Chapter 144
The dead's white stare that had been watching Erich vanished in an instant. Immediately afterward, the dead nearby began to writhe.
- Grrrr.
One by one, the dead began to move their bodies. Amidst that chilling scene, Erich shouted.
"Barnes! Run with all your might into that building!"
"Yes!"
Perhaps having anticipated this, Barnes quickly sprinted forward in step with Erich's tempo. Fortunately, the dead who had been dormant for so long were not waking up very quickly.
Soon, once inside, Erich sharply observed the building's entrance. In an instant, a crimson gleam burned in his eyes.
― Sshreeaeeeek!
Erich's sword aura struck the upper part of the entrance. The slashed portion of the entrance tumbled down diagonally. It was to prevent the dead from coming in.
'So much for assassination.'
He thought they had entered fairly quietly, but it seemed that wasn't the case for the lich.
Then again, neither in this life nor his previous had Erich ever tried to assassinate a lich, so there was no way he'd know.
Regardless, what was done was done. It was too late for regret now. Erich slowly moved further inside.
He was now on the first floor. The place where he had met those white pupils before was on the third floor.
Fortunately, the movements of the newly awakened dead were so sluggish that they didn't seem able to break through the fallen stones at the entrance.
But it wasn't completely without problems. Erich felt an even stronger headache pounding in his head than before.
His vision, which should have been dark, was instead filled with violet and many-colored auras.
Barnes, calm yet confused, spoke with a hint of unease in his voice.
"It might be a bit difficult to swing a sword here."
"That's to be expected when you step into a lich's domain. Anyway, it'll be hard to approach that thing. So just provide support from behind."
"... Yes."
Barnes gripped the thick bow and arrows at his side. Before coming here, Erich had ordered Barnes to bring his bow.
He had also asked Ceres to engrave a spell on it so it wouldn't be affected by the frost...
However, there was always the chance that the lich would project frost far beyond that.
Therefore, Barnes's role here was to provide cover as much as possible.
Of course, normal arrows would hardly do much damage, but Erich had given this some thought as well.
― Grrrrrr.
At that moment, an ominous sound came from where Erich was heading. Blocking the staircase leading up stood a Death Knight clad in heavy armor.
With a huge shield and a greatsword, it threatened Erich and Barnes, growling. But Erich just flicked his fingers calmly.
"... Go."
― Shiiiiiik!
Shadow soldiers appeared on either side of the Death Knight in an instant.
As they approached the Death Knight exhaling frost, the spells Ceres had inscribed on their shoulders began to glow.
It was the power preventing them from being consumed by frost.
― Kaaaaang!
The Death Knight hunched, blocking one Shadow with its shield and the other with its greatsword.
The Shadows used the rebound from the clash to smoothly land on the ground.
But at that moment—
― Kwajijik!
With the sound of armor breaking from behind the Death Knight, King threw himself over the creature's shoulder.
The Death Knight's blue blood soaked its pauldron heavily.
― Grrrrr!
The Death Knight, now making an even more threatening noise, charged at King without hesitation. It clearly saw King as its greatest threat.
"......."
Yet just then, King stared calmly at the charging Death Knight. As if he intended to take the attack head-on.
At that moment, the Death Knight's body lurched forward.
Shadows had appeared on either side and sliced at the Death Knight's ankles with their swords as it ran, severing the tendons in its ankles and making it topple forward.
Soon after, a fierce battle broke out as the collapsed Death Knight swung its sword wildly on the ground, while the Shadows relentlessly sought openings, stabbing their blades into it.
Erich looked at the Shadows' struggle, the corners of his mouth curling up.
'... As expected, with Ceres' spell, the Shadows can handle at least a Death Knight.'
To begin with, they were highly trained assassins from a family specializing in eliminating high-value targets.
That meant they were used to ganging up against powerful beings like a Death Knight.
But the Death Knight was not. Never having encountered enemies like the Shadows, it was powerless against Shadows that leapt at it like bothersome mosquitoes.
Its huge sword and shield were meant for frontal assault, not for such elusive opponents.
Watching silently, Erich thought there was a good chance the Shadows could defeat the Death Knight on their own.
Still, he decided to test something else.
― Swish.
Erich quietly raised his hand. Scarlet flames shimmered with a golden brilliance in his palm.
Normally, this was a power too taxing to use casually, but facing a lich, it was necessary to test it in advance.
'... Indeed, the consumption is severe.'
The skill Erich intended to use consumed enormous amounts of aura.
