"My mother passed away from illness when I was eight. She had little power or influence in the palace, and I’ve been frail since childhood. My test for extraordinary talent also came back as merely average."

"Therefore, among the many princes and princesses, I’ve never been... particularly valued. You could even say I have a very low profile. My father has too many outstanding sons to pay attention to. I’ve always just kept to myself, stayed out of trouble, and hoped that one day I might be granted an idle title and live out my days in wealth and comfort. That was all I wanted."

At this, the Seventh Prince’s tone grew even more bitter. "But even so, my brothers who are secretly vying for the throne still couldn’t rest easy. They refused to leave an insignificant person like me alone."

"About three months ago, my Third Imperial Brother proposed at a court meeting that since I had come of age, I should go out to gain experience and serve the Empire. He suggested that I be sent to the southern provinces in the capacity of ’Prince-Overseer’ to assist the North Wind Legion in suppressing the increasingly rampant Draenei Brotherhood rebellion. He claimed it would allow me to accumulate military achievements, which would make for better rewards in the future."

As he spoke of this,

a deep sadness filled his eyes. "I knew immediately that the proposal was highly suspicious. I know nothing of military affairs and hold no prestige. How could I possibly assist as an overseer on the front lines? It was clearly a death sentence. But my father, the Emperor... perhaps he thought my Third Imperial Brother’s proposal had some merit, or perhaps he wanted to see if I was truly a lost cause... he actually nodded and agreed."

"An imperial edict cannot be defied. I had no choice but to brace myself and leave the Imperial Capital with a small retinue of guards and the old butler who had looked after me since I was a child."

"We traveled south, and the journey was relatively smooth. But five days ago, when we were still two days’ travel from the North Wind Legion’s forward outpost, we were ambushed in a valley!"

Augustus’s voice trembled slightly. "The attackers were disguised as mountain bandits, but they were incredibly strong and fought with perfect coordination... My guards fought to the death. My old butler... he... he was shot full of arrows while shielding me... I managed to escape into the woods during the chaos."

"I hid in the mountains for two days, cold and starving. When I couldn’t take it anymore, I risked sneaking into a small village, where I stole these clothes and got some rations. I intended to continue toward the North Wind Legion’s position, but I never expected to be careless today and get spotted by a search party. They’ve been hunting me down ever since..."

"In my panic, I fled blindly and ended up around here before collapsing from exhaustion. The next thing I knew, I was being... dragged back here by your Skeleton..."

As he finished, he couldn’t help but glance at the Fish Priest bustling about nearby, his expression complicated.

Lynch’s gaze followed his.

By now, the Fish Priest had already directed the Skeletons to finish cleaning up the battlefield.

The seven attackers’ corpses were lined up neatly. All their valuables—weapons, leather armor, and the like—had been stripped off and piled to the side.

The Bone Mage was slowly strolling over to the corpses, raising its Magic Staff, ready to begin the work it did best.

"Wait," Lynch said suddenly, stopping it.

The Bone Mage froze, its head turning toward Lynch. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Lynch pointed to the four Warrior corpses. "Keep these four for now. Wrap them in shrouds and bring them with us. I’ll deal with them personally later. I’m turning them all into zombies."

’They were quite strong in life; the weakest was at least Tier One, with a solid foundation. After being converted into zombies and cultivated into Black Corpses with some resources, they would retain more of their strength. They’ll make for good meat shields and assault units.’

"As for the other three, do as you please."

’Archers and scouts aren’t very useful when converted into zombies; they don’t retain much of their ranged attack capability or agility.’

The Fish Priest’s Soul Fire flickered in understanding. It immediately redirected the Skeletons to drag the four Warrior corpses aside, leaving the remaining three where they were.

The Bone Mage raised its Magic Staff again, aiming it at the three corpses.

This time, however, Lynch acted first.

He lifted the skull-topped staff in his hand, chanted a simple incantation, and a burst of pale energy surged out, enveloping the three bodies.

POP... CRACKLE...

The flesh peeled away, and three new Skeletons stood up.

Two Skeleton Archers, and one Skeleton Scout.

Unfortunately, their eye sockets were empty voids, completely devoid of Soul Fire. They were all basic Skeletons.

Lynch, looking rather unenthusiastic, directed them to pick up the bows and dual blades that had belonged to them in life, and then they merged into the surrounding group of Skeletons.

’My luck has been pretty bad lately,’ Lynch thought.

’Oh well. I’ll just treat it as practice for my [Skeleton Resurrection Skill].’

As the Seventh Prince witnessed this scene, his face turned deathly pale again. His stomach churned violently, and he nearly threw up the delicious, thick soup he had just drunk.

Lynch, however, acted as if nothing had happened. He retracted his Magic Staff and turned his gaze back to the Seventh Prince.

"Since you say you’re the Seventh Prince, I’ll believe you for the time being," Lynch said in a flat tone. "I saved your life and even gave you a meal. So, how do you plan to repay me?"

"Huh?" The Seventh Prince was stunned for a moment, then a look of panic and embarrassment crossed his face. "Well... Lord Mage, most of the valuables I had on me were with my old butler. But he’s... I assume the attackers looted all of it..."

Seeing the displeasure that seemed to cross Lynch’s face, the Seventh Prince’s heart tightened. He quickly added, "I still have a Space Ring! It’s an heirloom my mother left me..."

As he spoke, he reluctantly slid an exquisitely designed ring off his finger and handed it over.

Lynch took the ring and extended his Spiritual Power into it.