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Chapter 243: The Lich. [Release Version]
🕑 Added 2021-11-05 04:01:19 +0000 UTC<Max level of Jobs [Spy], [Wolf Tamer], [Bladedancer] has been reached>
<Individual [Young Stygian-Scaled Fenrir, Saori Segawa] has switched her Main Job to [Stygian Thunder]>
<Main Job benefits have been updated due to Job change>
<Stygian Thunder Level: 0/30>
<Multiple proficiency requirements fulfilled. [Dagger Technique Lv. 7] [Dagger Mastery Lv. 5] [Concentration Lv. 10] [Mid-Air Maneuvering Lv. 3] [Monster Tamer Lv. 7] [Monster Synergist Lv. 5] [Battle Mind Lv. 10] [Elemental Mana Weave Lv. 8] gained>
<Skill requirement fulfilled. [Battle Mind Lv. 10] evolved into skill [Tranquil Mind Lv. 1]>
“Hadean Dragon Thunder!”
<Experience has reached multiple breaking points. [Young Stygian-Scaled Fenrir, Saori Segawa]’s Job [Stygian Thunder] has risen from [Level 1] to [Level 5]>
<Attributes have increased due to level up>
<[Shadow Armament (Full Body)] [Lifestealer (13 Kills)] inflicted on [Young Stygian-Scaled Fenrir, Saori Segawa]>
A powerful bolt of black lightning shot out from my magic circle, decimating five large ogre-sized skeletal monsters. As their bones scattered around the battlefield, Grimnir stepped forward and began spraying white flames at the skeletons’ remains from his left gauntlet, “purifying” them from further necromantic control.
Once he was done, he began shouting “Run for your lives, Akongs!” at the cowering Shaturein residents, scaring them into motion. The moment they ran away, our opponent — the lich woman — began to laugh maniacally.
“Kiek kiek kiek! Wonderful, magnificent! If I had taken that spell head-on, I probably would have ended the same way as that spare body you destroyed!”
I originally had aimed that [Hadean Dragon Thunder] at Fulsara, the necromancy-obsessed lich, but when I noticed that a multitude of Shaturein civilians flooding out from the hole she came from being chased by skeleton monsters, I chose to redirect the blast at the skeletons. It was a very close call. I might have saved them, but now I revealed one of my trump cards against the lich.
No rest for the heroes.
“Well, to be honest, I didn’t expect those people to appear. Saves me from using my mana to protect myself… but all this talking is wasted time, anyways. You have a giant bug to stop and I have a Goddess to prove myself to. Let us please continue, Miss Saori. Corpse coffins!”
Without a chant, four black magic circles appeared from the ground, releasing a monstrous corpse each. From the looks of it, it appeared to be space-time magic; a variant only used for corpses and with a significant carry limit unlike the more flexible [Storage Magic].
“Curious? As a fellow worshipper of the Dark Gods, I shall quench your thirst. [Corpse Coffins], a space-time magic that only functions for necromantic usage. It has a limited amount of slots for each corpse, and the stronger the corpse I store, the more mana I need to pay for it.” She then raised her skeletal hand, promoting the undead monsters to shuffle and move by her command. “What is this limit, though? I think I shall leave that much a surprise. Let me see how much you can struggle, Miss Saori and Master Dwarf!”
The battalion of undead charged at us, the four just summoned and those she had around prior to our fight. I whistled, calling for my garms to jump out of the shadows, turning the weaker undead into chew toys. After Grimnir finished leading the Shaturein civilians out, he jumped back into the fight with his blasthammer, shooting a large felwing skeleton down with a water ball.
The blasthammer expelled a large amount of steam as his gauntlet began pouring water through it. Unlike the previous versions, the mana battery this hammer carried around to power it didn’t explode.
“It worked?” I asked as I wielded my daggers, infusing them with stygian lightning.
“Not perfectly, sadly. But, by Crustacia, it certainly beats having to keep exchanging the (insert dwarven cuss word here) mana batteries every time I shoot! Gotta give the lass a thanks after all of this!”
