Trees loomed tall over Ian and the others. The atmosphere was dark and tense. Even the slightest sound had heads turning.
"Over here"
Ian whispered while gesturing forward. He led the players through the forest until a clearing was visible.
"He's right there in the clearing. Get ready."
Once he had a visual on Corvus Ian drew his bow. He pulled the string taught and embued mana into his arrow. That was a mistake, as soon as his mana left his fingers Corvus's head snapped his way.
His deep set dark eyes widened in anger and surprise. A hand flew up instantly and a dark glow appeared on the floor below his feet.
Ian let his arrow fly, there aas no turning back now. They either won this foght or lost a precious life.
A green beam shot toward the dark figure in the clearing, but it was too slow. A magic circle solidified below Corvus's feet. Dark mana surrounded Corvus in a barrier.
Ian's arrow ricocheted off the smoot barrier and pierced through a tree.
'Shit!'
From the edge of the forest a spear shot at Corvus. In the blink of an eye the spear struck the dark barrier. Sparks flew as they collided, soon a couple cracks spread across the barrier.
Corvus's expression darkened as he snarled.
"Damn you! I'll kill you all!"
He dismissed his barrier and quickly shifted. The spear flew through the now empty space but struck nothing, impaling the ground instead of the mage.
Corvus shot a hand up and cast a spell. A dark bolt fromed in his hand, growing quicly to the size of an yoga ball. The darknes crackled before shooting at Morgan, who had come out into the clearing. Just behind her Jasmine was preparing a spell. A green glow surrounded her staff as the mana gathered.Another barrier quicly formed around him as he backed away from Morgan a little.
From the opposite side of the clearing a shadowy figure approached Corvus from behind. Morgan's spear shot back into her hands as the bolt of darkness neared. Ian, still in the trees, prepared another shot.
Bracing herself Morgan tanked the spell before dashing at Corvus. Faster than most eyes could see Morgan appeared in front of Corvus. She thrust her spear with all the momentum of her charge and the barrier quickly began to crack once more.
A green beam shot at Corvus from the trees. Just as Morgan began to break through an arrow struck the already weakened barrier. Glass shards of dark mana cascaded down as the barrier completely broke.
From behind an already shocked Corvus Desmond appeared. A soft click resounded as a hidden blade shot from his brace. The fox drove his blade into Corvus's back.
Morgan's spear, after breaking through the barrier, stabbed into his stomach. Blood splurted from Corvus's mouth as he knelt down.
'No! It can't be over! I haven't fulfilled my divine mission! I need to spread death!'
Corvus began to use his own blood to draw un on the gound. The players were about to deal the finishing blow when a torrent of dark mana errupted from the dark mage.
A shockwave knocked Morgan and Desmond back. Mana circled around Corvus as he knelt om the ground bleeding.
"MY FINAL SACRIFICE! I OFFER MY SOUL!! MY BODY!! EVERYTHING I HAVE LEFT!! KILL MY ENEMIES, PUNISH THEM FOR ENDING MY DIVINE PURPOSE EARLY!!"
Corvus looked toward the night sky with delusion. A fanatic expression adorned with a twisted grin showed in his gaunt face. More and more dark mana gathered around him.
Gradually it was condensing into his very body. In a few seconds his features were no longer visible. Only a humanoid blob of dark mana remained in his place.
The surroundings calmed down as the mana compressed. Everything was back to normal but the players were anything but calm. Ian shot an arrow at the figure but it was destroyed before it could hit its mark.
"Don't go near him! My arrow was destroyed before even touching anything. Who knows what could happen if we go ober there?"
The seconds semmed to last an eternity as Corvus's change came to an end. Gradually the mana faded like smoke. Where Corvus once stood was now a skeleton. Its strength far surpassed Corvus's. This thing was high silver bordering on gold. A lich.
Ian froze in fear, a feeling of dread overcame him as he looked at the clearing. The lich could kill him in ome attack, not even a serious one. One spell his way and it was over unless he could dodge in time.
Jasmine on the other hand finally finished her spell. A huge thorn hung in the air next to her, waiting on her command. Although she was outclassed Jasmine let the spell fly.
The lich quickly turned to face her and cast a barrier. The barrier formed noticeably faster than before. Now that Corvus was undead his spell casting capability was way better.
Sparks flew as the spells collided. The barrier held strong though, Jasmine's spell was not enough to break it, though a crack remained where they clashed.
Morgan quickly recovered and stepped up to face the lich directly. She gripped her dark spear and quickly dashed at the undead. Her armor semmed to be pulling her along as she flew at the boss.
She struck the damaged spot on the barrier with all her momentum. Sparks flew as the spear and barrier clashed. The lich turned to look at Morgan and in the blink of an eye conjured a bolt of darkness.
The spell instantly struck Morgan with an explosive impact. The dwarf knight tumbled backward with her arms crossed. Morgan's feet dug into the ground as she tried to stabilize herself.
A rustling sound drew Ian's attention. His eyes shot to where the noise came from to find Desmond. The fox beastman was panting while looking around, his gaze quickly met Ians.
"I'm out of ideas man. I can't do enough damage to get through the barrier at my level. My sneak attacks aren't gonna do anything here but put me in danger."
Ian looked at the fox with determined eyes.
"There's no other way. Put the danger aside and just attack. We're never gonna break that barrier at this point."
"I know that dumbass. I'm just saying we need a better plan than just accumulating damage. The longer this goes on the more danger we're in."
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Chapter 21! what are we thinking? Any feedback is always appreciated.