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Chapter 13 - First floor Cleared

Chapter 13 - First floor Cleared

Entering my dungeon, the lich moved through the dark, winding corridors with confidence, only to find out that the layout of this building had completely changed. Bewildered yet determined, he continued to navigate the labyrinthian hallways. Only to bump into a wall once he made a noise, he detected something running towards him with the sounds echoing through the fortress. With an unknown assailant on his trail, the lich moved with even more haste. He didn't know what had happened to the fortress, but he knew something had inhabited it something not friendly.

After a while of running and winding through the corridors, he heard a different sound one not of flesh and bone but of steel and iron. The paladins had caught up and traced him to the fortress. He moved with even more haste and desperation, knowing the paladins were the worst possible enemy he could face. He could only hope what lay in this fortress could stop them.

After a while of running aimlessly, he had found it the throne room. Yet it was not a king that sat in the room, but a beast of great power and ferocity. The lich, battered and weakened, knew that even in his pitiful state he could defeat the foul beast, but he knew that it would weaken him more. And as the battle raged, the paladins would catch up and purge his soul along with the beast. So he waited and waited.

Once the paladins had taken out the few basalisks that lied in wait, they ventured into the throne room. Not to find an undead lich but a sleeping giant in its place. Once their metal armor and swords clamored and rang with the movement of the paladins in the room, the mighty beast awoke. Caecus, awoken by the men clad in silver, charged at these intruders, immediately killing one of the six men with a headbutt and rupturing all of his internal organs.

The men spread out in formation to tie the beast down and slay it. Yet Caecus would not go down easily. His pale tail slammed into one of the men; however, he had blocked the attack with a shield. Undeterred, the men began to strike at Caecus, cutting and slashing away at his flesh. Realizing the swords were dangerous, he donned earthen stone armor. Noticing the lizard's newfound protections, they charged with even more rigor, hoping to fell the beast before it could pull any tricks.

The armor Caecus wore was sturdy but not unbreakable or unbreachable, as stone could shatter and armor needed slits and empty spots to allow movement. As the paladins sliced and slashed at the weak points, Caecus knew he could not win this battle, and so, with desperation in his eyes, he targeted another paladin, one armed with a single longsword, which could not defend as well as a shield. He charged, his armor breaking away, leaving him vulnerable; however, his helmet grew stronger, heavier, and sturdier, utterly crushing the lone paladin, leaving only dented metal and flesh splattered across the walls.

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The paladins quickly slew the beast afterward; after all, being outnumbered and slowly weakened didn't help the beast's chances for survival. However, after the hard-fought battle, the lich was nowhere to be seen. After they said their prayers to the men who had lost the battle, they took their armor and weapons from their corpses and began to look for the lich. Only to find a throne with an empty stone hand sculpted on it. And behind the stone throne was a pit of darkness that stretched for who knows how long. After some discussion, they descended into the second.

The lich pondered as he walked across the caves of the second and reached his hands out to gracefully touch the ancient walls "These walls are old, very old. Fire... Yes, a great fire once burned here. I wonder what people drew on these ancient walls." As the lich walked through the narrow caves, he noticed a plume of ash and smoke slowly engulfing the caves. Yet as an undead, smoke and ash could not harm him, so he marched forth.

His vision was obscured, yet he could sense where each stone and crevice lay effortlessly, avoiding the traps the second had laid beforehand. The hero, leading his men towards the depths of the second, found himself and his men in a narrow cave. Navigating through the cave system, They saw something dark and vile something nay someone they had been looking for it was the Lich of Muoninsk. Surrounded by a pale gray fog of ash and cinder.

The hero spoke, "Undead! Surrender yourself, and we will give you a proper death."

The lich let out an ominous cackle. "Fools, each blinded by the light of Solon, do you not understand your predicament? Let me inform you that if you fight me, you will all surely die a horrible death. Do you notice the ashen smoke that surrounds us all? Soon it will encompass this entire cave system. Sure, you can fight me, but know this I will not go down easily, and if you defeat me, and that is still very uncertain, you will still die suffocating on the plumes of ashen smoke. Do you understand, preacher?"

The paladins hesitated, yet the hero stood firm and drew his blade. "You, Lich of Muoninsk, have killed thousands and defiled their bodies, keeping honest, good men away from salvation. Do you not think the chance to defeat an evil such as you, no matter how miniscule, would be seen by the gods above as the most virtuous thing a man could do? To sacrifice myself together with my men to slay an ancient evil would grant me no us an honorable death. Men charge!"

the lich raised his deathly staff and spoke "Fools."