The panicked cries of the crowd still echoed faintly in my ears, but my gaze was completely riveted on the fallen Sylvia, unable to look away even for a moment.

She lay face down on the ground, her silver hair like a dull, tangled spiderweb scattered across the blood—her own blood—that spread beneath her.

...Why?

Was any of this real? Had I never left that world of the dead, and was this now another layer of twisted nightmare?

Another gasp pulled me back to reality.

"V-Via...!"

It was Emily. She was closest, her face a mask of worry and terror as she desperately rushed toward Sylvia.

However, a pale, bloodless hand with sharp nails, like a venomous snake, slithered out from the edge of the crater gouged by the ice sword in front of the elf.

"Emily, get away!"

I snapped back to my senses. With all my strength, I sprinted to my sister and roughly shoved her aside.

At the same time, a "person"—or rather, an "existence" cobbled together from human parts—was slowly, with a sickening grinding of bones, crawling out of that pit.

I had never seen Necross in person. But both Sylvia's descriptions and the intelligence Mr. Wilson had gathered pointed to the image before me.

Both man and woman, both ancient and newborn infant. Its body seemed forcibly stitched and twisted from countless human remains, every inch of skin bearing the gray pallor of death, yet emanating a bizarre "vitality."

It was the farthest thing from the concept of "human," a nauseating abomination.

Necross ignored me and Emily, who had been pushed to the ground. It leisurely stood up, looking down at Sylvia, who lay motionless on the ground, as if admiring a wilting work of art.

In a voice that was a blend of aria and deathbed murmur, neither male nor female, it whispered softly:

"Flowers vie in splendor, but for a fleeting moment; like morning dew drying, before the sun climbs high... Hmm. The wise and great Archmage Alistair chanted these very lines when the Starfall City was utterly erased."

"Don't you think this verse... fits your current predicament perfectly? The 'Frostbind' elf?"

...Damn it! This bastard!

My magical power... was completely exhausted from the previous battle and maintaining the Permafrost Rune. My body was also teetering from blood loss and exhaustion. But it didn't matter! Sylvia... I had to save Sylvia!

"Get away from her!"

I let out a hoarse roar and charged at Necross.

Yet before I could get close, the ground beneath my feet suddenly bulged upward as if alive! Unable to dodge, my already weakened body lost balance again and crashed heavily to the ground.

The intense pain from the impact brutally assaulted every nerve. Ironically, this pain cleared my chaotic mind for an instant.

...Forget it. It's... impossible to win. I knew all along that with my own power alone, I had no means to harm it.

But at the very least, I had to buy some time!

Gritting my teeth against the pain, I swayed as I forced myself back to my feet, shouting with all my might:

"You coward! You only know how to use underhanded tricks! What exactly did you do to Sylvia?!"

Necross finally shifted its gaze from Sylvia, slowly turning toward me.

It adopted a disgusting, gentle expression and said:

"Let me think... Ah, Adam Hammer, correct? The contractor of this Frostbind elf."

"I have no interest in you, child. Take your sister and leave. Cherish life... it is a rare virtue."

It knew my full name! Even knew about Emily and my relation to her! Why?

No... this wasn't the time to think about that! Calm down! Stall for time! Negotiate! What chips did I have? If none, I had to fabricate some!

Right, the eyeball!

"I have the 'second eyeball'! I know you want to gather all three eyes to complete the ritual... If you retreat now..."

"You mean this?"

Necross interrupted me.

A smile, like that of a child finding an interesting toy, spread across its face. It slowly raised a hand and brutally drove its pale, sharp fingers into its own right eye socket.

Then, it pulled out the eyeball, which was still faintly rotating.

Thick, dark red liquid dripped from between its fingers.

And the extracted eyeball... was unmistakably identical to the massive green eye that had whispered to me in the "world of the dead"! Only this one was a smaller version.

Not only that, I now realized its other eye was the red pupil that had previously belonged to Mr. Wilson!

