Oh, So You Know About Liches
Sloan was happier than words could ever capture. Her chest swelled with pure curiosity, like a big dog setting out on a brand-new walking path with its master for the very first time.
"Take my sword!"
The hero, who seemed to have regressed almost to early childhood, swung her holy sword every which way. Through their adventures together the sacred blade had grown steadily heavier, and now it smashed through maze walls that could shrug off even cannon fire.
"Intruders!"
"Grrrr...!"
"Ah! Monsters! Way better than people. At least they don't run."
Unlike bandits or deserters who fled the moment she showed even a fraction of her strength, most monsters charged straight at Sloan, driven by thick, murderous instinct.
Of course, courage alone could never close an overwhelming gap in power.
A wolf-type monster — a Hell Beast — had its jaws torn open far past the point they should ever open. A gorilla-like creature had its spine shattered with a single punch.
"Die! Die, die, diiie!"
Once Sloan started rampaging in earnest, she was nothing short of a murder machine. She simply swung, kicked, threw punches, or grabbed whatever was lying around and beat things with it.
At a glance it looked like a child throwing a tantrum — but when someone of her overwhelming power did it, the entire maze took serious damage.
"This insolent rampage ends here!"
"Ah! That's a huge skeleton!"
"You bitch...! I am the first servant of the great archmage. Helr—"
"Hey! Hey! Are you strong?"
Exploring the maze was definitely fun. But Sloan still hadn't met an enemy strong enough to put her in real danger. Growing bored, she found herself intrigued by the Death Knight that suddenly appeared.
"Haha! A worthless lump of meat that barely lives a hundred years dares speak to me of strength? Fine. Since the Duke took me in, I have never known defeat. For a full three hundred years!"
"Ohhh... But you don't even have any flesh. How do you hold a sword?"
"I'll make it clear with that body of yours!"
A black greatsword easily over two meters long cleaved through the air, aiming to split Sloan's head. He intended to smash the skull of this girl who didn't know her place.
"Eh, nothing special."
But Sloan just frowned in disappointment and casually flicked her holy sword upward.
Her reaction speed was certainly impressive, yet the Death Knight foresaw victory from her amateurish stance. The blade would bury itself in that head any moment now.
In that very instant, the Death Knight's greatsword split cleanly in two. Clang! A sharp sound rang out. The black flames that burned in place of eyes scattered for a moment.
"Impo—"
No. The Death Knight tried to force that out as his last words. The holy sword surging upward sliced through his armor and drove deep.
"Boring."
With a delayed explosion, the Death Knight shattered into pieces. The holy sword, swung with such overwhelming grip strength, unleashed force comparable to stacked gunpowder.
"Whew! If you keep rampaging like this... even a sleeping god would wake up. Don't you think?"
"Ah! Ah! It's Camilla! Hi!"
Hearing the commotion from afar and sensing her comrade nearby, the mage teleported over at once. Sloan's face lit up at the welcome sight.
Camilla, however, did not share the sentiment.
"Do you have a brain or not?! Listen carefully. The opponent is a Lich! And one that's been around for a thousand years! In terms of magical skill alone... she's stronger than everything we've faced so far combined."
"That strong?"
Far from being frightened at meeting a powerful enemy, Sloan was delighted.
And why wouldn't she be? Hadn't every enemy so far been far too weak? Since starting her adventure, the hero had never faced a truly strong opponent — and she wanted a fight that put her life on the line.
After that, the two wandered the maze, crushing every monster in their path. With a mage added to the mix, nothing dared stand in their way.
Contrary to Camilla's worries, no enemy was bold enough to stop Sloan.
"Ugh... that was really scary."
"Was it, though...?"
With Lylie joining them as well — the ground around her littered with monster corpses whose heads had been caved in by her mace — the hero party set off to find the remaining two.
Of course, various things happened along the way. From those claiming to be the Lich's subordinates to bizarre traps.
But when even the hero alone couldn't be stopped, and now with powerful firepower support added on top — who would dare stand in their way?
"Ah! Still, there's a lot of them, so it's pretty fun. But... where did Valley and Elisa go? We should probably get out of here soon."
"To only remember something that important now..."
Sloan, who'd been feeling like she was at an amusement park, suddenly recalled a critical fact. They needed to find the rest of the party.
"Time to head back, right? Ah, kind of a shame."
"Sloan!"
"I know, I know. Let's go already. Haa..."
"No, that's not it. I'm detecting life signs over that way."
The life detection magic picked up two signals. One small, the other larger.
The fact that one of them was kneeling was slightly concerning, but at least they weren't monsters.
"Valley and Elisa, huh. Looks like they're in that room. The entrance is sealed with complex magic."
"That so? Let's get them out."
Sloan raised her sword. The heavy holy blade, enough to make any onlooker flinch, radiated a noble light.
She's wrapping ki around the blade? Impossible. She's already grown this much.
The technique of drawing mana from within the body and channeling it into a sword... something only a handful of knights could use, and Sloan did it as if it were nothing.
Camilla clapped a hand over her mouth in shock. Had she always been this strong?
Watching her really is demoralizing. How does something like this even exist? If I had talent like that, I'd have beaten every Demon King ages ago.
