Chapter 304: The Death of the Lich

A hoarse, maddened roar echoed from the Bone Tower, making the four of them shudder.

What other trump cards does this lich have?!

Inside the Bone Tower, the soul fire within the lich's skull flickered frantically, nearly bursting free of its bone restraints. Hardening his resolve, the lich slammed both claws onto the Black Skull, activating the restriction hidden deep within the Bone Tower's Control Core.

A crack appeared on the surface of the ink-black skull, gradually widening.

Crack!

The Black Skull shattered. A pillar of black energy surged into the sky, piercing straight through the Mage Tower and connecting to the Dragon Skull at its peak.

As if answering a summons, the wraiths surrounding the group turned in unison and surged back toward the Bone Tower. Even the legendary wraiths locked in combat with Knight Magellan exposed their backs to the enemy. The four seized the opportunity, striking down several of the legendary wraiths.

With the wraiths around them cleared out, the White Dragon Lord canceled his soul-shaking wave. The four stared intently at the changing Bone Tower.

In the distance, the Bone Tower swayed as if struck by an earthquake. The white bones forging the tower melted and writhed as though coming alive, and the tide of wraiths swarmed frantically into the structure.

"Amos, what is going on?!"

"I don't know. The books have no record of this."

The White Dragon Lord sensed heart-palpitating energy ripples in the air. The Bone Tower now felt like some kind of alchemical golem. The dragon head at its peak, in particular, radiated a terrifying aura that made even the White Dragon Lord feel his life was threatened.

"This Bone Tower feels familiar! It's just like..."

The White Dragon Lord was suddenly jolted by a realization.

"A Flesh Giant?!"

During the battle to defend Sky City, the long-scheming Demon Church had created a Flesh Giant. Had the devils not backstabbed the Demon Church, it was truly uncertain whether Sky City could have been held.

Prompted by the White Dragon Lord, the others recalled the sight of the Flesh Giant. A writhing, mountain-like mass of stacked flesh—wasn't that exactly what the Bone Tower looked like right now, only with flesh replaced by bones and wraiths?

The maddened tide of wraiths plunged headlong into the Bone Tower, devouring one another upon its structure.

Watching the dense swarm of wraiths tearing at and swallowing each other made everyone's skin crawl.

"What do we do?!"

"A Flesh Giant's strength rivals an Abomination. If the Bone Tower really is a replica of a Flesh Giant, its power has very likely reached the Abomination Rank as well. Let's retreat to the edge of the barrier first and secure our safety."

The four retreated toward the rear while sending a telepathic message to the ten legendary mages: if the Bone Tower truly came to life, they were to evacuate immediately.

Inside the writhing Bone Tower, the lich watched the retreating group.

"You push me this far, and you still think you can run?!"

The lich raised both hands high, shooting a pillar of magic power up into the dragon skull above.

Just as the White Dragon Lord had guessed, the lich had traded souls with the devils for the method to forge the Bone Tower.

Per the lich's request, the devils had provided a blueprint for the Bone Tower that was simple to build, used easily obtained materials, and packed tremendous power. Naturally, the devils had also explained the pros and cons of this method.

The Bone Tower's wraiths would crumble in a single blow against a deity. Against opponents of the same tier, however, the Bone Tower held an overwhelming advantage. If not for the White Dragon Lord's mastery of Soul Magic, even four more High-Tier Legends would have been helpless against this specialized tide of wraiths.

Given such a high cost-to-performance ratio, the lich had forged the Bone Tower. Furthermore, the Bone Tower possessed one final trump card: fusing all the wraiths together to turn the Bone Tower into an unorthodox semi-alchemical, semi-undead creature.

The first step to merging the wraiths was shattering the Bone Tower's Control Core, thereby releasing their shackles. Freed from the Control Core's restraints, the wraiths would instinctively tear, devour, and fuse with one another.

The lich increased his mana output, attempting to cast a spell through the dragon head to intercept the retreating enemies. However, the Bone Tower's largest wraith—the dragon spirit at the peak—had no time for him. It was busy devouring the other wraiths.

Hm?! How dare you defy my command!

The lich triggered the restriction planted within the dragon spirit. With a mournful wail, the dragon spirit had no choice but to obey the lich's will.

Inside the Bone Tower, every wraith at the Legendary Rank or above harbored restrictions personally set by the lich. Through these seals, the lich could seize control of their bodies at any time. This was the exact leverage that gave him the confidence to let the wraiths devour one another.

There shouldn't be any problems... right?!

