“You disrespectful worm! How dare you, how dare you make a mockery of me!” The Lich screamed as the large spike of mana can be felt in the area. While making his opponent angry is what Sylvester would typically want, it is however a very risky tactic when it is applied on a battlefield where one's life is on the line.

Nevertheless, he needed to make sure the Lich’s attention was solely only him so he wouldn't notice the fact that the remaining survivors of the town were being gathered on one spot and safeguarded.

Liches might be a dime a dozen nowadays, but one should not take them so lightly. Even now, one mistake could cost Sylvester his life.

“Ah right, the guy’s really mad now.” He remarked to himself as he looked around the now destroyed houses around him.

“Tch, if this was a closed off room it would have been easier to just avoid this guy forever with Smoke and Mirrors. Even if I tried to just remain invisible I’m sure these ghouls would smell me, plus me going invisible is pretty much counter intuitive if I wanted to get his attention.” He complained inwardly.

“It’s rather unfortunate, but him suddenly calling out more ghouls has basically forced me to prematurely use my dark strings trap. At the very least I still have my invisible platforms.” His thoughts continued as he quietly assessed his ever developing situation, trying his best to play his cards right.

“Honestly, if mr Tindy didn’t eat my exorcism seals I could have a decent shot at taking this guy down on my own.” As he went on with his thought experiments, a black whirl of energy was aimed directly at his position.

Sylvester reacted by flying off to the side using gravity shift to point him towards an invisible platform he had placed there earlier.

However, the Lich’s assault was not over as he immediately followed it up with another large fireball. Thankfully, Sylvester’s knight of hearts went between him and the attack and managed to take full brunt of the damage using its heart shaped shield.

The Spade archer then fired an arrow aimed at the Lich while Sylvester used the spell burst finger to add additional pressure. Two ghouls then leapt in defense of their master, their bodies instantly pierced and destroyed by Sylvester and his Shikigami’s attacks.

It soon dawned on Sylvester that he was starting to get encircled now as more ghouls started appearing from all over.

“Damn it. Even with my assistants it would be difficult to hold off this many ghouls.” He thought as he started to move in a retreating motion while careful not to turn his back towards the Lich.

“Thankfully I don’t feel tired yet, but if this drags for too long I will be at a disadvantage.” He thought as the ghouls started creeping closer.

“Those guys should be done with saving as many people as they could. I think I should add some additional directions aside from the very obvious mana source they would be sensing.” But his thoughts were interrupted with the raspy voice of a gloating corpse.

“What’s the matter magician? Why are you so silent all of a sudden? Where did all that bravery go?” The nameless Lich  declared with a mocking tone.

“Funny you should ask Lich. I was thinking of a way to make this more fun!” Sylvester declared as he raised his hand upward, primed in a finger gun gesture.

Gathering mana into his index finger, he now used the spell that he knows would be best for catching people’s attention.

“Flashy fireworks!” He yelled as a glowing orb launched itself from his finger and reached high into the sky.

Once at a certain height the orb then exploded into a bright display in the shape of a tophat positioned upside down, with rabbit ears peeking from the mouth.

“Nice, now our battle has a more festive feel to it. Makes it a bit more lighthearted and fun!” Sylvester declared as the Lich began to laugh.

“Even now you still dare to think little of me?” The lich responded in an eerie tone. “Fine. If you wish to be destroyed that badly, I will comply.”

The Lich then spread his arms wide as a bluish glow can be seen on its empty eye sockets. As the mana once again began to rise, the Lich began chanting another spell.

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“Eternal hunger, devouring instinct!” The Lich shouted as a violet magic circle started to appear underneath his feet.

“Uh oh.” Sylvester said as he tried to interrupt the casting by shooting the Lich in the face with burst finger. However, his attacks were blocked by the ghouls who were still trying to defend their master.

“A feast on the flesh, a feast on the soul!” The Lich declared as he looked at Sylvester. He could sense a hungry gaze coming from the Lich despite its lack of eyes, and it was enough for Sylvester to attempt to flee.

“There is no escape now worm! Now, your strength will belong to me! Devouring chains of corruption!”

As these words escaped the Lich’s mouth, spectral dark violet chains that looked like they were made from various internal organs appeared out of the magic circle and launched themselves towards Sylvester’s position.

