The Lich Without a Soul Vessel

Boniface startled badly. He'd known Evan's swordwork was formidable, but hadn't expected him to unleash it under these conditions. With a ringing whistle of steel, Evan's rapier, carrying unmatched sword-force, tore straight through the black mist left by the shattered Death Orb — the mist clung thick, but Evan's own sword-force shielded him entirely, leaving him untouched.

Breaking through the mist blocking his path, Evan's sword-intent had already locked onto Boniface, who felt cold to the very bone, the stars surrounding him shattering one after another.

The barest form of a Medusa's Shield began to take shape before him, but dissolved under that sword-intent before it could finish, cleared away entirely by the following sword-force.

Even so, Boniface seized the sliver of opening, his form blurring, splitting into three afterimages fleeing in three directions. Evan's blade struck nothing.

Not entirely for nothing, though — the sword-force still clipped one of the three shapes, thinning it slightly. Moments later, ten-odd cubits away, all three shapes merged back together, and Boniface reappeared, phosphor fire spitting from his mouth once more.

Boniface was genuinely furious now. He pointed, black smoke billowing outward, and countless skeletons, ghouls, and gargoyles surged into being at once, carrying with them the reek of Hell itself. Evan simply murmured a Recall incantation, sending them all back where they belonged with ease.

Something struck him as strange, though — this move could hardly have hurt him at all, and Boniface didn't seem to be directing these creatures at all, his will entirely absent from the summons. What was he actually doing?

Once the black smoke cleared, Evan understood. Boniface knelt on the ground now, his presence surging rather than diminishing. He was summoning a devil. "Greatest lord between heaven and earth, undying and truly eternal Ormani, your lowly servant begs you — descend upon this world, for your glory, my lord! Come!"

A devil's phantom form manifested and merged into him at once, his presence transforming instantly. Boniface had retreated to the background now; what truly commanded his body was Ormani himself.

"Didn't expect it to be you. I've genuinely missed you these past years. Let's see where you run today," Ormani said with a cold, grinding laugh.

"Indeed it's me. This isn't your world — your world lies in Hell. Why would I run?" Evan said flatly.

His calm was total, as though he'd anticipated all of this. Ormani wasted no more words, stepping forward, a spear materializing in his hand — richly colored, seemingly coated in ancient verdigris, as though untouched for centuries.

Evan studied the copper spear in his grip. "That copper spear of yours looks like a genuine energy construct, able to project itself across dimensions. Fine material indeed, to manage that."

Ormani said flatly, "The Spear of David. Corrodes all things by nature. Your soul, I'll take — bound within it, tormented endlessly, never to know rest."

Without any visible movement, he was suddenly before Evan, the copper spear already at his chest. Evan's mouth curled into a cold smile, and a faint green light rose around him, gathering swiftly at his chest into a living green leaf, positioned exactly to meet the spear's tip.

There was a crack like a bomb detonating between them, both bodies thrown backward by the blast. Evan had prepared for this, using the momentum to carry himself back twenty cubits in a controlled retreat.

Ormani, though, was genuinely shocked, crying out, "Divine power — you wield divine power! Like the goddess of life's own! Hasn't she fallen? I always found it strange — how could you possibly hold divine power?"

Evan landed and gave a private, rueful smile. The divine power within him, a fusion of the goddess of life's power and the goblins' faith, had nearly been spent in that single exchange — it would take some time yet to replenish. He kept his face perfectly still, though. Ormani, after all, existed here only as a projection, bound to Boniface's body, his true power drastically reduced — which was exactly why he hadn't noticed sooner. His current strength barely reached legendary rank, and Evan was still no match for that — fortunately, this wasn't the whole of his hand.

"Why shouldn't I hold divine power? You think I'm just a lich? You're gravely mistaken." As he spoke, Evan stepped forward, his presence surging wildly, seeming to merge entirely with the space around him. He slipped once more into that state — deeper this time than ever before, a true secret realm, his mind's reach extending further than ever, clarity absolute. Within it, he brushed, faintly, against something like the nature of divinity itself. Understanding came to him — this was exactly what he'd sensed in the Barbarian rainforest before. Not a force at all, but the manifestation of a rule. The battles of gods were contests between rules, not contests between raw energy.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on NovelFire, not stolen versions.

He'd anticipated the possibility of a devil appearing tonight. He wore the gemstone Ortlando had given him when forging the legendary item — set now into a ring on his right hand, able to absorb three legendary-tier attacks. One of his hidden cards. He'd faced the possibility of a devil's arrival without fear precisely because of this ring.

