Leveraging the momentum, I cast my next Tier-1 spell called Thunderwave. A wave of thunder force shoots out from my hands and all the creatures are pushed ten feet away from me, while sustaining another 30 by 40% damage. Elektra doesn't waste any time and immediately rains down Fire Bolts, reducing my remaining opponents to ash. A surge of energy floods my body and I can see I've leveled up once more, reaching Threat Level 6 and HP 28.
"Yes!" I shout out, smiling at Elektra as she continues to rain fire down at the horde in front of us.
Compared to before, Alexander and his team support me in the best possible way, burning down all the undead that attempt to support my flanks as I tank. We continue like this for what feels like an hour. Every time we gain some ground, the dungeon throws something new at us. Freakish mutations. Undead with two heads. Assassins with four arms. Twisted variations that are stronger, faster, but blend in with the regular undead. If not for my Insight I wouldn't know what I was fighting. At first I welcome the challenge, but now this has turned out to be a battle of attrition, and to our bad luck we are the ones losing. Tired and exhausted, most of the adventurers have already used their best spells and skills and now all they can use are their base skills or cantrips.
"The undead are coming in waves," says Alexander faintly.
"You figured that out on your own," I smirk wiping some blood, not mine I think, from my lip.
Alexander has lost half his team so far. The last wave ended with a flurry of arrows being fired from behind enemy lines. Luckily, our wizards saw the arrows coming and managed to block them with various spells. Unfortunately, we were left open to a ground assault and it was then when things got nasty and several perished.
I have no clue how many waves of undead we fought so far, but each wave is made of twenty to thirty undead. Every five to seven waves we saw at least three variations and an assassin. After the tenth or eleventh wave, everything seemed to reset like the undead were respawning behind a black curtain.
As we push forward, from one section to the next, it feels like we are fighting our way down through an aisle, but honestly it could have been a long, wide chamber. Eventually, we reach the inner sanctum. That's what an adventurer called it, I think. It is leading to a throne room, having been built partly as an underground bunker for the nobles to rule, should the people of Tlos ever have to retreat and live underground.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
That makes some sense. The underground of Tlos has hundreds of dozens of rooms and could easily house thousands of people, just like it houses monsters. Under the right circumstances, it would be possible for the canals to be used to cultivate certain crops and algae, that like to grow in caves. Water could be recycled. Animals could be bred. Some of the rooms even have ventilation shafts that could be used to smoke, cook, and heat the passageways.
"Three-armed assassins coming up," Alexander shouts.
"Four!" I shout, noticing the extra arm had been grafted to the creature's back. It jumps through the air towards me and with two arms pushes me back on the ground. Holding me down with three arms now, it attacks me with its fourth, like a scorpion would use its tail to sting.
The Black Knight's warlock casts a Bolt of Lightning in my direction from across the chamber, frying the edge of the assassin's fourth arm. The creature freezes, pinning over the top of me. Elektra gives it a quick kick, and I stand back up, bashing its head against the concrete ground.
"Thanks!" I shout but the warlock is already gone.
Shielding himself with the Black Knight and his warlock sidekick, I see our mad leader penetrating the undead foe they encounter and enter the main chamber.
"Follow them!" I command Alexander and my team.
"With brute force and gusto," Ambrosia smirks as she crashes the head of an undead assassin.
"Let's finish this," Elektra tells me in a stern face.
My girls seem to have trust in me and my leadership. Even Ambrosia to my surprise does exactly as I have commanded her so far.
Finally, we enter the last chamber and to my dread, we encounter several strong undead and at the center, a bone throne looms before us. There, a lich sits on the bleached throne, wearing a wooden crown and filthy tatters that once were clothes. To my surprise, the lich had preserved his skin, but it was brown-green and shrunken, all moisture having left his body, making him look even fouler. The dead man rises and stands wavering above his bone throne, slowly inspecting the battlefield. His eyes gone, years or centuries of decay having eaten them away, yet somehow I feel his empty eye sockets penetrating me with his gaze. A chill wind blows through my heart and fear is about to overwhelm me once my NCI informs me of his stats. The Low-Level Lich has a Threat Level of 36 and HP 133. He is capable of using up to Tier-4 Spells, making him the strongest spellcaster I've encountered so far.
A message pops-up inside my line of vision: You have been Frightened! The lich has used the Legendary Action Frightening Gaze on you.