From what Grimnir explained on our way to fight this lich woman, it seems that Ellaine and he had tuned down the power of each shot of the blasthammer by using that steam idea Hestia mentioned. Instead of elementless blasts, each one was now a water attribute.
Water is stored inside the blasthammer, giving it weight for each strike, and when he uses it to shoot, his mana activates a fire rune, which heats this water up. Scalding water then shoots out with the pressure of the produced steam, with the latter released through vents in the back or in the front as a steam attack.
His gauntlet, which was turned into a fuel supply for the hammer’s water along with a flamethrower made of Hestia’s white flames, still granted him a power increase through runes, but it was more an auxiliary item for his blasthammer now. However, for whatever reason, the rune that Grimnir made from Hestia’s [Sanctified Blaze] completely lacked the ability to heal people. It can only damage things, unlike her holy flame grenades.
Grimnir assumed he messed up the runesmithing process, though. It was something we can only test later on, after we survive this battle!
“Stygian Lightning!” Black lightning crackled in my hand as I shot out a bolt of it at an incoming enemy.
[“Everybody to me!”] I telepathically ordered my garms.
Together, the five of us began to blitz through the undead army. While I focused on eliminating everything with [Stygian Voltage], [Stygian Blades] and [Shadow Armament], my garms used their dark spells and the mana threads I gave them to create openings for me. Each undead caught in the white strings became easy prey for us.
Grimnir remained as a support, spraying white flames with his flamethrower gauntlets and throwing out Hestia’s crimson flame grenades to ensure the skeletons remained dead. I learned my lesson when I fought Fulsara the first time. If you don’t have a way to stop her from reraising her undead, an unending wave of monsters would be at her command.
<Experience has reached multiple breaking points. [Young Stygian-Scaled Fenrir, Saori Segawa]’s Job [Stygian Thunder] has risen from [Level 5] to [Level 9]>
<Attributes have increased due to level up>
<[Lifestealer (25 Kills)] inflicted on [Young Stygian-Scaled Fenrir, Saori Segawa]>
But this fighting rhythm quickly ended.
“Deathly Wave!”
A wave of life-eroding mana blasted through the area, forcing Grimnir and my garms to flee the area. With [Erosion Resistance Lv 10], I felt less afraid of the magic than last time, but I still didn’t want to test my luck. Fulsara as a lich seemed to have better magical abilities than she had in human form.
“The abyss haunts the sane, Aura of Maddening! Rupture and weaken, Enfeebling Shriek! Deathly Wave! Undead Puppet! Deathly Wave!”
Damn!
Uneasiness strained my mind before [Tranquil Mind] and my other mental protection skills kicked in and helped me recover, only for a shrill banshee-like shriek to sound, torturing my ears and weakening my defense and speed. My mental skills activated once again, but the shrillness did enough damage to my poor ears for Fulsara’s skill to be worth her using it.
I could tell Quatre and Grimnir were less fortunate, but that didn’t mean we had any time to pause. Fulsara threw out two more [Deathly Wave]s and personally controlled an undead troll to rampage towards the latter group.
Kuso!
I dived into my shadow with [Shadow Dash], reappearing next to Quatre and Grimnir. Grabbing them with [Dark Tendrils] through [Shadow Armament], I pulled them out of the way by jumping with them onto a nearby building. With them still connected to my shadow armor, I began weaving through the buildings with [Gale Steps] and [Air Walk] as Fulsara continued shooting out spells and commanding her undead.
She fights just like Hestia! No chants, only endless spell casting!
I didn’t know much about liches, but that was all I could concluded at this point. Either her new form or her staff probably was giving her the ability to cast her necromancy spells chantlessly, while [Aura of Maddening] and [Enfeebling Shriek] were most likely regular dark spells. In addition, to be able to cast all these spells, she must have a lot more mana than she had in her human form.
Where is she getting all of this?
“Are you still thinking how to win this, Miss Saori? Think more, make a mistake, and allow me to prove myself to my Goddess, fellow blessed candidate! Soul Snatchers!”
