Chapter 420: Malachar the Catacombs Lich [1]
"Oh?" the lich looked up, his voice dry and raspy, "New visitors after so long? Usually nobody reaches this place, they all die and join my undead collection."
But while the lich was talking, Leon didn’t even care about any of what he was saying, what he cared about was... the talent.
That thing had an A-Rank necromancy talent, meaning that Leon’s skeletons would grow stronger if he killed it and acquired the talent for himself!
With that in mind, he took his stance, his weapons ready and his focus sharp.
"Typical players," the lich shook his head as he got up from his desk, grabbing his scepter in his hand, its tip glowing with dark energy, "They believe they can defeat anything simply using their powers, but there are times... where you are outmatched!"
BOOM!
The catacomb lich released a powerful shockwave that shook the entire chamber, his entire figure roaring with aura that made the bookshelves rattle and the dust fly.
Malachar swung his scepter with a dramatic flourish, the ancient weapon cutting through the air as dark energy swirled around its tip.
And from the ground all around it a faint aura rose as fifty skeletons appeared, their bones clattering as they pulled themselves from the earth and took formation around their master, their hollow eye sockets glowing with malevolent light.
"I can sense that you have a B-Rank necromancy talent," the lich spoke with a faint glint in his eye sockets, his voice carrying a hint of smug superiority as he observed Leon, "Unfortunately for you, mine is better, and you will never match my command over the undead with such inferior abilities."
Meanwhile, Leon was far from impressed by the display of power, his expression remaining neutral and unbothered as he watched the skeletons form up around the lich.
"You’re telling me you spent all this time here and only managed to comprehend the talent up to A-Rank?" Leon asked, unimpressed by the lich’s limited growth.
"...?" Malachar looked at Leon with a confused expression, not understanding why this even mattered to the human standing before him, "Well, if you wish, once I kill you and turn you into an undead, you can observe me for a few more decades and I’m sure I’ll have grown stronger by then~"
"Meh, I’ll take what I can, I guess," Leon replied dismissively, his attention already shifting to the battle ahead.
Leon summoned dozens of shadow bullets around him, the dark projectiles forming in an instant, each one humming with dark energy, launching them all at the Lich, who didn’t even budge from his position, standing confidently behind his skeletal army.
He simply lifted his scepter, and a massive skeletal hand erupted in front of him to block the attack, its bony fingers curling into a protective shield that seemed impenetrable.
Still, even with that defense, the shadow bullets pierced and shattered the hand, their power overwhelming the barrier, and hit the lich directly, punching through his form and leaving smoking holes in his robes and bones.
But even though he was hit all over his body, including his head and chest, Malachar still didn’t die, his form remaining intact as the wounds slowly sealed themselves.
"I see now," Malachar nodded to himself, unbothered by the attack, "You are very strong, though as you might expect, I am immortal as well, so your attacks mean little to me."
"The Requiem guild should be strong enough to wipe you out," Leon mumbled, "So why..."
"Oh?" Malachar’s eyes glinted with interest, "You come from them?"
"What does that mean?" Leon pressed, wanting answers.
"Even if they kill me, they will not obtain what they wish, so instead, I simply provide them with one stronghold crystal every year~" Malachar explained, his voice dripping with amusement at the arrangement.
That is the sole and only reason why Malachar was still alive after all this time, a mutually beneficial arrangement that had persisted for years.
Cavin and the other requiem members knew the drop rate was abysmal, meaning that no matter what they did, they wouldn’t gain anything from killing Malachar outright, making him more valuable alive as a steady source of crystals.
So instead, they opted to simply passively gain crystals from him over time, a steady trickle of progress that had brought them closer to their goal.
But it seems like the requiem guild became impatient now that they only needed 6 more crystals, their hunger for completion driving them to take more aggressive actions.
That is why they sent some other players here to try their luck and find more crystals, though most of them died before even reaching Malachar, their bodies joining his collection of undead.
And even those that cleared this dungeon only did so in the lower difficulties, meaning that they never encountered Malachar, who only resided in the Abyss difficulty, guarding the true challenge and the best rewards.
At the same time, Malachar’s skeletons finally fully rose from the ground and moved forward, their bones clattering in unison as they advanced on Leon’s position.
As a response, Leon also summoned his own skeletons, 12 Undead Skeletons and 13 Undead Mages appearing around him in formation, their eyes glowing with green light.
"An undead war?" Malachar seemed joyful at the prospect, "It is the first time I faced something like this, how interesting and refreshing."
Of course, Leon knew that his skeletons stood no chance against the lich’s superior forces, the gap in power too significant to overcome.
They only took 60% of his combat power after all, limiting their effectiveness against the lich’s much stronger summons.
[Combat Power: 981,183 (+6,194,672)]
And though his combat power was extremely high, with stats high enough to challenge even enemies with combat powers above his, it didn’t matter much for his summons.
The skeletons would each have around 4.3 million combat power, respectable but not overwhelming when facing the lich’s army.
And since Malachar had an A-Rank necromancy talent, he could not only summon 50 skeletons instead of 25, but each of them had 75% of his own combat power, making each of them have 10.5 million, a terrifying number that dwarfed Leon’s forces.
Malachar’s skeletons had almost double the combat power of Leon’s, a significant gap that would determine the outcome of the undead battle!