CHAPTER 708: STILL, A BIT RELUCTANT TO DIE

“Mr. Harvey! Lady Alice!”

As the snow melted into water, Chikara finally found the pair buried beneath the heavy snowfall. The orc hurriedly dug them out, using flames to melt the ice and snow clinging to them. Harvey slowly opened his eyes, gazing at Chikara, and remarked, “You really managed to stay out of harm’s way…”

Harvey, transforming into a Dragon Lich for the first time and facing the legendary necromancer Oreyva, dared not hold back. He unleashed all the Corpse Decay Miasma he could muster, turning the surrounding hundred meters into a death zone. The miasma mixed with the air, creating a barrier even a regular Sanctuary couldn’t withstand, which is why he had urged Chikara to leave.

“Hehe.” The orc summoned warm flames, grinning as he helped them thaw. “Mr. Harvey, you did it!”

“But I’m badly injured,” Harvey admitted. “I’m surprised you didn’t just leave.”

The Dragon Lich is a necromantic troop type only unlocked by legendary sorcerers. Harvey had previously only dared to partially transform, but this time he went all out, naturally putting immense strain on his body. If you were to lift his shirt, you’d see his skin starting to rot in several places, with a few fingers wrinkled like those of a centenarian.

His dark complexion somewhat masked the decay on his face.

He couldn’t even maintain his Frostfire state, separating from Alice after the attack and falling into a stupor, buried by the blizzard.

“Why would I run when you’ve won?” Chikara’s words were both sincere and insincere. “Although this snowstorm poses no lethal threat to Mr. Harvey, my staying behind just happens to help with the aftermath.”

Is it because he knew the storm wouldn’t kill me that he dug me out? Harvey was almost amused by the orc.

With Harvey regaining consciousness, Alice naturally resumed her ability to move (without Harvey’s permission, the undead cannot act independently). Alice stood up, raised her hand to catch the swirling snowflakes, but was inadvertently struck by hail, causing black corpse fluid to seep from her forehead.

Chikara didn’t notice this, but Harvey’s expression changed dramatically. He struggled to his feet, grabbing the orc’s arm, and shouted, “Run!”

“The storm hasn’t stopped; he hasn’t found peace!”

As if responding to Harvey’s voice, a figure emerged from several meters of snow, rising into the air. He had only half a head left, with the rest of his body composed of ice crystals. Four virtual wings unfurled behind him: silver, gold, rainbow, and frost!

Harvey gasped in shock. “He’s mostly dead, yet life instinct has kept him here…”

“His only thought is to drag everything into death.”

Clang!

Suddenly, ice began to form around Oreyva, rapidly spreading and invading the space where Harvey and Chikara stood! Chikara quickly dragged the pair into flight, but before Harvey’s feet could leave the snow, the frost caught up with them!

In an instant, the entire tenth layer of the Silent Spiral transformed into a frozen world of frost!

Chikara and Harvey instinctively expanded their Sanctuaries to resist the ice, but the air and light seemed to serve as conduits for the frost, continuously invading their defenses. The frost was on the verge of reaching their limbs!

Miracle: Flame Barrier!

A blazing barrier of fire appeared at the edge of the Sanctuary, its terrifying heat scorching the skin of both Harvey and Chikara!

High-temperature flames are the nemesis of all Frost spells; ice cannot withstand the searing heat of 5000 degrees. However…

Crack!

Harvey and Chikara watched in disbelief as the Frost spread to the fire barrier, freezing the leaping flames within the ice, like a bizarre painting.

Even the flames were frozen!

“Ground-level divine intervention, Frost Extinction…” Chikara murmured, his voice filled with fear. “This is Oreyva’s most powerful Miracle, almost reaching the realm of divine intervention. Freezing is no longer a change in temperature but a freezing of all concepts: fire, air, time, everything can be frozen! But this range is too vast…”

“He’s desperate to drain his spellforce and die sooner,” Harvey closed his eyes and sighed softly. “It seems this is where our journey ends…”

“No!”

Suddenly, Harvey noticed his right hand was on fire.

He looked at Chikara beside him and saw the orc’s right hand was also burning.

Their arms were engulfed in blood-red flames, yet the burning areas felt no heat; only flesh and bone were continuously consumed. Faced with this heatless blood fire, the ice began to melt, unable to approach them further.

“The Fire of Slaughter district and the War Temple are the closest,” Chikara’s forehead was drenched in cold sweat. “We’ve studied for so long on how to counter Frost Extinction… never thought we’d actually use it one day.”

