Fortress Polwin (Conclusion)

I was waiting with Sierra for the block of ice to crack. Beside me, Sierra clicked her tongue and shook her head. The conversation we had shared on our way here came to mind.

[Thou wishest to resurrect the Lich...?]

'I want to pull it out by its roots while I have the chance.'

Although Sierra harbored immense doubts, she did not physically stop me. She made no further mention of his complete resurrection. Listening to the conversation between Buckland and me, Sierra had muttered, [This Lady's disciple hath finally lost his mind...] She had been in that state ever since.

Crack! Craaaack!

The block of ice slowly fractured. At the same time, Sierra looked at me with a solemn gaze and spoke.

[Surely thou hast not forgotten the oath thou made to this Lady.]

"I would never leave you over something like this, Master."

As we exchanged those words, the block of ice shattered completely, revealing a single skeleton standing at its center. Soon, a chilling blue light flared within its empty eye sockets.

Thud!

The Lich struck the ground once with his staff, and black flames erupted around him. The heat radiating from the dark fire began to melt the surrounding shards of ice.

"..."

He took a few heavy steps forward, then stopped and stared up at the sky in silence. Was he lost in deep nostalgia for the North, which he hadn't seen in decades? Though he clearly lacked eyes, he looked as if he simply had them closed.

"Resurrection... Yes, resurrection. Feeling even a faint trace of magi is quite unpleasant!"

A freezing breath escaped his mouth every time he spoke. Soon, his gaze landed on me.

"Did you resurrect me?"

"..."

I silently adjusted my stance. As expected, the gemstone embedded in his forehead was completely intact, without a single crack. But the atmosphere was hardly one to smile about. This meant the Lich's regenerative power would be at its absolute peak.

"Hmm... I cannot quite grasp the situation. Ah, there happens to be a corpse over there with some warmth left in it. I shall ask him."

The Lich tapped the ground lightly with his staff. At his command, Buckland's nearby corpse began to rise. With sickening pops and cracks, Buckland's headless torso stood up, its joints moving at bizarre angles. The body then began to grope around the ground, searching for its severed head.

Once it found the head, the torso shoved it back onto the neck with a wet squelch. Following this grotesque assembly, the 'completed' Buckland coughed up a mouthful of dark blood.

"Cough, hack—! What... what is happening?! I was clearly..."

Flustered and panicked, Buckland's eyes locked onto me. He pointed a trembling finger at me and shrieked.

"You... you bastard...!!!"

Slash.

Before he could finish his curse, Buckland's head flew into the air once more.

"My, my..."

The Lich shook his head, his voice dripping with mock pity.

"I have grasped the situation well enough. It seems you were not the one who resurrected me... Well, even if you had, I would have killed you on the spot anyway. Having just awakened, I have many questions."

The Lich was as talkative as ever. Since I remained silent, he kept babbling.

"But why are your eyes covered with a bandage? Ah... I see. A blind man... A blind swordsman. No, you seem to have come from afar, so perhaps I should call you a blind martial artist? You possess many unique traits. Fascinating. You make me want to draft you into my army..."

The Lich muttered to himself, raising his skeletal hand from the ground toward the sky.

"My loyal soldiers, who have foolishly remained in this freezing snowy mountain waiting for me... Arise now."

Summoned by his hand, armored soldiers began to dig their way out of the snow across the mountain. He was indeed highly skilled in necromancy.

Crunch! Squish!

Skeletal soldiers clawed through the snow and rose from the earth, their eyes burning with the same chilling blue light. The battle had already begun.

This was his first pattern. Now, the Lich would summon five elite skeletal soldiers and explain their characteristics one by one.

"The first is a fellow named Algoul. He was the very first soldier I ever raised..."

I casually ignored his muttering and ran my fingers along the blade of my sword. Reverse Heaven, First Form.

Since the skeletons had not received any specific orders yet, they stood still, making their red circles of weakness glaringly obvious. I stepped toward them and calmly swung my sword five times.

"The third is..."

Unbothered by my movements, the Lich continued introducing his soldiers. Unfortunately, his kind explanation was cut short.

Crack! Shatter!