As he cast his spell, the lich kept a close eye on the wraiths' fusion progress. The legendary wraiths already held a distinct power advantage; they swallowed the lesser spirits rapidly, growing stronger with every bite. Soon, a dozen legendary wraiths established absolute dominance. The lich breathed a sigh of relief and focused entirely on his spell to intercept the escapees.

At the peak of the Bone Tower, the seemingly melting dragon head spat out massive spheres of necromantic energy.

For a moment, the deathly energy orbs rained down like a meteor shower, crashing into the earth. The moment the thorny vines conjured by the Cat-Woman met the necrotic payloads, they instantly withered, rotted, and dissolved into foul-smelling black puddles on the ground.

But just as they had discussed, self-preservation was no issue for four High-Tier Legends. Though their speed was inevitably hampered, they braved the barrage of necromantic meteors and pushed closer to the barrier's edge.

Inside the Bone Tower, the lich let out an indignant roar.

By this time, only a dozen legendary wraiths and the dragon spirit at the peak remained within the Bone Tower.

After devouring massive amounts of their own kind, several of the dozen legendary wraiths had broken through to the High-Tier Legend tier, while the rest lingered on the brink of ascension.

Seeing his own Bone Throne merge into the tower body, the lich realized things were taking a bad turn. He tried to halt the remaining dozen wraiths, but without the Control Core, he could only rein them in using the restrictions embedded within them.

Though frozen by the lich's restrictions, the massive, crimson wraiths still glared at one another. Their blood-red eyes overflowed with greedy desire—consuming each other was the path to ultimate power.

Devouring one another was effectively a form of fusion. Just like mixing waters of different colors, the original essence mutated beyond recognition. The wraiths were the same, and this profound change gave them the capital to rebel.

Feeling the wraiths' struggle, the lich's expression changed. The surviving wraiths had consumed oceans of their brethren and grown so powerful they now possessed the strength to defy him.

Finally, a High-Tier Legend wraith broke its chains. It pounced on a nearby peer, its claws tearing at the other's spiritual body before shoving the ripped soul fragments into its own form.

The first breach acted as a signal. The rest of the wraiths completely lost control.

"No!"

Watching the wraiths twist into a chaotic mass, the lich was struck with terror. The situation had spiraled completely out of his hands.

With spatial magic sealed, the lich fled in a panic toward the Bone Tower's window. Suddenly, the melting frame fused shut!

The lich whipped around, only to see a colossal, crimson wraith. A horrifying aura bled from the entity, its energy fluctuations already half a step into the realm of gods. The wraith stared greedily at the lich.

"What are you doing?! I am your master!"

Hearing the terrified shouts and explosions echoing from the Bone Tower, the group's hearts tightened, even as they found themselves gloating. It seemed this lich was suffering a backlash from his own wraiths.

The White Dragon Lord activated his Soul Sight. He saw two souls, one large and one small, battling inside the Bone Tower. The massive red soul radiated a terrifying malice, while the smaller gray soul belonged to the lich.

A living creature's soul was naturally milky-white, but the lich's soul had been steeped in necrotic energy, turning it a sickly gray.

Right now, the lich was being thoroughly suppressed by the wraith, teetering on the edge of destruction.

"Hahaha, this lich really played himself to death!"

"What's the situation in the tower? Should we retreat?"

"All the wraiths have fused into one. It's attacking the lich right now, and the lich is in terrible shape. The second he dies, we pull out immediately."

It wasn't long before the wraith swallowed the lich's gray soul whole.

"Retreat!"

The Nordhill group quickly dropped the barrier and teleported thousands of miles away.

In the distance, beneath a massive oak tree conjured by the Cat-Woman, the Nordhill party gathered around. The White Dragon Lord watched the Tower of Bones through the eyes of a magical familiar, narrating the scene to the others.

"The wraith is beginning to fuse with the Bone Tower."

Far away, after devouring the lich's soul, the wraith gradually merged with the Bone Tower. Since the corpses that forged the tower were originally the wraiths' own flesh, there was naturally no physical rejection during the fusion.

"They're merging smoothly. I can feel it undergoing a metamorphosis. This Bone Tower might truly be an undead alchemical creature similar to a Flesh Giant."

Piecing together the intelligence they had, the group mapped out the sequence of events. The devils had used the lich, Isaac Hill, to doom the Rodoro Plane, and simultaneously used their trade to doom Isaac himself.

Isaac likely suspected a trap hidden within the devils' Tower of Bones blueprint, which was why he had constantly suppressed the wraiths' power, forbidding them from cannibalizing each other.

