With a body that held no flesh on its bones and dark, ripped clothes that could only be acknowledged as those of a reaper, the skeleton sitting in the throne continued to look at Hiroki with interest.
And after some moments of silence between the two beings that no longer resemble humans anymore, Hiroki finally decided to speak to it, hoping to get some answers.
"Who are you?"
He knew that this Litch was willing to have a conversation, which is why he used this moment to his advantage.
'I'm sure that this Litch won't say everything that I need to know, but getting even just a few answers would be great for me— because all I need right now is information.' Hiroki thought to himself.
"This is the first time that someone has asked me about my identity. I'm intrigued."
The Litch said the moment he heard Hiroki's first question. Even though he didn't have any facial expression, just from his voice alone, anyone could tell that this Litch was curious to talk to Hiroki.
But just from the first words that this Litch just said, Hiroki was already able to tell something about the knowledge of this world.
'I see— so that means that humans of this world have refused any interaction with intelligent monsters— Or perhaps they are too scared to talk to them.' Hiroki theorized in his head. 'This might be a bit hard on me if there are also religious people that would go insane upon knowing my existence….'
The possibilities had almost no end. But he knew that at some point, all of his questions would have a satisfying answer.
"Then, I shall introduce myself. My name is Larskar Wartel, also known as the king of the undead."
The Litch introduced himself with a slightly excited voice that was trying to hold itself back.
"If you know your name, does that also mean that you still have memories before you became a Litch?" Hiroki asked once again.
He didn't want to miss any chance at all, which is why he continued asking any sort of question he could.
"Indeed. Becoming like this was simply a matter of choice for me. However, what I'm trying to figure out is... what you are…"
The Litch rubbed his own chin as he was looking at Hiroki.
"You seem to be an undead like me, but— you don't have an actual body."
"I'm willing to tell you what I am in exchange for some detailed information." Hiroki proposed to the curious Litch.
He knew that, if anyone else, the Litch should be the one most informed about the undead. Ghosts should pretty much be part of them, so if the Litch didn't have any knowledge about ghosts, this proved to Hiroki that there was no concept of ghosts in this world.
The Litch, after considering the proposal that Hiroki just made, simply nodded.
"Very well. Then what do you wish to know from me?"
There were a lot of questions that Hiroki had at the moment, but first he needed to start with something that was most important regarding his situation.
"Who is the demon king, and where can I find him?" Hiroki inquired.
If the goal of the system given to Hiroki was to defeat the demon king, then gathering some information about that being should be part of his knowledge.
'I hate following others' orders, but if I ever get myself caught against the demon king, then I must know some information about him. That way I can either avoid him or simply find a way around him.' Hiroki continued in his head.
The Litch, after he had heard the first sudden question from the weirdly human-shaped human who had no physical body, fell into silence for a few seconds before raising his head and looking at Hiroki in order to finally give an answer.
"The Demon King is a title given to the strongest demon. He is the leader and also the ruler of all demons without exception. If you wish to find him, then head southwest until you reach the wastelands. Somewhere in there, you can find the demon kingdom, where all of the demons are." The Litch quietly explained that to Hiroki.
"Has anyone ever challenge—"
"Now that I've answered two of your questions, it's your turn to speak."
Hiroki tried squeezing a bit more information out of this Litch, but from the way he cut off the next question that Hiroki was about to inquire, he decided to speak and give some brief information that the Litch might've wanted to hear.
"Alright." Hiroki let out a sigh. "You weren't far off from calling me an undead. Because I basically am one. After I somehow died, my soul ended up in this kind of form. From where I am from, this race is called 'a ghost'. So basically, I am a human without a physical body."
"That is indeed interesting. Do you remember how you died?"
"I wonder about that." Hiroki responded with a poker face.
"Hahahaha. So you are sharp, hm? What do you want to know in exchange for my question?" The Litch loudly laughed.
Hiroki softly smirked with his arms crossed the moment the Litch offered for another exchange of answers.
"Why did you become a Litch?"
Hiroki already knew that this was a bit irrelevant to what he needed to know. However, since this Litch was an undead like him, he must know some sort of means of how to become one. And hopefully revert the effects and become human once again.
"....."
"..."
