The Lich's Embarrassing Self-Destruct
Dust hung thick in the air. When it finally settled, the chapel floor bore a long crater, like the scar left by a plane that failed to land.
With a soft crumble―――the staff I'd been gripping lost its form, disintegrating like a fallen leaf and drifting to the ground. Seeing it, I couldn't help but let out a wry chuckle.
"I wasn't expecting much, but yeah... only Laurus could handle that."
It was just a scavenged weapon, not suited for Yong-a anyway. Like plugging Korean appliances into the wrong voltage abroad and frying them. How many weapons could even withstand rampaging mana in the first place? From my repeated tests, only Laurus.
Still, unleashing a big spell like that felt refreshing, loosening up my body.
"Hey, you're the last one left?"
I shouted at the lone lich remaining. It stared back silently.
xxxx――――!!!
Then it started muttering something again. Same pattern as before. Brain-dead Evande? Whatever, more skeletons. If this kept up, it'd never end... Should I just smash the lich first?
……
But what if I left it alone? Pure curiosity struck me.
As long as the lich lived, it'd keep summoning skeletons after I wiped each batch. Infinite refills. Suddenly, I itched to test its limits.
As I smirked, lost in thought, another horde of skeletons advanced on me.
# 30 minutes later.
"Come on, squeeze out a few more."
I grabbed the collapsed lich by the collar with both hands, shaking it back and forth. The violet flames blazing fiercely from its eye sockets had dwindled to a feeble candle flicker. Its mana felt much weaker than at first.
"Only 18 times? Do twelve more, and I'll let you go easy. Come on, you can do it!"
I tried a cutesy tone, but the lich didn't twitch. No surprise—undead don't fall for aegyo. Still, it stung my pride a bit. Even though it was already dead, it looked like it'd lost all will to live. Well... getting swept away by mid-tier magic right from the start would demoralize anyone.
Watching those skeletons get blasted apart by spells gave me such catharsis each time. But 18? That awkward number sparked an unfamiliar obsession.
I cooed again, overflowing with aegyo. "Lichie~ Just two more, okay? Pleeease~"
At least hit 20! 18 is just lame.
I shook its collar hard, and the flames in its hollow sockets flared up wildly again.
"Ooh! Finally motivated, huh?!"
I dropped the collar and backed off. The lich hunched over, slowly rising, then amplified the flames in its eyes to a size I'd never seen. Soon, violet fire enveloped its entire body.
Big one incoming! This thing's on par with a holy knight—no, beyond. A top-tier undead!
Whoosh―――!!
The blaze intensified, shooting upward. Then, just like the staff that couldn't handle Yong-a, the lich's body began losing form bit by bit.
"...Huh?"
Even as I blinked in confusion, it kept burning. Moments later, its body fully crumbled, the flames died down, leaving only a handful of ash before vanishing completely.
"……"
It took me five seconds to process. Self-cremation? What the hell? The lich's sudden suicide caught me off guard. No matter how hard I pushed it, I never imagined it'd go out so anticlimactically.
I slammed the floor. "A lich should! Hey! Use all kinds of magic! Burn your soul if you have to! Mana premature ejaculation like this? Unacceptable!"
First lich I'd seen pull that. I'd encountered a few in Triia, but none this quick on the draw. Liches lack mana cores since they're dead, so they usually convert lingering resentment from corpses into mana or burn their own souls. The latter's a last-ditch desperation move, right before death.
That's why its finale had me hyped... only for it to betray me like this.
With my anger cooling, I brushed back my bangs and eyed the lich's ashen remains.
"Considering the graves outside, this can't be the end... Maybe because it's a cathedral?"
Liches spawn in graveyards to feed on resentment-mana. But a cathedral? Sure, graves outside, but not lich-friendly. Dressed as a priest, probably a fallen cleric—pure speculation, though.
Ruuuumble―――!!
No time to think—the ground shook violently.
"...? What? Lich is gone."
No lich, no more skeletons. But this tremor was way stronger than before.
Crash――――――――!! Crumble―――!
The stained glass straight ahead shattered, unable to withstand it. Shards of colorful glass rained down. Beyond them: a massive skull embedded in the wall. Jaws that could swallow anything, razor-sharp teeth.
"A dragon?"
The heavenly overlord, a dragon. Mana rippled around its skull, and the fixed walls began crumbling.
Don't tell me...?
The lich burning itself wasn't pointless. Like any lich, it'd converted its soul to mana in its final moments!
"Hell yeah, I knew you had it in you!!"
Rumble――――!!
The wall collapsed gradually, the dragon skull twitching to life. My heart raced at the thought of facing a dragon— a skeleton dragon, no less. They live up to their rep; top of the summonable undead.
Over 200 years, I'd only heard tales—never fought one myself. First time.
As excitement built, the shaking stopped. I braced for battle, but... the skull stayed wall-mounted, motionless.
"………?"
No mana signature at all. Like nothing happened...
Sigh…………..Lich? You failed?
If necromancy could revive dragons, it'd have done it sooner. Using it at death's door? Probably a spiteful "fuck you" to me, forcing it out of sheer malice... and it flops.
"Sigh, my fault for getting hopes up."
It couldn't even properly control those holy knights earlier. No way it handles a dragon.
I gave up, scanning around. Amid the ashes gleamed the lich's sole survivor: a golden staff. Its ornate tip held a large hexagonal gem glowing the same violet as the lich's flames. Mana faintly emanated from its surface.
"No way... a 'relic'? Nah, here it's called an 'artifact'."
Artifacts: rare finds in dungeons and gates, like game rare items. They hold mana and unleash bizarre powers, or so the legends go. Picked it up from internet dives, but same as Triia's 'relics' or 'holy relics'—just different name.
Like the Gleipnir I gave sis. It's a mana-eater subtype, higher class, but still counts as an artifact.
I picked up the staff. A sound came from the lich's former throne—a blue portal spawning. The fake golden sun's promised ride home.
I glanced at the staff. "So you're the key, huh. Was just gonna loot ya anyway."
Grabbing shiny stuff and subspacing it? Bad habit. Not awful, but I stuff 'em away then go "What's this?" Tried curbing it, no luck.
Eh, good ending this time. Let it slide.
I headed for the portal to bail, then paused.
"Man, hate leaving that behind."
Through the portal shimmered the dragon skull where the stained glass once was. In Triia, dragon corpses fetched top dollar. Hide for armor, heart/blood for alchemy, claws/bones for weapons and rituals. Never bought one, but hunted on commissions—knew the value.
"Yeah... gotta farm that too."
Can't resist good loot~
I subspaced the skull with spatial magic and stepped into the portal.