Guradam Mammon/Story

## History

More than 2000 years ago, Guradam discovered this cave with a fountain of vitality, killed the original owner and used it as his secret training place. Soon after, a fiercer master came. It was a very powerful dragon (Paglio Sandro Achilles). In front of him, Guradam, who had always been proud, had no chance to retaliate and was easily killed. Fortunately, Guradam was proficient in dark magic and necromancy. At the critical moment, he used a kind of secret art of soul transfer to secretly hide his soul in the fountain of vitality, then he could be resurrected. This secret method would cost a certain lifespan as a price. Besides, it had a considerable time limit. If it took too long, his soul would disappear even if the fountain of vitality had a special effect.

Fortunately, the scary dragon seemed to be in a hurry and didn't think of completely destroying his body. Instead, the dragon just simply kicked him to a corner. After leaving the mouth-watering treasure, he left hurriedly (the main traps were set on the upper level and the forest).

At that time, only then Guradam who faked death dared to come out and relied on his secret art to resurrect luckily. Seeing the huge amount of treasure piled like a mountain, he was extremely excited. However, this place had been sealed by the special power of the dragon, so he couldn't find the exit at once.

Guradam was helpless and became frustrated again. The fountain of vitality could replenish energy and magic, but it couldn't be eaten as a meal. Even if he was proficient in magic, he couldn't sustain it. Guradam set his eyes on a silver box placed by the dragon in the fountain of vitality. From the caution of the dragon just now, it should be an important treasure. Perhaps, he could find a way to escape.

The moment Guradam opened the silver box, the box sent out a strange and terrifying power, which not only suppressing him from being able to move, but also almost draining all his lifeforce.

Guradam's initial lifespan was already low. Along with the use of secret art, he almost died on the spot. He was scared out of his wits. He only recovered half a day later after closing the silver box.

In desperation, Guradam had no choice but to take the risk and chose the path of as a corpse necromancer. After a great danger, he finally successfully transformed his body into an undead monster. After becoming a corpse necromancer, Guradam was temporarily free from food and lifespan concerns, so he began to think about how to leave the place.

For 2000 years, he had been continuously training and researching while trying various methods, and even taking great risks by experimenting with the silver box. The silver box not only could devour life, but sometimes it also would emit terrifying destructive power. Guradam's body which was converted into undead was destroyed by that terrifying power, leaving only pure spiritual body. The small box inside was even scarier. Guradam was still unsure what was inside until now.

Finally, by chance, Guradam successfully cast a part of his spirit onto the ground in the form of projection. The projection and his actual body were in a complementary relationship, so it couldn't be too far away from his actual body. Unfortunately, the projection couldn't open the exit from the outside. Therefore, he had another idea, which was projection conversion.

This projection only needed to absorb enough living souls to complete the conversion into his actual body. At that time, the body at the underground treasure hall would become a projection that could be discarded.

After using countless dead corpses as sacrifice, Guradam also gradually figured out some principles in the dragon's traps. After the projection accumulated enough power, he laid a magic territory to lure treasure hunters.

The strangeness of the plants along the way that Chen Rui saw when he arrived was exactly due to the influence of territory. The gold crystal that the corpse puppet, Hart used to lure Chen Rui's team came from the previous treasure hunter.

The power of Paglio's Dragon Inscription wasn't a small matter. Every 3 years, the pseudo-territory mixed with a trace of silver box's power that was accumulated by Guradam could weaken the effectiveness of inscription to a certain extent.

In that way, Guradam continued to suppress the dragon inscription and use corpse puppet to lure treasure hunters in. Then, he absorbed the souls of the deceased to enhance the projection. Due to the limited control distance of the corpse puppet and remote location of Silent Night Wetland, so far, he hadn't accumulated enough soul to convert into his projection. As for when he said he only needed 6 souls in the hall, it was clearly a bluff. The purpose was to use this method to let everyone kill each other while he could easily benefit from it.

Chen Rui used the artifact to swallow the Guradam's territory power that he accumulated for 3 years and he didn't fall for the trap of internal fight. Instead, he destroyed Gurdam's projection. Guradam's 2,000 years of hard work was in vain and wasted, so the hatred in his heart was inexhaustible.

However, the development was always unexpected. This guy actually broke the seal of the dragon and opened the door to the treasure! It was also equivalent to opening the life path that Guradam had been trying to obtain with a lot of effort! He not only could escape from this damn place that he was trapped for 2000 years, but he could also take away those shocking treasures!