A devil descending to the material plane inevitably suffered reduced power, and even a mere projection carried a strict time limit — a true body coming through would have even less time, too little to complete even a single strike. Which meant possession was the only path available, and Boniface, being only an Arcanist, capped whatever strength the devil could actually wield at legendary rank at best — likely well below even that, judging by Boniface's own physical limits.

Evan held one more card as well — his understanding of summoning's true nature. An ordinary summon was nothing more than one's own imagination given form, drawing on the spirit of heaven and earth, and so could never exceed its summoner's own tier by more than a single level. Special summons worked the same way underneath — simply substituting a concrete spirit for the world's own diffuse one, even summoned weapons following the same principle. Never a true manifestation of the summoned entity itself.

Which was why Evan had come here without fear of Boniface — and even facing a devil's descent, he felt confident he could weather it.

Now, unexpectedly, he'd glimpsed something of how gods actually fought. Only the smallest fragment of it, nowhere near true understanding — but even that fragment represented a tremendous leap forward for him. No wonder mages studied nature so obsessively; without realizing it, they were reaching for the rules underlying reality, hoping eventually to bend those rules to their own use.

Rules had no form, no substance, and yet acted on the world ceaselessly. Evan found himself thinking, unbidden, of the Dao his old life's Chinese tradition once spoke of. Were the two the same thing?

No time to dwell on it now. Understanding this much didn't let him unleash an attack grounded in true rule — he hadn't actually grasped any rule himself. Still, it wasn't without benefit; his mental power now felt remarkably stronger, as though he could destroy Ormani in an instant. He knew this for illusion, but it steadied his confidence all the same.

His mind seemed to rise above everything, fighting through pure thought alone. The idea flickered through him, and countless blades — swords, spears, halberds — materialized in the air, hovering before him.

"Impossible. How could you have grasped mental manifestation?" Ormani shouted, unable to believe it. Devil he might be, but he was an intelligent one, and naturally considered every angle. Though only a projection currently bound to Boniface, his own death wouldn't matter much — merely a loss of some divine essence for a projection. But continuing this fight, he had no confidence of winning at all. If only his true body could come — Evan's divine power and mental manifestation together were more than enough to force him back to his true form eventually regardless. But if he withdrew now, what would happen to Boniface?

Not that Ormani cared for Boniface's sake, but he'd worked hard to find a mortal agent in this world — a lich, no less, his body already strengthened through Ormani's own hand. Losing him now, even though liches never truly died, would mean returning to a phylactery and searching out a new body, costing at least half a year. Not worth it at all. Ormani was a clever devil; he wasn't about to make such a losing trade.

Reaching this conclusion, he settled on a new approach. "Since you've grasped some fragment of divine technique, perhaps we share common ground after all — the Creationist Church, for instance."

Seeing his tone shift, Evan's eyes flicked with interest at the sudden proposal, and he said flatly, "Whatever business I have with the Church is my own. I have no interest in dealing with devils."

"You'll come find me someday." With that, a black portal opened behind him. Evan watched him warily, the blades still hovering, pointed straight at him.

Ormani sank directly into the portal, taking Boniface's body with him as he left. Once they'd gone, Evan let out a breath of relief. So much for mental manifestation — those blades had felt fragile even to him, weaker than an ordinary wind blade, in truth. The moment they actually struck anything, their true nature would show. Was this really mental manifestation? It looked more like treating illusion as reality through sheer confidence.

Evan shook his head. Probably not the true form of mental manifestation at all — its destructive power was startlingly low. Still, it had scared off Ormani, which counted for something. Sometimes power held in reserve, never actually unleashed, carried the greatest weight of all.

Ormani reappeared on another peak. Within his own mind, Boniface asked, "Why let him go?"

Ormani grunted. "Listen to me. Don't go seeking out Nicholas so recklessly again. He thinks hiding at Hollingburton keeps him safe. Last time, I left a mark on Hollingburton's headmaster, Ortlando — it's been lying dormant this whole time, and now we can finally use it. Boniface — how would you like to become a teacher at Hollingburton?"

"But I'm a lich."

"So what if you're a lich? Wasn't Nicholas one too? If he managed it, so can you. I'll find a way to change your appearance and get you into Hollingburton." Ormani said.

While the two of them plotted how to get in, Evan made his way back to his villa. It was already well past midnight, but Tina and Andrea were both still awake, sitting in the sitting room waiting for him. The moment he walked in, both spoke at once. "Where have you been?"

"Some private business. Had to go handle it. Why aren't you two asleep?"

"Hmph, sneaking around like that. This is the dinner Sister Tina saved for you specially — reheated it a few times already. Eat it while it's still hot," Andrea said, sharp with her words though gentle enough in action. Tina sat quietly beside her, a small, contented smile at the corner of her mouth.