Casimir did not have a plan.

It was more that he had a few ideas. Nothing that could be considered a “plan”, per se. Fortress-style enchantments had many weaknesses, but they also had innumerable strengths. At any moment, she could turn the negative magic drain back on, absorbing whatever David and Casimir cast to oppose her. At the same time, the fact that it wasn’t on meant that she could use that mana to augment her more direct spells.

This was on top of the fact that she had a reasonably impressive undead army backing her up. There were six crypt lords directing the more martial horde, which was much reduced after David’s magically-augmented scream. The zombies and lesser skeletons were all destroyed, while the rest were weakened by the expensive but effective spell.

Even without the extra fodder, there were still scores of barbed skeletons and dozens of skeleton knights, each equipped with good steel arms, enchanted by the Lich to resist the negative magic field… and also be constantly chilled to the lowest possible temperature that doesn’t compromise the steel. The previous set of undead had those too, but all the enchantment accomplishes is that it makes it moderately more difficult to heal damage inflicted by the weapons, so it wasn’t a big deal.

Undead were fairly curse resistant primarily by the fact that their very existence created a mana void that siphoned mana in an area around them. This meant that a curse that was not specifically designed to withstand this, and then perfectly executed, would just get consumed, usually within seconds.

Revenants, on the other hand, did not work this way. It was because they retained their magical abilities, which meant they had to be able to store mana that wasn’t immediately digested. As such, he could normally curse Revenants without any problems beyond the usual when you were dealing with a monster that did not have conventional anatomy to disrupt.

Liches were an exception to this exception. Because their ‘soul’ was kept far away from them, their bodies were closer to animated stone than they were to being a creature. It was why enchanter liches were the second-nastiest variety behind negative mages, as they could inscribe their craft directly on their body. That wasn’t to say that it was impossible to curse them, but it’s extremely difficult.

So it was with intense focus that Casimir, after drinking another one of the mind potions, steadily wove curses over the senses of the crypt lords, allowing David to jump around like a flea around the massive fireballs that Petranis tossed around with little to no regard for collateral damage. The enchantments on the undead’s metal armor did, in fact, allow them a level of protection from the fire, but this just meant each explosion destroyed fewer of them.

The chanciest part of this was the fact that crypt lords were capable of casting Stilling, an anti-force spell that was supposed to pin down their targets so the fireballs and blades of the undead could kill them. While David could just overpower the drain by using stronger spells, resisting six coordinated efforts to that effect would quickly exhaust him.

Casimir wasn’t quite sure how effective David’s experiences over the last year was in terms of his casting skill and for his mana capacity, but one mistake, on either of their parts and he was toast.

Once Casimir finished the fourth curse ruining the crypt lord’s ability to target either of them, Casimir knew that the danger zone had passed. He finished casting the other two and then tweaked all six curses with a pulse of mana, transitioning the spells into their pre-set second stage right before Petranis started casting another fireball.

The skeleton mages, positioned in a defensive circle around the lich, immediately perceived the gathering mana as a threat to their mistress, and simultaneously tore the fire mana out of the caster’s grip, casting Detonate right as the spell approached the zenith of its mana build up.

Petranis exploded, bursting into flames. Unfortunately, the blaze did not get amplified by the area’s enchantments; it must be something she does deliberately. As she screamed, Casimir used his default followup whenever any of his gambits succeed: when the enemy is distracted, go for the kill.

He leapt from his hiding spot, bringing out his greataxe and, with the enchantments tuned for concussive force, shattered half of the crypt lords in a single swing and killed two more with the shrapnel created from the destruction of the first three. Crypt Lords were actually a little less durable than skeleton knights, and given that they weren’t wearing armor like their minions were… it wasn’t hard to destroy them if you could get a hit in.

Petranis was made of sterner stuff, however. “Insolent dog!” She spat. “You will regret this!” She built up even more fire mana. From the rotational motions of the mana, Casimir identified the spell as Flame Wave, and as such he created a brief illusion of him remaining in place while he leapt far away from the Lich’s spell.

