Novel Full 296 The Arch-Lich!
Actuass opened his eyes and emitted a long sigh.
Thank goodness he was seated down or else the backlash of power would have made him hit a hard drop.
He clutched his mask and took a few moments to settle down.
“How was it?” Fulina who was standing by his side asked. “Did you find him?”
Actuass leaned against the backrest of the chair, relaxing his body which was sore from the massive feedback.
“I did. I did indeed. However, just like Cyne said, Direction just has a way of messing with us. This… character that Eobald spoke of is by no means simple.”
Fulina couldn’t help but wear confusion as a visage in response to this cryptic reply she got.
According to Eobald, the person he had given his crest was just a scrub who was at the Foundation Stage.
How could it be difficult to capture such a man even if Actuass was using a proxy that held a small portion of his powers?
“Hmm. Let’s just say I was once again reminded that we’re not fighting for justice or the betterment of all life on Aigas. Allying ourselves with the undead simply proves this,” Actuass said before he looked up.
He thought back to Skullius and wondered.
Surely a being that could resist his abilities was special.
Special enough to be known even by an Arch-Lich it seemed.
Even individuals with Hidden Classes that he had met were not exempt from the effects of his abilities.
When they faced him, they’d all start to leak life energy.
Fulina contemplated on Actuass’ words as in her head, she simply disagreed with his statement, but that didn’t need to be said..
Thankfully, it seemed that everyone whom Eobald had told the plan was dead.
If the world knew…
“Is everyone in place? While we assist the Evenfall, our plans still need to pick up their pace,” Actuass asked.
“Yes. It’s all ready. All our members have been spread throughout the designated locations. No one has been caught so far,” Fulina reported with the tremble of her brow.
“Good,” said Actuass. “Now it becomes a race against who will actualize their ideal first. No that it matters much.”
***
If Skullius could breathe in his Projected Form, he would have.
If he could sweat, he would have as well.
The tension was palpable within him as he vaguely felt it.
Death!
He sped with all the speed he could muster as he rushed through the tunnels that he and Tulnas’ ladies had travelled to reach the venue for the last battle!
In this form, the speed he could now exhibit in flight was tremendous as he was merely a dark shadow that whizzed through the air while a meter from him, a dark sphere also trailed, keeping up with his movement!
His thoughts were as chaotic as his soul at this moment, confusion and utter fear colliding in a storm inside his dome of processing!
‘How the flesh is he here?! Did the undead invade or something?! This is…’ Skullius failed to form the next sentence as the frustration, fury and fright swallowed him up and urged him to keep speeding forward!
He pushed through the dark, winding paths as behind him, he felt the heavy steps of Somanda as he followed, making the entire underground shake vehemently with each of his moves!
The walls would fragment and shatter, the ground exploding into heated chunks that turned into red, glowing versions of themselves with each of Somanda’s movements that pushed him a great distance, the entire sequence depicting his movement to be horrifyingly fast!
“CHACHACHACHACHA! WHAT YOU HAVE YOU BEEN FILLING UP YOUR SOUL WITH SKULLIUS?! A MYRIAD OF COLOURS STAIN IT, POORLY PATCHING IT UNEVENLY! YOU HAVEN’T CHANGED HAVE YOU?!” Somanda’s eyes flared with red flames as he called, his voice making Skullius’ physical body in the dark space shudder violently!
Skullius gritted his non-existent teeth in this form!
He was probably still taking damage because of Doom Factor 2!
‘Damn it!’ he thought.
This resolve that he had only cultivated by seeing his beacon of hope, Red Rage stand up for him was also beginning to dwindle.
He couldn’t escape when his pursuer was just as fast as he was!
Suddenly, Somanda who was a distance away roared with a terrifying voice that resounded within the empty space all around, Skullius turning only to see the Arch-Lich open his mouth wide and spew from it dark red flames that instantly flooded over… EVERYTHING!
Before Skullius knew it, everything was covered in a depressing red hue that quickly washed over him, all things around him melting in the very next instant!
EVERYTHING!
The intensity of this flame was so devastating that it turned all things to a piping hot sludge, the effect travelling all the way back to the large space within the cavern where Tulnas and the rest were!
In mere moments all that remained was a hellish landscape with molten rock everywhere, an evening sky being above the two speeding figures!
The entire landscape had been changed!
Skullius halted for a moment as he couldn’t believe his eyes.
They had been deep underground, hadn’t they?!
Only Somanda’s voice tore him from his reverie as it made an analysis.
“Ah… such fine power. To be able to resist the Olden Blaze of the Putrid… How much you’ve grown, my little undead…” the Arch-Lich said with a raspy voice.
