Liches can revive each other.
That realization seemed to slow down time. I had no idea why the first Lich that was utterly decimated by the magic item didn't revive while this one was. Perhaps it was the sheer magical firepower that annihilated it beyond repair. And, if that was the case, then there was only one option.
I watched as the Lich immediately began to regenerate itself. Its head that had been lopped off was magically returning to its body, and it readied its staff for another blow. But before it managed to do so, a white blur moved past me and the still-falling Ms. Taurus. With a single sweep of her sword, Cerila sliced the Lich in half at the chest.
If I could, I would have just yelled at her to retreat, but she was already committed, and the swing had gone through. I expected to see the Lich retaliate just like what happened with Ms. Taurus, but that didn't come to pass for some reason. While still using Soulsight, I saw that the bright light of the Lich's soul had vanished.
Cerila just instantly killed the Lich. Wait, it's because of Hubris. Hubris can sever the connection.
Cerila may be the key to killing off the Liches.
Not only had the Lich died, but many of the undead around it as well. Their bodies fell to the ground, and bones rattled across the floor. The tiny flickers of their souls were gone. However, there were still hundreds of undead around us, and it would only be a matter of time before those reached us.
I ran over to the downed Ms. Taurus, but she was already on her feet. She had a worried look as she glared at the fallen Lich, and outside of her dented armor, she seemed fine.
"Is the Lich truly gone?" she asked.
"Yes, it is. The two of us failed to kill it. It seems Liches can revive each other. But Cerila managed to annihilate it," I told her.
Ms. Taurus's eyes went wide. "Then we have to leave to support the first team. If we couldn't kill the Lich, the others won't be able to do so without Cerila," she said.
A horn materialized from thin air into Ms. Taurus's hands, and she blew into it, making a thundering noise. She gave the orders to retreat, and the three of us made our way back to the others.
Cerila smiled softly to herself, but it was slightly unnerving considering the amount of blood splattered across her face and armor. But it was surely something to be proud of. There was no telling if I had used a Railgun shot to hit the Lich if I would have been successful.
We cleared the surrounding undead that still lingered after the Lich's death and retreated; however, we were not at full capacity. Many had died in the defense, and in total, we had lost a quarter of our strike force before we reached Professor Garrison, who was still holding the landing zone.
He was covered head to toe in blood but otherwise was uninjured. Mom was busy ripping undead to shreds, and thankfully, she also appeared unharmed.
"Did you kill the Lich?! Some of the undead just dropped to the floor a few minutes ago," Professor Garrison asked.
"The Lich is dead, but we must take Cerila to the others. She is the only one that can destroy it," Ms. Taurus said before blowing into the horn in three short bursts.
We kept the landing zone clear, as it only took a few minutes before the Gryphons swooped down. As we were mounting the beasts, the Gryphon Knights supported us, strafing the area with magic once more.
Our Gryphons followed Ms. Taurus toward the north, and even from the sky, things looked grim. Magical attacks had destroyed large sections of the area. And we watched rogue fire spells randomly impact sections of undead, decimating them. The Lich on this side clearly had a different approach and was bathing the area in fire.
By the time we had arrived, it was clear those tasked with holding the flanks were struggling immensely and had suffered heavy losses, whether it be from the undead swarms or the magic ripping enemy and ally apart. Deeper into the horde was an even worse hellscape.
The ground was all but destroyed as Lord Vasquez and Guildmaster Elora fought off multiple Dread Knights by themselves. They were completely cut off from their allies, and the Lich was furiously attempting to land magic on their position, forcing them to be constantly on the move.
"Garrison, take your teams and help the backline for retreat! Kaladin, get Cerila and come with me! We are going straight into the fight!" Ms. Taurus ordered.
The Gryphon Knights bombarded the area to help those on the ground, and I assisted them as well. After launching a sizable Fireball into the horde, I motioned to Cerila, who was at my side doing similar, to follow us as we broke away. Our three Gryphons dove toward the ground but did not land entirely. Their large wings kept flapping, maintaining their altitude, as they made a sudden stop.
We jumped off their backs, and although it was a long fall, at least two stories, with mana-enhanced bodies it wouldn't be anything more than a slight discomfort. As we touched down, the Lich instantly fired a Fire Lance spell directly at me. Using gravity magic, I altered its trajectory and sent it flying off in a random direction.
But it was the intensity of the spell that was worrisome. Even though it was a rather basic spell, I could still tell it held a considerable amount of power behind it. After I blocked the first one, a Fireball was already headed toward Cerila, while the Lich was already casting to target Ms. Taurus.
