BATTLE GENESIS

How is it still here? he wondered.

The Head Priestess had told him she had gotten rid of the necromancer. That should have sent this undead back to the Deadlands! So, how was it still in the Main Plane? How had it avoided being cast back to its desolate homeland? Why was it in his office sitting in his chair with its feet on his table?

As much as he wanted to know, right now was not the time to ponder such things.

With his sword raised and his knees slightly bent, he prepared to pounce. The undead in front of him, there was no need to think about anything else other than reducing it to ash. This time he would be wary of its blood. The fact that he had only failed last time because of that detail irked him more than he cared to admit; now that he had another opportunity he would not let this Goddess-given chance go.

However, before he could spring into action the undead spoke up.

"You must be quite confident you can defeat me quickly aren't you, enough to risk the people of this city?"

Its tone might have been casual but its eyes warily fixated on the tip of his blade; a sneak attack would not catch it off guard.

"What do you want?" he asked harshly.

Although he asked this question he had already made up his mind. No matter what, he would fell the abomination. The undead were filthy, a blight upon the Aran; their kind had to be eliminated without prejudice!

Unfortunately he was currently at a disadvantage. This undead was intelligent and seemed to have a basic knowledge of humans, which was why it had appeared in the city. He could not go all out to destroy it unless he abandoned all worries of involving the citizenry. He would be a horrible Guard Captain if that was the case.

As much as he wanted to rush up and cleave its head from its shoulders, because he was uncertain whether he could end the fight before its impact exceeded office, he could only suck it up and use words instead.

"What do I want?" the undead asked, twisted features contorting into a smile. "Isn't it obvious Isaac? The Equinox is coming and I want to leave this place. But before that…"

Its casual glance morphed to a fiery glare "… I want to fucking kill you!"

The venom in its tone was almost felt tangible, causing him to flinch and shift his sword in preparation to defend.

"But I won't be doing it here," the undead continued, retracting its gaze. "Unless you're unwilling to budge. Despite what a bastard like you might believe, I am not a savage. I'd prefer not to needlessly involve others in our fight and I assume you are the same; leaves a bad taste in my mouth knowing that we actually have something in common, but oh well.

"How about you follow me outside the city so we can finish what we started. Unless of course I misjudged you, in which case we can just start here. I'll warn you though that I won't be pulling my punches. My desire to kill you is much greater than my desire to avoid unnecessary casualties.

"I will kill you even if I have to burn this entire fucking city to the ground."

Every word the undead spoke caused Isaac's grip on his sword to increase. He gnashed his teeth hard and shot it his most disdainful sneer. Truly, he was itching for a go at bisecting it. Unfortunately, he could not help being wary of its words. There was no doubt in his mind that it could do what it threatened.

When the two of them had previously fought, the abomination had been in the 5th Order; the High Priestess told him when she had confronted it and its vile summoner, it had been in the 6th Order; and the wanted posters claimed Sage Maverick was a 7th Order mage. These events had happened within hours and weeks of each other, showing a frightening growth curve. Just thinking about the heights it would reach if he let it go this time was scary. He could not allow it, not when a clear chance to get rid of it had presented itself.

"Lead the way," he replied eagerly, almost a little too much so.

He had dreamt of a rematch with this undead, this phantom, since that fateful day in the forest. When the Head Priestess informed him she had handled the situation most of what he had felt back then was disappointment at the fact that he would never get to kill the creature. The opportunity to rectify the disgrace of the previous fight was nothing short of a godsend.

"Follow me."

The undead cast [Dimension Door] and stepped through the portal with its eyes were still fixed on him. He grunted in response and followed. Stepping through the portal, he found himself on one of the city's many rooftops. His eyes searched around for the undead, but only found another Door in front of him. When he stepped through this one he found another. The situation repeated four times before he stepped onto the open plains, where the Tiih was barely noteworthy in the light of the cloudless night; and the undead stood a fair distance from the Door, waiting for him.

"No traps?" he asked, looking around. "Ambush?"

"Unfortunately not," it responded. "Wouldn't want to damage your body. I have need for it later. Besides, I don't believe I will lose to the likes of you."

That was as much as he was willing to hear before he sprang into action. Here outside, the citizens of Tiih could not be used against him. There was no more need to hold back!

With a great leap he pounced on the undead and swung with all his might, making sure to [Enchant] his blade with the light attribute. The information given to him about this particular undead was still fresh in his mind; Light Magic was the most effective against it.

