Ultimate Bastion (5)
"Keeeeeak!!!!"
His hollow gaze flickered with rage mingled with utter disbelief.
These bastards... what the hell are they?!
The first visitors in thousands of years.
When the seal's door opened and they entered, Ascaros had been momentarily flustered by their numbers but soon smirked arrogantly.
A multitude of souls was the perfect gift.
They huddle in groups because they're weak. Someone as strong as me has no need for a pack.
His undead legion, honed over millennia, and his perfected high black magic would crush them easily.
But the scene unfolding before him shattered all his expectations.
The warrior woman in red armor swung her flaming spear.
Chaaang! Chaaang! Chaakiiing!
The vanguard of the undead legion scattered into ash at the touch of her flames.
The man with the massive shield was even more astonishing.
Boom! Kwaaang!
He blocked pitch-black magic bolts and cursed black chains with his shield while simultaneously shattering the undead to pieces.
And the assassin who moved like a shadow of death.
The guards dropped silently, and the flow of mana was disrupted in an instant.
Damn it! These bastards... where the hell did they come from... with power like this?!
But above all, what he couldn't comprehend was the look in their eyes.
In this place thick with the aura of death, facing his black magic head-on, there was no trace of fear of death in their gazes.
His black magic embodied the authority of death itself.
Even in this desperate situation where a single mistake could cost their lives, they acted as if death meant nothing.
How can humans not fear death...?!
An inexplicable shock and unease churned in his hollow ribcage.
Kraaaah! Die, all of you! Be swept away by the death aura and vanish!
As if shaking off his anxiety, Ascaros unleashed death magic from his skeletal fingertips.
A wide-area annihilation spell that would engulf the entire hall.
His final, lethal incantation to reduce them all to ash at once.
But...
The moment he began chanting, a chilling cold pierced his soul.
Among the many knights in the hall, the man who had been watching the battle from the very back vanished.
Ascaros's red eyes swept the hall.
Gone... how... since when...?
His bony body trembled uncontrollably.
No way... that bastard...!
The gaze that had looked down on him with contempt, the enigmatic attitude of observing without joining the fray.
Life... Vessel...
Only then did he realize. The man's true goal was destroying his immortality's source: the Life Vessel.
How he knew the Life Vessel's location didn't matter now.
He had to stop it immediately.
Never... I won't let it happen! I've finally found the key to breaking the seal... I can't end like this!
Their entry meant there was a way out of the seal.
Imprisoning their souls in skulls for interrogation would reveal the seal's secrets, he'd thought.
But he had no time for such thoughts now.
Ascaros canceled the wide-area spell and poured all his prepared mana into another.
Swirling black smoke twisted in the air, opening a massive summoning gate.
From the pitch-black gate poured endless undead clad in rotting flesh and rusted armor.
This legion, infused with far greater power than usual, would at least hold their feet for a while.
Ascaros desperately hurled his body toward the secret passage behind the throne.
* * *
I carefully lifted the Life Vessel.
A cold energy seeped into my skin alongside potent mana.
Destroy this, and the necromancer lich that endured millennia would vanish forever. I'd claim the special-grade trait, Ultimate Bastion.
Holding the orb high, I prepared to smash it against the cold floor.
"The Life Vessel won't even shatter from just dropping it like this..."
Despite its immense power, the vessel itself was surprisingly fragile.
A simple toss would shatter it to pieces.
Wait... hold on.
A chilling voice echoed in my mind, and the lich appeared.
"Was that you just now?"
I'd forgotten how to speak. Transmitting thoughts directly is the only way. Sorry if it's inconvenient.
"You're suddenly so meek because your Life Vessel is in my hand."
Kuhuh... yes... that's right... please...
"But... sorry. Your death is absolutely necessary for me."
The lich was submissive now with his Life Vessel in my grasp, but he could turn and attack any moment.
A millennia-old lich. No room for carelessness. I needed to end it quickly.
I moved to hurl the Life Vessel at the floor again.
...Now... return it now... and I'll let you all leave alive... so... put it down...
I ignored the lich's desperate plea and pressed on.
His tone grew even more frantic and pitiful.
...Wait!!!! Please... please... stop...!
But I had no intention of stopping.
His next words, however, halted my action.
"I don't know what you want, but anything... I'll grant anything. All my knowledge and treasures... everything you can imagine. Just help me escape the seal... no, just return the Life Vessel, and I'll give you whatever. Please... please... stop...!"
"What I want... I doubt you can provide it."
I calculated inwardly.
In the game, smashing this gave Ultimate Bastion. But this is reality now. He's this desperate—maybe I can squeeze more out of him using it as bait?
This room connects to the passage leading to my lab where I researched forbidden magic for millennia.
My eyes widened.
The room connected to the passage behind the lich's throne wasn't the end?
...My lab... I guarantee you'll find what you seek there.
A lab from millennia of magic research. Must be packed with artifacts! Or rare grimoires...!
Who knew a hidden piece like this lurked in the Ultimate Bastion acquisition spot.
Wait... but that's weird. Why not hide the Life Vessel in the lab? It'd be way safer.
I was tempted by the offer, but doubt crept in.
Why place the most vital Life Vessel not in the lab, but in the antechamber leading to it?
"Lich, if what you say is true, you'd have no worries hiding the Life Vessel in the lab. Why here?"
The lich hesitated briefly, then answered.
My soul is bound to the Life Vessel. I can't stray too far from it.
That makes sense...
I nodded inwardly.
Considering the distance to his throne, this room was likely his maximum range from the vessel.
"Guide me to the lab, lich. I'll judge the goods there. Try anything funny, and I'll smash the Life Vessel instantly."
Worry not. I have no such intent. And my name is Ascaros.
"Ascaros, whatever. Move."
"Tch. No patience at all."
I mounted Fenrir.
Gripping the Life Vessel, I kept eyes on Ascaros.
Faint mana rose from his body, and darkness split in the room's center, forming a passage.
Needs lich mana to open. No wonder I couldn't find it in the game.
In the game, I'd beaten him to near-death and smashed the vessel first.
Through the narrow, dark passage and another door, the lich's lab revealed itself.
No damp mold smell—instead, aged parchment and potion scents assaulted my nose.
Thick, ominous mana hung in the air.
Bookshelves towered to the ceiling, walls crammed full, lined with grimoires of eerie covers.
The desk was cluttered with vials of unknown liquids and complex devices.
A massive magic circle blanketed the floor, emanating faint mana ceaselessly.
"This is my lab. Look around. Take whatever you want."
I scanned the shelves' titles as I walked.
Introduction to Necromancy, Principles of Soul Binding, Secrets of Immortality ...
Then one book caught my eye.
Unlike the others, no ornate decorations or sinister aura—just a crude grimoire.
Ah... that grimoire.
Ascaros's voice carried a nostalgia like reminiscing an old friend.
"What's this?"
This is the first grimoire I created, compiling and developing the foundational theories when I began black magic research.
Would you like to read Ascaros's Low Black Magic?
"Ascaros, if this is the first grimoire... there must be second and third ones too?"
Ascaros's red eyes glimmered faintly.
"Interested in black magic, are you? Yes... what you see is the basic one. Naturally, stronger, more advanced grimoires exist."
Jackpot.
My heart raced.
A trait listing its creator and proficiency meant a unique trait.
A special power only one person could wield, on par with special-grade traits—leagues beyond ordinary ones.
And black magic ranked top in destructive power among all magics.
"Show me the others."
I'd come for a defensive trait but stumbled onto a way to boost my real firepower.