CH 67

Chapter 67: Fort Polwyn (6)

I was waiting with Sierra for the ice to crack while next to me, Sierra clicks her tongue and shakes her head.

I recall the conversation I had with her when I came here.

[You want to resurrect the Lich…?]

‘I want to sever the roots of this damn thing.’

Sierra was very skeptical, but she didn’t use any force against me, I made no mention of a complete resurrection.

When she overheard Buckland’s conversation with me, she muttered something along the lines of, “My student has lost his mind” and she’s been like that ever since.

Slowly, the ice block cracked. At the same time, Sierra looks at me with a serious look in her eyes and opens her mouth.

[I hope you haven’t forgotten the oath you made with me.]

“None of this will cause me to leave Master.”

While I was talking to Sierra, the ice block completely cracked open, and a skeleton stood in its center.

A creeping light flashed in the corner of his empty eyes and as he slams his staff down once, black flames erupt around him.

The heat from the black flames begins to melt the ice block.

“…”

He stops moving and looks up at the sky without a word. I wonder if he’s lost himself in a deep appreciation for the north he hasn’t seen in decades.

He clearly has no eyes, but they seem to be closed.

“Resurrection……Yes, resurrection, and the faintest hint of magic is unpleasant!”

Every time it opened its mouth, a blast of cold breath came out.

Soon he spots me.

“Did you resurrect me?”

“…”

I steadied myself wordlessly.

As expected, the jewelry on his forehead was intact, with no visible cracks but I was in no mood to smile.

I had to assume this would increase his regeneration rate.

“Hmm… I’m not sure what’s going on here. Oh, there’s a corpse over there that’s still warm, let’s see what it has to say.”

With that, he taps the floor with his staff.

The corpse of Buckland rises from the ground with a snap and his joints creak.

He gropes for its own head, which has fallen to the ground. Once he found it, the torso snuggled the head into its own neck. Then, through a bizarre process, the “finished” Buckland started speaking.

“Kuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I must be…”

I see myself in Buckland’s panicked eyes as he opens his mouth to speak, glaring at me.

“You… You bastard…!!!”

Buckland’s head pops up in the air as he continues to curse.

“That…”

The Lich shakes his head, sounding sorry for himself.

“I think I’ve gotten the gist of the situation. Apparently you didn’t resurrect me, and… Well, even if you did, you would have killed me on the spot. I have a lot of questions about what happened.”

The Lich was a talker and after a moment of silence, he continued.

“But why are your eyes covered with bandages? Ah…… I understand. Blind…I think I’ll call you the Blind Swordsman. You’re quite the character, aren’t you? Charming. I’d love to have you in my army…”

As the Lich mumbles these words, his bony hand lifts up from below.

“Rise now, my loyal soldiers, who have foolishly remained on this cold snowy mountain, waiting for me…”

Led by his hand, soldiers digging into the snow and clad in armor begin to rise from all corners of the mountain.

The skeletal soldiers’ eyes glowed as they dug through the snow and pushed themselves up from the ground.

The battle had already begun and this was the first pattern.

Now Lich raises the five elite Skeleton Soldiers and describes their characteristics one by one.

“The first is an Alghoul. He was the first soldier I ever recruited……”

I waved off his mutterings and continued to run my fingers down my sword.

The skeletons hadn’t moved since he hadn’t given them any specific orders, so their weaknesses were clearly visible.

I walked up to it and casually slashed my sword down five times.

“For the third one…”

He didn’t seem to mind me and continued to introduce me to his soldiers. Sadly, his kind words did not last long as the sound of five elite skeleton soldiers’ bones being torn apart was immediately heard.

If only he had ordered them to attack me before explaining, he might have gotten them to move.

Alas, he didn’t.

“What the……Where did you learn swordsmanship and even twisting the flow of mana? Are you really a living human being if you can do that…?”

The Lich was puzzled by the sudden turn of events.

“That’s not what I want to hear from you, Lich.”

Still, I didn’t stop walking.

The Lich glances at me, then points his staff at me.

“Looks like my soldiers are not enough against you.”

A magical circle formed at the end of the staff. Then, without warning, Lich speaks.

“A living curse. It’s a peculiar kind of magic that chases after you if you dodge it. If it even touches your skin, it will burn your entire body. Hmph, you won’t be able to see it, so it may be impossible to avoid.”

Countless black sparks shot out of his magic circle and flew toward me.

‘Second pattern.’

So far, the pattern matched the in-game lich. Only the number of sparks was much higher. Still, this magic was showing its weaknesses.

I strode forward, parrying the sparks that flew at me without stopping my steps.

“You… Who are you…?”

I slice through all the black flames with my sword, and Lich finally panics. But I had already closed the distance between us.

I infuse the necklace with mana as a glow begins to permeate my sword, Sierra.

“……”

Watching this, he could no longer speak and seemed to realize what the light emanating from my sword meant.

