Among the bones, straw, and broken wood scattered on the ground, a left hand bone suddenly jumped up with a "pop" sound. Then, the left hand bone quickly began searching for bones and assembling a body. The proficiency was evident, as if this wasn't the first time. In no time, the body was assembled.
This was probably a skill only mastered by a lich who was constantly being hunted.
When he stood up, Gray casually picked up the dying black cat.
"You...can you not take me with you next time you fly? You're already dead, but I'm not..."
In the distance, the sound of horse hooves and commotion could already be heard. Gray hurriedly carried the black cat and climbed into the nearby window.
"Where did he run off to?"
"Search! Search quickly! We must find him no matter what!"
Soon, a large group of people arrived, holding torches and searching all around.
"Hurry up and run...they'll find this place soon." The black cat spoke intermittently.
"It's okay. If they find us, I'll fly again. They won't be able to catch up." Gray said while he corrected the misplaced ribs and twisted them a few times to see if it was comfortable.
"Do you really want me dead?"
"Don't be afraid. Death isn't as scary as you imagine. Besides, haven't you died once already?"
Seeing Gray's serious attitude, the black cat rolled its eyes and almost passed out.
The thought process of a lich was really different from that of a normal person.
In order to survive, the black cat could only speak intermittently and in a choking voice, "Go north from here, two blocks down, there is a blacksmith's shop...you can steal a set of armor there."
"Steal armor?"
"Don't you want to become a knight?"
"Oh right, I just decided to become a knight."
"I suddenly feel that it's not bad for a lich to become a knight..."
"Really?"
"Yes, really, I sincerely believe that you are suitable to be a knight. Trust me." The black cat extended its paw and weakly scratched Gray's gray robe.
Without delay, Gray lifted the black cat and took advantage of the searchers' distraction on the street to quickly slip into a small alley and climb through the window into the blacksmith shop the cat had mentioned.
...
"Miss Eileen." The bearded knight arrived with a small and thin soldier dressed as an infantryman, and saluted, "His owner hopes that we can participate in the siege."
"Isn't he afraid that we will steal his glory?"
"That lich used magic and seems quite powerful. So, they think they need our help and promise to mention us when reporting to the church."
Eileen's gaze fell on the skinny soldier beside her. The soldier quickly took off his helmet and saluted awkwardly with a smile.
"But we don't need the church's praise," Eileen replied straightforwardly.
The skinny soldier was stunned, his eyes widened as he looked at Eileen.
Not only did they not want to take credit for catching the lich, but they also didn't need the church's praise. Who were these people?
The middle-aged man with a small beard standing on the side gave Eileen a signal with his eyes.
After silently scrutinizing the soldier for a while, Eileen apparently felt that what she had said was a bit too much in this largest church territory. She changed her tone and said, "Horsche, you see who is willing, take a few people to help them. Abel Roberts, you will be in charge of the troops when Horsche is not there."
"Yes!" The bearded knight, Horsche, slammed his chest armor heavily.
"Yes!" Tall and thin Abel Roberts also saluted respectfully.
...
Gray climbed out of the blacksmith shop window in his armor, carrying the barely alive black cat.
"Aren't you afraid that people won't know you're a lich? Haven't you noticed that the armor doesn't fit?"
Glancing at the two soldiers searching in the alley on the other side of the street, Gray quietly snuck around the back of the house and began to work hard.
He stuffed straw into his armor, broke his leg bones and replaced them with wood, and finally put some rocks on his spine.
"Isn't this way too easy to fall apart?" The black cat lay next to him, weakly asking.
"It is, but I can cast spells to enhance it."
After finishing everything, Gray's height increased from 1.4 meters to 1.8 meters. He moved slightly and found it still flexible.
"What's next? Oh yeah, weapons!" Gray touched the sword at his waist. "They seem to have spears and bows."
"A knight doesn't necessarily need a bow. As for the spear... are you planning to carry that huge thing and run?"
"What else is there? Oh, the 'Guide to Becoming a Knight' and a horse!"
"There is a bookstore in the west..."
"Okay, let's go now!" Taking off his helmet along with his skull, Gray stuffed the black cat into his body at the neck position.
"Ah! Do you want to suffocate me...?" The black cat almost cried. This journey has been full of bumps and it doesn't know if it can survive tonight.
