I Stayed Loyal When My Teacher Was Betrayed

17 – Proof 6

We arrived in front of a huge door that seemed to have a Lich nearby.

As we made the final preparations, the master spoke quietly.

“When we go inside, I’ll take care of it. You handle the rest.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Okay, Master.”

After finishing the simple division of roles, we went inside.

The scene that followed was not exactly cheerful.

The room was filled with a strong sense of death.

In front of us were three armored undead.

They appeared to be skeletons in armor, but the crimson aura emanating from their bodies indicated they were not ordinary beings.

High-ranking undead, distinct from ordinary skeletons.

Scalnights.

Those who possessed the power to crush ordinary adventurers and intruders started approaching as soon as they found us.

But at that moment, my attention was not on the scalnights.

Nor was Vernier’s attention on them.

The one positioned behind the scalnights was wearing an incredibly worn but still quite luxurious black robe, with a staff embedded with a jewel the size of an egg in one hand, gilt shoes, and various jewels, rings, and bracelets on him.

A young man wearing gear that looked outrageously expensive for a common skeleton.

I could tell immediately.

That was Lich… the one we were after, Ark Lich.

“Lich, his reputation precedes him…”

“… Huh?”

“That’s what I’ve heard. Anyway, let’s leave the scalnights to us. The master will deal with Ark Lich as planned!”

“Got it. Let’s be careful. Both in front and behind.”

With those words, we immediately headed into battle.

Right after sending off the Rosemary Master, I began to prepare my magic.

*

Ark Lich, a superior undead directly in front of us.

He began to react as soon as he spotted Rosemary.

-“Ugh… yet another insignificant human wizard has come rolling in from somewhere. Come here, human. Welcome to visit my splendid self.”

Stretched out his arms, speaking as if he was showing genuine emotion, the voice of Ark Lich sounded as if it was coming from his heart.

But Rosemary did not feel the need to respond.

The one in front of her was someone who had to fall.

It was unnecessary to keep someone alive when she had made up her mind to kill them, whether they talked or not.

-“You don’t even respond, how rude of you. Do you think you, someone like you, can bring me down? No way. I’ll kill you and turn your corpse into an undead…”

-Whoosh!

“!!”

Before he could finish his sentence, a flaming orb was launched.

That blow hit Arklich’s body exactly, but due to the shield that guy was carrying, it didn’t cause much damage.

However…at the cost, it perfectly stoked his anger.

– “I guess there’s no need for words. Die.”

With those words, Arklich rushed towards this side.

Firing magical bullets around his body, he swung his staff like a sword.

In response, Rosemary also wielded her staff to block his attacks with a defensive barrier she created.

*

– “Argh!”

– “Flee, are you going to flee?”

The Skulknights shouted in an awkward tone.

However, despite their voices, there was no awkwardness in their attacks.

Attacks coming precisely towards this side.

The movements of the guy, different from the skeletons, reminded them of a skilled warrior, and it was quite threatening.

– Snap!

“Ugh… It’s impossible with just a few moves.”

Avoiding the attacks with swift movements, Bernie threw magical bullets at their heads.

However, unlike the skeletons that collapsed with one blow, her attacks only left a light scratch on their helmets.

At first, it was not easy to deal with such opponents using magical bullets.

And related to this.

At this point, I realized that it’s time to move on to the next phase.

“What should I do?”

“Don’t rush, just give me some time. I’ll handle these guys.”

With those words, I started gathering magic in both hands.

When facing strong undead, using Holy or Flame spells was the standard.

Not being a cleric, and even being a demon, it was natural for me to choose flame magic.

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However,

The guys in front of me were high-level undead who didn’t flinch at ordinary flames, and I felt that using ordinary flame attacks would be insufficient to face them.

I needed a higher level of power, but at a time like this, where ‘conserving magic was necessary’, using higher-level flame magic was not a good idea.

However, this is only a general case.

I had a very useful way to fill the lack of firepower.

“Okay, that’s enough…”

The white smoke was spewing out of my hand.

Those things, reminiscent of slightly small fog, were wrapping around the surroundings of the Skulknights in no time.

The fog was so thick that I couldn’t see ahead clearly.

However, it was difficult to block the sight of the undead who could pierce through even the darkness…

As I watched this, a deep smile began to appear on my lips.

“Bernie! Come out from there and come here right away.”

“Yes? Ah… yes!”

Bernie quickly distanced herself from them as soon as my command came down.

As a result, they turned toward Bernie… or more precisely, began to move toward me who was standing in front of her.

“What on earth is this smoke? It doesn’t seem to have any effect on the undead.”

“Of course. This has no effect at all. It’s just something gathered from dust, not like poison fog.”

“What? Then why…”

Bernie expressing her doubt about my words.

Instead of explaining, I smiled lightly.

“Well, in this situation, watching may be faster than explaining.”

With those words, I conjured a small flame on the end of my wand.

A frail flame that could hardly inflict anything beyond light injuries, let alone any significant damage.

And I…

I shot it at the Skulknights who were approaching rapidly in this direction.

To those guys who were still approaching while fluttering white powder.

And the result was…

-Kwaang!

Arkritch and Rosemary, exchanging blows in what seemed to be an extended battle.

Within Arkritch’s staff, the dark energy began to surge.

And then.

“Doom Curse!”

A violet smoke appeared alongside the uttered spell, shooting towards Rosemary like an arrow, affecting her mentally, plunging her into despair.

No matter how powerful a knight may be, they can do nothing but crumble under this curse.

That was how it should have ended…

“Tsk. Even if you use such pathetic magic…”

– “!”

In the next moment, an unexpected scene unfolded.

Arkritch’s magic that was soaring through the air dismantled and vanished right before their eyes.

Not just defense or evasion, but complete dismantling.

An ability to quickly decipher the essence of magic and reverse engineer it; without such skills, attempting dismantling would be impossible.

Above all, there had to be a significant gap in abilities between the opponents for dismantling to occur.

Recognizing this fact, Arkritch’s jaw dropped in astonishment.

“What… What are you… How could a mere human…”

Originally a powerful magician, he had advanced even further after becoming a lich.

Realizing that someone had dismantled his own magic, Arkritch began to sense that something was amiss.

However, paying no mind to his feelings,

Rosemary immediately prepared for the next attack.

With a swing of her staff, she composed a spell.

Amidst a swirling vortex, a mighty stream of flames erupted from her, far beyond the lightweight flames displayed earlier.

Aware of the situation getting out of hand, Arkritch anxiously addressed her.

“Wait… Stop. Do you really intend to end it like this? Listen to me instead. If you spare my life, I will impart the secret of immortality to you. You can transcend the limits of humanity…”

“The corpse speaks?”

“!”

Rosemary bluntly summarizes the situation in just a few words.

Right after that, the flame resembling a gigantic snake falls directly towards where Arkritch is.

-“No-o-o-oh!!!! Th-this… How can it be! Me… me!! How could I be so pathetic!!!”

Arkritch, whose body begins to melt instantaneously in the scorching flame.

Despite struggling desperately to survive, he couldn’t change the outcome.

-“G-ga-khh…”

In the end, Arkritch turns into a handful of ashes, leaving behind only a short scream.

While observing this sight, Rosemary lets out a small laugh.

“Indeed… he was nothing special compared to his reputation. Well then… shall we see what happens next in the main story?”