Anton stopped casting spells and observed what the army of the undead led by the liches and the vampires would do. Suddenly he saw something unbelievable. Something was forming in the middle of the two liches that made him a bit wary. He thought that it was some sort of attack spell but when the phenomenon ended, he saw that the third lich who burst earlier had formed again.

He remembered that in games and books, liches had some sort of phylactery and that they would revive using that item. Liches were not supposed to get destroyed unless you destroy their phylactery as well so something like that could be the case with them as well.

Once the third lich was fully formed, some sort of magical message was transmitted to Anton.

“We admit that you are very powerful, archmage, but so is the Undead Coalition. Since you made yourself our enemy, we will make sure that you, your family, your friends, and your countrymen will become the lowest undead minion that will destroy the city where you spawned. Allow us to pass and will turn you into a lich and if you survive, you can become a member of our grand council.”

The voice was creepy, like something coming out of a grave and it would have had a much greater significant impact on Anton if he weren’t bombarded by the entertainment media from Earth. The voice actors on Earth were very talented and could rival and even exceed the creepiness factor of that voice.

It did one thing to Anton though, the threat it conveyed regarding the destruction of his family and friends made his blood boil. He opened his inventory and made sure that Full Rejuvenation potions were ready then he teleported near the army but still outside their magic barrier. He then used his maxed Telekinesis to hold one of the vampires that were near the three liches and made sure that the vampire would not be able to move even the tiniest amount. He lifted the vampire and brought it to him.

Anton then flew backward bringing the vampire with him and when he thought that he was far enough, he began casting Meteor and Frozen Orb again.

Suddenly one of the liches burst again but this time, Anton prepared himself since he got an inkling that the lich bursting was a prelude to a powerful spell attack. He brought the vampire that he was holding and hid it behind him so he was shielding it then he received the attack from the liches.

Seventy percent of his mana and fifty percent of his HP disappeared so he drank the Full Rejuvenation immediately and everything became full again. A second lich burst so he prepared himself again then he received the massive attack again so he drank a second Full Rejuvenation potion.

The vampires surrounding the lone lich remaining had looked of horror and worry on their faces when they saw that Anton wasn’t affected by the powerful spells that the lich cast that they even needed to sacrifice themselves to be able to cast it.

Anton then heard a crack again and saw the actual cracks on the magic barrier that the liches made. He then suddenly saw that the army of the undead began moving backward. They were retreating and soon, they were out of his casting range.

The army of the undead kept retreating and soon the magic barrier disappeared or was brought down by the lich. Anton thought of teleporting and attacking the undead again but then he didn’t want to really provoke them that would cause the undead coalition to actually focus on him.

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At this time, he only destroyed a few undead minions and captured one vampire since he knew that the two liches who burst were not actually destroyed and would soon coalesce from their phylactery or something.

Soon the undead army was out of sight so he brought the vampire near him and released the telekinetic force that was keeping the vampire from speaking.

He first cast Ice Blast on one of the vampire’s arms and destroyed it causing the vampire to shout in agony. He waited for a bit to check if the vampire would be able to regrow his arm and it actually started doing so he cast Fire Bolt on the growing arm and Ice Bolt to freeze the part that was regenerating and that kept the arm from regrowing.

All the while, the vampire kept screaming in agony but Anton wasn’t feeling any sort of guilt in torturing the monster. It may even be acting.

“Now talk or I will destroy all of your limbs one by one,” Anton told the vampire and he made sure that he was very calm since based on the movies and books that he had seen and read, it was more effective if he behaved calmly instead of showing anger and frustration.

It worked since soon the vampire asked what he wanted to know so Anton asked it to tell what happened to the cities behind them.

“We already destroyed and converted all of the citizens of the cities before Tiande to undead minions. We’re still at war with Tiande and Leminthor and we are now attacking Ruandelle. We sent an army towards Zalnothel but we planned to destroy the surrounding villages and towns before the wizard city since we knew that the wizard city was very powerful and would be able to destroy a single undead army without any problem. We just want to send a threat to make sure that the Zalnothel wouldn’t take part in our bid to conquer the surrounding territories of the Undead Coalition.”

“Did you know that there’s a wizard in the caravan that arrived in this village?”

“We knew that caravans that came out of Ruandelle had wizards but knew that those mages would be weak. We didn’t expect that this caravan had an archmage.”

“Do you know that spell that the liches cast that needed one of them to burst?”

“Yes. That was supposed to be a sure kill spell that a lich can cast but they would need a second lich to sacrifice half of the life remaining in their phylactery. It was supposed to be able to kill an archmage but the fact that you were able to survive three casting of that spell made the liches aware that you are a mighty archmage indeed.”

“Does that mean that the three liches wouldn’t be able to cast those spells again?”

“Yes, but I recommend that you don’t attack the army because even though you can destroy the army, the liches would survive since their phylacteries are with the Undead Coalition and they can leave a curse to you that you might not be able to dispel that would cause all of the undead to focus on you until you and everyone that surrounds you are destroyed.”

Anton then asked the vampire if he had any sort of treasure with him.

“I have my storage ring with me and as an elder vampire, it contains all of the treasure that I collected in my lifetime and they are considerable. If you allow me to leave with my life, I will give you my ring and will remove the spell that would destroy it if I die.”

Anton simply nodded and the vampire indicated that the ring was in a golden chain that it was wearing.

When Anton held the ring, the vampire made some movement and some sort of red smoke disappeared from the ring. Although based on the reaction of his auras, there was still a curse remaining on the ring but it was dispelled by his Prayer Aura. He was so glad that his Prayer Aura was able to dispel curses but he got an inkling that a more powerful aura would be needed to dispel powerful curses.

The vampire looked very surprised when another smoke appeared from the ring. It was a dark purple smoke and it confirmed the fact that the vampire was expecting the remaining curse on the storage ring to damage Anton.