Jude and Aranis rushed forward towards the closest creatures, two Rotted Zombies and three Skeleton Warriors, as they made their way to the door on the right wall.
Liam used Lunar Step to appear in front of the Elite Skeleton Soldier behind the group Aranis and Jude were fighting. The towering creature lifted its sword up and went to strike down, but before it could slice him, Liam’s body puffed into black smoke and reappeared behind it.
Liam sent the Shadow Mana he channeled within those few seconds and created A Shadow Double before using Lunar Step towards another undead creature. He did this a couple more times before appearing behind Aranis and Jude.
As he reappeared he felt a little strange. His eyes winced a bit and the whispers that were tickling his mind earlier came back slightly louder. After opening his eyes from closing them he noticed something he had forgotten would happen after using Lunar Magic so many times.
Stellar Affliction from Within.
He noticed the corner of his eyes had started to darken a bit after the realization happened.
Shit. Liam thought to himself. If I keep doing this with how low my Ailment Resistance to it is then I might not be able to see clearly by the end of the fight. Coupling that with Whispers from Beyond…I need to hurry this fight up as soon as I can.
Inyis noticed something was strange with Liam after he had reappeared. It was slight, but she noticed the slight tense of his body. “Are you alright Liam?”
Liam looked at her and gave her a slight smile under his shadowy mask while saying, “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m going to cast some crowd control spells to stop the monsters on our left so let me know if any come from anywhere I miss.”
Inyis nodded. “Alright.”
Liam looked at the group of Undead creatures that were slowly coming towards them from their left and thought about where he could use his spells effectively.
He didn’t want to place it too close, but he also didn’t want to place it too far. He judged the distance between the closest monsters to the ones behind them and decided that allowing a small amount to get through would be manageable.
He then started to channel some Gravity Mana. After he did he chanted, “O Gravity, powerful and dangerous. Condense into a single spot. Pull to you and Keep any and everything that tries to escape. Gravity Well!”
He threw the dark purplish orb that had formed in front of his Shadow Blade dagger and flung it not too far to a group struggling to make their way towards them.
Not waiting to see how many he was able to snare in it, Liam started channeling his Gravity Mana again before chanting, “O Gravity, powerful and dangerous. Bring the Force down upon my enemy slowing its movements. Gravitational Force Increase!”
Instead of using this spell on the clump of undead creatures Liam had snared up in the Gravity Well, Liam focused on a group close by them and released a powerful weight of gravity that brought many of the monsters to a crouch. Their movements became sluggish as they tried to press forward. Liam grinned as he watched these creatures struggled to keep upright.
A moment after that he stared at the group a little farther back but slightly more to the right. He hesitated for a moment. He knew he should ease up on his Shadow Magic, but he also knew this needed to be done.
After resolving himself, he channeled his Shadow Mana. Shortly after that he started chanting, “Hidden within the dark, I call upon you to bind my target. Grasp them with the tendrils you possess. Remind them why they should fear their own Shadow. Grasp of the Shadows!”
Shadowy tendrils shot up and started to wrap around the limbs of the group of monsters Liam focused his spell around. The area this spell was used on was bigger than the previous time he had used it and it shocked him. After thinking about it, he realized it was thanks to the amount of mana he had channeled adding to the extra Shadow effect his current form gave him.
He then turned his focus on the area Aranis and Jude were fighting. They had reached the area his Shadow Doubles were and were confused at first; until the five shadowy figures turned to fight the monsters behind them. This made them grow a bit more confused until it looked like they realized those five weren’t their enemies.
Liam them noticed several Soul Orbs were floating over the dead bodies that laid behind the two. A couple more undead creatures fell adding more to the group.
Liam sheathed his weapons and made his way closer to them while gripping his Spectral Lantern and pulling it away from his hip.
The Spectral Lantern lit up with the creepily ghastly green light that was inside. A glass section suddenly opened up on its own allowing the light to shine even brighter out from it.
Liam watched the closest orbs that were hovering around the area where the dead creatures laid shudder. After a moment had passed the orbs within Liam’s radius swiftly moved towards the lantern in one swift movement.
Liam took a step forward to see if he could move with the lantern harvesting the Soul Orbs and found he could move. However, his legs felt sluggish and heavy. Almost like there was a major pressure trying to keep him in place.
