"Hmm, I guess it's time huh?"
From the world of complete darkness, I saw a ray of light peek through. My sense of time had dulled since becoming an undead and hadn't gotten better ever since, but I was still sure that the time I spent in here was not inferior to the lifetime of the lich. It was odd that I was able to focus in this place for so long, but considering I had nothing else to do perhaps I should just be grateful that I didn't turn insane.
"Are you ready, my child?"
"Not completely, but since you're letting me out I guess you're at your limit."
When I walked out from the embrace of the Forest Dragon, I could notice that her scales had gotten even more dull than before.
'As I thought.'
However, despite the obvious drop in her health, her eyes were still clear.
"Unfortunately. Do you think you can handle the undead lord in your current state?"
"Well, I can't say I'm a hundred percent confident, but I can at least give it a try."
"Thank you."
"Don't bother, even beating it may not be enough to pay back what I owe you."
I waved my hand and started to leave. Despite the distance that separated us, I could feel that my familiars were in danger so I had to get there quickly. Couldn't waste investment.
'Still, worse case scenario they can always use Return.'
However, the dragon stopped me before I could leave its nest.
"Wait. I have one last gift for you."
"Huh?"
I wondered what she still had left to give me, but when I heard what she was offering even my greed couldn't make me say yes.
"But if you do that you'll-"
"It's fine. I should still be able to keep these eyes open until I see your victory."
Why, why can you...
"...Fine, it's not like you're my mother or anything. But you better keep your word. I don't want this chain stuck to my heart because you went to the other side."
***
Meanwhile, the three familiars were still fighting the force the lich brought with it. The amount of skeleton knights and scavengers that remained could be counted on two hands, but in exchange the fatigue felt by the three was nearly unbearable. They might not need sleep, but after exerting themselves so much it was no wonder that they needed a break.
While breathing heavily, Jeanne looked at Ein and Brad and sent them a signal that they immediately responded to with nods. They tightly clenched their fists as if ready to keep going, but then their bodies and their items turned translucent and they tried to escape. Though the chance of victory seemed higher than at the start of the battle, the lich had barely made any moves and none of them thought it was worth the risk to keep fighting against a monster that they weren't sure they could beat.
'We've already done enough damage. No reason to be stubborn.'
As Jeanne and the rest used Spirit Form to get away, they missed the burst of excitement shown by the lich's eyes.
"Where you do think you're going?!"
Suddenly, a wall of ice appeared before the familiars. The unexpected appearance of this wall was concerning, but none of them paused for even a moment. They were all certain that this wall wouldn't be able to stop them.
" " "Ahh!" " "
However the impact they felt after colliding proved them wrong and knocked them out of their translucent states.
"How...?"
Right as Ein questioned how this was possible, the lich 'kindly' explained.
"Did you really I had no countermeasures for your permeability? Ha! Maybe ordinary cages wouldn't work on you three, but with a cage like this I could bring you home and have as much fun as I like with your bodies."
Its voice was drenched with more madness than the one their master faced, but reason never left it.
"So surrender isn't an option, eh?" asked Ein.
"Hmph, why would I take you alive when everything would be easier if I killed you? Then again, I'm not sure how to fully kill you three so look forward to my experiments. Hahahaha!"
It now spoke openly but during the conversation it didn't neglect to summon bars of ice that made a cage around them. As she glared at the prison that they were trapped in, Jeanne squinted her eyes.
"Can we escape with Return?" Brad asked in a soft tone.
Jeanne shook her head in response, "No."
While Return could make it seem as if they teleported to their master, it only utilized their spirit nature to give them the ability to move ridiculously fast to one specified location. In other words, if they couldn't get out of the cage with Spirit Form, it wouldn't work with Return.
'Hmm, maybe.'
Jeanne cast the white blaze spell and tried to throw it at the ice wall, but before she could do so frozen spikes rose from the ground and tried to stab her. The barrier that Jeanne prepared managed to protect her, but it still cracked from the damage.
"It seems it won't let me try."
She couldn't be sure without testing it, but Jeanne was sure that the ice wall could be melted. Considering the impact from the collisions, they were fairly certain that even if the wall could be broken by physical force, one or two pinches wouldn't be enough either. And since it wouldn't give them the chance to break the prison,
"We have to charge through." said Ein.
"I hate to say this but you're right." added Jeanne.
Ein held back his question of why she hated to say it and turned his sword to the lich.
While they quietly had their conversation, the lich hadn't only trapped them, it also used the destroyed remains of the undead that were killed to summon new ones. Luckily, it wasn't as much as before, but it was still quite the amount.
"We'll have to go all in."
What Brad said was obvious, but all of them needed to prepare their hearts to follow through, because for them, going all in wasn't just about trying their best.
It was a process that couldn't be noticed at the start, but after a brief moment fumes of light blue could be seen rising from their bodies. Though this was the first time it had ever seen it, using the Sixth Sense ability it had from Necromancy the lich could tell what they were doing. It had long figured out that they were familiars since it could detect the shape of their souls and the indistinct lines leading to their master, but it couldn't predict that they were willing to go this far.
'What loyalty! Even if they were ordered, to actually sacrifice themselves...
With their strengths they can't be new-borns, but to think someone could make them this subservient. I'm interested in meeting him.'
The fumes only looked odd, but the fumes were produced as the three used their own souls as fuel to strengthen themselves. This was something both half-spiritual and complete spiritual beings could do, but for both there was only one end result. Death.
Even so, all three dashed forward without hesitation. Now casual swings of Ein's sword could devastate enemies while Brad's fists were like cannons breaking apart flesh and bones. And most impressive of the three was Jeanne, with three balls of white flames rotating behind her and shooting bolts of fire like rapid-fire crossbows that incinerated undead with each shot. This use of magic used much more mana than necessary to repeatedly cast white blaze, but it made up for it with outstanding speed.
The lich knew it could no longer be relaxed but even with its full power it couldn't defeat all three of them. It managed to keep summon scavengers for a wall of flesh to block Ein's and Brad's physical attacks, but in a head-on battle of magic it couldn't defeat the current Jeanne. Its best magic was ice magic but its ice would lose to Jeanne's fire if it didn't have time to prepare. Still, it could provide enough opposition to hold her back.
'It irks me that I have to do this but I have the advantage. As long as I hold on they'll be finished.'
Though the three plowed through their enemies at the start, at a certain distance they could no longer move forward despite the destructive power they had. And as they continued to use their full power despite that, signs that they were reaching their limits appeared.
Random parts of their bodies turned transparent even though they weren't in Spirit Form. Furthermore, this time their items weren't included. Brad and Ein were lucky, but Jeanne had to switch the hand holding her staff as it nearly slipped through her fading fingers.
Maybe it was because she hadn't been a familiar for very long, but even with this horror thrust before her, Jeanne's heart did not waver.
'Even if we can't escape, we have to at least use our lives to help master.'
Jeanne used the only hand she had to tightly grip the staff. Then, unexpectedly for everyone within the ice cage, the world was suddenly covered in white.