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Aleph was a shimmering blur as she shot forward, her expression one of intense focus as she became the first to step into the Nether Lich’s Demesne.
Tom and Zirel followed shortly after, before splitting off in opposing directions. Zirel took to the right while Tom did not hesitate in activating his Netherstride Dagger’s Phantom Walk skill right off the bat.
He began to scale the wall after taking just a moment to assess the threat that was arrayed before him.
A single glance was enough to fill his heart with a dread of a kind that he hadn’t encountered yet, as he took in the Nether Lich’s skeletal body, lacking both flesh and a heart. The construct of blackened bone was seated upon a throne whose make Tom instantly recognized. Dozens upon dozens of Nether Crystals had been forged into a single, seamless design that shimmered with alien power.
He kept moving even as he realised the likely purpose the throne served. To Tom, who could only use the Nether Crystals through the Nether Blades, they served limited purpose. However, the Nether Lich was a different matter entirely— as a phantasmal being that could directly use the corrupt energy, it was an energy source for it.
Tom’s instincts were going haywire as he finished scaling the wall and stepped towards the roof, to position himself for an attack.
Aleph however, was already there.
She swung out with her Rare Artifact.
Tom watched as the Nether Lich tapped the jagged, blackened bone staff it was holding onto with its right hand against the floor.
A dome of deep-violet, plasma-like energy ensconced the Nether Lich, its skeletal visage which lacked both eye-sockets and any skin, making it incapable of expressing emotion. Though if it could, Tom would swear that it almost seemed bored as sparks of violet burst forth from the site where Aleph’s blade impacted the energy dome.
Tom felt a brief moment of elation as he noticed that Aleph’s blade was penetrating the dome of energy, slowly but surely.
It was, unfortunately, only a moment as the Nether Lich tapped it’s bone staff against the floor again and the nature of the dome changed into a square-shaped curtain of energy. Before Tom could even register what had happened, Aleph was being forcibly pushed back with such momentum that she was already hurtling towards a wall.
“Damn it,” He muttered under his breath as he activated his Lifeblood card’s Augmentation ability. His heart rate skyrocketed and Tom felt the unnatural flood of strength in his limbs that allowed him both greater acceleration and strength.
He had hoped to save this trump card for a more opportune moment because while Augmentation was active, he could no longer use the Blood Scion ability in the manner it was intended to be used. Tom still retained control over the blood dagger and would do so for 24 hours, but he could no longer change its shape or form, for both the abilities belonged to the same Uncommon Card.
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In the meantime, Zirel used the opening Aleph’s failed charge had granted him to try and land a strike of his own.
The Nether Lich seemed to have expected it, as it tapped its bone staff again and the energy dome reappeared.
Zirel’s lips curled up into a ruthless smile as he veered away from the Nether Lich as he got close, until he was running parallel to it.
His phantom blade arced out in a perfectly calculated strike. The energy dome shielding the Nether Lich could do naught to prevent the blade from passing through it and striking the bony arm that was supporting the bone staff in it’s hands.
Phantom Blade had struck true and the Nether Lich’s staff-wielding arm should have gone limp.
“Not organic matter,” Zirel called out even as he kicked off the ground, hurling his body backwards.
He only just managed to evade the curtain of energy that intended to push him backwards and crush him against the walls of the chamber.
“The gem,” Aleph’s voice echoed from the far end of the chamber, alluding to the small, onyx crystal that seemed to be suspended in the center of the Nether Lich’s ribcage. “It’s how we kill it!”
Tom had guessed as much and Zirel had probably come to the same conclusion much faster than him, but the problem they faced was landing a blow on the Lich.
As the Nether Lich reformed the energy dome a moment later, this time likely pre-empting Tom’s attack, he came to a decision.
With Augmentation pushing his pulse rate to the limits, amplifying his already monstrous stats, Tom finally came to a stop at the angle he had been searching for all this while.
He called upon all the strength he could direct to his feet, before kicking off with the two daggers held crossed before him, almost defensively.
Thanks to Zirel’s callout, he knew that his blood dagger would do nothing to his opponent, but it would serve as a means of offense for now.
A shrill crinkling noise echoed outwards as Tom’s daggers crashed against the energy dome, the sheer momentum behind his descend causing his own teeth to rattle in their housing.
Cracks spiderwebbed across the energy dome as it struggled to contain Tom’s strength amplified by downward momentum, before shattering entirely.
Yet, Tom’s moment of glory only lasted for so long as he felt an equally powerful force match his might.
The Nether Lich had caught Tom’s blades on the teeth of it’s jagged bone staff, before it made a slashing motion and the next thing he knew, he was practically flying towards the direction Aleph had been thrown in earlier.
This was all while the Nether Lich remained seated.
Neither Aleph nor Zirel intended to miss out on the opportunity as the Nether Lich’s defenses were finally lowered.
However, they paused mid-strides, as their danger sense went haywire.
The Nether Lich tapped his bone staff against the ground, once, twice and a third time.
A dozen skeletal birds that easily cleared Tom’s own height erupted from the ground as Tom, Zirel and Aleph finally discovered why the final sector of the Zelez Dungeon was called the Nether Lich’s Demesne.