The Grave of the Dead (4)
-...Ahhh.
The skeleton rising from the coffin let out a faint murmur.
It was the voice of someone thoroughly rested, as though waking from a long, long sleep.
And the moment all six mages heard it, their stomachs turned.
What a hideous...!
Even Oscar had to surge his mana just to endure it.
It was a voice like the vile malice of a bottomless abyss, dredged up and pressed into one solid mass. Merely hearing it twisted the mana circuits and the soul itself.
"Ugh!"
"Ghk...!"
In fact, two of the Black Tower's 4th-level mages and Veronica vomited blood, crying out in agony. Killian didn't show it, but he wiped the blood trailing from the corner of his mouth with the back of a gloved hand.
"...A Lich."
Oscar groaned softly as he stared at the figure rising from the coffin.
A Lich was a mage who had turned themselves undead to claim immortality. And naturally, that forbidden discipline could be learned nowhere—it could only be researched alone, in secret. In other words, no one below the 6th level could even attempt it.
-...What a shame.
The Lich radiated profound regret. Then it slowly turned its head to look at Kiri Gloria.
-If not for the interference of those vermin, I might have become a truly flawless existence.
"Interference?"
As Oscar murmured, Kiri, who had been glaring at the Lich, bit her lower lip.
"You ruined everything. It could have been sealed away forever..."
He wanted to press her for what that meant, but there was no room for such questions.
-You displease me.
Because the Lich, having fixed its gaze on them, slowly raised its hand.
-Not content with disturbing a god's slumber, you dare stand before me with your heads held stiff and high.
Tick.
The instant he lightly flicked his index finger—
-Kneel!
Kuuuuuududuk!
A monstrous weight of mana crushed down on their shoulders.
"Graaagh!"
"Damn... you."
Everyone fought with everything they had to keep from kneeling, but within moments—Kwaaang!—one after another, they dropped to their knees on the stone floor.
"..."
"..."
Only two in the chamber had held out to the end without kneeling. Killian and Veronica, and no one else.
-I cannot understand it.
The Lich tilted its skull at them.
-To kneel before the strong is the natural order of things. Why is that so difficult for you?
"...You are not the strong."
Arms crossed, trembling all over, Killian still said what had to be said.
"To become truly strong requires outstanding talent and blood-sweating effort. It doesn't happen just because a coward like you lies around napping for hundreds of years."
"Heh. That's the most sensible thing you've said all day."
Veronica grinned, splitting her lips into a sharp smirk.
"It's not that I'm afraid of kneeling. I just hate what comes with it—my pride getting smashed to pieces in the process, and that filthy, miserable feeling when I have to stand back up. And no one on earth can ever compensate you for that."
-...
The crimson light burning inside the Lich's skull narrowed to slits.
-Foolish. Hastening your own death over mere pride. But if that is what you wish—
Suweep.
His index finger swept horizontally.
-then as one who has ascended to my god's seat, I have no choice but to grant it.
Feeling the sickening killing intent that followed, Oscar shouted.
"Everyone, hit the floor!"
A single thread of mana shot out like a laser—Woong!—slicing away everything above the level of a man's waist.
"...Monstrous destructive power."
"W-we almost died."
Killian and Veronica let out sighs of relief as they stared at the long, clean line carved into the wall behind where they'd been standing. If they hadn't thrown themselves flat, their upper and lower bodies would have been neatly separated.
"Oscar, what's the plan now?"
"I don't see us beating that thing in a fight... so I guess we run, huh?"
"For now..."
Oscar watched the Lich as it tried to rise fully from its coffin. It was currently furious that its attack had missed.
-You dare evade a god's judgment?! Fine. Then let us see if you can dodge this as well!
"Nice work."
Oscar first praised the two of them. Needless to say, he could have held out against the pressure without kneeling too. But there was exactly one reason he had dropped to his knees before anyone else: to press his hands against the cold stone floor and use magic.
-Die! Fools who dared defy a god's majesty—
The moment the Lich reached out its hand again—
Jjejejejeok!