Three soul projectiles shot out from her magic circle, homing in on me like heat-seeking missiles. As you would expect from ethereal missiles, they bypassed anything corporeal. Grimnir sprayed steam out to push back the undead, which had a side effect of blocking normal vision. Unfortunately, those undead and soul missiles probably had something like a life-seeking power they were using to continue chasing after us.
Death magic is nothing to scoff at.
“Grimnir, with me!” I pulled Quatre and Grimnir into my embrace before clocking the latter in [Shadow Armament]. On my command, we dived into a shadow, evading the undead and soul missiles.
I wanted to use this time to think, but something rather obvious suddenly stopped my chance to do so.
“Don’t forget that I am a dark mage, too, Miss Saori!” Fulsara’s voice echoed through the shadow world, appearing before us as she shot out a [Deathly Wave].
Kuso!
Quatre, being a dark mage himself, could separate from us, but I had to hold onto Grimnir, otherwise he might be lost in this world.
“Two dark mages fighting inside the purgatory realm of the Father of Darkness to gain the acknowledgment of the Dark Gods, how poetic! They will recognize our powers even more here! Will the Dark Mother praise you or will Goddess Death count me as her favored? It will all be decided today!”
Fighting against another dark mage is something I had little experience with. Gael was an arcane trickster himself, but he wasn’t a mage. He merely complemented his rogue skills with dark magic. After my evolution, I could act as either a rogue or a mage at will.
As a combatant, Fulsara most likely had more in common with Tasianna than with Hestia or Ellaine. A pure mage with a few protection spells and skills. My only hope to win this is to coordinate with Grimnir and my garms to get close to her.
As I was dodging through the shadow realm, trying to find my exit location, I asked Grimnir, “Grimnir, do you think auracoil will protect you from that [Deathly Wave] spell?”
“Magic-resistant shield, Saori. It will cost me a lot of mana, but I can block it. I assure you on my honor as a runesmith!” Grimnir stated confidently.
I nodded my head. While shooting stygian lightning at Fulsara in retaliation, I eventually found my exit. Jumping out of a shadow, I released Grimnir and let him do his preparations while I sent a telepathic message to my garms and inspected my gauntlets and catalyst.
<Black Thunderers: A pair of manatech armguards created using a special obsidian and eoriant alloy, fused together with the scales of a [Stygian-Scaled Fenrir] and carapace of a [Sunfang Dragon]. The white hair of a [Stygian-Scaled Fenrir] was added to this gauntlet, giving it a soft touch, contrasting their use as a stygian lightning conductor. The [Dragonkin Blacksmith Technique] used to create this weapon causes the weapon to only show its full potential in the hands of its true owner.
Dragonkin: [Saori Segawa]
Vitality Power: 525
Wisdom Power: 525
Skill: [Mana Conductor Lv. 8] [Mana Efficiency Lv. 8] [Decreased Weight Lv. 5] [All Damage Resistance Lv. 1] [Inferno Resistance Lv. 1] [Lava Resistance Lv. 1] [Terra Resistance Lv. 1] [Tenebrous Resistance Lv. 3] [Water Weakness Lv. 2] [Lightning Resistance Lv. 5] [Durability Loss Reduction Lv. 10] [Stygian Conductor] [Dragonkin Ownership]>
<Draconic Thunder Cores: Twin alchemical orbs created using the electric sac of a [Boltreaver Wyvern]. If mana is registered to these catalysts, they will levitate and float around the owner using stored mana. Connected by an electrical current, the function of a single orb will deteriorate if the distance between the twins is too far apart. Electrical current may be stored inside this orb as a replacement for mana. Even as a catalyst, the wyvern’s heart pulsates with power.
Owner: [Saori Segawa]
Skill: [Lightning Revolt (Limited)] [Boltreaving Blade (Limited)] [Mana Efficiency Lv. 8] [Magic Power Enhancement Lv. 10] [Chant Revocation Lv. 10] [Cast Activation Speed Increase Lv. 8] [Lightning Amp] [Artillery Spell Enhancement Lv. 1] [Critical Spot Damage Increase Lv. 8]
Enchantments: [Lightning Rod] [Lightning-Mana Transmutation] [Spell Piercer: Stygian Lightning]>
Yes, for some reason, after I ingested Hestia’s blood, I now counted as a lesser dragonkin. That’s why Yorshka even confused my scent for Hestia’s in the first place and the reason why I grew scales on my body. I was a “mutated fenrir”, as my description liked to call me.
