ALL NOVEL Chapter 26
“I destroyed the teleportation trap. This area is no longer an enemy magical boundary.”
Bernard wiped the sweat from his brow and reported. The hero, who had been constantly adjusting his glasses and checking his surroundings, let out a sigh of relief and nodded.
“If we had been just an hour late, the enemy reinforcements would have collapsed in through teleportation.”
“Weren’t we quite relaxed?”
Rose tilted her head and asked. Walter shook his head with a serious expression.
“That hour was earned thanks to our relentless march as if we were running through the mountains without rest. We gathered this much time slowly by hurrying, so we mustn’t let our guard down.”
Located exactly 47.5 km away from the rocky mountain where we fought our first battle in this expedition, the fortress of the Demon King’s Army. Before the war, this was undeniably the territory of the Audrich Empire, but now it had turned into a stronghold and fortress of the Demon King’s Army.
The well-constructed fortress, complete with high-level mana traps, clearly showed how long this place had been under the occupation of the Demon King’s forces.
“Anyway, now there’s no chance of the enemy showing up through teleportation. Let’s advance immediately.”
Margaret, looking somewhat empty, licked her lips as she spoke. Due to the rapid movement, she hadn’t even had time to retrieve arrows from the dead bodies, and her quiver now held barely a dozen arrows. Of those, five were the crossbow bolts donated by Bernard.
“Just as you say. We’ve progressed faster than expected, but we don’t have time to waste. I don’t even know how many minutes it will take to get that guy’s head.”
Since there was some validity in the words of Bernard and Margaret, Walter accepted their statements. Before hastily stepping toward the Lich Lord’s fortress, Walter turned back to Rose with a worried expression. In some sense, Rose, who had spent the most stamina today, was sitting down to catch her breath while Bernard was busy dismantling the traps.
“Are you okay? Is it heavy?”
“If I’m going to whine this much, I wouldn’t have followed you.”
Rose confidently thumped her chest with her fist. The thick full plate armor resonated with a “thunk” as her fist struck.
“Get up, I’ll help you.”
Walter reached out his hand toward the Crown Princess. Rose shook her head and tried to stand up on her own, but her legs wobbled, and she fell backward.
“Are you okay?”
Margaret, who had set off earlier, turned her head back and asked. Rose stuck out her tongue in embarrassment and flushed.
“Uh, no problem, no problem. But Walter…”
“What? Get up and hold my hand.”
“It’s nice that you’ll offer your hand, but could you give me one more chocolate? I think I’m running low on calories.”
In response to Rose’s words, Walter pulled a chocolate bar from his pocket and handed it to her. Rose slowly began to walk while munching on the tasteless meal.
It was not that Rose Caprice or her physical strength was weak. Even while wearing heavy armor, she possessed the stamina worthy of her wall-like reputation, able to dash about the plains and take down enemies for hours.
However, Walter’s operation forced the entire group to cross the rocky mountain, standing at an altitude of 1200 meters, under the threat of the enemy. Moreover, all their gear and weaponry were left intact.
After crossing the mountain, they had to march for tens of kilometers, and immediately after the march, they needed to eliminate the remaining enemy forces before moving forward again.
It was something an ordinary person couldn’t do even with their bare body. Walter bit his lower lip as he watched Rose try to conceal her exhaustion while trudging ahead.
The hero knew Rose Caprice’s character very well. He fully understood that awkwardly offering words of encouragement to her would be nothing short of an insult.
Instead of coddling his lover, he playfully urged her on while giving directions to proceed forward. Not only Rose but all four of them barely managed to endure and reached the Lich Lord’s fortress. However, that was not the end of the mission; it was merely a preparatory stage for it.
“If I were the enemy commander, I would strike us down in this state right now.”
Bernard spoke with a voice now lacking the strength to complain any further. Walter, leaning on the Holy Sword as if it was a staff, silently agreed with Bernard.
Among the four, Margaret appeared relatively unharmed compared to the others. While Bernard, Walter, and Rose possessed near superhuman stamina, she inherently belonged to a different race.
“They slowed our pace to prevent excessive stamina depletion. The time Walter set is close. We have to move in now.”
Margaret said with a tone of resignation. The Lich Lord had established a fortress that left this barren land devoid of any vegetation. Looking around the desolate plateau wasteland, Margaret reaffirmed her determination to complete this mission.