At the corner of his eye he noticed his stamina tick down ten points with each movement forward. At the same time, he was able to collect the Soul Orbs that were just outside his radius.
As he started thinking about the reason for the pressure on his legs, his Danger Sense suddenly flare up all around his body. He noticed Aranis, Jude and Inyis flinch at the same time.
Without hesitating or waiting for what was coming, Liam cancelled his Soul Harvest and allowed his Spectral Lantern to shoot back to his hip before turning around and sprinting away from where he was at.
At the same time, Aranis, and Jude whirled around and were hot on his tail.
Aranis and Jude hooked their arms under Inyis’ pits and dragged her away as well. Surprised by their suddenness, Inyis let out a few protests. Her words fell on deaf ears and were suddenly drowned out as thick sharp icicles rained down on the area the four were once at.
“What the hell was that?” Inyis questioned as she stared at the sharp long ice spears that were standing upright pierced into the floor.
“We got out of there just in time,” Jude stated.
“I agree,” Aranis nodded. “Danger Sense really showed its worth there.”
“You can say that again,” Liam replied as his attention shifted towards the Lich.
Liam noticed he had his right hand out and was muttering something. “I don’t think that will be the last of it either.”
“What do you mean?” Aranis questioned.
“He’s getting another spell ready right now,” Liam replied as he pointed to the boss monster.
“What do we do now?” Jude asked.
“We need to block that door up,” Liam stated. “However, if he’s going to keep using AOE abilities, its going to get complicated.”
Liam’s mind started to race as he tried to think of a strategy. He knew that they needed to prevent more monsters from coming in, but if they stuck in a group the Lich would be able to use his magic to slow their progress.
They needed the Lich to focus on someone while the others got Inyis close enough to do her thing. They needed a distraction.
“Incoming!” Jude announced as Liam felt his Danger Sense light up once more.
The four started running again.
After Liam got out of the radius of the Ice spell the Lich had used he noticed he was standing alone away from the others.
He looked around to see the other three had run towards the wall while he ran away from it.
“Fuck me,” Liam cursed as he felt a presence coming from behind.
He quickly dodged by rolling to his right. As he rolled back to his feet, he spun around to see a Mummy Guard with its hand on one of the long thick icicles protruding into the ground. The Rot Magic it had coating its hand burned through the icicle. Smoke started to drift off of it as a hole started to melt.
Liam grimaced as he stared at the hole, remembering his equipment melting before. He then muttered to himself, “I really did like that cowl.”
“Liam!” Inyis called out. “We need to stop him from casting more spells. Or have him focused on something else. Do you have a plan that can do that?”
Liam shook his head to get him back on track. After replaying Inyis’ words, he knew that he was on the right track on where his thoughts were going. Inyis too seemed to get to the same point. However, he also understood the hidden message in her question.
Since he was away from the others, and they were on the side the door was on he knew the role of distracting the Lich should fall on him; but he needed a for sure method to keep the Lich’s attention on him.
He looked back at the Lich and saw he was preparing another spell.
As he started to think of one, one particular memory came to mind. The Lich grew enrage when he used Soul Harvest.
Soul Harvest would be the key to get the Lich’s attention on only him. If he was going to use that then he needed to kill as many as he could at different times. His strength and attack wasn’t as quick as the others so he knew he’d need to get creative with this.
“I’ll see what I can do. Aranis and Jude! You guys focus on getting Inyis close enough to plug that door!” Liam yelled.
“You got it!” Jude yelled out.
Liam turned his focus back on the monsters in front of him. Several Rotted Zombies had gotten closer while he was distracted.
He channeled his Shadow Mana and created a couple of Shadow Hands before handing them a gravity enchanted dagger.
“You first lot will be easy to deal with right now for what I need to do,” Liam muttered before using Lunar Step to flash in front of the closest one.
As soon as he appeared, he started his attack as swiftly as he could. His two Shadow Hands attacked a Rotted Zombies to the left and right.
The Rotted Zombie Liam was focused on went to swipe its right hand at him, but missed as Liam ducked and stepped under the arm to get to its side. He then stabbed and sliced away at the monster’s rib cage.
As the creature turned to attack him again, Liam kicked him away towards another Rotted zombie. He then spun around and started to attack the creature his left Shadow Hand was striking.
