"Dammit!" the leader shouted as soon as she had locked the entrance of their headquarters. There was a hidden mechanism installed by the entrance to hide the whole base from plain sight.

The five subordinates who managed to escape with her were panting beside her, feeling ashamed that they had been forced to escape from the same person that thwarted their plans in the Territory of Norria.

"Hurry and gather all the documents of our research!" the leader ordered. "This base might have already been compromised. We can't stay here for long."

"What about the Foreigners that are still in the midst of transformation?" one of her subordinates asked.

"Just leave them!" the leader replied. "We can't possibly take them back with us. Besides, they have more worth staying here as decoys when someone discovers this base."

Inside the nursery room, twelve cocoons were still in the midst of transformation. Although they wouldn't be able to be there when the new batch of Lycans was born, their research had already produced the results that they needed in order to create batches of Mutated Lycans.

Just as the Dwarves were ransacking their headquarters for anything of value, they heard the distinct opening of the entrance of their base, which made all of them stop whatever they were doing.

The leader gestured for everyone to hide, planning to have them help her neutralize the trespasser who just entered their research facility.

'It must be him.' The leader of the Dwarves gritted her teeth as she listened to the footsteps heading in her direction. 'It sounds like he's alone. As long as we act quick enough, we can kill him before he can summon his minions.'

The leaders' subordinates were thinking of the same thing. All of them readied themselves to ambush the hateful Half-Elf who had forced them to evacuate their base and return to their branch headquarters in Whitebridge City.

As soon as the trespasser opened the door to the laboratory, several spells flew in their direction and obliterated their body.

The leader of the Dwarves was about to celebrate when she noticed that something was wrong. Lying on the floor was not a charred corpse, but several shattered bones that soon turned into particles of light.

"Such a warm welcome." A voice filled with ridicule sounded from the passageway. "I've already sent the Dwarves that you targeted back to Oakwood Town to ask the Adventurer's Guild for reinforcements. At most, it will take them an hour to arrive here, so you don't have much time remaining."

The expression of the Dwarf leader, as well as her subordinates, turned grim upon hearing the Half-Elf's words. The leader had a skill which allowed her to know whether a person was telling the truth or not. This was why she was certain that the Half-Elf was telling the truth, which didn't bode well for them.

"Since you decided to talk to us, it means that you want something from us," the leader replied with certainty. "Boy, I admit that you have the upper hand right now, but if you think that you can trap us here until the reinforcements from the Adventurer's Guild arrive, you are making a big mistake. We would rather die than be captured and interrogated by them."

The reply she received was a mocking laughter that made her grit her teeth in frustration.

"So what if you kill yourselves?" Lux asked. "Go on. Kill yourselves. Do you think that I care? I am a Necromancer. I deal with dead people. So, all of you dying is better than being alive. I can raise your bodies and make you my slaves. I'm sure that all of you will be more polite once you turn into an Undead."

"Ah! Let me quote what you said back in the forest." An eerie smile crept up on Lux's lips.

"Worry not, for I have deemed all of you worthy to become my subordinates. You should all be honored because you will be part of my Undead Army that will change this world for the better!"

The leader of the Dwarves and her subordinates felt the hair on the back of their necks stand on end. Lux's words had reminded them that they were dealing with a Necromancer who specialized in dealing with dead people."

Right now, they were still alive and could resist, but once they were dead, they would be at his mercy.

"What do you want?" the leader asked through gritted teeth. "I am willing to negotiate. If you wish to have your name erased from the blacklist of our Organization, I am willing to negotiate with our Boss for you."

"Wait! How about you join us instead?" one of the dwarves shouted. "With your abilities, you can easily become one of our Elders! You will gain everything you need, and the organization will be more than happy to provide it to you!"

Lux smiled in the place where he was hiding as he listened to the Dwarf's tempting words. The leader and her subordinates seemed to have realized that suicide won't help them, so they decided to negotiate with him instead. Unfortunately, he had no intention of joining the organization.

'Maybe I can gain something from this exchange,' Lux thought as he pondered what his next move would be.

A few minutes later, he finally gave his response, which made the Dwarves, who were already feeling anxious, feel like an olive branch had been offered to them.

"Let's not talk about your fake promises. I am not interested in them," Lux stated. "What can you offer me, from what is in your possession, that might interest me enough to let all of you go? This serum that you developed, I am quite interested with it. Does it have an antidote?"

"It does," the leader replied in a heartbeat. She was afraid that if Lux thought that they had no value, he would immediately send his Skeletons to kill them. "We can give them to you if you release us."

"Do you really think that your lives are so cheap that a mere antidote will be enough for me to let you go? Don't forget, I can still get my hands on the antidote by interrogating all of you when you're dead. You need to raise the bar higher if you want to get out of this place alive."

"Then, what more do you want?"

Lux chuckled because he knew that he had made them truly understand that the only way to escape was through negotiation.

"I want all the serums in your possessions as well as the antidotes," Lux replied. "Also, you will give me instructions on how to make them. Let's see I also want all the gold in your possessions, including your artifacts. Don't worry, I'll let you guys keep your clothes. I am not a fan of exhibitionism."

Lux knew that if he added a few more conditions like golds and artifacts, the Dwarves would be more inclined to give in to his demands.

Why? Because they'd think that losing it all meant that there was a possibility that they would be able to live if they agreed to his conditions.

The leader gritted her teeth as she forced herself to agree to Lux's conditions.

"If we give you everything, will you really let us go?" the leader asked. "How can we be certain that you will keep your promise?"

"Well, you can either trust me, or not. In the end, the ones who are begging to live are you guys, not me. Don't worry. I'll give you guys exactly one minute to decide. After one minute, you will give me your answer. If I don't like your answer, I will send my undead army to attack all of you. Your one minute starts now."

Several rattling sounds echoed inside the underground base as Lux summoned his Undead Warriors. Their blue eyes glowed in the darkness, frightening the leader and her subordinates. At this point, they regret choosing Colette's group as their next set of victims.

If only they hadn't touched Lux's friends, perhaps all of them wouldn't have to worry about keeping their lives, as well as keeping their experiments a secret.

However, there were no if's.

Now that they were on the verge of losing their lives, they knew that they had to make a deal with the devil or risk becoming his Undead Minions, who could do nothing but obey his every command.

"Fine, we accept your condition," the leader said after the one minute grace period was over. "We will give you everything."

"Excellent," Lux replied. "Now, give your possessions to my minions and don't try anything funny. The moment you do, the deal is off."

Lux didn't mind acting like a bandit this time around since he really needed the antidotes. Right now, he still didn't have the skill, Raise Dead, which allowed him to revive dead creatures or people.

He was just bluffing and using his job as a Necromancer to scare the Dwarves into thinking that they could not escape his clutches even in death. This worked perfectly well in the negotiations because none of them wanted to die.

Especially when they knew that even when they turn into corpses, they would be reanimated and still be forced to thank their killer for killing them, which would be the most tragic thing ever.

Although he had the Blackfire Coffin that could store and revive the dead, Lux didn't want to make these Dwarves his subordinates because, in his eyes, they didn't have the qualifications to become his minions.