I have some announcements for you.
First, the Christmas giveaways are live. I have a wide selection of things to give back to everyone, even including some physical stuff. And as you can see, it's going to be a Warhammer Christmas this year :D There will be a doner and public giveaway section, and you can find them in the Discord.
Secondly, the Kickstarter is coming along. The final graphics are in progress, and I hope to get them by the end of the week after finalizing them. But for now, the Backerkit pre-launch page is live at https://www.backerkit.com/call_to_action/29fe17fa-3fb2-4913-8431-1afb86837635/landing. The date is set to the 31st, but I hope to launch it sooner if everything goes as planned.
Also, I understand that I am a few chapters behind on what is due. I plan on getting those out over my break. I apologize for the delay of it. I also have some extra news regarding artwork. I'll be getting 3 new pieces done; one is going to be a scene at the end of Vol.8, a new cover, and another scene early on in Vol.9. So be expecting those :)
Other than that, I am also planning on doing a Christmas tier for Ko-Fi that I will run for a limited time (probably til January), but I have to double-check and make sure it works as I intend (Because Ko-Fi hasn't created an option for discounts even after promising the future over a year ago...)
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We were beaten and battered, but now was our only window of opportunity. Now that its barrier was down, we had to pressure the Lich with everything we had, as there was no way of knowing when or if it could raise it again. And although my mana had been restored from the dungeon core, I was unlikely to handle that again.
My entire body ached and desperately screamed at me to stop. I was so exhausted that if I could close my eyes, I would be able to fall asleep immediately while standing. But that wasn't an option. I had to continue to fight.
As we ran toward the Lich, a looming worry remained. It had stopped the process of…whatever it was doing and just continued to watch us. A creature beyond our understanding that could raise high-ranking undead on a whim wasn't doing so. There was an entire field of corpses to control, yet it remained complacent in its actions, constantly reacting to us and never taking the initiative.
It allowed the mounted Dwarven army to rampage through the leftover undead with impunity. And judging by the scene around it, it wasn't bothering to raise any of the chaff.
Why? Is it—could it be waiting for reinforcements? From where? And from whom?
I didn't dare use my Soulsight to check. The Lich must have had an overwhelming amount of power that would undoubtedly blind me the moment I tried. So, we just continued to charge.
Lord Vasquez was the first one to get into reach as was Ms. Taurus. He swung his great axe and she thrusted her spear, but before either struck the Lich, a sword materialized out of thin air. It was a beautiful short sword engraved with red lines down its blade and an intricate handguard that looked like a blooming flower. It was ostentatious, but it was the material that made my heart sink.
It looked to be the same metal as Sylvia's sword, even of a similar design. It should have been impossible. Yet, it was here.
The full brunt of Lord Vasquez's strike was nullified entirely. The Lich didn't stagger at all from the blow; Lord Vasquez was the one who had been knocked off balance instead. The Lich jabbed its staff forward, and an invisible force blew Lord Vasquez away. Ms. Taurus faired no better as the Lich moved its head out of the way at the last moment and sent her sprawling across the ground with another spell. And rather than waiting, it lunged forward with tremendous speed toward Guildmaster Elora, almost as if it was gliding across the ground.
All it took was two moves to subjugate Elora completely. She managed to block the first sweep, her eyes wide from the sudden attack, but the secondary blast from the staff knocked her away with ease. Professor Garrison and Edrunn Greatbeard were next, and they attacked together. But it was all the same.
The Lich was a blur and moved faster than even the War Gods. The two of them at least lasted a few extra seconds, but once again, the Lich had bested them. With just Cerila, Mom, and me, we silently agreed to another tactic.
Cerila and I went wide and started to cast magic. My Stone Bullets were quick, and they fired off with loud cracks, but the Lich either dodged them entirely or even cut down the tiny projectiles with its sword. Cerila's ice magic was treated with slightly more care, but the air warped, and the spells flew off helplessly in other directions. We continued the barrage as Mom closed the distance.
Instead of dodging or cutting our attacks down, it just used its gravity magic to send our spells away as it focused on Mom. However, instead of attacking, Mom went on the defensive. Her body flashed with golden lightning as she dodged the Lich's attack, even managing to avoid the invisible blast from the staff.
I moved closer and enveloped the tip of my weapon in a familiar white-hot inferno. My arms and hands were still seared with pain to the point I couldn't grasp my spear. I used earth magic to hold onto it, and now I was right behind the Lich, thrusting my spear directly toward the back of its head. So I was astonished when the sound of metal on metal rang out, and I felt the vibrations in my bones.
I bit down on my lip as my broken arms brought waves of numbing pain to my already drained body. Somehow, the Lich had brought its sword completely behind itself. It was an impossible move. No person could ever get their arm that far behind themselves, let alone take a spear strike. It was only possible if you were nothing but bones. And its sheer strength… I might as well run into a steel wall with my arms outstretched.
This damn Lich...they aren't supposed to be proficient in close combat, but this thing is stronger than multiple War Gods at the same time.
Maybe it's not waiting for reinforcements; perhaps it's just tormenting us for its own enjoyment.
