The Black Necromancer

"We lost many in this fight." Leon turned to look at the battlefield. He could see the bodies of several Ace Candidates, devoid of life. The only things that were left were their bodies and Divine Sparks, but even those were in poor condition. Several of them had Divine Shards that were on the verge of shattering.

"We can bring them back." Nedra responded as she approached him. She had already begun healing and was looking much better than before.

"It will take time, though. I don't have the time or energy to bring them back myself." Leon shook his head as he understood what she was talking about.

The reason why he would not bring them back himself was simple. Bringing back a God through his own power was immensely taxing, and required a lot of time. Not only could he not currently bear that burden as he was on guard against the Paragon of Undeath, but he also had to focus on absorbing all of what he had been able to gain recently.

The insights, the fallen enemy Gods, all of them would turn into valuable resources to fuel his further growth.

As they were talking, a sudden sound caught everyone's attention. The sound of space ripping apart rang out as the space itself struggled to support the weight of the being that was teleporting to their location.

An ominous feeling began to rise up in Leon's gut.

"Everyone, retreat into my Divine Kingdom! Trouble has come!" Leon warned everyone and waved his hands. A strong gravitational force emanated from him, drawing in all the valuable debris and bodies toward him, which he promptly stashed away within a pocket space. Then he retreated to the boundary of his Divine Kingdom but did not enter it with the others.

Nedra and his loyal summons also remained with him.

Rip!

Space ripped apart not far from their previous location, and a clawed hand reached out, followed by a body clad in dark armor that was covered with skulls and thorns.

"LEON CROMWELL! YOU HAVE FAR EXCEEDED MY EXPECTATIONS!!!"

Leon's mind began to race as he realized who it was that had come. It was none other than Izeal, the Paragon of Undeath!

.

.

"THAT FOOL! He has ruined everything!" Ijas growled and everything around him suddenly blew up in flames before he reigned in his temper. "He had ruined the balance!"

Pheher remained quiet as he watched the master of the Army of Destruction rage angrily. He could understand Ijas' anger, but he was also surprised. The urge to destroy Datar which had burned hot in his core had suddenly vanished.

This was not the first time that this had happened. But this feeling only meant one thing.

'Datar has proven that it is not weak. We will move on and leave them be...' Pheher thought to himself.

Everything had happened so quickly. Normally, months or even years passed before any of the previous worlds that had proven their worth were able to fend off the Army of Destruction. However, for Datar, it had only been, what? A week? Two?

No war that Pheher had ever fought in was ended in two weeks! Not to mention a war like this, an extinction war!

What Pheher could not understand again was why Ijas was so vexed. He had suddenly begun swearing a few hours ago and his temper had been hot ever since.

'What could have made him so angry?' Pheher asked himself when a sudden change occurred. Ijas' eyes became focused and his anger changed into something more focused. Pheher deciphered that he was mentally communicating with someone.

'The Paragon of Undeath? He is the only possible reason. After all, the sudden involvement of so many of his underlings forced us to pull back our own forces to maintain the balance.' Pheher deduced.

"Pheher." The coldness in Ijas' voice was alarming. Pheher immediately stood straighter under Ijas' gaze. "Pull back the troops and lead them away from Datar. We are done here. I will be gone for a bit to handle a certain matter."

With those words, Ijas vanished in a swirl of blazing red flames, leaving Pheher stunned. But he soon snapped out of his daze and hurried to do as Ijas had said.

.

.

Back in front of Leon's Divine Kingdom, Leon prepared for the worst. He had known that killing all of the enemies that had been sent by the Paragon of Undeath would definitely trigger the ancient being, but he had not expected such a quick response.

"COME NOW, YOU HAVE REJECTED ME TIME AND TIME AGAIN, LEON. COME AND BE ONE WITH ME. WE SHALL ACHIEVE THE PINNACLE OF WHAT IS KNOWN!" Izeal bellowed, his voice booming with power, might and authority.

But just as he appeared, another immensely powerful force also made itself known.

"IZEAL, YOU BASTARD!" The voice of Ijas rang out as a massive vortex of fire appeared between Leon and the Paragon of Undeath. From within that fire vortex, Ijas walked out, his body ablaze with red flames that depicted his wrath quite clearly.

"What do you want, Ijas? Do not get in my way of getting what I want." Izeal's face fell as he looked at the master of the Army of Destruction. He knew that he had run afoul of this powerful being, but he did not really care. He was willing to offend anyone in pursuit of his perfection. After all, he had even offended the sole embodiment of this universe!

"You betrayed me! You broke the rules and cost us this operation! You ruined everything!" Ijas growled angrily.

Ijas was of the mindset that if a world were to survive, then so be it. But one thing he absolutely hated, was when factors that did not belong came along and messed up everything. He did not necessarily want to see Datar fall, but he did not like the fact that Izeal had messed everything up. He would have rather had Datar prove themselves against his own army.