When I woke up I could see absolutely nothing, but I knew perfectly well that in the time I was dead my kingdom had already lost the war. We had all lost the war.
[levels successfully reset]
I didn't know how it was that I had survived, I remembered my death too accurately and graphically and yet between dreams I was able to see how the kingdom I helped build was completely devastated in a matter of days.
[you have acquired the legendary race: Lich].
I watched as the world I had sworn to protect and which I had considered a hero for many years of my life was consumed without me being able to do anything.
[you have acquired the legendary class: Necromancer]
I opened my eyes slowly, all I saw around me were hard white objects. The first thing I thought was that they were bones, since the texture was practically the same.
I began to move through the pile of corpses as best I could, at that moment I felt too weakened. Over the years I had become so powerful that I was now unable to remember a situation in which I felt all my strength so reduced.
The effort that before I would have put in killing a dragon with my hands was now being invested to climb between some bones avoiding any of them to hurt me too deeply.
I didn't know if I was going up or down or if those concepts even existed anymore. But moving in either direction was a more practical decision than standing still for another 1000 years.
I finally made it to the top and the white of the thousand year old corpses had been replaced by an almost absolute black in the sky. Up there the only thing breaking through the blackness were giant, rotting eyes that boasted their omniscience in a world that had absolutely nothing left to hide.
I looked to my sides. Among the snow now rested pieces of dead flesh that for centuries had refused to rot, the surrounding mountains had begun to fall with the passage of time, the vegetation was virtually gone, there was no sign that any living human had been here in far too long.
This had all been my fault
The homunculus king had achieved his goal of awakening. I know my presence in the battle probably wouldn't have made much difference, but at least my death would have been much more dignified compared to what it ended up being.
If the kingdom of Kaazar died I was supposed to die with it, that was what I swore, that was what I had lived for since I agreed to be an adventurer. Now not only had I died before that happened, I had also revived afterwards.
I looked at my hands for the first time after a long time. My skin had turned completely white and in one of my hands rested what appeared to be a razor.
The reflection of the weapon was too clean considering the environment it was in and all the time that must have passed. In its reflection I could see that both my face and my hair had also turned white and that now my gaze looked like that of an undead.
I was now a Lich now, unable to die, unable to live. I was probably all that was left in this dead land but I felt it might be at least a little worthwhile to check if absolutely everything had gone to shit.
I walked up a hill until I saw it, it was the ruins of a large town covered in snow. That was the old town of Iztakaf, my hometown.
I ran as fast as I could. The place brought back memories, I started my adventure the day one of the vampire counts destroyed it with a powerful storm and I was the only survivor of that event.
When I was about to become king I decided to radically remodel the place, I wanted it to become a much more relevant city instead of a town that few knew. But when I arrived I saw how the great structures that at some point I had erected in the past had been destroyed.
The irony seemed infinite, it was the destruction of the town that started me on my path as an adventurer and now I was there after its second destruction after the end of my path as an adventurer .
Perhaps I had some curse that condemned those around me, perhaps the blame for the whole apocalypse had been mine and the gods wanted to punish me right now by making me live in my own blood the consequences of my own existence.
My thoughts were interrupted when a putrid liquid began to flow around my feet and ankles. That stuff looked like the product of the accumulation of several corpses in the worst possible conditions.
When I turned around I saw a tentacle coming towards me, I turned quickly to dodge it with difficulty and saw it.
It was a Goblin, but it was a very different one from those I had ever faced.
That creature was over 5 meters tall, its body was made of a slimy black material with several tentacles for feet and all over it were what appeared to be corpses of other Goblin-like creatures that refused to die despite the weather.
[enemy detected] [Goblin homunculus lvl 5]
The beast let out a roar and his wrath shook the lifeless ground.
He attacked again with his tentacles. My speed was greater despite the level difference.
I dodged his attacks with precise movements, each missed attack for him was for me the opportunity to be able to give him an accurate cut with my razor as I made my way towards his body
[Goblin homunculus has lost 1 health]. [Goblin homunculus has lost 1 health]. [Goblin homunculus has lost 1 health].
That situation had become too annoying, with so little damage it would take me too long to kill even the weakest of Goblins. I had no idea how little damage I would be doing to a beast I had never seen before.
In a moment I made a mistake and the creature grabbed me by the ankle to drag me into its maw.
[you have lost 5 health points]
I tried to defend myself but at that moment another of its tentacles squeezed my right hand to prevent it from attacking again.
[you lost 30 pts of health] [critical hit]
Attempts to exert force against him were completely futile as my arm was torn off when I tried to fight back and instead of the usual blood the floor was stained by a black lich that I had only ever seen come out of vampires.
[You have lost 40 pts of health] [health in critical state] [You have lost 40 pts of health] [health in critical state] [you have lost 60 health points] [you have lost all your health points]
I couldn't react when I went from being in its tentacles to being in the beast's mouth and when I felt its fangs tearing at my not-yet-dead flesh with colossal force. What little I saw next were the parts of my body being shredded and torn almost instantly by its bite
[race skill activated: Undeath's immortality] [you have regained all of your health points] [your mana usage has been restricted to 70% for the 30 hours].
