The misty figure of the Cursed Necromancer King suddenly flickered as if trembling when he heard Jacob's words, and its crimson eyes glowed even more intensely.
"Who are you, and what do you know about curses?" He spoke again, but his voice no longer had any killing intent but agitation.
Jacob coldly replied, "I'm someone you can't afford to offend in your current situation. As for what I know about cures, I know enough to understand that this curse should be cast by a powerful Evil Poison Lord on you, but when you try to break it with a blood sacrifice ritual, you only make it worse, thus turning your current situation and your nation into this walking dead.
"You're only sane because you're using the law essence and that formation to keep the curse in check, and if I'm not wrong, you wanted to use my student special constitution to give another try breaking the curse."
Jacob's voice grew colder and colder, "But it seemed you're lucky that no harm came to her, or we won't be having this conversation."
The Cursed Necromancer King's figure trembled even more violently because Jacob had almost guessed everything, especially the part about this curse cast by an Evil Poison Lord.
After all, only an Evil Poison Lord or someone with high attainment in curses can see through the curse on the valley or, more accurately, on the Cursed Necromancer King!
Now, the Cursed Necromancer King almost believed Jacob's words since, despite his terrible situation and living between life and death for countless years in torment, the Cursed Necromancer King never gave up hope on getting rid of this curse, and Elia was the biggest chance he had to finally achieve it.
However, Jacob's prowess and his means of entering this place without alerting his army or triggering any traps in this black while also remaining fine from the corrosion of the curse source outside held more weight than Jacob had expected.
"If you can really lift this curse, everything in the Necromancer Kingdom is yours!" The Cursed Necromancer King spoke, his tone somewhat respectful yet still eerier as it quickly promised without even hesitating, as if getting rid of the curse was more important than anything to him.
Jacob was surprised because he wasn't expecting things to go this smoothly. He thought the Cursed Necromancer King would negotiate with him, but it seemed he had underestimated the Cursed Necromancer King's obsessive obsession with getting rid of this curse.
Nonetheless, there was a huge possibility that the Cursed Necromancer King was only agreeing on the surface, and once the curse was lifted, he would turn on Jacob. So, Jacob wasn't going to do it without any insurance despite knowing that what the Cursed Necromancer King just said was the truth.
On the other hand, Elia, who was now standing behind Jacob, looked at him with reverence. She wasn't expecting this terrifying entity to be subdued by her teacher so easily, and she felt even more ashamed of herself for going against Jacob's command.
Jacob paid little heed to Elia and said, "Since that's the case, I need some assurance that you won't go back on your words. After all, words mean little in the face of benefits, and that army outside makes me a little uncomfortable."
The Cursed Necromancer King seemed to expect this as he asked, "How should I address you? What is your esteemed King Title?"
'It seemed every legendary king had a title in here. But being called a 'King' forget it...' Jacob thought before he replied, "Just call me Faceless Ancient."
"Faceless...Ancient..." Cursed Necromancer King repeated before it asked, "Faceless Ancient, what do you know about Necromancy practiced by the Alive Races?"
"I don't know how this question is relevant to our current situation," Jacob replied with a hint of coldness. He didn't know why this guy suddenly became so talkative.
"It has everything to do with it, especially your concern." The Cursed Necromancer King replied, "It's common knowledge in Zodiac Plains that Necromancers are powerful practitioners who manipulate death and the forces that govern it.
"Their magic revolves around commanding the undead, communing with spirits, and wielding death energy, also known as necrotic energy. They are often feared and revered for their ability to control life's end, walking the boundary between life and death.
"But the thing is, everyone confused Necromancers with Dark Beings since they all had a common conception that only Dark Beings can manipulate evil elements like Death, Poison, Curse, Darkness, and many more.
"However, this is only the view of a frog thinking from the bottom of a well. The boundary between Dark Beings and Living Beings became extremely thin when they became Legendary Rank Beings because they started to tap into laws.
