Chapter 246

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Chapter 246

The elegant lady on the seat stood up, her wide-brimmed hat adorned with skeleton hands and a small skull, making a clacking sound as she moved.

She wore a dark green dress, embroidered with golden threads on the skirt and shawl, forming beautiful letters and delicate patterns. At first glance, her slender figure appeared graceful, but as she approached, Xerath realized that she didn’t have the same graceful body as Sylas. Below her head, there were only white bones, connected by an evil black mist.

She extended her bony hand, lifting Xerath’s chin and said with a smile, "Nice to meet you, I’m Lacrima. You have been taking care of my daughter for so long, I should thank you properly. Now, I want to introduce you to my… gratitude."

"Witch… Lich…?"

"Ah, truly admirable," the deep female voice spoke with an exaggerated tone, "Truly worthy of being the youngest archmage in history. Your vast knowledge has left a deep impression on me. Your judgment is completely correct, I am a Lich. Oh, not just a Lich, but an ‘undead,’ a zombie. I believe a mage of your taste wouldn’t want to become a zombie, right? Even if zombies are intelligent, they are still just zombies. I will turn you into a Lich. Both of these thieves have been tainted by death energy, and their blood carries the power of shadows. In the intricate spell I have prepared, all of this shadow energy will infuse into your body, directly ‘cleansing’ your soul."

The bony hand reached behind Xerath, closing its eyes as the death energy flowed through its palm into the dagger. She blissfully said, "Ah… this exquisite power of shadows, it is specially prepared for you. Please, make sure to enjoy it thoroughly."

Xerath looked at her coldly.

The green eyes were obviously corrupted, the shape of the pupils was irregular, as if something inside had ruptured, and the irises were not transparent, clearly indicating that the eyes had lost their function long ago. It is said that Liches use undead vision, which is a sensory ability that is more sensitive to the difference between life and death, and is very different from human vision.

The bone-chilling hand gently caressed Xerath’s face, her voice softer and deeper, buzzing, "Why are you looking at me like this? My daughter, do you resemble me?"

"No," Xerath said coldly.

"Such a delicate face," Lacrima, who claimed to be Sylas’s mother, looked at Xerath obsessively, "I will preserve it well, you will become my greatest masterpiece! Don’t move, if I interrupt this process, your soul will suffer in the corruption of death."

The archmage’s body trembled with excitement, partly because of pain, partly due to the chill, but most importantly, Lacrima’s gaze made her uncontrollably remember Sylas.

She had never longed for life like this, because she had never experienced the obsessive gaze of Sylas through a human body. When she was young, just when she understood the pain of being rejected, and when she was a little tired of the daily cycle of sunrise and sunset in the desert, she also wondered if becoming a Lich could rid her of suffering, but Sylas’s arrival expelled all her disgust for the mortal world and made her yearn for it intensely.

Fortunately, she left, Sylas…

Lacrima slowly raised her bone-chilling hand, invisible threads of darkness seemed to be attached to her hand, Xerath felt her arms being pulled, and the wound on her back felt a burning sensation, but the entwined shadows forcefully lifted her up from the ground.

The Lich walked back and forth in front of her, the high heels echoing on the ground.

"I worked really hard to prepare these things that are filled with death and resentment, just to completely cleanse your magnificent soul. Just by immersing the lifelessness of these two assassins, I had to ‘corrupt’ two or three villages. Your soul is truly vast."

"’Corrupt’?"

Lacrima raised an eyebrow playfully, "It’s a form of ‘harm’ that turns the living into zombies. Next, we’ll extract the resentment from the zombies. Did you know that zombies are also afraid of ceasing to exist? Hahahaha… Humans are always afraid of death, no matter when."

She seemed to particularly like Xerath’s face. Her bony hand reached out and gently caressed Xerath’s chin, even holding it with her whole palm. Xerath wanted to break free, but weakened as she was now, she was no match for the Lich.

"Wow, wow, wow, don’t struggle, beautiful elemental envoy. I know this may not be enough for you. I raised a pack of sand wolves on the edge of the desert. Didn’t you kill them all?"

Xerath’s eyes widened suddenly. People knew very little about Lich and shadow magic, and Xerath had only seen some theories of shadow magic in certain manuscripts sent to the guild’s editorial department before being destroyed. But that was enough.

The resentment from life to death is very immense, but usually, it doesn’t gather on its own.

