The Legendary "Ferocious" Undead

Counting money was always a joy.

Jia Xiu counted the 120 crowns from the baron and stored them, along with the bonus Margaret had given him earlier, in the locker he rented from the Association.

Thinking of all the gold coins the cultists still had yet to drop made him a little excited.

Cult Cave Escape had already become a famous tourist attraction in Creekwood Town.

Jia Xiu did not even need to coordinate anything. Numerous stalls selling food, drinks, and souvenirs had now "naturally sprouted" outside the cave.

As for the 120 crowns the baron had given him, it was a little less than what Margaret had paid, but it was already the highest price the baron could offer.

The baron of Creekwood Town was famously stingy.

Besides, the town was hardly prosperous. Though it had some fame as a tourist destination, the tourism industry had not yet developed to the point where every little thing in a scenic area could be exploited for money.

Compared to nobles who owned gold and silver mines in their territories, the gap between them and the baron was even greater than the gap between the town's commoners and the baron.

Those 120 crowns even included hush money.

The baron still cared about appearances. Having someone in his family join a cult, get caught by the Church, and have his brain cut until he became an idiot was simply too humiliating.

To preserve the family's reputation, he made a few adjustments, and Hannas's story received an entirely new version.

Hannas, an upright young man and an outstanding knight's squire, discovered the cult hidden in Creekwood Town and resolutely decided to destroy this threat. Unfortunately, his strength was limited. Unable to defeat the cultists, he was corrupted by the evil god. In that desperate moment, he decisively summoned the Church's Punitive Knights. Sadly, he had already been corrupted too deeply and could only accept the Church's purification.

Unfortunately, not many people believed that story.

Everyone in town knew what kind of person Hannas was, so they preferred the heartwarming little tales sung by bards.

Jia Xiu did not mind that the baron had paid too little. It was all free money to him anyway.

Besides, he had already made more than enough from Hannas.

After submitting all his papers on how the Brain Purification Technique could resist various forms of charm, he received several hundred experience points.

[Current Experience: 1750/2700]

LV.4 no longer seemed so far away.

It was just that the system had strong opinions about those papers.

The first few had merely received low ratings. The later ones simply got "?", while the final few were flatly refused any evaluation.

Apparently, its tolerance for maliciously padding papers had its limits.

While making money and producing academic garbage, he had not neglected his exam preparations in the slightest.

Jia Xiu had already finished every test paper and reference book Margaret had mailed him.

He had reviewed his mistakes several times over.

When there was truly nothing left to work through, he used the crystal ball to ask Margaret for more papers.

This greatly shocked the young instructor far away in Larven. She had never seen a student grind through practice questions so ruthlessly.

To make sure Jia Xiu was not fooling her, she arranged a real-time communication session and tested him with questions on the spot.

Then Jia Xiu gave her a small taste of exam-taking shock.

She did not even need to finish asking a question. The moment she got halfway through, Jia Xiu could already identify the question type and every key point it was testing.

Watching Margaret's bewildered expression through the crystal ball, Jia Xiu smiled faintly.

He had been trained in exam hell.

From six in the morning to eleven at night, with only two days off each month—high-intensity study every day, weekly tests, monthly exams, midterms, finals, and endless tests large and small.

A few dozen papers and two reference books, without even being divided by subject, were not enough to keep him busy for a month.

Asking Margaret for more papers was not to fill in any gaps. He simply wanted to write something every day, keep his hand in, and maintain his feel for answering questions.

That was experience.

Exams did not just test knowledge and intelligence. They also tested proficiency.

According to Margaret, Jia Xiu no longer needed to improve at all. If he were sent straight into the exam, he would be a strong contender for first place in the written test.

After dealing with Hannas and preparing for the written exam, Jia Xiu had only one issue left to focus on in Creekwood Town.

A high-value research target.

The fairy undead, Bubu.

Late at night.

The Cult of the God of Deceit and Curses' hideout.

Jia Xiu and several cultists led by Billy stood before the altar.

A hazy shadow flickered within the altar's magic array. The ritual to summon the undead had reached its final—and most crucial—step.

Release the undead.

Billy's excitement was impossible to hide. His ears were red with exhilaration, his whole face trembled, and his eyes were filled with madness.

For him, more than twenty years of endurance and waiting would all come to an end today.

Seeing him like that, Jia Xiu was honestly afraid Billy's blood pressure would get too high and make him pass out.

The last time he had seen an expression like that was in Kakegurui.

No, could a human really make that kind of face?

"Senior," Billy turned to ask Jia Xiu, "will you be completing the final step of the ritual?"

That was what he said, but Billy did not look remotely like someone willing to let Jia Xiu complete the final step.

He stared straight at Jia Xiu. If Jia Xiu dared answer "yes," Billy would immediately dare to fight him to the death.

Jia Xiu was not afraid of fighting Billy. Every cultist here would go down from a single Healing Spell, but he had never intended to complete the ritual himself.

"You should do it, Billy. This is an important moment in your life."

"Of course. Of course I should be the one to do it."

With that, Billy trembled as he walked toward the altar. He cut open his palm with an obsidian ritual dagger, used his blood to draw a rune, and began chanting under his breath.

"God of Deceit and Curses above..."

As the strange, hoarse prayer left his lips, an evil wind of unknown origin rose within the cave. Surging magic power rapidly gathered around the altar, and the ritual items within the magic array trembled and shattered under the crushing pressure of the energy.

"Descend upon this world, vengeful spirit of curses and destruction!"

At the same time, several hundred meters outside the cave.

Her Highness Emilia, with her golden hair, watched the cave nervously.

She could already sense the surging magic power. That undead truly was as powerful as the guard had described.

The guard no longer looked as he had when they came here as tourists.

He was now clad in full heavy armor and held a broadsword as wide as a door. Light surrounded his body, the result of multiple blessings.

Empowered by those blessings, his body had also become exceptionally large and muscular.

If Jia Xiu saw the guard in this state, he would definitely cry out, "Astartes!"

The gathering magic power grew ever more immense, and Emilia could not help becoming tense.

She asked, "It's about to appear, right?"

The guard did not answer. He merely gave a muffled grunt.

"Mm."

"You're sure you can defeat it, right?"

"Mm... Get ready. It's coming!"

The guard suddenly shouted.

At that moment, the gathered magic power abruptly contracted. The night became so quiet, like the instant before an explosion.

Emilia immediately activated all the protective items on her.

Yet one second, two seconds...

A full minute passed.

"No, where's the undead?"