There was a moment of silence between the two parties as they looked at one another.
Hiroki understood that something more sensitive about this Litch might have happened. But that didn't change his mind about finding an answer.
"It was for revenge—"
The Litch's cold voice responded to him.
"Before I decided to reject humanity, I was the youngest prince among many older brothers. However, instead of the oldest prince taking the throne, the king decided to hold a tournament for me and all of my brothers.
I wasn't all that interested in taking the throne, and that's why I wasn't all that serious when fighting against my brothers.
But that didn't seem to be the same in the eyes of my other brothers. The proud and kind brothers that I looked up to slowly crumbled to pieces when they decided to backstab me and kill my fiancée."
"Why would they backstab you?" Hiroki inquired.
"Because I was the strongest." The Litch responded.
"So in the end, did you accomplish your revenge?" Hiroki inquired once again, his eyes narrowing.
"......"
The Litch however, didn't seem to respond.
"It seems like we are out of time."
The Litch finally responded before standing up and raising one of his arms in the air.
And in the next moment, almost thirty skeletons with swords and shields came out of the ground. While their bones were on the verge of being broken, they were sturdy enough to wield their weapons.
Hiroki knew that he had hit on a sensitive topic with this Litch, which is why he didn't respond to him for the time being.
Even if this Litch was going to tell him a lot more things, that won't change the fact that Hiroki still would have had to defeat him in order to get out of this dungeon.
Hiroki floated to the nearest skeleton and attempted to possess it as a way to fight the rest of the skeletons without having to spend a lot of his own spiritual force.
However, what Hiroki didn't expect was that his skill wouldn't work on these lifeless skeletons. His ability to possess another undead would not work.
The same skeleton that Hiroki had failed to possess swung its sword towards him, only to end up missing as its target had no actual physical body. The stupid skeleton, despite not being able to touch Hiroki, still continued swinging his sword in vain while Hiroki, on the other hand, was looking around at the number of other skeletons that were being summoned.
"I guess that there's no point in talking anymore with you…"
After judging that it was impossible to use any of these skeletons, Hiroki used the 'AirBlade' skill, which was one of his skills that wasn't passive.
The moment Hiroki pointed the palm of his hand towards some of the skeletons, a pressure of air in the form of a sharp blade was created and shot, which sent several skeletons flying to pieces.
Because Hiroki's opponents were nothing but humanoid skeletons with ripped clothes and no muscles, there was basically nothing for them to withstand the sharp blades coming toward them.
However, while Hiroki was able to continue using this same skill, some of the skeletons managed to get up once again despite being cut in half after reattaching their bones back in place.
This was a bit annoying to Hiroki since it meant that he would've had to spend a lot more on his SF. That's why, with his next attack, he made sure to cut those skeletons enough times to render their bones useless.
"So any physical attack is impossible to reach you," The Litch softly said with a stern voice. "Then I won't have any other choice but to kill your very own core."
All of the skeletons around Hiroki suddenly released a purplish aura, which sent a sharp feeling of danger to his ghost form.
That's why he immediately took some distance from the skeletons as a way to avoid whatever was coming for him.
The Litch mentioned that he was going to kill Hiroki's core. Hiroki had a gist of what that meant since he could already feel what these skeletons were now capable of.
Since the Litch couldn't reach Hiroki, he decided to attack him by any other means. And that was by killing Hiroki's very own soul…
But that was something that Hiroki definitely wasn't going to allow. He knew that if his soul was killed, there would be no hope for him.
'——That would be game over!'
But despite knowing that, Hiroki still wasn't scared. He was rather more cautious now. He didn't want to accept defeat.
At least not from someone who failed to achieve his revenge. That's why Hiroki's eyes remained narrowed.
Now that the skeletons had been powered up, Hiroki had no choice but to float in the ceiling in order to continue shooting airblades as a way to kill the skeletons without getting hit.
However, despite pointlessly destroying a few of the skeletons that were beginning to grow in number, Hiroki had his eyes somewhere else.
In order to kill all of the skeletons at once, he had to destroy the main source that made all of these skeletons keep reviving.
While he was trying to contain himself in the same position, he immediately shifted his eyes and shot two other airblades at the massive chandelier handler, making it fall onto the ground.
