As soon as the fire grenade lit the place, a dark aura emanated from the mountain corpse of Crystal Beasts. As expected, the corpses are being turned into undead minions.
But since the corpses were already soaked in oil, the fire immediately spread and dealt damage, and the lowest level undead were immediately destroyed because of it.
[You have dealt 412 damage to Undead Crystal Beast Lvl. 80.]
[You have dealt 398 damage to Undead Crystal Beast Lvl. 88.]
[You have dealt 397 damage to Undead Crystal Beast Lvl. 83.]
[You have dealt 395 damage to Undead Crystal Beast Lvl. 84.]
[You have dealt 405 damage to Undead Crystal Beast Lvl. 82.]
[You have dealt 391 damage to Undead Crystal Beast Lvl. 89.]
[You have slain Crystal Beast...]
[You have slain Crystal Beast...]
[You have slain Crystal Beast...]
"Holy shit!"
The higher-leveled Undead Crystal Beasts weren't taken out by the explosion but they caught fire and damage over time quickly took care of them. Additionally, this single attack also gave Adam an idea of the level range of the minions. They are from Levels 80 to 90- or at least the ones from the outermost part of the pile. Undoubtedly, the higher leveled Crystal Beasts are closer to the inner part of the pile. And of course, there are low-level minions, but Adam doesn't see them as threats.
No doubt the Lich felt the need to get the most powerful minions to protect its sleeping body.
Before the rest of the minions could react, Adam conjured another AoE to take out as many undead as he could.
Wall of Fire!
He cast it right in the mountain pile of corpses. A massive wall in the form of fire appeared in the center of the clearing. The fire immediately engulfed at least 50% of the Undead Crystal Beasts.
Once again, his status window is showing a flood of notifications from the damage dealt as well as slain confirmation messages firing up every second.
But then, the Wall of Fire that should have lasted for 30 seconds was extinguished after barely 15 seconds. Adam knows exactly what caused it.
Ding!
[Dark Priest Novhekaar, Level ?? has arisen.]
Dark Breath!
It is none other than the Lich; it has awakened and risen from its coffin after being disturbed by Adam's attack. It appeared from the very bottom center of the mountain corpse and floated away from the clearing. The move is it is both a way to oversee the fight and to keep itself safe from melee attacks.
The spell it used, Dark Breath, disrupted the mana that fuels the Wall of Fire which prematurely terminated the spell, had Adam been in its vicinity, he would have received several debuffs from it. However, this did nothing to terminate the fire burning due to the oil so Adam's DPS persisted.
The Lich cast another spell.
Dark Miasma!
With this spell, the fire that Adam set with oil had been extinguished.
But this counter is also well within Adam's expectations. Liches are at least Expert-ranked mages even before they transformed so it's a given that it is capable of high-level spells now that they have reached one of the highest evolutionary stages that an undead can reach. Based on the spell it was casting, it appears that the Lich was a Dark Magician and a Necromancer. Fortunately, he has Holy Fire on his side- a perfect counter to the affinity and attribute of the Lich.
Right after the Lich used Dark Miasma, it began to cast another spell.
Based on the color and aura it's emitting, Adam knows it's a buff-type spell: Obsidian Skin. It is a self-buff used by mages to give their bodies the properties of an Obsidian metal- its protectiveness is similar to a warrior wearing top-tier heavy armor.
'It's covering its bases first before attacking in earnest.' Adam thought.
Before it could finish casting its buff, Adam aimed a spell directly at the Lich.
Firebolt!
The Lich sensed the spell even as it was still being cast and canceled the casting of Obsidian Skin. Instead, it began to conjure a different spell.
Dark Shield!
BOOM!
[You have dealt 450 damage to Dark Shield Tier 6.]
'Huh? Only Tier 6?' smirked Adam. 'I thought your spells would have all been maxed tier as a Lich. You must be a younger one, then.'
