Chapter 31: The Rising Evil in the Darkness (3)

Humans were beings driven by emotion. Even a saint could not completely suppress the negative feelings that lurked in the depths of their heart. No matter how superhumanly strong one could be, if struck directly by Kartos’s magic, they would waver.

The only way to resist was to shield one’s mind with an impenetrable barrier created by Myst. In other words, a barbarian who lacked an understanding of the Myst would be utterly defenseless, swallowed whole by the spell.

Yet, Ketal remained unchanged. He only stared at Kartos with a puzzled expression.

This can’t be happening!

Kartos thought.

Of course, Kartos wasn’t at his full strength. After all, he had been defeated by a Hero and revived as a lich, with his skills diminished to less than a quarter of his prime. His mana, too, depended heavily on artifacts. Even so, it should have been effortless to dominate the barbarian who couldn’t wield the Myst.

A distorted cry of frustration escaped Kartos. “Argh!”

Magic flared once more. An unseen torrent of mana surged into Ketal’s mind, tearing through it with brutal force. It was a spell so potent that even an enlightened master would have succumbed, their mind breaking and their spirit drowning in despair.

However, Ketal simply stood there, staring blankly at Kartos.

“What are you doing?” he asked. Only then did Ketal realize that Kartos was not merely flailing his staff but casting some kind of spell on him. Yet, it didn’t resonate with him.

There was no sensation, no tangible effect. To Ketal, it merely looked like Kartos was waving his staff around aimlessly. Disappointment slowly crept across his face.

“A more straightforward spell would be nice, something like Fireball or Magic Missile. Can’t you use those?” Ketal asked.

“W-what?” Kartos stammered in shock.

Fireball? Magic Missile?

Kartos seethed with unbearable humiliation.

“How dare you! Comparing my magic to such lowly spells!” he cried. Kartos devoted his life to developing his own magic, a craft that focused on manipulating emotions. The structure of his spells was a masterpiece, one that only he could wield at its peak.

And yet, here was someone comparing his work to Magic Missile—a spell even a mere Intermediate mage could cast. Shaking with indignation and disgrace, he raised his staff to cast another spell.

“I know you’re doing something,” Ketal remarked, “but I can’t tell exactly what.”

The result was the same as before—nothing.

Kartos, now beyond disbelief, let out a hollow laugh. Even the Hero who had defeated him in the past had prepared countermeasures specifically for his magic. After all, a spell that could rattle one’s emotions was terrifying in its own right.

However, this barbarian was different. The magic simply didn’t work. Never before had the lich encountered such an opponent.

The blue flames in Kartos’s eyes dimmed. Even so, he was still a mage—one who had reached the pinnacle of magic through his unparalleled abilities. He forced himself to analyze the situation calmly.

Nothing’s working,

Kartos thought.

The barbarian was undeniably incapable of wielding the Myst. That much was certain. A mage’s eyes could not be deceived. Yet, his magic, which affected emotions, had no impact on this man.

Karto’s mind raced, and he quickly came up with a conclusion.

“I see now,” Kartos murmured, his jaw clattering. “You came here knowing exactly who I am.”

“Huh?”

“Yes, that’s it. Hahaha! The Empire fears me that much, huh? I must admit, I’m impressed by how well they can gather information. You found my location so swiftly!” The lich bellowed with laughter. “But it won’t matter. I will resurrect once more, shattering your blades and reclaiming my dominion over the world!”

“What are you talking about?” Ketal tilted his head. Kartos seemed lost in his own delusions, talking to himself and laughing widely.

The lich’s jaw opened wide, and his demeanor changed. He no longer underestimated his opponent. This barbarian, he concluded, was an assassin sent by the Empire to destroy him.

Though the barbarian had concealed himself well, the Empire’s vast and intricate intelligence network clearly left no room for escape. It was futile to avoid detection.

Now that he thought about it, Kartos recalled rumors about the Empire’s human farms—places where they raised extraordinary individuals.

The barbarian had to have been one of them, bred solely to kill him—a human weapon sharpened to perfection for a singular purpose.

“How potable you are, barbarian! A pawn raised by humans, wielded like a weapon! It’s laughable! If you strike me down, your very purpose will vanish! In a way, we are comrades, you and I!” Kartos shouted.

“I told you, that’s not it,” Ketal interjected, shaking his head.

“Regardless! I am Kartos Braniuras Kesias!” The lich brandished his staff with fervor. “I will kill you and overturn the Empire!”

***

“The creatures of this world don’t really communicate well,” Ketal muttered to himself, drawing his own conclusions after mulling over the situation. The elves had been poor conversationalists, and the lich wasn’t any better. “But the Empire, huh?”

Kartos seemed convinced that the Empire had the capability to track him down. In other words, the Empire possessed considerable power.

“Maybe I should pay it a visit later,” Ketal said. His carefree remark, entirely inappropriate for the situation, floated in the air.

“Come forth!” Kartos shouted. He raised his staff high. Mana surged into the cube atop it, coalescing into a tremendous force. Even if this attack delayed his resurrection by a century, it didn’t matter. He poured every ounce of mana the cube held into the spell—a quantity of mana so immense it was almost tangible to the physical world.

A dense, dark energy began forming at the tip of the staff. At last, something visible caught Ketal’s attention. This was the first magic he could actually see.

The lich swung his staff violently toward Ketal. “Gather, oh torrential tide! Become form without substance, a wave that engulfs the world and plunges the unseen into chaos!”

