Not only I, but Sarah and Justine as well were surprised by Alicia’s actions. She wasn’t usually the first to strike against our enemies—especially against undead, creatures that normally filled her with fear. Yet there she was, rcilessly using her skill against the Lich.
Alicia had been different since a few monts ago, when the Lich started talking. Sothing about that specific monster had flipped a switch inside her head. I rembered that, at tis, her personality would change, and she wouldn’t act like the gentle girl I was used to. My eyes turned back to the creature I was about to face—the very target of my Saintess’s magic.
Since we were dealing with a creature of darkness, healing magic and our Holy-elent skills should have been effective against the Boss. But that wasn’t the case this ti. I could see the green aura of Heal approaching Zalrorg, but before it could even touch his body, the magic was suddenly repelled, as if it had been forcefully pushed away. Monts later, the green light surrounded Alicia herself—the aura of her own spell.
"Eh?" Alicia let out a surprised sound as she saw the spell returning to her.
Zalrorg hadn’t moved even an inch, and he hadn’t taken a single point of damage. But that didn’t an he would stay silent.
The skeleton gave us a shrug and said, "What is it? I thought you were going to attack ?"
The Lich then raised his palm towards us, the tips of his fingers looking more like sharp claws than human digits. His hand beca shrouded in a dark purple aura, and the energy radiating from him sent chills down my spine.
Then, in a threatening tone, he said, "If you’re not going to attack... I will."
His attack rippled as if it were about to be unleashed, and at that mont Justine acted on instinct, preparing to counter him with her own spell.
"Justine, don’t—" I tried to stop her.
"Thunder!"
But it was too late. Justine had already fired her spell at Zalrorg. A yellow bolt shot from her hands, the crackling roar of lightning echoing through the hall as the attack surged towards its target.
She had fallen right into Zalrorg’s trap. He hadn’t intended to use an offensive spell against us—his plan was to bait out a magical attack, triggering his defensive ability.
When the lightning spell was less than a ter away from the Lich, the magic protecting him beca clear. About a ter around the skeleton, a spherical barrier had ford. It was as if the Lich were inside a soap bubble—except it was sturdy enough to withstand the electric attack without breaking.
Quite the opposite. The static that gathered on the surface of the barrier began to react, building up before surging back with ferocity towards where it had co from. The yellow lightning bolt was now aid straight at my Sage.
"Justine!"
I dashed forward at full speed, grabbed her with both arms, and threw us to the ground just before Zalrorg’s counterattack could hit her.
"Rick..." Justine called my na.
"Justine, are you okay?" I asked, worried she might have been hurt, but she shook her head in denial.
"Oh," the Lich seed surprised to see that Thunder hadn’t hit Justine, "I thought that counter would be enough to eliminate one of you. Impressive. It’s truly impressive how pathetic you all are."
Zalrorg’s imposing voice was already starting to get on my nerves.
"What’s so pathetic about that?" I asked, anger rising in my voice.
"You, human," the monster addressed , "judging by the way you carry yourself, you must be the leader of this party. And yet, isn’t the woman by your side pathetic? Acting on her own and needing to be saved by you. Isn’t that, by itself, pathetic?"
"The hell did you just say?"
Zalrorg didn’t seem particularly interested in attacking at that mont. To him, our deaths were only a matter of ti, so talking to was nothing more than a passing whim. Once he grew bored, he would simply return to the fight.
"She’s your subordinate, isn’t she? It’s pathetic that she put herself in danger, and it’s pathetic that you didn’t let her suffer the consequences of her actions," he said, as if explaining sothing to a child.
Justine avoided looking at , ashad of herself. Her attitude seed to agree with the undead in front of us. Maybe she thought I shouldn’t have stepped out of my position to clean up her ss. But she had completely misunderstood everything.
I answered Zalrorg firmly, "Just because I’m the leader doesn’t an I should discard those I lead because of a mistake. As her leader, I’ll protect her and guide her to victory. That’s all."
For a mont, Zalrorg lowered his head. The skeleton then began to tremble, the flas of his crown flickering—until—
"Hahahaha!" Zalrorg burst into loud laughter. The flas of his crown burned even brighter with their owner’s mockery. "Just how stupid can you humans be? Of course a leader isn’t like that! A true leader is soone who uses those beneath him as tools—if they break, you simply replace them with others. What matters is expanding your domain and increasing the number of servants."
Hearing him mock made my blood boil. Not because of —as if I would care about a monster’s opinion—but because he spoke as if one of my Valkyries was disposable. That’s what truly pissed off. He must have noticed the look on my face, because he imdiately fired back.
"Of course, I don’t expect re humans to understand. You’re such stubborn creatures that you keep believing in your own lies until the day you die. To be a leader—no, to be a King—is sothing reserved for a superior being like myself."
"And you really think you’re that superior to humans?" Alicia, who had been silent until now, watching our exchange unfold, asked with anger in her voice.
"Of course I do! And this barrier of mine is proof of that. No magic can pierce my perfect defense! With it, that little town nearby—even the world—will one day be mine! Hahahaha!"
"What’s truly pathetic... is you."
"What was that?" Zalrorg reacted to my words.
I stood up, facing him head-on. "That’s exactly what I said. Neither you nor that barrier of yours are anything special. In fact, it has a pretty stupid weakness."
"Huh!" The ’Great Master Zalrorg’ let out a hoarse sound. Thanks to my reading of SCRL, I already knew the weak point of that barrier.
"Your skill really is powerful, capable of reflecting all kinds of magic. However, it only applies to magic. That barrier is extrely fragile against physical attacks." I revealed his secret, then turned to Justine. "Sorry, Justine. I should’ve told you all beforehand."
It was my mistake. As the leader, I should have explained our enemy’s abilities before the fight began. I had hoped to do that before launching our attack, so this one was on . A mistake I didn’t intend to make again.
"But I shouldn’t have acted so hastily," Justine told , still embarrassed. "I should have waited for your command."
She really had been too hasty, acting without knowing exactly what his defensive ability was—but I don’t think I would’ve done any differently if I were in her position. His power could have been nothing more than a defense against light-elent attacks, and he also looked like he was about to fire a spell at us.
The one who had the right information should have shared it beforehand. I was careless—and I intend to make up for that mistake in this very fight.
"Well, just stay back with Alicia for now. We’ll break his defense, and when we create an opening, you attack him, okay?"
"We..." Justine said, still a bit dazed from my push.
"Yes, we. Right, Sarah?" I said to my Swordmaster with a smile.
The red-haired girl with a ponytail, the mont she heard address her, moved to my side with her sword in hand. Her body wasn’t trembling anymore—she looked braver than ever. She didn’t say anything, only answered with a smile.
"Damn humans. Don’t think you can defeat !" the Lich roared. With his furious words, a current of wind began to swirl around his body. The wind gathered at his feet, lifting him slightly off the ground.
"Get ready, Sarah. He can’t fly, but he’s going to get faster from now on," I told her. "He’s more of a long-range magic user, so he’ll use that power to keep his distance while attacking."
"Understood," Sarah replied imdiately.
"Let’s go!"
The mont I said that, the two of us charged towards our enemy at full speed, pushing our stats to the limit.
I unsheathed my sword and activated my skill, giving its blade a celestial glow. "Holy Blessing!"
My blade traced an arc as it swung unwaveringly towards Zalrorg’s barrier.
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