Combat Test

Anbaixiu had always been a very pure undead. Whether it was taking in refugees, helping druids, feuding with paladins, or going to war with neighboring lords—his ultimate goal was simply to make money. It was no different now. As a legendary lich possessing Simulated Soul technology, his demand for human souls was exceptionally low. This war was almost a pure loss for him; after all, every second the castle's magical defense system ran, it was burning gold coins. Simply killing this handful of people offered no cost-effectiveness whatsoever. So Anbaixiu had to collect some interest no matter what. The three people before him were the perfect free test subjects to assess the combat strength of this newborn soul puppet. *** Harvey felt it was time for him to give up the path of a wizard. What damn School of Divination? The whole thing was a bloody trap! He'd clearly felt that following the charge was the right choice, only to plunge straight into an ambush. He had seen pit traps before, but who dug a pit tens of meters deep right outside their front door? How massive was that engineering project? And what was the point of a pit tens of meters deep? Put some spears at the bottom, and a few meters would kill an enemy just fine. What use was all that height? That question was answered soon enough, as the pit tapered continuously like a funnel on the way down, finally turning into a slide. The three of them slid down in succession, feeling like waste being flushed away. Just as Harvey thought he was about to land somewhere unspeakable, he suddenly felt something snag him from behind, shunting him down into another chute. By the time his backside was thoroughly chafed, Harvey found himself tumbling into a metal cage. With a loud *clank*, the cage locked automatically. Harvey didn't even have time to wail over his aching rear, because standing right outside the cage was none other than that terrifying lich—Tiga Ultraman. Harvey looked into those eyes blazing with soul fire and could only muster a fawning smile. "Master Ultraman... if I said I was forced into this, would you believe me?" Anbaixiu chuckled softly and said to Harvey, "Does it matter to me whether you were forced or not?" Harvey fell silent. This lich was far too blunt, leaving zero room for maneuvering. Still, Harvey was a wizard who had invested entirely in intelligence, and an idea quickly struck him. "Since I didn't drop straight onto bladed traps to be skewered through, that means I still have value alive. Master Ultraman, why don't you tell me why you want me alive? Perhaps I can help you achieve your goal." Anbaixiu didn't hide it either, answering with total candor, "Simple. Keeping you alive to collect a ransom, that's all." Harvey's jaw dropped in astonishment. He had never in his wildest dreams expected that to be the reason. Recalling how the lich had previously used mortal refugees as bargaining chips to extort money from lords like the Porcupine Knight, Harvey suddenly had a strange impression: was this lich really that strapped for cash? "Then... Master Ultraman, how much are you planning to ask for?" "At least ten thousand gold coins. You are a wizard, after all," Anbaixiu said. Harvey gave a bitter smile. "Then I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. My employer can't produce that kind of money." "Surely not. An army of over a thousand men, and they can't afford ten thousand gold coins?" Anbaixiu was skeptical. They might not have that much liquid cash, but they had to possess assets worth ten thousand gold coins—they were lords, after all. Harvey explained with some helplessness, "Master Ultraman, don't you know the current situation in the City of Alchemy? If they weren't backed into a corner, they never would have united to attack your castle." "Is it really that severe?" Anbaixiu had intended to press further, but another *clank* echoed as the cleric of light dropped into another cage. Anbaixiu cast Hold Person directly at him, whereupon a swarm of skeletons surged forward and stripped the cleric bare. By the time the spell wore off, the cleric of light had already been forced to swallow several bottles of sleeping potion and lost consciousness completely. "Alright. We'll discuss your business later." Leaving Harvey with those words, Anbaixiu floated out of the dungeon. Watching the aberrant skeletons pacing endlessly outside the cage, Harvey slipped the small wire in his sleeve back out of sight. Even if he could pick the lock, an apprentice wizard like him couldn't fight off so many skeletons. Trying to escape now was suicide. *Sigh.* Harvey let out a heavy sigh. The people of the Ryan Empire were all talk. All that bragging about how paladins counter the undead—they were being played like fiddle strings in the palm of this lich's hand. *** Anbaixiu arrived at another sealed cell. The paladin had landed here without a hitch and was now banging around the room trying to find an escape route. Yet his efforts were futile. The secret chamber was enclosed on all sides by dense rock and earth, with only the chute opening overhead and a heavy iron door. Perhaps traumatized by the trap at the castle gates, the paladin hadn't dared to use Divine Smite on this iron door. Bringing the living mercury before the cell, Anbaixiu didn't even need to open the door, simply giving an order: "There's a paladin inside. Teach him an unforgettable lesson." With that, Anbaixiu placed the living mercury down before the iron door. The newborn little creature understood Anbaixiu's command. Its body rippled with a squirm, and it soon seeped inside through the cracks in the iron door. The paladin in the cell was extremely sharp, noticing the living mercury the moment it seeped through. However, having never seen living mercury before, he assumed Anbaixiu was resorting to some vile trick against him. He gripped his longsword tightly, eyeing the iron door with vigilance. Yet what happened next far exceeded the paladin's expectations. The blob of mercury squirmed as if alive and crept toward him. "A slime? No, what is this thing?!" The paladin was a well-traveled adventurer, yet he had truly never seen such a bizarre creature as living mercury. Could it be another peculiar undead creation whipped up by that strange lich? Not that it mattered. Whatever undead it was, a single Divine Smite would settle it; if one wasn't enough, another would do. Holy light gathered upon the paladin's longsword. Imbued with radiant power, the blade slashed down toward the squirming mercury. Wherever the sword's light passed, even the air rippled in layered waves. Watching through the scrying crystal, Anbaixiu felt his very bones tremble. Had that strike landed on him, it would likely have severed more than half his skeleton. A paladin's Divine Smite was just that domineering, and the Ryan Empire possessed several whole legions of paladins like this. Just as the Divine Smite was about to strike the living mercury, however, the creature—previously so adorably clumsy and slow—suddenly swelled up as if boiling. *Clang!* The ring of clashing metal rang out. The paladin's Divine Smite had not struck the living mercury's body, but collided against another longsword. Perhaps that description was not entirely accurate, for it was merely a length of silver-white blade that had grown from the living mercury's body, steadily parrying the paladin's fearsome blow. Although a deep notch was hacked into the silver longsword manifested by the living mercury, the holy light imbued in the Divine Smite dissipated with it, inflicting little damage. "How is this possible? This monster isn't undead—and it has magic resistance?!" The paladin knew his trade, grasping the living mercury's formidable nature from that single strike. Before he could collect his thoughts, the silver blade extended further. From point to hilt, and on to the arm gripping the hilt... a heavily armored warrior forged entirely of mercury appeared before the paladin. On closer inspection, the two even bore a passing resemblance. Using Polymorph, the living mercury had reshaped itself into the paladin's likeness. Mimicking his opponent's earlier posture, it swung a sword straight at the paladin. A torrent of silver light poured down, even more furious than the Divine Smite from moments before.