Unexpectedly, this damn enemy, "Glorfin" actually had the power of territory. He almost devoured his essence of the soul. Guradam was forced to make a temporary compromise on the surface, but in his heart, he was scheming on how to kill all these people to hog the treasure. Not only the treasures but also that silver box. The breath of destruction from the silver box was mysterious and terrifying, and it could restrain the royal family. As long as he could understand the mystery, all the royal families in the Demon Realm would subdue under his feet.

In this way, "Glorfin" stepped into the trap under his playing hard to get guidance. When Glorfin opened the silver box, the key to victory was in the hands of Guradam again!

## Cooperation

Paglio said, "There's no need to ramble on with him. This skeleton has a white bone altar in the west. There should also be one on the mountain in the north. This is an ancient ritual sacrifice of the dead where he can use the dead spirit aura to recover his soul essence. So, his life box must be in the area of ​​this town. It might even be in the town. When his body is destroyed, let's ruin his life box. We'll see if this nasty skeleton can still jump around!"

"Guradam, you have no choice now," Chen Rui had an idea, "I have three methods that can completely destroy your life box immediately. First, Paglio can completely infiltrate the entire town with his poisonous territory.This can destroy everything within tens of miles, including your life box. You have also seen the second method. I can use space magic to swallow the whole town and then banish them into the space turbulence. You should know that I have this ability. The third method..."

"Remember the ‘water' previously? It is called Fountain of Resurrection which can cause fatal harm to your soul essence." A strange spring water suddenly dripped from Chen Rui's hands. The breath of vitality made the corpse necromancer instinctively feel uncomfortable. "In this method, I will permeate these into the land. Then, I'll cast a secret technique to form a special territory that can destroy all undead power within 100 miles, including the soul essence in your life box!"

In reality these 3 methods were pure bluff.

Guradam suddenly laughed. His hysterical laughter was filled with sorrow and despair, "The magic circle with a destructive curse is engraved on my life box. Once it is detonated, the epidemic and curse will spread around, with this town as the center, until the entire estate. You will also be cursed by my last soul power. Then, Doom will accompany you for life until you die!"

"Even if what you said is true, you can't threaten me." Chen Rui sneered, "I know a human powerhouse in the capital named Nero. He is a priest of the human world's Light Divinity Temple who has reached Demon Overlord level. He could surely think of a way to dispel this curse! But I'm very surprised. A corpse necromancer has a long life. You took a lot of risk to transform into corpse necromancer, and you succeeded with great difficulty. If you self-detonate, it is equivalent to taking the initiative to let go of the immortal body after obtaining with great difficulty. Is it worth it?"

When the corpse necromancer heard the other person talking about the human holy priests, his heart suddenly sank. Holy Magic was actually an effective means of restraining his curse. Plus, the human was a strong Demon Overlord, but Guradam still said without any signs of weakness, "I created a separate undead magic system within the dark magic. I can be deemed as the most outstanding undead magician (Necromancer) in Demon Realm's history. How can I succumb to you, brutal and shameful brats! Moreover, I don't believe that a human holy priest will appear in the Demon Realm! Not only [Doom], I will do everything to curse you before I die!"

However, the poison dragon did not intend to let go of Guradam. He revealed an impatient look, "Stop talking nonsense to him. First, we will shatter this pair of skeletons. Then, just let his life box explode. With the protection of me, the master's territory, any kind of shit curse will not hurt you guys."

Just after hearing the words of the poison dragon, Guradam was even more hopeless in his heart. When he was about to detonate the magic circle desperately, a voice sounded suddenly, "Funny guy, let me tell you something before you die! You're definitely not the most outstanding undead magician of Demon Realm. Plus, the undead magic system has already existed in ancient times. What you know now is just the tip of the iceberg!"

Guradam was furious. This was his proudest glory. He had surpassed all predecessors who studied undead magic 2000 years ago, and raised undead magic to an unprecedented height. Within these 2 years, undead magic stayed at the level of his research; with no further advancement. *This enemy is questioning my greatest achievement now. This is simply unbearable!*

When Chen Rui saw Guradam's irritability, he knew that he had successfully diverted the attention of the other party. He then said, "I received the inheritance of an ancient grand master and learned a lot of secrets. Undead magic is indeed derived from dark magic, but it belongs to a separate system. Its power is no less than that of dark magic! It is similar to the separate space magic which is derived from the water element and the wind element! Unfortunately, for various reasons, it is not passed on today. Moreover, the related classical records have disappeared over time."