Proving that her fire mana amplification enchantment was something she actively initiated, the flames immediately roared to life as she used the fact that her protectors were mostly destroyed to bathe her surroundings in orange flames. The last crypt lord was immediately incinerated, as was the illusion Casimir used to stop her from canceling the spell.

Petranis laughed at the apparent success of her spell. There were enough ashes around from the destroyed skeletons alongside enough discarded armor and weapons that it was not immediately apparent that she had failed. “Your curses are useless! Now that The Last Gasp is dead, it’s time to finish this!”

“Fuck off!” David shouted as he skirmished with the skeleton army. “I’m not scared of you!”

“You should be, boy!” Petranis shouted back. “Your vaunted sorcerous might is nothing before mine!” Casimir felt the giant enchantment that covered the majority of the chamber shift, the massive well of power shifting its flow into different parts of the matrix.

Unfortunately for her, a side-effect of blasting everything surrounding you is that there are no longer any minions capable of watching your back. So sneaking up behind the lich was a quick and easy matter.

While a lich’s body was merely a puppet, a way to enact their malevolent will on the world without risking the safety of their core, that didn’t mean it wasn’t still connected to that core. Wherever she had stashed her core, it was likely near her ‘Master’, which is exactly where Casimir needs to go in order to resolve matters. How were the Soul-Devouring Dragon’s victims becoming Revenants? Who was behind their coordination? Where did this ‘Malice’ enter into things?

“Now, you-URK!” Petranis said, interrupted by Casimir jamming his stiletto into the back of her spine. With a follow-up effort, her head popped completely off her body, and Casimir gripped the skull as he focused very intently on the tiny, nearly imperceptible connection. Nearly, but not quite.

“There.” Casimir whispered, right before the connection vanished. “She’s cut her losses!” He shouted at David. “I got a read on her location, though!”

“Yeah, that’s great!” David shouted back sarcastically. “Help me with these skeletons you limp-dicked asshole!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Casimir said, stashing the skull in his bag. “We’ve got quite a bit of work to do still.”

They’ll need to be extra-thorough this time.

----------------

Casimir never did find out what Petranis had set the enchantment to before she rabbited, but the fact that they didn’t need to work around the negative siphon meant that destroying the entire plateau was a relatively simple matter. Hopefully, the mana that was stored by the negative array will help restore the land as it bled out into the environment.

“Did you really have to use four of those bombs?” David asked as Casimir was admiring the rubble. “I know we’re going to get a good payday for this, but those looked expensive.”

Casimir shrugged. “Those bombs are Hanna’s contribution to this.” He explained. “Giving her legs some proper revenge seemed appropriate.”

“I guess…” He said, still unhappy about the waste.

“Also, I needed to do a lot of work to make sure I only needed four.” Casimir added. “I’m just glad I paid attention when Magnus explained how to properly collapse cave systems.” It involved creating fault lines, weakening slices of rock that multiplied the amount of damage well placed bombs could inflict. It was much more efficient than bombs or stone magic alone.

“Well, where are we going?” David asked as he shouldered his ‘loot chest’, a travel chest that he had the best space-expanding enchantment he could find placed on it. They had, of course, stuffed all of the salvageable steel inside of it. “Because if we want a good price on this kit we need to head to Holsvich.”

Casimir went through his mental map of the mainland. “Never heard of it. How far is it?”

“It’s this little farming village about four days from here.” Assuming David meant the measure they used when they were still a team, that meant it was around sixteen hundred-ish miles away. With just the two of them, they could make the trip much faster if they booked it. “The village is useless, but it’s also where my buddy’s staying for the next couple months, on account of him wanting to be with his new wife.” Honestly, it’s like every other piece of news Casimir receives about adventuring associates involving them getting married or having kids these days. David negligently shrugged, not really caring about the news. “He’ll probably end up paying us to deliver the stuff to whoever he was going to sell it to.”

Casimir considered it. “We don’t have that kind of time, man.” He eventually said. “Let’s just stash it at a guildhouse somewhere and pick it up later.”

“Well hold on, maybe it’s on the way.” David said, which was unfortunately reasonable. “Again, where are we headed?”

Casimir pointed. “Her core was about two thousand miles thataway.”

