"Back off? Hell no!"
Seeing the last sentence, Gu Xi couldn't help but shout.
They've turned a simple job assignment task into this mess, making him suffer so much and contract with the worst undead.
And now they want to drive him away.
That's impossible.
He wouldn't let this go until he flattened everyone who captured him.
As Gu Xi shouted, he swung the dead rat at the two people outside the door who hadn't reacted yet.
At Level 2 Throwing, he precisely hit one of them in the face with the dead rat.
The person snapped back to their senses after being hit by Gu Xi, and looked at him with murderous intent. But just as he was about to draw his blade, he heard Gu Xi mutter softly:
"Boom!"
The dead rat that hit his face exploded on the spot, its power like a big firecracker that's capable of blowing a pot sky-high.
The lethality was average, but it exploded right in front of the man's face, and the blast wave drove the rat bones into his eyes, piercing through his brain.
[Killed Cultist (Level 1), gained 10 experience points.]
The other person beside him quickly drew a dagger from his waist upon seeing the situation.
At this moment, his movement noticeably slowed down, as if his joints had frozen.
Then Gu Xi saw in shock that Luna, who had been standing in front of him, now appeared behind the man.
Two shimmering blue tentacles stretched out from the mirror Luna was holding and touched the man's back, white frost slowly crawled over his body from where the tentacles touched.
Then Luna opened her mouth slightly near the man's ear.
The guy who wanted to draw his dagger just collapsed right then.
As he fell, Gu Xi could see his face under the hood, covered with blood flowing from his seven orifices.
[Luna (Contracted Undead) killed Cultist (Level 1), you gained 4 experience points, Contracted Undead gained 7 experience points.]
This situation took Gu Xi by surprise, as he initially didn't think much of Luna's combat power.
If it hadn't been unavoidable, Gu Xi wouldn't have thought of contracting with such a weak ghost.
It's known that for every two levels the Undead Mage gains, or for every level the Undead Contract skill advances, he can contract an additional undead.
And in return, the level of contracted undead can normally exceed the Undead Mage's level by 5 levels.
Initially, Gu Xi planned to choose a Level 5 Vampire or Corpse Witch as his first contracted undead, that way he would have a partner to command when summoning ordinary undead as cannon fodder.
Even in danger, he would have someone to discuss with or get help from.
Luna's attributes were much worse than Gu Xi's, leading him to think his first contracted undead was a waste.
Now it seemed that wasn't the case; Luna had some combat power, at least she would take the initiative, which was enough.
As Gu Xi thought about this, he dashed toward the prison door. Before he could give any orders, Luna found the keys on the two corpses and tossed them to him.
Holding the cold keys, Gu Xi's last bit of dissatisfaction about contracting with Luna vanished.
If you're going to contract, make good use of it.
Contracted undead are not the same as summoned undead.
Contracted undead hardly need to be directed, only getting more synergized over time.
Eventually, find a way for Luna to level up, to make up for the missing levels.
With this thought, Gu Xi had accepted Luna in his heart, treating her as his companion.
Unlocking the prison door with the keys, Luna handed over a dagger and a curved saber.
It was clear that Luna had already searched the corpses while Gu Xi was opening the door.
"Distribute the keys."
Gu Xi took the curved saber and dagger, secured them to his waist, and threw the bunch of keys to Luna.
Luna caught the keys and flew towards a nearby prison, tossing a key in front of each imprisoned person.
Taking this opportunity, Gu Xi reached out towards the two corpses, quickly drawing two faint white light orbs from them.
[You completed the Soul Drawing ritual, obtaining Soul Fragment*1.4]
Gu Xi didn't immediately merge the soul fragments into a complete soul; he just kept them and grabbed the curved saber, running toward the depths of the corridor outside the prison.
By this time, Luna had already distributed all the keys. As Gu Xi stood up to escape, she flashed over to follow him.
Gu Xi didn't look back; he just felt the chill behind him, knowing that Luna had caught up.
Realizing this, Gu Xi quickened his pace; although he didn't know why these cultists had captured him, he knew this place was dangerous.
He didn't want to just die after starting his profession here.
Better get out of here first.
Before he had run a few steps, Gu Xi heard urgent footsteps coming from ahead.
It seemed that the explosion in the prison earlier had attracted the cultists' attention.
The prisons below held the sacrifices they caught, and if something happened, losing one or two sacrifices would likely mean they'd end up on the altar too.
To survive, these cultists were giving it their all.
Seeing the figures rushing out ahead, Gu Xi pulled back his left hand, and the dagger fell into his hand.
The cultists on the opposite side noticed Gu Xi, and one of them shouted loudly.
"The sacrifices have escaped, the sacrifices have escaped…"
Before he could finish his sentence, Gu Xi's dagger was already lodged in his forehead.
[Killed Cultist (Level 1), gained 12 experience points.]
Seeing Gu Xi take the initiative to attack, the nearby cultists became furious, stepping over their companion's body and charging at Gu Xi with their weapons.
However, the coordination between Gu Xi and Luna exceeded the cultists' expectations. Just as Gu Xi threw the dagger, Luna moved to the front, and her tentacles from the mirror touched the ground, instantly covering it with a layer of frost.
Taking advantage of this, Gu Xi pointed to the corpse on the ground.
"Boom!"
The Secondary Corpse Burst skill activated again, and the recently fallen cultist's body exploded on the spot.
Compared to the firecracker-like dead rat Gu Xi had thrown earlier, the power of the cultist's body explosion was significantly greater.
When the body exploded, its power was equivalent to a genuine landmine.
In the confined space of the corridor, along with the cultists clustered together running over the corpse, the explosion blasted them all sky-high.
Seizing this opportunity, Luna opened her mouth toward the area where the cultists had been blown away, and a wave invisible to normal people spread outward from her center.
The cultists who had been caught in the range of the Secondary Corpse Burst were already severely injured, and under Luna's Banshee Wail, they succumbed on the spot.
A continuous stream of information flashed before Gu Xi, indicating his gains from this encounter.
[Killed Cultist (Level 1), gained 9 experience points.]
[Luna (Contracted Undead) killed Cultist (Level 1), you gained 6 experience points, Contracted Undead gained 8 experience points.]
[...]