I had to give Justine a few kisses to convince her to let go of , and to keep Sarah and Alicia from getting jealous, I had to give them the sa treatnt. ’Honestly, where’s the professionalism? I also have to hold myself back from going beyond a few kisses, you know? I can only imagine how annoying it would be to have sex in this kind of cold.’
In any case, we continued deeper into the dungeon, which, because of the freezing temperature, already felt like we had stepped into an ice age. The path seed endless, but before our brains could freeze over, we finally arrived.
"Look!" I pointed out to my Valkyries.
Ahead of us was a passage that opened into a much larger chamber. The core of the dungeon was finally within our grasp—if we were able to defeat the Boss.
We exchanged glances for a mont. It seed the three of them understood exactly where we were heading—the center of the dungeon, the coldest place in it, and the goal of our mission. No words needed to be said. We stepped forward and entered the dungeon’s core without hesitation.
I was left in awe by the hall before . That place didn’t belong to our world—it rely took a form that adapted to the structure of the mine. What surprised the most was the height of the ceiling. It must have been around ten ters tall (close to 32.8 ft), resembling a grand royal hall, though the surfaces of the walls were covered in a thin layer of ice.
"I see you’ve managed to reach my hall." A deep voice echoed toward us.
A few ters ahead stood a staircase of bluish ice, and at the top of it was a frozen throne. Seated upon it was the Boss of that dungeon.
The creature before felt like a contradiction in itself. Sitting on the throne was a living skeleton, staring directly at us. It wore a king’s mantle, and atop its head, blue flas flickered, forming sothing like a crown. The sa eerie blue glow burned within the empty sockets where its eyes should have been.
I could easily imagine a child like Carl being terrified upon seeing a figure like the one before us—not just because of its appearance, but because even from about eight ters away, I could feel the imnse magical power radiating from it.
Sarah and I drew our swords, taking our battle stances. Alicia and Justine faced the Lich as well, their palms directed toward the creature, ready to both attack and defend against the monster.
"I made sure to have my servants lend their strength," Zalrorg said. Without moving its jaw, its voice echoed throughout the hall. "You defeated the demon I created. It is only fair that I deal with you personally."
That explained why this room was so cold. The dungeon’s temperature had been influenced by the Ghosts that infested the place, but now that they were gone, the chamber where Zalrorg stood had beco the epicenter of the freezing air spreading through the mine. The answer was simple—yet terrible for us.
"You ate them?" I asked.
"Of course," the undead replied. "They are undead summoned into this world by . What better way for them to show gratitude for the honor of serving than to rge with —their King?"
That was bad news. Just like we had faced a Derug strengthened by the Ghosts it had absorbed, now we had to face the Boss himself, empowered by every Ghost in the dungeon.
"King?" Alicia muttered.
"That’s right—King," Zalrorg said. Only then did I notice that the crown-like flas atop his head seed to flicker more intensely with the emotion in his voice. "I am the King of the undead."
I could see a trace of anger rising in Alicia as she heard his words. It was rare to see that kind of expression on her face—such open disdain wasn’t sothing I had seen even during her argunts with Sarah.
"Well then, prepare yourself, Your Majesty. You’re about to be dethroned," Sarah declared, pointing her sword at the skeleton.
"Is that so?" the Lich replied mockingly. His tone made it clear he didn’t consider us a threat.
It seed I had just figured out where Derug’s arrogance ca from. His personality was nothing more than a reflection of his master and creator—just with far less presence.
Even after making such a bold declaration, I could see Sarah trembling slightly—and sothing told it wasn’t from the cold this ti.
"How rude of . I should stand to properly receive my guests," Zalrorg said, lifting his hands from the armrests of his throne.
Then he rose from his seat and calmly walked toward us. It didn’t even look like he was about to fight.
I took the opportunity to check his stats.
[
Na: Zalrorg
Monster: Lich
Level: 30
Health: 400 points
Mana: 200 points
Strength: 5 points
Defense: 5 points
Magic: 60 points
Agility: 5 points
]
All of his stats were low, except for his Magic, which surpassed even Alicia’s. Fortunately, his Agility was poor, so we might still have a chance if we took advantage of that.
Despite his low Defense, that didn’t really matter. Liches, like Ghosts, were immune to physical attacks, which rendered both my sword strikes and Sarah’s useless. As I was still thinking about how to start the fight, the Lich had already closed the distance to about four ters and stopped, staring at us. My ti to think was over.
Even at that range, the Lich simply stood there. I found it strange that a monster like him wasn’t making a move, as if he were waiting to be attacked. It didn’t feel like a trap—more like he was so full of himself that he didn’t believe we could harm him at all.
Seeing that we weren’t advancing, Zalrorg addressed us, "What are you waiting for? Aren’t you going to attack—"
"Heal."
A feminine voice cut him off before he could finish. Alicia attacked Zalrorg with her healing magic without a second thought.
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