Chapter 35

<Earth Whisper> showed there were at least ten people underneath gathered in a circle, which means the summoning should be starting.

The trapdoor from which I entered led to a long corridor that had various rooms at their sides. Seems like they used this as a temporary base or maybe a permanent one. As I walked deeper, I began hearing voices that soon became chants.

'Samjain, is the summoning of a minor deity done like this?'

'Yeah. There are other kinds of summonings that require sacrifices too. I don't think this one does, but the amount of mana and concentration it requires is quite something.'

Not long after, I entered the room from where the sounds came. It was big and didn't have furniture, which made me wonder why it was built in the first place and with what purpose. The ten persons the advanced search spell showed me were in front of me. They were in the center surrounding a magic circle and were wearing red robes that hid their identities.

With the targets on sight, I used <Time Stopper> and approached while drawing out the blades of Crimson Reaper. I stabbed all of them through the chest and went back to my previous position. I resumed time and they fell mid chant. Some of them managed to cling to their life for a few seconds before dying. Unexpectedly, the circle began to shine and the blood began to move, filling the symbols on it.

'Cael, what did you do?'

'I killed them,' I said. 'But, why is the circle shining?'

'You must have started the summoning of another being. Remember when I said that some of them required sacrifices? Well, you surprisingly, and unintentionally, guessed one.'

I tried to use Time Magic on the circle but a message appeared:

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Warning!

Time Magic cannot be cast on an ongoing Ritualistic Summoning

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That's unexpected.

'It's weaker than the one they were going to summon but it's still capable of causing a lot of damage if let loose,' he said.

'So I guess I should teleport us somewhere where there aren't people.'

'Exactly. Also, it may ask for something in exchange for doing whatever it is asked so be prepared for that.'

From the circle started emerging a humanoid figure covered head to toe in the red liquid. Once the blood had gone away, I noticed a robe that hid away the face and a weapon on its hand that I later identified as a scythe. Then, the window with its information appeared in front of me:

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Lich

Level: -

Titles: Undying, Necromancer, Dead Summoner, Summoned Creature, Collector of Souls

Strength: 89

Agility: 165

Mana: 9999+

Skills: <Fear Gaze> <Dark Magic> <Army of the Dead> <Zombification> <Levitation> <Rise>

Passive skills: <Soul Recollection> <Soul Consumption> <Chantless>

Rank: -

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"Are you my summoner?" asked a male raspy and grave voice.

"I think I am," I answered.

"What is that you want me to do?"

"Go back to where you came from."

"If that is your command then you must defeat me or give me a hundred living souls for me to comply."

"I'll take the first option," I said and used <Teleportation> on the both of us. "I guess this place should do," then I raised a barrier around us.

I teleported us to where Anna and I fought the Demons that tried to take her.

"I see you are a great mage, Human."

I extended the blades from the gauntlets and prepared to fight, the Lich did the same. I rushed towards him and when I got close enough, a sword tried to block my attack. It broke and the defender ended up being smashed because it was a skeleton. My enemy, on the other hand, moved to the side quite nimbly… while floating.

Then, from the ground emerged various skeletons and zombies. All of them were carrying some sort of weapon. The Lich moved with his hand and they all rushed to me. I moved towards them and mowed them down quickly. Lastly, I used <God's Bind> to restrain the summoned being but, unexpectedly, it was broken by the scythe.

I appraised it and a window appeared:

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{The Harvest}

-An iron and wood weapon that was once used as a harvesting tool. Its use changed when the owner, a crazy yet great mage, decided to use it as a sacrificial tool to take other's people souls and try to obtain immortality. The results weren't the expected but he obtained what he desired… at a great cost.

The owner carved magical symbols on it for it to be unbreakable and endure the countless sacrifices it was used on. Along with that, the carvings allow for Mana to flow on it, making it a strong contender. Along with that, the user's element made it quite powerful against Light Magic. The weapon's also bound to the owner and will kill any other that wields it and absorbed its soul.