‘Two minutes and fifty-seven seconds.’

I began to sprint, mentally counting the time limit on the necklace.

‘Three minutes.’

He swung his staff, and in that direction, sharp, large bones rose from the floor and charged at me.

I pumped mana into my legs and leaped high. As I floated through the air, I didn’t forget to glance down at my sword.

“Fool, how are you going to dodge in midair?”

He swung his staff as if he was aiming for my leap, and once again, a giant bone was hurled at me as I floated through the air.

‘One second.’

Suddenly, I’m deafened as even the sounds around me that I should be hearing have slowed down.

The bones rising towards me have also slowed down significantly and seem to stop moving. However, my body defies time and falls naturally under the influence of gravity.

The bone was aiming for where I was, so it passed by without touching me and I then fell on top of him.

[Quite the display of technique.]

Sierra’s voice echoed in my head.

I then turned toward Lich, who was below me, and drove my Spectral Sword right into him……and the long second was over.

But my sword is blocked by an invisible barrier.

‘That was fast.’

He’d put up his barrier. Even though he talked a lot he was cautious.

However, the moment I activated the Necklace of Hero’s Favor, it wasn’t a normal physical attack, but a blow that was converted into a light element that was the nemesis of his black magic, and his barrier was instantly shattered.

“What the hell…”

Lich mumbles as he casts the shattering barrier again, there was panic in his voice.

I immediately closed the distance between us but a spiky iron ball instantly appeared near him and swallowed him whole.

‘Iron Maiden…’

It’s supposed to be a self-damaging attack, but since he’s a Lich, he seems to be able to use it without penalty.

It’s annoying that it’s so hard to get close to him…

…Maybe it’s because he’s a Lich.

Unlike the previous skeletons, he didn’t show any weaknesses.

‘Two and a half minutes…’

Time continued to tick away and I considered using a 1 strike to target the Iron Maiden’s weakness, but I still had plenty of time.

Soon enough, the Iron Maiden opened up, revealing its true form.

“I hate to use my damn demonic powers, but… I’ll have to use it against you…”

With those words, a black aura begins to emanate from Lich’s body, the demonic energy.

He throws the staff into the snow and opens his arms as demonic energy begins to gather around his palms.

‘I see he’s moved on to the last pattern since his attack didn’t work.’

He slams his palm down and the ground vibrates then slowly cracks in front of him, and soon the ground turns into a liquid and rises into the air.

The same happened to the ground I was stepping on.

‘Two minutes and ten seconds.’

After being lifted into the air by a chunk of earth, I steadied myself and began to slice and dice my way with the sword.

Then, a huge magic circle formed on the back of the creature I could see down below. Despite the distance, my ‘superior senses’ were able to pick up his mutterings.

“Rise, Death.”

Having just finished preparing I immediately moved as countless black spheres erupted from his magic circle. The spheres traveled with considerable speed, even during the slowed time.

I quickly stepped over the chunks of earth that rose into the air and fell to the ground below. Then I darted between chunks of earth, dodging the sphere, but not forgetting to keep my head down.

‘Fifty-eight seconds.’

That’s how much time I had left when I hit the ground.

I lunged at the Lich, slashing at its defenseless body.

The barrier was still protecting his body, but I tried to split it open by exploiting the barrier’s weaknesses.

The barrier cracked and shattered and Sierra, who was emitting light, touched the exposed body of the creature.

He shows no weakness, but the single blow shatters his bones.   However, even though the flow of time has slowed down, the jewel on its forehead quickly regenerates its bones. It’s an unbelievable regenerative power.

Lich body hovers slightly in the air, shocked by my strike but without pausing, I slashed out with my sword and continued with my next move.

Countless blows rained down on the airborne creature and naturally his regeneration, could not withstand the blows.

Even though the power of the necklace was a diminished version of the Hero original power it was enough to kill the Lich.

I ended Chapter 2 when his regeneration slowed noticeably, and I could see his bones splintering and crunching.

Immediately, a heavy crashing sound rings in my ears. At the same time, the impact continues, and Lich’s body, which had risen violently in the air, surges up and down.

Soon, his bones, barely holding on to his form, crash to the ground and shatter. All that’s left of Lich is his head and neck.

I slowly approached the Lich.

“Why… I was the one who attacked… Why…?”

Lich was lost in questions but I didn’t feel like answering him.

“You can give up now, even if you struggle to maintain your form…”

The attack should have turned his head to dust, but he was desperately maintaining his form with the power of the jewel.

Hearing my words, Lich laughs hysterically.

“Hmph… You don’t know why Aisin froze me, do you?”

“…Why?”

A magic circle was being drawn on the floor where he had spoken those rather meaningful words.

Although I asked, I had already obtained the information from my conversation with the old man.