Yet, forced into a corner by the expedition group, the lich had no choice but to break the wraiths' shackles. Little did he expect that the moment the spirits found their freedom and strength, their very first prey would be him.

With his soul devoured and integrated by the wraith, not even the God of Death descending in person could save Isaac now.

The lich was utterly dead!

"The Bone Tower is starting to melt. It looks like a candle. Tsk, tsk, there go our spoils of war."

"Hmm, it's mutating into a monster. It seems this Bone Tower really was an unorthodox structure designed by the devils to mimic a Flesh Giant."

First, fuse the flesh and blood of living creatures together, torturing them endlessly so their souls became wraiths chained to the Bone Tower in death. Next, repeatedly stimulate the wraiths with secret arts to make them stronger. Finally, let the wraiths devour one another, merge back into the Bone Tower, and transform into a semi-alchemical, semi-undead monster akin to a Flesh Giant.

"What does the monster look like?" the Cat-Woman asked curiously.

"Never mind, you're better off not asking. I'm afraid it would ruin your appetite when we get back."

In the distance, driven by the wraith, the Bone Tower melted and restructured into a mountain-like bone monster. All sorts of limbs and heads sprouted across its massive form, wreathed in roaring flames of intertwined black and red energy.

The bone monstrosity ravaged the land wantonly. With a casual swing, it pulverized an entire mountain.

Watching the monster attack, the White Dragon Lord judged that this bone monster was slightly weaker than the Flesh Giants recorded in the books, but it still vastly exceeded what their group could handle. He immediately explained the situation to the others.

They observed the monster's movements from afar while gathering to discuss their next step. The monster boasted cataclysmic destructive power, but its speed fell far short of their teleportation. Because of this, no one feared for their safety.

"Everyone, I suggest a temporary retreat. This artificially constructed Abomination is exceedingly dangerous, but it is also highly unstable. It will collapse on its own before long. We can return to take over the plane then."

Everyone unanimously agreed with Priest Sinod's words. The destruction of the Rodoro Plane was riddled with suspicious points; perhaps the devils were monitoring everything from the shadows. Staying behind would only put them in needless danger and do nothing to help the situation.

The group teleported back to Nordhill.

Not long after they left, a legendary bone devil teleported into the Rodoro Plane. It watched the bone monster rampaging in the distance, silently recording data.

"Test Subject Code 0027 entered its final form prematurely in the year XXXX of the Baator Calendar. The cause of this early transition is unknown, though it appears to be human interference. Destructive power rating: Abomination Rank. Somatic stability: Medium. Sentience: Utterly devoid of reason, knows only destruction and venting. Perhaps this is due to entering the final form early, or perhaps the experimental methodology requires further refinement..."

...

The group's figures appeared on the Teleportation Platform of the Holy Sanctuary.

By all rights, as the hosts, the Holy Sanctuary should have provided a lavish banquet to celebrate this successful cooperation.

However, the clerics of the Holy Sanctuary advocated frugality. Every coin they had went toward either relieving the poor or repairing churches. Therefore, the Sanctuary's method of celebration was rather unique—usually consisting of bread and plain water.

The group went their separate ways.

Inside the White Tower.

The Cat-Woman, invited to the White Tower as a guest, headed straight for the White Dragon Lord's library the moment she stepped off the Teleportation Platform.

The White Dragon Lord proceeded to the main hall and released the Moon Elf banshee from the bottle. Given how dangerous the Rodoro Plane was, he had naturally brought the sane banshee along when he left.

Heloise looked around blankly. The space inside this Magic Tower was unimaginably vast, almost large enough to race horses.

"Heloise, what are your plans for the future?"

The banshee was originally the White Dragon Lord's captive spoils of war, but Heloise's past was pitiful, she had regained her sanity, and she had provided crucial clues during the operation. Because of this, the White Dragon Lord intended to return her freedom.

Hearing his question, a lost expression washed over the banshee's face.

"I don't know where I should go."

"Very well. I can offer you two suggestions. The Nordhill Plane also has Moon Elves; you could follow Master Hajir to the Elven Forest, or you could stay in White Castle."

The banshee pondered, conflicted for a moment, and looked down at her own transparent spirit body.

"I am willing to stay at White Castle. Thank you, Lord Amos, for taking me in."

The White Dragon Lord was somewhat surprised; he had assumed the banshee would choose to go to the Elven Forest.

"You are an Elf. Why not go to the Elven Forest?"

The banshee let out a melancholic sigh.

"I was one, once. Looking like this now... would my own kind still be willing to accept me?"

"Very well then. My Mage Tower happens to be missing a steward."