“Miracle of Blood and Flesh Flame, a bizarre Miracle created by another Tribulation Fire Sanctuary after receiving the Inheritance of a Blood Saint sorcerer in the Virtual Realm. Its effect is to burn true fire with the ‘fire concept’ through flesh and blood. This move is low in cost-effectiveness and has a small damage range, but it can effectively resist Frost Extinction.”

“The original plan was, if Oreyva launched Frost Extinction on our district, we’d burn a line of fire using hundreds of prisoners… it wasn’t meant to burn ourselves.”

Due to the Damage Chain, Chikara burning himself naturally caused Harvey to burn as well, but at this point, it didn’t matter. They were both going to burn the blood flame to resist the ice layer.

In the completely frozen tenth layer, a flickering blood fire glimmered within the ice.

An orc and a necromancer, continuously burning themselves for warmth.

Soon, their left forearms were gone, then their arms, the next choice was the right calf, then the right thigh.

They felt no pain, but just watching their limbs, flesh and bone, burn away was enough to put immense pressure on their nerves.

But they weren’t without hope. As long as Oreyva’s spellforce ran out, these ice layers, without Miracle support, were just ordinary ice blocks. Chikara could melt them with a single fire Miracle.

Yet, even after they burned away their left thighs, leaving only a single right hand, it still wasn’t over. Oreyva’s spellforce seemed endless, the ice layers continued to maliciously test the blood flame, trying to freeze them.

All they had left to burn was their right hand. But if they lost even that, casting spells would become nearly impossible…

“Miracle of Blood and Flesh Flame,” Harvey suddenly asked, “So it just needs to be flesh and blood, right?”

“Yes.”

“Can Alice burn too?”

Chikara seemed somewhat relieved and nodded vigorously, “Yes!”

Alice calmly squatted beside them, her blood flame slightly different, emitting a faint dark green hue, but still capable of resisting the ice layer.

First the limbs, then the lower body, and then the upper body. The blood flame spread continuously across Alice’s body. Although the flame seemed eerie and malevolent, it was nevertheless a source of life for two living beings.

Soon, the blood flame had reached her neck, but there was still no sign of the ice thawing.

Chikara looked at Harvey, the necromancer reaching out with his remaining right hand to close Alice’s eyes.

“Burn,” he said.

“Really?” Chikara asked tentatively, “If we burn her…”

“Alice will be gone, and your pact will be annulled, I know.”

Harvey said, “But the dead are meant to serve the living, not the other way around.”

Chikara fell silent for a moment, waiting until the blood flame in his throat was about to extinguish before he fiercely intensified the flames, burning Alice’s head to ashes.

Perhaps fate finally began to favor them. Just as Chikara prepared to burn his own right hand, the ice layer suddenly stopped spreading. The orc immediately unleashed a wide-ranging fire miracle, rapidly melting the surrounding ice layer, releasing a massive amount of white mist!

Chikara kept firing fireballs almost in a frenzy, melting the surrounding area into water, until he, with his remaining hand, dragged the necromancer and exclaimed excitedly, “Mr. Harvey, we’ve made it through! We’ve survived the Frost Extinction! Oreyva is dead!”

Harvey looked up and said, “Why… hasn’t the snowstorm stopped?”

The orc’s pupils dilated, realizing that the snowflakes were still dancing in the sky-the sanctuary of Oreyva’s Frost was still active!

Chikara immediately sprouted three virtual wings on his back, pulling Harvey, almost roaring, “We need to fly out quickly-“

It was too late.

The Frost spread again, the previous pause seemingly just an intermission, as Oreyva once again unleashed Frost Extinction. The area just melted by Chikara’s flames froze over again.

But this time, they had lost one hand and two legs, and Alice was completely consumed by the flames. Next, they could only burn their internal organs, but that wouldn’t last long.

It was certain death.

“Do you regret it?”

“I regret it,” the orc said solemnly, “I should have just left.”

“This is the allure of death. In the face of death, everyone must drop their masks and reveal their true selves,” Harvey mused, “Death is the greatest equalizer.”

“So, live well. I’ll be waiting for you in hell.”

The orc paused, and while the Frost continued to invade the sanctuary, he asked, “What do you mean?”

“Oh, that’s something Ashe often says, I’m just borrowing-“

“You have a way?”

“Yes, I do,” Harvey said languidly, “I have a form of Necromancy stronger than a Dragon Lich, which should change the situation.”

“Why didn’t you use it earlier!” Chikara was both angry and amused, nearly going insane: “Just when we lost a hand, two legs-and Alice-Right, without Alice, how could you transform into a necromantic form?”

Harvey lifted his remaining right hand, his lips twitching. He violently gouged out his blood-streaked right eye and tossed it aside, then stuffed another eyeball in its place, his voice trembling: “Alice is with me.”