The hero raised her sword overhead. Lifting such a heavy blade required tremendous arm strength — but she handled it like a feather.
"Eliiiisaaa! I'm here! Me! Just wait right there! I'll come save you right now!"
She planted her feet. Drew her rear foot slightly back.
Then swung the sword through empty air. Under the powerful force wave, space itself warped, and a mass of ki took form and poured from the white blade.
Only mages could materialize magical power. Sloan, through pure physical force, had twisted that phenomenon and gathered it into her sword.
Under this overwhelming strike, the room protected by powerful magic shattered to pieces. An attack that defied logic had denied reality itself.
"Elisa?! Elisa!"
"...You bastard! Why the hell are you swinging a sword out of nowhere?!"
For a moment, Camilla feared Sloan might have cleaved the two of them as well. Fortunately, no such tragedy occurred.
Thick smoke hung gently in the air. From within it, Elisa burst out and seized Sloan by the collar, venting every scrap of irritation she had.
"Are you insane?! Are you out of your mind?! We both almost died!"
"What? No... I calculated everything before I swung!"
"Don't give me that nonsense! You — because of you, Valley's clothes got torn!"
Wait, really? But from the way she was talking, it seemed no one was hurt. Thank goodness.
Strange. I definitely read their presence before I swung.
Elisa's clothes were fine, and only Valley's were torn. What kind of absurd coincidence was that?
Sloan realized something, but didn't let it show on her face. Something was clearly going on.
"Okay. Sorry! I'll buy him new ones later. Let's just get out of here first."
"...Valley! It's fine. Come over here."
From within the smoke, a small-framed man staggered out at a run.
"I... I'm sorry. My clothes... they're completely torn."
"Huh? Huhh?!"
His outfit was... embarrassing to even describe. The leather he usually favored was a complete mess, and the daggers he'd kept hidden inside were dangling and falling off one by one.
Especially the pants... with the thighs torn open, anyone looking would think he'd been assaulted.
"Sorry."
Only then did Sloan fully grasp what she'd done.
After the party reunited, clearing the maze was simple.
When a path was blocked, they just smashed through. On top of that, that damn skeleton bastard was even giving me directions through his thoughts.
"Yes, yes... proceed that way. Ah! There's a sulfur trap ahead. It would be better to take a detour."
I'll just go straight.
"You must not! If anything happens to your precious body because of the toxic gas—!"
His annoying loyalty cost us a bit of time, but either way, we...
"Finally, outside!"
Escaped that godforsaken maze. Ah! Who knew I'd be glad to smell this disgusting stench again!
"By the way, we're still in the sewers. Which means!"
In other words, we'd only been pulled into the Lich's mental world — we hadn't actually moved.
Which meant...
"Hoh, so you've escaped my maze. How unfortunate. You would have been happier dying in there... But you have chosen to oppose me. Very well. It is the path you chose, so I shall hold no grudge!"
We had to fight the Lich. One stronger than even a Demon King.
"Right, there you are!"
"Everyone, prepare for battle!"
The first to charge was the hero, Sloan. She boldly drew her holy sword and swung. The form was rather comical, but the power behind it was anything but.
"Foolish. To use a sword like that in such a confined space..."
In that moment, the Lich's eyes widened. The sewer wall that met the blade split open like butter. Despite the friction, the sword's speed barely diminished.
"You brute of a woman! Just how strong are you?!"
Realizing that a direct hit meant certain death, the Lich hastily teleported away.
"Haa, fine. I admit it. Your sword can indeed reach my neck."
It was a truly remarkable strike. Sloan was a swordsman who only knew how to grip a blade, not how to swing one properly. Naturally less force went into it, and she could easily trip over her own feet.
Pure strength alone. The raw power from those seemingly slender brown arms solved everything.
"But know this, Hero — strength alone cannot defeat me."
The creature's lips moved, and it conjured green arrows that shot toward Sloan.
Arrows of Pestilence. A curse usable only by high-ranking undead. Even Sloan couldn't take a direct hit — she twisted her body and dodged.
"Barrier!"
"L-Lord God!"
The arrows that flew past slammed into the mana barrier Camilla had raised in front. Hissss! Corrosive fumes melted the materialized mana.
When Lylie prayed, light spread outward and evaporated several more pestilence arrows mid-flight.
"Ugh...! The evil energy is too strong! I've blocked a few, but... if any more get through, we're in real trouble!"
"Damn it! Leviathan!"
At her command, the filth flowing through the sewers writhed and took the form of a dragon. A water dragon nearly ten meters long and three meters thick opened its jaws wide, ready to swallow the Lich whole.
"You dare challenge me with magic? Hahahaha! You're five hundred years too early!"
BOOM! Amid green smoke, the water dragon exploded in all directions. Dozens of tons of water surged forward, rising to waist height in an instant.
We barely held our ground against the rush. The Lich was already preparing its next spell. Not a single drop of water clung to its white body...
"Pitiful ones! I shall end your journey here!"
The Lich snarled and spread its hands. The water dragons Camilla had summoned appeared with jaws wide open.
Four or five of them.