"The Return to Goldert Castle"

Alex returned to Goldert Castle in a carriage and was greeted by a charming lady, who was the wife of Viscount Ashby and the mother of Alvis, and a group of servants at the gate of the castle. The lady was a noble and kind person who treated Erza like her own daughter and was concerned about her after hearing about her recent accident.

Alex greeted Grimly and thanked him before the lady took Erza back to the inner castle, while Grimm followed Alvis to Viscount Ashby's study. The study was a large room on the top floor of the castle with walls covered in bookshelves and a sense of antiquity. When Alex and Alvis arrived, Viscount Ashby was standing by the window looking at the courtyard of the castle, having likely seen the scene of Alex and Erza returning by carriage.

After a long pause, Viscount Ashby said, "Thank you, Alex!" Alex could sense the sincerity in his words and saw that Viscount Ashby had a genuine attachment to Erza's niece and a sense of indebtedness towards Alex.

Alex wasn't particularly interested in the hidden secrets of the giants and had largely saved Erza in order to fight monsters and upgrade. He briefly explained the events of the exchange to Viscount Ashby, but withheld certain details, such as the existence of crusty ghouls and the power of the evil god's priest. Alex then excused himself, saying that he needed to rest due to having used a lot of magic power.

After Alex left, Viscount Ashby remained silent for a moment before turning to his son and asking, "Alvis, what do you think?" Alvis thought for a couple of minutes before responding, "Alex didn't tell the truth, he at least concealed something, and I'm finding it harder and harder to see through him."

Viscount Ashby suddenly laughed, as if he had heard a joke, and then his expression became serious again as he stared at Alvis, saying, "Alvis, remember, don't try to understand the heart of a magician. They are like monsters in human shells, and their power can completely corrupt their hearts. Even if you have a good relationship with Alex now, you must remember to keep your distance, abide by your duties, draw a clear line, and stick to the principle of equal exchange.

Some debts are too much for anyone to bear." Alvis was a little confused by his father's words and didn't fully understand the meaning at first, but he quickly realized that his father was reminding him to reconsider Alex's identity as a necromancer apprentice. Alvis nodded slightly and said, "I understand. It's just a shame that Alex isn't my brother after all."

Viscount Ashby nodded approvingly as he said, "Alex has a lot of talent as a magician, which is different from knights. Magicians tend to have few obstacles to overcome as they progress, and they have the potential to become formal magicians in the future.

This may seem desirable, but it's important to understand that we, as hounds clinging to the lion, may not be able to withstand the wrath of other lions if they become our enemies." Alvis remained silent and thoughtful for a while. After Alex left, he was unaware of the conversation between Alvis and his father about him. Upon returning to their residence, Alex went straight to the cemetery.

He had learned that the three ghouls were effective in battle, but their blood was too thin to withstand powerful attacks. On the other hand, he discovered that orthodox zombies with thicker skin and blood were more resilient. This insight led Alex to adjust his recruited units by decreasing the number of ghouls and increasing the number of orthodox zombies.

Thanks to the addition of new undead troops in the wooden courtyard, Alex's undead force nearly doubled, including 27 gun skeleton soldiers, 5 zombies, 5 ghouls, and 1 hard-skinned ghoul. Healing a crusty ghoul's wounds cost a total of 140 psionics. With the recruitment of undead creatures in the cemetery, Alex's strength greatly improved, making him very happy.

However, he was unaware that on the other side, in the basement of an abandoned church located more than 50 miles outside of PARSLOV City, an angry voice was roaring, "What did you say! Failed again! Are the people in the Tower of Yin Spirits all brainless idiots? I have prepared everything for them, all they had to do was follow the steps and summon the Void Yin Spirits. Why is it so difficult? And the Holy Son of the Tower of Yin Spirits, what a waste of brains and muscles, I heard he died. Who did it?"

An angry, hoarse voice echoed through the empty basement, with a strong obsession and malice in its tone. "Brennan...sir..." a stuttering voice responded, belonging to a fat middle-aged man who was trembling on his knees on the ground. He was so terrified that his flesh was shaking, but he did not dare not answer the angry question.

"My lord, according to our investigation, the plan went smoothly at first, but then the high priest of the Tower of Yin spirits had a conflict with the Goldert family of PARSLOV City and tried to kidnap Viscount Ashby's daughter, which led to the appearance of Viscount Ashby's niece Erza Goldert... There are various indications that the summoning of the yin spirits failed, and the death of the Holy Son in the Tower of yin spirits was related to this woman."

The obese middle-aged man named Brent is a gangster in Zelensova, near PARSLOV City, and a member of a terrorist organization. However, his intelligence network in PARSLOV City was incomplete, only discovering Erza and not Alex's existence. In the face of that mysterious figure, Brent did not dare to say anything and simply blamed Erza.

The mysterious voice sneered and said gloomily, "The Goldert family in PARSLOV City? An insignificant existence dares to harm me. It seems that our blood army has been dormant for too long, causing many people to forget a time dominated by terror! Let the six witches go and let the Goldert family perish in fear!"

Alex had no idea that he had saved Erza and killed a son in the Tower of Yin spirits, which had an unintended impact on the situation. He was in a good mood as he repaired his undead troops in the cemetery and returned to reality.

Instead of meditating, he enjoyed a rare moment of relaxation while drinking black tea. He thought to himself, "Erza, that little girl, actually provoked the Holy Son of the Tower of Yin Spirits, but this battle was a good test. My current overall combat power is almost equivalent to that of a senior mage apprentice. The Holy Son of the Tower of Yin Spirits was very powerful, but he didn't seem to be very conscious when he appeared, acting more like a madman who only knew how to attack and fight.

If that were the case, it would have been difficult for me to win. It was smooth in the end, thanks in part to my luck, but the most important factor was having an advanced unit that played a decisive role at a critical moment."

Of course, Alex's current vision and level determines what he considers to be high-level arms. As a second-level elite monster, hard-skinned ghouls are indeed considered high-level arms, but only at the apprentice level.

Ghouls are not strong enough to be considered otherwise. Alex realized that the key to improving his strength was to raise psychic energy to upgrade the cemetery. He knew that he should not be too hasty and that his strength and cultivation progress were far beyond ordinary people. With the assistance of the cemetery, he has infinite potential and there is no need to rush things. Instead, he should be more careful not to be outsmarted and killed.