His Shadow Hand moved on to another target as Liam plunged both of his daggers right into the skull of the creature. It dropped immediately.
He knew he was rushing it as he attacked as quickly as he could, but time was not on his side. He peeked glances at the Lich to keep an eye on him.
After the fourth Rotted Zombie fell, Liam felt the Lich begin to make his move.
As soon as he did this, Liam used Lunar Step to get closer to a group of monsters, but made sure he was still in range of the Soul Orbs that had appeared.
As quick as he could, Liam sheathed his daggers and pulled his Spectral Lantern out and shouted while looking at the Lich, “Soul Harvest!”
As his lantern started to suck in the Soul Orbs, the Lich glared angrily at Liam. He then roared out, “Icicle Bombardment!”
Liam felt his Danger Sense flare up again, giving him enough time to use Lunar Step to escape the spot he was once at.
Several thick long sharp icicles suddenly shot down and skewered the monsters that were still standing there. Each icicle that ran through the creatures caused enough damage to kill them right there.
Liam reappeared out of range from the area the spell struck and watched as the icicles rained down.
He positioned himself to look around the icicles and straight at the Lich. He then flipped the Boss creature off while lifting his Spectral Lantern and said, “Soul Harvest.”
The Lich let out an angered yelled before channeling even more mana around him.
As Liam collected the soul orbs from the creatures that recently died he glanced a quick peek at the Lich and smiled.
Good. This is working out better than I expected. If I keep this up then I’ll deal with three things at once. Liam thought as he placed his Spectral Lantern back to his hip and used Lunar step to appear in the middle of the group to his left.
The Mummy Guards and Rotted Zombies flinched as he suddenly appeared in front of them.
Without waiting, Liam summoned five of his Shadow Doubles behind five of the monsters. After letting them loose he began attacking the Mummy Guard in front of him. He was careful not to let it touch him with his rot covered hands as he slashed and struck any chance he got.
After feeling like it was taking too much time, Liam kicked the Mummy Guard back into an Elite Skeleton Soldier. Liam watched as one of the Mummy Guard’s rot covered hands brushed down the rib cage of the skeletal creature it collided with. The Rot magic swiftly spread across the skeletal structure killing it within a few seconds.
Liam felt the same pressure of a powerful magical attack starting to come down, making Liam use Lunar Step to get out of harms way. After reappearing he felt his eyes start to sting a bit more than earlier as well as the whispers beginning to get a little clearer.
He ignored it and pressed on. He knew he shouldn’t push too much using these abilities since it’ll create a toll he wasn’t sure he’d be able to handle later, but he knew he needed to use them. This strategy of his was working and it was the best he had for right now.
After the Lich’s attack finished the group of monsters he was once attacking, he harvested the Soul Orbs and repeated this three more times in random areas. After successfully harvesting another group of Soul Orbs, Liam saw three Willow trees suddenly appear right next to the wall on the right where the door was.
“Yes,” Liam muttered. He decided to drink a Weak Orange Stamina for now to get a little back from what he spent from moving around so much.
However, after he finished drinking the potion, he felt a sudden shift in the air. Liam wasn’t sure what was going on, but he felt the air start to grow colder. It wasn’t too alarming at first, but after a few seconds had passed, he realized the temperature was dropping too fast.
He was currently standing at the back of the room as he looked around for the source.
He didn’t see anything that was cause for concern. The amount of undead creatures had dropped thanks to his strategy of using the Lich to use his magic on the areas where he was fighting monsters. However, as he scanned the room he did notice something.
The areas where the Lich used his Icicle Bombardment still had the clumps of icicles that pierced the floor. Not only that, but besides the icicle that was struck Mummy Rot, the rest didn’t look like they were melting.
After looking at each group of icicles he noticed something else. The ground where those icicles had pierced were starting to freeze over and spread out.
Liam then heard a maniacal laugh causing him to look at the Lich.
“It seems like all my preparations are complete,” the Lich stated. “With this, I’ll finally stop you from moving around and be able to keep you still long enough to extract what you stole from me.”
Confused, Liam stared at the Lich. His eyes widened as he noticed the amount of mana he channeled. Liam hadn’t notice it, but while he drank that potion and was lost in his thoughts, for that brief moment. The lich was able to channel a lot of mana.
The Lich then said in a cold and prideful voice, “Flash Freeze Hunt.”
