Overwhelming Firepower Chapter 396: Aleister Crowley

Since earlier, Lucen’s battle instincts were telling him to escape. It was similar to when a game warns you that you are too low level to enter a dungeon.

Lucen, who was already level 33, under normal circumstances, should be over level for a fight against the Lich in this early part of the game.

Not to mention all the skills, traits, and divine blessings he accumulated. His battle instincts should not be warning him like this.

Lucen, who was feeling a little anxious, tried to calm himself and reminded himself that this was not the first thing he had fought that was extremely dangerous.

Lucen also understood that battle instinct was something that had saved him multiple times from stronger opponents. It was pretty much similar to the skill of that talkative superhero in his past life, who warned him of danger.

However, the feeling was different this time. It was not pointing toward the walls, the floor, or anything hiding within the darkness. The warning came from deeper underground.

In the original storyline, the Lich awakened greatly weakened and without a single undead under his control.

Which was why there was a mechanic of an increase in difficulty fighting against the Lich, the longer you wait to find him.

Yet in the other routes, no matter how long you wait, the increase in the Lich himself was negligible, while the one that strengthened by a lot was his undead horde.

That was what made this situation strange. What was different this time that the Lich changed his actions?

Lucen stopped thinking about such things and started to remember every strategy that was made to fight the Lich.

In the game, the strategy everyone used was to attack the Lich with only Alexander. Having party members was a demerit.

Seeing as if one dies in the battle against the Lich, he then becomes an enemy force. Of course, this strategy only works when the Lich is weak, and you found him early.

Now that the Lich was stronger than normal, that kind of strategy was forfeited. Lucen didn’t like using that strategy in the first place, since it breaks the balance of Alexander’s party.

The strategy he used whenever the Lich had already gathered enough strength was almost the complete opposite.

He overwhelmed the Lich without a single thought of defense until the Lich’s HP was drained.

This tactic was dangerous since, if you were unlucky, you would get a party wipe and would need to restart the game.

There were also other strategies using items from the same era as the Lich or using anti-magic artifacts, but those only appear once demons appear.

Actually, many strategies for the Lich when he gets strong were from the late game, as that’s the only time you could acquire certain artifacts to counter the undead.

While Lucen was thinking they finally reached the end of the passage. There was a gate made of stone. It was of crude craftsmanship, created using magic.

Lucen and the others stared at one another, gripping their weapons tighter; a few of them even held their breaths. Then there’s Robert, who was already trembling in excitement, wanting to see the so-called Lich.

Lucen was about to open the stone door, but even before touching the stone door, it shook.

Dust fell from the ceiling. Everyone immediately raised their weapons. The stone gate slowly separated in the middle. Its two halves scraped against the ground as they moved inward, revealing a large chamber beyond.

Cold air flowed through the opening. It carried the smell of soil, old blood, and rotting flesh.

The first things Lucen noticed were two pale blue flames burning in the darkness. He knew those were not flames but the very eyes of the Lich.

Beyond the stone door, sitting on a throne made of bones of monsters, animals, and humans, was a mummified corpse.

Ancient robes covered its thin body. Most of the cloth had faded and rotted over time, but traces of gold and dark red remained along its edges.

Its skin clung tightly to its bones. Several strands of long white hair hung from its skull, while pale blue flames burned within its empty eye sockets. The Lich rested one hand against the side of the throne.

Sir Thalos clenched his fist tighter as he tensed up a little. Despite sensing only five rings within the Lich’s mana core, Sir Thalos felt power far beyond that of an ordinary fifth-circle mage.

"Silver hair, and ruby-red eyes. I have heard of you, Dragon-Slayer, the Ever-Victorious, Lucen Thornehart. Such grand titles for one so young."

The voice that came out of the Lich’s mouth was raspy and ancient. Each word seemed to carry a strange power that made the surrounding mana tremble.

Hearing what the Lich said, Lucen smiled. "Heh, to think the genius Dark Mage turned Lich, Aleister Crowley, knows of me. What an honor."

The second, Lucen said that name, the Lich who had long forgotten his own name, became completely still. The blue flames within his eye sockets flickered.

"How do you know that name?"

There was now a heavy killing intent on him. Lucen felt an intense fear come over him, but with the help of Acting Adept, he did not show a single shred of fear. Lucen shrugged his shoulders before answering.

"Who knows? Since you know my name, shouldn’t I know yours?" Lucen showed his usual confident smile.

The Lich then stopped emitting killing intent before he spoke. "As arrogant as I have heard. As expected of one who has inherited the blood of those b*stards. Still, it is quite interesting that one of you actually has no such blood, and I even sense some feeling of kinship."

The Lich glanced at Alexander for a brief second before returning his attention to Lucen. "Still, it would seem that those grand titles of yours have made you reckless coming here with so few."

Lucen rested the Crimson Lord Mk V against his shoulder. "Bringing an army into the home of someone who can turn the dead into soldiers would be much more reckless."

The blue flames within the Lich’s eyes flickered. The Lich studied every member of the group.

"I see... You have brought a few that you consider elite, but in my eyes, only one of them seems to be useful; the others are too weak."

The Lich’s gaze settled on Sir Thalos. "You, who have tempered your body to the absolute limit, might prove to be a little troublesome, and those weapons you have created in this era are an annoyance, but aside from that, there’s nothing. In the end, you will all become a part of my army."

"Heh, who knew that you could talk so much. I thought that someone with your kind of hatred would simply attack and not converse with us who have dirty blood."

"Hmph, it is but a whim. Since one of your companions is free from that filthy bloodline and actually has a nice feel to him. If he wishes, he can leave; I won’t chase him. So what say you?" The Lich asked Alexander.

"I will not abandon my companions," Alexander answered without hesitation.

"Is that so... A shame..."

Hearing the conversation between the Lich and Alexander, Lucen was quite surprised. That was a conversation that never happened in the game.