Once upon a time, this place was also part of the Empire’s territory. Humans are a race capable of wantonly destroying nature, but at least they aren’t as brazen about it.
On the wasteland stood a crude-looking 15-meter high black fortress. It seemed as if it had been hastily shattered from obsidian, and upon closer inspection, one could see it spreading toxicity to everything around it, which was indeed the case.
“Damn it. Understood. If we break through this gate…”
Bernard sighed as he placed his hand on the fortress’s main gate. At that moment, the door he touched slid open slowly and automatically.
The four of them stood in shock as they watched the door open slowly.
After a brief silence, the first to speak was Margaret.
“It’s a trap.”
“It is indeed a trap.”
Walter agreed.
“Anyone can see that it’s a trap.”
Rose chimed in. Bernard hesitated, thinking about whether or not to close the door. Walter shrugged and asked.
“Shall we go in?”
“We have no choice but to,” Margaret concurred. Rose nodded her head, while only Bernard was left holding his golden hair in disbelief.
“Did you leave your common sense beyond the border? Are you really saying we should go in after seeing this?”
“I’m not just thinking out loud.”
Margaret strode toward the door. The Elven Princess was quite fired up today for various reasons. Bernard gave up on opposing her and stepped back. He knew that when Margaret was angry, even the Emperor of the Empire wouldn’t be able to bend her will.
With a bang, as the Fairy Lord kicked open the fortress door, the stark scenery inside was laid bare. A broad, empty space surrounded by walls made of the same material as the outer black obsidian.
The sole occupant of that space was the Dark Lich Lord—a powerful necromancer and top-tier necromancer who had lived as a demon for centuries, forgetting the souls of the living.
Although he couldn’t be considered the strongest under the Demon King, he certainly belonged to a formidable category. If they succeeded in killing him today, it would be one of the noteworthy accomplishments among all the feats Walter and his party had achieved thus far.
Without a hint of fear, Margaret boldly stepped into the fortress where the Lich Lord stood alone. She readied her bow and aimed at the ghoul shrouded in robes. The ragged-looking Lich Lord turned to the Elven Princess and flashed a hideous smile.
“You’ve come. Even faster than I expected. I would like to welcome you to my fortress. What you seek is none other than I—”
Margaret, with a bored expression, shot her arrow. The arrow penetrated directly into the Lich’s unguarded eye, yanking a sharp scream from him.
“Damn it! Have you no decorum for an introduction? For being an ancient existence comparable to me, you lack the courtesy of a duel!”
“This is not a duel.”
Margaret calmly said, loading another arrow.
“This is an assassination attempt.”
“Assassination, my foot! You came and smashed everything in sight, and how is that an assassination?”
“Then let me ask you. Just what kind of trap is this, which seems to welcome us with open arms?”
“I’d rather ask you. Do you think of me as an equal to the Demon King? With you trampling down all my forces and assets on your way here, what kind of trap could I possibly have prepared?”
“Your main force should be coming.”
“They are coming! No, perhaps they just received the news. Did you think that you lot came rushing here to prevent me from setting a trap? You have made it a habit to overestimate the enemy! Crazy! If I knew I’d be ambushed by the likes of you, I wouldn’t have built a fortress here in the first place!”
As the Lich Lord shouted in apparent injustice, Margaret couldn’t help but believe his words. The open door was likely a result of the Lich’s despair in being unable to respond to the disaster, which struck like walking calamities instead of being a mere lure or trap.
“In that case, resist thoroughly. Today, you shall receive the death you deserve.”
Margaret uttered what sounded like a villain’s line. As she once again aimed her arrow at the Lich Lord, the four heroes had already finished preparing for battle and took their positions.
“If resisting is what you want, at least I’ll take one of you with me. Bring it on!”
As the Lich Lord spread his arms wide, dark magic energy began to billow out. Walter looked at Margaret with a somewhat reproachful expression.
“Why are you provoking the corpse for no reason?”
“If I hadn’t provoked, would this have gone smoothly? Shut up and give me orders!”
“Rose, as discussed go in the forefront. Bernard, fall back and support with magic. Margaret, you charge with me.”
“Got it. I’ll only shoot one arrow.”
