Darius' heart sank with every accusation Thanatos made. Back then, his plans had involved using the hands of others to smoothen his path, since he had predicted things to turn bloody.
Now that things had ended on a less violent note, he was held responsible for the offenses he made up till now. As such, Darius quickly smiled and inquired.
"My Lord, all you claim is true and I'm prepared to bear full responsibility. How may I grant redress for my crimes?"
Thanatos seemed pleased that Darius didn't try to beat around the bush. "Since you are being this honest, I will not be too harsh. I will take away your two Vampire servants for a period of indentured servitude lasting 10 years. I have some use for them and given their capabilities they can make up 50% of the losses of Adept undead."
Darius closed his eyes in pain. Mikey and Joneson had been his trump cards for leaving the Plains of Death unharmed after acquiring the stone, for Darius had never forgotten that acquiring alone didn't constitute completion!
He would have to cross the entire Plains of Death's 1,200 kilometers to the Baratuo outpost to be considered done at the least. However, it was still alright, for he could blink-leap away.
"As you command, My Lord." Darius uttered calmly as he summoned Mikey and Joneson. The duo emerged from a blood-red portal that smelled of malice and iron, looking around curiously.
Once they saw Thanatos however, they both shivered even more intensely than Gunner and fell on their asses. Joneson was totally spooked, but Mikey could barely murmur his shock.
"T-The S-Supreme B-Boss!"
Thanatos observed the duo and showed a greatly appreciative look. "These two undead are excellent, far better than any I have ever seen. If they weren't tied to you and your power of laws, I would purchase them from you at any cost!"
Mikey and Joneson didn't have to be told what to do, they had access to Darius' Database, so they could always be refreshed with the current events and what was going on. Hearing that they would be working for Thanatos for 10 years left them feeling weirdly excited yet depressed.
Darius only smiled at the conflicted duo. "Serve the God-Emperor well this next decade and he might pamper you."
Thanatos snorted at this, but didn't correct Darius. This told all those gathered here that Darius' words weren't untrue, so the vampire duo instantly became more docile.
Thanatos turned to Darius. "As for the remaining 50%, I shall have those directly responsible for slaughtering my undead minions reimburse me with their lives!"
"Hm, good! Many of them are Adepts with slightly more Journeymen. They will make fine replacements for my lost forces!" Thanatos declared powerfully.
Darius and Gunner were shocked. Did… Did Thanatos really plan to kill all of them and turn them into undead troops? Those present accounted for about 70% of Andrato Kingdom's powerhouses!
If they were to fall, calling it a calamity for the kingdom would be small! They would be in danger of being extinguished off the map straightaway with the kind of power vacuum that would follow!
Internal and external issues would quickly melt the kingdom into a pool of mud. The fate of Andrato, which had been hanging between 'benefit' and 'suffering' had just now firmly tilted towards the latter side.
Neither Darius nor Gunner dared to open their mouths to plea for those outside. Judging by the fact that Thanatos hadn't sent them away, it meant he was not done with them. With their own necks on the chopping block, how could they have time to care about who lay on the other side?
"Now there is still the matter of my pet. You had a hand in killing one of my Pseudo-Master stage Bone Dragons, which I rarely let out. Its loss cannot be replaced by anything you can offer me, so I'll change it into a punishment!"
A profound purple rune was drawn by Thanatos in the air and flicked over to Darius and Gunner. The rune branded itself on their foreheads silently, making the duo wonder what they had been cursed with.
"That is a spatial sealing rune! Those afflicted with it cannot use any space-related means to warp out of danger or in any situation!" Thanatos declared loudly with a mischievous grin, making the faces of the duo change greatly.
Darius' heart sank to the bottom. This meant that…
Thanatos chuckled darkly. "That's right, you cannot use your Blink spell or spatial scrolls to run away! Since you hold the stone, all my remaining Journeyman and Amateur undead will hone in on you and attempt to bring it back. Let's hope you have the strength to repel them, heh heh."
Darius wore a bitter smile. "Lord Thanatos, wouldn't that be bad? We are being punished for killing your underlings, but we're supposed to kill more of them to escape?"
Thanatos grunted coldly. "As I said earlier, I could care less about Journeyman and Amateur undead. This place naturally spawns basic undead and in a matter of decades they can rise to become Journeyman undead."
"On the other hand, it takes centuries for a single Adept undead to appear. As such, only my Adepts and above deserve my attention. However many you kill on your way out is not my concern!"
Just as Darius was about to try and work his way out of this verbally, Thanatos waved his hand impatiently. "I have been here for too long and the leyline beneath is beginning to run dry! Our barter has come to an end, so now disappear from my lands!"
With that command, Darius and Gunner were forcibly expelled from the necropolis by a powerful wind. It was so strong and potent that the rest of the world became a blur as they flew backward.
They were so fast in their movement that they would have been flattened by the pressure were they not covered with a protective bubble.
Without a single care for their comfort, the bubble crossed over the entire Adept band and reached the edge of the Journeyman band before crashing into the ground and disappearing.
The two fellows coughed weakly as they rose to their feet. Just as they were about to dust themselves off and make their way forward, both Darius and Gunner's faces turned green when they heard endless roars from incoming undead.
The ground itself shook like there was an earthquake abound. Right in front of them, a stampede of undead were rushing towards them with reddened eyes that showed utter craziness and their determination to destroy!
