Content Warning: This chapter contains graphic violence, body horror, torture, and psychological cruelty. Reader discretion is advised.
Previously Chapter 3:
The Undead King broke free.
"Cast it now," the Lich commanded and the world turned black.
---
As the Undead King prepared to finish his cast, the four battle mages agreed to the condition. Thorns coiled around their necks like living shackles.
Hearing their decision, Dani smiled. Four new Battle Mages to his collection.
Without hesitation, he gripped his spear and hurled it through the window, where the glass exploded, wind screamed, and the spear streaked across the night, piercing the cemetery where the Undead King stood... One strike. One kill.
Dani's laughter filled the entire building.
"Game over."
Jane could only stand there, speechless. To launch an attack that far from inside an office and still land it with perfect precision... She was both awed and afraid.
In her thoughts she murmured, he can end battles from afar with his spear, restrain enemies kilometers away with his Thorns, and commune with animals to scout entire zones… How did someone like him go unnoticed in the Top Global Rankings? He can be in 100…
Before she could finish her statement, Dani activated a spell; "Disobedience."
What followed was a sight so terrifying that even the remaining Battle Mage froze in panic.
Jane screamed in pain, "Sean! Help me… the thorn on my neck, it's tightening!"
Sean shouted, his voice breaking with anger and fear, "Why are you doing this, Dani?! She already agreed to your condition!"
Dani replied coldly through the communed crow, "I will make her my example. So if they ever think about betraying me… well… they'll have to think twice."
---
Inside the Dungeon
The Lich sat upon a throne made of bones.
"To think someone like him exists… he…"
Before he could finish, he noticed a single rat staring straight at him, its gaze cold, almost human. Then another appeared. And another. Soon, the entire floor writhed with them.
The Lich roared, "Who's there?!"
A voice answered through the swarm. The rat spoke and it was Dani's voice "Found You".
The Lich froze in disbelief. How could he commune with animals from this distance… and command hundreds of them?
Dani's tone twisted into a smirk.
"See you soon, Lich"
The rats began to convulse. Thorns burst from their mouths, tearing through flesh from the inside out.
They screeched in agony as blood-soaked vines erupted from their bodies, twisting and writhing across the floor.
The sight was worse than watching the dead rise.
The thorns erupted, stabbing the Lich before he could react.
In shock, he gasped, "How did you find me?! No!... How did you make these thorns come out from their bodies?!"
Then realization struck. The rats... they had seeds inside them.
Yet one thought still haunted him, how could Dani control hundreds of creatures at once?
To commune with even one lifeform requires one body… unless…
His eyes widened as understanding dawned.
"We Liches command the dead… but you… you command all living things. There is no line between life and death for you. To you, they are mere toys to play with! You mask your murder as justice! YOU…"
Before he could finish, the thorn that impaled him shot outward, dragging his body through the air straight toward the dungeon's exit.
Outside the dungeon, Dani waited. He caught the lifeless Lich by the neck, lifted him high, and said with a mocking grin,
"Behold… the Lich, Commander of the Dead, did you miss me?"
---
Right Before the Lich Got Caught
Dani's phone buzzed. It was a message from his father, the Mayor.
"The media's on their way now."
Dani sighed in disappointment as his fun was cut short, then issued an order.
"Hey, Sean. This has gone on long enough. Gather every survivor in one place, civilians included."
Sean hesitated but obeyed, signaling the newly bound battle mages to assist.
As they began gathering the survivors, a sudden ripple of mana filled the air.
To everyone's surprise, Dani was already standing before them.
All of the battle mages, magic knights and the civilians froze in disbelief.
"How… how is he here? Wasn't he still in the building?" someone whispered.
Some of the civilians who saw and heard what happened were filled with disappointment.
A few in the crowd shouted, "You're a fake! A faker! Nothing about you is real!"
Others threw whatever they were holding bottles, debris while some spat curses at him.
He quickly chanted a spell;
"By voice of many,
let flesh be the bridge."
The spell's invocation left Sean and the newly bound Battle Mages in shock.
…..What followed would haunt them for the rest of their lives.
Sean staggered back, trembling. "Why… just why?!"
What unfolded before their eyes was a nightmare, humans used as Anchor Souls, their bodies transformed into the central nodes of the communion.
Their life force spilled outward, feeding the animals bound to the spell and giving power to the swarm.
When the communion ended, their consciousnesses were erased… replaced by that of the animal chosen by the caster.
And this time… the chosen animal was a rat.
Hundreds of rats swarmed the bodies, feeding on the life that oozed from the flesh. Dani extended his hand, planting seeds into their bellies as they feasted.
---
At the present
Dani said, "Now that the Lich is dead, we'll begin our expedition soon and see what this Tower holds."
He grinned. "But for now… it's showbiz."