Nevertheless, he drew out as much aura as possible, concentrating it in his hand.
Had Erich not spent all this time taking down the enemy's higher-ranked creatures and absorbing their cores, he wouldn't even have tried something like this.
But even before his regression, Erich wasn't ignorant of this.
The difference now was that Incensus had increased both the amount and the quality of his aura, making it possible to use.
'A divine spell, so Ceres said.'
He was beginning to understand the name Ceres had given it.
Erich instinctively felt how to channel the aura, and what form it needed to take.
A mighty power condensed at a single point, and like the sun, a brilliant light bloomed from that tiniest spot.
What Erich imagined was a flame that burned as fiercely as the sun. That was what he channeled.
― Shiiiiik.
The ice and snow frozen around Erich melted naturally. Not only that; steam rose, forming a smoky haze.
'A power I never even dreamed of using before, but now...!'
All swordmasters, upon reaching the extreme, awaken their own unique ability.
In the case of Hrung-ga, who awakened early due to the nature of a head hunter, it was wind sharp as blades.
Mikhail, who reached true extremity, awakened the power of the slash.
And the servant of Ungrim, whom Erich had met recently, wielded a mysterious force that enhanced his fists with something extra.
Among them, Erich's ability was particularly special: 'Manifestation.'
Unlike the temporary powers of other swordmasters, Erich could use aura to create actual material objects.
How great that object became depended on its nature.
Until now, Erich had used this ability like a hidden card, making small needles or exploiting tiny openings.
It required a tremendous amount of aura to create something truly lethal.
There was a world of difference between causing a simple phenomenon and actually creating existing matter.
But now, Erich thought he understood. The power of Incensus was aiding his ability.
― Paang!
A faint light rose up, forming a tiny sphere in Erich's hand.
Yet the heat radiating from it was so tremendous that the air wavered, even the stone floor beneath his feet steaming continuously.
Erich's gaze turned to the Death Knight. The Death Knight, still in a fierce struggle with the Shadows, was almost back on its feet.
Erich raised his hand, aiming at the Death Knight, then flicked his fingers quickly.
― Tang!
The golden sphere in his hand, shining as brightly as the sun, shot forth with a gunshot-like crack.
― Kwagagagagak!
Steam billowed wherever the golden sphere passed, erasing the Death Knight's frost and melting the ice covering the floor as if splitting the sea.
― Kwarurururuk!
The golden sphere pierced the Death Knight's neck. The spot turned red-hot, and the heat melted it, flames spreading out from the passage it left.
No sooner had the golden sphere passed through the Death Knight than it lost its power and dissipated in midair.
However—
― Wharurururuk!
The Death Knight's massive body melted away instantly.
It wasn't burned by flame; rather, as if dissolved in lava, the Death Knight's very existence was erased in a split second.
Even the Shadows, seldom perturbed by anything, stared at Erich with awestruck eyes.
One Shadow, who had been particularly close to the Death Knight, hastily swatted the flames from his collar.
'... That's far more powerful than I thought. I'll need to watch out for collateral damage.'
He had imagined the sun, and it was no exaggeration to say he'd actually created a miniature sun.
The feeling was exactly what he'd sensed from the flames entrusted by Incensus, but the force itself was beyond anything he could channel into his sword.
Erich slowly lowered his hand, gauging the remaining amount of aura in his body.
A slight smile crept across his lips.
'Used about one tenth of my reserve.'
Ten percent for one shot—that was Erich's output limit. At this rate, it would be enough to face the lich.
If not for the new sense evoked by the "divine spell,"
Erich suspected he wouldn't even have considered using such power.
But after anatomizing Laurenty with Ceres, Erich realized the sense she spoke of was something wholly different.
It wasn't something to be understood logically. Only those who had received the power from Incensus and witnessed him directly could sense it.
Barnes then muttered,
"... You've been hiding something incredible."
"I didn't know I could do it myself,"
Erich replied with a faint smile. Had he just a bit more time, he felt he could come up with even better applications.
Yet in this changing situation, the best he could do was test it when the opportunity arose.
Erich then began ascending the now silent stairs, feeling as if he had obtained a new way to face the lich.
And he sensed the lich's psychic waves growing ever stronger.
But within them, he felt a subtle disquiet; a sense that the lich was rattled by Erich having one-shot the Death Knight.
More than ever, Erich now felt that he could do this. Holding onto that feeling, he ascended the stairs.
Towards the lich.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】