The moment I separated from the others, I unleashed full lightness skill and dashed forward.
"This is the northern wall."
As expected, most monsters had been at the First Defensive Wall. Almost none remained at the northern wall. We could reclaim it without a single casualty.
I crossed the northern wall and climbed the rugged mountain right ahead. Failed revival attempts had left large monster corpses scattered everywhere.
"Anyone can tell a wicked mage's dungeon is here."
Halfway up the mountain, I spotted a cave with a chilling, sinister atmosphere.
"But not this one."
Ignoring the dungeon, I crossed the ridge. A massive rock wall appeared. Expanding my senses, I felt twisted energy flow in one spot.
[Creator's Eye has activated.]
"As expected, I see it."
Creator's Eye could even pierce through illusions on the wall. It looked like solid rock, but one spot was completely hollow like a tunnel.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
The moment I stepped into the lich's hideout, an alarm-like sound rang through the entire cave.
"Alarm magic."
Since I was already detected, I used lightness skill to rush inside as fast as possible.
I wonder what he's doing.
I didn't know if he had already fled here or was still waiting in the dungeon, so I kept my senses sharp and moved cautiously.
"Hah."
The moment I reached his hideout, a chuckle escaped me.
The robe he had been wearing lay on the ground, and the crystal ball above it showed the cave I had just passed.
"Kuk."
The funniest part was the small translucent skull floating in the air, clearly visible to Creator's Eye.
I pretended not to see him and pressed the button on the illusion-covered wall.
"How did you know that spot?!"
"I can just see it."
It was true. I felt the twisted energy flow, and Creator's Eye instantly saw through his illusion magic.
Easier than lying down to eat rice cakes.
"Ugh!"
Booooong.
Pomera tried to recreate his body again. Black smoke gathered, and pure white bones began forming.
Tap.
But I already held his leash. His soul orb was in my hand.
"…You idiot!"
Pomera hesitated for a split second, then summoned the black orb beside the book to his hand.
"Kukuku. You thought the ordinary crystal ball was my soul orb! This is the real one containing my soul!"
"Oh?"
Pomera stroked the black orb and mocked me. If I could see his expression, I'd give him 10 points for acting, but he was just a skull.
"Really?"
"How could my soul be in such a clear, transparent orb!"
"Then I'll have to smash it."
I grinned and slightly squeezed the white orb in my hand. It felt like a bouncy ball kids played with.
"Kuaaaaak!"
The moment I applied light pressure, Pomera collapsed and thrashed wildly.
"Why? It's just an ordinary crystal ball."
"Keuk! Y-you bastard."
"I heard liches don't feel pain, but stimulating the soul orb causes it, huh?"
"You knew everything!"
"Just like you said, most people would think the black orb is the soul orb when both appear. But I already knew. Your acting was decent."
I was the one who set the lich's soul orb as transparent. Unless shot in the head, there was no way I'd fall for Pomera's cheap trick.
"Ugh… human!"
Blue flames burned in Pomera's empty eye sockets.
[Name: Pomera]
[Traits: Materialization lv3, Mana Design lv3, Mana Application lv2, Lich]
[Affinity: -94 (Murderous Impulse)]
[Current Mood: Wants to kill and turn into undead.]
The affinity and mood were no joke. I must have left the worst first impression.
"Pomera, 5th-circle mage of the Tower of Illusions. Ah, since you fell and became a lich, you're 6th-circle now. With extra time passed, probably 6th-circle master?"
"…Who the hell are you?"
"You conducted various experiments in the north using the dark power orb and Kroll's black magic book, then fled. But you got caught by me."
"Uuu…"
From the sound of grinding bones, I could clearly tell how Pomera felt.
"D-did the Tower send you?! I was used by you bastards for over ten years. You demonic—"
"Tower? What Tower."
"What? Then who the hell are you to know all this…"
"I'm Yuren Rox."
"Rox? The Rox Marquis family?"
"Correct. I'll be your master from now on. Remember it well."
I gave a sly smile as if saying "nice to meet you."
"Master?! A mere human—"
"No, that's not right."
"Kuaaaak!"
I squeezed the soul orb again. Pomera screamed and fell to his knees.
"I don't want to hear 'master' from a lich every time either. Compromise—call me 'Owner' and speak respectfully."
"…"
"You lived as a research slave in the Tower for nearly 15 years, became a lich only a year ago, yet your head is still so stiff."
"How do you know that when you have nothing to do with the Tower… Kuaaaak!"
Since he still spoke casually, I squeezed the soul orb again.
"You still don't know your position."
This guy was dangerous. I needed to establish hierarchy clearly now, or it would become annoying later.
"O-Owner…"
"Good. And you look scary right now, so change into that small skull that was floating earlier."
