The Great Demon Lord of the American Comics World

Chapter 49, Skeleton Warrior and Shrinking Talisman

Flames, scorched earth, the pungent smell of sulfur—everywhere exudes a corrosive, negative energy.

We've reached the edge of hell.

Li Xingzhou moved the skeletons of the five werewolves to an open space and began to set up an array there.

He used stones burning with hellfire as nodes, carved runes on them, and drew trenches in the ground as array marks. He then poured hellfire magma into the array marks to connect the nodes one by one.

While he was busy, Iliana stood on a large rock, her arms crossed over her chest, holding up a heavy mass, watching him curiously as he set up the formation, and occasionally asking a question or two.

Li Xingzhou didn't find it annoying at all. He multitasked, setting up the formation while patiently answering her questions, and occasionally asking her for advice on controlling the hellish elements.

It took Li Xingzhou about an hour to finish setting up the formation.

"Is that all?" Iliana asked curiously.

Li Xingzhou shook his head:

"Not yet. I need to guide the supernatural elements of hell into the magic circle, and I have to do it myself. Otherwise, the skeletal warriors that come back to life will be the first to turn against me."

As he spoke, he pricked his fingertip, squeezed out blood, and first drew a complex and intricate blood talisman on each of the five werewolf skulls. Then he stepped out of the formation and drew another blood talisman on the outermost magic array node stone.

Without magical power, one can only use one's own essence and vital energy to activate the great formation.

After getting ready.

Li Xingzhou formed a hand seal, used his primordial spirit power to manipulate a wisp of hellish element, and struck the blood talisman on the node stone with his palm.

The node stone vibrated, and the blood rune emitted a dazzling red light. Then it came to life, drawing in the hellish elements that were gathering from all directions. It moved swiftly across the node stone, illuminating the other runes on it one by one. Then, carrying the continuously injected hellish elements, it followed the array-marked channels filled with hellish lava to the next node stone.

And so, one node stone after another lit up, and the surging hellish elements instantly spread throughout the entire magic circle, finally concentrating and pouring into the center of the magic circle into the five werewolf skeletons whose bodies were covered with runes.

As hellish elements are continuously injected.

The five werewolf skeletons began to tremble and shake, and the color of the bones changed, as if they had been stained with ink. First, they turned from white to black, and then gradually they were tinged with the color of hellfire, turning into a rich and deep black-red.

Finally, cracking sounds rang out from the five werewolf skeletons as their joints automatically connected. Once fully assembled, they leaped up together, letting out hollow and eerie roars to the sky.

Since the skeleton had no vocal cords, the roar was naturally generated by supernatural elements vibrating the air.

Due to the characteristics of the hellish elements, their roars have a mind-shaking effect, causing ordinary people to lose their composure and become unable to move instantly, and even superhumans will be affected to some extent.

Of course, for a powerful individual like Iriana with a strong mental barrier, this kind of mental intimidation can be completely ignored.

After announcing their presence with a roar, the five werewolf skeletons turned to look at Li Xingzhou, their empty eye sockets, burning with hellfire, filled with undisguised, deep-seated hatred.

They died at Li Xingzhou's hands in life, and even after their souls dissipated, their bones were still etched with resentment towards him. The supernatural elements of hell, which are most adept at inducing all kinds of negative and dark emotions, further deepened this resentment, making them instinctively want to turn against Li Xingzhou.

Seeing that the five werewolf skeletons were not reacting properly, Iliana became solemn. Her long hair moved without wind, her eyes shone with azure light, and a layer of dark metallic scales emerged on her right arm, covering her completely from her shoulder to her fingertips.

Finally, a long, slender sword with an ancient design and a dull color, seemingly made entirely of metal, materialized in her palm. This was her "soul sword."

Iliana was on high alert, ready to intervene at any moment to help Li Xingzhou suppress the backlash from the five werewolf skeletons.

However, Li Xingzhou had anticipated this—how could one not suffer a backlash when using corpses and souls to forge demonic artifacts?
Every demonic cultivator who has ever crafted such a magical artifact has suffered the backlash of their own artifact, and quite a few fools have even died at the hands of their own artifacts.

With Li Xingzhou's experience and accumulated knowledge, he already had a plan on how to deal with the backlash from the demonic artifact.

Just as the five werewolf skeletons were about to pounce.

He casually raised his right hand and snapped his fingers.

With a crisp snap of his fingers, the blood runes he had previously drawn on the skulls of the five werewolves suddenly emitted a brilliant crimson light, transforming into five miniature blood skulls that sank deep into the werewolf skulls. The five restless werewolf skeletons froze simultaneously, and the hellfire in their eye sockets turned a dark red.

Li Xingzhou smiled and waved to the werewolf skeletons. The five werewolf skeletons immediately prostrated themselves on the ground, using all four limbs, and came to him like five obedient dogs, squatting in a dog-like position.

If it weren't for the fact that it doesn't have a tongue or tail, it might already be sticking its tongue out and wagging its tail wildly.

"So you've tamed them already?"

Iliana looked astonished; she had been on high alert just moments before, only to find that her vigilance had been in vain.

"If you make your own toys, you should of course prepare a plan."

Li Xingzhou said with a smile:

"Their souls have long since dissipated, and they don't actually have their own will. It's just that the resentment remaining in their bones, coupled with the negative energy of hell, gives them an instinct to retaliate against me. I only need to erase that remaining resentment, and they will become obedient dogs that bow down to me."

It sounds simple, but Li Xingzhou was able to do this so easily because he had unfathomable depth of experience in demonic cultivation.

If a novice demonic cultivator were to do this, they could easily mess things up.

"How strong are they? Can I test their strength?"

Iriana was eager to try; she had already drawn her sword, so she had to cut something, right?

Li Xingzhou quickly stopped him:
"No, this is just a crudely made, inferior magical artifact. It can't withstand a single blow from your Soul Sword."

Li Xingzhou wasn't being modest.

He crafted these five skeletal warriors purely through skill and external force; compared to the real magical artifacts he had previously crafted, they were nothing more than "toys."

Iriana's Soul Sword also possesses the "spell-breaking" property, which can easily destroy magical energy and spell structures. It can be said to be a natural counter to skeletal warriors, puppet artifacts that are purely driven by supernatural elements.

With just a flick of her sword, she could easily reduce these five "toys" to their original forms.

Of course, even if they are crudely made toys, even if they are countered by Iliana, they are still made by Li Xingzhou and still have some strength.

For example, their skeletons are as hard as steel, their strength is 80-90% of what they were in life, their speed and agility are no less than when they were alive, and they also possess the ability to intimidate werewolves without mental power and to spew hellfire.

In any case, they are more than enough to fight werewolves and vampires.

"These five guys are too big, and they're skeletons, so they can't really follow you around like dogs. So how do you plan to take them with you?"

"This is easy too."

Li Xingzhou snapped his fingers again, and the five werewolf skeletons instantly shrank, turning into five thumb-sized statues that fell into his hands.

"See, just put them in your pocket."

"What's the principle behind this?" Iliana exclaimed, "They can actually turn such a huge werewolf skeleton into a miniature toy..."

Li Xingzhou smiled and said, "I had a shrinking spell engraved on them beforehand."

Iliana's eyes practically lit up: "Can you teach me?"

Li Xingzhou smiled and nodded: "Of course. But if we're going to study, we'd better find somewhere else. How about my house?"

"it is good!"

Iliana nodded repeatedly, eagerly opening the portal and bringing Li Xingzhou back to the real world.

(End of this chapter)