Arc | Chapter. 92: A Great Idea

Chapter. 92: A Great Idea

It was slightly counterproductive to say I wanted to primarily help Ceylon and then immediately agree to killing the necromancer along with Jake and Giselle. But the reason I had agreed was a very simple one.

If I disposed of the necromancer now, then I’d be able to help Ceylon without worries.

And that was why I was going to stick with my decision.

* * * * *

The Lord Lich couldn’t believe it.

The two wisps within his eye sockets trembled in anger.

Was she seriously going against his lord?! It was inconceivable! Just over a half assed offer by a hero?!

It was a repulsive idea, a thought that angered the Lord Lich to no end. Not only was she disrespecting and sullying his lord’s name, the woman was also certain of her victory chances; it was preposterous. Completely and utterly deluded! And she had already chosen a side! Ridiculous!

The Lord Lich had a hard time understanding such an unhinged thought process, but it didn’t matter ⁠— whatever the true explanation was she had picked her side. The side of wrongness, the side of heresy and the side of defiance. And she was going to regret it. He was sure of it. And it all started with making sure she would be weakened for her encounter with his lord.

The Lord Lich was aware of it, she was stronger than him, there was no doubt about it. He had seen his fair share of powerful adventurers throughout the years, but this girl was amongst the strongest ones. And unlike before, this time he was alone to face her. His demise was imminent, but his loyalty was eternal and his actions would surely be everlasting.

He would contribute to her downfall.

That he was sure of. Certain of. And all he had to do was try his best. Not for nothing was he a Lord Lich and the most loyal subject to his lord. While he certainly wasn’t the strongest, he had his lord’s interest fresh in his mind; it has always been in his mind. All his actions guided with those principles. And right now, his mind was telling him to give it all he had.

His lord was watching.

The jaw of his skull was about to fly off before it immediately snapped back into his skull. The jeweled staff flew, its iridescent gems brilliantly shining in the air as all the broken bones flew back to mend his body. Shards, dust from the ground itself immediately filled the gaps of the broken bones ⁠— mending them anew.

In a single moment, the Lord Lich stood before the white haired woman and the little group. He didn’t think he stood a chance before stood much of a chance against all three at once; every single individual before him was S Tier. But even then, he was going to do his best to achieve his duties.

The staff within his hands began to shine, illuminating the dark and depressing environment⁠ and just as he was about to call his spell, the white haired woman spoke.

“You two should go back to Ceylon and the others,” she said with a frown. “Jake, make sure to explain to Faral you’re working with me.”

“Alright.” The man nodded.

Meanwhile the other woman snorted. “What, you’re just taking the levels for this guy yourself?”

“It doesn’t matter, now go.”

The hero wanted to argue but was forcefully taken by the man, and soon they were left alone. The Lord Lich was having a hard time believing the situation; Arc had surrendered her advantage just like that?! It was an incredibly foolish move, one that made him laugh.

“You really are making a mistake human,” his mocking tone echoed through the air.

But the woman just raised her brow. “Is that it?”

Clicking his jaw, the Lord Lich raised his boney hand; his ivory colored bones lightly shone as magic gathered at the tips of his fingers.

“Then regret this⁠— [Frost Lightning]!”

In a single moment, he slammed down the hand as a flash of white slammed upon the woman. It was an instantaneous attack that couldn’t be reacted to⁠— a spell that was at the very peak of S Tier, and his proudest work throughout his life. And now, the white-haired woman had taken the full brunt of the attack, all due to her carelessness.

“Huh interesting,” a voice spoke from within the smoke and frozen ground. “Is it like this?” At that moment the Lord Lich saw a flash of white within the smoke. “[Frost Lightning].”

And everything broke.

The ground exploded. The air sizzled, rippled and exploded⁠— all his bones shattered in an instant as they spread through the land, frostbitten and torn. How? The surroundings had turned into a frostland from the same spell⁠. Except, it was somehow…

More powerful?