A deep fissure, born from the ground beneath Oscar's palms, raced in a blink toward the coffin where the Lich sat.
Then—Urrrrrrr!—the floor collapsed, and the thing plummeted into the depths below, coffin and all.
-Moooorrrtaaallllsss...!
Hearing the thing's voice fade into the distance, Oscar rose to his feet with a sigh of relief. Killian rose after him and peered into the vast, gaping hole.
"Is it dead?"
"Not a chance. That was just stalling for time."
"Looked like a pretty long fall."
"Not as far as it seems. This dungeon has multiple levels, after all."
The instant Oscar knelt, he had secretly cast two spells. One was Scan. The second was the Mana Burst that had dropped the self-proclaimed god to the floor below.
"At first, I was looking for the vessel—every Lich keeps one, a container that holds their soul. Find it and snipe it, and the whole situation ends right there."
Finding the vessel was, in truth, the first essential step whenever facing a Lich. Until it was destroyed, a Lich possessed immortality—meaning that no matter what you did, it simply could not be killed.
"So did you find it?"
"No. It's not here."
Oscar shook his head. Veronica, who had been listening, muttered,
"So it's hidden somewhere on the lower floors, then?"
"Ah—I must have phrased that badly. The vessel isn't in this dungeon at all."
"What? How could you possibly know that... wait. Don't tell me."
"That's right. I swept the entire five-floor dungeon."
He'd pulled results covering that much with a single, split-second Scan? The moment everyone registered the unbelievable claim, their faces went slack—
"Enough of your nonsense. I've heard quite enough."
Kiri Gloria shook her head.
"A Lich keeps its vessel as close to its main body as possible. The moment the vessel is destroyed, its own life ends with it. In other words, it keeps the thing within arm's reach, where it can protect it at any moment."
"That's usually true. But not every Lich does it that way."
"You say that as if you've dealt with one before."
"..."
How had she known? When Oscar flinched, Kiri continued as if she'd expected exactly that.
"Well, of course you haven't. This is my first time facing one in person too, but our Black Tower holds a vast archive of research on Liches. Unlike that hollow shell of a White Tower, which has no records whatsoever."
As she said it, she looked straight at Veronica. As if to say: Do you finally understand that your choice was a mistake?
"The Lich's vessel is somewhere beneath this dungeon. We need to destroy it, so from this point on, you will follow my orders in silence."
"Hm? Why should we?"
"What did you just—'why'?!"
Raising her voice without meaning to, Kiri suppressed her anger and pinched her fine brows together.
"You people—the White Tower's meddling is what ruined the plan to seal it before it woke. Surely you owe your share of the cleanup?"
"...I have no excuse for that part. I'm sorry."
Oscar apologized honestly.
"I assumed you were trying to wake it yourselves, through a resurrection ritual."
"What? Why on earth would we do something that insane?"
Well, you people used to be exactly that insane.
Swallowing the words, Oscar averted his eyes.
"But I can't agree to that. The vessel genuinely isn't inside this dungeon."
"...Ha."
Kiri let out a long sigh and narrowed her eyes into triangles.
"So what exactly is your plan here? Are you saying you'll just walk away?"
"Hardly. I have a rough idea of where the vessel might be."
"Ah, I see. You'll send your people off to destroy the vessel while the rest of you descend this dungeon together?"
A smirk crept across Kiri's lips.
"So the great apostles of justice abandon their tails and run the moment real danger appears?"
"Half right, half wrong."
Oscar corrected her.
"Killian and Veronica will search that area. But I will descend the dungeon with you."
"..."
He'd said he would descend with them—but even so, she couldn't help feeling uneasy. Descending a place crawling with every manner of hazard alongside people she didn't trust would do that to anyone.
Which was surely why she'd demanded obedience—to cement her group's position.
But if two peel off and only one remains...
Besides, the White Tower priest and Veronica Frix heading to a different area were both 4th-level mages. Meanwhile, the so-called young noble standing before her was, at most, a fresh 3rd-level mage. Even if he harbored some hidden agenda, they could handle him on the spot.
