CHAPTER 137: PUPPET

The Lich King raised its staff, the soul-trapped crystal on top pulsing with a nauseating blue light, and the very air on the bridge grew thick and cold. "You face a master of the arcane arts, little elf, your divine light is but a candle against my storm."

Serian did not reply, she simply took a ready stance, her sword held in both hands as her golden aura intensified, casting long, stark shadows across the bridge.

"Then let the storm break."

The Lich King flicked its wrist. The polished black stone of the bridge rippled, and a dozen skeletal arms erupted from the surface, their bony fingers grasping for Serian’s ankles. At the same time, a volley of spectral skulls shot forward, not in a straight line, but in a corkscrew pattern designed to bypass a simple frontal defense.

’A pincer attack from two different planes,’ Nox thought, his new combat senses analyzing the engagement. ’He’s testing her, trying to overwhelm her focus.’

Serian did not try to dodge. She stomped her foot, and a shockwave of pure, golden light radiated from her, shattering the skeletal arms into dust. Then, with a fluid grace that seemed impossible, she began to spin, her sword a continuous, flowing circle of light that met the spiraling skulls head-on. The skulls slammed into her spinning defense and were annihilated one by one, the sound like a series of sharp, musical chimes.

The Lich King watched, its blue-fire eyes narrowing slightly. "Impressive, you have some skill, I will grant you that." It raised its staff again, the crystal glowing brighter. "But I have had ten thousand years to perfect my craft."

The very air around Serian grew heavy and cold, her golden aura flickering as an invisible pressure bore down on her. Her movements became sluggish, her breath catching in her throat.

[Analysis: Necrotic-class energy suppression field. Drains stamina and mana from targets with opposing alignments. Highly efficient.]

"Mela, now!" Nox barked.

Mela, who had been waiting on the edge of the bridge, did not hesitate. Her hand was a blur as she unleashed a volley of silver needles. They were not aimed at the Lich King, who was shrouded in his own magical defenses, but at the soul-trapped crystal atop its staff.

A shimmering blue barrier flared to life around the staff, but Mela’s needles, each one imbued with her poison, slammed into it with enough force to make it flicker violently. It was not enough to break the barrier, but it was enough to disrupt the curse for a moment.

The pressure on Serian lifted, her golden aura flaring back to its full intensity. "Thank you, Mela."

"Do not thank me yet," Mela called back, already preparing another volley. "Just kill him!"

The Lich King turned its head, its gaze falling on Mela for the first time. "A gnat," it hissed, its voice losing some of its cultured calm. "A buzzing, irritating gnat."

It pointed a single bony finger at her, and Nox was already moving. He didn’t wait for a plan or an opening, he just saw the threat and reacted. He flickered, crossing the bridge in an instant to appear directly in front of Mela. A solid black shield, forged from the void, materialized on his arm a second before a bolt of black lightning shot from the Lich King’s finger.

The lightning slammed into the shield. It didn’t explode; it was simply absorbed, drank by the void with a faint, hungry hiss.

"You should not have taken your eyes off the main threat," a voice said from beside the Lich King. It spun around, its staff held ready, but there was nothing there.

"Over here," Serian’s voice rang out from its other side. She had used the moment Nox drew its attention to close the distance, her sword now glowing so brightly it was painful to look at as she swung it in a clean, horizontal arc. The Lich King was too slow to bring its staff around, and Nox sent a silent pulse of void energy across the bridge, disrupting its attempt to teleport.

Serian’s blade connected.

It sliced through the Lich King’s robes, through its ribcage, and through the polished bone of its spine. The Lich King did not scream, it just looked down at the massive, golden gash in its chest, then back up at Serian.

"Clever," it said, its voice still impossibly calm. "Very clever."

Then, its body dissolved into a cloud of black smoke, reforming a moment later back on its crystal throne, completely unharmed. "Did you truly believe it would be that easy?" it taunted. "I am an Archlich, my life is not contained within this frail, bony shell, as long as my phylactery remains, I am immortal."

’So this is just a puppet body,’ Nox realized. ’Inefficient.’ He scanned the room with his enhanced perception.

[Analysis: The throne is the focal point of the Lich King’s power in this chamber. The phylactery is not physically present, but is linked to the throne, which acts as a relay.]

’So, we break the chair, we win the game.’

"The throne!" Nox yelled. "The phylactery is linked to the throne!"

The Lich King’s calm demeanor finally cracked, the blue fire in its eyes flaring with genuine fury. "You! How could you possibly know that?!" It stood from its throne, pointing its staff at the floor in front of it. "It matters not, you will never reach it."

The polished stone floor cracked, and two massive figures clawed their way out. They were skeletal warriors, but they were clad in full plate armor of jagged, black iron, and they wielded massive, two-handed swords. Their empty eye sockets burned with the same malevolent blue fire as their master.

"Meet my royal guard," the Lich King announced, its voice full of renewed arrogance. "They were once great heroes, now they are my eternal servants, and they will hold you here while I flay the skin from your bones."

The two Death Knights let out a synchronized, silent roar and charged, one for Serian, the other for Mela.

"I’ll take the one on the left!" Mela shouted, unleashing a storm of needles. The Death Knight simply raised its armored gauntlet, the needles pinging harmlessly off the enchanted metal.