The sound of the five elite skeletal soldiers' bones being torn to shreds echoed instantly. If he had ordered them to attack me before starting his speech, they might have at least taken a single step. Regrettably for him, he hadn't.

"What in the world... What kind of swordsmanship is this? To even twist the flow of mana... Are you truly a living human?"

The Lich fell into deep thought, utterly baffled by the sudden turn of events.

"That is not something I wish to hear from a Lich."

Yet, my footsteps did not falter. The Lich glared at me and pointed his staff in my direction.

"It seems my soldiers alone are not enough to deal with you."

A magic circle immediately formed at the tip of his staff. And, true to form, the Lich opened his mouth again.

"This is a living curse. A peculiar spell that relentlessly pursues the target no matter how they dodge. If it so much as grazes your skin, your entire body will burn to ashes. Hehehe, since you cannot see, dodging it might prove impossible."

Countless black embers erupted from his magic circle and flew toward me.

'The second pattern.'

So far, his patterns matched the Lich from the game perfectly. The only difference was that the number of flames was far greater. Even so, this magic also revealed its weaknesses.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Without stopping, I sliced through the incoming flames and continued marching forward.

"You... what are you...?"

Only after I cut down every single black flame with a single stroke did the Lich finally show panic. But the distance between us had already closed significantly.

I channeled mana into my necklace. Soon, a brilliant light began to seep into the Demon Blade Sierra.

"......"

Watching this unfold, the Lich could no longer speak. He, too, seemed to realize what the light radiating from my sword signified.

'Two minutes and fifty-seven seconds.'

I began to count down the necklace's time limit in my head as I dashed forward.

'I'll end this in three minutes.'

As the Lich swung his staff, sharp, massive bones erupted from the ground along its trajectory, lunging toward me.

I infused mana into my legs and leaped high into the air. Even as I soared, I did not forget to run my fingers along the flat of my blade.

"Foolish child! How do you plan to dodge in midair?!"

As if he had been waiting for me to jump, the Lich swung his staff again, thrusting another massive bone toward my airborne figure.

'One second.'

Wuuuung.

Suddenly, my ears went numb. The surrounding sounds that should have reached me slowed to a crawl. The bone surging toward me also slowed down drastically, appearing almost stationary.

Yet, defying the flow of time, my body naturally descended under the influence of gravity. Since the bone was aimed at where I had been, it passed harmlessly by.

I fell directly toward the Lich from above.

[Thy adaptability is quite impressive.]

Sierra's voice echoed in my mind. Holding the Demon Blade in a reverse grip, I struck down precisely at the Lich below...

...and the long second came to an end.

Clang!!!

However, my sword was blocked by an invisible barrier.

'Sly bastard.'

He had managed to cast a barrier in that brief instant. For all his talk, he was a cautious one.

But from the moment I activated the Necklace of the Hero's Protection, my strikes were no longer ordinary physical attacks. They had been converted to the light attribute, which countered his dark magic perfectly. Thus, his barrier shattered instantly.

"This is absurd..."

The Lich muttered as he desperately tried to recast the breaking barrier. His voice was laced with sheer bewilderment.

Seeing him snap his fingers, I immediately kicked off his barrier to distance myself.

Crunch!!

A spiked iron maiden materialized instantly around him, swallowing his entire body.

'Iron Maiden...'

Normally, this was an attack that would damage the caster as well, but since he was a Lich, he could use it without penalty. Close combat was proving to be a nuisance, but...

...was it because he was a Lich? Unlike the skeletons from earlier, no red circles of weakness were visible on his body when I checked up close.

'Two minutes and thirty seconds...'

Time was ticking away. I considered using the First Form to strike the weakness of the Iron Maiden and break it, but I still had some leeway.

Clank!

Before long, the Iron Maiden swung open, revealing the Lich once more.

"I loathe using the power of those wretched demons... but it seems I have no choice if I am to deal with you..."

With those words, a dark aura began to swirl around the Lich's body. It was the sinister mana used by demons—magi.

He threw his staff onto the snow and spread his arms wide. Magi began to gather rapidly around his palms.

'Since his attacks aren't working, is he skipping straight to his final pattern?'