"Very well. But don't forget—within this dungeon, my orders are absolute."
"I'll remember."
Kuuuuuuung!
Just then, the entire dungeon shook violently. Presumably, the Lich that had fallen below was raging in full fury. Feeling time slip away, Killian asked,
"Oscar, where exactly do you think the vessel is?"
"The graveyard."
Oscar named the place they had passed through earlier.
"Honestly, I found it strange from the moment it first revealed itself in that coffin. A Lich that has finished all its preparations and slipped into slumber hates being noticed by anyone. If it's discovered before completion, it gets sealed on the spot and never opens that coffin lid again for the rest of eternity."
"For something like that, raising skeletons in a graveyard is definitely odd."
"Exactly. It's behavior no ordinary Lich would ever exhibit. And the moment I confirmed the vessel wasn't inside this dungeon, the odds of it being buried somewhere in that graveyard shot way up."
The thing was anxious, too. It had buried its vessel far from its body—but there was always the chance, for whatever reason, that the vessel could be destroyed.
"And unless it's some king's ruins, the graveyard of a backwater mountain village is beneath even grave robbers' interest. That makes it a safe place for the vessel."
Having heard all of it, Veronica stepped up in front of Kiri.
"What do you think?"
"Why are you suddenly asking me, of all people? A traitor."
"I'm asking whether there's a logical hole in what he just said."
"..."
At that, Kiri pressed her lips shut. Listening quietly, she had to admit it did actually hold up.
"Wouldn't it be faster if we all just went to the graveyard together, found the vessel, and destroyed it?"
"That would..."
"That won't work."
Surprisingly, it was Oscar who objected. As every eye turned to him, he spoke.
"If we could destroy the vessel that way and end this without a single casualty, I'd have beaten every Black Tower mage here half to death to make it happen."
"What? A mere 3rd-level mage—"
"You don't seem to know your place."
The Black Tower's 4th-level duo bristled with immediate displeasure. But a fact was a fact. And the reason he still didn't do it that way was because he couldn't.
"If we all head for the graveyard, the Lich will naturally be on our heels the entire way."
"...And searching for the vessel with that thing at our backs would be nearly impossible."
"And if we're unlucky, the village itself could take damage too."
"I see it now. So someone has to stay behind and keep it from following us. That's what you're saying."
Oscar had volunteered himself for exactly that role. He looked at Killian and Veronica.
"Your part is the crucial one. No matter how well we hold it off down here, if you fail to destroy the vessel, our odds of winning are zero percent."
"Understood. So we just need to find it."
"Right—wait, no, don't assume it actually looks like a vessel?"
"What do you mean, it doesn't?!"
That was close.
Wiping cold sweat, Oscar explained in detail.
"A vessel can take any form whatsoever. It could be a diary or a ring—or, sure, it might genuinely look like a vessel."
"Then how are we supposed to recognize it?"
"A Lich's soul lives inside it. The moment you lay eyes on it, you'll know it's different."
Kuuuuuung!
As the dungeon shuddered once more, Oscar gestured for them to go.
"Move, now."
"...Don't die on us. Hold the line."
"We'll handle the vessel somehow, so don't you worry!"
Having sent the two off, Oscar turned back to the three waiting for him.
"Shall we head down as well, then?"
"Don't give orders. And let me say it one more time—"
"You're the one with command authority. I know."
"First, we take the stairs..."
"Is there time for that?"
Oscar pointed his chin at the vast, gaping hole.
"There's a fast way down, right there."
"...And just how deep do you think that goes?"
"Doesn't matter. We have a White Tower mage here."
"..."
Swallowing hard as she stared into the seemingly bottomless pit, Kiri finally spoke.
"Th-then go as slowly and as safely as possible. N-not that I have any fear of heights or anything..."
"Okay. Order confirmed."
The instant those words left her mouth—
Fuuwoong!
A violent gust roared in from behind and shoved all four of them straight into the hole.