Why the hell did his fire javelin avoid Roy like the plague at the very last second?
He, however, had to quickly swallow his shock as he saw Roy leaping towards him like a ferocious tiger.
Roy brandished his sword in the direction of the lich's life core.
The lich swung his staff, meeting Roy's sword in a resounding Clang! Their weapons clashed in a shower of sparks, the sound of steel ringing through the clearing.
They circled each other warily, each looking for an opening.
"I will let you experience what true power means," the lich growled, summoning pillars of dazzling red fire to drown Roy.
In response, Roy simply smashed his foot on the ground, and the hundreds of pillars of fire disappeared in a flash.
"How can you still not understand? Any fire magic you conjure against me is useless! I am the Lord of all Magic Fire!" Roy declared with a hint of arrogance.
"Against you, even the magic I was most confident in is pathetic at best," the lich chuckled at his own folly.
The lich felt that it was the height of foolishness to keep on struggling against a monster like Roy.
He was simply not human!
"I will show you what true fire magic looks like," Roy said as he released a powerful punch in the lich's direction.
The torrent of fire that burst out of his fist transformed into a ferocious fire dragon that smashed into the lich, carrying him with it into the wall of the petal-shaped monument.
Thud!
The lich's back crashed into the wall with a sickening thud. Then, he slumped to the ground, his bones melting under the intense heat of Roy's level 9 magic fire.
"I tried my best, but it seems like I can't win this fight," the lich muttered, looking up at the sky above. "I am sorry. I can only let you down."
Who had he let down? Was it Death or someone else?
Roy's curiosity was piqued.
He looked at him intently, sensing that there was more to this lich than met the eye.
"It seems like you have a story to tell," he said.
"Doesn't everyone have one?" the lich said. "I became a monster not because I wanted to! I became a monster because I had to!! It isn't out of selfish desires that I fight you. I fight you to protect what's left of my kind."
The lich tried to stand up from the circular floor of the monument but pathetically fell down.
He was missing most of his bones. How could he still stand up and continue fighting?
Moreover, the ruthless fire was still consuming him, licking the rest of his bones and his life core away.
He could tell that he didn't have much time left in this world.
"Why did you stop me from getting the stone of history? Who are you trying to protect?" Roy asked.
"There's only the first of the three pieces of the stone of history stored in the altar. You will know the answer when you get the second piece and connect it with the first piece. Of course, that would never happen,"
The lich picked up his staff from the ground using his last two remaining bony fingers and pointed it towards the altar while talking to distract Roy.
However, Roy noticed what the lich was up to, and he immediately made a move.
『You have opened up your subspace!』
『The subspace has sucked in the first piece of the stone of history and two pieces of the Chaos-causing flute!』
Roy was standing close to the altar.
Thus, he was able to open his subspace in the secret compartment inside it and loot all the items inside in time.
Of course, the lich wasn't aware of that. He was still busy using his power to hide away the first piece of the stone of history for good.
A black hole opened up, swallowing the entire altar.
"I will be taking it to my grave. Feel free to strike me dead." the lich laughed as he dropped his staff.
"You're being too happy too soon. You didn't get it." Roy suddenly said, receiving the lich's full attention.
"What do you mean?" the lich asked.
Roy opened his hand.
In his palm were the items that were supposed to be stored inside the altar, which was swallowed by the black hole summoned by the lich!
"But…?! How could they be in your possession?!" the lich asked in shock.
"You aren't the only one with a subspace. I have it too!" Roy said as he stored the items in his hand back into his subspace. "And I am much smarter than you. I mean, I have a brain, which you lack... Literally!"
"Damn it all! If not for the holy barrier protecting the altar, I would have gotten rid of it sooner!!!" the lich shouted.
The holy barrier wasn't under the lich's control, nor was the 32-statue formation. They were here to protect the stone of history. However, after spending countless years researching them, the lich had learned how to move them. But it didn't know how to remove the protective cover surrounding the altar that made the altar immune to even magic that affected space and time!
It was only after Roy shattered the Holy Barrier that the protective cover surrounding the altar vanished. But at that time, the lich thought Roy was dead, so he didn't feel the need to destroy the items inside the altar, nor did he hurry to obtain them.
He was busy laughing his ass off! But who was having the last laugh now?!
"Too noisy!" Roy said as he extended his arm, his fingers outstretched.
Then, he slowly clenched his hand into a tight fist.
In that instant, the atmosphere around them seemed to shift, and all the energy in the surrounding space was magnetically drawn towards the lich, converging on him like God's punishment.
A force comparable to hundreds of tons acted on him.
The pressure was so intense and suffocating that it caused his skeletal body to be reduced to ashes in seconds and shattered his life core.
『Ding! Congratulation. You have killed Malachi Shadowborn, the man who betrayed Death!』