Unable to help it, Gray reveals the cat's head from the helmet, put his own skull back in, and put on the helmet again. As a result, the skull and the cat's head were squeezed together in one helmet, staring at each other with a bit of discomfort...
...
The moon was red, and the cobblestone road was covered in shadows. Soldiers and residents holding torches were coming and going, and many residents were watching from the balconies and windows on the second floor.
Gray walked stiffly on the street, feeling that everyone around him was looking at him, and his scalp was numb. If he had a scalp.
"Your movements are too unnatural. Can't you walk properly?" The black cat squeezed into Gray's helmet, and its eyelids were already fighting. If it weren't for the continuous situation, it might have passed out.
As for Gray, he still looked nervous, looking around while walking.
"I, I didn't want it to be like this. Suddenly grew forty centimeters taller and still wearing such heavy armor! I'm not used to it..."
Before he could finish his words, Gray fell to the ground with a "plop".
So now it wasn't just a feeling, everyone around him was actually looking at him.
Gray got up from the ground dejectedly and continued forward.
"What's wrong with this knight?"
"Did you notice? He's walking with the same hand and foot."
"Can someone so clumsy become a knight?"
People around them whispered.
Gray's psychological pressure became heavier and heavier.
"What should I do? Will they find out?"
"It's possible..."
"Then what should we do?"
"Move faster and get out of here. What else can we do?"
Unable to hold back, Gray simply ran away. He ran all the way to the bookstore door, ignoring everything and kicked the door open before rushing inside.
The murmurs behind him became even louder.
"Where is the book?"
"I don't know, find it yourself..."
With a quick scan, Gray quickly found the book he wanted, "The Knight's Guide to Success", and stuffed it into his armor.
"And then?"
"Horse...do you know how to ride a horse?"
"I don't know how to ride a horse!"
"Then you better not ride one. You trip just walking, you'll definitely fall off a horse."
"Do knights have to have horses?"
"They must."
"What should I do then?"
"How would I know? I'm just a ghost..."
Gray suddenly seemed to remember something and rushed out of the shop.
...
The entire town was filled with people holding torches searching, not only the knight squad pursuing Gray but also the local residents who were conscripted.
"You guys! Who let you rest! Get up and search!" The silver-armored knight stood on the cobblestone road and cursed loudly, "You bunch of slackers! Even if you can't catch him, at least don't lose him! What are you stupid people even good for?"
"Sir...those guys aren't ours. They're the town guards..."
"Not ours?" The silver-armored knight, sweating profusely, was stunned for a moment. He looked back into the distance and murmured, "We need to find him quickly, otherwise other knight squads will come and our cooked goose will fly away. Um...did that woman come over just now?"
"She sent a few people to help."
"Not many people came, which is good. At least she won't steal him. Just help us find him."
----------------------------------------------------
With his few subordinates, Big Beard Horsche strolled leisurely on the street.
...
Sneaking along the edge of the town, Gray crossed through a large group of knights chasing after him and sneaked back to his "castle" that he hadn't even finished building yet.
It was an exceptionally conspicuous empty space on the mountaintop beside the small town. At this moment, it had already been burned by the knights once, and there was nothing but charred black on the ground.
Fortunately, there was nothing left, so the knights had all left. No one wanted to stay in a place where the lich wouldn't come back. After all, there was still honor waiting for them, right?
In the middle of the space, Gray recited a spell, and a strange blue light appeared in his hand like a flame. With his movement, it swayed gently in the air.
Suddenly, the objects around him trembled slightly.
After a moment, a skeletal horse wearing a leaky full-body armor crawled out of the ground and leaped up, "Neigh!"
...
After a moment, a skeletal horse wearing a leaky full-body armor crawled out of the ground and leaped up, "Who is it? Who woke up the great Tenebrous (tomato)?"
A majestic voice rang in his ears, and the blue flames leaking from the broken armor all over his body, that aura made even the black cat stunned.
"Shh! Do you want to attract the pursuers?" Gray was so scared that he forcefully pulled the skeletal horse, which was looking up, back to the ground, and stared at it with big eyes.
"Pursuers?" The skeletal horse asked softly.
"Yes, pursuers. You are now undead," the lich answered in a low voice.
The skeletal horse looked down at the ribs exposed in its open chest plate and "click," its chin dropped.