Since she didn’t have many arrows anyway, Margaret had no intention of just shooting her bow. Moreover, just as the arrow that struck the Lich’s eye had not caused a fatal wound, dealing significant damage to a black magician with arrows wouldn’t be an easy task.
The damage-reducing magic surrounding that level of wizardry absorbed a significant amount of damage from distant attacks. Common knowledge among experts in this world is that one must fight up close when facing a skilled magician.
“Ugh!”
The Lich launched a pre-emptive attack aimed at Margaret. A black sphere of curse shot forth from the decaying corpse’s hands, engulfing the elf, but Margaret maintained her composure and did not release her arrow.
It was because she had faith.
In an instant, Rose stepped forward to intercept the curse aimed at Margaret, deflecting it with her shoulder. The dark magic, which failed to harm Rose, ricocheted towards the ceiling and vanished as if absorbed by the air. The Lich looked upward in disbelief.
Immediately after ensuring Margaret’s safety, Rose bowed her head to provide an unobstructed view for Margaret to aim. Firing her shot, Margaret drew her sword from her waist and leaped over Rose, charging forward.
“Did you think it would end just because you blocked once?”
As Margaret leaped over Rose, the Lich let out a cry of delight, having confirmed that the Crown Princess could no longer protect the elf. Dark spheres of attack were launched again from the Lich’s hands.
“This is absurd. To aim directly at a blatant attack and hope to hit me is ridiculous.”
Margaret spat in exasperation. Observing the incoming attack, she leaped into the air, executing a graceful half-turn before landing elegantly. The Lich’s attack narrowly missed and struck Rose, who was trying to get back up.
“Ouch! What the heck?”
Rose complained, rubbing her uninjured head. The Lich must have felt utterly defeated. After attempting a significant attack, one of his spells was simply dodged, while another hit someone who showed no injury, causing him to question his capabilities as a sorcerer.
Meanwhile, Walter pulled out the Holy Sword and started tapping the blade, adjusting his glasses.
“This is quite delicious. I used too much holy power while slaying those goblins earlier.”
Walter remarked. Rose shook her head in disbelief, looking at him. It seemed that the curse that had just struck her on the head indeed hurt, as she still rubbed it, checking for injuries.
“What? Are you not going to fight then?”
“I’ll jump in later. But right now, just look at the state Margaret is in. Do I really have to jump in?”
In response to the angry fairy lord, the Lich also drew his magic blade and resisted.
Clang! The blades collided slightly below their knees. The first clash was evenly matched.
With the second clash, the elf’s blade pushed back the Lich. As a swordsman, the black magician couldn’t hold a candle to the Fairy Lord.
With the third clash, the blades met at eye level, and the thoroughly exhausted magic blade slipped from the Lich’s grip, tumbling to the ground.
The Lich gathered both hands and aimed at the now closest Margaret. Dark blades sent forth bursts of lightning. The horizontal bolt, shot from the rotten hands, aimed directly at Margaret, who quickly cast a protective spell on her sword, and then straightened it to brace against the black magic.
“This is quite a decent attack… it seems.”
The elf grunted. Though Margaret’s protective spell wasn’t weak, against the full-on assault of lightning unleashed by the Lich, she was gradually being pushed back.
Her feet slipping on the slick obsidian floor, she was slowly forced back—30cm, 60cm, and then 1m. Rose, with a worried expression, readied to intervene, but Walter merely tapped his sword, still waiting for the return of its holy power.
“Bernard! My sword!”
Margaret shouted. Bernard quickly rummaged through his bag and asked.
“How many swords?”
“Three!”
“Oh my gosh, I’m going to see that spectacle again today.”
Bernard faithfully followed Margaret’s command and tossed three swords toward the elf. Catching all three with her unarmed right hand, Margaret pulled into a sufficient distance from the Lich, dropped her defenses, and ducked her head to evade the lightning beam.
The ray of light shot straight and struck the wall behind Margaret, disappearing like a snuffed-out candle. While the Lich took that brief moment to prepare for his next magic, Margaret inserted the handles of the two blades before her feet.
With a shortsword in her left hand and a dagger in her right, and a dagger sheathed on each boot, Margaret clashed the blades threateningly, producing a chilling metallic sound.
The enraged Fairy Lord leapt more than a meter high, presenting her blades dangerously towards the Lich, who sincerely regretted, at that moment, not running away from the Demon King, letting his pride go.