The next moment, all of the icicles that were pierced into the ground in groups throughout the room suddenly exploded into tiny particles that shimmered and swirled to a single point.
To Liam it looked like a massive ball of pure white fog the size of a small truck. Around the fog it shimmered and glittered. It reminded him of a cold snowy Christmas morning.
He then watched as it slowly floated down on top of a group of undead creatures.
As the ball of pure white fog got closer to the creatures Liam’s eyes widened. Their bodies started to stiffen and grow a layer of frost. The frost quickly rolled over their skin or bones and instantly froze them in place.
“Oh shit,” Liam slowly muttered as he realized the name Flash Freeze was a literal and not a figurative thing. “If that part is literal then does that mean the hunt part is…”
Before he could finish that sentence, the ball of pure white fog unexpectedly soared right for him.
Without thinking, Liam quickly sprinted to his left. He cursed himself internally as he saw the horde of mixed undead still around. Even though they were able to take groups of them down, there was still a lot more.
Feeling like there was nothing he could do that could really help, Liam approached them as quickly as he could. He then used Lunar step to appear as far into the group as he could. The moment he did he started to juke, spin, duck, and dodge through the group. He made his way towards the wall and got as close as he could before turning hard to his right.
A sword came down upon him as soon as he turned. The sword sailed right through his body causing it to puff out into black smoke. Liam reappeared behind the creature and kicked in forward right into the fog of pure white freezing it midair before it could land or collide into anything.
Liam pushed off his back leg and continued his obstacle course.
“It’s no use,” the Lich called out. “As long as I can continue to channel more mana into it, it will continue to hunt you down. There is no escape for you. Only an icy hell!”
Liam scanned the area as he continued to juke and spin around each undead creature. Even though he had gotten a big increase to his stamina, he knew it wouldn’t last as long as the Lich could channel mana. He knew the monster’s mana pool was vastly bigger than his stamina pool. He wanted to have the creature keep using massive amount of mana on the spells he used before, but it looked like it backfired on him.
Liam only knew he could run for now. Run until he could figure a way to stop him from channeling his mana. As he spun around a Skeleton Warrior something caught Liam’s eye. He wasn’t entirely sure if what he saw was right and couldn’t chance another peek since he was surrounded by undead creatures that were trying to slow him down.
Instead, he let himself create a theory on what he saw. If his theory was right then there was a way. However, it was all dependent on him continuing to run. To run and freeze as many monsters as possible.
Like playing the old snake game, Liam turned right and after a few steps right again. Ducking, diving, dodging, juking, and spinning, Liam kept up with what he was doing. Three times he had to use Lunar Step and two times he had to use Shadow Step to get out of a sticky situation. A couple of those times he tripped over himself or bumped into a skeleton or zombie creature.
Him tripping over himself was due to over shooting for a spot as well as how heavy his body was starting to feel. However, he kept at it. He led the fog of pure white over all the monsters around the corner of the back right before making it back to the middle of the back area.
Once when he made it close to the area he had started he went to turn left, but as soon as he turned his body he felt it slide forward right into a frozen creature. The frozen undead shattered instantly upon impact and caused him to fall down face first.
Liam got up as quick as he could so he could start running again, however, he felt his limbs and muscles start to tense and grew icy cold. His ragged breathing took form right in front of him as panic started to grip hold. The cloud of pure white fog had caught up and was almost right on him.
With all his might, Liam willed himself to use Lunar Step once more. With it he reappeared right in front of the Lich. The Lich winced from seeing the flash, but it wasn’t enough to stop him from channeling his mana into his frightening spell. It was enough for him to cause a ripple in his channeling though.
Not really caring, the Lich said as he stared Liam down and said, “If you believe that my spell will harm me then you are mistaken. You have lost. There is nothing you can do to stop me.”
Liam stared back right into the eyes of the Lich. He stared at him for a brief moment before giving him a wicked smile. He then said with a smug tone, “You’re right. There’s nothing I can do…but that doesn’t apply to her.” He finished his sentence by pointing to his left.
The Lich, confused by this turned to look at where he was pointing. Standing not too far away with no undead in the way, was Ariyana.
The Lich then realized that she was chanting something. He wasn’t able to hear all of it. Just the last two parts.
“Cancel the sound that this caster needs to give life to their spell. Silence thy Spell!”
