Chapter 17: The Incomparably Cunning Enemy

Rustle… rustle…

The sound pressed down to the depths of one’s throat.

A chilling, bone-freezing growl followed!

“They’re here!” Liz’s face turned pale.

A Licker suddenly crashed through the low bushes.

Then came the second, third, and fourth…

A swarm of Lickers, followed by countless Ghouls, charged forward ferociously, surrounding them.

So many of them!

Far more than any previous assault!!

And behind the horde of Ghouls—

A thin and shriveled shadow slowly appeared.

It was draped in a tattered, dark-purple robe.

Beneath its hood was not a skull,

but a dried, shriveled face, wrinkled like sun-dried orange peel, barely maintaining a human shape.

Two ghostly green soul flames flickered within its deep-set eye sockets.

Cold, sinister, cunning—devoid of even the slightest warmth of life.

Its skeletal hand held a staff topped with a pale skull, with tendrils of black mist coiling around its shaft.

“A Lich… it really came…”

Liz’s heart sank.

She never imagined it would appear this quickly!

They hadn’t even finished building their defenses yet.

And without a doubt—this was a powerful Third-tier Lich!

That palpable pressure of death itself made even Liz tremble slightly.

After all, her true strength was only that of a First-tier Knight.

She could only reach Second-tier elite power through the might of the Holy Sword.

The gap between them wasn’t small—it was enormous!

The Lich didn’t rush to attack.

It stared at Liz and the others, its gaze finally falling on the distant outline of the church.

A faint trace of human-like confusion flickered across its shriveled face.

“What a nauseating aura…”

“When did this cursed forest become tainted by such pure light?”

The Lich felt a rare, uneasy dread in its hollow chest.

At the same time—

It sensed a subtle yet real threat emanating from the Holy Sword in Liz’s hand.

It seemed that this weak human was wielding a weapon far beyond her strength!

Pointing its bony finger at Liz, it commanded arrogantly, “Lowly creature, hand over that sword!”

“I shall grant you the mercy of painless eternal sleep!”

“In your dreams!” Liz shouted sharply, raising her sword toward the Lich. “Filthy abomination, crawl back into your grave!”

“Heh heh~ Such a foolish creature…”

“You humans always choose the worst possible ending.”

“I shall let you understand—death is a beautiful luxury to wish for!”

The Lich’s soul fire flickered mockingly.

Then, too lazy to speak further, it merely tapped its twisted staff lightly against the ground.

A silent ripple spread rapidly outward.

Liz and the others immediately spat out blood, as if struck by an invisible hammer.

Then the massive horde of Ghouls, led by the Lickers, howled sharply—and charged madly toward Liz and her group!

“Hold the line! Form up!”

Liz roared, the first to stand again.

Durandal flashed into a streak of golden light, blocking the tongues of the two leading Lickers and swiftly slicing them apart.

In an instant, the Lickers were chopped into several pieces of rotting flesh.

Ulf’s willpower was strong; roaring, he forced himself up.

His logging axe whistled through the air, splitting a Ghoul’s skull in two.

The group fought back desperately, back to back.

But there were just too many Ghouls!

Especially those Lickers—they could attack from range, as elusive and deadly as assassins, impossible to guard against.

Soon—

A Licker’s tongue pierced through Ulf’s arm.

He groaned from the pain.

David was tackled by another, its foul mouth snapping toward his neck!

And even more Ghouls began to probe toward the church.

“Damn it!”

“Lord Angel!!” Siance cried out in despair.

Buzz—!

From the cross atop the church spire, a golden light erupted—several times stronger than before!

A pillar of gold light began to sweep across the tainted battlefield!

The Ghouls that tried to ambush the church screamed miserably, purified on the spot.

Then—

Even the Lickers and Ghouls surrounding Liz and the others were instantly annihilated in swaths.

The pressure on the group lessened drastically.

Moreover—

A warm, powerful energy flowed into their limbs and bones, dispersing fear and exhaustion, even closing their bleeding wounds before their eyes.

“It’s the blessing of the Holy Light!”

“Kill! With Lord Angel watching over us, we fear no darkness!!”

Liz’s spirit soared.

Durandal shone even brighter, her sword dancing like a storm.

In moments, another cluster of Ghouls fell—her momentum unstoppable.

Yet no matter how fiercely Liz and the others fought, the Lich still floated in place, its expression shifting between shock and doubt as it silently watched the battlefield.

It had witnessed the outburst of Holy Light just now.

Such pure light—!

In all its years as a Lich, even in its brief life as a human before that, it had never seen anything like it.

Not even the Pope of the Holy Light Church, famed for his radiance—that terrifying Eighth-tier powerhouse—had released such pure light, even at the moment of his death!

To put it simply—it was the difference between 80% and 100% purity of Light.

Not a matter of raw strength—but of essence!

“Could it be…”

“Is there truly an angel watching over this place?”

“But that’s impossible!”

This Lich had once been fortunate enough to overhear whispers from great figures,

and knew some of their deep secrets.

The Divine Realm had long been severed from the mortal world!

The gods had not descended for over a thousand years!

Only a few remnants of divine relics barely maintained traces of divine power.

That was why their Undead Scourge had been so unstoppable—because they possessed true Demon Gods!

In this godless world, they were invincible!

“But now…”

“Perhaps it’s merely a relic of some fallen angel.”

The Lich thought grimly,yet still didn’t dare step even half a pace into the golden radiance.

Maintaining caution, it raised its staff once again.

The next moment—

Several foul, corrosive beams shot fiercely toward Liz!

Her face changed; she immediately swung her sword to block.

The clash of Holy Light and necrotic energy sizzled with corrosion.

Her arm went numb, and Durandal’s glow dimmed for an instant.

A casual strike from a Third-tier Lich—was terrifyingly strong!

……

“This is troublesome. That cunning Lich is still probing.”

Lynn spoke gravely. “For an undead as intelligent as a human, it won’t step into my Divine Sense range unless it’s absolutely certain.”

“At this rate, Liz and the others won’t last much longer… Should I use the 【Divine Descent Incarnation】?”

He weighed the pros and cons.

Manifesting the incarnation took time.

He feared that if it appeared too soon, the Lich would be frightened and flee.

He needed a single, decisive strike!

No chance for the enemy to react!

At the same time—

Lynn realized a serious mistake.

He shouldn’t let the range of Holy Light exactly match the range of his Divine Sense.

That was practically exposing his trump card!

His Divine Sense covered a thousand meters.

So the range of Holy Light should be limited to five hundred meters—or even less!

That way, the enemy would think it was outside danger, when in truth, it would still be within his strike zone—a far greater advantage.

“That’s right… I can do that too…”

Lynn thought of a feasible plan.

Whether it would work—still needed to be tested!

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