Guradam's eyes flashed in red. He was apparently a little surprised. He had studied undead magic all his life, but he had never heard of this so-called secret story. He was about to refute it, but the other party continued, "From what I have learnt, the undead magic system is divided into three categories. The first is the summon and transform category; the second is the curse category; the third is the bone and poison category. Each category has many magic branches. I can reveal two types. There is a type of magic in summon and transform category that can transform the skeleton into a skeletal magician that releases elements. It can release a powerful long-range elemental attack. The bone and toxin category has a [Bone Armor] that surrounds the body. It uses a profound rotation rhythm and dead spirit power to offset, weaken and absorb all attacks from outside."

Guradam was an expert in undead magic, so he knew that these two kinds of magic were completely feasible when he first heard it. The other party did not create some crazy nonsense.

This so-called three categories of elements originated from a classic game that was popular all over the world. It was one of Chen Rui's favorite games in that world. Among them, there was the role of necromancer. Chen Rui just made slight modifications to the skills and described them. It really aroused Guradam's interest.

According to Chen Rui's understanding, the origin of power developed to be the same in the end. It was just the expression was different. Magic is a form of expression. As long as there was creativity and understanding, the imagined magic might be put into practice. This was also the magical derivation, innovation, and improvement of the 6 major elements: earth, water, fire, wind, light and dark.

Guradam's current research had actually reached a peak. In other words, he had reached a bottleneck. It was very difficult to progress and innovate. Hearing this statement, his eyes lit up. He felt that the narrow road suddenly became spacious and full of countless possibilities. He was greatly intrigued suddenly. After careful consideration, he desperately wished to find a place to study this quietly. He hastily asked, "What else?"

Chen Rui saw that Guradam was tempted, so he knew, *With Guradam's arrogance, insidiousness and viciousness, if he is forced to submit to me, it may be counterproductive. It's better to change another approach. Tempt him with benefits first, and then use both hard and soft ways.*

"Sir Guradam, you should know that there are no free things in this world. The more so-called free things, the higher the price you need to pay. You have heard the content of two ancient undead magic for free. I think it is time to discuss the price next. Or should I say, can our original hatred relationship be changed by some kind of cooperation?"

## Subordinate Contract

After a moment of silence, Guradam finally made a choice. Now that he had been forced to a dead end, he would not be able to die together even if he self-exploded. It would only be a worthless death. Moreover, the ancient undead magic element was too tempting for him to remain unmoved.

"Powerful dragon, I can sign a contract with you." Guradam murmured, "Not the master-servant contract, but the equality contract. According to the guy, we can have a cooperative relationship."

"In your dreams!" Paglio snorted coldly while exuding a murderous intent, "Skeleton, you are not qualified to mention the "equality" with the present situation! If it wasn't for my partner's sake, I would've already destroyed you. I, the master, hate the stubborn guy the most. Since you are so persistent, then..."

As soon as his words ended, the power in the poison dragon's Territory suddenly doubled. The oppressive force made the corpse necromancer's defensive circle smaller and smaller. In fact, Paglio was also a cunning guy. Knowing that Chen Rui had other plans, his tough attitude was just to cooperate with Chen Rui by playing the role of a bad guy, to play good cop bad cop.

If it was the previous corpse necromancer with the determination to choose death over dishonor, he was likely to blow up the life box entirely. However, with the intimidation and temptation of Chen Rui and Paglio now, the idea of ​​survival in Guradam's heart occupied a dominant position. It was difficult to revert to the previous death-insisting mentality. He quickly said, "Subordinate contract! This is my last bottom line. My life is longer than the dragons. I can spend endless time studying the undead magic. I will not let any accident discontinue this."

Paglio showed a deep pondering look. He looked at Chen Rui's gaze and replied, "Alright, but your contracting party is not me. It's him."

"Him?" Guradam was taken aback.*If I signed a subordinate contract with the powerful dragon, I can still accept it. However, this guy is just a Great Demon King. By the way, he was only a Demon King last time...*

"Yes, it's me." Chen Rui knew the reason why Guradam hesitated, "I'm the inheritor of the ancient grand master. Similarly, I am the only one in the entire Demon Realm who knows about the ancient undead magic element.

