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The liches were not orcs. Unlike the orcs, whose intelligence could hardly guarantee an advantage over even a highly intelligent chimpanzee in certain fields, liches were beings that had originally been human, most of them former wizards, transformed into undead, displaying combat senses and abilities incomparable to mere minions.

When one of my companions turned into a pile of bones in an instant, the undead wizards opted for a flank attack. Jenis, with the Great Sage’s staff in one hand and the Elf Lord’s sword in the other, spread her arms wide to prepare for both incoming assaults.

Using magic to fight enemies is an easy path. However, from the perspective of the Great Sage, she had to recognize that while the staff elevated her power beyond its limits, it also presented significant risks.

Most magical tools serve the role of enhancing the power of magic, allowing one to concentrate more mana on a single attack. If you have a vast mana pool like Jeongjae, coupled with exceptional mana utilization skills, you wouldn’t necessarily need auxiliary magical tools. However, most wizards, even with sufficient mana, often lack the focus to wield it effectively, opting instead for simple adornments like bracelets or brooches to assist their abilities.

And the symbol of this magic tower is the pinnacle of that field. The liberation Jenis felt when she held the Great Sage’s staff was beyond words.

It felt as if she could suddenly go from sipping water with a straw to gulping it straight from the bottle. Thanks to the magical tool, her mana utilization capability had surged dramatically, and thus the power of her spells had greatly increased, but simultaneously, the rate of mana depletion accelerated exponentially.

She was no longer in a position where she could fight by casually unleashing the maximum amount of magic she once could. If she continued to fight that way, she could lose consciousness on the battlefield before anyone even noticed. Margaret had given Jenis her sword for that very reason, to prevent such a dangerous situation.

“Those humans who prattle on about their finesse and skill in swordplay seem to forget that the most crucial aspect of handling a sword is arm strength, and the second most important factor is the sharpness of the weapon. Third is luck. Skills are merely fourth in importance.”

As the Elf Lord, who believed herself exceptionally adept with blades, said that, Jenis felt a complex mix of emotions. Perhaps her technical level was so high that she looked down upon the abilities of humans practicing their skills.

Or perhaps, when witnessing that even renowned masters were no match for Rose’s brute strength, it might just come down to experience and life wisdom.

“You seem to already possess strength, and with my gifted sharp weapon, all you need is a bit of luck.”

At that moment, a lich on her left shot a mana arrow aiming for Jenis’s flank. Jenis raised the staff in her left hand to block the mana projectile, then spun it around to use it as a shield substitute.

Ignoring the lich approaching from behind, Jenis rushed left and lifted her sword.

The skeleton wizard facing her unleashed a few more spells, trying to push Jenis back, but the rapidly spinning staff deflected all the attacks.

Harker’s sword sliced into the lich’s arm, cleanly severing one of its limbs. The cutting power of an Elf sword that even penetrated dragon scales was incomparable to ordinary swords.

“You… you little…”

Before the one-armed lich could resist further, Jenis struck the chest area, beneath the ribcage, with the head of her staff. A sound like ribs shattering echoed, and the lich bent forward. Jenis immediately wrapped her arms around the lich’s head lowered to her chest, raising her sword high and delivering a powerful downward strike to the back of the skeleton’s skull with the handle.

A massive fissure appeared in the skull’s structure. Then Jenis shoved the lich’s head backwards and swung her sword upward to decapitate the foe.

“I heard that the Lich Lord had quite the match with Princess Margaret, but I guess all minions are still just minions.”

Kicking the fallen skull like a soccer ball, Jenis clicked her tongue in disdain.

At that moment, the Great Sage felt a loose killing intent from behind, spinning around, pointing her staff, and shouted.

“Thought you forgot, huh?”

There was no way she could forget. The lich lurking behind her had been silently holding its breath, preparing a powerful strike that could penetrate her robe and wings.

Recognizing that fact without seeing it, Jenis had thought it better to quickly take down one enemy before the one behind could prepare a magic circle.

A red orb suddenly turned pitch black, unleashing a dark lightning bolt formed of dark mana. The lich hit by the dark lightning, favored by vampires, trembled and disintegrated into dust, leaving only its robe behind.

That was a devastating end compared to the other liches that at least left behind a pile of bones.

“Touching… dark magic… to kill us…”

From somewhere, a voice sounding like it was reproaching Jenis could be heard. As she looked around, trying to locate the source of the voice, Jenis soon realized it was coming from the very skull she had thought dead.

The lich, severely injured with its legs destroyed by Jenis’s aerial bombardment, struggled to condemn her with its last ounce of strength.

“You… do you truly believe you can be recognized by humans like you?”

“Just shut up,” Jenis replied, seemingly having deemed the dying lich’s words unworthy of consideration as she delivered a kick to the side of the skull’s temple.

With a single kick, half of the lich’s face shattered, silencing the murmuring voice. With a satisfied expression, Jenis nodded, having claimed the lives of four powerful liches in an instant.

“One, two, three, four… wait a moment, there’s still one left…”

A bad feeling crept in. Originally, the number of liches guarding this place was probably five. Unless one had been killed outright by the flash from above, one was lurking so stealthily that even Jenis hadn’t sensed it.

