This Lich Requests More Remuneration

Chapter 34: Chapter 34 The War Begins Chapter 34: Chapter 34 The War Begins Amberser’s tone was icy and evil, making him seem like the most classic villain straight out of a story, it was just a pity that nobody believed the cruel words coming out of his mouth.

Even the Paladin seemed surprised, was this Lich actually sheltering humans?

The Lord standing with the Porcupine Knight roared angrily, “Who do you think you’re fooling? I clearly saw my people tilling the wasteland for you! Don’t think that just because you are a Lich, you can plunder the population of other Lords at will,”
Amberser said with indifference, “Don’t humans also let sheep graze on their own? I’m keeping these captives, not letting them farm the land — am I supposed to feed them myself?”

“Damn Undead!” Although the Porcupine Knight was angry, he couldn’t find a reason to refute.

Could it be that after all the trouble and expense of assembling the troops today, he would get nothing in return?

All calculations made and still, their reason for sending troops turned out to be untenable.

The Porcupine Knight was now worried not about starting a war, but about what would happen if they started a war and failed to completely kill Amberser. If this Lich reported their pretext to Alchemy City, then these minor Lords like him would be in big trouble.

Neither justice nor truth mattered to Alchemy City; all they needed was an excuse, and then they could severely punish these minor Lords.

The Porcupine Knight could already imagine the end result: the minor Lords haphazardly starting a conflict and being fined a large sum of money; as for the Lich’s land, they might even have to spit it back out to Alchemy City.

This would be a mutually damaging result, one that the Porcupine Knight couldn’t accept.

At this time, the Mage consultant Harvey, who had been hiding in the crowd, approached the Porcupine Knight and whispered, “My Lord, an unforeseen problem has arisen, I suggest we withdraw the troops for today and find another way.”

Upon hearing this, the Porcupine Knight was very reluctant.

Mobilizing an army required a lot of money, and the troops consumed a vast amount of food every day. If they gained nothing from this, it would indeed be a total loss.

Seeing the Porcupine Knight’s hesitation, Harvey, as the Lord’s consultant, should actually be giving more proactive advice. However, the moment Amberser appeared, Harvey felt a buzzing in his head, and the power from the School of Prophecy was warning him like mad.

This Lich in front of him was very dangerous; he must distance himself immediately, or else face great calamity.

Harvey reminded him, “My lord, if we continue to confront each other here, I fear we may indeed have to engage in battle, and I don’t think the outcome will be in our favor.”

Before the Porcupine Knight could decide, the Paladin suddenly spoke up, “Porcupine Knight, perhaps now is the time for the mercenaries to show their worth. Let me lead the charge, how about that?”

A Paladin cannot disregard evil; Amberser brazenly appearing before them as a Lich meant that evil must be eradicated!

The Porcupine Knight’s eyes lit up; he had put so much effort into courting these Paladins precisely to deal with the Lich. If they were confident in completely defeating the Lich, then right or wrong all depended on what they decided.

The Porcupine Knight said to the Paladin, “Your Excellency, are you truly confident that you can deal with this Lich? If he escapes, we will all be in big trouble.”

“Fear not, we have ample experience in dealing with the Undead. The greatest weakness of a Lich is not his skeletal body here but his Life Casket. As long as his Life Casket is still hidden in the ancient castle, he will not flee. Once we storm the castle, I will surely find the Lich’s Life Casket and eradicate him completely. Now please, give the order,” the Paladin said with great confidence.

“Alright, I hereby give the command in the name of the Jayce family, asking you to purge the evil before us. Mage Harvey, I command you to assist His Excellency the Paladin in vanquishing this wicked Lich.”

The Porcupine Knight issued the command very formally, and Harvey could only sigh inwardly, reluctantly obeying.

A Paladin, a Light Priest, and a Mage Apprentice, these three rode out on horseback, slowly approaching Amberser.

The Paladin disdained to resort to stealth and advanced openly, proclaiming to Amberser in a loud voice, “Evil Undead, today I shall bestow upon you the purification of your soul in the name of Holy Light!”

With this cry from the Paladin, the charge began.

