CLANG! Arad swung his sword, and Xaviin deflected it with his staff. Necrotic wave A shockwave of necrotic magic burst from the lich’s palm, threatening to render the flesh into rot.

ZON! Arad teleported behind Xaviin and drop-kicked him to the ground.

CRACK! Xaviin landed on his legs, quickly glaring at the sky.

Arad flew down with a fiery kick, forcing the lich to jump back.

BOOM! The moment Arad’s foot touched the ground, it exploded in a rose of crimson flames. He looked at his stomach, and Serin was fine, thanks to his void and wings protecting her.

^I need to finish this quickly.^ Arad glared at Xaviin. ^Alcott almost died to defeat him before. Why can I fight him?^ He started feeling weird. ^I can’t get this strange feeling from my head,^

SWOSH! Arad lunged forward, swinging his sword. CLANG! CLANG! Xaviin deflected the two strikes, opening his jaw, Sonic Blast

Arad gasped, he could hear Xaviin’s pitch quickly rising, and he won’t be able to protect Serin from it.

CRACKLE! A lighting bolt flashed across the forest, and a devil carrying two gold engraved blades rushed between Arad and Xaviin, pointing his swords forward. Thunderclap

CLAP! Thunder clapped as Abel swung at Xaviin’s mouth, and the two sound waves canceled each other.

^A devil?^ Xaviin gasped, and Abel swung a sword at his neck. CLAP! A lightning bolt exploded as the lich flew back.

Thud! A woman carrying a really long sword landed behind Xaviin. Action surge Water flow dance

Xaviin rapidly turned, swinging his staff. CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! He deflected two strikes, but the third hit him in the chest and sent him flying back. Thud! When he landed, Merida had already landed behind him. CLANG! CLANG! She hit him twice, sending him rolling. 𝒆𝙣𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝙚𝙩

^She’s far more skilled than those two. A pure fighter. I don’t have enough magic to accelerate fast enough to beat her techniques,^

Xaviin was a mage, not a fighter. His martial skills weren’t better than the average man’s. But he used acceleration magic and his fast cognitive undead mind to outpace most people. But now he didn’t have full access to that and is barely able to keep up with a physical fight.

CRACK! Merida landed beside Xaviin, kicking him in the skull as hard as she could, and sent him toward Arad.

Arad took a deep breath, “This could hurt,” He glanced at Serina, and pulled his fist back, VROOOOOOOOM!

AWAAAAAAAAAAAA! Serin started crying, and a strong wave of holy magic gushed from her body. She was scared and started to smite his stomach.

Arad could feel his organs burning. This was a continuing smite unlike the first one and he was about to lose consciousness from it.

Arad smiled, firmly sticking his foot on the ground. “I know. You can’t be the only one feeling the burn of it.” He clenched a fist, engulfed in void and holy magic.

Arad twisted his body. VROOM! Using all of his might, and infusing his fist with all the magic he got.

^Strike! The city’s whole life depends on it,^

“**ITE!” Arad shouted, punching Xaviin in the chest and cracking his ribs.

Xaviin’s body flew back, his bones all cracked with a golden light. Thud! But he landed on his feet, glaring at Arad with glowing eyes.

Even though Arad’s fist carried some holy magic from Serin, it wasn’t enough to harm Xaviin.

^This is your end.^ Xaviin pointed his staff at Arad, charging a large spell.

CLANG! Jack stood beside him and swung his dagger down, knocking the staff from Xaviin’s hand, “What?” The lich gasped, glaring at Jack.

^This bastard, where did he come from?^

CRACKLE! THUD! Abel and Merida charged forward, kicking Xaviin in unison and sending him back.

Arad put Serin on the ground to remain safe. He already guessed that Xaviin is on his last leg. BAM! He lunged forward, using the blood to heal.

Merida, Abel, Jack, and Arad charged at the cracked lich. Their only chance was now, they need to crush his bones to dust.

***

Back in the city, the guards rushed across the street killing the skeleton and zombies that managed to get into the city.

“Clear them out! Send the injured to the church before they transform. We don’t need another disaster. The head guard shouted, but from the side of his eyes, he spotted a dead knight at the end of the street.

“Damn it!” The man shouted, swinging his arm, “All the elite guards! Follow me to battle. I spotted a death knight!” He rushed forward, and ten knights followed him.

CRACK! When they reached the turn, they saw no death knight. But only found a white-haired old man facing the wall, emptying his bladder.

“Old man Cain, is that you?” The head knight recognized him. Cain was known as the best herbalist in the city.

Cain turned his head to look at them, “Can you turn a blind eye to this? I’m old and can’t wait till I get home.”

“Forget that! We’re glad you’re safe. We will carry you to safety, so relax,” The head knight sighed.

“Captain, where is the death knight?” One of the knights asked.

Cain looked around, “Death knight? No, I didn’t see any one of you dead.”

The knight sighed, “No, it’s undead. A large and armored zombie or skeleton,”

Cain shook his head, “I didn’t see anything like that. But I can’t see well. So I might be wrong.”

The knights sighed in relief. They much rathered it being a false alarm than a real one. Two of the knights carried Cain, while the rest protected them as they rushed toward the city keep.

In the shadow of the back streets, Jemimia, Cain’s maid stood there, staring at them from the darkness.

“Master drew their attention. It’s all good,” She looked back, lifting a thumbs up.

“Why did he even call me?” A tall, muscular woman with coal black hair and glowing red eyes growled, flame gushing from her nose as she burned a death knight corpse.

“Even you couldn’ve done this,” The woman looked back, and there were several death knights crushed to the ground. “He already destroyed them.”

Jemima bowed to the woman, “Sorry, lady Zaleria. I asked him to not call you to kill the undead since you are pretty loud.”

Zaleria scratched her head, “I know, I know. It’s the rules, we can’t draw a lot of attention. I will burn the corpses, but you dispose of the ashes.”

****

Merlin looked at the sky, “Damn it!” She cried.