Catherine arrived at Ambrose's castle expecting to see swarms of skeletons and zombies, perhaps even cabinets stuffed with human organs on display.

After all, he was a lich. It would be stranger if that weren't the case.

Yet to Catherine's surprise, the castle was unexpectedly clean, if somewhat plain.

Not only were there very few ugly undead to be seen, they were welcomed by a young human woman. And she was even alive!

Though she did freeze for quite a while after seeing Catherine for the first time, Catherine was still very pleased by Ambrose's attention to detail.

At the very least, he was showing the elves sufficient respect.

After some prompting, Isabel finally snapped out of her trance and, following Ambrose's instructions, showed the elves to the rooms that had been readied for them. As she closed the doors, she couldn't help but mutter to herself, "I can't believe there are such beautiful elves in the world…"

Her eyes had been fixed on Catherine the entire time. She had no idea what the other elves even looked like.

The injured elves were treated right away. Without demonic interference, the elven healers were able to patch them up in no time. With a few healing potions and recovery spells, the severely wounded became lightly wounded, and the lightly wounded were healed almost to full health.

However, Catherine noticed something troubling: the elves were consuming an unusually high number of healing potions.

Though the wounded had already recovered physically, they couldn't stop themselves for reaching for more.

Catherine knew this to be an early symptom of mana addiction.

The elves would experience an ever-growing craving for mana, until they were willing to ingest even poisonous magical reagents.

The elves had strictly limited the export of magical materials precisely so that, when the epidemic of mana addiction finally erupted, their reserves would be able to sustain them for a few more years.

But it seemed that the affliction was progressing even faster than Catherine had anticipated. Perhaps the outbreak would occur even before the war was over.

The thought only deepened her anxiety.

To avoid drawing attention, she found an excuse to leave the room.

Isabel, a conscientious attendant, hurried over to greet Catherine as she emerged.

"Y-Your Majesty," Isabel began nervously. "Do you require anything? I'm happy to serve you."

The young woman kept her head lowered, not daring to look up at the elven queen lest she be stunned once again by Catherine's beauty.

Catherine smiled. "I just want to take a look around. Since you're here, why don't you show me around the castle? This is my first time seeing a lich's home."

Isabel blinked. There really wasn't much to see. Laboratories and libraries filled half the castle, and the remaining rooms were so barren that not even rats or insects lived there.

But Catherine had already begun walking, leaving Isabel no choice but to hurry after her.

"This is Master's laboratory, where he prepares magical potions that require distillation. The room next door is for centrifugal extraction… Oh, this is the library. That shelf holds necromancy texts. The books on other schools of magic are in another library, and over there is where the research papers are stored…"

As they passed each area, Isabel did her best to be an enthusiastic guide.

Catherine hadn't intended to pay much attention. She was only seeking a distraction, a chance to calm herself. But as she listened, she couldn't help but feel surprised.

"Master Megaman doesn't seem much like a lich. As far as I know, a lich's phylactery requires a large number of souls to maintain. Yet there are no masses of human slaves kept here. Where does he get his experimental materials?"

Liches were considered evil-aligned not merely because of prejudice from other races, but because of their way of life.

Vampires needed the blood of living beings, preferably intelligent races. The blood of elven or human virgins was the most prized luxury of all.

Yet Ambrose's castle was spotless. While there were occasional remains in the laboratories, a closer look revealed that most were animal bones. Humanoid remains were few and far between.

Was this all an act?

But that made no sense. If the elves hadn't been attacked so suddenly, they wouldn't have brought their wounded here to rest in the first place. What reason would this lich have to go to such lengths to put on a show?

Catherine's curiosity grew. His illusory appearance, his terrifying spellcasting power, this utterly unconventional castle… Was this lich truly different from other undead, or did she simply understand too little about them?

Isabel explained, "Master Megaman has the ability to create an artificial soul that suffices in most circumstances."

This wasn't a secret. Anyone who had dealings with Ambrose knew of his ability. Back when he was in Alkhemia, he had even considered marketing artificial souls, but abandoned the idea when human slaves proved far too cheap for the product to be competitive.

"Is that his legendary boon?" Catherine asked in surprise.

Isabel nodded. "Yes. Master can synthesize artificial souls from simple magical materials. Most of his experiments use these souls. He's even tried to use them to create new life."

This was the first time Catherine had heard of such an obscure ability. Creating new life… was this really something a lich could do?

She found it hard to believe, but just as they rounded a corner, Catherine saw several adorable little creatures hopping around in the hall.