My vision turned completely around, the environment was now humid and among the little I could see were parts of the corpses the Goblin had attached to his body
Being a lich now had been quite helpful, my new immortality was used much sooner than I had expected and the creature had made the biggest mistake of its long life.
I took my razor and began to cut it. At first it wasn't as effective as I would have liked but the more I hit sensitive areas the more damage it did.
[Goblin homunculus has lost 10 pts of health]. [Goblin homunculus has lost 10 pts of health]. [Goblin homunculus has lost 10 pts of health]. [Goblin homunculus has lost 100 pts of health]. [Critical hit] [Goblin homunculus has lost 110 pts of health] [Critical hit]. [Critical hit]. [Critical hit].
After several minutes of non-stop slashing it reached a point where the damage had become massive and fluids were starting to shoot out all over its insides.
I felt the Goblin writhe in pain, I at no point did I say I stopped cutting again and again no matter how disgusting the environment was or how much pain I might feel. Being someone immortal such trivial things would no longer matter to me at all.
[Goblin homunculus has lost 500 pts of health.] [Critical hit]
Finally I gave a cut that opened the mouth of his stomach and the black liquid began to come out in liters. I escaped from inside, watching how that monstrosity tried to rest on a structure while everything inside came out.
My enemy could do nothing about it other than watch me climb out of his gigantic wound and realize too late his mistake.
[Goblin homunculus has been weakened]
[Invalid conditions] [You have not gained exp pts]
[item detected: Homunculus Goblin Heart]
I hadn't gained any experience but at least I had an item I had never seen before.
My knife released a glow and the Goblin's heart came floating towards me, before I could try to do anything the object was disintegrated in a beam of light and absorbed by the blade of my weapon.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
[item: Goblin Homunculus Heart] [Description] [It once belonged to a common woodland creature but the apocalypse corrupted its mind and soul turning it into a herald of the homunculus king. Among its various uses, this apocalypse slave's heart can be used to power dark weapons and make them effective against homunculi].
If I wanted to find anyone else in this place I would have to keep searching and if I wanted the process to go faster I had to know perfectly what I was capable of with that new body and my new race and abilities.
[Name] [Natho] [Level] [1] [Race] [Lich] [Class] [Necromancer]
[Special moves] [None]
[skills] [Undeath immortality lvl 1] [soul absorption lvl 1]
[Undeath immortality lvl 1]
[description] [Those undead will live for eternity in a limbo between life and death that only the homunculus king has been able to meet in person. Some consider it a blessing, others a curse What would those who live after the very end of time think of the past and future?] [effects] [Restores health points to 100% once lost but in return the user will have more restricted mana usage] [requirements to level up] [unknown]
[soul absorption lvl 1]
[description] [When you are above others their actions become simple interactions of matter and their dreams simple interactions of their souls with a force even superior to you] [effects] [Souls that have not yet been taken by another homunculus-type creature will be absorbed once you have caused the deaths of their bodies] [requirements to level up] [unknown]
[Stats]
[vitality] [2] [Stamina] [2] [Strenght] [2] [Speed] [2] [Mana Affinity] [2] [Health] [100/100] [Durability] ∞ [Mana] [105/150]
[equipment]
[Necromancer's razor lvl 1]
[description]: [Centuries of destruction precede the weapons of those who grow stronger by death and centuries of destruction are what they are destined to bring ahead. This blade forged after the destruction of millions of souls holds within it the secrets to conquer millions more]
[effects] [Allows you to attack homunculus-type creatures] [Completely indestructible] [Allows the absorption of homunculus type items and can unlock new functionalities with these] [Does not increase any stats]
My techniques were not many and it was also not very clear how I would manage to level up being so limited and with such unclear conditions but I had to continue anyway.
If I was lucky I would figure out how to make things simpler on my own.
And an opportunity appeared in front of me, another one of those nasty Goblins was waiting for me crossing the corner of a street in front of me.
Not wanting to waste any more time, I dashed towards him with as much speed as I could. He caught me and started tearing chunks out of me but I didn't care and when he finally devoured me I repeated the process until his corpse was lying on the ground.
[Goblin homunculus has been weakened]
[Invalid conditions] [You have not gained exp pts]
[item detected: Homunculus Goblin Heart]
[Goblin homunculus has been weakened]
[Invalid conditions] [You have not gained exp pts]
[item detected: Homunculus Goblin Heart]
[Goblin homunculus has been weakened]
[Invalid conditions] [You have not gained exp pts]
[item detected: Homunculus Goblin Heart]
I killed dozens of Goblins that eventually turned into hundreds and maybe thousands, all that in a span of time that I also lost count of before I even realized it
I scoured the entire city with the slightest hope of finding any trace of human life around me, I searched every structure, in the mountains, in the forest, in the already dry rivers, under the snow and rocks.
[Goblin homunculus has been weakened]
[Invalid conditions] [You have not gained exp pts]
[item detected: Homunculus Goblin Heart]
I didn't know if I had walked through the same place more than once or even more than 10 times, by that point the world had been left in a completely unrecognizable state.
