“I’m getting some serious déjà vu,” Xander said as he sprinted down the hall. Fond memories of past encounters flooded his mind, but they were nothing like this. Running was much easier than it had ever been before. The demons that chased him were much slower than livestock, and the team’s fleeing skills were exceptionally high. It wasn’t hard to outrun the monsters that pursued them with weapons in hand. Escaping danger was practically the team's signature skill. This may as well have been a leisurely stroll through a park. It was inspiring to see yet another benchmark on how much The Unnamed Team had grown.
“Just shut up and run!” Nicholas yelled. He wasn’t in the mood to reflect on the team’s growth. He’d rather get out of the situation. Spells and arrows were hurled at them and grew dangerously more accurate with each attempt. The pursuing demons were learning to cope with The Unnamed Team's evasive skills. It wouldn’t be long before a member was struck and they were forced into a fight. Unfortunately, the corridor they found themselves in wasn’t optimal for combat, and the four needed to preserve their strength for the final fight against the Demon King. Running, although cowardly, was the best option.
“Follow me!” Rex shouted as he rounded a corner. Several doors had presented themselves. Finally, a way to escape this nightmare. It may have been risky to blindly enter an unknown room, but any other area was better than where the team was at now. If anything, the four heroes could simply barricade themselves and prepare for the demon army to follow. The team could use the narrow door as a funnel and eliminate enemies as they entered the chamber. It was a solid plan, at least when compared to the previous order which only involved running in terror.
Rex randomly selected a door and kicked it open with an absurd amount of strength. He didn't have a moment to waste. Not even the newly revealed pitch-black room was enough to sway him. The slight hesitation that paralyzed his body was pushed aside when the other three heroes crashed into him, sending the four tumbling into the unknown. The door slammed shut behind, and the sounds of a horde of demons running by echoed in the darkness. Minutes passed before everyone let out a sigh of relief. The danger was gone. The four heroes steadily rose to their feet. Without the sense of sight, every movement was handled with care. The four simultaneously move to grab and light their torches.
“Is it safe?” Robyn said as she reached into her bag. The team’s mage could make a small fire, but it was best to carry multiple torches. Dividing up responsibilities could wait for when the team finally established a light source. Thankfully, it didn’t take long for one to appear. It took the form of a small orb that radiated a soft blue light. Normally, this would have been a welcome sight, but The Unnamed Team found it odd. No one on the team was capable of using the spell [Mage Light], which created these small orbs. It was then that the room was revealed, and a skeleton presented itself…literally.
“Why, hello there!” The skeleton said. It stepped into the light so that everyone could see it. The voice was masculine, but it was impossible to understand how an undead could speak. The boney creature waved its hand in a polite gesture. Its general mannerisms seemed friendly, but it was far too soon to decide that. The Unnamed Team had never encountered such a creature. They weren't sure how to react nor were they in the proper mindset to process the scene. All they could do was scream.
“The skeleton just talked!” Rex said. This was like something out of a nightmare. No matter how they looked at it, the skeleton was that of a human. Were they going to up like this deceased person if they failed to defeat the Demon King? Such a fate seemed worse than death. All four members of The Unnamed Team stepped back and pressed themselves against the wall. They were stuck between an angry horde of demons and a skeleton capable of magic. Both were equally terrifying. In their frazzled minds, the skeleton might have been more frightening simply because it could talk.
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“I’m not a skeleton. I’m a lich. Well, elder lich.” The skeleton said. It gestured to itself as if to say look at me. Its identity should have been self-explanatory, but The Unnamed Team wasn’t known for their expansive knowledge of all monsters. If they had been, they would have been much calmer. Simply looking at the facts would reveal that they were in no danger.
Skeletons were mindless creatures that hated the living and attacked anything alive. Liches and elder liches retained most of their memories from their original life and were driven by their deep-rooted desires from that life. The main difference between an elder lich and a normal lich was their age. Younger liches lacked experience, knowledge, and the like in return for their flesh and complexion that could pass as their original race. Conversely, elder liches were much more powerful but lost all of their body except for the bones.
“Uh, nice to meet you?” Nicholas said. He wasn’t sure how to respond. Skeleton. Lich. Elder lich. He roughly knew about each different monster based on some books he read and video games played in his past life, but that knowledge was probably useless in this world. In those stories, elder liches were reserved as bosses. They were extremely powerful and not ones to be trifled with, yet this one seemed relaxed. Too relaxed.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Where are my manners? I’m Skull. It might be a rudimentary name, but it was the one my master chose for me. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” The elder lich said. It tapped its skull and shrugged its shoulders. From the voice to its general mannerisms, Skull seemed like a genuine human. It almost felt wrong to refer to the skeleton as it. Then again, it wasn’t as if they’d hurt Skull’s feelings by using the wrong pronouns. At least, they hoped it wasn’t that easy.
“You’re not, like, going to attack us?” Xander asked. The other three adventurers let out a sigh and silent curse. That question was probably best left unsaid. The Unnamed Team was trapped in a small room with a powerful caster as their next potential opponent. Indirectly asking Skull to fight was probably not the best decision Xander had made as of late. Fortunately, the elder lich seemed to be far from what a normal person would expect.
“Attack you? Heavens no. The Demon King might have told everyone to stay alert and apprehend you, but I don’t follow his orders.” Skull said. The faceless skeleton couldn’t smile, but the joy wasn’t hidden behind the voice. It was audibly giddy to announce that it didn’t follow the Demon King’s orders. Normally, the team would have been delighted to hear the news. They didn’t have to fight this terrifying monster. They could gleefully leave with a bounce in their step if they chose to. Unfortunately, it wasn’t that easy. It never was.
“You’ve gone rogue?” Rex asked. He refused to lower his weapon. Skull never said anything about letting The Unnamed Team go. All it said was that it wouldn’t attack or apprehend them. That alone generated too many questions. Something had to be wrong with this elder lich. Otherwise, why would the Demon King leave an insubordinate minion in his domain? Was the elder lich a dark magician that was too valuable to kill? Was it kept around for sentimental reasons? Many possible answers presented themselves, but reality proved to be disappointing.
“More like Demon King Chris was the one who summoned and owned me. Much like that cocky slime, I’ll only ever follow orders from him.”