Soon, the terrain would collapse. As he brought his raised palms downward, the ground trembled violently.

Rumble!!!

Starting from in front of him, the ground slowly fractured. The earth liquefied for a brief moment before soaring into the air in massive chunks.

Crash!!!

The ground beneath my feet was no exception.

'Two minutes and ten seconds.'

Suddenly suspended in midair on a floating chunk of earth, I balanced myself and began running my fingers down the blade.

Below, a massive magic circle formed behind the Lich's back. Despite the distance, my Superb Senses allowed me to catch his muttering.

"Rise, O Death."

Having finished running my fingers down the blade just in time, I immediately unleashed the Second Form.

Countless black spheres erupted from his magic circle. Even with time slowed down, the spheres moved with formidable speed.

I quickly leaped across the floating chunks of earth, descending toward the ground. I dodged the spheres by jumping from one rock to another, never losing my downward momentum.

'Fifty-eight seconds.'

That was the time remaining when my feet touched the ground. I immediately dashed toward the Lich and slashed at his defenseless body.

Although his barrier still protected him, I intended to cleave through both the barrier and its weakness simultaneously.

Craaaack—!

Cracks spread across the barrier before it shattered completely. The glowing Sierra then bit into his exposed body.

Even without a visible weakness, a single strike shattered his bones. However, despite time being slowed, the gemstone embedded in his forehead rapidly regenerated his skeletal frame. It was an absurd level of regeneration.

Reeling from the impact of my strike, the Lich's body floated slightly into the air. Without pausing, I let my sword flow into the next motion.

A relentless barrage of strikes rained down upon the airborne Lich. Naturally, neither his body nor his regeneration could withstand the onslaught.

This was the power of the necklace. Since it was merely a blessing, it was a degraded version of the Hero's original power, but it was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠more than enough to slay a Lich.

Soon, his regeneration slowed down noticeably. As I watched his bones crack and crumble, I brought the Second Form to a close.

Instantly, a heavy boom of ruptured air echoed in my ears.

Boom!!!

Simultaneously, the shockwave struck, violently tossing and slamming the Lich's body through the air. Finally, his barely-held-together bones crashed onto the ground, shattering into pieces.

Crumble.

Only the Lich's head and neck remained on the ground. I slowly approached what was left of him.

"Why... I was the one who attacked... Why...?"

The Lich was lost in confusion. I felt no desire to solve his riddle.

"Give up now. Even if you desperately cling to your form..."

Normally, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my attack should have reduced even his head to dust, but he was desperately maintaining his form through the power of the gemstone.

Hearing my words, the Lich let out a hollow laugh.

"Hehehe... You truly do not know why Aisin froze me, do you?"

"...Why is that?"

A magic circle began to draw itself on the ground beneath him as he uttered those ominous words. I asked, but in truth, I had already learned the answer during my conversation with the old man.

"I shall sacrifice my body to obliterate this entire region. Isn't it ironic? You have eyes but cannot see, while I have no eyes yet can clearly behold Polwin over there. The explosion will use me and the Tears of the Deceased embedded in my forehead as fuel to swallow Polwin whole... Kahaha! Hahaha!"

He laughed maniacally, staring toward Polwin. A self-destruction spell.

Just as the Lich said, the gemstone embedded in his forehead, the Tears of the Deceased, was a kind of energy source harboring immense life force. It was the very source of power that allowed him to exist as a Lich.

If he used the Tears of the Deceased as fuel, it would indeed trigger an explosion massive enough to consume Polwin.

"It seems you have no way to stop this explosion... Innocent people will die because of you alone. How does it feel?"

I didn't bother replying to his sarcasm. Instead, I plunged my Demon Blade directly into the red circle of weakness visible on the magic circle.

Thud.

The magic circle, its weakness struck mid-activation, fractured and vanished into thin air.

I then casually leaned against a chunk of earth that had risen beside ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Lich.

Even for a self-destruction spell, detonating the gemstone alongside himself required a highly intricate magical structure, which he couldn't possibly construct in his rushed state. He was desperate because his time was running out, making the spell incredibly crude.