The two largest were silvery-white and resembled plump blobs of liquid mercury. Golden threads delineated eyes and mouths. They looked surprisingly cute and squishy.

Beside one mercury blob were several sparkling little lumps, their bodies seemingly formed from crystal shards. On the other side, the second mercury blob led a group of sandy lumps. They didn't look as impressive, but were far livelier.

The two mercury blobs seemed to be acting as commanders, directing the crystal and sand blobs into formation to fight one another.

And the blobs weren't simply attacking each other haphazardly. On closer inspection, their movements followed clear patterns: they were practicing combat tactics.

The little blobs tumbled together before separating into two orderly rows.

The blobs seemed to notice Catherine and Isabel. The moment they saw Catherine, they froze, then bounced excitedly toward her, surrounding her and hopping around happily.

Isabel watched with envy. She tried to interact with the little elementals often, yet they tended to ignore her. Who would have thought they'd rush over to Catherine the moment they met her?

Even they were spellbound by the elven queen's charm.

Catherine observed them carefully. "These are… elemental lifeforms? No, that doesn't feel right. They seem like undead… but that's not it either."

As the elven queen, Catherine was well-traveled. She had seen celestial beings, visitors from other planes, and all manner of strange existences. Yet she couldn't identify what these were.

High elves were extremely sensitive to magic. Catherine could clearly sense the dark mana within the crystal and sand blobs, a classic undead trait. Yet their bodies were elemental, with no connection to corpses whatsoever.

Had this lich mastered a technique to turn elemental life into undead?

The more Catherine thought about it, the less she understood. This lich defied her expectations at every turn.

"What a fascinating lich," she murmured. "I've never seen anything like this. He must be an incredibly learned scholar."

Isabel nodded fervently. "He's the smartest and most knowledgeable person I've ever met. And he's very kind to the living. He's taken in many human refugees and allowed them to live on this land. Their lives are far better than those of serfs elsewhere."

She meant every word. Ambrose was far better than her previous lord.

The more Catherine heard, the more shocked she felt. Could a lich like this really exist?

Though she doubted Isabel's words, Catherine couldn't help but form a favorable impression of Ambrose.

After wandering the castle for a while longer, Catherine suddenly asked, "By the way… do you know where the prisoners are kept?"

"Prisoners?" Isabel blinked. "Oh, I see. Would you like to check on the captive elves, Your Majesty?"

Catherine hadn't expected such bluntness. She did want to see Cicero and the other captives—not necessarily to sneak them away while Ambrose was gone, but at least to confirm they were alive. Of course, if an opportunity presented itself, rescuing them outright wouldn't be off the table.

After all, the elves and this lich were still enemies. He had brought her into his home; she couldn't exactly be blamed if she staged a jailbreak.

If Isabel refused, Catherine would have no choice but to knock her out and search for them on her own.

To her surprise, Isabel said, "Of course. Please follow me."

Catherine was skeptical. Wasn't Isabel afraid that she'd break them out?

Isabel was just a weak human. Catherine wouldn't even need to exert herself. A flick of a finger would be enough to knock her unconscious.

Despite her doubts, Isabel had already begun leading the way, so Catherine followed.

What Catherine didn't know was that Isabel wasn't acting on her own initiative. This was all part of Ambrose's instructions. The lich had returned briefly the previous night and, after telling her to receive the elven envoys, had added, "If the elven queen wants to see the prisoners, take her to them directly."

So Isabel led Catherine straight to the dungeon, where they found Cicero and the other Twilight Wardens.

Cicero was the first to notice Catherine. He cried out in shock, "Your Majesty?! What are you doing here?!"

"I'm here to rescue you, of course. Cicero, you…" Catherine was about to ask whether they had been mistreated when she noticed strange energy patterns etched across the elves' chests.

Seeing her gaze, Cicero hurriedly explained, "It's a seal cast by that lich. It completely suppresses our magic. We can't escape at all."

Catherine studied it carefully, then said in astonishment, "No. This isn't just a seal. This magical structure also completely isolates…"

She didn't finish the sentence.

All the elves present were cut off from the effects of Catherine's Selfless Resonance.

Even an anti-magic field couldn't achieve such a feat. How had the lich managed to do it with just a small magical seal? Catherine tried to analyze its structure, but it was far too complex for her understanding.

"If this seal could be applied to every elf suffering from mana addiction…"

Her heart began to race uncontrollably, as though it might leap from her chest.

Rescuing prisoners was no longer the priority. This magical seal was the key.

The elven race… could be saved.