A Bored Lich

As Alexander pulled his sword out of the last of those troublesome Creatures, he clicked his tongue. The gold was completely covered with the Creature's black blood. He wiped it down and looked at the teleportation artifact, which had combusted. 'They cut off their escape route. There's no point in trying to follow.'

He sighed and looked to the right, to the remaining survivors. They all looked at him, the general, and bowed. They bellowed out a mix of thanks and praises while tears streamed from their bleeding faces. After, most of them collapsed from exhaustion. Some were still trying to stand by leaning on each other.

"Fools," Alexander smiled. "They're not coming back. Rest easy." The men which were still giving the last shreds of their strength to stand fell to the ground with a groan.

'Now,' Alexander thought as he stroked his chin. 'There are things that don't add up.' He glanced over to the stone stairway at the left side of the room, which was covered in dried blood. 'Why did the skeletal arm dig a tunnel down here when they already fought their way down here? Does that mean whoever moved the arm was separate from them? How did he know what was happening? Was this a defensive measure by the Black Market?' His ears picked up something and he casted all thoughts aside.

He wrapped life essence around his ears. He recognized the march of metal boots on hard stone, echoing in the large circular stairway. The men's shadows lengthened as they descended to the tenth floor, and Alexander raised his sword, ready for whatever was to come. When the men came into sight, however, he frowned and relaxed.

Leading the squadron of men was a Captain with the symbol of a book on his dark-metal breast plate. Their weapons were at the ready as they marched into the room, searching for any signs of opposition, however Alexander sheathed his sword and shook his head. "Don't bother," he yelled so all could hear. "The battle is over. It was our loss." As he dispersed his life essence and cleared away his bloodlust, his body cooled down and his muscles shrunk back to normal. Every detail of the room became little fuzzier to him as his senses reverted. General Marble's knights halted as they looked around the room in confusion.

Some awed at the dragon's corpse, mostly at the massive gaping hole in its stomach. One of the knights ran his hand along the wall, which was covered in small dents from the gunfire. The Knights snapped out of their momentary surprise and went back into formation, awaiting orders from the Captain. All of their eyes, however, were drawn to the many Creature corpses lying on the ground.

"Captain," Alexander said. "What in the name of the goddess took your men so long to haul their asses out of bed and do their fucking jobs?" He kept his voice low but his hostility leaked through his calm composure. "Where's General Marble? I need to speak with him."

"We're sorry," the Captain of the reinforcements said as he took off his helm. He was a middle-aged man with scars covering his face. His black hair matched his dark eyes. "The tunnel leading down here had collapsed, so we were forced to go through the Underground. However, since the mages didn't patch that area, we had to push through piles of rubble and broken homes only to find that the entrance to the Black Market was covered in layers of bone. We had to break through. I swear to the goddess we came as quick as we could."

The Captain looked over Alexander's shoulder. "Although the mess up there is nothing compared to down here. What happened? I need a report for General Marble since he was at the Knights' Academy."

"First of all," Alexander growled as he pointed back at the survivors. "These men need to get healed. You might not serve me, but you don't order me around, Captain. Since General Marble is away and this is a matter which literally could decide the fate of the Kingdom, you fall under my command. This is an order."

"Y-yes sir," The captain stuttered. "You heard him men. Help them immediately." The men spread out, making sure to distance themselves from the Creatures and attend to as many knights as they could. Among them was a boy in a white robe. He pushed his way through General Marble's men and kneeled next to those with the most injuries.

"I see you're making the most out of that healer that General Marble brought over," Alexander said as they both watched the healer work. The patient was surrounded in a holy light before most of his wounds closed up.

"He's good enough to carry," the healer said to General Marble's men. "Move him up to the surface for first aid. I need to preserve my mana for others who need it more." He rushed over to the next Knight and began to heal him.

"Don't underestimate a former War Mage, even if he was just an apprentice," the Captain said. "At least one of them is loyal to their country." He spat on the ground and shook his head.

"Are you talking about the incident with Captain Marcus?" Alexander asked.

"Of course!" The Captain said, then immediately lowered his voice so that the healer wouldn't overheard. "I mean, the entire kingdom is talking about it. That one War Mage costed us the war. The hero is now somewhere in Vilbar. We are not allowed to coax him into joining our country's ranks. I thought the War Mages were supposed to be neutral. Why would they take the side of those fucking Fishies?"

"I don't know what's going on with them," Alexander shrugged. "I just move when the king orders me to and swing my sword at whoever he tells me to. Lately, it seems as though I'm ordered to deal with snakes in the garden more than enemy nations."