David took a moment to orient himself, bringing out a map out of his bag. “So… about here?” He said, pointing to what seemed to be the right spot. At Casimir’s nod, David brightened. “Great! Holsvich is here!” He tapped a place that wasn’t exactly on the way, but it was only two hundred miles or so out of the way. Not that far. “So we can make a stop on the way, rest up, enjoy some local hospitality, and be on the way in the morning!”

Casimir considered the plan. It was a lot more reasonable than he’d come to expect from David. In fact, the man seemed to be unusually keen to visit this nowhere town. Well, the best way of plumbing this mystery is to just play along. “Alright, sounds like a plan. Start binding and picking out a town to stay tonight in. We can go a few hundred miles before sundown, after all.”

“You got it!” David said cheerfully. What had gotten into him to make him so happy? It couldn’t be the money…

----------------

“...A Heroic quest?” Casimir questioned the guild bureaucrat. It was the closest guildhouse to the Wounded Wastes, inside Bonewall Citadel. Part of a ‘Holy Queendom’ by the name of Helelistan, it was primarily concerned with securing the region from the annual undead invasion from the wastes. An invasion that will no longer be occurring.

“Yes, it’s a heroic quest.” she replied. She was a middle-aged woman, dark-skinned like humans tended to be in this part of the mainland. Darker than elves usually were, although Casimir supposed Faron would actually fit in quite well here. Were there local elves? “The last time the guild sent someone to check out that deathtrap, half an elite team died.” Casimir winced at the reminder. “We’ve been trying to get the Gold Hunters to go back and do a more thorough job, but they refused. Apparently, the only one who can get people in there and has any understanding of how to stop it is on sabbatical.” She spit into a nearby spittoon. “What’s worse, the local General’s been dropping hints that we shouldn’t be trying to prevent an army of ravening undead from ravaging the countryside. Got to justify his budget, after all.”

Casimir and David patiently waited for the bureaucrat to finish her rant on the sins, negative qualities, and inadequacies of the local military authority. Eventually, she remembered that she had a job to do. “Now, why do you ask about this particular quest?” She had, at some point, brought out the quest folder to wave around as a prop.

“Oh, we’re claiming the reward.” David helpfully explained.

“It wasn’t worth a heroic quest.” Casimir assured her. “It was just a lich and maybe a fifth of an invasion force? Not much at all.” He pulled out Petranis’ skull for proof.

“We also destroyed the repaired array.” David continued.

“The whole plateau’s rubble now, really.” Casimir added.

“Does this mean I can finally make Elite?” David asked, excited.

Casimir looked at him. “Well, I guess you’ve improved enough for it. Even if you still can’t solve any problem that can’t be hit with a stick.”

Godsmacked, the bureaucrat stood up shakily. “I better go get the Guildmaster.”

----------------

After another entire day of moving as fast as they could, monsters be damned, they made it to the sleepy little farming town of Holsvich.

“Made it.” David said, breathing deeply as they took a moment outside the rudimentary walls. Casimir scanned the top of the wall for soldiers, and while they were there, they didn’t seem to be at all bothered by David’s rapid arrival. How often did he come here?

The gate was closed, but one of the soldiers waved them up, so the pair of them merely hopped on top of the wall. “Welcome back, Sir Smith.” greeted the one with good armor. “Who’s your friend?” Well, that confirms that he lives here, at least.

David laughed. “Ah, this asshole’s just someone I’m working with. Just stopping by on the way to a job.” Casimir nodded to confirm David’s words.

“I’m pretty much empty of mana, David.” Casimir pointed out. “Is this place safe? It’s not very well-fortified.”

“The local army does a pretty good job keeping the monster population suppressed.” David said. “They mostly raise cattle out here.” Ah, that’s quite the endorsement. Herds of livestock are very hard to maintain, and if they were successful, that meant the army was quite effective.

“Right. So I assume you have accommodations arranged?” Casimir asked.

“Yeah, yeah.” David said. “You can sleep in the guest room.” He has a guest room?

Casimir followed David as he hopped along rooftops, eventually landing at a large house. “I’m home!” David shouted as he walked straight into the door without a care. A beautiful woman carrying a baby ran to the sorcerer, tears of joy on her face.

Ah. That explains everything.