This thing is aggressively using its spells. And judging by Soulsight, it doesn't seem to be running out of mana any time soon. Hell, there is a chance that it can't run out of mana at all.
I moved through the craters and made my way toward Lord Vasquez. The man bisected a Dread Knight with his flaming axe and blocked the attack from another before kicking it in the chest, crumbling its ribcage and sending it soaring.
"Kaladin, give me your report," he said as he launched a Fireball at the Lich, only for the Lich to directly counter it midair with its own.
"The Lich on our side is dead. Ms. Taurus and I failed to kill it, but Cerila has the ability to take them down for good," I said.
Lord Vasquez spat a glob of blood on the ground and snarled. "Good news then. We've also failed to kill this creature. We've brought it down with magic and blade three times, only for it to keep coming back. It's continually raising these Dread Knights, and its magic attacks are nonstop," he growled.
"How's it defense?" I asked, sending my spear into the skull of a regenerating Death Knight.
"Lackluster. It relies heavily on its offensive magic to counter anything," he said, blowing apart another Death Knight with magic.
"Good. Then buy me a little time and cover for me. I'll make an opening for Cerila and you to strike it down," I said.
"Understood," he answered.
Cerila, Guildmaster Elora, and Ms. Taurus were handling a large group of Death Knights, so I took the opportunity to prepare. I stepped back and, with earth magic, made multiple thick walls between me and the Lich while covering myself in a thick layer of stone. I started to gather mana into my spear as the sounds of explosions and battle rang out in all directions.
It was evident the Lich could sense that something was amiss and was targeting me heavily, but Lord Vasquez maintained the defense along with my walls. The golden horn on the end of the spear sprouted a bright white flame that slowly grew in size. From my Spatial Ring, I took out a small piece of Mythril I had squeaks make for me. The white flames consumed a black bolt in its inferno. The smoldering heat in the enclosed space was unbearable, but it was just a sacrifice I had to make.
Instead of growing larger, the flames wobbled and started to condense as the flame took on a blue hue. With a few more seconds, the flame had taken on a glass-like appearance, and with some more concentration, it was ready. The heat was burning my lungs and eyes and the rock closest to my spear turned into molten slag.
"Move out of the way, Vasquez!" I yelled.
I used my Soulsight to aim, and once Vasquez was out of the way, I launched the spell. There was a deafening crack as the small projectile blazed forward, burrowing straight through the rock and leaving a molten trail. The spell traveled through the stone walls in a split second and I watched through the small hole as the spell tore straight through the Lich, hit the dirt behind it, and exploded.
The earth shook violently, and the dust cloud was immense, covering the entire area. It was a direct hit, and it had obliterated the Lich.
However, the Lich's soul remained intact. Not even a direct Railgun shot could kill them.
"What a terrifying spell…how does one even manage to create such a devastating attack," Lord Vasquez muttered.
I brought down the protective walls around me and breathed in some fresh air, or at least air that wasn't burning hot as the miasma of death, decay, and rot that lingered was unbearable. I watched as Cerila and Guildmaster Elora rushed the Lich's last position. In a crater, the Lich was slowly regenerating itself, bringing its bony body back to whole.
But as the head was starting to form, Cerila thrust Hubris directly into its mouth, exploding the skull into fragments and killing the Lich. Hundreds of undead in the distance dropped dead, as did the regenerating Death Knights that lay about. We had successfully accomplished our goal, and although our casualties were higher than we would have liked, it was a start in the right direction. Only nine more Liches were left somewhere in the horde, but the undead had taken far more significant losses today.
"We are retreating! Back to the Gryphons!" Lord Vasquez announced before blowing into his horn.
The horn gave its call, and the four of us began to move back toward the landing zone to support the others, but, as we were running, the earth started to rumble. I checked the immediate surroundings but sensed or saw no magic of the sort. The ground started to shake even more violently, and through my Soulsight, an extremely bright light that surpassed even the Liches or a War God appeared. I had to avert my eyes from the burning light, but as I did, something exploded out from the earth.
"What in the world is that thing?" Guildmaster Elora muttered in disbelief.
When I turned back around, I saw that a giant figure had seemingly stepped out of the rubble. It was enormous in size, dwarfing even the Corpse Golems from before by a lot. Its skin was a sickly whitish-green color; it had eight arms sprouting at odd angles from its torso. There was no head on the creature, and instead, a large gaping mouth was placed on its stomach.
