Chapter 57: The Lesser Fear Curse

In the cemetery, Su Nan spoke with a commanding tone: "I need the strongest and the most loyal."

He then unleashed his Mental Power, amplified to over ten times that of an ordinary human, suppressing the chaotic voices of the souls in the graveyard.

The restless spirits behind the gravestones were silenced, as if an invisible hand had gripped their throats. The cacophony vanished in an instant.

But from the deepest part of the graveyard, a voice emerged, gritted and strained, yet determined to speak under Su Nan's immense pressure.

"Lord Su Nan, I... pledge my allegiance to you."

"Let the damn Storm God... rot in oblivion!"

"He is nothing but a... liar."

"Resurrect me, my master. Give me a second chance, and I will pour the flames of vengeance upon your enemies... and the minions of the Storm God."

"Those deceitful frauds."

"I will serve you with unwavering loyalty!"

Su Nan turned to the source of the voice and found a gravestone bearing the name of the spirit: Vasilian Tylen, a former priest who had devoted over sixty years of his life to the Storm Church.

Now, Vasilian's soul seethed with fury, enraged by the betrayal of his faith. Upon death, he had not ascended to the Storm God's divine kingdom as promised, leaving him consumed by wrath and despair.

Had he not encountered Su Nan in this cemetery, his soul would have gradually disintegrated, fading back into nature.

'The Death Knight Potion amplifies a person's most intense desire during resurrection,' Su Nan mused. 'This priest retains the willpower to speak under my suppression—clearly, he is a formidable candidate.'

'He harbors deep hatred toward the Church and will be immensely grateful for the second chance I offer. His loyalty is assured.'

Satisfied, Su Nan addressed the spirit. "Very well. But know this—once I resurrect you, you will bind yourself to me under a Death Contract."

Vasilian's reply was instant and resolute. "Of course. Even without the Death Contract, I would choose to serve you.

"If I cannot ascend to the Storm God's kingdom, then let my accursed body walk this earth again and defile that detestable deity daily."

The Death Contract was an intrinsic part of the Death Knight Potion. Upon resurrection, the revived individual automatically accepted the contract.

This wasn't Su Nan's personal design but rather a fail-safe derived from the AI's analysis of necromantic magic.

The AI had hypothesized: Reviving someone directly with magic could lead to unforeseen issues, making a contractual limitation necessary to imperfectly balance the process.

This principle—resurrection cannot be perfect—seemed akin to a law of magic, a rule as fundamental as physics.

While Su Nan had considered experimenting with an unbound necromantic resurrection, Orr's warnings about the disaster that created the Black Death Demon made him abandon the idea—for now.

Su Nan ordered Robert to exhume Vasilian's coffin. Once the casket was opened, Su Nan retrieved a bone from the remains and submerged it into the half-finished Death Knight Potion.

The potion erupted with an intense black glow, sending waves of death energy rippling outward.

The energies enveloped Vasilian's fragmented soul, pulling its ten shattered pieces together. Like black comets, the fragments streaked toward a suit of full plate armor that Robert had retrieved from the carriage and laid out on the cemetery ground.

Death Knights differed fundamentally from werewolves. Werewolves transformed living beings into immortal entities, effectively exploiting a loophole in natural laws. Death Knights, however, were neither living nor dead.

Existing in a liminal state, they were bound to both life and death through necromantic magic and a mutual Death Contract with Su Nan and the essence of death itself.

The AI had optimized the contract to minimize the costs demanded by death.

As the soul fragments fused with the armor, the individual components of the plate armor—greaves, pauldrons, gauntlets, and even the one-and-a-half-handed knightly sword—began to levitate.

Beneath the floating armor, a reverse hexagram ritual circle materialized on the ground, etched with arcane symbols. This was the Death Conversion Ritual, a process that desecrated both life and death.

The scattered armor pieces started assembling mid-air.

As Su Nan channeled his magic, he felt his power shift further into darker and more malevolent depths.

A vision overtook him: a vast abyss stretched before him, its bottomless black expanse littered with shattered armor, broken weapons, and tattered banners stabbed into jagged rocks. The abyss seemed to devour everything.

Voices roared in his ears.

> "Fight! Fight! Never stop moving!"

> "Embrace death, bear life. Our flesh and spirit shall endure eternally."

"AI," Su Nan instructed, "record this vision as Death Knight File #1."

> [Acknowledged. Recording initiated.]

Su Nan's analysis had revealed that the quality of necromantic resurrections depended heavily on the terms of the Death Contract. The higher the wizard's rank, the better their negotiations with death could be.

Even at the same rank, the outcomes of these contracts could vary widely. To improve future Death Contracts, Su Nan needed the AI to record every detail of this vision for refining his methods and potions later.

Robert, standing beside Su Nan, watched as the Death Knight began to take form. Despite bracing himself, he couldn't suppress a shiver of fear.

Seeing Robert's unease, Su Nan explained calmly, "Ah, I've imbued the Death Knight with a Lesser Fear Curse. It's a minor enchantment I deciphered from the runes of the Energetic World."

"That's why you're feeling fear."

"But don't worry. He's on our side. The ones who should fear him are our enemies."

The Death Knight, constructed with techniques from the Energetic World, was nearly a wizard-killer. It held significant advantages in battles against wizards.

However, it had its drawbacks. Against werewolves, for instance, it was at a disadvantage.

The Death Knight's energy

shell defense sacrificed most magical protections, making it more susceptible to physical attacks.

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