Jude and Aranis rushed forward towards the closest creatures, two Rotted Zombies and three Skeleton Warriors, as they made their way to the door on the right wall.
Liam used Lunar Step to appear in front of the Elite Skeleton Soldier behind the group Aranis and Jude were fighting. The towering creature lifted its sword up and went to strike down, but before it could slice him, Liam’s body puffed into black smoke and reappeared behind it.
Liam sent the Shadow Mana he channeled within those few seconds and created A Shadow Double before using Lunar Step towards another undead creature. He did this a couple more times before appearing behind Aranis and Jude.
As he reappeared he felt a little strange. His eyes winced a bit and the whispers that were tickling his mind earlier came back slightly louder. After opening his eyes from closing them he noticed something he had forgotten would happen after using Lunar Magic so many times.
Stellar Affliction from Within.
He noticed the corner of his eyes had started to darken a bit after the realization happened.
Shit. Liam thought to himself. If I keep doing this with how low my Ailment Resistance to it is then I might not be able to see clearly by the end of the fight. Coupling that with Whispers from Beyond…I need to hurry this fight up as soon as I can.
Inyis noticed something was strange with Liam after he had reappeared. It was slight, but she noticed the slight tense of his body. “Are you alright Liam?”
Liam looked at her and gave her a slight smile under his shadowy mask while saying, “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m going to cast some crowd control spells to stop the monsters on our left so let me know if any come from anywhere I miss.”
Inyis nodded. “Alright.”
Liam looked at the group of Undead creatures that were slowly coming towards them from their left and thought about where he could use his spells effectively.
He didn’t want to place it too close, but he also didn’t want to place it too far. He judged the distance between the closest monsters to the ones behind them and decided that allowing a small amount to get through would be manageable.
He then started to channel some Gravity Mana. After he did he chanted, “O Gravity, powerful and dangerous. Condense into a single spot. Pull to you and Keep any and everything that tries to escape. Gravity Well!”
He threw the dark purplish orb that had formed in front of his Shadow Blade dagger and flung it not too far to a group struggling to make their way towards them.
Not waiting to see how many he was able to snare in it, Liam started channeling his Gravity Mana again before chanting, “O Gravity, powerful and dangerous. Bring the Force down upon my enemy slowing its movements. Gravitational Force Increase!”
Instead of using this spell on the clump of undead creatures Liam had snared up in the Gravity Well, Liam focused on a group close by them and released a powerful weight of gravity that brought many of the monsters to a crouch. Their movements became sluggish as they tried to press forward. Liam grinned as he watched these creatures struggled to keep upright.
A moment after that he stared at the group a little farther back but slightly more to the right. He hesitated for a moment. He knew he should ease up on his Shadow Magic, but he also knew this needed to be done.
After resolving himself, he channeled his Shadow Mana. Shortly after that he started chanting, “Hidden within the dark, I call upon you to bind my target. Grasp them with the tendrils you possess. Remind them why they should fear their own Shadow. Grasp of the Shadows!”
Shadowy tendrils shot up and started to wrap around the limbs of the group of monsters Liam focused his spell around. The area this spell was used on was bigger than the previous time he had used it and it shocked him. After thinking about it, he realized it was thanks to the amount of mana he had channeled adding to the extra Shadow effect his current form gave him.
He then turned his focus on the area Aranis and Jude were fighting. They had reached the area his Shadow Doubles were and were confused at first; until the five shadowy figures turned to fight the monsters behind them. This made them grow a bit more confused until it looked like they realized those five weren’t their enemies.
Liam them noticed several Soul Orbs were floating over the dead bodies that laid behind the two. A couple more undead creatures fell adding more to the group.
Liam sheathed his weapons and made his way closer to them while gripping his Spectral Lantern and pulling it away from his hip.
The Spectral Lantern lit up with the creepily ghastly green light that was inside. A glass section suddenly opened up on its own allowing the light to shine even brighter out from it.
Liam watched the closest orbs that were hovering around the area where the dead creatures laid shudder. After a moment had passed the orbs within Liam’s radius swiftly moved towards the lantern in one swift movement.
Liam took a step forward to see if he could move with the lantern harvesting the Soul Orbs and found he could move. However, his legs felt sluggish and heavy. Almost like there was a major pressure trying to keep him in place.