It was a warning signal. Failing to recognize an enemy in a fight between beings who could wield magic was akin to exposing one’s back in a battle against assassins.

“Ugh!”

In that moment, a skeletal lich leapt over the wreckage of the broken wagon and launched a powerful mana sphere aimed at Jenis’s back.

A dark fireball. For an ordinary wizard, it would be a challenging magic to handle, and Jenis had no time to respond properly. The Great Sage quickly spread her wings to shield her back, but the fireball struck the back of Jenis’s robe, leaving a huge hole and sending her body crashing forward.

The shockwave from the fireball caused the Great Sage to sprawl on the ground, groaning in pain.

“These days, it feels like I’m often doing well only to end up like this at the end…”

“That’s the difference in experience, rookie sage.”

The lich, seeming determined not to give Jenis any time to recover from the shock, unleashed a powerful mana lightning at her. The black lightning coiled around Jenis’s body, sending a jolt of electrifying pain through her.

Struggling to bear the pain, Jenis managed to lift her upper body, but she had already used up quite a bit of her mana in this operation and couldn’t afford to ignore her opponent’s attacks so easily.

“I’ve heard that the new sage of the magic tower is young and inexperienced, but it’s not wrong!”

The lich strengthened its lightning magic once more, pressing Jenis. The damage accumulating in her body from the holes in her robe was considerable.

“Are you the strongest one here?”

Jenis mumbled through clenched teeth. The lich, rattling its bones, turned its head.

“I didn’t quite catch that. What did you say?”

“It seems like you’re the strongest among these skulls, aren’t you, and I’m asking if you’re the one responsible for this place.”

“Looks like even fools learn when they get hit. That’s the adaptability of a human dog.”

“Good. Why don’t you just wait there? I’ll prepare a special menu for you.”

Gathering all her strength, Jenis sprang to her feet. The lich was astonished to see the Great Sage shrug off the effects of its lightning magic, but Jenis didn’t give the undead wizard time to be surprised.

Swinging her staff, Jenis unleashed a light gravity spell to push the lich into the debris of the wagon. As the lich stumbled backward, numerous tentacle-like mana ropes surged from the end of the staff, ensnaring the lich.

“How fortunate we are that even a being reduced to bones can still feel pain.”

Jenis manipulated the mana ropes to bind the lich tightly in place. Realizing its fate, the lich wriggled and writhed, desperately trying to escape the impending doom.

“Let me go! I said let me go! Just crush my bones or kill me right here! What could you possibly learn from me, you little brat!”

“Our journey to the military camp is long, so it would be wise for you to conserve your strength, oh strong lich. Besides, if you want to survive the interrogation by Walter Hellhound, saving your strength would be even more prudent.”

Jenis thought that Walter would likely want to hear from high-ranking officials about how the Moriarty Machine operates or its deployment rationale. It was strategically essential information, after all.

There were many things to uncover, such as how many of these machines existed within the Demon King’s Army, what their actual performance was like, and how they were deployed and operated… Capturing the ‘strongest-looking lich’ was beyond the initial plan, truly a success. This outcome made her grateful that this guy had been showboating to demonstrate his abilities against Jenis.

“Then let’s first deal with the leftovers…”

At that moment, Jenis poured all the mana she had been saving into forming a massive magic circle above.

A red magic circle, slightly extra-dimensional and intricately beautiful, appeared in the sky. The Great Sage lightly tapped her staff on the ground and chanted, completing the spell.

“Descend, pit of lava.”

At her command, the magic circle spewed forth a massive, viscous clump of lava, collapsing upon itself. The lava fell onto half of the remaining Moriarty Machine, engulfing the entire wagon in hellfire.

Jenis paused to watch the raging inferno engulfing the wagon, confirming it was consumed by flames.

Having just expended most of her usable mana with the lava magic, Jenis was ready to lift off into the sky with her captives, but just then…

“Kyueek! Kyek! Kyueek!”

Whether they had run over to witness the flames or were already positioned to intervene at the right moment, the cries of numerous orcs echoed from all directions.

Once the orcs initiated their actions, they couldn’t hesitate with their beast-like instincts. Realizing she was surrounded in an instant, Jenis sighed, looking exasperated.

“Looks like I’m surrounded. At this rate, taking off won’t be easy.”

Indeed, while it was possible to escape if she flew high enough, carrying the massive burden of a lich would leave her unable to fend off all the arrows aiming for her.

With her mana nearly depleted, relying on magic would be tough, and attempting to use her captive for a hostage scenario would be futile against orcs.

“What are you going to do, huh? You might be able to escape on your own, but I’d rather leave you here to die…”

As if thinking it had found its opportunity to survive, the lich began clicking its jaw excitedly. Jenis responded by kicking the ribcage of the skeletal wizard.

“Even without a brain, think for a moment. If I was going to abandon you and run, wouldn’t I just kill you right here and take off instead?”

At that, the lich fell silent. Satisfied that the enormous flames provided her some cover, Jenis raised both her weapons.

“Alright, from here on out, it’s a pure melee fight. Let’s see how far we can go.”

 

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