I became a legion lich

224 One a one

In their desperation, the spirits tried to blast Treevor with their incomplete spells, increasing its power by force using its core’s mana and accumulated energy.

Dozens of corrupted element spells attacked them in response, blocking most of their attacks. Wizard and wyvern slayers did not have the same limitations as spirits and could cast spells with even more power within the field of the dead.

Few spells got through and hit Treevor, but a barrier of dark amber stone easily blocked it. Treevor was weaker than the spirits, but between the incomplete spells and the constant supply of amber energy he received, the balance of power tipped for Treevor.

The wyverns flew over the spirits and breathed the dragon’s breath over them, before the mage-slayers leapt from their backs and engaged them in hand-to-hand combat.

They were weaker physically, even with the spirits only having half the energy they had accumulated, but the mage slayers fought without care for each other, using area damage spells to hit them off guard.

Spirits weren’t used to fighting and didn’t have any fighting skills, so they were easy targets for combat-experienced mage slayers.

“Let’s get this over with.” Treevor thought, its vines spreading like whips and cutting the weakened spirits to pieces, casting spells of darkness at close range. Treevor didn’t let the spirits recover and coiled his vines under the dying pieces, absorbing until the last bit of energy.

‘Unlike avatars, it will take some time to drain their real bodies and then turn them into undead. I’m going to be here for a while.’ Treevor thought, realizing there was still a lot of energy to absorb. After being destroyed and forced back into the tree, it would take some time for their minds to recover and they could release their avatars again, but it would be too late.

Treevor noticed movement underground and realized that the demihumans were struggling to break free, so he injected corrupted mana into the earth, causing it to darken and ceasing the demi-humans’ resistance.

.....

‘Is the battle over already?’ Treevor turned to check curiously. only to gasp in shock. ‘How did this happen in such a short time?’

The undead line of defense was broken and the demihumans were struggling to get deeper into the undead army. Thousands of demihuman skeletons were on the ground releasing white smoke on the ground and the demihumans were running over them to kill them.

****************

At the same moment that Treevor teleported.

‘Everyone, teleport now!’ The ogre patriarch screamed as soon as he spotted Athos among the undead. He fed the crystal what it needed while disabling gigantification and shrinking himself down so he could fit inside the purple orb.

Athos was retreating with Emilia at his side when the purple orb suddenly appeared on his back.

Before he could react, a fist wrapped in whitish-brown energy hit him in the back, forcing him to the ground and creating a crater. The armor’s enchantments completely absorbed the impact, but the earth element in the ogre’s fists still forced Athos to the ground and the light left a burn on the armor, albeit a shallow one.

‘How did this ogre manage to hit me so fast and so hard even after his strength was drained?’ Athos thought as he rolled away and dodged a second punch. He internally cursed the enemy’s luck to teleport at the exact moment they disabled the forced teleport.

‘How did this runt survive my surprise attack without suffering any damage and where is the plant bodyguard?’ The ogre patriarch thought, chasing Athos. He teleported at the same time as Treevor, so he didn’t see the latter disappear.

“Protect the master!” Emilia screamed at the surrounding undead, rushing at the patriarch and taking aim at his exposed ankles.

‘He has no armor and only relies on his own body to protect himself, so I should be able to cut deeply even using daggers and buy time for the master to escape.’ It was Emilia’s thought.

She tried to slash his right ankle, but the patriarch just jumped, his movement lifting him thirty feet in the air and landing right on top of Athos, trying to crush him under his weight.

“Without the element of surprise it’s easy to dodge you!” Athos wasn’t taken by surprise this time and activated the lightning impulse, easily dodging the patriarch’s footfall.

The surrounding monsters surrounded them and Emilia sneaked up to attempt an assassination, but several more purple spheres appeared, cutting the undead in half.

Orcs, ogres, and minotaurs appeared and immediately began attacking the surrounding undead, preventing the other undead from interfering.

‘Kill the demi-humans around and leave this ogre to me. He also seems to want to take things one by one.’ Athos spoke through the mind link and soon the demihumans formed a makeshift arena for the two.

Athos was already casting his best spells with his mind and magic organ while looking for a gap to attack, but the ogre patriarch was an experienced fighter and knew how to fight smaller enemies.

The demi-humans intensified the attack when they saw their leaders in the middle of the enemy formation and Athos ordered them to prevent it at all costs.

The demi-human undead who were waiting just behind the shields rushed forward at that moment and engaged them head-on, using their abilities to the fullest. The living were already weak and injured so the undead should have an easy victory against them, but the unthinkable happened.

Skeleton ogres tried to activate gigantification to match enemy ogres, making a mistake. The light element abundant in the region seeped into their bodies, the light burning them from the inside out.

The ogre skeletons felt the light burn their bones and only grew to 5 meters before they fell to the ground, white smoke billowing from their bodies. The darkness replacing their body was almost completely purged, so they were unable to move a single finger.

“Hoooo!” The demihumans applauded the enemy’s stupidity and rushed through the newly created breach, wanting to cause as much damage as possible while they could. Their own ogres would be back to normal soon, so they had to hurry.

Their generals, including the bone abominations, stepped forward to block them and the battle quickly became confused.

The ogre patriarch also glanced quickly at his subordinates fighting for their lives and reaffirmed his determination to kill Athos quickly. He roared and charged at him, his entire body empowered by mana and the element of earth and light.

He tried to crush Athos with both fists, but Athos blocked the attacks with bonesaw, before unleashing the meteor impact at close range.

The point-blank explosion forced the ogre patriarch back a few meters with deep burns on his forearms, but he was able to resist without being thrown into the air. Athos, on the other hand, would have been forced to kneel if the equipment hadn’t absorbed the impacts.

Athos seized the opportunity to advance, using lightning boost double to accelerate even more.

The ogre patriarch used an acceleration skill to try to keep up with Athos’ speed, but he could barely keep up with his eyes. His eyes followed Athos’ movements, but his body didn’t, making his movements clumsy.

Athos circled the ogre’s legs, striking swiftly before stepping back to avoid the ogre’s blows. His slashes shouldn’t have been more than scratches, but they sliced through the ogre’s flesh like butter.

The only reason the ogre patriarch was able to hold his own against him was the light element in his body regenerating his wounds the moment they were made.

‘How the hell does this thing move so fast?’ The ogre patriarch thought in frustration, receiving his tenth thigh slash and once again missing the counterattack. ‘I need to break your rhythm, even if it’s just for a moment.’

The ogre waited for Athos’ next attack and the moment he felt the adamant cold cut into his calf, he released his whitish brown aura like a shock wave to catch Athos off guard.

The equipment absorbed the impact of the aura, but not the elemental energy contained within it. The light element in the aura stung his skin as the element slowed his movement, just as the patriarch intended.

“Roar!” The ogre roared, taking advantage of that moment of slowness to punch him in the face, but was blocked once again by the bonesaw. The patriarch even used skill to strengthen his fist, but it had no effect.

“Sorry, but you can’t break adamant with just your bare fists.” Athos smiled at him despite not being able to speak the same language, the ogre smiled too.

“Got you.” He grabbed the shield by the edge and his fingers bled as the curved blades sliced through him, but the ogre didn’t care. With a sweep of his arm, he lifted Athos off the ground and knocked him back, making a small crater before raining punches on his exposed side.

‘Damn it, I let my guard down and let myself get caught. If it weren’t for the equipment, I would have already been ripped to pieces.’ Athos thought, using the dragontusk to count the ogre’s pulse and break try free. His blade slashed through the ogre’s wrist like butter and the ogre was unable to put any strength into the grip but refused to get off him.