At the corner of his eye he noticed his stamina tick down ten points with each movement forward. At the same time, he was able to collect the Soul Orbs that were just outside his radius.
As he started thinking about the reason for the pressure on his legs, his Danger Sense suddenly flare up all around his body. He noticed Aranis, Jude and Inyis flinch at the same time.
Without hesitating or waiting for what was coming, Liam cancelled his Soul Harvest and allowed his Spectral Lantern to shoot back to his hip before turning around and sprinting away from where he was at.
At the same time, Aranis, and Jude whirled around and were hot on his tail.
Aranis and Jude hooked their arms under Inyis’ pits and dragged her away as well. Surprised by their suddenness, Inyis let out a few protests. Her words fell on deaf ears and were suddenly drowned out as thick sharp icicles rained down on the area the four were once at.
“What the hell was that?” Inyis questioned as she stared at the sharp long ice spears that were standing upright pierced into the floor.
“We got out of there just in time,” Jude stated.
“I agree,” Aranis nodded. “Danger Sense really showed its worth there.”
“You can say that again,” Liam replied as his attention shifted towards the Lich.
Liam noticed he had his right hand out and was muttering something. “I don’t think that will be the last of it either.”
“What do you mean?” Aranis questioned.
“He’s getting another spell ready right now,” Liam replied as he pointed to the boss monster.
“What do we do now?” Jude asked.
“We need to block that door up,” Liam stated. “However, if he’s going to keep using AOE abilities, its going to get complicated.”
Liam’s mind started to race as he tried to think of a strategy. He knew that they needed to prevent more monsters from coming in, but if they stuck in a group the Lich would be able to use his magic to slow their progress.
They needed the Lich to focus on someone while the others got Inyis close enough to do her thing. They needed a distraction.
“Incoming!” Jude announced as Liam felt his Danger Sense light up once more.
The four started running again.
After Liam got out of the radius of the Ice spell the Lich had used he noticed he was standing alone away from the others.
He looked around to see the other three had run towards the wall while he ran away from it.
“Fuck me,” Liam cursed as he felt a presence coming from behind.
He quickly dodged by rolling to his right. As he rolled back to his feet, he spun around to see a Mummy Guard with its hand on one of the long thick icicles protruding into the ground. The Rot Magic it had coating its hand burned through the icicle. Smoke started to drift off of it as a hole started to melt.
Liam grimaced as he stared at the hole, remembering his equipment melting before. He then muttered to himself, “I really did like that cowl.”
“Liam!” Inyis called out. “We need to stop him from casting more spells. Or have him focused on something else. Do you have a plan that can do that?”
Liam shook his head to get him back on track. After replaying Inyis’ words, he knew that he was on the right track on where his thoughts were going. Inyis too seemed to get to the same point. However, he also understood the hidden message in her question.
Since he was away from the others, and they were on the side the door was on he knew the role of distracting the Lich should fall on him; but he needed a for sure method to keep the Lich’s attention on him.
He looked back at the Lich and saw he was preparing another spell.
As he started to think of one, one particular memory came to mind. The Lich grew enrage when he used Soul Harvest.
Soul Harvest would be the key to get the Lich’s attention on only him. If he was going to use that then he needed to kill as many as he could at different times. His strength and attack wasn’t as quick as the others so he knew he’d need to get creative with this.
“I’ll see what I can do. Aranis and Jude! You guys focus on getting Inyis close enough to plug that door!” Liam yelled.
“You got it!” Jude yelled out.
Liam turned his focus back on the monsters in front of him. Several Rotted Zombies had gotten closer while he was distracted.
He channeled his Shadow Mana and created a couple of Shadow Hands before handing them a gravity enchanted dagger.
“You first lot will be easy to deal with right now for what I need to do,” Liam muttered before using Lunar Step to flash in front of the closest one.
As soon as he appeared, he started his attack as swiftly as he could. His two Shadow Hands attacked a Rotted Zombies to the left and right.
The Rotted Zombie Liam was focused on went to swipe its right hand at him, but missed as Liam ducked and stepped under the arm to get to its side. He then stabbed and sliced away at the monster’s rib cage.
As the creature turned to attack him again, Liam kicked him away towards another Rotted zombie. He then spun around and started to attack the creature his left Shadow Hand was striking.