Chikara looked closely and realized it was Alice’s cloudy, grape-like eyes, likely plucked out by Harvey when he had closed her eyes earlier.

“But that’s just an eye!”

“Just an eye is enough,” the necromancer said. “It’s enough to activate the Frostfire.”

“But, but,” the articulate orc stammered, “but don’t you need to merge with Alice to resist the negative energy of transforming into undead creatures? Like my inferno form, each time it burns away much of my muscle-“

Wait a minute.

Chikara suddenly realized something: If it was stronger than the Dragon Lich form, why not use it directly? And Harvey had transformed into a Dragon Lich for less than a minute before his body began to decay…

“I no longer need to resist the negative energy.” Harvey lifted his right hand, shaking the Ghost King Shackles on it: “Once I use it, I will inevitably become an undead creature, with or without Alice.”

“But don’t worry, I am a professional necromancer, even if I transform into an undead creature, I will self-destruct within a day, unless another necromancer comes along to pick me up-unfortunately, you all don’t practice the Necromancy Sect.”

Harvey spoke regretfully: “It’s truly a waste.”

“Why?” Chikara felt almost driven mad by him, his voice trembling: “Why would you sacrifice yourself to save me!?”

“It’s not about saving you, but since we’re all going to die, I might as well sacrifice myself to give Oreyva a funeral, and incidentally let you survive.” The necromancer countered: “When only one needs to die, why should two die? I have no feud with you.”

Chikara asked incoherently: “Is there anything you need me to do? Help Mr. Ashe and the others? Or go to your hometown to complete your unfinished wishes?”

“Dead people shouldn’t interfere with the living,” Harvey said. “I’m not like Igor, I never use words to bind others’ actions, after all, I can’t control you.”

“If I must say something, then it’s just live well.” The necromancer stated: “Not just waiting to die, but to run with all your might, to survive as long as possible, to run to far-off places to see the greater world, until you’re utterly exhausted.”

“I actually admire how you groveled to survive in the Dead City, and just now, how you voluntarily burned your own flesh to resist Frost.” Harvey showed a faint smile: “When it’s time to die, die earnestly, but when you can live, do whatever it takes to survive.”

“I’m like that myself, I’ve long wanted to embrace death, but I’m still alive, so I must live seriously until the inevitable death comes.”

“That way, my corpse will surely be very beautiful.”

Harvey sighed: “Unfortunately, Senlo has no necromancers…”

He raised his remaining right hand, covering his eye. The Frost had already spread over him, and the necromancer reminded, “Chikara, I’m about to pass through the veil of death.”

Flames ignited on Chikara’s body, transforming him into a fiery skeleton.

“His body, though cold and fiery, still yearned for the moment of burning out.”

In an instant, the pristine ice was stained with a blood-red hue. The ice cracked inch by inch, and the all-freezing Frost receded, bowing to the blood light that commanded everything in its path.

A Blood Moon rose with a rumble amidst the snowstorm.

Beneath the Blood Moon stood a pale-skinned man with black hair, wearing black pants. A wolf’s tail extended from his spine, his eyes gleamed like red rubies, and his long fingernails emitted a continuous blood-red glow, converging into the Blood Moon above his head.

Ghost King Shackles: Blood Corpse King.

“What a formidable power…” Harvey thought.

Unlike before, when Harvey and Alice merged, it was Alice who truly became the undead troop type, with Harvey merely controlling it through her, never fully unleashing its potential.

But now, only his right eye belonged to Alice, while the rest of his body had entirely transformed into the Blood Corpse King.

Thus, he perfectly wielded the Blood Corpse King’s power, but his body could never revert, and soon his soul would be consumed by negative energy, turning him into a wild undead.

His Frostfire Miracle wasn’t entirely original; there was an ancient version in the Blood Moon Kingdom. Many necromancers who learned the original version succumbed to the allure of the power Necromancy offered, unable to resist the negative energy’s erosion, eventually becoming undead.

Harvey’s mentor met such a fate, later becoming one of the undead creatures in Harvey’s collection. However, with Harvey’s imprisonment, those treasures were naturally confiscated by the Blood Hunters.

Having witnessed the painful lessons of predecessors, Harvey had always been cautious in exploring the Ghost King Shackles, yet even so, he had nearly crossed the boundary between life and death several times.

But now, Harvey’s reason remained unclouded by the Blood Corpse King’s power. He gazed at the distant Four Wings Oreyva, then looked beyond the thick ice layer towards the Fog Gate leading to the next level.

“Still,” he pointed his left hand downward, raised his right index finger towards the Blood Moon, and a serene smile appeared on his lips:

“I don’t really want to die.”

In the next moment, the Blood Moon’s brilliance overwhelmed the Frost.