Not that it was important to me at all, although it might cause some confusion in the future with dragonewts and levianewts. But, while I still counted as a “wolfkin,” Grimnir could create weapons and armor for me using [Dragonkin Blacksmith Technique] to empower my equipment.
And that was good, since my Job skill from [Stygian Thunder] synergized with my two equipment.
<Lightning Shadow: Allows [Stygian Voltage] to flow through shadows controlled by [Shadow Armament] like a river>
Simple effect with a great application potential.
“Ooh, that took a bit for me to find my exit. Still, why are you standing around? Shouldn’t you be more roguish, Miss Saori?” Fulsara trash-talked me the moment she reappeared from the shadow realm.
“Oh really? Who says I have to fight how you imagined me to? All that matters is how I win this fight, right?”
I took off my jacket, revealing all the white fur from my hands to my shoulders. As I began pouring mana through them, the white hairs began to stand up like goose bumps. Crackling electricity spread around my body, to the point I felt tingling sensations across my whole body.
Let’s go! Lightning Revolt!
<[Lightning Revolt (Limited)] inflicted on [Young Stygian-Scaled Fenrir, Saori Segawa]>
<Lightning Revolt (Limited): The racial skill of the [Boltreaving Wyvern] enabled through a specialized organ sac, now turned into an alchemical catalyst for further usage. While the heart’s power still pulsates with life somewhat, its powers are now reduced in their new form. Electricity of any kind may be stored inside this catalyst for future usage. Once at maximum capacity, the owner may supercharge the catalyst, increasing the power of lightning-based attacks and enabling to owner to cast one additional [Multi-Cast]>
A lightning shockwave exploded from the twin catalyst embedded into my armguards, rotating furiously without showing signs of slowing down. A black magic circle appeared before me, one with the same size as [Hadean Dragon Thunder].
“Nobody will steal your attention this time! Let me test my defenses, Miss Saori! Casket of Souls! Flesh Wall!”
Without something like Hestia’s [Purple Flash], a strong spell like [Hadean Dragon Thunder] requires time to materialize. Even if I don’t have to chant, there is still a set wind-up time. In the time it took for the spell to prime, Fulsara cloaked herself in a veil of souls and sacrificed a few undead to form a literal meat wall.
“Hadean Dragon Thunder!” A human-sized thunder ray shot through the magic circle, blasting through the wall of flesh as if it was butter before crashing against her soul veil.
Fulsara frowned as the blast began to push her back, but it seemed she could still strengthen her magical defenses. Most likely, the spell wouldn’t be able to pierce whatever that veil was actually made from. Fulsara was wearing an identify blocking armlet. I tried appraising her, but it failed. I couldn’t read her skills or spells.
But this wasn’t my finishing shot. This was just a distraction.
“Dark Tendril! Gale Steps!” Using [Continuous Cast] on the [Hadean Dragon Thunder], it continued emitting that large bolt of dark lightning, giving me the opportunity to dash at her undead armor.
Slipping through their gaps, I began constricting them with my [Dark Tendrils], weaving a web to immobilize the undead. Without Fulsara’s [Undead Puppet] spell, these undead couldn’t react fast enough, given my high Agility.
When Fulsara noticed me decimating her army, she turned her attention to me, which left her open to an incoming holy flame grenade from Grimnir. Quatre, who was helping Grimnir stay mobile, informed me through [Telepathy] that holy attacks could break through her soul veil.
“Taunt! Get over here, dead woman! Your target is me!” Grimnir taunted her, forcing her attention back away from me. When Fulsara shot out a [Deathly Wave] at him, he activated [Auracoil], saving himself and Quatre from the damage.
Nice tanking.
As Grimnir did this on the opposite side of the [Hadean Dragon Thunder], I finished tying up the giant skeletal monsters, allowing my three remaining garms to aid me. They began tying up the smaller undead using black mana threads, those made from my dark elemental mana.