But right before the massive chandelier could reach the ground, Hiroki used 'Quick Shield' so that the massive falling object would change direction and reach the Litch that was watching the whole fight.
However—
'So that wont work…' Hiroki thought to himself while looking down at his target.
—his plan failed because, in the next moment, the chandelier stopped moving in mid-air right before it could reach the Litch.
"That was very clever of you to attack me instead."
The Litch complimented Hiroki as he was holding his finger in the air and hovering to the side, which also shifted the position of the chandelier away from his head.
"However— it's useless because you cannot reach me."
"You mean it like your brothers, who made a fool out of you?" Hiroki scoffed at the Litch from above.
"I've been trying to remain reasonable with you, but don't you think that mouth of yours should be disciplined?"
The Litch responded as his eyes began glowing red, furious from the way Hiroki was making fun of his past.
Hiroki smiled. "The last people who said those words to me, regretted it for the rest of their lives."
"I understand," The Litch calmly said. "Then from now on, I won't hold back anymore."
The skeletons on the ground, since they were not able to reach Hiroki, suddenly fell to the ground, and their bones shattered into many pieces.
Then, after a moment of silence, the Litch stood up from his chair, revealing how thin his skeleton body was. But despite his skeletal body, Hiroki could already feel how powerful his opponent was.
The Litch then lifted his right arm and summoned a long sword by his side. The sword was almost as long as the Litch's body. It had a sharp sensation that was cutting even the aura itself in half.
'Something doesn't feel right about that sword…' Hiroki thought to himself, his eyes not flinching away from the sword.
As he braced himself for what the Litch was going to do, in the next split second, the dungeon boss, also known as the Litch, jumped from his position and immediately reached Hiroki in the air.
Hiroki was caught off guard for a moment by the speed that the Litch just revealed which is why Hiroki quickly created a shield to protect himself.
"You're slow!"
But to Hiroki's surprise once again, the Litch managed to shift his position mid-air, which allowed him to land a hit on his target.
But Hiroki still managed to dodge the sword coming at his face thanks to his 'Danger sense' skill that warned him of the danger of the sword.
[ SF has been deducted in half! ]
"....."
However, even though Hiroki thought he had completely evaded the sword, he felt a grazing pain on his cheek. The sword, which had lightly scratched him, had managed to injure his spiritual body.
After understanding what that sword was capable of, Hiroki immediately flew back to the ground in order to get some distance away from the Litch.
'I knew that this sword was dangerous. But to actually cause me damage this much despite being a ghost?'
Hiroki thought at an alarming speed while trying to keep his eyes on the Litch.
'I knew he'd be able to use some kind of skill over dead humans because he was an undead. But to land hits on a ghost…. That is definitely something that I didn't want to anticipate…'
"So you finally noticed?"
The Litch asked after seeing how Hiroki's expression had changed to a very cautious one.
"Even if you don't have a body, that doesn't make you immortal."
The Litch's sword was able to deduct half of Hiroki's spiritual force with just a scratch. That meant that no matter if he got grazed or thrusted with that sword more than seven times, he was going to disappear forever.
But allowing the Litch to simply kill him like that was something that Hiroki wasn't going to allow.
'——No matter what.'
Since the Litch had fast movements, Hirkoi had to think of something very quick. That's why he decided to not waste any more time and test one of the skills that he had not tested yet.
He used 'Fast Thinking' skill in order to come up with a plan as quickly as possible in those few seconds that he was away from the Litch.
The world around Hiroki, together with his spiritual body, had slowed down quite a lot to the point where he was seeing everything around him in slow motion.
This way, Hiroki was now able to look around his status and see what he could do to overcome this situation.
[ Skills ]
Many of his skills were passive ones due to the restrictions he had with his own race. But Hiroki wasn't completely hopeless yet.
There was still a skill that he hadn't used yet.
By using this skill, he is able to create new skills by sacrificing other skills that he already owns.
Since Hiroki didn't have many skills, he decided that using this skill would soon be wasteful. But since there were no options for him right now, he decided to sacrifice some of his skills.
While now looking at his own status, Hiroki selected mentally two of the skills called 'Howl's Call' and 'Intimidation'.