His Shadow Hand moved on to another target as Liam plunged both of his daggers right into the skull of the creature. It dropped immediately.
He knew he was rushing it as he attacked as quickly as he could, but time was not on his side. He peeked glances at the Lich to keep an eye on him.
After the fourth Rotted Zombie fell, Liam felt the Lich begin to make his move.
As soon as he did this, Liam used Lunar Step to get closer to a group of monsters, but made sure he was still in range of the Soul Orbs that had appeared.
As quick as he could, Liam sheathed his daggers and pulled his Spectral Lantern out and shouted while looking at the Lich, “Soul Harvest!”
As his lantern started to suck in the Soul Orbs, the Lich glared angrily at Liam. He then roared out, “Icicle Bombardment!”
Liam felt his Danger Sense flare up again, giving him enough time to use Lunar Step to escape the spot he was once at.
Several thick long sharp icicles suddenly shot down and skewered the monsters that were still standing there. Each icicle that ran through the creatures caused enough damage to kill them right there.
Liam reappeared out of range from the area the spell struck and watched as the icicles rained down.
He positioned himself to look around the icicles and straight at the Lich. He then flipped the Boss creature off while lifting his Spectral Lantern and said, “Soul Harvest.”
The Lich let out an angered yelled before channeling even more mana around him.
As Liam collected the soul orbs from the creatures that recently died he glanced a quick peek at the Lich and smiled.
Good. This is working out better than I expected. If I keep this up then I’ll deal with three things at once. Liam thought as he placed his Spectral Lantern back to his hip and used Lunar step to appear in the middle of the group to his left.
The Mummy Guards and Rotted Zombies flinched as he suddenly appeared in front of them.
Without waiting, Liam summoned five of his Shadow Doubles behind five of the monsters. After letting them loose he began attacking the Mummy Guard in front of him. He was careful not to let it touch him with his rot covered hands as he slashed and struck any chance he got.
After feeling like it was taking too much time, Liam kicked the Mummy Guard back into an Elite Skeleton Soldier. Liam watched as one of the Mummy Guard’s rot covered hands brushed down the rib cage of the skeletal creature it collided with. The Rot magic swiftly spread across the skeletal structure killing it within a few seconds.
Liam felt the same pressure of a powerful magical attack starting to come down, making Liam use Lunar Step to get out of harms way. After reappearing he felt his eyes start to sting a bit more than earlier as well as the whispers beginning to get a little clearer.
He ignored it and pressed on. He knew he shouldn’t push too much using these abilities since it’ll create a toll he wasn’t sure he’d be able to handle later, but he knew he needed to use them. This strategy of his was working and it was the best he had for right now.
After the Lich’s attack finished the group of monsters he was once attacking, he harvested the Soul Orbs and repeated this three more times in random areas. After successfully harvesting another group of Soul Orbs, Liam saw three Willow trees suddenly appear right next to the wall on the right where the door was.
“Yes,” Liam muttered. He decided to drink a Weak Orange Stamina for now to get a little back from what he spent from moving around so much.
However, after he finished drinking the potion, he felt a sudden shift in the air. Liam wasn’t sure what was going on, but he felt the air start to grow colder. It wasn’t too alarming at first, but after a few seconds had passed, he realized the temperature was dropping too fast.
He was currently standing at the back of the room as he looked around for the source.
He didn’t see anything that was cause for concern. The amount of undead creatures had dropped thanks to his strategy of using the Lich to use his magic on the areas where he was fighting monsters. However, as he scanned the room he did notice something.
The areas where the Lich used his Icicle Bombardment still had the clumps of icicles that pierced the floor. Not only that, but besides the icicle that was struck Mummy Rot, the rest didn’t look like they were melting.
After looking at each group of icicles he noticed something else. The ground where those icicles had pierced were starting to freeze over and spread out.
Liam then heard a maniacal laugh causing him to look at the Lich.
“It seems like all my preparations are complete,” the Lich stated. “With this, I’ll finally stop you from moving around and be able to keep you still long enough to extract what you stole from me.”
Confused, Liam stared at the Lich. His eyes widened as he noticed the amount of mana he channeled. Liam hadn’t notice it, but while he drank that potion and was lost in his thoughts, for that brief moment. The lich was able to channel a lot of mana.
The Lich then said in a cold and prideful voice, “Flash Freeze Hunt.”
