Diary of a Lich (I)

Bewildering Valley, Soul Weeping Castle.

Besides the whispering of the wandering spirits, there was a slight rustling sound—a pen was writing furiously on a book, but no one was seen lifting the pen.

A closer look reveals that the pen was made from human finger bones, while the book was bound together from sheets of skin.

The pen, dipped in fresh blood, wrote each stroke in crimson, then gradually turned a deep red—the color of blood as it dried.

"September 12, New Era, sunny. Today we have gained thirteen new souls, but it is strange that seven or eight of those who have entered the Bewildering Valley do not have any souls."

"Recently, there have been a lot of things like this appearing; they seem to be called ' Starfallers '."

"There are more and more interfering factors. That Red Dragon has already unified Anzeta. I need to be more careful. I must not let it find me again. The magic arrays in Antonio City have all been cleared."

"Perhaps I should activate the concealment array to hide this place, but my soul reserves are already insufficient—if I don't offer sacrifices to the Phylactery for a long time, I will become a half-lich, let alone pursue stable immortality."

"Perhaps I should consider going into a deep sleep."

"Wait, it seems someone has entered the Death Mausoleum."

The pen made of finger bone suddenly stopped.

The pages of the book, made of human skin, slowly closed. Sewed onto the cover was an aged face—the face of Aurest in life—with several blood-red words etched on his forehead. "The Diary of the Great and Immortal Aurest."

Inside the dark and cold chamber, scattered internal organs, flesh and bones were everywhere, and blood spread and congealed on the ground.

The black bone shelves were filled with various potions, scrolls, a huge number of Spellbook, several wands, and even a few staffs.

Liches collect spells and magical items; they love to collect anything related to "immortality," which is their lifelong pursuit.

"How could someone dare to trespass into my tomb at this time?"

"That's not a good thing."

Amidst shimmering dust and blood mist, Aurest, the owner of Soul Weeping Castle and the master of the Bewildering Valley, finally appeared.

The lich's appearance is that of a gaunt, bony humanoid, with withered flesh clinging tightly to the skeleton.

His eyeballs had long since rotted away, with only tiny specks of light and necrotic mist remaining in the empty eye sockets.

He was wearing the red, jeweled robes he wore in life, but the clothes and jewelry had long since succumbed to the ravages of time, becoming tattered, decayed, and in ruins—though he himself was clearly unaware of this.

Liches pursue power relentlessly, and they are indifferent to the affairs of living beings unless it involves themselves.

They often plan for years, decades, or even centuries to achieve the greatest results, after all, the lich has escaped the shadow of death.

The same applies to Aurest.

Although he was indifferent to the world, Anzeta's recent activities were so great that even he was affected and implicated—he even considered lowering the Bewildering Valley underground to avoid possible disturbances.

Aurest stretched out his withered arm, took the crystal skull from the shelf, and said in an extremely cold tone:

Who exactly is it?

"Let me see which one is courting death this time."

The Phylactery is where the lich's soul resides.

No one can kill a lich without destroying the Phylactery.

When a lich's body is destroyed, its will and mind are extracted from its lifeless corpse.

Several days later, the lich's new body will reassemble from the shimmering dust emerging from the Phylactery.

Because the destruction of the Phylactery could lead to the lich's permanent death, liches often kept the Phylactery in hidden and heavily guarded locations—and Aurest chose the Death Priest Mausoleum.

That was the resting place of the former Bishop Myrkul, where countless high-ranking Undead Creatures resided, along with hundreds of traps and high-level magic arrays he had personally laid out.

Aurest was particularly confident in the safety of his Phylactery; even a legendary mage himself could not easily obtain Phylactery.

"."

Ah~~

The soul within the crystal skull wailed, and Magic Image formed from necromantic mist appeared on the skull.

"Is it you?"

"Ignorant living beings."

The scene depicts a Human Noble dressed in a magnificent robe. Apart from his extremely handsome appearance, he seems to be no different from the adventurers who died in the graveyard.

But for some reason, upon seeing this man, Aurest felt inexplicably flustered—even though his chest was empty and he had no heart.

"Why is that?"

"No, this hidden danger must be eliminated."

Aurest gently stroked the crystal skull, and a black mist of death spread from his palm.

Meanwhile, dozens of miles away in the Death Priest Mausoleum, the terrifying winged stone statues inside the tomb came to life, shaking off the pebbles from their skins—these were gargoyles, predators who loved to torment their prey, and countless intruders had already perished under their claws.

But the man in the picture suddenly smiled, his pale golden pupils incredibly deep, his gaze seemingly piercing through space.

"He saw me?"

Aurest suddenly had this thought.

Spellcasters of his caliber often possess exceptionally accurate intuition, sometimes even surpassing precise reasoning.

Thankfully, that feeling was fleeting.

The man in the picture seems to have looked away, focusing on the enemy in front of him.

Not only gargoyles, but also countless rotten and foul-smelling Ghast emerged from the coffins and corners of the tomb. Terrifying vengeful spirits floated in mid-air, rushing straight towards the humans in the distance.

"Woo-hoo."

Then another rustling sound arose, mixed with wails, scraping sounds, and footsteps Death Armor lifted the coffin lid, picked up the rusty greatsword, and let out a low battle roar from the gaps in the armor.

Bodak crawled out of the rotting pile of corpses, his face contorted with a mixture of madness and terror.

The heavy stone door slowly closed.

Even the light from Mount Paradise struggles to penetrate the ground.

Within the narrow tomb chamber, hundreds of Undead Creatures of various shapes surged in from all directions, surrounding the lone adventurer. The dense aura of death filled the tomb chamber—it seemed like a certain death was imminent.

Even the bishops of the Amanata Church dared not say they could escape unscathed from such a perilous place.

Over the past few centuries, hundreds of adventurers have ventured into this place, but they have all perished here, becoming nourishment for this Cannibal Tomb Chamber.

Few living people ever enter the tomb chamber.

These Undead Creatures are ravenously hungry and will even devour each other.

Upon sensing the arrival of outsiders, their greedy desire for living beings could no longer be suppressed; they were eager to devour the fresh, living person.

That's it.

"Kill him, kill him."

"Strip him of his skin and flesh, smash his bones, and devour his soul."

Aurest's deep voice echoed.

Any mortal who dares to enter the tomb and attempt to steal his immortality will be cursed by this lich with his most venomous curse.

He loved to see the terrified, desperate faces of these people; it was the highest tribute to his immortal life.

However, the man in the picture smiled contemptuously.

"Wow, there are so many!"

He calmly straightened the lapel of his magnificent robe before slowly raising his right hand.

"Boom--"