[ Alert! ]
[ < Howl's Call > and < Intimidation > were successfully sacrificed! ]
[ A new skill has been acquired! ]
[ < Total Immobilization > ]
'Okay, it worked.'
Hiroki knew that he didn't have much time left with the 'fast thinking' skill, which is why he embraced himself before his thinking speed returned to normal.
However, at that same time, Hiroki was met with another hit from the Litch who did not spare another second of breath.
But this time, after Hiroki created quick shields to protect himself, he continued getting hit again and again by the sword that Litch was swinging.
[ Alert! ]
[ SF has been deducted in half!. ]
[ SF has been deducted in half!. ]
[ SF has been deducted in half!. ]
But once the Litch was about to throw his fourth quick swing at Hiroki, his whole body stopped moving.
It was as if the world had stopped moving once again. However, Hiroki this time was able to not only think but also move at the same time.
"Huh?"
The Litch confusedly reacted as he was unable to move his sword any further. He knew that something was wrong.
He could think and see very clearly, but for some reason his body refused to move from that position.
"..."
Hiroki, on the other hand, after having managed to successfully get that close to the Litch, used his new skill in order to completely stop the Litch from moving.
He quietly stared at the Litch before severing the arm that was holding the sword aimed at Hiroki. It was a clean cut, which easily made the whole skeleton arm and the dangerous sword fall to the floor.
"Keke...."
The Litch laughed with a sore tone in his voice. It almost felt like a forced laugh. But deep down, the Litch had accepted what had happened to him.
The tables were turned, and the aura that protected the so-called last boss of this dungeon was no longer there. It almost gave the vibe that the Litch had given up on continuing any further.
"......"
Hiroki remained silent with his almost emotionless eyes, which were looking at the Litch.
"To think that you are able to do this much despite being just recently summoned."
Hiroki's eyes continued to narrow to slits after hearing what Litch had just said.
He had thought about the possibility that this Litch was the one who summoned Hiroki. Being summoned to a village that just happened to be sealed because of a dungeon suddenly emerging from the ground.
He was certainly sure that this was no coincidence….
"I'm impressed." The Litch continued saying.
However, despite this much evidence, Hiroki still was sure of one thing after talking with this Litch—
".....You are not the one who summoned me."
"Unfortunately— I'm not that powerful to summon other beings from afar," The Litch responded. "At least not with my own power…"
"From the answer you've given me, then, that means you must know the one who summoned me." Hiroki inquired, his eyes suspiciously looking at the Litch in front of him.
"—but I do wonder why you were summoned as a 'ghost'."
The Litch continued talking to himself, completely ignoring Hiroki's question.
"Was it a coincidence, or was it planned all along?"
Hiroki shot several more airblades at the Litch in annoyance, cutting off its fleshless legs and rendering him unable to stand up anymore.
"I asked you a question. Who is the one who summoned me?"
"Quite the heartless one you are…. Maybe that's the reason why you were chosen…"
The Litch continued monologuing with itself, uncaring that another two of his limbs were served.
"....." Hiroki knew that torturing this Litch was pointless, that's why he continued looking at him.
And killing him right away was something that he didn't want, since Hiroki had confirmed that this Litch knew something about his current situation.
"I am very limited on what I can say, but at least I can warn you about this— This world…. it has been robbed from its true glory."
And as the Litch finally said that, he looked towards Hiroki in order to look into his eyes. The Litch's body was starting to release a pleasant purple light, slowly but surely making his bones disappear.
"I understand…. Then can I ask you one last question?"
"...."
And as the Litch saw the seriousness in Hiroki's eyes, he remained silent, curious to know what the ghost was going to ask after he no longer insisted on knowing the previous ones.
"Why did you go easy on me?" Hiroki asked.
Despite the Litch not going all out, Hiroki still didn't want to show mercy to him when interrogating.
However, that wasn't because he wasn't responding to his questions, but because the Litch wasn't serious when fighting him. And despite that, the Litch still accepted death.
"So you noticed after all..."
The Litch said to himself before looking at him.
"It's no surprise when I think about it, however, I did wish that I could've done a better job at hiding it…. But my hands were tied most of the time, despite the fact that I was holding back."
"What are you talking about?" Hiroki asked with a stern look on his face.