Noticing something was going on, Fulsara began summoning more undead using [Corpse Coffin] even as she was beginning to push back my dragon thunder. But, trying to directly compete with my magic was just a mistake for her. Similar to how I couldn’t appraise her, my [Identity Blocker] was too high for her to appraise me.
She didn’t know I would gain more power the more I killed through [True Wolven Bloodlust]!
The more she summoned, the more fodder I gained! And once all of them were captured in my net, I released all the electricity stored inside my catalysts and armguards. And I was charging it up all this time.
“Stygian Lightning!”
With [Lightning Shadow], my lightning was able to travel through my shadow spells and dark mana threads, exploding their bodies into pieces of whatever you would imagine from bags of decaying meat and skeletal remains.
<Experience has reached multiple breaking points. [Young Stygian-Scaled Fenrir, Saori Segawa]’s Job [Stygian Thunder] has risen from [Level 9] to [Level 19]>
<Attributes have increased due to level up>
<[Lifestealer (67 Kills)] inflicted on [Young Stygian-Scaled Fenrir, Saori Segawa]>
What in the—?! That many?!
I deactivated [Hadean Dragon Thunder], chugged some dragorade to restore my mana, and dashed at Fulsara with [Gale Steps]. Channeling my stygian electricity into one of my daggers, I threw it towards Fulsara.
She was bewildered. Her [Casket of Souls] was still active. That alone should be able to protect her, considering my dragon thunder couldn’t pierce her defensive spell, but the thing is, I had another trump card, one I haven’t shown until now.
My catalyst’s enchantment.
“W-What?!” Fulsara cried out as my dagger severed her right arm, the one holding onto her staff. I grabbed the catalyst on the staff and overcharged it with stygian lightning, causing it to crack and explode.
The third enchantment on my catalysts — [Spell Piercer: Stygian Thunder]. That was my ace.
After having my attacks constantly blocked by Hestia’s [Draconic Barrier], I decided I had to find a way to stop that. This was my solution. The more specific the condition of a [Spell Piercer] was, the better it was able to pierce through mana barriers, defensive spells, or anything naturally resistant to that attack.
Fulsara, noticing her mistake, instantly cast [Deathly Wave] at me point-blank, but with [Lifetaker] at a high kill count, I was able to just shift my body just out of the way of the spell with ease. I let her create some distance between us, and she began chanting [Shadow Dash] to escape, only for my garms to appear and slash at her, tying her up in white mana threads as an after thought.
“Undead Puppe— What?!”
“Hahahahahahahahahahahhahahahhahahahah!” That was not some bad guy’s maddening laugh, that was Grimnir. He was burning the remains of all the undead I killed with his flamethrower, while laughing maniacally.
“Dammit!” Fulsara cursed, having no minions to call for. “Corpse Coff—”
“Too late! Goodbye! Stygian Lightning!” I held my hands together, shooting out a blast of lightning like a stun gun. This damage from this blast was increased even further through [Lightning Revolt] and [True Wolven Killer], pulverizing Fulsara’s lich body.
“Kiek kiek kaaaaaaaa!” She let out a death cry as everything vanished before me from the power of my magic, my garms preventing her from moving.
As the dust settled, I checked if I got everything. I smirked. “Your familiars aren’t better than mine.”
I dusted off my hands as my garms howled in victory. Grimnir approached, spraying some white flames on her dust, just to make sure.
“Gahahahaha! I must say, fine work there, Saori. Hmmm, hmm, glad to see that other equipment is doing its job well. I’ll get your runes once we’re done with today,” Grimnir said with a wide smile.
“Yeah, the fact they can bring out my catalyst’s powers is the best part. Not too flashy compared to Hestia’s glaive, but still practical and effective. I like it, thank you, Grimnir.”
Throughout history, weapons and helmets were usually a symbol of power or a ceremonial attraction, while things like gauntlets and greaves were less spectacular, despite how important they were for armor. The same could be said about my armguards. People will speak less about them compared to Hestia’s glaive, but I’m fully okay with it.