"You might agree with me that laws are unbiased and impartial; they won't distinguish between right or wrong, alive or dark beings; they can be comprehended by anyone who is worthy of comprehending them.
"Necromancy is also the same since at the legendary rank, it won't be exclusive to the Lich Race of the Dark Beings, and even Living Beings can also practice it as long as they can grasp the law of death's first concept, 'Necrosis.'
"But the living beings didn't accept Necromancers, Dark Alchemists, or even Evil Poison Lords of their own race and even consider them traitors, yet those with the holy magic at their command are considered heroes and saviors.
"So, they live in hiding or are even compelled to join the Dark Beings out of sheer resentment and a sense of betrayal, and the biggest enemy who drives them to this extent is the Cardinal Spirit Temple!
"On the other hand, the Dark Beings used this to turn more talented people into their pawns, and they grew stronger and stronger. That's why I created the Necromancer Kingdom to give a place to such individuals, and we only have one goal: to earn acceptance among the living. "And after countless hardships and overcoming many ploys of the Temple, many Living Necromancers, individuals from various races who have mastered the Death Element, usually after rigorous training and dark rituals, started to join my kingdom.
"For these practitioners, Necromancy is a learned discipline that requires the ability to manipulate death energy and form contracts with undead creatures. Mind you, these undead creatures are the same ones that the Lich Race summons, not corpses that turn undead. "Because these summoned creatures possess their life force, which means they must rely on external sources to draw on necrotic energy like resources filled with life such as herbs or ores with life energy, unlike the Dark Necromancers of the Dark Beings who feed their summons living beings or life crystals.
"While they wield death magic, they retain their life essence and rely on rituals, magical artifacts, or dark pacts to sustain their necrotic power, and it's tough to make progress
without committing a mass genocide.
"Moreover, Living Necromancers are often more versatile because they retain the adaptability of living races and can combine necromancy with other magical disciplines or
elements.
"Some can integrate their necromancy with life elements for unusual abilities, like drawing from both the living and the dead to perform hybrid spells. Lastly, unlike Dark Necromancers, living ones are bound by natural aging. They can still die unless they resort to unnatural methods to extend their lives or perform a taboo ritual and turn undead themselves, becoming Undead Necromancers.
"But not many will do it since becoming Undead Necromancers means losing our identities as living and, thus, our emotions and attachments. We'll become a genuine part of the Dark
Being's Undead Race.
"Undead Necromancers are beings that have transcended life and become part of the undead. These Necromancers typically started as living beings, but through dark rites or powerful death magic, they embraced undeath to harness greater necrotic power. These beings are often liches, wraiths, undead, or other races of Dark Beings.
"However, the temptation is also very hard to resist since Undead Necromancers no longer age, and their life essence is preserved through undeath. They do not require food, air, or rest, making them ageless and relentless.
"Unlike living Necromancers, undead ones are directly linked to the death element, allowing them to summon necrotic energy from their own bodies or the surrounding environment with
ease.
"They can control a more significant number of undead minions, and their influence over necrotic forces is often more potent and instinctual.
"However, Undead Necromancers are even more vulnerable to life element magic, which can disrupt their existence or sever their control over undead creatures, than the Dark
Necromancers of the Dark Beings.
"That was also the reason the Necromancer Kingdom forbade their necromancers to become Undead Necromancers, and we became almost on par with three factions of the Legendary
Plains.
"But as the saying goes, the closest wolf has sharper teeth. I was stabbed in the back by my own kind, who worked with the very beings I was trying to fight and stand against.
"I was cursed by the Ghost Race's Evil Poison Lord, the Spirit Poison King. This vile thing wasn't meant to kill me but to turn me into a puppet of the Undead Race in due time. Maybe even those Snakes haven't expected this.
"Furthermore, if I lift this curse somehow, I would still die no matter what. Every time I use my power I was tormented by this curse, and it became even more powerful. So, between becoming a puppet of Dark Beings and death, I chose the latter...!"