Re: Evolution Online Chapter 181: Black Pearls

Chapter 181: Black Pearls

For a village, there seemed to be a lot fewer people living here so Liam looked around to see if there was anyone else.
But the place seemed to be completely deserted except for the corpses littered around.
"Ok, why don't you guys start gathering the loot?" Liam hummed and in the meantime took a stroll through the village.
He eyed all the empty houses and walked to the end where there seemed to be a cave at the distance. His gaze paused on the cave that looked dimly lit as if there were torches within.
"Hmmm…" Liam stopped there and did not continue to walk. He made a quick calculation based on the number of houses and thatched huts and the dark mages they had killed so far.
"The numbers don't add up. There should definitely be more mages in the cave." He waited for some time, letting the others finish their task.
The demons one by one gathered the loot scattered around, even robbing the houses and piled up everything that they found.
After a few minutes, they finished running around and assembled together.
Because this was a human settlement, they had collected a decent amount of loot including several copper coins and silver coins.
There were also a bunch of staffs and necklaces and other mage-related pieces of equipment with high intelligence attribute values that are useful for casters.
Eying the items warily, Liam did not put the entire pile into his inventory space as some of the items were just worthless trash.
"You guys can take these." He distributed some cheap low-tier stuff that only amounted to a few copper coins at most.
But to the demons, these were already high-end things that they could sell or scrap for parts. So they thanked him profusely and accepted them.
Liam also asked them to switch out their gear, giving a few better ones that further buffed their raw strength and vitality attributes.
The demons had never come across this kind of gear as only the squad leaders and platoon leaders donned on uncommon or rare pieces of equipment.
They would never waste such equipments on expendables like them.
So they were even more touched and their eyes were glistening as they obediently accepted everything Liam gave them.
Liam noticed this but he didn't pay attention.
He sorted out the rest of the loot and saw a few black pearl necklaces. These were more unique compared to the other simple accessories.
"What are these?" He wasn't able to identify them and the system prompt also did not give him the information. "Well, I guess I can look at these later."
He stored them separately and then proceeded to clear out everything else.
All the demons were already stretching their muscles and relaxing, thinking that the invasion was already over.
They knew that Liam would probably run many invasions back to back like last time so they were readying themselves for the next attack.
But Liam surprised them and pointed to the cave at the distance. "Let's go. There should be more mages there. We can finish off them as well."
"Yes, leader."
"Yes, Lord."
The demons hurriedly obeyed and followed behind Liam, along with Luna and the undead hounds.
However, as they neared the cave, Liam stopped moving carelessly and signaled the others as well to stop.
"You. Go to the cave entrance and stand there." He commanded one of the hounds first. "If someone comes out, lure them out to the back here."
The undead hound lifelessly nodded and then walked over to the cave entrance.
"Why leader?" One of the demons asked Liam, scratching his head.
"Mmm. We should not underestimate these mages just because they are easy to kill. We were only able to finish them off quickly because they were scattered and not together."
"We also stopped them from casting any spells. Do you understand?"
He wanted to groom these five demons so he patiently explained, answering even the stupid questions.
While they were discussing, the hound already reached the entrance of the cave.
Because it was only a single hound, that too something which looked like it was plagued by death, just a couple of mages shouted and ran out of the cave.
The entire group did not rush out. Watching this curiously, the demons nodded in understanding. They finally understood Liam's strategy.
But their reaction did not help at all as Liam seriously wondered just how effective grooming these idiots was going to be.
"Ah, fuck it. I am already invested. Can't back out now."
As soon as the mages stepped out, the hound immediately started running towards the back near a few trees where the group was located.
The mages as well followed the hound, not thinking too much. They just did not want a silly hound to desecrate their cave.
But unfortunately, it was not just a silly hound and the demons instantly pounced on the two mages once they were within reach.
[Ding. You have gained 2 experience points]
[Ding. You have gained 2 experience points]
Both the humans died in the blink of an eye, and their bodies were looted.
Liam nodded in approval and then turned to look at the fox. "Alright, Luna. It is your turn now."
The small fox quickly became elated on hearing his command and ran over.
It looked like it wanted to prove it was not just another dumb undead, so the fox threw a big ball of fire in as soon as it reached the cave entrance.
This of course attracted more attention and a lot more mages spilled out like ants from a colony. The naughty fox did not wait around and skillfully turned its tail and ran back.
This time the mages did not just run behind it but also sent out a few spells. Dark spirals of corrosive energy shot out aimed at the little red fox.
However, before anything could touch the furry beast, Liam acted and sent out a dozen compressed high-density fire bullets targeting the dead center of their foreheads.
[Ding. You have gained 2 experience points]
[Ding. You have gained 2 experience points]
…
…
…
…
All the mages dropped dead immediately and Luna returned back to the group with a smirk. Liam lifted the beast by its tail and asked. "Did you see how many were there inside?"
[About a dozen, master]
"Ok. Be good." He put it back on the ground and signaled everyone to move forward. "No need to wait any longer. Let's go."
Raaaaa! Grrraaaa!
All the demons shouted excitedly and dashed into the cave at their full speed.
The mages were completely caught off guard and only managed to put up an insignificant fight before the undead and the demons pounced on them and killed them.
The cave wasn't that deep and there wasn't anyone else present.
"I guess this really is it?"
Liam noticed a few more strings of black pearls which he collected and shoved inside his inventory along with the other loot.
From the looks of it, the group of dark mages had been sitting around a bonfire and chanting something.
"What were these guys up to?" He tried to think if this was anything important, but he couldn't come up with any answers.
"Maybe this is just an easy invasion… No need to overthink."
Liam shrugged his shoulders and started walking out along with everybody.
After struggling so much with the gnomes, he was more than happy to knock out a few easy invasions.
Nevertheless, he had to analyze everything that he came in contact with because the inheritance and the secret to improving his currently weak necromancy craft could be in anything.
Unlike the guild who had boasted about the mecha gnomes and the golems parading them everywhere, Kouske had rather been a tight-lipped person.
He did not breathe a single word about how he obtained the army of strong undead soldiers which he later on even managed to bring into the real world.
Liam clenched his fists tightly. The mere thought of such strength was empowering. He wanted to obtain it all costs.
"Let's look around for some more time." He commanded his party.
He sent the five demons together to the left of the cave and he and Luna along with the undead hounds went towards the right.
Their efforts were not in waste as not long after, Liam ran into another small village, located only a short distance away from the village they had just raided.