Chapter 334: Xidrel's folly

A few hours before Eldrian woke. Somewhere close to where his battle had taken place.

"Not again," Xidrel, the creator of the awakening Flaming Reanimate grumbled as he felt his link to his puppet fluctuating. "Is the idiot thinking of betraying me again? Or dying?"

Not wishing to risk the latter, and irritated by the frequency of the former, the lich started to move. Choosing to fly over the trees to increase its speed as the connection wavered even more.

In its haste it nearly bumped into a dwarf. Standing in his path in the air as if it was the most natural thing, the dwarf looked at him with no emotions. The look of an elite soldier performing a mission for the thousandth time. 

The dwarf had a long black beard tucked into his pitch-black armor, matching perfectly with his hair. His beard being tucked caused its  true length and the number of rings to be hidden. His height came to just the chest of the lich, however, this meant nothing in the air where height meant little. 

His armor seemed to attract the shadows and absorb all light. Not a single shiny spot could be found on the dwarf. It was most certainly exquisite, but to what level was uncertain. Its design looked simple, with no ruins visible except for the central one on each piece. 

The dwarf's ability to fly and keep afloat, as well as his armor, intrigued the lich. However, it did not have time to sate its curiosity. Prepared to ignore how the dwarf could fly and why he was here, it started moving towards its creation again. Only for the dwarf to move in his way. 

"Listen here buddy, you are lucky I am in a hurry. Stop standing in my way." The lich spoke with utter disrespect, filling its voice with magic, the dwarf taking it without flinching. 

Seeing the lack of effect, the lich became slightly on guard. Using its version of Observe to see what it was up against, only for a massive headache to assault it. Something it rarely felt, and normally only when it strained itself. Like when it tried making the Flaming Soul. 

"I was told to stop you. I will do so, and if you force my hand I will kill you." The dwarf said with no change in tone after stopping the lich again. As if his statement was an obvious fact.

Even without eyebrows and eyes, the lich's frown was felt.  "Who the hell are you?"

Finally, the lich could no longer ignore the dwarf, and especially his cockiness. What was most irritating was that the dwarf had spoken as if it was simply what would happen. As if killing him would be that easy. 

"Bringïrr." The dwarf replied, stopping the lich's path again. The two by now having gone down to the ground. Keeping flight was expensive, especially during a stalemate. 

"Why are you stopping me?" The lich questioned as it pulled out a deep blue metal staff with an Amethyst crystal, getting ready for a fight. Its puppet connection was weakening by the second. 

"Orders... I advise you to not try anything." Bringïrr replied, not caring for the lich's staff nor his aggression. Like it did not even matter to him. 

"Whose orders?" The lich asked, already planning to find and kill whoever caused this disturbance. 

"Captain's." The dwarf replied, taking out a knife as he saw that the lich was going to force his hand. He had been specifically ordered to only kill the lich if he does not take the advice to walk away. Their captain did not wish to disturb the fight for the forest. 

Seeing that the dwarf was not going to give it any more information, the lich started preparing its strongest, fast, spell. The tricky part of the magic was knowing which spells to use, and not knowing the enemy's stats, level, or even Tier, the lich had to use something fast and devastating to start the battle. 

Raising an eyebrow upon feeling the air stirring, the dwarf sighed. "So be it."

The lich felt like laughing, believing Bringïrr to be an idiot to give him the time to fully form the spell. Finishing the cast, black lighting charged at Bringïrr faster than the eye can see. Most eyes. 

For Bringïrr the black lighting was certainly fast, but not all that much. Its power however was more than he could take without sustaining damage, so he acted quickly. Summoning his shield and placing his knife hand behind it. The hit causing him to slide three meters back. 

The surrounding trees snapped from the shockwaves, Bringïrr however was unharmed. His hair and beard were not even singed, something that would have been truly an upset. Bringïrr would never hear the end of it if he let that happen.

