After his eyes flash back on he starts chanting another spell, but I am not going to stand still. However, for now I ignore the lich and head for the two humans, they should be easier to kill. As I advance the two humans continue to try and drain my lifeforce, but it still doesn't work.

To be honest, I am not entirely sure why it isn't working, but I am glad it isn't. When I reach the first of the humans I swipe with my dagger and tear a line across his throat. To my surprise, the wound only bleeds a little bit and he doesn't die from it.

It must be an effect from the strange energy, either that or they aren't humans. A close up scan shows a heart beating in the chest, so I stab my dagger into it. This time the human dies, or at least he appears to, so I head for the second one.

Before I can reach the other human the lich finishes his next spell and I find myself encased in ice. The cold does some damage to me, but not too much and I am able to shatter it with my strength. By the time I free myself from the ice the lich is already casting another spell.

The human I was heading towards has turned away and is heading for the princess. As I chase after the human I turn my head and look at the lich who is chanting. A moment's concentration is all it takes for me to create and release a lightning bolt.

The bolt hits the lich head on, but I can't tell if it does any real damage to it. However, it does manage to interrupt his chanting and make him start over. The human is almost to the princess and I won't catch up in time, so I throw the dagger.

Because I was worried about his ribs stopping it, I may have thrown the dagger a bit too hard. Luckily the princess is on her knees so the dagger passes over her head and stops in a column. The human stops and just stares stupidly at the hole that appeared in his chest.

When the human falls, instead of going after my dagger I turn to face the lich. He is still casting a spell, but now that I am paying attention I can see the mana moving inside him. This is something I haven't seen before, but since I can see the mana, I can also use my mana to interrupt it.

Lich says "That's impossible! How did you counter my spell? How can you cast without chanting? Just what are you?!"

"I told you, I am the hero!"

Lich says "Wait, are you trying to claim you are a real hero? One of those summoned from another world? That is just a myth!!"

"Is it? Are you sure?"

The lich suddenly starts chanting again and I can see a huge amount of mana moving. It looks like he decided to use a huge spell on me, but I am not too worried. As his mana is moving it gives me a better chance to study his other energies.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

At the same time I am trying to see if he is tied to an object like the liches in D&D. However, I don't see anything like that, he seems to only be tied to his own bones. Although, the energy level in his skull is far higher than any of his other bones.

It looks like the concentration of energy in the head is what supports the lifeforce. If I am right then once Bones reaches a certain level of energy he should automatically gain lifeforce. That would make sense since as far as I know all undead can eventually evolve into intelligent undead.

It has a lot to do with what kind of strength and potential the body had before becoming an undead. Since I made Bones out of the bones of a drake he shouldn't have any problems in that regard. I still want to find some more intelligent undead to scan and compare though.

It doesn't look like I can learn anything else from the lich, so now I just need to kill it. The lich is still chanting his spell, almost all the mana in his body is becoming part of the spell. I see an opportunity to test a theory of mine, so I quickly move between the lich and the princess.

Then I create a tiny blade out of mana and use it to cut a tiny part of the spell the lich is creating. It is such a tiny change that the lich doesn't even notice it and just keeps chanting. Right as he is about to complete the spell I crouch in front of the princess and use my mana to create a shield.

When the lich completes his spell and tries to release it there is suddenly a huge explosion. It is so powerful that it blows the roof off of the cathedral and most of the walls collapse. As for the lich, I can't even find any bone dust after the explosion is over.

2 Half-Ghouls defeated! 40,000 Exp gained!

1 Level 18 Lich defeated! 180,000 Exp gained!

Princess says "What just happened?!"

"Ah, I sabotaged his spell. Specifically the part that allows the mana to leave his body and form the spell. Without that, all his mana was trapped in his body and so it went haywire."

Princess says "Did you know that would happen?!"

"Well, I had a pretty good idea!"

Princess says "But you weren't sure?!"

"If he had noticed what I did, it is possible he could have stopped it."

Princess says "That is not what I am asking. Did you know for sure that you could block the explosion?!"

"I was fairly sure that I could survive it."

Princess screams "So irresponsible!!!"

"Hey, it worked didn't it?"

Princess scowls and says "So, are you going to free me or did I just become your prisoner?"

Under the glare of the princess I walk over and retrieve my dagger, then I cut her free. Honestly, it is tempting to just walk away and leave her here to die. After all, I only wanted to prevent the lich from conquering the kingdom and I've done that.

"I will help you get out of the forbidden zone, after that you are on your own!"

Princess says "Wait, you don't want to claim the reward for saving me?!"

"Nope! Whatever it is, it wouldn't be worth the trouble!"

Princess says "What are you talking about? Getting us out of the forbidden zone will be the end of the trouble! Are you stupid?"

"The forbidden zone is easy! Not killing you will be the troublesome part!"

That shuts her up for a few seconds, then she gives me a death stare. Unfortunately for her, I have now had plenty of training in ignoring such stares. So, I shroud the both of us in mana and then lead her out of the cathedral.

From the look on her face she can't seem to understand why all of the undead are ignoring us. However, I don't bother to explain, I just lead her out of the forbidden zone as fast as I can. We don't say a single word to each other the entire walk out of the ruins.