"That 'Green Pupil' you obtained was merely a 'bait' I crafted using construction magic, infused with a wisp of my power, long assimilated into my flesh and blood."

"Its sole purpose was for you to present it to the lovely yet troublesome elf, activating the death magic I left upon it."

"The true 'second eyeball'... I had already retrieved it from the Silverleaf Workshop before this amusing disturbance even began."

"I have satisfied your curiosity. So, could you please refrain from disturbing my meal as well?"

With that, it ignored me again, bent down once more, and with a horrifyingly affectionate expression, reached out to stroke Sylvia's pale cheek.

Before its fingertips could touch her, Sylvia's body began to convulse violently.

A torrent of bright red blood instantly gushed from her nose, mouth, and ears, which had only been seeping slightly before! Her already faint life force was deteriorating and fading at an alarming rate.

My reason evaporated almost instantly; my blood rushed to my head like magma.

Yet, in that moment teetering on the brink of collapse, my gaze caught sight of the four mana recovery potions at Sylvia's waist.

I took a deep breath, forced down all distracting thoughts, and made a decision.

"Young Master Darian! Emily!"

I shouted loudly, ensuring my voice cut through the chaos. When they looked over, I continued:

"Take Rosemary and the townsfolk to the Silverleaf Workshop! The hero Wilson is there!"

Since the incident began, Darian had been maintaining order among the townsfolk not far away, organizing the survivors' evacuation.

Hearing my words, he froze for a moment but must have immediately grasped the meaning and responded:

"The Silverleaf Workshop... Understood. But young man, you..."

I raised my head, no longer looking at anyone else, only glaring down at Necross before my feet, and roared:

"I will annihilate this beast right here, tear it to shreds!"

The crowd finally began to run toward the direction of the Silverleaf Workshop, their chaotic footsteps and wails rising.

Darian and Emily seemed to be shouting something else to me, but I could no longer hear them.

My entire world had narrowed down to this monster stitched together from corpses before me, and Sylvia lying at its feet, her fate unknown.

Necross slowly straightened up, finally focusing its gaze entirely on me.

The nauseatingly gentle smile on its face vanished completely, replaced by pure, icy indifference.

Damp, viscous, palpable death energy, like a tidal wave, swept over me, heavily oppressing my chest, making it almost impossible to breathe. My bones groaned under the unbearable pressure.

Don't be afraid! Sylvia is still waiting!

The one destined to die today is absolutely not Sylvia, but this piece of filth worse than excrement before me!

Necross said:

"Due to the contractor's request... it seems I have spared you several times already, insignificant existence."

"It appears now that such mercy was somewhat superfluous... I must have him understand my predicament a little..."

How could I wait for it to finish its self-righteous monologue!

The moment its voice trailed off, I lunged to Sylvia's side, grabbed one of the mana recovery potions from her waist.

Without time to pull the stopper, I simply crushed it, absorbing the pure magical power within along with the glass fragments!

My depleted magic power, like parched earth welcoming rain, rapidly recovered and filled.

Necross seemed slightly surprised by my action, but immediately, its patchwork face showed even heavier disdain and mockery.

"Congratulations, child. You have successfully recovered a pittance of magical power. So, what next? How will you escape before this finger touches you?"

"Even the Frostbind elf herself at her peak might not evade it... Prepare to die!"

It raised that pale, sharp hand, pointing straight at me.

I raised my own hand, driving my mind to its limit, rapidly constructing the Fourth Rune in the air before me.

An invisible wave instantly spread out from me.

Footsteps, cries, the wind... all the surrounding noise, even the dust motes floating in the light, came to a complete standstill at this moment.

Necross's hand, about to touch my forehead, also froze stiffly in the air, less than half a centimeter away.

Sylvia's Fourth Rune: the Stasis Rune.

For the next 10 seconds, whether you're a century-old elf or a genius hero, you have to stop. In this world, only I can move.