Deathnely was located within the Death Swamp.

Countless poisonous creatures lived in the swamp area, and it was always clouded by a thick mist. It was a frightening place that didn't let go of visitors that easily.

However, Eder had spent so much time in this place that he treated it like his front yard.

Because of that, Kang Oh, Asu, Sephiro, and Nile were able to reach Deathnely with ease.

"Hoh."

Deathnely was a mysterious city. Most of the houses were towers; the city was basically jam packed with tall buildings.

Befitting a city for Necromancers, there were countless undead such as Death Knights, Ghouls, Zombies, and Skeletons roaming across the streets. There were plenty of people walking around in robes too.

"Just think of each tower as a Necromancer's personal laboratory. The larger the tower, the greater the Necromancer's influence. That, that, and that. You see those?" Eder pointed at the three tallest towers.

"Deathnely's three high-ranking Necromancers live in those towers. Let's visit my laboratory first."

Eder led Kang Oh's party through Deathnely. Asu, Nile, Sephiro, and Waryong looked around with sparkling eyes.

Rattle.

Skeletal dogs and cats ran around, and skeletal pigeons flew to and from the tower.

Thud.

A giant Bone Golem was carrying a large quantity of supplies, while a skeletal horse was pulling a carriage.

Purple magic lamps hung from sections of the tower, which protruded outwards like branches of a tree.

This purple light, which illuminated the entire city and the undead, gave the city a strange atmosphere.

Strange.

Indeed, that was a good way to put it.

Asu tightly grabbed Kang Oh's hand.

Kang Oh felt a soft, warm feeling in his hand, and stared at Asu. They both stared at each other and smiled.

"Ahem!" Sephiro coughed uncomfortably.

'Damn, I'm so lonely!'

Then, Waryong rubbed its head against his side.

Nile had a girlfriend already, so he had no idea what all the fuss was about.

"We're here."

After sightseeing for a while, they found themselves in front of Eder's tower. It was considerably tall.

"You must be pretty high up here."

"Just consider me one rank below the high-ranking Necromancers I was talking about before," Eder said proudly.

He was already a Master Healer, and he was so close to becoming a Master Necromancer too.

"I know how talented you are." Kang Oh gave him a thumbs up. 'We're in this for life!'

Eder's tower was managed by skeletons, and was absolutely spotless.

What a nice idea. Skeletons neither ate nor slept, and always worked at peak performance, so they were the best housekeepers.

Eder provided them with rooms, and then said, "I'll look for a way to treat Lord Valan. Everyone else, please do with your time as you will."

Then, he shut himself inside the library.

"Oppa."

Asu came to his room. Her eyes were sparkling, which made it clear what she was thinking.

"You want to go sightseeing?"

"Hehe." Asu smiled beautifully.

Then, Sephiro and Nile passed by them.

"I'll see you later."

"If you'll excuse me."

They left Eder's tower first. Kang Oh and Asu left after them.

Deathnely wasn't really a tourist location. There was no way there'd be direction boards anywhere. There weren't really any worthwhile attractions either.

Kang Oh and Asu just walked through the city side-by-side.

"Oppa, over there." Asu pointed at an alleyway. It was bustling with people and undead. The place was clearly a marketplace.

"Let's go."

"Ok."

It felt different from a normal market.

There were all sorts of monster corpses, dried insects, a variety of bones (differing in shape and color), vials of red blood, animal hair, etc. This particular market sold plenty of unusual goods you wouldn't find anywhere else.

It was a market where Necromancers bought materials for their craft.

"This is cute." Asu lifted a skull bracelet. There were two of them, one black and one white.

"I'll buy them for you."

"Hehe."

Kang Oh and Asu wore the 'couple' bracelets.

"Let's try that." Asu pointed at the snake skewers.

"You want to try that?" Kang Oh furrowed his brow.

"Doesn't it look tasty?"

"Not at all!"

"Haha, that reminds me of that one time. Do you remember the flying island?"

That brought something to mind.

"Aah, that bug soup!"

That was the most shocking thing he'd ever eaten.

"Isn't a snake better than a bug?"

"I guess that's true."

"Right?"

Asu instantly bought a snake skewer and passed it to Kang Oh.

"Say ah."

Kang Oh kept his mouth shut and shook his head.

Then...

Chirp!

Rudy popped out of Asu's chest, fluttered its tiny wings, and flew someplace else!

"Rudy!"

"Where're you going!?"

Kang Oh and Asu chased after Rudy.

Roar!

The purple flames burned more intensely.

Then, Rudy opened its tiny beak and sucked in the flames.

"Rudy!" Asu rebuked. She glared at the Phoenix, as if saying, 'How many times did I tell you not to eat all the flames you can see!'.

Kang Oh looked at the surrounding area.

The flames came out of a magic pot. Thus, there had to be someone who created the flames.

"My apologies." Kang Oh bowed his head at the old man. 'I'm sorry. Rudy always gets excited when it sees flames.'

"Haha." The old man let out raspy laughter. Then, he said something completely unexpected. "I can't believe I'm seeing a Phoenix. It's amazing!"

"Excuse me?" Kang Oh widened his eyes. To think he'd figure out what Rudy was in a single glance!

"This is fun. Really fun. You, you, and that kid of yours. Would you like to have a talk with me?" The old man pointed at Kang Oh, Asu, and Rudy, and smiled like a kind old man.

