Chương 400: (393) 6.7. Landonstein’s Monster

Vin merely stood there for a moment, staring in shock at the scene before them. The undead monster that the Necromancers were desperately trying to keep contained looked like it had been crafted from a combination of bears, wolves, and other creatures he couldn't quite make out. Its body was large and packed with muscle, and its powerfully built limbs tipped with jagged claws carved out of long bones.

A single swipe of them was enough to tear one of the slower-moving undead warriors to pieces, scattering bones and bits of flesh all across the meadow. Landon was hanging off the undead's shoulders, his arms wrapped around the beast's thick neck.

"Keep him contained, don't get too close!" Groth shouted at the other Necromancers.

"We just need to wear him down!"

"Groth!" Vin shouted, releasing Lumel's hand as he sprinted down the hill.

"What is going on?!"

"Vin?!" Groth blinked, clearly surprised to see him. The Necromancer almost lost one of his own undead warriors from his lapse in focus, and he grimaced as he turned his attention back to the battle at hand.

"That is some excellent timing you have there! We could certainly use your help!"

"Why is Landon fighting you all in the first place?" Vin demanded, unsure how or even who to help in the current scenario. While Groth and the others certainly looked like they were the ones on the losing end of this fight, for all he knew Landon was trying to escape from them or something.

"Landon progressed by leaps and bounds over the past few months, but things took a turn for the worse as we ran out of low-tier spells to teach him," Groth admitted, wincing as another undead warrior was crushed under the bulk of Landon's monster.

"He wanted to begin animating humanoid corpses, but our dead are sacred to us, and we treat them with the utmost care. As a compromise, while we were waiting for you to come retrieve him from us, we gathered a large number of animal corpses for him to practice on. It seems he attempted to create his own humanoid to practice on instead, and… well, you can see how that turned out for him."

"That explains the monster, but why is it attacking you?!"

"He's currently lost within a cast of Embody Undead," Groth explained.

"It's one of our more complex tier-3 spells, and not one to be taken lightly. It helps us relive memories of loved ones we've left behind, it was never designed to be utilized to take over a corpse for combat purposes. Currently, Landon's mind is lost in a sea of all the echoes that still remain from the many beasts he used to create that body! That is why we are struggling so, we are attempting to take it down without hurting him!"

Even now, with every jerk of the giant undead's body and swipe of its claws, Landon's body flapped behind it like a loose rag. Upon closer inspection, it was not only clear that Landon's eyes were closed, but that his hands were somehow lodged into the beast's flesh, trapping him in place. His face was pale, but beyond that, he looked as though he were merely sleeping.

"We were hoping to wear him out and wait for him to run out of mana, but the boy has a truly remarkable mana pool for his level," Groth explained.

"He's in the low thirties at this point, and from what I understand, he's put every single attribute point into magic! His low focus is presumably half the reason he's in this mess in the first place!"

"Damn it, Landon," Vin muttered, watching the beast slaughter another undead warrior as he tried to figure out the best course of action. Waiting for him to run out of mana wasn't a bad idea, but with the sheer number of points Landon put into his magic attribute, he probably had a larger mana pool than Vin did at this point. If he'd also picked up Mana Well, then they could be here for ages, and there was no telling what might happen to his actual body.

All it would take was the undead monster falling over backwards, and Landon would be crushed to death in an instant. His thin, bony frame made it obvious the boy hadn't placed a single point into vigor or endurance in all this time.

"Lumel, can you warp behind him and warp his body free from the monster?" Vin asked when he realized Lumel had already caught up to him.

"I don't think it would work. Mass Dimensional Shift requires everyone to consent to being teleported," she said, eyeing up the monster carefully.

"I could keep it in place for a few seconds with Dimensional Lockdown, but it looks strong enough that it will burn through my mana pretty quickly if I try."

"Save that for a last resort then… Groth, what happens if we damage the construct?"

"With Landon's mind still inhabiting it? Nothing good," Groth admitted, cursing under his breath as they lost another undead warrior.

"As I said, there is a reason Embody Undead isn't supposed to be a combat spell. A little damage is okay, but if you were to start lopping off limbs, he may end up crippled in his actual body as well."

"Well there goes that plan," Vin muttered, his idea of bringing out his brand-new sword and going to town struck down. To be honest, that was probably for the best. While he'd trained with the staff under Alka's watchful eye, Vin didn't have the faintest idea how to actually wield a sword beyond slashing at an enemy with the sharp end.

"Okay. I'm going to try to slow him down and see if I can't lock him in place," Vin decided, rolling his shoulders as he stepped forward.

"Lumel, if you wouldn't mind being ready to freeze him in place the moment it looks like he's about to squash me like a bug, I'd appreciate it." Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

"I got you," Lumel said, her face a mask of determination.