The dark, dense energy surged forward, transforming into a massive wave that filled the room, churning furiously. Though the wave had a discernible form, it was not made of any physical substance. It left the material world untouched, its effects influencing only intangible emotions.

“Oooh!” Ketal let out an exclamation of admiration. The swirling, dark torrent seemed ready to consume the world itself.

It was a truly spectacular sight.

So this is real magic!

Ketal thought. He stared at the phenomenon in awe, completely transfixed. The black torrent swallowed him whole.

“Hah, hahaha!’ Kartos burst into mad laughter.

Victory is mine!

The barbarian had clearly been altered to resist mental interference, likely due to experiments done by the Empire. But in the end, he was still just a barbarian who couldn’t wield the Myst. By overwhelming Ketal with sheer mana, the lich had crushed his mind and broken him completely. Kartos was confident in his victory. Soon, Ketal would collapse under the weight of his attack.

“

Huff, huff,

” Kartos panted. The blue flames in his eye sockets flickered weakly, as though they might go out. This spell was far beyond his current capabilities. He had expended all the mana he had, except for what was needed to animate his skeletal body.

Still, he had shattered the Empire’s weapon and outmaneuvered their schemes. Kartos chuckled dryly as the torrent of darkness began to dissipate. But then, his nonexistent pupils widened in shock.

Ketal stood there, utterly unchanged, looking exactly as he had before.

“Impressive,” Ketal said, his voice filled with genuine admiration. “But... is that all?”

It had been a spectacular sight, but he had felt no effects whatsoever.

His words sent a chill of fear through Kartos.

It... didn’t work?

Karthos thought. He let out a guttural scream as Ketal hefted his axe. “What... what are you?!

Kartos’s skeletal body crumbled to the ground, but his soul surged toward Ketal in a desperate bid to take over the barbarian’s body.

This was an incredibly dangerous move. Kartos’s soul would need to perfectly harmonize with the host body, and if it failed, he would be forced to use that body for the rest of his existence, unable to revert to his lich form.

However, he had no choice. This was his last resort. The translucent soul entered Ketal. To Kartos’s surprise, there was no resistance. The soul settled into the barbarian’s flesh.

“Your body is mine!” The lich’s voice echoed as his soul raced through Ketal’s mind, attempting to devour his emotions and claim the body as his own.

However, as Kartos delved deeper, he realized something was wrong. “What... is this?”

It was a sight unlike anything he had ever encountered. The very act of perceiving this place was enough to corrupt his mind and shatter his sanity.

This... this isn’t the Empire’s doing,

Kartos thought. Even the Empire couldn’t create such a being. “Ah... ah...”

For a moment, Kartos’s formidable mental strength allowed him to endure. But his strength, the very trait that made him a master of mind control, became his downfall. The more he held on, the more he was forced to comprehend the incomprehensible.

“Eh...”

That was the lich’s final utterance. His soul dissolved within Ketal’s mind, leaving no trace.

Ketal blinked. “What was that?”

Before him lay a pile of broken bones. The lich, after his dramatic display, had simply collapsed on his own. The dark torrent had been impressive, but it ultimately amounted to nothing.

“I guess the liches in this world aren’t very impressive.”

Ketal had been so excited, thinking a lich was the final evolution of a mage. He had eagerly anticipated what kind of magic the lich would use, but in the end, it had been underwhelming. His disappointment was palpable.

“A goblin Dungeon would’ve been more entertaining,” Ketal murmured. With that, he pulled a notebook from his pocket and began writing.

Lich. I thought they were the ultimate evolution of a mage, but they don’t seem all that impressive. When you think about it, the idea of a being reduced to mere bones being extraordinary is strange. Perhaps liches are failed mages who couldn’t give up on their dreams of magic.

Ketal carefully jotted down what he had seen and felt. This notebook was something he had purchased to record information about the fantasy world he was experiencing. He scribbled down his observations on the lich and tucked the notebook back into his pocket.

“Well, I’ve cleared the cave, so I should grab my rewards. A Dungeon run by a lich probably won’t have anything amazing, but I should take what I can get, right?” he muttered to himself.

He began collecting the loot, starting with the lich’s staff. Inside the staff, he found an urn that seemed to be a phylactery.

“So, this is what lets him resurrect, huh.”

For a moment, Ketal considered smashing it to prevent Karto’s return, but given his unimpressive level of strength, he decided it wasn’t worth the effort. He pocketed the phylactery as well.

There was something else to collect.

“This thing was glowing when he cast spells, wasn’t it?”

On top of the staff rested a translucent gray cube. Every time Kartos cast a spell, a peculiar light had emanated from the cube. It seemed as if the cube was aiding his magic.

Does this help with casting magic?

Ketal thought.

Is it a magical artifact? If so, maybe I could use magic with this too?

He grinned widely as he grabbed the artifact. After looting, he looked around and discovered a hidden chamber. A single tap of his finger caused the stone wall to crumble into dust.

“Huh?” Ketal exclaimed. Inside, he saw nine people standing motionless. “Hello...?”

He called out, but there was no response. They seemed completely dazed, as if their minds had been sealed.

“What am I supposed to do with them?” he muttered to himself.

It appeared the lich had used magic to lock their minds. Now that the lich was gone, they would likely recover in a few hours, but Ketal had no way of knowing that.

“Hm...” After pondering for a moment, he decided to head back to Barcan Estate.

This lich is gone anyway. If I explain what had happened, someone will come and take care of them,

he thought.

Once he returned to the estate, he explained everything. He explained about a lich named Kartos that was camping out near their estate. His report caused an uproar throughout the estate.