The mind of the Lord Lich blared as the pieces of bone came back together under the staff’s command. His body cracked in the process from the chilly temperature it had been subjected to.

It didn’t make sense.

The woman had used the same spell against him with just seeing it in a single glance?

“That’s quite nice actually.” She tilted her head rubbing her fingers. “A bit hard to do, and uses a lot more mana than I’d like but…”

His jaw threatened to fall out as it cracked from the frost.

She had actually copied the skill.

In a single moment from watching it just once. It was unfathomable. The Lord Lich couldn't understand it.

For a moment, his resolve faltered. It was as if he was staring at a monster, it felt as if he was staring at his lord. An insurmountable wall that couldn’t be surpassed.

No⁠—

She was a mere intruder, there was no way she was that strong! How could someone like her compare to his lord?! His thoughts had been the equivalent of heresy, and he couldn’t even believe he had entertained something like that even for the slightest second.

She was a measly adventurer, one that dared to go against his lord, and for that⁠⁠— she was going to pay the consequences!

“You may be able to copy my skill,” he hissed. “But I am far more than one skill!” He raised his staff at her. “[Stasis]!”

And she blinked at him, the Lord Lich felt his mana trickle for a moment before the skill itself failed⁠— it didn’t even make sense. Frost was his strongest element and yet he couldn’t deal with this mage?!

“Well, I already knew the skill, but, there.” She snapped her fingers and in a single moment his entire being froze⁠— it was all against his will.

He wanted to open his mouth wide, but nothing in his body worked. It was the first time he had felt like this and he knew the cause. They were the effects of [Stasis]. The woman had used the same spell on him, and even though he couldn’t control his body all of his emotions were in disarray.

“Well, I never thought someone would try to use it on me.” The woman breathed. “Though, I was hoping you’d use another skill I didn’t know, but this one is quite nice. It feels similar to my other skill, though not as strong.”

She thought for a moment.

“Have you heard of a frost skill called [Judgment of the Ice God]?” her tone was curious.

That skill? She knew of that skill?

And at that moment the pressing force on the Lord Lich vanished, all as his mind raced thinking about what the woman was getting at. Then she spoke.

“Do you know something stronger than that?”

“That’s the strongest offensive frost skill!” He couldn’t stop himself from shaking as he raised his staff. “Nothing is better, and yet you have the gall to ask me if I know something stronger?!”

“Well I figured it was worth asking.” She shrugged. “Maybe I shouldn’t have killed the Dragon of Frost⁠— could’ve probably learnt something from him.”

A sigh left her.

Killed the Dragon of Frost? The Lord Lich knew of the mythical dragons, but she had killed one? That sounded prepostreo⁠— and he stopped himself. She had showcased the ability to use [Stasis], but even then, the dragons were beings in the SS Tier, just like his lord.

It was a dumb thing, and yet deep down he was unsure. Unsure about how strong the girl truly was, and unsure if she was lying⁠— what did she have to gain from lying? She’d just be an arrogant fool! But based on what he was seeing, that wasn’t the case. So all the Lord Lich could ask what was on his confused mind.

“Just who are you…?”

As he made the question he couldn’t help but realize that his hand was shaking as he pointed at her, and his eyes were flickering with uncertainty. The woman raised her brow with an unamused expression before she smiled.

“I’m Arc.” Her grin turned deeper. “Though the annoying system likes to call me the Heroine of Frost.”

“The… Heroine of Frost…?”

At that moment, he felt his thoughts come to a halt. The Lich Lord could barely understand what was happening⁠— the human before him was actually a hero too? That was… That made no sense⁠—

“Anyway, I’d rather if that fact didn’t get spread so this is a farewell.”

And the Lord Lich felt the air grow colder as she raised her arm. Somehow, that gesture triggered all his danger senses, and he could even feel the mana shift and coalesce above.

That only meant…

He looked up only to see a gigantic spear forming above him, and then the Heroine of Frost brought her hand down as she called the legendary and fabled skill.

