drukali turned back and waved at one of the dragons behind him. One of the dragons at the back stepped forward with a familiar chest in his hands.

"This is a gift from the Dragon Clans. I hope you can see us in a favorable light in the future." Drukali took the chest and handed it to Leon.

Leon was caught off guard by the gesture. He looked at the taller person before him and asked, "Are you bribing me?"

Drukali's face froze for a moment before he burst into laughter. "Bribery? Ha! The Dragon Clans do not indulge in such acts. We are direct and straight forward. I like your strength, and hope not to have it turned against me in the future. I am only taking this measure to ensure we retain the friendship of a powerful being such as yourself." He explained directly without hiding anything.

"Oh?" Leon was taken aback by Drukali's forthcoming personality. He liked these kind of people. People who did not scheme and plot so much. Even though he could tell when someone was lying, it was still a hassle to try and understand their schemes and plans. "Well, I will gratefully accept this." Leon took the chest from Drukali with a grin. He cracked it open and reached inside, pulling out one of the precious Gravida Ores.

The ore pulsed dimply with Gravity mana and Leon felt a slight connection to it. His high affinity for Gravity magic made him sensitive to the mana within the ore.

"This is an excellent material for making weapons or armor with an extra flare. Someone like you will surely be able to use it to its best." Drukali said. Obviously, by now, Leon's affinity for Gravity magic was old news.

"Thank you. I appreciate this gesture. Don't worry, the Dragon Clans are my friends, and I never treat friends badly. Just keep in mind that this does not mean that I can make the people you want to see agree to your terms." Leon said.

"Of course, I understand." Drukali waved his arms. He then stepped back and turned in the direction of the south. His eyes focused on a dark spot in the distance and Leon also turned to look.

"They are here." Drukali said and Leon nodded.

In the sky, Elena held onto Mica's long neck as the young dragon carried her in the direction of Leon and his distant kin. His eyes were bright and curious as he looked at the gathered dragons.

Whoosh!

Mica's wings threw up dust in the air as he landed beside Leon. Elena hopped down from his back and stood beside Mica. Her hand was placed on his side as she stared up at Drukali.

"You must be the one who wants to take my Mica away, right?" She asked with a serious frown and Leon resisted the urge to laugh. Drukali would be in for an earful.

---

End of Volume Three!

This Volume was 212 whooping chapters long! I swear this is my longest so far lol. It was a trying journey, but now we're here. I can say that there will be roughly two more Volumes to go. I can't say much about their length, but there will be at least 200 more chapters before this book comes to an end. Updates will continue tomorrow with a daily output of at least one chapter. See you then!