Chapter 76
Once I joined the front line alongside my minions, the melee fight quickly resolved. The power of the greater zombies was truly magnificent. The fight was over, I collected all the death cores, though there wasnt as many this time. It appeared as if the fighters slain by the greater zombies did not generate death cores, which was fine.
I had the bodies piled up in the middle of the room, and while Raven scouted the two side rooms, I cast my spell. Instead of creating more singularly powerful zombies, I simply used a mass raise dead. The stairway leading down was quite wide, so a horde would be more useful.
I absorbed all of the death cores, having used quite a bit of death energy since entering this place and I need to restore my stores of the energy. Passive regeneration would take too long, like mana and health, the number represented in my stat sheet was only the maximum amount that was possible to generate over time. The interesting thing was that death energy regenerated quicker when in combat, which likely had to do with the creatures dying around me. Once I was out of combat the rate dropped off.
Absorbing the cores restored all my expended death energy and got me another ten levels in my death coreI really hadnt been adding very many to it at the time. By going up against more powerful foes though, the cores I gain seemed to have regained their efficiency in giving core levels. There was certainly some correlation that I didnt want to take the time to figure out.
Once my spell was cast, I moved to the door to my left, where Raven and Maxwell waited. This is where they make the people, Maxwell said quietly, and a disgusted look crossed his face. The other side appears to be a storeroom for supplies, and they had cages for people in there as well.
Forewarned about what was awaiting me, I entered the room as my mass raise dead spell began to take effect on the pile of bodies. I had ordered the greater zombies to organize and corral the undead toward the stairway leading down.
Despite knowing what I was going to find, the room made me wish I could vomit. A large ritual was laid out that glowed with a dark red energy similar to what that caster had thrown at me. I walked around the ritual, studying the diagram. Toward the middle the magic changed, and I began to recognize blood magic. It was rudimentary and crude compared to what wed witnessed in the ziggurat. To the point that I doubted they were part of the same cult. This was something newa new to me faction of blood magic users at any rate.
I didnt fully understand the ritual, though no magic flowed through it. From the piles of withered desiccated husks of bodies scattered along the edges of the room, I wagered a guess on what the ten circles around the outside of the diagram were for. Periodically, there were other circles where no doubt different supplies were added, and at the center were chains made of bloodred metal.
How do we destroy this? Maxwell asked.
The thing about rituals is that theyre relatively easy to disturb when non-powered. Once magic begins to fill it, the runic lines gain a certain amount of resistance to being changed. Were not going to destroy it. Were going to booby-trap it.
Thankfully, its much easier to tamper with a ritual than to understand it. And like I said before, I knew quite a bit about ritual magic. Using the tip of Mercy like a pencil, I began to modify a few of the runes in very subtle and careful ways. The particular runic language wasnt one I was familiar with, but I still added my own runes, careful to make them look similar. At a cursory inspection the ritual still appeared the same, but if they tried to use it the effects would be quite different.
The sabotage didnt take long, and I left the room feeling better. If anyone tried and use that thing again it would be very bad for them. Back out in the corridor, the greater zombies had corralled the new horde of zombies at the stairs. I had been expecting reinforcements to come storming up, but none came. If anyone were to come from deeper they wouldve already found their way here.
With a nod to the others, I gave a mental command and my horde continued down the stairs. The two casters had also been turned into zombies, but unfortunately the spell I used did not allow the bodies to retain any of the skills they once had. They were nothing more than mindless minions. Out of the zombies I just created, there were only a handful of stronger melee fighters that were worth noting. Even still, as the horde disappeared, many had multiple missing arms or were even crawling on the ground missing a leg or two. They would not last long, but they would be good cannon fodder.
Maxwell began a tune that echoed through the chamber. The magic amplified my minions, upping their speed.
We followed them down, and I kept my ears open for the sound of conflict. There wasnt any. I ordered my greater zombies to take contingents of the lesser zombies and spread out through whatever they found down below.
When we reached the bottom of the deceptively long flight of stairs, only the bludgeoner remained at the base of the stairs. A cavern lay before us, big enough that the four separate groups of zombies each under the command of a greater zombie had a significant distance between them as they explored.