Unfortunately, before his sword could get close to the undead a Wall appeared between them, causing the blade to bounce off the barrier. He swung again with all his might, then again, and again; only to be met with the same results. This was not [Force Wall] but its 7th Order kin [Void Barrier] he realised.

In that case…

Raising his sword above his head, he cast his spell. Darkness flashed past his eyes and he found his position had changed. Without dwelling on it he turned around and swung his sword… only to be met with air. The undead was now standing more than ten metres from him.

"[Blink]?" it began. "Seems you've learned a new trick, not surprising considering you've Advanced."

It can tell? he was taken aback by its words.

Among his known acquaintances, the Head Priestess was the only one who was aware of the fact that he had become a senior magician. Even the 7th Order sorcerers present in the city had not figured it out when he met with them, but apparently this undead could tell with a glance. Its sensitivity to magic must be high, which would not be a surprise considering its speed of Advancement. Either that or it possessed a spell or ability similar to [Mystic Eyes].

He did not deign to respond. Raising his sword, he pounced again. However, the creature raised its hand in his direction as he felt it cast a spell. He did not get the time to react before a great pain assaulted his chest. He felt his flesh split and warm fluid rush out of his body, causing him to grunt in pain. Even so, he pushed forward and brought his blade down on the abominable creature. Again, it managed to evade him. He would have continued to attack it, but with the amount of blood leaving his body it would not be wise to leave the wound unchecked. His mind was already clouding up.

Pausing momentarily, he cast [Close Wounds] before resuming his attack. This time he made sure to erect a [Shield] around himself. The spell was not as high level as [Harm]- which had just been cast on him- but it was more than adequate in stopping future attacks of a similar nature.

He raised his hand and cast [Gravity], increasing the burden on the undead. Then, he ran up to it and swung at its head with all his might. Unfortunately the creature managed to avoid his hit again by erecting a Barrier. Then, before he could stabilise himself from the attack, it vanished.

He looked around frantically, but could not locate it. This creature was a phantom, an undead with a fear-streak that went all the way back to the Days of Gloom. Physical obstacles did not hinder it, tracking magic was useless and it made no noise when it moved. If he lowered his guard it could easily sneak up on him.

Not today, he thought with determination.

His eyes continued to shift about, trying to catch the simplest movement while he prepared his next spell. There was no wind on this cloudless night, making it easier for him to notice an out-of-place sound; the undead would not be able to surprise him.

The spell only needed two seconds to channel before it was ready. A radiance erupted from his body and enshrouded the area within five metres of him. A moment later, a little over two metres from him, a distortion occurred as the undead's camouflage was undone. It grasped its head in pain as it tried to fight the effect of the spell.

Isaac had used [Turn Undead III]. The spells of this series were among the most effective methods in existence when it came to dealing with the undead. This spell turned any undead caught in the spell's area of effect into the caster's minion for a limited time. After the time expired the undead would crumble to dust.

It was a shame the undead he was currently facing was too strong to actually be affected by the spell, which honestly felt like a waste of a 6th Order spell. However, it did stop the abomination for a second, which more than made up for it; after all, he did not need more than a second to decapitate it.

He rushed up to it and swung at its head once more. However, in that instant the undead seemed to regain its bearings and ducked just in time to barely avoid being cut. It then distanced itself from him before looking at the clump of hair plummeting in slow-motion. When its eyes fell on him again there was fire in them.

"You fucking bastard!" it snarled, channelling its next spell.

Isaac tried to pursue it but found himself unable to advance. He saw the undead raise its hand and, much to his horror, he rose off the ground. Then, while still harbouring an icy glare, it swung its arm down; causing him to slam into the ground. The impact was painful, but not unbearable. He managed to get his bearings and roll out of the way just as a [Bone Lance] embedded itself where he had been.

Quickly getting to his feet, he [Blink]ed away before several more [Bone Lance]s could impale him. Next he erected a [Force Wall], but that was shattered an instant later when black lightning passed through it and ripped apart his [Shield]. It impacted his chest and sent him flying several metres away.

This time the pain was more intense, causing a groan to escape his lips.

The fight had just begun and it was already much harder the one he had had with the creature weeks ago. Casting a minor healing spell on himself, he got to his feet and sighed. The fight was going to get even harder from here on out. The undead had just finished casting another spell, causing a crack to open beside it and expelling a large figure clad in obsidian mail with a shield and sword of matching colour. Isaac, gripped his sword tighter at the new foe's arrival. This one he had no trouble identifying, a death knight.

The fight was truly not getting any easier.