"I know very well that look on your face…. Especially those eyes—- Something must've happened to you in the past….
I used to be like you... I tried getting revenge on those who abused me and my fiance— but in the end, it didn't end up as I had wished for…." The Litch continued explaining.
However, despite not having any facial muscles, Hiroki could guess that the expression that the Litch was making was a sad, yet pitiful one.
"....."
Hiroki's eyes were covered by the shadow of his hair, refusing to show what he was thinking. But despite that, the Litch seemed to know what he was talking about.
"In exchange…. I lost everything— I'm not trying to get your sympathy, rather, I want you to warn you."
"....."
"Because, in the end, I was once like you…."
Hiroki clenched his fists as tight as he could despite not being able to feel them.
"I don't need any of your warnings. I've come this far only by my own hands, and that won't change."
Despite the fact that Hiroki's voice was very calm, a bit of annoyance could be sensed through the words of his own sentence.
The Litch, however, chuckled as his bones were beginning to turn to dust. The whole room was becoming a bit darker, which made the glowing skeleton the only light source.
"Is that so? Then I'm sure that you will need this."
The skeleton spoke as he pointed his other skinless hand towards Hiroki.
[ Alert! ]
[ New title has been earned!
'Monarch of The Undead' ]
[ New skill has been acquired.
And the moment that the Litch said so, new information popped up in Hiroki's status.
But at that moment, Hiroki didn't bother to look at his own status as his eyes didn't budge away from the Litch's one.
Hiroki refused to think that this failure of a Litch was the same as him.
And despite mocking him as a way to make him angrier, the Litch still went easy and accepted his defeat. He refused to think that the two of them were the same.
"Don't think of this as pity help— this is simply a gift as a thank you for helping me out."
The Litch continued speaking after seeing the hidden expression on Hiroki's face.
"It was thanks to you that I was able to finally get rid of this curse that I brought upon myself. This is what I wanted…. All along— But the thirst for revenge kept blinding me even further to the point where I no longer could feel anything….
I truly had become a Litch with no human emotion..."
The Litch's voice was growing even sadder when thinking about his past, but a sense of relief could be heard through his pain once he had accepted this.
"But when I realized that…. It was already too late, because everything precious to me was already gone… All of the people that I cherished are dead…
And in the end, I got trapped as a dungeon master— That's why I don't wish for this to happen to you as well. Learn from my mistakes and achieve what none of us could reach until now."
Most of Litch's bones were already gone, leaving behind only his skull, which was slowly disappearing like the rest of his body.
But despite most of his body being gone, the Litch was still conscious and talking out his past mistakes to Hiroki.
Hiroki, on the other hand, whose eyes still couldn't be seen, continued listening to the Litch without saying anything.
"Soon I will finally be free of this prison and meet her— my love…" The Litch continued speaking in relief.
And as the last part of of the Litch's bones were disappearing—
"Thank you for everything…..
I hope that, someday, you achieve what you are seeking in this world— And pray that you won't end up on the same dark path as me...."
—his voice echoed through the entire room, indicating that he was no longer here.
The Litch was finally dead…
[ Alert! ]
[ The dungeon has been cleared! ]
[ SF has been added! ]
[ SF has been restored! ]
[ INT has increased! ]
Hiroki, though, wasn't showing any signs of happiness on his face. His face was still obscured by a shade, and his teeth were clenched in rage.
"Tch! Don't compare me to a failure like yourself."
He clicked his tongue in annoyance as he sternly said those words to the now-dead Litch who was no longer in the room.
Once the status gave Hiroki confirmation of clearing the dungeon, a glowing circle appeared on the floor.
He already knew what that meant, which is why he floated near it, which immediately pulled him closer and sent him back to the surface of the village.
And as Hiroki turned around to see where the entrance of the dungeon was, he noticed how the stairs were slowly disappearing, like they were never there in the first place.
There was no sound or any more ruins from the dungeon, with the exception of the village, which was already destroyed.
Hiroki, who was now free from the seal of this dungeon, kept his head low and his fists clenched as he was thinking to himself.
His thoughts were still behind what the Litch was saying, that's why he wasn't moving for the following minutes. His eyes remained hidden as a perplexed emotion was going inside him.