After a brief silence, the Lich finally seemed to realize what had happened and spoke with a creaking voice.

"......What did you do?"

"...What do you mean?"

"......"

Realizing his self-destruction spell had been neutralized, the Lich was left utterly speechless. Soon, the chilling blue light in his eye sockets began to fade. He had finally given up.

The Lich was dead.

As I leaned against the chunk of earth, Sierra gently approached me. She reached out and caressed my cheek.

[Though thou didst bring this hardship upon thyself... thou hast worked hard nonetheless.]

"I am only... *cough*, a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bit tired."

As I replied to Sierra, a small amount of blood escaped my lips.

'Did I slightly exceed the time limit earlier?'

My eyes fell upon the tear-shaped gemstone embedded near the forehead of the Lich's skull on the ground.

The Tears of the Deceased. Unlike the 'incomplete fragment of the Tears of the Deceased' I had seen in the game, this one was perfectly intact, without a single crack.

Since it was the source of his power, my theory that it would be fully restored upon his complete resurrection had proven correct.

'I should pocket this before the others arrive.'

I bent down slightly and reached for the gemstone embedded in his forehead. With a soft click, it popped out easily.

[Judging by the energy radiating from it, it is no ordinary gem... It seems thou art already familiar with its nature.]

Sierra didn't seem to know what the Tears of the Deceased was. That was only natural, as it wasn't an item one could easily come across.

The Tears of the Deceased was a gemstone possessing immense life force. The incredible regeneration the Lich had displayed was also the effect of this gem.

Unfortunately, that regeneration only applied to the undead. Fortunately, even if one wasn't undead, there were other benefits to be gained.

The effect of the 'incomplete fragment of the Tears of the Deceased'—which was the original quest reward—was a one-time full health recovery when HP fell below 20%.

Naturally, the effect of the complete Tears of the Deceased was a direct upgrade. Even if one died, it granted a one-time resurrection.

In the game, saving and loading were possible, so death wasn't truly the end. But in this reality, things were entirely different.

A so-called 'extra life' was of paramount importance to me now. It was all to ensure a good ending.

I clenched my fist tightly around the gemstone. Looking around, I took in the snowy mountain, utterly devastated by the aftermath of our battle.

I figured I only dared to pull off a stunt like this because of my rapid growth rate. If I hadn't grown this strong, I wouldn't have even dreamed of letting him fully resurrect.

'I'll either have to embed this gem into my body or fashion it into an accessory... but an accessory might be too risky.'

Since the Tears of the Deceased was created in a manner similar to bloodstones, it was technically classified as a 'dangerous object.' Why the Lich possessed such an item was beyond me.

Whether the Lich had crafted it himself or received it from a demon, it was now in my hands. Perhaps I would need to pay a visit to Deidros, the blacksmith who had forged the Demon Blade Sierra for me.

I slipped the gemstone into my coat and leaned back comfortably against the chunk of earth. Then, I opened my status window, feeling the surge of a level-up.

No wonder my body felt so brimming with power... I had jumped six levels, from 27 to 33. Suddenly, I was swimming in skill points.

As I indulged in this pleasant dilemma, some time passed, and the sounds of people approaching echoed from further down the mountain.

"Over here!"

"What in the world is this mess?!"

"The Lich! Where did the Lich go?!"

The soldiers of Polwin were clamoring as they drew near.

'Ah, right. Buckland...'

I looked toward where Buckland had been. I was worried he might have been flung away during the terrain collapse, but fortunately, the destruction had narrowly missed him. He was merely covered in dust. This would make cleaning up the aftermath a breeze.

Among the soldiers, I spotted Priscilla. Before any of the guards could notice me, her eyes locked onto mine.

"Zeto?!"

Priscilla called out my name and rushed over. Bending down beside me, she spoke in a worried tone.

"Why are you here...? Are you hurt?"

"...I'm not particularly hurt. *Ugh*..."

I wiped away the blood trickling from my lips as I answered. Just then, Priscilla noticed the Lich's head lying at my feet.

Scratching her head, she let out a long sigh.

"Sigh... I think I'm going to need a very detailed explanation of what happened here..."

"Well, you see..."