Sylvester initially managed to avoid it by using the trapdoor and invisible platform combo. But as soon as he managed to escape, the chains easily destroyed the platform and the door itself.

Sylvester evaded and dodged as best as he could diving and ducking through multiple doors and platforms as he made sure those disgusting looking tendrils didn't reach him.

“I see, you are rather talented aren’t you? How about we make it a little bit harder?” The Lich said as additional flesh chains appeared from the circle.

“Ah shit!” Was all Sylvester could say as more disgusting things went his way. He tried to shoot them away with a burst finger and burst akimbo, but it all proved useless as the Lich would simply summon more.

However, Sylvester still managed to keep ahead simply because of the combination of chain casting and Capacity refresh as he never really had to think about his mana consumption. As long as he doesn’t make a mistake, he can avoid doom indefinitely. But we all know how this goes.

After Sylvester sucessfully dodged another purple tendril, he decided he would land on the ground and here lies his error as he slipped upon contact with the blood soaked cobblestones.

“I got you now!” The Lich declared as he sent out all the black tendrils he had out. Sylvester’s assistants however tried to stand in its way but the flesh chains simply changed direction and avoided them much to Sylvester’s surprise.

He then tried to escape using a trapdoor but it was just a second too late as two chains managed to tie themselves to his feet.

The two assistants tried to cut him loose but they too were caught and bound by the flesh chains. Soon, more bounds came and tied up Sylvester’s hands and legs.

Sylvester then felt his mana being drained the moment those chains made contact with his body and immediately knew what the spell was used for.

“Now, you vermin, you shall feed me your strength! Die with the knowledge that you had become a stepping stone for someone as great as I!” The Lich declared, however Sylvester only let out a loud laugh in response.

“You, have you gone mad? Why do you laugh!?” The Lich asked in a perplexed tone.

“Because it's funny! I just didn’t think you would be presenting such a golden opportunity for me.” He said as he tensed up and intensified his Capacity refresh much to the Lich’s confusion.

“What’s the meaning of this? Why is your mana rising?” The Lich asked.

“How about a lesson mr Lich? Didn’t you know that there were two types of mana? Namely Internal and External.” Sylvester asked only to get no reply from his enemy.

“Hmm, it seems you didn’t. I don’t know how you ancient folks practiced your magic but I am certain you’re using a variation of Internal condensation and that means you use Internal mana.” Sylvester paused as he continued to intensify his refresh rate as the Lich started to feel a violent turmoil within his body.

“You, what are you doing!?” The Lich asked as Sylvester continued to laugh.

“Let me show you what happens when someone who doesn’t know how to balance internal and external, try to attempt to marry the two!” Sylvester declared as the Lich’s body began to convulse and emit a blueish glow.

“What’s wrong oh great Lich!? Wasn’t I going to be a stepping stone for your return!?” Sylvester screamed.

“Curse you!” The Lich yelled as he cancelled the spell immediately in order to stop the ill effects it was having on his body, but it was too late as the unbalanced flow of mana caused his body to rupture and explode.

Sylvester then fell on the floor, feeling extremely exhausted as absorbing that much mana over a short period of time is taxing on his body. However, his enemy quickly regenerated despite the massive damage done to his body.

As Sylvester was trying to chase his breath, more ghouls in the vicinity tried to attack him. Thankfully, his assistants weren’t destroyed by the mana drain as he was able to stop it quickly. Still, this put Sylvester in a dire situation.

“I will admit. That scheme of yours was rather frightening, but this is the end of the line for you! Piercing curse!”

Sylvester could only watch as the Lich casted another spell while his body was still feeling the effects of the intense capacity refresh.

“Damn it! Get up get up!” Sylvester shouted from within his mind as he struggled to even get on his knees. 

As a violet spear manifested in the Lich’s hands, it stood there with a gloating smile as it was sure that victory was in its grasp.

“It’s all over for you. Now die!”

The Lich then threw the spear in Sylvester direction when suddenly a bright figure descended down in front of him. It was a woman with bright and brilliant wings and silver hair and her abrupt arrival brought a wide smile on Sylvester’s face.

“Luminous Barrier!” The woman shouted as a brilliant dome made from particles of light formed around Sylvester and his savior, blocking the Lich’s attack.

“Well would you look at that. Unfortunately for you Lich, the goddess of victory smiles upon me.” Sylvester uttered a joke to his friend. To Rossa.