“Even Markus is wary of her, despite being 10 years her senior. Saying she is talented would be an understatement, a slight against her. She’s brilliant, exceptional and a complete sociopath.”

Chapter 92

Wil watched the battle rage in the sky above. Waves of corrupt, negative energy flooded the air, as green streaks of disintegration spells met defensive magical items in devastatingly vicious clashes.

The fighting ruined what little remained of the city. Once the gem of the western province, little was left aside from rubble and great gouges in the earth.

His heart was in his throat as the watched the back and forth between the Mage and Paladin, and the undead demigod, before cheering with the others when she banished the Lich from their plane.

He had heard of the powerful magic capable of traveling outside the material plane, but it was too high tier for him to even begin to comprehend.

Like a grain of sand in a desert, their world was one of countless in the universe, all within the material plane, or reality. Layered on top and below the material plane were an infinite number of other universes, different realities or planes. Some were similar to their own, most were radically different.

Wil suspected that the Paladin had banished the Lich to another reality, one where it would be trapped for eternity, unable to interact with them here, effectively eliminating the threat.

With a broad smile on his face, he turned to his companions, cheering with them as Aachen was finally liberated from this evil.

Their cheers turned to screams as black void opened behind the duo in the sky, the Lich unceremoniously stepped back into their reality. Its burning eyes flickered with amusement at her feeble attempt to banish him from this world.

Eyes wide open in shock, Wil was stunned at the casual display of power the Lich displayed as it traversed the planes. Banishment used the power of a god to shift between planes, but the Lich could do it without any assistance at all.

Wil couldn’t comprehend the magical strength and magical knowledge of the undead demigod.

Watching on, they witnessed the death of Felix and the incapacitation of Brina, before the Lich began to toy with Markus.

Standing up from where he was huddled by the battlement, Wil gathered his mana around him. Their only hope to defeat this undying threat was for the cleric’s spell to succeed. He wasn’t sure what she was doing, but he could feel the power gathering around her.

As the lich lifted its hand to attack her, Wil made his move.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Markus watched, uselessly spasming on the ground, as the Lich gathered its energy to kill his wife. He had failed in his duty to keep her safe, and that knowledge weighed heavily on his soul as he knew she was about to die.

“Misty Step” A voice called out from behind him, out of sight from where he lay. To Markus’ surprise, Wil flashed into existence, standing next to Kathryn as he held a small object in his hand.

“Catch!” Wil called out to the undead, tossing the object in his hand with a smirk, before dashing as fast as he could toward where his brother lay.

The Lich, caught off guard by the sudden appearance, reacted on instinct and caught the item with its raised arm. It was a small, gold coin, with the hated symbol of the goddess etched prominently on the face.

Snarling with rage, it raised its arm to toss the coin aside when its felt an intense heat emanate suddenly from the gold. Instantly, the coin erupted in a pillar of white-hot fire that billowed into the sky.

Wil shielded his face with his hand as he ran to his brother’s side, trying to help him to his feet. Whether it was from his siblings presence, or the damage done to the lich, the paralysis quickly faded from Markus’ body, allowing the brothers to stand side by side, watching as the fire continued to burn.

For nearly a minute the pillar of flames consumed the Lich, and entire sections of the stone wall melted. Nothing could be seen of the Lich in the center of the inferno.

Markus readied his blade while directing Wil to stand behind him. Although the fires were strong, they would not be able to destroy the undead demigod. When it returned, Wil’s Rank 4 strength would not be able to resist the creature’s corruptive presence.

“Run Wil, you’ve done enough!” Markus urged, pushing his brother to move.

“Too late.” Wil whispered, as the flames subsided, and the figure of the lich appeared again.

What remained of the flesh and skin of the Lich had been burned off, leaving a blackened skeleton with bits of charred and smoking garment hanging from its body. The black mana surrounding it had significantly weakened, but the Lich stared at them with its burning gaze, chilling the blood in Wil’s veins as its anger at the sudden attack was palpable.

Not even bothering to speak, its mana flared around it as it raised both arms skyward. The corruption around its skeletal body intensified, as the negative energy rose higher. The grey stone beneath its feet aged and decayed, pits formed in the wall as the battlements nearby crumbled to dust.

Even the darkness around them seemed to become blacker, as the power the Lich exuded grew beyond what either of the brother’s could handle.

Wil slumped onto the ground, his legs giving way from just the pressure, the Lich’s magic had become too much to resist. The undead had not even unleashed its spell yet and already Wil felt crushed, his mana completely fleeing from his body.

Markus fared slightly better, falling to one knee, still gripping his sword as he prepared to defend his brother and wife from whatever the Lich was preparing.

After a moment, the magic around them reached its climax, as the remaining, melted stone turned to dust beneath the enraged Lich’s feet.

“Die!” It commanded, its finger pointed at the pair. The black mana surged forward, preparing to sweep them aside like an ocean’s wave.

“True Resurrection!” Kathryn called from where she stood behind the Lich. Her spell was finally complete, as the 9th tier spell matrix formed beneath her feet. Tens of thousands of glyphs and runes spreading outwards, with her at the center.

The blue light, gathered around her like a small sun, shrank to a pinpoint, forming a perfect, blue circle, before shooting forward and wrapping around the undead.

The lich screamed as it felt agony from its body, the first it had experienced since its rebirth in its undead form. It could feel the connection between itself, and its god, fade and extinguish, as new flesh covered its bones. Muscles, sinew, organs, all swiftly returned as the blue light surrounding it regenerated its body at a rapid pace.

With a final flash of blinding azure light, a figure was standing on the wall with the trio. Covered in the tattered and burnt remains of a mages robes, the man stood in a daze, looking at his flesh covered hands in wonder and awe.

“I’m alive!” The man shouted, before rubbing his limbs and chest with his hands, in amazement at the sensation that he hadn’t felt in years.

He looked up toward Kathryn, his face an expression of shock and joy at his sudden revival.

“I’m alive!” The former Lich yelled out again, before his voice cut off in a wet gurgle.

“Not for long, you son of a bitch.” Markus said, driving his blade deep into his chest, piercing the man’s heart.

Staring into the revived man’s eyes, he waited to see the light fade from them before pulling the blade out and shoving the body forward, where it collapsed onto the ground and lay unmoving.

Wil watched, his breath held, as he waited to make certain that the Lich was truly dead, that it wouldn’t suddenly rise again and attack them as an undead again.

Standing over the body, Markus held the blade ready, looking for even the smallest sign of the body moving.

“It’s alright, Markus. The goddess provided him a true, living body. It was the only way of severing his connection with the ‘other’ god. He won’t be coming back.” Kathryn said quietly, standing next to her husband.

“If it’s alright with you, I’d rather not take any chances.” Wil said, before holding up his hand and channeling every bit of mana he had. A mote of flame rose above his palm.

Orange, red, blue and white, the colors of the flame changed as the temperature increased. Not standing on ceremony, he tossed the flame onto the corpse, watching as it was completely engulfed.

Silently, the trio watched until nothing but ashes remained.