At the end of its arms were large, misshapen hands with dozens of fingers, and large gemstones were at the center of the palms. There was no question about it. All those gems were Dungoncore shards and appeared in perfect condition. And they were all large enough to fit the stature of the creature.
The new monster emanated an ominous aura, but it was not alone. From its grotesque maw filled with razor-sharp teeth, something descended with an overwhelmingly oppressive aura. And that was quite literal, as the creature slowly glided toward the ground. It was undead, with a bright white skull and glowing red eyes. It wore pitch-black, aggressive-looking armor with menacing spikes and a cape. A black metal circlet crowned its forehead, with another sizeable orange dungeon core shard at its center. It wielded a bright blue cobalt staff with an even more giant dungeon core shard gripped at its end by metal prongs.
But it was the skeleton itself that was odd. Its body proportions were… awkward. It was short and stout in size but had disproportionately long arms and a much larger torso size compared to its legs. It… reminded me… Jen.
Are those Dwarves? What am I even looking at anymore?
"Eight dungeon core shards on a single creature? There were…nine Liches left…did they combine into that creature?" Guildmaster Elora wondered.
"Lord Vasquez, what are we to do?" Ms. Taurus asked.
Vasuqez stared wide-eyed at the monstrosity and the undead. "Those things…they are far too dangerous to be left alone. We have to kill them. Now."
He turned to me with a serious gaze and asked, "Kaladin, can you use that spell again?"
"I can, one more time, and that's it," I said with a nod.
"Good. Then we will buy you time. Aim for that…Lich, it may be controlling the giant. We'll get Cerila close," he said gravely.
I don't have a choice. Those things…they are beyond the pale. They are not normal, even in the sense of monsters or undead of this world. I only have one more Mythril bullet.
This…this must have been what Deguzman was talking about.
I signed back with a firm nod.
Cerila gritted her teeth as everyone gripped their weapons a little tighter. "Then everyone. Give it all you have," Lord Vasquez said as he gave a long, two-burst breath into the horn.
The air was filled with screeches as Gryphons flew in the air, launching magic at the giant. The giant's mouth pulled into a thin smile as the top two palms faced up toward the sky. A storm of fire, wind, earth, and water struck the giant in a mass of magic, but it was only a moment before the dust cleared. In the air around the giant were complex shapes and designs. They pulsed, and all the spells that were fired at the giant were returned to the original casters. The screams of man and Gryphon echoed in the sky.
Anti-magic. I can blow past that. If it can kill a Dragon, then a Railgun shot can break through anti-magic.
From the other palm, tendrils made of plant matter spewed out and up into the sky. They were moving so fast that if one blinked, they would have missed it. The vines wrapped around the Gryphons and crushed them along with their riders into a red mist. The follow-up attack from another palm sent Ice Spears into others while another launched globs of fire. In a flash, dozens of elite Gryphon riders had been decimated.
At the same time, the new superior Lich raised its hand, and although I didn't have my Soulsight active, I could still feel the foreboding mana circulate and form. Skeletons, Zombies, and Ghouls started to drop, and their forms became sickening liquids of biomass and other materials. We watched in horror as the liquid mass took the shape of five figures.
They looked to be of the same race as the summoner. They all wore thick black plate armor and wielded various weapons, but they all had one thing in common. Where there should have been heads, there was nothing but a faint, misty orange glow. And they all rode atop giant skeleton animals that looked like rams with massive horns.
They were all mounted Dullahans.
Lord Vasquez raised his blazing war axe and roared, "Fight or be forgotten!"
I was already gathering mana into my spear, and the flames had started to turn blue and condense as they charged into the Dullahans. But I felt a chill run down my spine and found the Lich watching me. It showed no signs of countering me. It just watched me silently.
Once the Railgun was ready, I immediately launched it—I fell to my knees as I felt the waves of mana leave my body. I wanted to vomit, but another deafening bang cut through the air.
The spell would have been a direct hit on the Lich and the giant, but the Lich gripped its staff, and I felt an immense wave of mana as the air warped around it. My Railgun abruptly stopped, the blue flames twisting and warping along with the space around it. It seemed to be getting sucked into an invisible space. But that was before it started to wobble and turn.
No way…is it using gravity magic?
I let my bloodlust roll out of me and yelled, "Everyone! Take cover!"
The effect was instant; everyone dropped to the ground, even sprinting and rolling across the ground. I hit the dirt just as another bang rang out, followed by a massive shockwave. Rolling over, I looked back in horror as an explosion went off and a section of Curia's wall began to crumble to the ground.
My own spell had just destroyed our walls.