“[Judgment of the Ice God].”

Everything exploded, all his bones and the ground itself, the air, the mana⁠— his staff flew through the air and landed within Arc’s hand, all as his thoughts ended in a single conclusion.

I never stood a chance…

* * * * *

And I closed my hand upon the staff within my grip, shattering it into pieces as they fell onto the ground. Then, the notification came.

[ You have defeated: Lord Lich. Tier: S. ]

And just like that the battle had ended. There was no grand struggle, no nothing. The Lord Lich had just died in a single moment, and now there was only silence across my dreary surroundings. The gigantic ice spear before me was rapidly melting, leaving nothing but a gaping hole.

There was nothing more, no further sound, no nothing. All there was was the wind caressing my hair as I shook my head. I almost expected the necromancer to threaten me or something by now, but there was nothing. Which, I didn’t know how to feel about.

In the end, maybe I should’ve asked him about his lord. But I felt like it was best to just assume he was SS Tier and a hero, so I wasn’t about to go blitz into his hideout or anything like that. Instead I was going to go reunite with Ceylon and the others, and see how things are going.

I took a breath and used [God Step].

In a single moment, I sensed multiple presences which were all rather familiar. I walked over to see what was happening, and well they were all gathered across a bonfire. Ceylon was right next to Faral, Ila and Meika, then there was the old man sitting off to the side kind of alone, while Jake and Giselle sat somewhat close together.

As soon as I stepped nearby Jake turned in my direction and nodded at me. It was enough for everyone else to notice my presence, Faral regarded me with a small nod, as did the two adventurers, Ceylon nodded at me slightly awkwardly. The old man just watched me and flashed me a smile, Giselle snorted and Jake just had a pensive face.

“Well now that you’re here,” he began. “We discussed what we wanted to do but after talking with your companion I kind of feel like we are just endangering her.”

Giselle sighed. “I told you, she can just be taken away by Faral, isn’t she the literal Dragon of Wind? I can literally see it with [Appraisal].”

Jake sighed. “Why didn’t you say so before?”

“Well, dunno I just didn’t feel like it.” She shrugged.

I blinked and just decided to take a seat next to Ceylon. Jake and Giselle began to bicker as a small sigh left me, though it was enough for everyone to stop talking. Then I turned to Ceylon.

“Are you sad?”

She paused before shaking her head. “No I’m not.”

“Ceylon,” I turned to her. “Please.”

She lowered her head and sighed. “Yes I’m sad, but I don’t think I have any right to be.”

“Why are you sad, is it because we are cutting the leveling short?” I asked and got a reply I didn’t expect.

“I thought I’d get to spend time together with you, but I suddenly found out it was too dangerous for me to stay around…” She hesitated. “So it’s… saddening in that sense, but you should do what you have to do.”

“I see.” I nodded before turning to the rest of the people. “Let’s stay around and level Ceylon for a day or two before going to destroy the necromancer.”

Jake and almost everyone nodded, except for Giselle who raised her brow questioningly. She seemed to think about it for a few moments before a laugh left her.

“You know what? That’s actually a great idea. We can extend it to multiple days and even go to stay the nights at towns!” She said gleefully.

“It’s just meant to be a one or two day thing.” I shook my head.

“No, you don’t understand.” Giselle grinned. “This is a great plan to psychologically torture that necromancer.”

“Torture?” I asked, raising my brow.

“That is right, torture.” She smiled. “Imagine how stressed out he will be when we constantly come to threaten his home without acting on our claims and then leave?”

“Right…”

That seemed almost cruel…

“Well, we don’t have to kill him in the end,” Ceylon said to me. “Perhaps it’s not a bad idea to just enjoy ourselves…”

“Right, I guess we can do that.”

Giselle laughed. “This will be great! I’m sure Viktoria will get a lot of levels from this!”

I blinked. Wasn’t the spider named something else?

Jake facepalmed, and that night we left the dungeon to stay in town as we had planned.

As for the necromancer?

I had stopped caring.