55 Get Lich or die tryin'

With the new equipment, everyone was ready to go. Having cleared out one side of the hallway, they now knew, that the other side contained the rest of the rooms. Clearing out small side rooms, on both the left and the right, they only found zombies.

Arriving before the largest, central chamber, the group saw a portcullis style gate. Zanir signaled everyone to hold back. Seeing that the most important room was empty, he had a bad feeling, it was definitely a trapped door.

Anyone else would have had no choice but to take their chances, deciding if it was worth the risk. Ignoring the main chamber, he just absorbed the hallway wall and whatever was behind it. Support columns were left on the sides, so it wouldn't collapse.

Going their own way, they tunneled through to the other small rooms, which were surrounding the main chamber. After another disappointing room, they entered the next side chamber. Raising up from a stone table, a large zombie attacked.

Sensing an opportunity to try out his new sword, Bruce intercepted him. Not being intelligent, the large zombie simply threw a direct punch. Swinging his sword, the blade cleaved the majority of the zombie's arm off.

Spinning around, he cut the large zombie in half, horizontally. Wiggling on the ground, it flopped a few times, before it stopped moving. Inspecting the room, they discovered several discolored jars, along with a few rusted tools.

Making the grave mistake of approaching, someone broke one of the jars. The stench was overpowering. It wasn't like the burial mound smelled great, to begin with, but this was ridiculous. Together, everything pointed to this being the embalming room.

That meant the jars were preserved organs. Some of them had broken, after a few hundred years, everything melted down into the foulest concoction imaginable. Realizing what it was, Zanir actually threw up, when moving in to absorb the foul substance.

Remote absorption was the real MVP right now, otherwise, he wouldn't have even tried clearing out that mess. Removing the main source of the stench, they retreated briefly. The decision to let the room air out was met by unanimous approval.

Approaching breathable levels, they entered the room again. Carefully, they approached the embalming table. All of the tools were regular equipment, like bone saws, chisels, hammers, etc. Most of the organs had dissolved, however, one jar stood out.

Beating within, was an ominous black heart, looking shriveled and desiccated. Every time the heart pulsed, it sloshed around the liquid inside. Not sure if it was still alive or not, he tried absorbing it. Feeling resistance, he battled the defiant heart, before conquering it.

[Material analyzed:

Name: Phylactery

Type: Undying Heart (empty)

Rating: Level 4

Description: The clans greatest chief sacrificed himself through mystical rituals, placing his power into this vessel. As long as the vessel remains intact, this final guardian cannot be truly defeated.]

Sneaking around to the backroom paid off in spades. If they had charged into the main room, they would have been locked into eternal combat. He wondered how many people had fallen to this lich, over the centuries.

Proceeding onward, they cleared out the rest of six side chambers. There wasn't too much loot, only a few moldy tomes, that the system got to work translating. At the least, they could be cross-referenced later, in case they found anything similar.

There were other things, like the caskets themselves and the various corpses. All of it could be absorbed, storing directly in the warehouse, to prevent anything toxic from harming the citizens. Even the aged dust and stone could be taken. It was free real estate.

Having grown used to it, the men actually worked out a system with him. Since he could absorb a few feet around, he'd stand in the center of the room, while they pushed everything into the middle. Anything too heavy, he could absorb after.

Fragile items could be brought over by hand, to ensure they didn't break. Working together, they soon cleared the place out. Everywhere, except the main chamber was pretty much just stone tunnels. They also left the exit intact, in case they needed the escape route.

Double checking the bunker, making sure everyone was prepared, they took the chance to inspect both weapons and armor for damage. Making the necessary repairs, ensuring everything was sharpened, they entered the main chamber.

Right after the last guard stepped inside, the portcullis slammed shut. Having made bets, the men called out.

"Haha, ya owe me five gold Fred."

"Alright Mark, here you go."

Laughing, at what was supposed to be a surprise ambush, the group watched as zombies burst out of the nearby caskets. As if on queue, two large zombies and the king himself got up, stepping down to command the others.

Tired of having the limelight stolen, the guards rushed into battle, rushing the regular zombie crowd. Using a phalanx formation, they held the shield wall, while the guard next to them stabbed through the attack slots.

For this mission, the men chose to use long spears. Fighting zombies up close was just asking to get bitten. Not only were the men able to hold the line, they were able to push forward. Piercing the zombies directly in the head was an instant kill.

Howling in rage, the main zombies wasted precious seconds, displaying their primal instincts. Leaping forward with an agility that surprised everyone, Bruce swung a wide arc with his blade at the two large zombies in front of the zombie king.

The first large zombie had both its legs chopped clean off, while the second lost a single leg. Falling over from lack of support, it latched onto Bruce dragging him down. Tumbling into the other large zombie, he was bitten and scratched a few times.

Roaring out, he smashed their heads like watermelons. Turning red, his heart began beating rapidly, as the infected blood poured out of his wounds. The ogre bloodline refused to succumb to minor wounds.

While that happened, Zanir and Dante approached the zombie king. Even larger than Bruce, this giant corpse wore a crown, indicating his status. Moving forward to engage, Zanir shot calculated bursts of water at his knees.

Dodging the attack, the zombie king moved in to counter. Unfortunately, he fell for the distraction, taking his attention off Dante for a split second. That was all he needed.

Flashes out light struck out, severing the zombie kings arms, which Zanir promptly absorbed. Still having a fraction of its humanity left, the zombie king felt pain. Moving around frantically, it would have screamed, if it still had vocal cords.

Killing the injured zombie king, Dante sliced the head off. Absorbing the body, they felt that it was too easy. Where was the lich?

Searching the area, they couldn't find any trace of it. Just as they were starting to doubt themselves, one of the men discovered a casket that hadn't burst open. Smashing it, the last zombie came straggling out, having been stuck.

Clearing the final enemy out seemed to do the trick. A chill was felt, as the room temperature seemed to drop. The darkness seemed to coalesce onto the throne, swirling in as formed a humanoid shape.

Skeletal and hollow, they could feel the glowing red eyes, staring directly at them. They could feel an ominous pressure, making it harder to move. As the figure rose, it stuck a hand out, lightning crackling forth.

Arc toward Zanir, he braced for the impact, hoping to absorb the attack itself. Just before it struck him, the system kicked in, successfully absorbing the lightning.

[Radiation source detected, absorption initialized.]

Shocking his body, the excess energy was absorbed. Visually impressive, the lightning seemed to dance all around him, before vanishing. Seeing that the attack wasn't effective, the lich stopped casting lightning.

As the lich was preparing to throw a large fireball, he brought out the Undying Heart. He poured some dimensional power into it. Stopping the magic it was casting, the lich's eyes lit up. Emitting an unearthly voice, it spoke directly to soul.

"Return... the... heart."

"I cannot!"

"Than... protect... my... people."

"I will protect them now."

Staring into the lich's eyes, he witnessed them dim down. Dissolving into liquid shadow, the darkness poured into the Undying Heart. Filling it back up, the heart no longer looked dried up, though it was still somewhat gross looking.

Taking it back into the spatial world, initiated several system alerts.

[Mission complete. Mission system permanently unlocked. New missions now available.]

[System has detected a compatible Necromancer soul. Integrating into the magic subroutine.]