"What do you mean?" the Captain asked, "Was this the Resistance's doing?" Alexander nodded. And pointed to a Resistance member's corpse not far from them, who wore the symbol of a broken lock on his mask. "I thought they were only a small organization. They've only done marches and small stuff like that until now, right? How did they even get this far?"

"That's what the king wants you to think," Alexander huffed. "He covers up anything else to maintain the illusion of control. Now look where we are. He should have listened to me."

"Sir," One of Alexander's apprentices approached the two and bowed. "We counted eighty survivors, most with severe wounds from those cylinder-like crossbows. The healer said that there are little balls which fragmented inside of the Knights. The pieces will need to be pulled out of everyone or else we might have to amputate the limbs. Here is the weapon in question." The Apprentice presented the weapon and also gave one to Alexander.

"Why are you giving me one of these things?" Alexander asked.

"After being an Apprentice to you, I have gotten familiar with your fascination of battle and weapons. Knowing you, you will probably be all over this kind of thing. There are quite a lot lying around. What should we do with them?"

"Looks like a crossbow, but not like one I've ever seen," Alexander said as he aimed it into the air and pulled the trigger. The metal hammer-like part at the back flicked down, but only a spark appeared, not the thunderous blast he was expecting. "It doesn't look like magic but we should send one to the Mage Academy to examine them."

The Captain flipped his weapon around, taking time to examine every nook and cranny. "What did they look like in action? How effective were they?"

"They tore apart our men," the Apprentice said, flinching from the recent trauma. "With each pull of the trigger, the tip flashed, smoke poured out of the front, and a bang as loud as thunder echoed throughout the room. There was no evidence of mana. I can guarantee that. The projectile, a metal ball, was faster than any crossbow, although it looked to take longer to reload. When they fired, a loud bang went off louder than thunder."

"Good work Apprentice," Alexander said as he put the weapon in his spatial ring. "I'll keep one for myself, as a reminder of my loss. Or maybe I can find a use for it later. Was there anything else of note in the battle? I was chasing down the Resistance leader and missed most of it."

"Well," the Apprentice scratched the back of his head. "There was one individual who seemed to stand out among the rest." He looked over at smallest Knight in the room, who the healer was standing over.

"Bring him to me," Alexander said. The apprentice bowed and left to go get the Knight in question. "Only eighty survivors," he mumbled, shaking his head. 'We can't take these kinds of losses anymore, not with what's coming.'

"Did they manage to get the weapon stored down here?" the Captain asked, pulling out a sheet of paper and quill.

"They managed to get something," Alexander said as he picked up bits of Ploly off the ground. "I don't know what it was, but by the way he treated it, it was like a great weapon. It was simply a glass-like crystal as large as a house in the red-light district."

"God of Evil damn it," the Captain said. "So you and your group must have arrived too late…Why are you holding out bits of Ploly though?"

"We didn't arrive late," Alexander's hand balled up. "The Resistance leader manipulated my swing to get through the mithril wall then ran right past me to get the weapon. It was so dark down there that I lost him. When I returned here, the weapon was broken and turned to Ploly on the ground. They all left through a teleportation artifact that combusted after their retreat."

"A teleportation artifact combusted?" the Captain asked, his quill furiously moving along the piece of paper. "This is just one strange occurrence after the other. If the teleportation artifact was cut in two after the retreat, I would have understood, but what nature of flame could cause a teleportation artifact to combust?"

"Sir," the Apprentice said as he carried over an unconscious Knight in his arms. The Knight's breastplate had been destroyed. His hands had holes in them, which hung at his bruised sides. He clutched a bloody and broken spear.

"Goddess," Alexander said. "Is he even still alive? His breastplate was smashed, so I can't tell which noble household he's from, but he looks like a kid. How did he get down here with us?"

"I have no excuses sir," the Apprentice said, bowing again.

"Leave us and help the others. I want this place locked down. Nobody in or out." He cast his gaze down at the wounded Knight. "What was so special about this kid?" Alexander thought aloud.

"He held off three of their majors at once," the Apprentice said. "And he only had blue life essence. He also managed to yell something out that brought the knights together. In addition, the Resistance leader picked him up and spoke to him about something. Both of their foreheads lit up as if a spell had been cast, but they were interrupted before the spell could finish."

"I see," Alexander said. "Get the healer. I want him to be fixed up and brought back to consciousness as soon as he can. Maybe he can provide some answers to all of these strange occurrences." He turned to the Captain. "Was there any word on the one who caused the arm to fall?"

"The mages have been looking for the source for a while, but nothing seems to have come from it. They tried to arrest a noble girl, but she broke one of their arms and walked away."

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