At the far end of the cavern was the gaping mouth of a tunnel that led even deeper, and a small building nestled near it. What are the chances this connects to Tehomal? Maxwell asked.
Who knows? I murmured.
While I couldnt see anything, I got the sense something waited for us there.
What is Tehomal? Raven asked as I carefully led the way across the rugged floor of the cavern.
Its the world beneath, Maxwell explained. In all honesty, we dont know much about it. Ive only heard of a few players exploring it and those that do are either very secretive about what they find, or are too weak to explore. All that is known is that its a vast maze of caverns, tunnels, underground lakes, and even oceans. There are civilizations down there that are just as vast and powerful as anything on the surface.
That sounds exciting. Ravens gaze fixed on the tunnel leading deeper.
That is not any place for us right now, I said. Maybe one day, but for now we best be careful.
I reached out to one of the greater zombies that was near the hut and told it to approach while I pulled the other three back toward me. To my surprise, the greater zombie I ordered did not approach himself, and instead sent several of its zombies out. It was the smart move to do but was not the order it was given. Maybe the reason why they hadnt produced death cores from the people they killed even though they were one of my minions, was that they had absorbed the death energy themselves. That was a topic I promised myself to explore later. Technically since they were my minions they counted as an extension of my power and so their kills shouldve still generated death cores.
The caution of the greater zombie proved to be warranted, for as soon as the three zombies he sent forward stumbled within ten meters of the hut, there was a blur of motion, and they were cut to ribbons. I ordered the greater zombie to fall back to me, even as I built a spell. Whatever was there knew we were coming.
I released a bolt of death lightning across the cavern just as whatever had attacked charged. My precognition gave me just enough warning to predict where to fire. My attack caught whatever it was by surprise. The bolt of lightning sent it tumbling back and briefly lit the cavern in eerie purple light.
The contrast of the light allowed me to get a better look at what this creature was. While I could see in the dark, the colors were often monochromatic. The creature was a humanoid with pale skin, almost albino, wearing bloodred robes, and had red hair so dark it was almost black.
I dont suppose we could convince you to return to whatever, hole you crawled out of? I asked. Whatever this thing was it made me uneasy. There was no point in risking a fight that might actually end my life if I didnt absolutely have to.
Ive heard of sending a snake down a mouse hole to rid yourself of pests, the mans voice was cruel and powerful. Ive just never seen it in action. Where did they find a Lich of all things to root me out? They mustve been really annoyed.
Im just doing a job, I responded. I dont have to kill you. If you leave, as far as my employer is concerned, it will be mission accomplished.
I can appreciate that, the man chuckled. But I think Ill stick around, even with the setback youve cost me, this is quite the profitable business.
I sighed. Why are bad guys always like this?
A Lich calling me the bad guy? He laughed. The irony there, and it appears youre not even that powerful of Lich, studying you will be quite fascinating.
The effect of Maxwells music had amplified as I talked with this strange humanoid creature. It was part of the reason I stopped to talkwe would need all the advantage we could get. Raven was no doubt lurking somewhere in the shadows waiting for her moment to strike.
I concentrated on another spell and ordered the greater zombies and bludgeoner to fall back to me and use the lesser zombies as a flesh wall.
Even before they were finished falling back, the man created a bloodred blade made of what appeared to be actual blood drawn from his own body. He moved remarkably fast, and I couldnt get a read on his actual level, but my sense put him a little stronger than I was.
The man tore through the zombies nearest him, but he didnt quite catch the last fleeing greater zombie before he pushed his way through the line of zombies that had formed in front of me.
The bludgeoner, now fully healed, met the pale mans charge. It was a bad matchup. The bludgeoner was unarmored aside from the natural armor of its tough skin, and it lacked fast attacks. That brief fight did buy me the time to complete my spell. A wave of death magic flowed out of me, amplifying the power of all my minionsmy most powerful buffing spell, further enhanced by death energy. As the resulting headache made me stumble, Raven darted in, slashing at the man with her daggers. I pulled up my last remaining mana potion and drank it.
Ravens speed was equal to or a little faster than the pale mans, and she landed a few shallow cuts before being driven back by the blood blade. I ordered my minions to attack and the zombies swarmed. My mana restored, I joined my greater zombies and we moved as a unit to attack.