Suddenly, the Lich's body lurched backward and flew off rapidly as if being pulled away by an invisible hand. Cerila gritted her teeth as her sword swing connected with air.
I see…the Lich does have a natural enemy here. Even it fears Cerila and Hubris.
For the first time, the Lich distanced itself from us. Lord Vasquez walked up from behind me and glared at the Lich.
"So even it fears her…then we have our work cut out for us," Lord Vasquez growled. "Elora, Jess, I need you two to occupy its hands for a moment."
"You have a plan?" Elora asked while spitting some blood on the ground.
"Yeah, I'll give us an opening. Hey, Kaladin, can you do the same thing as that thing?" he asked.
"No…not at that level," I answered.
"That's fine. Just get ready to do what you did last time and counter it. And stop rushing in. You can't even hold your spear properly. You are going to get yourself killed," he said as he hefted his axe to his shoulder.
"What will you have us do, huh?" Edrunn Greatbeard asked.
"Everyone else, be a pest like we were. I only need it to focus on me for a second," Vasquez answered.
I looked at Cerila, and she gave me a firm nod. I continued to use earth magic to attach my spear to my arm and pointed the golden horn at the Lich. I felt the mana before it reached us and tried to counter it with my own spells.
The air warped violently as the invisible forces clashed. Everyone took off, and I tried my best to counter all the spells, but there were just too many. Some had slipped by or were just too powerful and one of them unfortunately hit Edrunn directly. The Dwarf managed to use his axes to block but was still sent flying in another direction.
Mom was in a flash as the invisible bullets hit the ground around her, just barely missing. The other four made contact as the Lich rushed forward. Ms. Taurus was the first, and her spear was deflected to the side, but Guildmaster Elora's sword nearly hit the Lich.
The Lich swung around and, with a single hand, parried her blade and used his staff as a club. The staff hit Elora directly under the chin as she was too slow to dodge it. Blood and spit frothed from her mouth as she went limp to the ground. Professor Garrison managed to exchange a few blows, followed up by Ms. Taurus sneaking in a few strikes, but the Lich was too agile.
It swiftly dodged and parried blows with its sword, effortlessly making short work of its assailants. An invisible force hit Professor Garrison in the leg, and he yelped in pain as the force shattered his bones. Mom had snuck up from behind, her twin daggers clad in lighting ready to strike but the Lich slammed its staff into the ground and sent a shockwave at her.
I anticipated that it would use magic and managed to cancel it, but the sheer disruption of the magic caused Mom to fall back, narrowly avoiding the clashing spells. The Lich released its overwhelming bloodlust, perhaps in annoyance or anger, but Ms. Taurus still struck out at it with her spear, as did Edrunn with his axes, now glowing a pale blue from the inscribed runes.
The Lich swung its sword across its body, deflecting both of them, but before it could bring its staff up, it suddenly jerked its arm up and deflected a black blur. Lord Vasquez had thrown his axe and was rushing at the Lich.
With the Lich's arm up and out of place, Lord Vasquez planned to throw himself at the Lich, a completely reckless move. But the Lich was superhuman in nature, an entirety beyond even War Gods. It brought its sword down, tip first and plunged it directly into Vasquez's chest.
The blade came out the other side, but Vasquez let out a mighty roar and, instead of moving back, used his weight to push forward. He wrapped his arms around the Lich, and his body became engulfed in burning red flames. Vasquez squeezed and brought the smaller Lich off its feet and yelled as he slammed it to the ground onto its back.
I instantly knew what Vasquez was talking about and prepared my spell. Swathes of my mana left my body again, and I was on the verge of passing out, but I completed the spell core just as the Lich released his.
The intense wave of gravity spewed out, and the Lich started to fly into the air with Vasquez still holding on. It intended to go airborne while knocking everyone away, but my spell countered that. The oppressive gravity shield vanished as I fell to my knees. Although I wasn't able to negate the change in its gravity, that was still enough.
Cerila stood over the Lich, Hubris pointed down and, with all her might, she forced it toward its head. It was a finishing blow. But it didn't reach.
Hubris was stuck in mid-air as Cerila fought against an invisible force. Mom even came from behind and tried pushing it down, but to no avail. I tried to gather mana again, but a shooting, searing pain was the only response that I got. My body went limp, no longer heeding my commands to move it, and I fell face first into the blood-swathed dirt.
I felt an enormous swell of mana gather, followed by an explosive blast that knocked everyone away. The dust cloud cleared, and everyone who was still conscious was slowly rising to their feet, wounded and covered in dust and blood. Lord Vasquez rolled onto his knees not far from me, gripping the handle of the sword that was plunged into him, gritting his teeth as blood flowed from his wound and spilled onto the ground. And the Lich still remained.
Have we overcome everything just to be bested by the final obstacle? What was the point of a siege, of the plagues, of the tricks? Wasn't this creature strong enough from the beginning? Why even waste time with all of this….what was the point—
There's no way…was all of this just a feint in the end? Was the undead merely just a distraction in the end meant to draw us away? Yes…if I had the resources, why wouldn't I?
If I was the Holy Kingdom… this is what I would have done.
"Damn it all," I groaned as I fought to get back up.