In fact, it is beneficial for you. My life is definitely not as long as the dragons. Even if I die at an old age, your contract time is only a few hundred years."

Guradam thought about it quickly. *His last sentence is right. If I sign a contract with the dragon, I will probably submit for tens of thousands of years, while the time is definitely much shorter if I sign the contract with this "demon". Moreover, this person has inherited the teachings of the ancient grand master. At least, he is already a potion master. His potential is quite terrifying. In just a few months, he has soared from the Demon King level to the Great Demon King level. He is very likely to be a Demon Overlord powerhouse in the future, so it is not considered a humiliation. Judging from my current passive situation, signing a contract with this person is the most perfect result.*

Eventually, Guradam made up his mind and signed a subordinate contract with Chen Rui. Poor corpse necromancer didn't know that he was tricked. Due to the symbiotic contract, the time of this subordination would be at least tens of thousands of years under normal circumstances.

However, Chen Rui hadn't really made long-term plans for thousands of years or tens of thousands of years. He would deal with future matters when the time comes.

## Undead army

Chen Rui brought a lot of equipment to arm Guradam's undead army this time. Many of them were even excellent grade equipment. When the corpse necromancer saw this batch of equipment, his eyes flashed with huge surprises. The undead army was used for crowd tactics and cannon fodder in the ordinary battle concept. There had never been a concept like an elite armed force. This was certainly due to Guradam's new undead army, but it was mostly because his master placed importance in him, or it should be called respect.

In particular, the foundation of this “respect” was even established after that dragon had recovered to the terrifying power of the peak stage of the Demon Overlord back then. Although Chen Rui did not say this clearly, the corpse necromancer, who was at the peak of the Demon Emperor, had clearly sensed the breath from the poison dragon that made him tremble. No, he seems to be more terrifying than he was 2000 years ago!

The 100,000 army of the Blue Lava Estate had all been transformed into undead. Among them, Mallorca of the early stage of Demon Emperor was also made into the strongest elite terror knight. As for the Blue Lava Estate Lord Titan at the intermediate stage of the Demon Emperor, something went wrong during the transformation. However, thanks to the improved vampire creating secrets provided by Sulfur, Titan was transformed into a vampire.

Guradam admired Sulfur’s talent a lot, so he was determined to accept him as a servant. Unfortunately, he had already signed a master-follower contract with Chen Rui and could not sign with a second person. He proposed to let Chen Rui accept Sulfur as a servant. After Chen Rui upgraded to five-star evolution, his spiritual link also upgraded. The equality link had increased from 4 slots to 5. Currently, there was only Paglio.

The undead army was fully equipped with weapons. The ordinary cannon fodder skeletons were naturally equipped with low-grade equipment while the elite troops were equipped with high-grade equipment, many of which were magic equipment. For instance, the newly developed skeletal archers were all armed with a magic bow; the skeletal magicians had magic bracelets that increased the magic power and quickly restored the spirit power; the skeletal cavalry and the skeletal war horses used light armor and vests that accelerate and enhance defense; the terror knight equipment, had reached excellent grade; the elite terror knight, Mallorca, and elite vampire, Titan, were even equipped with armor and weapons of quasi-legendary grade.

Facing the undead legion equipped with the powerful weapons, Guradam was extremely excited. The promise of the master is not a lie indeed. These equipment is no different from the standard army. Chen Rui gave the corpse necromancer a quasi-legendary grade cloak and a legendary grade magic wand with 2 supplementary excellent grade magic accessories. The combination of equipment was very knowledgeable. Although the magic accessories were only excellent grade, they could let the corpse necromancer stabilize his magic and maximize the power of the overall equipment, greatly increasing Guradam’s spirit power and dark magic power.

The traditional undead magician used spirit power to control the army, while Guradam used a self-created secret technique similar to the soul chain. He could greatly increase the number of controls, but the technique was also inseparable from the foundation of spirit power. With Chen Rui’s gifts of equipment now, in addition to the increase in his own magical power, his ability to control the undead army had also greatly strengthened. He immediately expressed his gratitude with genuine sincerity and admiration.

## References

1. ↑ Chapter 223 (Steambun)
2. ↑ Diablo 2 Necromancer
3. ↑ Chapter 311 (Steambun)
4. ↑ Chapter 312 (Steambun)
5. ↑ Chapter 413 (Steambun)