Chapter 39: Tricked!

Chapter 39: Tricked!

The interior of the vast cavern was already in chaos.

Alex was surrounded by two undead giants and a flesh golem. On the other side, Stone and Malt were teaming up against the Death Harbinger. The other temple knights weren't faring much better, as they were encircled by another flesh golem and a dozen skeleton soldiers. They seemed close to their limit.

What should he do?

While cautiously watching the two undead giants before him, Alex thought carefully. The appearance of the Bone Duke had caught him completely off guard. From Alex's perspective, the situation couldn't be worse.

Stone and Malt couldn't even take down an undead creature summoned casually by the Bone Duke. In such circumstances, let alone disrupting the ritual, even self-preservation was difficult.

The flesh golem and the undead giants were equally troublesome. The flesh golem seemed unkillable.

Alex had torn it to pieces multiple times with Holy Storm, but it made no difference. Even as a tattered mess, it stubbornly continued to attack Alex. Coupled with the two towering undead giants, Alex had no choice but to keep dodging.

Damn it… If only Stone and Malt weren't here...

Dodging another attack from the undead giant, Alex gripped his sword and swung it forward. The sword's light left a deep scar on the undead giant's head, causing it to roar and drop to one knee.

As Alex prepared to finish it off, a strip of flesh, like minced meat from a machine, suddenly shot out from the side. A human mouth appeared on its end, screaming as it lunged at Alex.

Again?

Hearing the eerie, chilling sound, Alex's eyes narrowed, and he reluctantly dodged. He had almost ground this flesh golem to bits, but it still showed no signs of being destroyed and became increasingly troublesome.

Alex had tried several paladin skills, but none were effective. Perhaps he should try a five-fireball spell to incinerate it completely?

Unfortunately, Alex didn't have Jaina in his soul stone, and he doubted that psionic energy would affect the undead... He had no hope for that.

"Ahhhhh!!!"

The flesh golem, now in a jerky-like form, charged again. Alex raised his sword, and a golden shield appeared in front of him.

The flesh golem collided with the shield and recoiled, screaming. Alex seized the opportunity, raised his sword, and slashed forward.

Judgment!

Golden holy light engulfed the flesh golem. Under the relentless assault of divine energy, the golem let out a piercing scream, its body beginning to soften.

Though it was a bloodless puppet, undead were naturally restrained by holy power.

As the flesh golem softened, Alex leaped over it and swiftly decapitated the undead giant. The heavily injured giant, unable to stand up in time, collapsed and died for good.

Finally took one down!

Alex took a breath, but the giant's death brought little joy. The undead giants, flesh golems, and Death Harbinger were just minor threats.

Alex couldn't forget that a powerful lich, one of the five councilors of the Council of the Dead, the Lich Lord, Bone Duke Frank, loomed above them.

Alex didn't know how strong Frank was, but judging by Stone and Malt's reactions, he probably wasn't much weaker than Necromancer Morbius.

Though Alex could deal 250%+ holy damage to undead due to his titles and buffs, it still depended on the base value.

Against ordinary undead, he could manage some one-hit kills, but against these high-level, tough enemies, his low base attack would be a significant drawback.

What should he do next? How long must he wait?

Alex clenched his left fist, glancing around. If he were alone, he would activate Arthas's soul stone without hesitation.

The Lich Lord might be fearsome, but the Lich King... Well, it couldn't be worse.

But now, with Malt and Stone here, the Lich King's characteristics were too distinctive. If Alex activated the soul stone, the two would instantly recognize him.

At that point, all his efforts to infiltrate the Temple would be wasted. He hadn't gone through all this trouble to escape before enjoying any benefits.

Alex was prepared. He had an invincibility spell ready to activate at the first sign of trouble. It was one of his trump cards, thanks to Prince Arthas's comprehensive knowledge of paladin skills. Without it, he'd be in a much more precarious position.

But if this continued, they would all die.

Frankly, Alex appreciated Stone and Malt. If it were that lunatic Connie, he would have activated the Lich King already, killing the madwoman and blaming it on the Lich Lord.

Alex didn't like killing, but he wouldn't hesitate to eliminate those who wanted him dead.

Although Alex hoped that Stone and Malt could survive, it wasn't just because he got along well with them. Both were influential in the Temple, and having friends always meant having more options. 

However, now it seemed that hope was slim. More importantly, what exactly did the Lich Lord want?

Thinking about this, Alex felt uneasy. The opponent's strength was enough to crush them all. It had just taken one hit to heavily injure Stone, and adding Malt to the mix wouldn't make much difference.

A single area-of-effect attack could likely wipe them all out, so what was it waiting for? Did it enjoy watching enemies suffer before dying, like some boss characters in novels?

As he grumbled inwardly, Alex glanced upward, then widened his eyes in surprise.

Gone! The Lich Lord, who should have been there, had disappeared!

Alex thought he might be seeing things. He blinked and quickly looked around. It was true: while they were busy fighting these damn undead, the Lich Lord had quietly slipped away!

What was going on?

"Mentor, Grand Knight Malt, the lich is gone!"

"What?"

Hearing Alex's voice, the two grand knights, who were struggling against the Death Harbinger, were stunned.

They also looked around and were shocked to find that the Lich Lord was indeed gone! What was happening?

The battle continued, but everyone was confused. Like Alex, none of them thought they could scare away the Lich Lord. Even Stone and Malt were simply struggling out of a human instinct to survive.

They knew they couldn't possibly defeat the Bone Duke and understood that the enemy wouldn't let them go.

After all, the core tenet of the Council of the Dead was "death is better than life," right?

But now, the Bone Duke had left? What kind of move was this?

"Thud!!"

Suddenly, a dull sound echoed, causing both sides to pause. Though the sound wasn't loud, it had a peculiar attraction, even making the mindless undead giants turn their heads toward the source. Alex, along with everyone else, looked in that direction.

It was the center of the magic circle, where a massive stone coffin lay, and the sound came from within the coffin.

"Thud!!"

As they watched, the stone coffin trembled again. Alex then noticed that dozens of thick chains bound the coffin, and these chains were now cracking from the impact, some even showing signs of breaking!

Wait! Seeing this, a chill ran down Alex's spine. He suddenly remembered something.

Grand Knight Malt had said that the lich planned to perform some ritual here, which was why they came to stop it.

When they arrived, everything seemed normal, so Alex hadn't paid much attention. But now, he realized something.

What if the Lich Lord's ritual had already been completed before they arrived? What if it was just waiting for them to arrive? Realizing this, Alex's face turned ashen. Damn it, we've been tricked!

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