[Current owner: Lich]

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I rushed and attacked. He tried to block it and succeeded, though the force behind it made him fall back. Despite that, he swung his weapon, and from it came a slash of dark Mana that I evaded. But when I did, I noticed the scythe was dangerously close to my neck. I used <Short Range Teleportation> and moved behind my enemy and stabbed were the ribs should be. I hit and it broke but it wasn't enough to defeat it, though I think I heard a noise that resembled a muffled scream to which he slashed at me. I moved to the side but was instantly grabbed by something while the Lich tried to attack me with the scythe. I again used the teleportation spell, making his attack miss.

Then I threw him some <Fireballs> but he was protected by some zombies and skeletons. Once those got burned, I saw the sockets of his eyes burn up in blue flames and a window appeared:

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<Fear Gaze> effect has been neutralized.

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When he saw that his skill didn't work out, he tapped the end of the scythe on the ground. For a few seconds, nothing happened until more zombies and skeletons started rising. Unlike the others, these had something like an aura surrounding them. Like last time, he made a gesture and they rushed at me. I started to kill them but they never seem to end and when I think I'm reaching the last one, more and more appears. I won't get tired but I should not prolong it any more than what its needed considering these things spawn infinitely. And for that, I used <Earth Spikes> around me to get some space, then withdrew the blades and took out the Runic Dagger and threw it up. Once I was in the air, I used <Wind Walk> and started shooting the Lich with Umbra. He summoned various undeads to protect himself against the shots but they went through.

Then I noticed something, orbs were going from the bodies of the skeletons and zombies towards him. I guess that should be one of its passive skills and those are the souls the Lich collect, though I don't know what he is using them for.

Since he is still using the undeads to protect himself while I shoot, I decided to user <Tornado> on his position. When I did, his minions started to fly up along with him. I took that chance and started to run to him since I still had <Wind Walk> active. I got close and aimed to destroy the head with Umbra but he somehow attacked me, I responded by blocking the scythe and shooting multiple times to his skull, destroying the upper part. With that done, I deactivated the spell and the body of the Lich fell. While on the ground, the orbs started coming at him and the destroyed skull regenerated. So that's what he's using them for.

I prepared for a second try but he spoke, "You have defeated me, Human, and so I'll do as you commanded. But, if you do not mind, could I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Where do you came from?"

"That's… information I can't give you."

The Lich stared at me for some time and then said, "Fair enough. Farewell, Human."

Underneath him, a magic circle appeared and he started to sink until he disappeared completely with it. The skeletons and zombies were still there so I used <Abyss> to clean the place and deactivated the barrier.

'It seems you finished. Good work, Cael.'

'Thanks. By the way, do you think the Demons will try this again soon?'

'I don't think they will. Believe it or not, the ones you killed were part of a bigger group that wants to get the Heroes on their side using the means you read about. Now that some of them died, the rest may take some time to gather the people and do the ritual again, which reminds me, go back there and destroy the place but don't destroy the other buildings.'

I teleported back to where the ritual was being done and erected a barrier that covered it. Then I descended through the trap door. I'll need to use different spells so this place gets destroyed. First, I used many times <Earth Spikes>, which destroyed the bodies in the process, to damage the basement. Then, when it began to crumble, I went up and used a couple of <Tornados> to make sure that it completely shattered the building.

The barrier prevented the other buildings from getting damage but didn't muffle the noise, which means that sooner or later I'll have some people around here. Not that it matters, I already finished so I guess I should leave.

I teleported back to my room and found my clone standing where he was summoned. I deactivated <Mirage> and he disappeared.

'I'll let you know if there's something else going with the Demons or any other race.'

'Hey, Samjain, before you made me your Assistant, there wasn't a way for you to interfere when the Heroes got trouble, right?'

'No. I could only sit and watch. It was fun most of the time. I guess you read about the time when the Elves and the Humans almost go to war. Those were one of the many times the Demons brainwashed a Hero. It was interesting none the less.'

'Did you reincarnated someone during the Years of War?'

'I did. If I'm not mistaken, one of those I reincarnated had his family killed by Demons. Despite not being the only one, it was a nice revenge story and interesting to watch.'

'What about this time?'

'Possibly. With you there, it should be interesting. By the way, I'm not as busy as I was before so feel free to talk to me anytime.'

'Ok. See you, Sam.'

'See you, Cael.'