Anbaixiu's tone was cold and wicked, making him sound just like the classic villain of a fairy tale. Unfortunately, no one believed a single word of his cruel claims.
Even the paladin was somewhat taken aback. Was this lich truly sheltering mortals?
Another lord standing beside the Porcupine Knight roared in fury, "Who do you think you're fooling? I clearly saw my subjects clearing wasteland on your land! Don't think you can plunder another lord's population just because you're a lich!"
Anbaixiu replied indifferently, "Don't you humans just turn your sheep out to graze? I have all these captives to support. If I don't make them farm the land, am I supposed to feed them with my own two hands?"
"Damn undead!" Though enraged, the Porcupine Knight could find no retort.
Could it be that they had spent so much money and manpower mobilizing troops today only to leave empty-handed?
For all their calculations, they had never imagined their pretext for war would fail so completely.
What worried the Porcupine Knight now was not going to battle, but failing to destroy Anbaixiu entirely once war broke out. If this lich reported his version of the story to the City of Alchemy, petty lords like the Porcupine Knight would find themselves in deep trouble.
It had nothing to do with justice or truth. The City of Alchemy merely needed an excuse to carve a pound of flesh from them.
The Porcupine Knight could already envision the final outcome: they would be fined an enormous sum for recklessly inciting hostilities, and they might even have to surrender the lich's territory back to the City of Alchemy.
It was a lose-lose result—one the Porcupine Knight could not accept.
At that moment, Harvey, the wizard advisor who had been lurking among the ranks, stepped up to the Porcupine Knight's side and whispered, "My lord, unexpected complications have arisen. I suggest we withdraw for today and find another approach."
Hearing this, the Porcupine Knight grew visibly displeased.
Mobilizing an army cost a fortune, and every day troops remained stationed consumed vast amounts of rations. If they came away with nothing, it would be a total loss.
Harvey could see his hesitation. As the lord's advisor, he ought to have offered more constructive counsel. Yet the moment Anbaixiu appeared, Harvey's head had begun buzzing incessantly. The power of the School of Divination was screaming frantic warnings at him.
The lich before them was exceedingly dangerous; they had to get away immediately, or catastrophe would follow.
Harvey pressed him, "My lord, if we continue this standoff, battle will inevitably break out, and I do not believe the outcome will be what we desire."
Before the Porcupine Knight could make up his mind, the paladin spoke up. "Lord Porcupine Knight, perhaps this is when your mercenaries prove their worth. How about I lead the charge?"
A paladin could not turn a blind eye to evil. Anbaixiu had brazenly revealed himself as a lich; such wickedness had to be purged!
The Porcupine Knight's eyes lit up. He had spent so much effort currying favor with these paladins precisely to deal with the lich. If they were confident they could wipe him out completely, then right and wrong would be whatever the victors said it was.
Addressing the paladin, the Porcupine Knight asked, "Sir Paladin, do you truly have the confidence to defeat this lich? If he escapes, we will all be in dire straits."
"Rest assured, we have ample experience against the undead. A lich's greatest vulnerability is not the skeletal form before you, but his phylactery. As long as his phylactery remains hidden within the castle, he will never flee. Once we take that ancient fortress, I will certainly find it and destroy him once and for all. Now, give the order," the paladin said with absolute confidence.
"Very well. In the name of the Giles family, I order you to destroy the evil before us. Master Harvey, I command you to assist the paladin in purging this wicked lich."
The Porcupine Knight issued the order with solemn formality. Harvey could only sigh inwardly and obey, however reluctant he felt.
A paladin, a cleric of light, and an apprentice wizard rode out from the ranks, slowly advancing toward Anbaixiu.
The paladin disdained ambushes and underhanded tricks. He rode forward openly and proclaimed in a booming voice, "Vile undead! Today, on behalf of the Holy Light, I grant your soul purification!"
With that battle cry, the paladin charged.