"Hahahaha…" Lacrima’s low and chilling laughter echoed through the empty hall again. "It seems you understand. I also spent a long time excavating dragon bones. You’ve seen them, haven’t you? I’ve read Sylas’s paper, I buy every issue of the ‘Yearbook’. My castle keeps all your papers, your achievements are stunning, your talent is overwhelming. You shouldn’t be trapped by the physical body, beautiful elemental envoy…"

Xerath felt a slight discomfort as the lifelessness eroded her body and soul. The process was slow and cold, like sitting in a cold place in winter without enough clothes. But now, it gradually became painful and burning. A thirst came from the depths of her soul.

"Can you feel it? This is what it feels like when purification is incomplete. It will make you suffer, make you thirsty, and keep you on the line between life and death. Life and death are just two states of the soul, there’s no need to fear. The real fear is not the transformation from life to death. Death is the continuation of life. Life may only last a few decades, but the deceased can last thousands of years without perishing, as long as you keep your Life Casket…"

She placed a delicate bottle on Sylas’s desk. The knowledgeable archmage, of course, immediately recognized what it was. The seti people were once a nomadic tribe, where the deceased would be cremated and their ashes put into beautiful urns. These urns would be carried along with the family, even after settling for thousands of years, the seti people’s cremation tradition remained unchanged.

After Lacrima "passed away," her body was cremated (possibly leaving only her head), and her ashes were placed inside this urn. It is obvious that her intention is clear, this urn is her Life Casket.

Bold Lich!

Liches are not attached to fleeting flesh bodies; their souls can attach to any body. When the physical body is destroyed, the soul will return unharmed to the Life Casket, and then seeks a new body. Generally, Liches hide their Life Casket in a very secret place to prevent it from being destroyed and perishing. However, this Lich is extremely bold. She actually carries her Life Casket with her?

"The real fear is annihilation. Between life and death, there is a huge chasm. Ordinary beings, after the destruction of their physical bodies, have their souls vanish. But I can guide you into the world of the deceased…"

She looked at Xerath’s contorted face due to pain and softly laughed, "Feeling the pain? Feeling the thirst? No one will come to save you. Even if someone comes, what difference does it make? Unless a priest comes to save you. But who let you build your tower in the middle of the Elemental Gate?"

Xerath stared at her intently.

And Lacrima also stared at her.

These green eyes didn’t avoid her like the ones she loved, instead they looked at her without caring. She raised her hands and said with a strange accent, "But don’t worry, I will help you cross the ‘life’ and ‘death’ divide, I will help you become eternal…"

"…’It’ is coming soon."

As her eerie bony hand reached into the distance, the window was suddenly shattered by a tremendous force. Glass and rocks scattered everywhere as the massive skeletal claws tore open the window opening. The dragon claws extended towards Xerath, constantly opening and closing, as if trying to crush her.

But Lacrima seemed unfazed, stepping on the rubble and grabbing hold of the dangerous claws. The reluctant dragon bones were unable to resist the immense power as they slowly yielded to her, slotting into a corner of the magical circle.

Thick blackness slowly seeped from the claw tips, infiltrating the magic circle.

Xerath suddenly shouted loudly, "Blazing Fire!"

Darkness fears the light, bones fear intense flames. Fire brings illumination. If there is anything that can counter darkness for an elemental mage, it is fire.

However, to her surprise, no element responded to her. She thought her pronunciation was very correct and swift, and she didn’t have any spells of silence or the like. But the surrounding "fire" remained indifferent, while the "wind" eagerly approached and asked, "How can we help you?"

"Haha… hahaha…" Lacrima laughed softly as she watched Xerath’s stunned expression. Her laughter became more and more joyful, to the point that Xerath had to ask, "What are you laughing about?"

"Oh no, oh no, you’ve regained your strength so quickly? That makes sense, these two people have already been ‘drained’ by you," she walked behind Xerath, the archmage couldn’t help but turn his head to look back. What was terrifying was that the two strong assassins who had fallen to the ground now seemed to have shrunk to half their size, their loose clothes draped on the ground, as if only their skeletons were left. Lacrima effortlessly kicked away the two drained corpses, circled back to face Xerath, and said with a smirk, "My dear archmage, go ahead and speak louder, loud enough to hear your own echo. Listen carefully to your own voice."