Chapter 143: Subjugating the Ghost Lord

Lando strode across the Plains of Zombies, his long-awaited sense of freedom making him feel somewhat unrestrained. He ignored the zombies he encountered from time to time, and naturally, these creatures were unable to detect him. When he had first arrived in this world, he had been somewhat unaccustomed to the dense power of death, but now, perhaps because his Mindscape was beginning to lean toward the aspect of death, the thick, pervasive aura felt strangely comfortable whenever he was enveloped within it.

His intangible Mindscape expanded fully, seemingly melding with the very fabric of this world. It appeared that, imperceptibly, his Mindscape had undergone a further evolution.

Unburdened and reckless, Lando traveled quickly. In less than an hour, he cut diagonally across the Plains of Zombies and arrived before a withered forest, cold, damp, and reeking of foul-smelling swamps. This was the Damp Bone Forest, Lando’s primary target and the lair of the Ghost Lord.

As for this Ghost Lord, being a wraith, it possessed no physical form and wielded a natural talent for etherealization. Furthermore, as an ancient entity, it was incredibly cunning; it had been surrounded by numerous experts from the Imperial Court yet had managed to escape with ease. However, these very tricks were perfectly countered by Lando’s Mindscape, which was the main reason it had been selected as his first target.

The stench wafting from the Damp Bone Forest made Lando wrinkle his nose. He wrapped his Mindscape tighter around himself, took a single step, and vanished from sight.

Meanwhile, in the heart of the Damp Bone Forest, within a small mountain formed of piled bones, the slumbering Ghost Lord was awakened by an inexplicable tremor. Wisps of black mist coalesced above the bone mountain, forming a massive, ferocious ghostly face.

The face scanned the surroundings, but finding nothing, it felt a flicker of confusion. It wanted to return to its slumber, but caution prevailed. Slowly, it faded from view, intending to scout the Damp Bone Forest to ensure there were no traps. The injuries sustained during its last battle with the Imperial Court experts had yet to fully heal, which was why it had been lying dormant in the forest of late.

Now, the Ghost Lord drifted through its domain in its intangible form, finding the cold, surrounding power of death quite soothing. As for the stench? Being a ghost, it had no sense of smell and thus remained entirely indifferent.

After circling the area, it discovered nothing suspicious. None of the various alarms it had set throughout the forest had been triggered. Convinced it had been overthinking, it prepared to return to the bone mountain to resume its sleep. Those bones, long submerged in the swamp and saturated with deep death energy, had been excavated to build the mountain, which acted as an amplifier for death energy—the perfect sanctuary for recovery.

Seeing its "nest" from afar, even a cold, undead creature like the Ghost Lord couldn't help but feel a sense of urgency. Its drifting pace quickened unconsciously. Just as it reached the bone mountain and its body began to disperse into black mist to merge with it, a sudden sense of danger flared—and this time, it was already upon it.

Before it could comprehend what was happening, the "bone mountain" shattered like a mirror, and the world transformed in an instant.

A lush green meadow, entirely unlike the desolate wilderness, appeared. Although the sky was filled with leaden clouds, it did not diminish the brightness of the world. A giant tower stood at the center of the meadow, radiating immense energy fluctuations and an inexplicable sense of oppression—a feeling that reminded the Ghost Lord of the terror it had felt as a lowly wraith facing a superior undead being.

Regaining its senses, it saw a Legendary Skeleton King and a Legendary Lich staring at it coldly. Behind them stood a small human, observing it with keen interest. The gaze, akin to looking at a lamb for the slaughter, enraged the Ghost Lord, yet it dared not act rashly; there was an eerie aura about the small human that made it instinctively wary.

Although the two legendary undead before it had fluctuating auras—clearly having ascended not long ago—the caution ingrained in the Ghost Lord’s bones prompted it to seek an exit immediately. Scanning its surroundings, it realized it had been shifted into another space, yet it did not panic. In its long existence, this was but a minor affair.

Having no intention of fighting in an unknown space, the Ghost Lord let out a strange, cackling laugh and began to fade into its ethereal form. If it had to fight, it would do so in the outside world, where the Damp Bone Forest, prepared over many years, would be the perfect battlefield.

Lando watched quietly as the entity attempted to etherealize and escape the Mindscape, feeling that if he didn't intervene, it might actually succeed.

*Snap!*

A crisp sound of snapping fingers echoed through the Mindscape. From the void, dozens of chains forged from the power of death erupted and tightly bound the Ghost Lord, forcing its fading form to manifest once more.

Before the Ghost Lord could recover from its bewilderment, the Skeleton King, unable to restrain itself, swung its massive halberd-axe down upon it. The Lich, not to be outdone, unleashed a barrage of innate spells and techniques it had independently mastered, casting them recklessly at the bound target.

*Boom! Boom! Boom!*

After a relentless onslaught, the Ghost Lord finally broke free, its body covered in wounds. It had not been this badly injured even during its battle with the Imperial Court experts.

An invisible force descended once more, pinning the intangible Ghost Lord to the ground. Before it could struggle again, a halberd-axe shimmering with dark light struck the ground right before its face. A deathly tremor followed. It looked up to see the Lich’s hand glowing with a black-and-red light, radiating such a profound aura of death that the Ghost Lord understood clearly: if struck, it would perish.

Seeing the Ghost Lord lying prone, no longer struggling and emitting waves of submissive mental energy, Lando—who had not moved a step the entire time—could not help but smile. A Necrotic Contract coalesced in the sky and slowly enveloped the Ghost Lord. Even without the creature's current surrender, it would have been unlikely to break free from a contract forged by the Mindscape, even at its peak. Thus, the binding was completed without a hitch.

Having subdued another powerful general and expanded his forces, Lando felt quite pleased. The next target, the Zombie King, would be even simpler; by avoiding the main zombie army and employing the power of the Mindscape to repeat the same strategy, it would be easily handled. Lando even began to contemplate how to deal with the Bone Dragon. If he could subdue it, many of his future plans would be carried out with one less worry.