This was the signal for attack; the Porcupine Knight immediately ordered his soldiers to follow the Paladin and charge toward Amberser’s ancient castle.

The sight of thousands of soldiers charging together was indeed staggering.

Amberser was somewhat surprised; he had underestimated the determination of these humans. But this was fine, he had been in need of experimental material lately.

With a swing of Amberser’s staff, an endless number of Skeletons clawed their way out of the ground.

Even though it was daylight, these Skeletons were unaffected and swiftly formed into formation under Amberser’s command.

Seeing these fragile, staggering skeletons, the Paladin grew even more confident.

Such puny Undead were meaningless no matter how numerous they were. The Paladin’s body flashed with light, and a dazzling radiance emanated from him. Intense Holy Light clung to his armor and weapon and even covered his steed beneath him.

The Paladin charged into the skeleton horde; the feeble skeletons hadn’t even approached before they were purified by the Holy Light, directly shattered into oblivion.

Against the Knights of the Laine Empire, these ordinary humanoid skeletons stood no chance, unable to even hinder the Paladin’s charge.

Just when the Paladin was about to reach him, Amberser used the Flight Spell, soaring into the sky.

The Paladin showed no sign of panic; he had seen many flying Undead before. He raised his weapon high as the Light Priest who had been following him began to chant a spell.

“In the name of the Lord of the Dawn, I command you to grovel under the Holy Light!”

An ominous light descended upon Amberser.

The most commonly used Divine Art of Priests—Command Spell.

With the power of the Deity, it transformed into a vast pressure, commanding the target to act according to the Priest’s orders.

However, since the Lord of the Dawn was a benevolent Deity, the Command Spell couldn’t force one to commit suicide or self-harm, but it could command the opponent to lie down, drop their weapons, or even flee the battlefield and so on.

These effects were extremely powerful in combat. Imagine a warrior under the effect of Command Spell, dropping his weapon and prostrating himself on the ground. What would his fate be?

The Command Spell couldn’t kill, but the sword in hand could.

If Amberser were controlled by the Command Spell, he would certainly fall from the sky, crash down hard enough to eat dirt, and then be beheaded with a single sword strike.

Though a Lich could be reborn over and over, that took time, and this brief period was more than enough for the Paladin to break into the castle and locate Amberser’s Life Casket.

“Heh, looks like I’ve been underestimated,” Amberser said with a chuckle.

A flash of red light surrounded Amberser, and the light of the Command Spell was instantly reflected back onto the Light Priest, almost knocking him off his mount.

Spell countering, the forte of Mages, required only a corresponding or even lesser amount of magic power to dispel a targeted spell.

The Light Priest reveled no panic. As the old saying goes, the Paladins and Light Priests of the Laine Empire had long since become acquainted with almost all of the Undead’s tricks, and Amberser had yet to surprise them.

The reason they used Divine Arts, even knowing it was futile, was entirely to distract Amberser’s attention, allowing to close the gap smoothly.

And now, it was time to reveal their trump card.

The Light Priest produced a Magic Scroll and began to chant a spell swiftly.

In less than half a second, a faint blue energy barrier unfolded, trapping Amberser within it.

Anti-Magic Field!

Within the area covered by the energy barrier, all magic effects were dispelled, no spells could be cast, all summoned creatures were forcibly banished, and even enchanted equipment was rendered as ordinary, non-magical objects.

In this Anti-Magic Field, Amberser’s Flight Spell should have immediately ceased, causing him to fall from the sky, and his proud spell-casting ability would be completely sealed.

That should have been the case.

But contrary to the expectant eyes of the Paladin and the Light Priest, Amberser did not fall from the sky but completely vanished instead.

The Paladin quickly realized the mistake and shouted, “No good, it’s an illusion!”

The next second, from the direction of the castle, countless symbols of corruption, green lights, rained down like a meteor shower upon the soldiers. Mortals were corroded into mere bones amidst screams and wails, resulting in massive casualties in an instant.

From the entrance of the castle, Amberser said disdainfully, “Still too young. What Lich would appear before a Paladin in person? That would be a total waste of such a grand magical fortress, wouldn’t it?”