Skullius didn’t think further and bolted upwards, creating distance through flight.
Perhaps altitude would solve his problem!
He soared for hundreds upon hundreds of meters in a few seconds, going at full speed to escape his foe!
As he continued to shoot up, seeing the figure of Somanda turn into a detailed dot below him that stood menacingly over the harshly heated lands that produced horribly dark fumes, something he hadn’t expected happened.
[You have successfully completed the Tenth Task, crossing a distance of 10 miles in the Projected form]
[You have reached Level 10!]
He had finished the Tenth Task without even trying to do so!
However, at this moment, Skullius didn’t care!
He only focused on rising higher into the sky!
OOOMMM!
A blast of super condensed energy crashed against Skullius and his sphere from below, sending him whirling out of control!
Surprisingly, this wasn’t even an attack as the figure of Somanda had dashed a great distance and crossed the miles long lava scape, darting over a full six miles with this single movement over the ground into a different portion of the land underneath Skullius’ shocked sight, beginning to exert his power over a vast area!
The moment Somanda landed, the waves of energy he emitted seemed to call onto something.
Some things!
“Ah… let’s brighten up this borish world,” Somanda said to himself.
The ground all round rumbled chaotically, the noise even reaching Skullius who was way up, as with raucous activity, the crust underneath exploded, shuffled and sank in as…
Hundreds of rotten corpses and bones arose from the ground and grunted as their sockets flared with a mad power!
With luminous red flames that shone with the same intensity as mini suns!
Their bodies produced shocking power from merely tasting the presence of an Arch-Lich, the effect not discriminating on whether or not they had been powerful in their lifetime!
These rose as fervently gazed at Somanda!
However, this wasn’t all.
The glimmer of an Arch-Liches power wasn’t so shallow.
The presence of Somanda commanded a dense authority that went on to attract the corpses of the Evenfall cultists across the distance, lying on the ground that had been part of the cavern!
The bodies rose, even as they were split in two, their sockets burning with a red flame that illuminated the surroundings like extremely bright lanterns!
Tomin also rose among them, his freshly dead body raging with power that far outclassed what he had displayed earlier!
Tulnas and the others who had been left as they were, were shocked by this phenomenon, turning to corpses as they prepared for a fight but…
The awakened corpses rose into the air, covered by swirls of harsh red light and madly flew in Somanda’s direction!
However, the effect Somanda had on the dead wasn’t this shallow!
Back in Central and all the towns and villages within the Harem Guilds Jurisdiction, the ground rumbled and sank as things long buried and forgotten from many varying ages rose, bones, old corpses, fresh corpses and all!
Men, beast and even… treasures long said to be broken and dead rose!
They awakened, terrifying the inhabitants of these settlements who screamed and wailed in terror at seeing powerful vestiges and lost family members rise from the ground wordlessly with extremely bright flares in their sockets that burned and blinded them permanently!
All these hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands rose from the ground, encased by a bright swirls of red light and flew in one direction!
Corpses and bones with bright red lights littered the darkening sky as they soared towards their master at a ridiculous speed that made it so that those looking from below would think that bloody stars were tracing streaks over the sky!
This scene turned even more terrifying for Skullius who saw the incoming waves from all directions, most of which darted at rapid speed towards Somanda who was on the ground below!
…!
The awakened beings of different shapes and sizes that blocked his view on all sides except down, all formed what looked like a casing, a halo of light that used their bodies as anchors, this phenomenon looking to be capable of resisting Skullius’ further escape!
What happened next rattled Skullius even more as it only took a brief moment!
The awakened corpses and bones that had flashed to Somanda flooded together, mashing their bodies in a somewhat orderly sequence!
As they did, they formed a sturdy-looking platform that remained began to float, powered by the hundreds of heads and skulls underneath that constantly spat out red flames to give it adjustable flight!
Over the platform, halberds, spears, swords, falchions, yuans, shields and all manner of weapons and treasures formed a grand throne that was saturated with DEATH and abundant MANA, a seat for the Arch-Lich!
Somanda boarded this platform which then zoomed towards Skullius at a speed unbefitting of its size!
Somanda’s makeshift aircraft rose up to Skullius’ altitude, the green skeleton appearing in the Projected Discount Human’s line of sight while seated over the large throne of ancient weaponry, his socket flames steadily danced with amusement.
“CHACHACHACHA! Ah… it seems this is my limit in this state… Very well. I thought I might leave an impression since it’s been too long. A valid thought, is it not, Skullius?” Somanda said with malice.