A Tier 6 Dark Shield would have approximately 1200 Hit Points, and yet, his Fireball which is also at Tier 6 managed to take out a third of its hit points. Of course, this means that Adam would have to cast Firebolt at least 2 more times to get past the Lich's shield. But by then, the Lich could just as easily re-cast Dark Shield.
With the Lich's shield successfully protecting itself from direct attack, it began to direct its minions to rush at Adam.
In response, Adam began to cast a spell to counter the swarm.
Flame Pillars!
Whoooooosh!
Instead of letting the various defenses on the field activate so early on, he figured using his spells to let the cooldown start counting was better than just relying on the traps he had set up.
Five pillars made of flame erupted from the ground up and surrounded the outer area of the clearing. Then, Adam willed it to converge at the center- right where the Lich is. In the process, nearly 80% of the undead minions- mostly Crystal Beasts, were incinerated and were either outright slain or at least sustained great damage. This maneuver also destroyed the Lich's Dark Shield though the Lich was able to levitate away before the five pillars closed in on it.
Levitating while avoiding the pillars, the Lich successfully placed the Obsidian Skin buff on itself. This single spell would have made arrows nearly useless against it.
But of course, Adam's arrows are not ordinary.
Flame Aura! Fire Enchantment!
Now, Adam's arrows deal more Fire and Holy damage than it does physical damage. He fired an arrow at the Lich.
Dark Arrow!
The Lich responded by casting Dark Arrow- which met and stopped the incoming flaming arrow.
At the moment, neither Adam nor the Lich has dealt a single point of damage to the other.
Adam continued firing his arrows. Meanwhile, the Lich's Dark Shield protects it from the incoming projectiles.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
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[You have dealt 340 damage to Dark Shield Tier 6.]
[You have dealt 342 damage to Dark Shield Tier 6.]
[You have dealt 347 damage to Dark Shield Tier 6.]
And then, Adam found an opening.
Ding!
[You have destroyed Dark Shield Tier 6.]
Firebolt!
[You have dealt 418 damage to Dark Priest Novhekaar, Level ??]
The Lich reeled from the impact of Firebolt. In fury, it directed all remaining minions to swarm Adam. But-
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The various Proximity Mines detonated and the oil created a layered ring of fire that the undead Crystal Beasts had to cross to get to Adam.
Fireball!
Dark Spear!
Adam hurled a fireball at the Lich, but it countered with a projectile spell of its own called Dark Spear- which is a higher-level spell than Fireball. But once again, both spells destroyed each other in mid-air.
While Lich's spell is undoubtedly of a higher rank than Adam's, his attack has fire and holy affinity- which are the inherent weaknesses of an undead. This is why despite the level disparity, Adam's spellpower is enough to force a draw by both spells cancelling each other out instead of the Dark Spear prevailing.
After this exchange, the Lich realized a spell-casting duel was not in its best interest. It began to focus on casting defensive spells on its body and directed its minions to continue attacking.
Fortunately, Adam's defensive traps are holding on their own so even the high-level undead minions haven't reached him yet. The undead binding traps are doing their job by holding dozens upon dozens of undead minions in place while the fire deals strong damage over time against them.
Meanwhile, Adam did not relent in his attacks at the Lich. For every barrier it conjures, Adam fires as many flaming arrows as needed to break it. He would also occasionally throw fire grenades and oil flask at the Lich in hopes of it getting soaked in oil.
However, the Lich's defensive measures are not to be taken lightly. Adam can't get a clear shot despite numerous volleys of arrows and spells.
At this point, the minions of the Lich have been mostly destroyed by the binding and explosive traps Adam had set before starting the boss raid and supplemented it with well-timed AoEs meant to target both the undead minions and the Lich to keep it on the defensive.
Undead-Paralyzing Glyph
Proximity Mine!
Fire Grenade!
Wall of Fire!
Flame Pillars!
Adam continuously casts his spells and scrolls, the Lich keeps on conjuring defensive barriers and reviving the Crystal Beasts. The status quo has been mostly the same since the start of the fight.