The bludgeoner was cut to ribbons by this point, well beyond the ability to regenerate despite the buffing spell. But the regular zombies, while not great fighters, benefited greatly from regeneration. Wounds that wouldve debilitated them healed at rapid rates, and he could not outpace the damage being dealt to his body. In a horde, the cumulative regenerating health was truly massive. As one zombie would get pushed back or incapacitated another would take its place before the pale man could finish it off.
However, he was still felling zombies. That changed as I entered the fight with my greater zombies. Two of them had shields and long swords, while another two held heavy hammers. I of course had Mercy. I changed it into a straight, sharp blade with a large cross guard. It was more of a defensive posture, which was fine. The blade staff was a weapon that, while hard to learn, held powerful defensive options along with the ability to deal out immense damage.
I pushed my way to the front and engaged the pale man. This close, I could see he had pointed ears, and realized he was some kind of elf. His eyes also had a dark red tint that made him look even more albino.
With a snarl, the pale man released a pulse of crimson energy, and the magic ate at me. Once again it was some kind of blood magic, and the shockwave devastated the remaining zombies. I sincerely hoped he didnt have very much of that magic left. My greater zombies weathered the storm and moved in even as Raven continued to harry him.
Dark bolts of magic hammered into his blind spots wherever Raven saw openings, while I did my best to keep his attention on me. I kept Mercy moving, deflecting blades, slashing out when able, and just trying to stay ahead of him.
His weapon left behind excruciating wounds. They festered with a kind of corrupted blood magic. If I werent undead, I can only imagine just how dangerous those wouldve been. But I had no blood for them to corrupt, instead it was just a war between the vital energy contained in his blood magic and my nature as a death creature. Even still, I ground my teeth in pain. He didnt escape unscathed. I left a fair score of festering wounds, and the greater zombies were managing to get through his guard.
Except the pale man also had massive regenerative abilities. The wounds normally left by Mercy were nearly impossible to heal under typical means, but this guys magic literally forced it out of his body. Blows from the greater zombies left wounds and bruises that healed at a visible rate. The pale mans clothes were shredded, revealing flesh covered in bloodred tattoos.
I was certain that by myself I couldnt beat him. Not between his speed and any damage I dealt leaving no kind of lasting effect. Knowing I needed to change my approach, I growled and sprang back. He tried to pursue me, but the greater zombies blocked him.
Mercy began to glow with purple magic, channeling a pure destruction spell that would cause everything it touched to wither and die.
I formed Mercy into a javelin and hurled it at the pale elf. Right when it was about to impact, he twirled and knocked it aside, sending it flying into the air. Before it got out of range I summoned it back to my hand, reshaping it into a needlelike tip. My greater zombies were being whittled down by the mans blood weapon, and their flesh festered and corroded where the weapon left wounds.
Instead of joining back in and drawing his attention, I launched penetrating attacks that were hard to block. We kept it up until the man was on the defensive and I landed a blow into his thigh. The needle tip of Mercy bit in and the death magic flooded his body.
He screamed and a red glow surrounded him. It didnt fully heal the damage done to his leg, but suddenly he was moving even faster. Raven had darted in, and his acceleration caught her by surprise. His blood weapon came for her and she let out a yelp. There was little she could do to dodge the attack, but one of the greater zombies interposed himself and took the blow on his leg.
The weapon sliced through and the zombie collapsed, only for it to grab his leg and hold it in place until my buffing spell regenerated him. The pale elf moved to finish the greater zombie off, but another one step to protect him. They were portraying far more self-preservation and teamwork than I expected. I struck with Mercy again, the mans distraction and thirst for the kill gave me another opening, and I drove it into the small of his back.
It was a very lucky blow. He arched in pain as I deposited a payload of death magic and energy at the base of his spine. The magic ate away at the nerve tissue contained within the spine and he lost use of his legs. Energy flooded to the wound trying to fix it.
The greater zombies rained blows down, and soon his arms and legs were crippled. The fight was over. Before the greater zombies killed him, I stopped them.
Seeing the teamwork of the zombies had given me an idea.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel