Chapter 1716: Chapter 1533: Lich 2

Chapter 1716: Chapter 1533: Lich 2



As the dust from the dragon's icy demise settled, a figure emerged from the shadows cast by the fallen monstrosity. A slow, deliberate chill ran down Maria's spine, a prickling sensation far more potent than the wintery magic she wielded. The Lich, the true architect of this devastation, had finally revealed himself.

He was tall and gaunt, his frame encased in a suit of tarnished black armor that seemed to absorb the moonlight rather than reflect it. His face, a skeletal visage stretched taut over leathery skin, was a grotesque mockery of humanity. Empty sockets, where eyes should have been, glowed with an eerie, malevolent purple light. A single, jagged scar, a crimson streak across his cheekbone, was the only hint of color on his otherwise pallid complexion.

But it was the Lich's crown that sent a tremor of fear through Maria. A twisted circlet of blackened iron, adorned with a single, pulsing ruby the size of a pigeon's egg, rested upon his brow. This phylactery, the Lich's tether to undeath, pulsed with a dark energy, a beacon of malevolent power that rivaled the celestial aura Maria herself exuded.

A long, gnarled staff, tipped with a skull that seemed to leer with an evil grin, completed the Lich's macabre appearance. As he shuffled forward, the staff tapped a slow, rhythmic beat against the cobblestones, a chilling counterpoint to the ragged gasps escaping his desiccated lungs.

The air around him crackled with necromantic energy. The sickly sweet stench of decay, a signature of the undead, hung heavy in the air, a suffocating shroud that made Maria's stomach churn. This wasn't just any Lich; this was a being of immense power, a master of the dark arts who had orchestrated the city's downfall and unleashed a skeletal dragon as its harbinger.

His raspy voice, like sandpaper scraping against stone, filled the air. "Impressive, child," he rasped, the words dripping with a condescending amusement. "You've dealt admirably with my plaything. But a true test of your skills awaits."

As he spoke, the Lich raised his staff, the ruby in its skull pulsing brighter with each passing moment. An unsettling ripple spread through the air, and from the shadows cast by the surrounding buildings, skeletal figures began to emerge. Each one, a grotesque parody of a once-living soldier, their empty eye sockets glowing with the same malevolent purple light that emanated from the Lich himself.

"So you are the real Emperor level monster I should take care of."Ne/w novel chapters are published at novelhall.com

The chimera, however, was no mindless puppet. Its serpentine body, a horrifying assemblage of dragon and serpent bones, lashed out with surprising agility. Its barbed scorpion tail, imbued with a touch of necrotic energy, snapped at Maria, its venomous tip promising a gruesome demise. But the Saintess was a whirlwind of movement, anticipating each attack with preternatural reflexes. With a well-timed dodge, she evaded the tail's poisonous strike, the barb snapping harmlessly against the frozen ground.

The battle raged across the frozen battlefield, a deadly dance between life and undeath, fire and ice. Maria, a whirlwind of frost and steel, pressed her attack. A well-placed ice shard, imbued with her full power, pierced the chimera's lion head, extinguishing the spectral flames in a hiss of impotent rage. The monstrous creature roared in pain, its remaining eye socket glowing with a malevolent purple light that flickered momentarily before dimming. With a final, decisive strike, Maria channeled her power into her crystal sword.

"Ice Spear!"

The blade, shimmering with an otherworldly brilliance, elongated and solidified, transforming into a colossal icicle, a spear of pure frozen energy. With a battle cry that echoed through the frozen wasteland, Maria slammed the icicle into the chimera's serpentine body, piercing through its skeletal frame with an ear-splitting crack.

Boom! CRACK!

The unholy creation shuddered, its unnatural life force extinguished in an instant. The flames in its lion's mane flickered and died, replaced by a chilling stillness. The chimera, a testament to the Lich's dark arts, crumbled to pieces, its skeletal parts scattering across the frozen battlefield like a grotesque confetti.

Maria stood amidst the ruins of her victory, her chest heaving with exertion. The chill that permeated the air seemed to emanate from her very being. The battle was won, but the war was far from over. The Lich, a master of deception and dark magic, had escaped. It probably

what he thought.

"Time to go on hunt!"