"...You've got to be kidding me," said Klarissa.
Ciel followed the chief's gaze, only to behold a terrible sight.
At first, it was difficult to tell what it was. Its overly tall, yet disproportionally thin body gave the creature a grotesque, misshapen appearance. As Ciel's eyes focused, he discerned that said monster was an assembly of bones—a skeleton draped in black tattered robes that soundlessly fluttered in the now faint wind.
Near its chest area, in place of a heart, rested a faint blue core—glowing softly through the gaps in its ribs.
The creature tilted its head sideways, its hollow sockets burning with a dim, ghostly light as he observed the two humans standing before him.
Klarissa didn't waste a second.
In one precise motion, she reached for the holster near her waist and drew her pistol. The gun's barrel began glowing as soon as it left its casing, veins of red light throbbing along its barrel as Klarissa funneled her energy into it.
"Get down!"
Ciel ducked instinctively.
A red streak of light left the weapon, darting above Ciel—towards the assembly of bones. The monster's hand raised laxly, a tall barrier of ice materialising before him. Klarrisa's shot attempted to break through. It failed.
"Tsk. These gun things are junk."
The chief promptly tossed her pistol to the ground, dashing forward as the space behind her glowed purple. A huge ripple of fire erupted from her palm, advancing toward the creature. However, before the flames could reach it, a veil of darkness enveloped the monster.
It was gone.
Klarissa scanned the area for a while, carefully looking for where her opponent disappeared to. She eventually came to the conclusion that he wasn't anywhere close and the air around her finally settled down.
Ciel moved towards her.
"What was that?"
She frowned at him.
"...A lich."
Ciel thought back to the battle they were in the other day, then to the one a moment ago. They weren't comparable. Not the monsters, and definitely not the amount of power Klarissa used.
"Is he the one who separated us from the group?"
Her countenance turned thoughtful, contemplating about the last couple of days and what they had to do moving forward.
"...That does seem to be the case. However, the situation is worse than I thought. For one, a lich is a creature that hasn't been seen in decades. Moreover, when he fled, he didn't move to another location using its Lumen—it's impossible to teleport that far that fast no matter your strength. Meaning we are most likely in a pocket dimension—one that he seems to have some degree of control over."
"Why do you say some degree of control?"
"It's impossible for anyone to completely control a pocket dimension—that's just unheard of. Furthermore, if he did have full control over it, then he would just teleport me around until I became disoriented, then attack from my blind spots until I die."
Ciel came to a frightening realization. Wasn't Klarissa suggesting that, were the lich able to teleport freely, she would lose? That meant they were at least of a similar standing when it came to strength.
A look of doubt spread across his face, which didn't go unnoticed by Klarissa.
"Don't worry, I won't let you die."
Ciel gave her a silent nod and asked:
"How do we get out of here?"
"There are three methods I know of. One, we find and kill the lich—a near impossible feat considering he could be anywhere. Two, we wait until the pocket dimension breaks by itself. And three, I use my Lumen and break through by force…"
He observed her expression, which was seemingly weighing the options against each other. Eventually, she decisively raised her head.
"...I am breaking through by force."
Ciel opened his mouth, trying to ask something, but Klarissa already bolted far away from him.
She closed her eyes for a brief moment, then slowly raised one hand into the grey sky. Suddenly, a whirlwind of flames erupted from her palm, giving birth to a massive cyclone of fire and destruction.
The bland sky turned into a dazzling canvas as she added an intense gust of wind to the storm of fire.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
The space above them gradually started exposing small cracks. However, before she could substantially damage the dimension, Ciel spotted the lich materializing in Klarissa's shadow—a shard of ice in its hands.
"Chief, behind you!"
But Klarissa was already aware of its attack, swiftly taking a step to the side and redirecting the storm of fire towards the lich with the flick of her hand.
'She expected this!'
The cyclone twisted violently, roaring as it devoured everything in its path—not even the crystal floor able to resist slightly warping. Was the lich dead? The fire was hot enough to warp crystal, so it shouldn't have much trouble melting bones, right?
"Crafty pest," a deep voice said.
It was the lich, standing about 20 meters away from its original location. He teleported, coming out completely unharmed from the attack. It started smoothening out its scruffy robes as he glared at Klarissa.
"Ah, I can't believe a measly human almost got me."
The cracks in the sky were gone.
Klarissa frowned. Although she was prepared for the lich's interference, maintaining and then suddenly changing the trajectory of an attack that strong exhausted her to a certain degree—though she tried hiding it.
Unfortunately for her, the lich already realized that. The air around him getting colder as he said in a dismissive tone:
"To tell you the truth, pest, I have killed many humans—men, women, children too. Yet, never have I once enjoyed killing. It was always out of necessity. Never because I was eager to kill."
He paused and then sneered, his voice rising.
"But I am eager to kill you."
Klarissa's expression turned mad. She darted towards the lich, the wind fiercely growling behind her as she stretched her hand—aiming to shatter the blue core near its chest.
This time, the lich didn't flee. Instead, another shard of ice materialized in its hand, thrusting towards Klarissa's arm.
She twisted mid-lounge, the shard grazing past her wrist as she redirected her momentum. Her heel snapped upward, slamming into the lich's ribs and sending him back a few meters.
There was a pause.
Then monster started snickering:
"Yes! You ought to be at least this strong if you are to be my opponent!"
The air around him completely changed. He tossed the shard of ice to the ground, and in its place, frost burst outward, swirling like a vortex given form.
In the next instant, it solidified.
A blade of translucent ice extended from his grasp—long and sharp, its edges faintly glowing with that same blue light found near its chest. The lich slowly lifted his sword, frost spreading through the air along with it.
The real battle had begun.