“I will sacrifice my body to annihilate this area. Isn’t it funny, you have eyes but you can’t see, and I have no eyes, yet I can see Polwyn over there. The explosion, fueled by me and the Tear of the Dead on my forehead, will devour the Polwyn… Kahhhhh…! Hahahahaha!”

He looked at Polwyn and laughed maniacally.

The jewel on his forehead, the Tear of the Dead, is a type of energy source that contains a great deal of life force. It is the source of the power that allows him to be Lich.

If Lich is right, using the Tear of the Dead as fuel will create an explosion that could swallow Polwyn whole.

“I see no way to stop this explosion… Innocent people will die because of you. How does that make you feel?”

I didn’t respond to Lich’s sarcasm, but instead stuck my sword into the red dot visible on the magic circle then the magic circle cracked and then disappeared.

Immediately afterward, I leaned back against the rising mass of earth beside Lich.

Even if it was a self-destruct spell, he’d have to weave it into a very dense structure to make the gem explode along with it…But he was impatient, knowing he had little time left. Therefore, it was a crude spell.

A few moments passed, and when Lich finally noticed, he scowled and spoke up.

“……What did you do?”

“…What?”

“……”

Realizing that the self-destruct spell is gone, Lich is speechless, unable to say anything.

The light in his eyes slowly faded, he had given up.

The Lich is dead.

Sierra sneaks up on me as I lean against a lump of earth and strokes my cheek.

[I know you’ve been through a lot… but still.]

“I’m just a little tired…that’s all.”

A little blood spurts from my mouth as I reply to Sierra.

‘Did I go a little over time earlier?’

I look at Lich head on the floor and see a tear-shaped gemstone embedded near his forehead but unlike the incomplete Tear of the Dead fragments in the game, this one was intact, with no cracks.

It was the source of his power, so I made sense that it would be intact after a full resurrection.

‘I’ll have to get it before they get here.’

I leaned down and touched the gem on his forehead. The gem tinkled and slid out easily.

[From the aura I sense, it’s no ordinary gem…but you seem to know what it is.]

Sierra didn’t seem to realize that it was a Tear of the Dead since it was not an item that was easily seen.

The Tear of the Dead is a gemstone with immense life force and Lich incredible regeneration was one of its effects.

Unfortunately, the regeneration only works on the undead but luckily, you don’t have to be undead to use the other effects.

The original reward, the Incomplete Tear of the Dead Fragment, was a one-time use item that restored all of your health when it dropped below 20% health.

Naturally, the effect of the Tear of the Dead is upgraded from there. I can only die once and be resurrected.

In the game, you could save and reload, so I didn’t really die. However, in the real world, it’s a different story.

The so-called “one resurrection” was very important to me now. It was all for a good ending.

My grip on the gem tightened and the next thing I know, I see the snowy mountains in the aftermath of the battle.

I realize that I was able to do this because I was growing so fast in the first place. If it weren’t for this, I wouldn’t have even considered a complete resurrection.

‘Maybe I should put a gem in my body or make it into a trinket… Are trinkets dangerous…?’

Tears of the Dead are made in a similar fashion to bloodstones, so yes, by definition, they are dangerous.

Why did he have it in his possession?

There was no answer to that.

I don’t know if he made it or if the demon gave it to him, but it’s in my hands now.

Perhaps I should visit the blacksmith, Deidros, who made me the Spectral Sword, Sierra.

I immediately put the gem in my hand and leaned back against the lump of earth to check my status and I was pleased to see that I had leveled up.

<Zetto> Lv.33

Skills:

-Ghost Slayer Technique Lv.16

– Sierra Reverse Heaven (Incomplete) Lv.4 – [Ghost Slayer Technique] in effect

-Superior Senses Lv.7

-Weakness Detection lv.MAX – [Blindfold That is Beyond Reason] in effect

-Acupuncture Lv.3

Skill Points remaining: 9

Items in use:

I feel like I’ve gained a lot of strength…I’ve also leveled up 6 times from level 27.

Suddenly, I’m overflowing with skill points.

While I was happily contemplating this, some time passed and I heard the shouts of people at the bottom of the snowy mountain.

“Over here!”

“What’s all this commotion?”

“The Lich! Where’s the Lich!”

Polwyn’s soldiers were coming this way, shouting.

‘Oh, right. Buckland…’

I thought to myself and looked to where Buckland had been.

The collapse of the terrain had blown him away, but the aftermath of the collapse had narrowly missed him so it shouldn’t be a problem to clean up.

I could see Priscilla among the soldiers and she spotted me before they did.

“Zetto…?!”

Priscilla calls out, running towards me.

As she approached me, she bent down and opened her mouth.

“Why are you here…? Are you hurt?”

“…I’m not injured anywhere…”

I replied to Priscilla and wiped away the blood that had seeped out.

At that moment, Priscilla checked the Lich head at my feet and after scratching her head, she let out a sigh.

“Hah…You’re going to have to tell me more about what happened…”

“Well…”