"Go get him!" With a nod, Vin ran toward the hulking, undead abomination, laughing to himself about how frequently he found himself sprinting toward what most people would think of as certain death. Landon had seriously outdone himself with his creation. The monster was nearly twice Vin's own height and looked like it could tear him in half even without the sharpened claws. That said, he could praise the idiot later for his impressive and disgusting craftsmanship. First he had to save his life.

Vin darted underneath the first swipe of the beast's claws, his Threat Detection passive giving him ample warning that the attack was coming. That did put him directly in line with the second paw, but he was prepared for that. A quick cast of Dimensional Sheath brought the petrified elderwood door out, which Vin braced against the ground the moment it appeared. Even with his full weight behind it, he was still knocked back a few feet from the force of the paw slamming into the door, but that was fine.

The indestructible wood had stopped the jagged claws from tearing him in half, which meant he was good to get even closer. Diving right up against the beast's legs, Vin cast Binding, connecting the undead's right leg with its left by knotting up the thin layers of reality. Binding was his one and only tier-3 spell, and it was incredibly versatile.

It was also incredibly worthless against undead it would seem, as the portions of the beast's legs he'd anchored the spell to were simply ripped out in a large chunk, not even slowing the monster down as it tried to fall on him and body slam Vin into the ground. But right before its large bulk could crush him and trigger his divine boon, the undead construct froze, the thinnest of purple shimmers coating its body.

Damn it I love that pulmon, Vin thought, grinning as he took advantage of Landon's monster being frozen in space to lunge between its legs and leap up onto its back. As promised, Lumel was forced to drop Dimensional Lockdown after barely two seconds had passed or risk losing all her mana and passing out, but that was more than enough time for him. Now that he was on the monster's back, he held on as the spell was released and the monster finished crashing down onto the ground.

Crawling up to Landon, rather than attempt to rip the young Necromancer's hands out of the undead construct and risk damaging him, Vin pressed a hand to the back of his head, whipping up one of his newest spells that was just perfect for this very situation. With a quick cast of Create Dream, Vin shoved the calmest, most relaxing dream he could possibly think of deep into Landon's unconscious mind. Vin's spell took effect almost instantly.

The undead construct went from roaring and trying to get back onto its hind legs, to freezing and slowly lowering itself back down to the ground. All of the confused rage and anger flowing through the mash up of different beasts bled out from the monster, and Vin let out a sigh of relief at the confirmation it was finally over.

He hadn't been sure if his plan would work, but it seemed even if Landon had been lost in a swirling maelstrom of echoes from the beasts he'd used in his construction, it had still been his mind largely in control of what was going on. They'd gotten lucky that Landon had been functionally unconscious. Vin could tell rather easily that he couldn't just use Create Dream to force someone to fall asleep. It was a spell designed to create dreams, not to knock someone out.

Carefully getting off Landon's back so as not to hurt him, Vin grinned at the circling Necromancers as he wiped a bit of old blood off his face.

"Well, that was certainly exciting. Thank you guys for doing your best not to hurt him."

"Our kindness did not come without cost," Groth frowned, and Vin followed his gaze to the scattered remains of what looked like half-a-dozen of their undead warriors they cared for so deeply.

"Sorry about that," Vin winced, scratching the back of his head.

"I don't suppose you can fix them?"

"We will certainly try," Groth sighed, motioning for the other Necromancers to start collecting what they could.

"I do not blame Landon for this mistake. We didn't know what he was planning to do, or we would have warned him of the folly of his idea. Even so, the destruction of so many of our loved ones is a grave offense. We request that you bring him back to Terra with you. If you encounter any others who are interested in learning about death magic, our door will always be open. But when it comes to him, we are done."

"I understand," Vin said, just thankful that they weren't demanding any sort of retribution for the damages Landon had caused. With that, Groth joined the others and got to work picking up what they could of their treasured undead. After giving them one final nod, and retrieving the small skull he'd given Vin all those months ago, they retreated back into their compound, all but slamming the thick metal doors behind them.

"Well, that could have gone better," Vin said, sighing as he stared at the sealed doors.

"Despite what he said about his doors being open, I feel like we just lost an ally."

"I think the pain is just too fresh," Lumel said, taking his hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"Give him some time. They really seem to love death magic. I'm sure the next time you bring a prospective student his way, he'll be excited to teach again. Maybe just warn them ahead of time that they won't be learning anything too intricate when it comes to humanoid corpses."

"Good idea," Vin said, turning to look at the cause of all their problems. Despite the fact that Landon had been calmed down and was no longer rampaging, he was still firmly lodged within the undead monster, and it didn't look like he'd be coming out anytime soon.

"So… I guess we just wait for him to run out of mana?"

"Sure is a shame you don't know Dream Walk, or you could go in there and slap him," Lumel teased, getting a snort out of him.

"Alright, I get it! I want to learn the spell as well, I'm just so busy! If you don't mind watching him, I can start on reconstructing the spell's runic formation."

"Sounds like a plan," she said, giving him a quick kiss before taking a seat in front of Landon.

"I'll be waiting!"