It was the signal to attack. The Porcupine Knight immediately ordered his soldiers to follow the paladin and rush toward Anbaixiu's castle.
More than a thousand men charging together made for quite an imposing sight.
Anbaixiu was mildly surprised; he had underestimated these mortals' resolve. But this suited him fine—he had been running low on experimental subjects lately anyway.
With a wave of Anbaixiu's staff, countless skeletons clawed their way out of the earth.
Even in broad daylight, they remained unaffected, falling swiftly into formation under his direction. Seeing these frail, shambling skeletons only bolstered the paladin's confidence.
Numbers meant nothing for such feeble undead. A flash of brilliance erupted from the paladin's body, radiating dazzling luminance. Intense holy light coated his armor and weapons, enveloping even the warhorse beneath him.
The paladin plunged into the skeletal throng. Before the fragile constructs could even draw near, they were purified by the holy light, crumbling into dust.
Against a paladin of the Ryan Empire, ordinary humanoid skeletons possessed no means of retaliation, failing even to slow his charge.
Seeing the paladin bearing down on him, Anbaixiu cast a flying spell and drifted straight into the air.
Yet the paladin did not flinch in the least. He had fought plenty of flying undead. Raising his weapon high, the cleric of light riding close beside him had already begun chanting an incantation.
"In the name of the Lord of the Dawn, I command you to grovel before the Holy Light!"
A beam of ominous light descended upon Anbaixiu.
It was the cleric's most common divine spell—Command.
Drawing on divine might to exert tremendous pressure, it compelled the target to obey the caster's orders.
Because the Lord of the Dawn was a benevolent deity, Command could not force a target to commit suicide or self-harm, but it could compel them to lie prone, drop their weapons, or flee the battlefield.
Such effects were devastating in combat. Imagine a warrior dropping his weapons and throwing himself prostrate on the ground—what fate awaited him?
Command could not kill, but a longsword certainly could.
If Anbaixiu fell under its sway, he would plummet from midair, take a nasty fall face-first, and have his head lopped off with a single stroke.
While a lich could continually reform, that process took time—more than enough for the paladin to breach the castle and locate his phylactery.
"Heh, looks like I'm being looked down upon."
A red glow flashed across Anbaixiu, and the light of the Command spell bounced right back, striking the cleric of light and nearly knocking him from his saddle.
Counterspell—a wizard's signature technique. Spending equivalent or even less magical energy, it could instantly nullify a targeted spell.
The cleric showed no sign of panic. As the saying went, the paladins and clerics of the Ryan Empire had long since witnessed nearly every trick the undead could muster, and nothing Anbaixiu had done so far exceeded their expectations.
Casting that divine spell despite knowing it might fail had merely been a distraction to close the distance.
Now was the time for their true trump card.
The cleric produced a magical scroll and chanted a rapid incantation.
In less than half a second, a faint blue barrier of energy unfurled, trapping Anbaixiu squarely within.
Antimagic Field!
Within the area covered by the barrier, all magical effects were dispelled, no further spells could be cast, all summoned creatures were forcibly banished, and even enchanted equipment was temporarily stripped of magic, turned into ordinary mundane items.
Inside this field, Anbaixiu's flight spell should have failed immediately, sending him crashing to the ground, while the spellcasting ability he took such pride in would be thoroughly sealed away.
Or so it should have been.
Yet to the paladin and cleric's expectant gazes, Anbaixiu did not plummet from the sky. Instead, he vanished completely into thin air.
The paladin reacted instantly, crying out, "Damn it, that was an illusion!"
In the next instant, countless pulses of sickly green light erupted from the castle, raining down on the charging soldiers like a meteor shower. Beneath a chorus of agonizing shrieks, mortals were corroded down to stark white bones, suffering heavy casualties in an instant.
Standing inside the castle's main gates, Anbaixiu scoffed disdainfully. "Still so green. What kind of lich shows his true body to a paladin? If I did that, wouldn't building such a massive magical fortress have been a total waste of money?"
Chapter 34