However, it felt like there was some sort of terror hidden behind that smile of his.

* * *

Necromancy was almost limitless in its application.

The basics involved manipulating corpses and souls, but it also included more advanced techniques such as casting curses and using blood, bones, and flesh as mediums for spells.

Plus, it also dipped its feet into poison and summoning.

Thus, most Necromancers specialized in one specific application of the art. For example, Eder had chosen to specialize in bone magic.

The old man's name was Thalesman. He was called the Walking Librarian.

The information of at least hundreds of thousands of books were contained within his head. That's why he had gained his title.

He was also one of the three greatest Necromancers in Deathnely!

Thalesman was also called the Necromancer of Knowledge.

Kang Oh's party drank tea at the top of his nine-story tower.

"So you were Eder's acquaintances. Go figure." Thalesman nodded his head and wrote shining letters in the air. "I contacted Eder, and told him that I was meeting you. Now then, let's talk."

Thalesman stared at Rudy, who was sitting in Asu's palm, with sparkling eyes. In response, Rudy turned its head, as if it were annoyed by Thalesman's gaze.

Asu gently stroked Rudy's head.

"As expected! It's exactly as I read. A young Phoenix. It looks like a chick in order to fool its enemies. But when it returns to its original form, a red feather appears on its head. It looks like quite a large Phoenix."

Thalesman's knowledge was frightening. As soon as he saw Rudy, he started spouting all sorts of facts regarding Rudy.

Chirp!

Rudy chirped, as if saying 'Stop looking at me!'.

"It sounds like a chick too. As I thought!"

Of course, it didn't work on Thalesman at all. He got worked up whenever he got a chance to sate his curiosity.

"May I touch it?"

"No. Rudy doesn't want you to," Asu said firmly.

"Haha, then I just need to make it like me."

Thalesman brought over a magic pot from his shelf. He muttered something, and then a purple flame ignited from the pot.

Then, Rudy's eyes changed. The flames it had tasted were delicious. They were as sweet as cotton candy.

Chirp!

Rudy instantly devoured the flames and then burped.

"We use this to refine metal. Phoenixes think it tastes like cotton candy. It's extremely sweet."

Thalesman stretched out his hand and petted Rudy.

Rudy pecked at him with its beak. It wasn't threatening at all; it just looked absolutely adorable. Kang Oh and Asu smiled like idiots.

"Ooh, its feathers are just like a chick's. Truly amazing. I didn't think such perfect imitation was possible!"

Thalesman attempted to sate his curiosity for quite some time.

Eventually, Eder showed up. He'd come after being contacted by Thalesman.

"Lord Thalesman."

"Eder, it's been a while, hasn't it?"

"That's right."

"You have some interesting friends." Thalesman pointed at Kang Oh, Asu, and Rudy.

"Yes, well." Eder half-heartedly nodded his head, but his eyes gleamed.

This was a good chance.

"I have something I'd like to ask you."

"Which is?"

"I know someone who's been poisoned by the Evil God's energy. Is there a way to completely remove this energy?" Eder asked.

There was no limit to Thalesman's knowledge. He had an in-depth knowledge of Necromancy, healing, and other fields of study.

"Hmm, the Evil God's energy, huh..." Thalesman started stroking his long beard.

"There's a way."

"What is it?"

"The God of Life, Luhan, has power that directly opposes the Evil God's. Use Luhan's light to heal them."

"We already tried that, but it wouldn't work."

Eder had truly tried everything.

He had asked the Divine Dragon, Gainus, for help, and had used Luhan's light to heal Valan.

"It didn't work? That doesn't make any sense. There's no way Luhan's light wouldn't work unless it was Jaila himself. Wait..."

"You're right. He's been poisoned by the Evil God himself."

Sraka's technique, Sword of Demise, was directly fueled by the Evil God's power.

"Hoh. He's been poisoned by the Evil God himself, yet he's still alive?"

"Yes."

"How surprising! Who is it? Can I meet them?"

Thalesman's eyes gleamed. 'I'm curious. Really curious!'

"That would be difficult, since he's not here."

"Ahem, is that so?"

"Is there any way to get rid of energy that comes from the Evil God himself?" Eder asked.

"There isn't," Thalesman said clearly. Then, he added, "The Evil God's power will never disappear until its target has been completely destroyed."

"But there has to be a way."

Eder would never give up on his patient.

"It'd be a different story if you had the Resurrection Stone, but obtaining it is impossible, so realistically, there is no other way."

"The Resurrection Stone? What is that?" Kang Oh asked.

"The Resurrection Stone can revive the dead. It recreates the body that the soul inhabits. It's impossible to get rid of the Evil God's energy, so the Resurrection Stone would allow you to create a new container for the soul. Theoretically, it would completely heal your friend."

"Where do you find it?"

"A place where the living cannot walk. However, the dead cannot attain it either. That's why I said it's impossible."

"Is it in the underworld?" Eder asked.

"Yes. The underworld. It's a place where every Necromancer wants to reach, but also a place that you cannot go to until you die."

The underworld!

It felt like Kang Oh had been struck by a bolt of lightning. He suddenly stood up.

"The Resurrection Stone... I'll go and get it."

The Goddess of Death, Deborah.

He had killed all of the Mayanes for her. When he was finished with her task, she rewarded him with a single ticket that'd allow him to visit the underworld.

Now was the time.

Time to get on the train that'd take him to the world of the dead.