Along with the shouts of the guards, a pale figure lunged at a young attendant with fierce speed.
It held a long, sharp bone spike high in the air. Two clusters of ghostly blue flames burned where its eyes should have been, and though its movements were slightly stiff, its murderous intent was unmistakable.
“Ah!”
The attendant let out a short shriek of pain and stumbled backward. The sleeve of his left arm had already been slashed open, blood soaking through the fabric.
The pale figure did not stop. It continued to stalk toward the attendant, but after only a few steps, it was blocked by the surrounding guards.
At the same time, several other guards rushed forward to drag the wounded attendant to the rear. They quickly coordinated with the guards in front to form a combat formation, drawing the longswords at their waists and pointing them straight at the skeleton in the center.
Indeed, the pale figure was a skeleton. At that moment, it stood there in a daze, drops of blood dripping from the tip of the bone spike in its hand. Its skull trembled slightly, and the blue flames in its eyes scanned the surrounding guards.
“Something's wrong with this thing!”
An older guard shouted in a deep voice, then turned his gaze toward Shane. “Undead don't attack on their own. It must be him—that necromancer!”
“Protect Her Highness!”
As the lead guard's shout rang out, some of the guards who had surrounded the skeleton immediately broke off to shield the princess. The guard at the very front had a livid face, veins bulging on his forehead, his voice dripping with uncontrollable anger. “The evil necromancer has finally shown his true colors!”
“Your Highness, please stay away from this man immediately.”
Then, the guard turned and shouted to Elon, who was standing beside Shane, “Sir, please join hands with us to take down this evil creature!”
Listening to the guard's shouts, Shane stood where he was. His gaze drifted past the sword tips pointed at him, swept over the angry faces of the guards, and finally landed on the skeleton being besieged in the distance.
His brow furrowed slightly as he watched the blue flames flickering in the skeleton's eyes, a wave of doubt rising in his heart.
That skeleton was indeed his summon. As its creator, he could clearly feel that the magic inside it originated from himself. It was undoubtedly one of the skeletons he had summoned to water the plants.
But soul fire?
He currently had no spare energy to waste on granting a skeleton such a thing. In a necromancer's system, soul fire represented giving the undead a certain degree of autonomy.
This was something done only in large-scale group battles. With it, the leading undead could distinguish friend from foe on their own and execute complex commands, saving the caster the effort of manually controlling them.
But because of this, it was somewhat difficult to cast, and Shane would not normally bestow it lightly.
Unless it was an undead mount like a skeletal warhorse, which required the intelligence of a soul fire to steadily carry its master.
As for the skeleton before him, it had been designed from the moment of its summoning to be a low-level creation that only executed simple, repetitive commands. It should have been completely impossible for it to ignite a soul fire.
Could there be another necromancer here?
Shane suddenly grew alert, his eyes scanning the surroundings, but he quickly dismissed the thought.
He could feel that the magic fluctuations from the skeleton were extremely pure, originating solely from himself.
But why on earth had this happened?
Shane's brow furrowed, a series of questions flashing through his mind, yet none of them yielded an answer.
And in the brief moment he spent pondering, the battle in the distance had already been decided.
Although the skeleton had ignited a soul fire, its movements were stiff and mechanical, nothing like a high-level undead with true autonomy.
Thus, the three guards facing it used their seamless coordination: one blocked the bone spike, one flanked it, and the last landed a precise strike on the skeleton's cervical vertebrae.
With a soft crack, the skeleton's greyish-white skull rolled onto the sand. The ghostly blue flames in its eye sockets flickered violently a few times before dying out completely.
Immediately after, a guard raised his longsword and shattered the skull into pieces.
The battle was over.
And then, all the pressure shifted to Shane. Holding their longswords, the guards surrounded him while keeping the princess protected behind them.
Princess Alicia stood where she was. Her gaze swept over the collapsed skeletal remains before landing on Shane.
Unlike the guards, there was no anger in her eyes, only a heavy, searching look.
“Shane Leynas,” the princess said, breaking the somewhat tense atmosphere while buying herself time to think. “I need an explanation.”
Shane's lips parted slightly, but his brow remained furrowed. He realized he didn't know what to say.
That it wasn't him?
But he was the only necromancer in the entire oasis.
Moreover, he was the only outsider who had encountered the princess's party here. He was clearly not one of them.
Thus, no matter how one looked at it, he was the prime suspect.
Shane pursed his lips, calmly meeting Alicia's gaze, though his mind was racing.
He was trying to find some clue to prove his "innocence."
But seeing his prolonged silence, the lead guard took a step forward and shouted, “Your Highness! This man clearly has nothing to say. He is practically admitting his crime!”
“Please give the order, Your Highness, to execute this evil exile on the spot!”
Instantly, the surrounding guards voiced their agreement in unison, nudging their blades slightly closer.
But the princess did not speak. Her eyes remained on Shane's face; her intuition told her that things were not so simple.
If Shane truly wanted to harm them, he had countless opportunities since yesterday. Instead, he had not only helped them survive the freezing night but had also repaired the Ashstone.
Furthermore, he had just signed a contract with Elon. Why would he control a skeleton to attack her attendant under such circumstances?
It was illogical.
Alicia sorted through her thoughts in an instant, but she also understood that this reasoning would not convince the others.
If she defended Shane here without sufficient evidence, she might be suspected of being mind-controlled by the necromancer before she could even clear his name.
Therefore, she needed time. She needed more information.
“Your Highness.”
Just then, Elon's calm, steady voice rang out.
He walked up to the princess, his expression composed. “The Church of Life has fought the undead for years. When it comes to dealing with necromancers, no one is more professional than us.”
He looked at the guards in front of the princess, laying out the pros and cons. “However, executing this man now would be premature.”
“We must uncover his objective first to know if he has other schemes in play.”
With that, Elon looked at Alicia, their eyes meeting for a brief moment.
Alicia's eyes brightened slightly. She immediately understood her mentor's intent and nodded. “Indeed. It is well known that Shane Leynas is a powerful necromancer. It is highly unlikely he doesn't have a backup plan. Therefore...”
Her gaze shifted to Elon, her eyes conveying her absolute trust. “We shall leave him to Mentor Elon, who is a druid, to handle.”
“Mentor has extensive experience dealing with necromancers and will surely see through any of his schemes.”
“Stand down.”
At her words, the guards exchanged hesitant glances, but since the princess had made her decision, they could only obey.
“Stand down!”
The lead guard gritted his teeth and finally sheathed his sword, though his eyes remained fixed on Shane.
Then, he turned to the princess and bowed. “Your Highness, please withdraw to a safe distance with us. We will leave this to Lord Elon.”
Soon, the crowd dispersed, and Shane stood in place, watching their departing figures.
Before him, Elon turned to face him directly.
Then, with a complex sigh, he raised his arm and bared his wrist, revealing the mark imprinted on it. “Shane Leynas, you didn't...”
“...violate the contract immediately after signing it, did you?”
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