But now, the tip is beginning to favor the Lich. While the minions keep on burning and getting destroyed, the Lich has no issue summoning it over and over.
Corpse Repair!
Raise Undead!
Fortunately, the Lich cannot use Corpse Explosion due to its minion's distance from Adam and the fact that doing so would end up destroying more of its minion- which would give Adam more opportunity to harass the Lich directly.
Of course, the repeated destruction and revival of the corpse is not a complete disadvantage to Adam. For every cycle of destruction and resurrection, Adam is receiving a significant Essence yield.
Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!
Adam sensed movement above them. It is immediately obvious to him what the Lich did; it didn't just revive the Crystal Beasts but also awakened the corpses in the catacombs above. Adam recognized this spell. It is one of the Master-ranked spells a Necromancer can have.
Mass Revival!
Now, all corpses within a huge vicinity will be revived and head towards where the Lich is.
As for the Crystal Beasts that have been resurrected, they kept on attacking Adam to keep him on the defensive.
Knowing that the battle has entered the next phase and that it is becoming more and more disadvantageous for him, Adam prepared the rest of the scrolls he had been saving up until now. He unleashed all the Holy scrolls he was able to purchase.
Holy Light!
Barrier!
Divine Barrier!
Holy Aura!
These are relatively low-level scroll spells that a cleric can cast from Novice to Intermediate rank would not be a significant threat to the Lich and its minions. However, its sheer quantity is enough to make a noticeable effect in the fight and makes things relatively easier for Adam to continue focusing on the Lich.
And good timing too, for the Lich is now concentrating hard on a spell that is no doubt more powerful than anything it has cast so far.
Of course, Adam recognizes what spell the Lich is casting: Mass Undead Enthrallment.
It is a grandmaster-ranked spell exclusive to a Lich. This spell would allow a Lich to control even sentient undead like Vetius, the Paladin Knights, and naturally developed undead like the Ghouls, Revenants, and other high-level undead monsters.
This is incredibly bad news for Adam. If the Lich can cast this spell, there's a high possibility he will be going up against his own blacksmithing master. Fortunately, it is a spell that requires a long casting time.
Adam unleashed his full arsenal. From Pyromancy spells and scrolls, his oil-soaked arrows, alchemical grenades, and Holy scrolls. He is no longer holding back and is focused on breaking all the defensive spells the Lich has conjured.
Fireball!
Firebolt!
Flame Pillars!
Flame Aura!
Holy Light!
Holy Aura!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Proximity Mine!
Wall of Fire!
The undead minions are also getting caught on the AoEs of the spells Adam is casting. Since all his spells he's are fire and holy-based, it is doing significant damage to all the undead minions. Meanwhile, the Divine Barrier scrolls are doing a marvelous job of keeping the surviving minions at bay. Which, in turn, makes them open for the splash damage of holy flames that Adam is hurling at the lich.
Adam continued his focused fire on the Lichs' defensive barriers until-
SHATTER!
Finally, the last barrier the Lich has was destroyed by Adam's intense barrage. The only thing the Lich has as a defense is the Obsidian Skin- which makes its body's physical defense equivalent to a high-quality heavy armor.
But this is not a problem for Adam. He never intended to harm the Lich physically- at least, not yet.
Instead, he is holding the first, and most important key item to kill a Lich in his hand.
Necromancer's Heart (Rare)
It is the item Adam has been carefully collecting ever since he started raiding the catacombs. The primary purpose of the Necromancer's Heart is to serve as a substitute for a Lich's Soul Jar.
A Lich is a being who was created by letting a huge amount of dark energy be absorbed by an Undead Necromancer. A part of this process requires removing the heart of the Necromancer, sealing it with ritual magic, and feeding it with the essence of sacrifice to ensure that it is in a state of living. The outcome is referred to as a Soul Jar. The Soul Jar serves as a Lich's tether to the physical world ensuring the stability of its existence, while its soul has become one with the darkness which grants it a near-infinite supply of dark mana.
