"The fingers of an ogre, the scales of a hydra, the heart of a yeti."

Soul-Eating Grass

"Banshee's Feather"

The lich muttered to himself as he anxiously rummaged through boxes and drawers.

Several bloody hands were waving in the air, like living things, helping him find the necessary materials for casting spells.

The entire Soulcry Castle came into action, with wandering ghosts, armored Death Guards, flying heads, and rotten zombies searching for him.

Now Orestes was extremely sure that the dragon had discovered him!
An ancient red dragon-level being is about to descend on Soul Cry Castle. What's more terrifying is that the red dragon is holding his life box in his hand. He must be fully prepared to deal with all this!
The lich naturally also imagined the extreme situation of the life box being stolen.

He memorized many sinister and vicious spells, such as [Ghost Curse] and [Death Pursuit], which were basically used to curse those who stole the phylactery and to recover his own phylactery.

"There is still a chance, there is still a chance, this is not a dead end"

"It's just a greedy red dragon."

"Dragons are the most greedy creatures. Maybe, maybe I only need to pay a few insignificant gold coins to redeem my life box."

He said this to himself.

"boom!"

Suddenly, the ground shook and the entire Soulcry Castle was shaking violently. Bottles and jars on the shelves fell one after another, and even the lich was a little unsteady on his feet.

Small pieces of stone and chandeliers fell from the ceiling.

"What the hell is going on?"

"impossible!"

"The Soul Cry Castle is clearly full of restrictions. I have set up hundreds of protective spells. How could anyone get in?"

He felt the fluctuation of space.

The lich was furious, roaring and roaring hoarsely. The bloody severed hands trembled because of their master's anger, fearing that they would be devoured by the lich.

Suddenly, the undead creatures froze and stood still.

"You trash!"

"This, this is."

Orestes turned around cursing, his skinny body froze in place and began to tremble all over.

The red dragon easily tore through the space and brutally tore through countless restrictions. It appeared in the hall of Soul Cry Castle openly, occupying most of the space in the hall and crushing countless samples, potions and equipment.

Vicious spells were automatically triggered, distorted human faces, blurry ghost shadows, and thick black fog came from all directions, but the red dragon just flapped its wings lightly.

"Ow—"

"Ahhh-"

"woo woo woo woo--"

An invisible force field flickered, and all the curses around disappeared along with wailing and screaming.

The red dragon looked down at the lich, holding a plain-looking wooden box in his claws.

—That was Orestes's phylactery, the source of his immortality, the casket that bound his soul to the Prime Material Plane, and the only way to kill him once and for all.

Cassius opened his mouth with a ferocious smile, looking down at him condescendingly with his pale golden pupils.

"Orestes."

"Finally see you."

"You seem to enjoy spying?"

Orestes held his staff in his hand, looked up, and his withered, rotten face managed a smile. "It's an honor for me that you know me."

"Your Majesty, I think there must be some misunderstanding between us. That mausoleum is actually where I store my life box. Those traps and beholders are used to guard against ignorant mortals. A great being like you would definitely disdain..."

"Do not."

Cassius interrupted.

"Lich, there is never any misunderstanding. This is why I am here."

He played with the life box in his hand, and every movement made Orestes terrified - if there was the slightest mistake, his soul would be completely destroyed, and then his hundreds of years of savings would become a joke.

The lich was uneasy. He could feel his soul trembling in the phylactery. "Your Majesty, what do you want?"

"There has never been any grudge between us, so you just need it."

"Whether it's gold coins, spells, or the results of my experiments, I am willing to give them all, as long as you can be so kind as to return the phylactery to me."

he said carefully.

Cassius shook his head slightly and said with a smile: "It is not up to you to decide this."

“It doesn’t matter whether there is a festival or not.”

"In fact, your existence is unreasonable to me and needs to be eliminated. I will not allow any uncontrolled power to appear in the Burning Empire - not to mention that this power may endanger the safety of the empire and set off a natural disaster of the undead."

Orestes lowered his head and responded, "Your Majesty, you are a little too tough. I have settled in Anzeta hundreds of years ago, and I not only represent myself, but also the will of the Lord of Skeletons."

The lich rubbed his staff, revealing the pale white skull emblem on it. The empty eye sockets looked particularly deep.

That staff is the [Scepter of Scourge of Myrkul] which has a trace of divinity.

He was communicating with the Lord of Bones, seeking the protection of the god who made him a lich, and fighting against the terrifying dragon in front of him.

"Orestes."

The pale white skeleton began to twist.
"hehe."

"Even gods cannot extend their hands into the territory of the Burning Empire."

Cassius sneered, and the power of [Imperial Domain] descended, completely severing the connection between the scepter and Melkor, and making Orestes look desperate.

In the Burning Empire, the emperor possesses a status comparable to that of a god, enough to even isolate the power of Melkor.

"Lich, stop your feeble struggle. I will only give you two choices."

The red dragon raised its claws and slowly lifted up the life box under the lich's extremely nervous and anxious gaze.

"Choose to submit to me, obey the rule of the Burning Empire, and devote everything you have - including yourself."

"Or is it"

He exerted a little force, and the sharp claws touched the wooden shell of the life box, and seemed about to penetrate it.

"Do not--"

The lich couldn't help but let out a scream and fell to the ground weakly, because he felt the extreme fear of his soul, which was the fear of facing death.

Orestes had not felt such fear in the hundreds of years since he became a lich.

He could truly feel it—the red dragon really dared to destroy his life box!

He will really die!
Once that sharp claw really pierces into the lich, the lich's soul will be destroyed, and his life that has lasted for hundreds of years will be ruined.

Fortunately, the red dragon stopped at the last moment before piercing the life box.

Cassius glanced disdainfully at the lich lying on the ground and continued.

"Choose complete extinction." (End of this chapter)