Elder Lich (1)

"The Assassin King, Eric Astheme, is buried here? Even his body?" Seran was just as amazed as William; he knew the legends of the Sword of Hope and its 10 heroic members inside and out now. Eric Astheme was known as the most powerful assassin in the world back then, and even up until now there has never been someone as powerful as him in the assassin category. With his vicious strikes and unique poisons, Eric was often the hero dealing the most damage among his companions on a single target. Even the Divine Swordsman, Alexander rain was only able to match his damage with the help of the divine sword of Nemesis, Greyblade.

In his final battle, told from the mouths of the Mage King Harlequin and the Oracle Amelia themselves, the five remaining heroes had been running through the upper floors to the exit of the floating castle that the Second Minister owned when Eric suddenly picked up in speed and shoved all of them as hard as he could through an archway that quickly closed behind them. Despite Alexander wanting to rescue him, both Eric and Harlequin's insistence forced him to make a reluctant escape and leave yet another of his life-and-death brothers behind. By the time they got out of the floating castle and jumped onto the backs of Rock Eagles, the upper levels of the castle had been leveled, with more explosions happening with each passing minute. Two black figures could be seen clashing at high speeds and with great power: Eric himself and the Second Minister, a powerhouse of close combat and magic.

The last scene that they remember of Eric was him, missing an arm and bleeding profusely, activating his last trump card that he'd been given to him when he prayed to the heavens for it at the cost of most of his remaining lifespan: a black hole bomb. With a victorious laugh that didn't match his appearance, or situation, Eric was devoured by the black hole along with 90% of the floating castle and the Second Minister, who had been exhausted of enough mana for him to be unable to escape its pull, which then burst with a catastrophic power that rippled the heavens apart.

In the end, there was no corpse of Eric left to be buried. It was not possible in the slightest, as the black hole had first shredded it apart, then the shredded parts were blown up with semi-divine power. For this tomb to say that it was actually in one piece, and buried here, was well beyond believable.

[That's what it says here... and that's the emblem of the Sword of Hope right there, in those circles. This was likely made by the Mage King and the Oracle, so it's unlikely to be false... However, that's not important right now... what is important is that beyond here... is definitely stronger than the Alpha Chimera... by a lot.] The tone of surprise from their potential discovery changed into a solemn one as William restated their original goal: the Elder Lich.

"Yes, it is... This will be my first one-on-one battle against an S-rank. William, I'll need your help with blind spot defense." Seran shifted his guandao into both hands as he prepared to deliver a heavy kick to the steel doors.

[As long as your mana is connected to the system, I'll help you however I can. Don't get distracted at all. This is by far the most dangerous battle you've ever had.]

With a grim nod, the white-haired boy wound up his right leg and let a huge hook kick into the center of the doors, channeling most of the power in the blow to force the doors open quickly, but not fast enough for the heavy doors to slam into the walls. As he did, green-black miasma poured out of the doorway, a simple touch of it starting to melt his clothes like acid, though his body remained unharmed. With a grunt of effort, Seran released a shockwave of flame and wind, scorching enough miasma out of the way for him to create a defensive aura that used the same properties, protecting himself from the thick poisonous fog. Making Yggdrasil's Comet's blade shine like a small sun, Seran cautiously made his way inside, his body is a stance that would aid him in quick reactions.

The tomb now seemed massive, enough to fit two modern-day football/soccer fields inside, and even half of one going upwards. Great pillars held the roof up at a height that, even with Seran's mini-sun, kept it shrouded in total darkness. Miasma thicker than molasses squirmed on the outside of the pillars, while the central corridor, if one had to describe it that way, had lesser amounts, as if the pillars were keeping the miasma back. Other than the long stretch of path that Seran was cautiously making his way through, nothing could be seen through the miasma. What could be seen was a rather simple-looking coffin, little more than a stone box carved with more Fairy Language script, and a statue of a young man cast from stone: a messy undercut hairstyle that hung a little on the sides of his elfin face, wearing his full leather armor, holding both of his signature transforming war fans ready for battle. While his face was expressionless, the statue still gave off an incredible aura, like the hero himself was still alive and present there.

Seran would have gladly taken his time to take in the statue and the coffin in their full glory, but, however, he was still deep in enemy territory. Hearing whistling sounds from around massive hall, the white-haired boy began spinning his guandao rapidly, constantly moving to block arrows, knives, needles and other throwing weapons. While he was busy doing that, two green-black skulls of flame charged out of the miasma and collided with his guandao, forcing him to stab the floor with the butt of his weapon's handle to keep his balance from the powerful strength in the spells. Growling irritably to himself, he stowed Yggdrasil's Comet into his inventory and withdrew a leaf-shaped longsword, with which he took a battle stance. A sword domain spread from him until it stopped 3m from him, within which he deftly made use of his agility and ability to avoid and defend against the numerous attacks that seemed to be endless.

After ten minutes straight of him only being able to defend, his eyes sharpened as he smirked, "Found you." Dropping into an iai stance, Seran roared out, "[Sword God Art: Dimension Cutter]!" In one swift move, he drew his sword in a fierce diagonal slash before sheathing it again, within the span of a second. Nothing could be seen for a moment until a howl of unearthly pain echoed from within the miasma. As a large amount of the poisonous fog was sucked away into a spatial rift that had opened from the slash, the increase in clarity in the area revealed what Seran had targeted.

A 2m tall skeleton wearing thick black robes, seemingly hunched over, with bones blackened from death magic, angrily pointed its gnarled bone staff at Seran as the two green flames it had for eyes burned with rage as it screeched, "What the fuck are you!?"

With his dark smirk still plastered on his face, Seran laughed as he couldn't help himself from saying a cliche line, "Your worst nightmare."