The resulting being is a Lich capable of harnessing near infinite mana fueled by the dark, yet still has a body capable of interacting with the physical world.
Brave adventurers would search for this Soul Jar and destroy it to kill a Lich.
But doing so is as hard as fighting a Lich directly. After all, would a Lich leave its priceless Soul Jar in an easy-to-find place without any defenses? Not likely.
In fact, in Adam's previous life, he had never heard of anyone killing a Lich by finding and destroying their Soul Jar. He considers this feat near impossible and deems it far more practical to deal with the Lich directly. As difficult as it is to fight a Lich capable of summoning its army, Adam thinks this method is 'practical' and realistic. And the reason is the Necromancer's Heart.
How do you kill something that has transcended life and death? The answer is to give it life. Only then, can a Lich become vulnerable to death again.
The method of achieving this is by shoving a Necromancer's Heart into a Lich to give it a beating heart once more. It must be a Necromancer's Heart; any other type of heart would be rejected as only something heavily oozing with dark energy like a Necromancer's Heart will be accepted by a Lich's body.
This is the method that Imperatrix Demetra revealed during the Siege of the Sanctus Lux Fortress. About a dozen Lich led millions of undead at the fortress and it took several attempts to kill all of them- this is why the Necromancer's Heart is such a valuable item that Demetra would give a handsome reward for. Each heart represents a surefire way of killing a Lich.
Defeating a Lich's physical form through conventional means, while possible, is an incredibly hard feat to perform as Liches have a surprisingly high defense. Players analyzed a Liches' stat and the lowest level Lich had an estimated 10,000 HP. On top of their impressive barriers and defensive spells, a Lich would put a tank to shame with its survivability. Without the heart, Adam would not have bothered fighting the Lich at all. It is only with his possession of several Necromancer's Hearts that he even dared to initiate this fight.
With the Necromancer's Heart in his left hand, Adam prepared the other vital equipment in his right hand: the Grappling Crossbow.
While the Lich is in the middle of casting Mass Undead Enthrallment, it is his golden opportunity to physically get close to it.
'I have a few seconds,' thought Adam. 'I need to hurry!'
He aimed his Grappling Crossbow somewhere beyond the Lich's shoulder; as tempting as it is to target the Lich directly with the Grappling Crossbow's bolt, he didn't dare hit the Lich directly as it would definitely knock it out of the casting and focus on Adam again. No, it is far better to aim at the tunnel's roof and get to the levitating Lich that way.
Thud!
The Grappling Crossbow's bolt connected with the roof of the tunnel clearing. He pulled the trigger and it immediately pulled him upwards.
Thud! Vrrrrrng!
The Grappling Crossbow pulled him upwards and forward. The few remaining undead Crystal Beasts are unable to reach him. In a few seconds, he reached an angle slightly higher than where the Lich is levitating. So, he let go of the Grappling Crossbow and dropped- right on top of the Lich.
'I get one shot at this,' thought Adam. 'Can't afford to miss.'
That's right, even though Adam has several Necromancer's Hearts in his possession, he'll only have one real shot at killing the Lich. If the Lich survives this attempt, it's unlikely that he'll stay here and let Adam try again. Based on a Lich's behavior, it would not hesitate to retreat and get to a place where it cannot be attacked while its minions swarm the threat.
BANG!
Adam fell right on top of the Lich.
The Lich, not accustomed to being approached this close was, for a split-second, completely caught off guard.
Its spellcasting had been interrupted, and it couldn't think of any particular spell to cast; it even forgot to issue a command to its undead minions. However, there's not much its minions could have done as its attacker is in mid-air along with it.
Right where the heart should be is a hollow space; it is proof that the Lich has transcended life itself. And that transcendence is about to be brought back to the realm of the living by Adam.
He did not waste any time, while still in mid-air, he shoved the Necromancer's Heart on the Lich's chest.
BOOM!
A strong force emanated from the Lich and threw both Adam and itself on opposing sides.