As the two of us looked up to the sky, watching Muraina trying her best to prevent the geisenlarg king from entering the city, we decided it would be best for us to join her. Hestia, Tasianna, and Ellaine’s parents would be able to rescue Ellaine and Amelia. I had full trust in them. What we needed to do was to prevent that giant monster from coming into the city.
With Fulsara out, the undead should be gone. The soldiers and adventurers should be able to retake the city.
As we began to run towards the gate, a chill suddenly ran down my spine. I stopped Grimnir. A memory suddenly came back to me.
“There are two possibilities — either this is the work of another necromancer, or what Saori actually killed wasn’t a normal necromancer, but a child who was strong enough to endure Ilsaphone’s soul extraction ritual.” That was what Grimnir said.
Hold on, should I have received a System notification to confirm her death?
I slowly turned my head around and activated [Detection Sensor] to find something, anything. And that one thing was close by.
“Oh my, I got found out.” From the rubble of a nearby building, a small crystal orb appeared. Within it, something was spiraling. “I wanted to escape, but I guess I couldn’t this time. Damn the Divine System. Really makes faking your death hard.”
Does this mean—?
“You can’t get experience when the being you kill isn’t counted as a monster or ‘living being.’ A body controlled which hasn’t been turned into an undead monster won’t give you any experience, and, for a lich, the soul is a part of the ‘living’ condition anyways.”
Two black magic circles appeared before it, summoning the decaying bodies of a wyvern and a worm the length of multiple buses.
“Corpse Coffin. Say hello to two of my best-trained corpses. I have been training them for years, kiek kiek kiek. You’ve proven your superiority already, Miss Saori. I concede… but I don’t think you will let me live after what I did today, right?”
“…”
On the way here, I saw multiple instances of normal, everyday people who had been killed and turned into undead. All of these monsters roaming the city right now were killing more people and Fulsara was turning them into more of her army. There was no way I could risk her leaving today and getting revenge on us.
“See? Now, it’s life or death for me. You destroy this soul urn, I will die indefinitely. Soooooo… Corpse Fusion!”
“Shit!” I dashed forward with [Gale Steps], mere steps before grabbing her soul urn, only for the wyvern corpse to wake up and interrupt me with a strong gust of wind. When I shot a charged up [Stygian Lightning] at her, the worm woke up and blocked the attack, which instead pierced it in the side.
Two chances used up, both failed. All I could do was watch as Fulsara fused with her two undead, turning into a tyrant serpentine monster with the giant arms of a wyvern and the mouth of a worm. On top of this five-floor tall monster was a skeleton form with the soul urn hidden behind its ribcage.
Identify.
<Undead Chimera Wyvern-Worm: A chimera created using the necromancy spell [Corpse Fusion]. At the cost of all fusion materials aside from the caster, this creation will stay fused together to fight until its time is used up and the body begins to crumble. Rank B>
“This will be our last battle, I promise, Miss Saori! For my last wish, show me the power of someone who has attracted the attention of Mother Goddess!”
“… Hmph. I can’t deal with this in this form.” I took off my arm guards and placed them inside my storage, while letting my catalyst float around me. I took off my party bracelet and anything else that would break upon transformation. “Humanization.”
A mana cloud escaped my body, morphing my flesh and bones back to my rightful form. The form I was born with when I reincarnated into Peolynca.
“Ahwroooooooooooooooh!” I howled as my fenrir form showed itself. Lightning crackled around my front legs as I growled at Fulsara.
“… I see. So that is your true form. It seems you have been going easy on me. Kiek kiek kiek kiek, wonderful. It was a true honor to meet you, Miss Saori. Oooooh, if only I had gotten to meet you outside of this job.” The wyvern-wyrm roared at me, raising its body up to show off its size. “One last battle, I plead.”
[“Come.”]
Comments
Noted and changed.
KazukiNero
Thanks for the chapter. I didn't find any errors other then two instances near the beginning, first being "A powerful blast ray of black lightning" the blast ray doesn't really make sense, should either just use one of the words or changed around to ray blast though that still somewhat clunky, second one is "I didn’t expect those people from appearing" should probably be " I didn't expect those people to appear"
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