"That was meant to kill. I would say that means I can kill you." Bringïrr didn't like the undead to begin with, however, he would never question his captain's orders. 

Taking a step forwards he suddenly disappeared from sight. Reappearing against the lich, who just barely managed to bring its staff to block the knife. A massive chunk of the blue metal flying off, the knife receiving no damage. 

Snorting at the attack not killing the lich, Bringïrr pulled out a hammer. A weapon perfect for crushing bones, which the lich was made out of. 

Jumping back in fright, the lich tried to summon something better for fighting. Not fast enough and needing to block the next attack with his staff again. The blue metal snapping from the hit right where the knife had chipped it. 

"You bastard! Do y-" Using the two pieces in a cross-shaped defense, the lich tried to block the next attack, sent flying back and its forearm bones broken from the shock. The damage meant little and was repaired in less than a second, however, the dwarf was on him again. 

"Wait! We ca-" Again interrupted by the coming hammer, the lich barely managed to pull out a sword, which was sent flying from its hands, the hammer crushing its wrist. 

"Fu-" Not even able to swear, the lich desperately escaped the attack aimed at its head, only for a shield to suddenly crush its chest. Sending it against the tree. 

"This won't kill me!" The lich shouted in anger before the next attack could land. Determined to place a mark on the dwarf for his revenge once he recovered. 

The mark failed, the armor absorbing the magic and turning it into its basic raw form. The attack indeed did not kill the lich, however, it did break its entire ribcage that was cracked before. 

"But it will hurt," Bringïrr said, pulling out a pure white warhammer. Not the fantasy type, but the classic medieval warhammer. A small hammerhead on one side and a sharp spike on the other, its length not more than that of the dwarf's arm.

"No! How do-" The lich scrambled to get away, sending all the spells it could instantly cast at the dwarf. All of which were too weak to do anything, the armor absorbing them without trouble. 

The hammer started glowing brightly just before the dwarf slammed it into the lich's head. A scream of utter pain and disbelief echoing in the air. 

Retracting his hammer, Bringïrr turned and looked to the side. Storing his warhammer and shield after a few seconds. Staring to move in the direction of his squad. All abyssal guards were able to always feel the location of their brothers and sisters. Even capable of knowing their state. 

...

Jumping back against his hiding tree, Milgoroth, known as Andreas to the humans of Phallos, tried to calm down. Telling himself that there was no way the dwarf saw him. That he must have just sensed his actions. 

He thanked his lucky stars that he had waited to see how things played out. He had no idea who that dwarf was, but he was even scarier than Agamemas. 

"That is insane. How could none of those spells have done anything to that dwarf?" Milgoroth shivered as he recalled how efficiently the lich had died. He had been stalking it. In hopes he could just clean up the battle. Making sure the Chosen, known as Haru, soul was destroyed. 

Yet even with his skill in stealth and movement, he had failed to notice the dwarf until the moment the lich had stopped to avoid bumping into him. Even scarier, Andreas knew that the lich was Tier 8. 

A point of strength very few in the world managed to reach. Even in Empires, it was enough to be allowed to rule a small city or have an army at your command. 

"Ho-how?" Milgoroth stuttered as he tried making sense of the dwarf's strength. Like the lich, he had been unable to glean any information from him. It even seemed that it had caused him to be discovered. 

He had been ready to use his bloodline power to teleport away. Yet... "Would that have even worked?"

The truly terrifying thing was not the dwarf's strength, which was insane. No, the truly terrifying thing was most certainly his equipment.

Milgoroth felt confident not even his father's equipment could match it. At least not when considering it all, the armor was most certainly a set. The shield, knife, and hammer likely too. They matched in color and design. 

The singular rune must be the craftsman's signature. And its simplicity, with the strength that Milgoroth had witnessed. It meant that it was created by a true master, likely one of the best in the world.

*AN: If you are not reading on Webnovel, then you are reading a stolen work.*