His eyes burned with blue fire and his bones gleamed black. Honestly, it was a bit frightening.
"So you really saw me… I mean, saw, Owner."
He started with casual speech but switched to polite after seeing my hand move again.
"Huu…"
"Yes. That form is much better."
Pomera sighed, chanted, and his skull and body shrank until he became a small skeleton doll.
"You're not going to kill me?"
"If I wanted to, I would have done it while you were floating."
"Then why are you sparing me…"
"To use you as my 'broom broom.'"
"B-broom broom?"
The shrunken Pomera didn't understand the word but grasped the nuance from the tone and clacked his teeth.
"Ah, that term doesn't exist here. I plan to use you as my personal mage. Warp slave, cleanup duty, occasionally scaring people."
"Y-you're crazy! How dare you look at this Pomera and— S-stop! I-I'm sorry."
Pomera raised his voice in anger, but one touch of the orb made him shut up and shrink.
"Black mages can still use support magic and warp, right?"
"T-that's true, but… are you serious?"
"Of course."
I could carry him in spirit form normally and materialize him only when needed. A portable lich mage sounded extremely convenient.
"Uuu… how did I end up like this…"
The tiny Pomera hung his head and trembled.
"Kuk."
For some reason, the sight was cute and made me laugh.
In truth, Pomera was a villain who reappeared later. He would absorb the dark orb's power, master the black magic book, and return as a high-ranking lich commanding even death knights.
The current Pomera and future Pomera were different beings…
Anyway, I came to eliminate him before he became troublesome, but seeing him in spirit form changed my mind.
I'd take the soul orb and use him thoroughly.
"Check where the others are right now."
"H-how do I do that?"
"Stop talking nonsense and rotate the transparent dragonfly quickly."
"You really know everything…"
I had deliberately acted as if I knew everything about Pomera to suppress him. It seemed to have worked properly now.
"Hmm…"
Pomera lifted the crystal ball and chanted. The image showed knights and soldiers reclaiming the northern wall and cheering.
"Time to go back."
I stored Pomera's soul orb, the black orb, and Kroll's black magic book into my magic pouch. Pomera stared at me with a sullen face, saying nothing.
"Hmm, if you turn into spirit form, can priests detect you?"
"I've never met a priest since becoming like this, so I don't know."
"Then we'll need to test it."
**
"Duke."
"Yuren! Thanks to your efforts, we reclaimed the northern wall without bloodshed. I'm truly grateful!"
"It's nothing. It was possible because everyone worked together."
I had only killed one or two undead in front of me on the way here, but I quietly accepted his thanks with humility.
"Haha! I won't forgive whoever spread those vicious rumors without recognizing such talent. If I catch them—"
"I really was a scoundrel before. I've finally come to my senses."
"Hoo, the more I see you, the more I like you. If only I had a daughter…"
"Even without that kind of relationship, the Rox and Elion families can build good friendship from now on, right?"
"Hahaha! Yes, exactly!"
Duke Roper seemed to like me very much. He laughed heartily and patted my back.
"Then I must go deal with the mastermind behind this."
"I already took care of it."
"What?"
"Huh?"
Everyone listening to our conversation stared at me in disbelief.
"Y-you went alone and killed the warlock?"
"No. I saw his dungeon on the mountainside and went in. He had already fled. No one was there."
"That's fortunate. But going into a dungeon alone is dangerous, no matter how strong you are."
"I'm sorry. I just wanted to finish quickly so everyone could rest comfortably…"
"Hoo… you really are…"
People exclaimed again. Their affinity toward me was rising by the second.
"Still, we should check the place. A cave… there wasn't one before…"
"Please do. I'll guide you."
I led the Duke, knights, mages, and priests to the dungeon.
"Hmm, this is…"
"Most of these bones are from monsters."
"The warlock must have experimented on monsters here."
The Duke, mages, and priests examined Pomera's dungeon in their own ways. After a while, they came out.
"The Magic Tower will send another investigation team to this site."
"I see."
"It's a shame we couldn't catch him. He looked like someone who would cause big trouble…"
"He got scared and ran. He won't show up again."
"I hope so."
Duke Roper worried about what the warlock might do, but it was unnecessary worry.
That guy was currently tiny in spirit form, trembling pathetically.
"We reclaimed the northern wall, so I'd like to hold a festival, but there's a lot to do. It'll take some time."
"Of course. We don't know when monsters will attack again, so we must repair the gates and walls first."
"As expected, you understand. I'll give great rewards soon—not just to you, but to everyone who helped. Be sure to visit again."
"You don't need to reward me. It's fine."
"I'm not fine with that. I'll come find you… No, there's no need."
The Duke seemed to remember something and gave me a satisfied smile.
"What do you mean?"
"We'll meet again soon. At the royal palace."