Serian met the other knight’s charge head-on, her glowing blade clashing with its massive sword in a shower of golden and blue sparks. The force of the blow drove her back a step. ’They are incredibly strong!’

Nox flickered toward the throne, but the Lich King was ready. A wall of solid bone, ten feet high, erupted from the bridge, blocking his path. "Your fight is not with a piece of furniture, whelp, your fight is with me!"

The battle became a chaotic, three-front war. Mela was forced to constantly move, her needles unable to pierce the Death Knight’s armor as she dodged its powerful, sweeping attacks. Serian was locked in a brutal contest of strength, her divine light clashing against the knight’s necrotic power, each blow shaking the bridge.

Nox was dealing with the Lich King himself, who was now throwing a relentless barrage of spells. Bolts of shadow, waves of fear-inducing energy, and grasping skeletal hands that erupted from the bridge itself. Nox was a ghost, flickering and weaving through the storm, his void-shroud drinking the spells that got too close. He couldn’t get to the throne.

[Party stamina and mana levels are decreasing at an unsustainable rate. The Death Knights are regenerating from the ambient necrotic energy, a prolonged battle is unwinnable.]

’I noticed!’ He flickered, appearing right behind the Lich King, a void-forged blade in his hand. The Lich King just laughed and dissolved into smoke, reforming twenty feet away.

"I am everywhere and nowhere, child, you cannot touch me."

A scream cut through the chaos. Nox spun to see Mela on the ground, one of the Death Knight’s massive swords having smashed through her needle-defense and sent her tumbling. The knight raised its sword for the final blow.

In a flash of pure instinct, Nox summoned a Chain of the Abyss. It shot across the bridge and wrapped around the Death Knight’s sword arm, yanking it back a second before it would have decapitated Mela. The knight roared in frustration and pulled, and Nox was yanked off his feet, sliding across the stone bridge.

"Nox!" Serian cried out, seeing him in trouble. She pushed her own knight back with a powerful burst of golden light, creating a moment of breathing room. "We cannot win like this! We must focus our attacks!"

’She’s right.’ Nox thought, digging his heels in and pulling the chain taut. ’They’re regenerating, we have to take them out at the same time.’ He looked at the two knights, then at the throne.

[Analysis: The Death Knights are directly linked to the throne’s energy field. Severing the connection of both simultaneously will cause a feedback loop, momentarily disabling the throne’s primary shield.]

"Serian!" he yelled. "We have to kill them both at the exact same time! It’ll drop the shield on the throne!"

"How are we supposed to coordinate that?!" Mela shouted, scrambling back to her feet, a trickle of blood running from a cut on her forehead.

"I have an idea," he said, a reckless, desperate grin spreading across his face. "It’s a really stupid one. Mela, I need you to poison one of them, slow it down! Serian, I need you to get ready for the biggest goddamn light show you’ve ever made!"

He let go of the chain, and the Death Knight stumbled forward. He didn’t give it time to recover. He flickered, not toward the knights, but straight up, his hands plunging into the swirling darkness of the chasm ceiling. He began to pull, his muscles straining as he ripped a huge, jagged chunk of the stone spire loose.

"What is he doing?!" Mela yelled.

"Trusting us," Serian replied, her own body beginning to glow with an intense, gathering light.

Mela understood. She unleashed a concentrated volley of her most potent needles, not at the knight’s armor, but at the small gaps in its joints. The needles sank in, and the knight’s movements became sluggish as the poison took hold.

"Ready, Princess?!" Nox roared from above. He was holding a chunk of rock the size of a carriage, his muscles screaming with the effort.

"Ready!"

"Catch!"

He let go.

The massive boulder plummeted toward the center of the bridge. The two Death Knights looked up, their master momentarily forgotten. It wasn’t aimed at either one of them. It was aimed for the space between them.

It hit the bridge with a cataclysmic BOOM. The ancient stone shattered, the entire middle section of the bridge collapsing into the swirling darkness below, taking the two Death Knights with it.

For a single, silent moment, they were in freefall.

"Now, Serian!"

She unleashed all the power she had gathered. It wasn’t a wave or a beam. It was a sun. A miniature star of pure, incandescent golden light erupted from her, engulfing the falling knights in its purifying fire. They didn’t even have time to scream as their enchanted armor and ancient bones were turned to ash.

The shield on the crystal throne flickered and died.

The Lich King stared, its jaw agape in a silent scream of disbelief.

Nox was already in motion. The destruction of the bridge had created a gap, but he just flickered across it, landing on the other side. The Lich King turned, its staff raised for one last, desperate attack.

Nox was faster.

His fist, wreathed in the black, chitinous armor of the void, slammed into the crystal throne.

A soundless shockwave of black and blue energy erupted from the point of impact. The throne did not just shatter. It was unmade, every crystal fragment dissolving into nothingness.

On the other side of the chasm, the Lich King’s puppet body froze. The blue fire in its eyes sputtered out. Its body began to crumble, turning to dust from the feet up.

Its last words were not a curse or a threat, but a whisper of pure, unadulterated disbelief.

"...How?"

Then it was gone.