The next moment, all of the icicles that were pierced into the ground in groups throughout the room suddenly exploded into tiny particles that shimmered and swirled to a single point.
To Liam it looked like a massive ball of pure white fog the size of a small truck. Around the fog it shimmered and glittered. It reminded him of a cold snowy Christmas morning.
He then watched as it slowly floated down on top of a group of undead creatures.
As the ball of pure white fog got closer to the creatures Liam’s eyes widened. Their bodies started to stiffen and grow a layer of frost. The frost quickly rolled over their skin or bones and instantly froze them in place.
“Oh shit,” Liam slowly muttered as he realized the name Flash Freeze was a literal and not a figurative thing. “If that part is literal then does that mean the hunt part is…”
Before he could finish that sentence, the ball of pure white fog unexpectedly soared right for him.
Without thinking, Liam quickly sprinted to his left. He cursed himself internally as he saw the horde of mixed undead still around. Even though they were able to take groups of them down, there was still a lot more.
Feeling like there was nothing he could do that could really help, Liam approached them as quickly as he could. He then used Lunar step to appear as far into the group as he could. The moment he did he started to juke, spin, duck, and dodge through the group. He made his way towards the wall and got as close as he could before turning hard to his right.
A sword came down upon him as soon as he turned. The sword sailed right through his body causing it to puff out into black smoke. Liam reappeared behind the creature and kicked in forward right into the fog of pure white freezing it midair before it could land or collide into anything.
Liam pushed off his back leg and continued his obstacle course.
“It’s no use,” the Lich called out. “As long as I can continue to channel more mana into it, it will continue to hunt you down. There is no escape for you. Only an icy hell!”
Liam scanned the area as he continued to juke and spin around each undead creature. Even though he had gotten a big increase to his stamina, he knew it wouldn’t last as long as the Lich could channel mana. He knew the monster’s mana pool was vastly bigger than his stamina pool. He wanted to have the creature keep using massive amount of mana on the spells he used before, but it looked like it backfired on him.
Liam only knew he could run for now. Run until he could figure a way to stop him from channeling his mana. As he spun around a Skeleton Warrior something caught Liam’s eye. He wasn’t entirely sure if what he saw was right and couldn’t chance another peek since he was surrounded by undead creatures that were trying to slow him down.
Instead, he let himself create a theory on what he saw. If his theory was right then there was a way. However, it was all dependent on him continuing to run. To run and freeze as many monsters as possible.
Like playing the old snake game, Liam turned right and after a few steps right again. Ducking, diving, dodging, juking, and spinning, Liam kept up with what he was doing. Three times he had to use Lunar Step and two times he had to use Shadow Step to get out of a sticky situation. A couple of those times he tripped over himself or bumped into a skeleton or zombie creature.
Him tripping over himself was due to over shooting for a spot as well as how heavy his body was starting to feel. However, he kept at it. He led the fog of pure white over all the monsters around the corner of the back right before making it back to the middle of the back area.
Once when he made it close to the area he had started he went to turn left, but as soon as he turned his body he felt it slide forward right into a frozen creature. The frozen undead shattered instantly upon impact and caused him to fall down face first.
Liam got up as quick as he could so he could start running again, however, he felt his limbs and muscles start to tense and grew icy cold. His ragged breathing took form right in front of him as panic started to grip hold. The cloud of pure white fog had caught up and was almost right on him.
With all his might, Liam willed himself to use Lunar Step once more. With it he reappeared right in front of the Lich. The Lich winced from seeing the flash, but it wasn’t enough to stop him from channeling his mana into his frightening spell. It was enough for him to cause a ripple in his channeling though.
Not really caring, the Lich said as he stared Liam down and said, “If you believe that my spell will harm me then you are mistaken. You have lost. There is nothing you can do to stop me.”
Liam stared back right into the eyes of the Lich. He stared at him for a brief moment before giving him a wicked smile. He then said with a smug tone, “You’re right. There’s nothing I can do…but that doesn’t apply to her.” He finished his sentence by pointing to his left.
The Lich, confused by this turned to look at where he was pointing. Standing not too far away with no undead in the way, was Ariyana.
The Lich then realized that she was chanting something. He wasn’t able to hear all of it. Just the last two parts.
“Cancel the sound that this caster needs to give life to their spell. Silence thy Spell!”
