Translator: imperfectluck Editor: Kurisu

“Dragon lich? Quit joking around. Dragon liches are unwanted amongst the dragon clan, and there are barely any in existence. We were able to come across such a rare relic?”

“I’m not joking! This dragon lich seems pissed off. Hurry and come save the people before he wipes out all life in the area.”

When the intense explosion blew off over half the mountain, the duel all of a sudden came to a natural pause.

The landslide sent sand and rocks flying as a black magical pillar rapidly rose like smoke from war fire. The pillar was a mix of death magic and terrifyingly powerful dragon magic. In the very end, a black dragon made of smoke was formed in the sky—the symbol of an enraged dragon lich.

Liches were not to be messed with. This was the path that mages would take when they were on a brink. Although liches would be Legend at the very weakest in name, and transforming into an undead creature would weaken their flesh, their limitless time allowed them to accumulate knowledge to surpass ordinary mages.

Dragon liches were even more so not to be messed with, as they differed from the fragile lich bodies. Dragon bones and human bones were fundamentally different in disposition. Dragon lich’s bodies were formed with a mix of dragon bones and magic, and the strength of their flesh looked purely greater than undead dragon bones of higher level fighters. Giant dragons were naturally gifted in both magic and physical attributes. What reason was there not to continue using magic to strengthen the body after death?

As they made up for their flaws, the only explanation for transforming into a dragon lich and not becoming a tomb guardian dragon, or other kind of dead dragon like spirit dragon, was that they had progressed very far on their path of magic. By becoming a dragon lich, they were doing their best to preserve their abilities.

If liches were considered standard masters, dragon liches were mature dragons as well as masters. They were rare and extraordinarily difficult to defeat.

“What terrifying evil is this?!”

“Holy light! That enemy is worth a battle!”

“The third team of Blade of Justice Holy Knights are all here! Assemble! Onward to the evil entity, charge!”

The high-level holy knights who could summon mounts got their lances ready. Other holy knights also naturally got into battle mode. That cardinal wanted to stop them, but was immediately pushed aside.

“Please don’t block our way in the final moment of our big search for the evil prevailing over us all. This is our duty.”

Sometimes, this job as a holy knight not only made it difficult to deal with opponents—they also confused their own allies.

For example, there was clearly a super-boss that was beyond their abilities to handle before their eyes. Normal people would think to fight it if you could take it on, but if not, they’d feel fear. In contrast, when facing an undefeatable enemy, the honorable holy knight felt more delighted the more evil and powerful it was. And if there were towns and civilians to protect behind them, the more they couldn’t back out of the fight to the death.

After the war between the Holy Light and Guardians seven years ago, Estrada’s achievement was broadcast across the world. The clearer it became that the entire world was enveloped in darkness, the more delighted those holy knights were to come across battles of sacrificial and protective nature.

Although some people mocked those holy knights for not knowing when to fight or retreat like berserkers, one couldn’t deny that their bravery and sacrifice did in fact save quite a few innocent lives.

This was the reason why the Holy Church’s reputation got worse yet the holy knights were welcomed by everyone all along. The people wouldn’t forget who truly treated them well.

However, in this moment, this special quality of being “not afraid of a strong enemy” actually gave their “comrades” a little headache.

“Charge right up to such terrifying magic without hesitation? Doesn’t the manual tell us we must first protect ourselves when we come across opponents we cannot defeat?”

“…That’s not the point. The point is that menacing look. I’m afraid of charging up at the opponent just by looking at them. Why didn’t you give a heads-up before yelling and fighting? Just because they use dark or death magic doesn’t mean that they’re definitely our mortal enemy.”

The northern trio actually seemed really calm. At least the training they received meant that they wouldn’t treat all undead and dark mages as their mortal enemies. But apart from the relatively reasonable Northlands, an overwhelming majority of organizations and countries wouldn’t put “safety first” and “calm communication” into their training manuals. To them, if cannon fodder and tools had a mind of their own, then they weren’t actually that useful anymore.

But just then, the two investigating teams were on the same boat. If those holy knights really angered that powerful force in existence, the entire town would likely suffer.

After a simple talk, the trio also went after the Holy Knights. However, they headed back to their rooms first to grab some equipment.

Before this, resident mercenaries in the entire Rhino Bar also grabbed their weapons and headed out. Checking out the scene of action was way better than waiting around here.

As for me, I collected all the betting tickets and takings, then counted them in hopes that I’d make it in time to collect the silly cat’s corpse. But before I could step out the door, my hand was pulled back from behind.

“What are you going to do? You can’t even help out, so don’t trouble everyone.”

Although she sounded firm, her graceful face looked a little worried. While holding a broom, a peculiar faint yellow tint flashed across Katerina’s elegant eyes.

I was stunned at first, but the next second, I smiled as I made a decision.

“It’s about time… So, er, just come with me. Watch over me, and you won’t have to worry about me, right?”

I reached my hand out to grab the girl’s hand. The girl didn’t even fight back. Her face immediately flushed red, but I had no time to explain.

I eagerly rushed out the door. But before I left, I waved at the bar owner. “Old Barton, we’re stepping out for a bit.”

I jumped upon the horse by the bar and dragged the girl up. The two of us were about to ride off, but after just a few steps, we heard the very real, very angry roar of a dragon.