But the strength had long since left my body. I was running entirely on fumes, pain, and anger. Cerila and Mom rushed over to me, and I could see the worry in their eyes. But their eyes were drawn up to the sky as a screech filled the air.
Suddenly, multiple sizeable impacts hit the earth around us, kicking up dust, followed by another smaller one just in front of us. The dust settled, and enormous blood-red pillars stuck out from the ground before they lost their form and turned into a rushing wave of blood across the battlefield.
From the smaller dust cloud, a blur reached me, and I was already being grabbed. I smelt the faint scent of blood as the color purple took my vision for a moment. And I felt the familiar feeling of my neck being bitten.
"Sylvia…" I groaned.
I felt the bones in my arms and hand meld back together, but the strength did not return to my body. My mana reserves were nearly empty and there was nothing she could do about that. The pain of mana sickness threatened to knock me unconscious.
"I'm sorry it took me so long," she said quietly as she wiped her mouth.
She moved over to Lord Vasquez, who had fallen over, and she pulled the sword out in one swift motion before biting him in the arm where his armor had been ripped to shreds. When Sylvia stood back up, she stared at the new sword in her hand with wide eyes as tears dripped down her face.
"Uncle…how…" she whispered.
She glared at the Lich with furious crimson eyes. "Did that Lich have this sword?" she asked.
"It did," Mom answered.
"I see…did it have another one?" she asked quietly.
"No, only the one," I said with a grunt.
"Then there's still a chance…"
"There won't be any more hiding after this, Kal…I'm sorry," she said before she raised the still-bloody sword.
Yes…I understand.
Sylvia started walking forward and chanting in a low voice. We could only watch as bloody tidal waves took shape and rushed toward our position from all sides. If Sylvia weren't on our side, it would be a truly terrifying sight of a literal blood tsunami coming from seemingly nowhere. But it was a comforting sight to me.
Perhaps sensing danger, the Lich acted and started launching more magic toward us. However, large walls of blood splashed around and rose to the sky, the spells hitting the bloody waves only to send blood splattering everywhere and to reform back into the waves. The waves climbed in height and began to morph into large spheres of crimson liquid.
The Lich rushed forward with its tremendous speed and burst through the barrier of blood to strike directly at Sylvia, but a wave of blood came from the side and consumed the Lich. A force wave pushed out, and the Lich freed itself from its grasp. The Lich swung its staff, and the Dullahans from earlier appeared by its command and rushed Sylvia.
"Looks like I won't have to waste my time with it then," Sylia said to herself.
Spikes of blood emerged from the crimson waves and, in an instant, pierced the Dullahan's skeletal bodies and impaled them into the air. Even the Lich wasn't saved as the blood still on its body formed and expanded in spikes that pierced its body. Sylvia walked over to the Lich, and with the sword, she thrust it at the Lich.
Despite being pinned in various places, the Lich broke free with pure strength and grabbed the blade with its armored hands, stopping it just short of having its head run through. More bloody spikes sprang from the waves and riddled the Lich with holes, but its orange-glowing eyes were still burning with hatred and power.
Sylvia gripped the sword even tighter and pushed it forward. "Where did a creature like you get this sword?" she growled, probably not expecting an answer from an undead.
But to her surprise, and to ours, it did.
The Lich's bones rattled and shook as if it were laughing in the face of death, and with a deep, ominous voice, it answered in the Human tongue, "You have failed, so it matters not spawn. The time for vengeance has finally arrived. You will join your bastard creator in oblivion with the rest of your kind. Despair is all that awaits you and your people. Suffer in knowing his actions, and yours have amounted to nothing. For we still exist in spite just to see you kneel for the last time."
Although I couldn't see Sylvia's face, she hesitated. "You don't know what you are talking about, monster. What even are you?"
The Lich rereleased its ominous bloodlust and let the blade slip further toward its face. "There won't be any dragons to save you this time. You face the light and the end. He was strong, but you are nothing. There is no hope for you. So die with us."
The Lich released the sword and it plunged directly into its head, destroying the skull into a cloud of dust. In the distance, the still vast undead army began to crumble until not a single undead could be seen again.
We had won. But had we?
Why did the Lich give in the moment it faced Sylvia? What did it mean by those words? No…
I forced myself up as my heart sank. All of this. The attack, the undead, may have been a distraction, but their goal was clear now. It was never the fall of Luminar. If the Holy Kingdom wanted to, it had the power to invade at any time.
"Sylvia!" I yelled.
Sylvia spun around with a confused and worried look. That's right, all of this. It was for her.
"You! You were the target they were waiting for! Something else must be coming! We need to—"
My words were cut short as the hundreds of monsters from the Dwarves let out uniform cries in the distance. The creatures yelped and panicked. Even the three Goliaths screeched into the air. Then, the entire earth began to shake.
It was far more violent than anything before. It rattled my chest, and the ground vibrated from the power. The earth around us ripped apart and split into enormous fissures. Craters and chasms opened up across the entire western side of the city, swallowing anything in their vicinity. Even the city wasn't safe as the stone walls that had been damaged before began to crumble to the ground.
Something was coming for us.