I was only left to wonder, if there was anyone alive would it be worth it for me to continue living in a world that no longer had anything to offer? Would I really be saving anything no matter how minimal it was?
"Sometimes trying something in the most futile way possible can lead you to the least unexpected results."
I remembered the words that at some point had been spoken by the blacksmith Siggurd.
My old friend wanted to stop all this as much or more than I did.
"If the homunculus king or any other being dares to set foot in the citadel we will end up using their intestines to decorate the place and the feasts we will hold every year to come in honor of our feat will all be one more legendary than the other"
"Well, the only problem is that I don't think homunculi have intestines."
"I guess I haven't taught you enough not to underestimate my future achievements."
The Citadel.
For years Siggurd had worked to create a subway city in which the souls of the ancient warriors could serve a new purpose as a source of energy for the guardians. A fortress where the souls of the past would always be there to serve as paladins of the future and where prosperity would be exponential.
That place was going to be the perfect defense if the homunculus king was reborn anyway.
After walking for too long I finally reached a desert where I found no enemies even after walking for hours.
I reached the door of what seemed to be a subway cave, at that moment it was very difficult to distinguish it from other entrances but I could remember it very vaguely as one of the entrances to the citadel Siggurd had prepared.
I didn't have much to lose if I investigated that so I went in.
I went down a spiral staircase, it was a structure that was still well preserved despite the passage of time and was wide enough for a whole battalion to pass through with no problem.
I didn't know why he even held out hope for that, that place was supposed to be designed so that eventually humanity could resurface and on the outside it was obvious that things were too different. Plus if it was so hidden it should be practically inaccessible to anyone but that didn't seem to be the case
"The only thing I'm worried about is that I might die someday you know?" Siggurd said looking into the void for several seconds, it was one of the few times she didn't look at one of his projects with almost infinite hope.
"I really want this to be completed but my life is too limited. Do you think in the future there will be blacksmiths willing to continue such a colossal task that is going to pay him very little anyway? Do you think my legacy would be able to outlive my own death?"
Those were the words he said to me one of the last nights we spent it in the cantina together. That was one of the last moments I had of being honest with someone.
"I really want to think that what one stands for can overcome any boundary between life and death. Fuck, holding firm to that belief is too hard! Am I supposed to pretend that Beatrice's death really meant anything! I want to honor her death, I want to honor her but I don't even know if I want to stay alive if she's not by my side!"
When I finished saying that I hadn't realized that I had just broken my jar in the floor. The pieces of glass and the liquid just stay there for some seconds.
My friend just patted me on the back knowing there was little she could do to comfort me in my pain.
"Natho, Beatrice always loved you as much or more as you always loved her. She would have wanted you to..."
"Siggurd, please don't tell me lies. You know better than anyone that was never true."
I replied before breaking down in tears unable to complete any other thought. Siggurd just stood by my side that whole moment.
Beatrice...
Was it really worth trying to salvage the least bit of a world where the person I loved the most had died far too long ago?
Without paying much attention I ended up reaching deep into a gigantic cave of dark rock. The place was naturally beautiful but scattered all over the place there was nothing but weapons lying around and still incomplete machines.
I walked through a tunnel until I could see an island in the middle of a crystal clear lake. That was probably the only place that had not yet been desecrated in what was still left of the world.
It was the citadel, the largest project created by the blacksmith Siggurd.
A city made of a shining and strong metal with shapes that remidend to the ancient waepons that forged the powerfull kingdom of Kaazar
I didn't want to give myself any false hope, the structures, although apparently functional, were still too incomplete. When I took the first step there I could already feel that the place had been abandoned long ago.
The further I went in, the worse it got, the worse it got.
Everyone there was dead.
In every structure there was nothing but corpses and more corpses, scattered on the floors, piled up, embedded in the decorations.
In all the wars I had been in, I had seen too many horrible things and yet to imagine just a part of it was completely unbearable.
I left the place with nothing else to do, I didn't even deserve to have set foot in the citadel in the first place.
Siggurd had tried to fight for this project even though she knew nothing would come of it. I wasn't there to try to help her.
No, I didn't want things to be like this. I was supposed to be a hero, I defeated the vampire king and more than half of his army.
I built the city of khebaran, I was the one who regained the military power of the kingdom when the black winter crisis came.
I had already begun to inspire a whole generation of adventurers who would come after me.
Things were not supposed to end this way for me, I was supposed to see my kingdom flourish in glory or die trying.
But after Beatrice's death I was too useless to even avenge her memory.
I was too useless to make her proud of the father she always saw as her hero but who was not even there to defend her at the moment of her death.
I had fallen to my knees, my black tears had stained my knees almost completely. I didn't want to go on living anymore if I didn't deserve it but there was nothing I could do about it.
I just stood there gazing at the place, I felt an icy air rush through my body and what started as a light breeze became a feeling of power. Something very powerful was very close to me
"In the name of all the gods who have dared to invade this holy land, answer now that being immortal for your nature will not save you from the punishment your impertinence will bring!"
I finally turned around without taking much notice of whatever it was that was accompanying me and saw him
[enemy detected] [Spirit of ancestral warrior lvl ???]