“It’s your group of tin-heads again. I hid myself underground, yet you were still able to come bother me. Alright. So you guys won’t give me an explanation, and you won’t compensate for my treasures? Then I’ll just wait for your God to collect his people!”

The anger in the dragon lich’s voice rose sky high, and the black clouds suddenly started to come down. The anger which ran rampant was able to materialize as a black tornado. For thoughts to be able to materialize and disturb the world, that was a sign of power. I re-assessed my evaluation of this dragon lich. He was definitely a top-level dragon mage who possessed his own Soul World. And if so, then those Holy Knights were all wasting their time trying to fight him.

As for those holy knights… it seems like they’d taken the blame for a certain someone. That was to say, a few of them might have already died.

Even for someone like me, I felt a little guilty right now. But having thought about it again, I moved on.

“In any case, they’ve come to investigate this case. In the end, the Death Council will definitely implicate the dragon lich into this rather than taking the usual path—finding villagers to interview, taking on small missions to boost their popularity, and taking one step at a time investigating each and every clue. By fighting the boss right away, it was a big time saver from having to strategize at all.”

“Sigh. Aren’t I heading over to help out…”

The Rhino Bar was already close by the rear of the mountain, so on horse, we beat the walking adventurers there who travelled by foot. By the time we arrived, we caught sight of the horrific scene.

The humongous white giant bone dragon roared in anger, and before it stood a blonde human lady.

White, the leader of the knights who planned to save people, was beneath its feet, and it was unclear if he was dead or alive. Each and every one of those holy knights was sprawled face down on the ground, and the third team of knights of justice was all wiped out.

She had long golden silky hair, and a cute, captivating little face as red as an apple. At such a young age, she had the attractiveness that could land someone in trouble.

“Let go off that loli! Let me do it!” As I cried out the catchphrase, the scene froze for a moment. The dragon lich stared at me with an odd look, then I realized that something was wrong.

“…Ah, think I got the wrong phrase. Let that girl go! If you’ve got the balls, come at me instead!”

The dragon lich’s head shot up as its gaze swept back and forth between me and the blonde girl. It raised its head and let out a thunderous angry roar, then the dragon’s black deathly breath cut the sky and materialized.

The next second, the dragon lich’s green soulfire eyes appeared right before me.

“Soul connection? Finally, there’s someone who recognizes it. You’re this brat’s guardian, aren’t ya? Let’s not mention how your brat was playing with fireworks and blew up my door; my treasures which I’ve been collecting for several thousands of years are all gone… all gone! You tell me what to do! They were all precious original pieces from the elven dynasty. Even though they weren’t genuine pieces, they were the elven master’s masterpieces. C-can you ever compensate for them?!”

The dragon pointed its boney finger to the trash by the side. Over there was a pile of what used to be exceptionally striking elven statues. It looked like those ancient valuable art pieces had now been blown up into rubbish.

The next second, seeing that rubble made the dragon lich immediately cry in devastation. “My treasures! My 1:1 imitation beautiful group of female elven statues! Oh Eich, how could this world be so cruel!”

I was stunned right now. Seeing this practically wailing dragon lich begging for compensation, I suddenly thought about the tragic story of the brat who entered the otaku treasure trove from a particular world. I thought about the tragic image of those dismembered expensive figurines.

“Pft! Another die-hard otaku lich. As expected, liches who have been hermits for too long are all perverts, huh?”

I watched my soul-bound winner in life gold elf who spewed hurtful words with an annoyed expression along with a child-like face that feigned innocence. All of a sudden, I remembered the tragic story again of Annie’s surprise attack on Sulfur Mountain City. When my priceless illustrated magazines and my limited edition illustrated books ended up scrawled all over by that brat, Annie also looked at me with that same innocent look. I felt even more sympathy for this unlucky dragon lich.

I suddenly remembered that our information mentioned this strange giant dragon lived with elves for a really long time. Perhaps it wasn’t to seek some kind of magic or secret, but to simply collect creative art.

As I stared at Harloys, who feigned innocence just like Annie did back in the day, I got a little pissed at the thought of the countless times that brat looted stuff, and how I had to patiently explain ethics to the brat without getting mad.

And the best way to stop feeling pissed off was to make people even more pissed off.

“Don’t cry. You’re a dragon lich! Forget those ancient scraps and rough fakes from the elven kingdom; I have an elven princess from the elven kingdom. Her inventory is definitely richer than yours. Oh, yeah. You’re probably not even two thousand years old, right? Then, you definitely haven’t seen the elven royalty’s gold elf, right? They’ve been described as the most beautiful, most perfect elves. Use her as a model, and who’s to say what outstanding masterpieces you’ll make.”

The dragon lich came to a stop, but his soulfire roared.

“Really? A gold elf? Impossible! No, my truth detection magic didn’t react. You’re telling the truth! There really are gold elves in this world!”

This lich locked himself up for over three hundred years. At the time, Harloys was still the Banshee Queen. He was absolutely right in the fact that gold elves were extinct. But in that moment, his body twisted in joy, and the black smog formed two wings. The entire dragon looked as though it was dancing a peculiar dance.

“Wait! Y-You actually dare sell me?! Dragon lich! He was the one who ordered me to set up the spell to blow up the mountain! Hurry up and eat him!”

“Pft! Golden elf pet for rent. As long as you can pay up, we can talk everything out.”