The Lich knelt on the ground, the will-o'-the-wisp flickering in his eye sockets, and his thin body wrapped in a rotten robe trembled violently.
"Your Majesty, it's me."
"Nothing but."
Cassius interrupted him again and exerted a little force on his claws.
The wooden box actually deformed slightly and made a "crunching" sound, which made the Lich feel his mind tremble and his body tremble even more.
"Surrender, or die, you have no room for anything else."
"To be honest, I'd love to kill you."
Cassius's faint voice echoed in the messy hall. Every time he said a word, the atmosphere in the hall became more solemn.
"Think about it, your rotten soul that has been maintained for hundreds of years by the secrets of the dead - what emotions will emerge at the moment it is destroyed by me, and how ugly it will be."
The red dragon suddenly grabbed his free left paw.
"Wow!"
With a crisp sound, the crystal lanterns in the Soul Crying Castle were broken one after another, and the innocent souls imprisoned in them cried and escaped.
"No!"
"I, I surrender!"
"Don't kill me!"
The Lich's body shrank sharply, looking a little funny. He really thought that his phylactery had been crushed - he didn't see the calm look that he had shown when he was sure of victory not long ago.
Those who pursue eternal life fear death most.
The last time Oreste was so frightened was three hundred years ago, when he discovered that he was about to die of old age.
During that time, he pursued a way to extend his life at all costs, and eventually discovered a way to transform himself into a lich from the tomb of Melkor the Elder Doom.
He succeeded.
In order to survive forever, he abandoned his life and turned to the path of immortality to become a lich.
However, this is not true eternity after all. The lich's phylactery is their greatest weakness. Once the phylactery is destroyed, the lich's corrupt soul will also be destroyed - Orest is worried about this.
Therefore, during these hundreds of years, he exhausted almost all his energy to protect his phylactery and continued to collect souls to complete Melkor's mission.
But now, all is lost.
The Dragon Emperor who ruled the North Land, with his unstoppable power, easily destroyed everything he owned and held his most cherished life in his claws.
The Lich knelt on the ground, curled up into a ball, and kept muttering: "I don't want to die, I don't want to die, I don't want to die."
"Please, I don't want to die."
All the images of the past emerged in his soul, including the high spirits when he became a mage, the debauched days spent in the castle, the fear when he realized that he was about to die, and the caution after transforming into a lich.
For him——
Existence is meaning.
Living is everything.
Everything is meaningless if it cannot exist in the world.
In order to pursue immortality, he can make beautiful and kind elves into banshees, or he can sacrifice his most loyal slaves to the evil god, or even abandon his entire body and embrace the immortal lich.
That being the case.
So surrendering to a giant dragon and devoting everything to him doesn't seem to be an unacceptable choice.
Freedom is insignificant in the face of existence—at least to the Lich Oreste.
He raised his head, and the green flames still flickered in the empty eye sockets, revealing endless pleading. He raised the [Skeleton Scepter of Melkor] in his hand high and offered it like a believer offering a gift to the gods.
"Your Majesty, I am willing to surrender to you."
"As long as you allow me to continue to live in the world, I am willing to dedicate the Lost Valley and the Soul Cry Castle to you."
Cassius smiled, took a step forward, stretched his wings slightly, and the huge shadow cast by it completely enveloped the lich.
"Very well, Oreste."
"You made the right choice." The scepter rose into the air and fell into Cassius's claws.
Against the huge size of the red dragon, this staff looks like a toothpick.
This is the "artifact" that the players in the previous life almost got. After the lich was killed by the players in the previous life, Melkor's bone hand stretched out from the void and retrieved the scepter.
But now Anzetta is Cassius's empire, and even the gods cannot easily get involved.
He carefully observed the scepter and saw that its entire body was pale white and was made up of spines.
On the top of the scepter is a skull representing the holy symbol of Melkor. The skull is dug out and a dark negative energy magic stone is embedded.
【Skeleton Staff of Melkor】
Quality: Legend
Creator: Feroz Bradford
"Know me, fear me. My embrace is open to all, patient but reliable. Death will always find you. My hand is everywhere - there is no door that I cannot enter, and there is no one that can withstand me. Guard. - Melkor, Lord of Bones"
Effect:
【Undead Natural Disaster】【Awaken Higher Undead】
【Disaster of the Undead】
9-ring necromancy
Release powerful necromantic power, evoking all skeletons within range into skeletons under your control.
【Awakening the higher undead】
8-ring necromancy
The advanced version of summoning the undead can create shadows, bound spirits, ghosts, resurrected corpses and other undead creatures of different levels.
Cassius played with the scepter. He didn't understand necromancy, but he could feel the negative energy surging in it - this thing was definitely worth a lot of money.
"Orest, I see your sincerity."
The Lich breathed a sigh of relief and asked cautiously: "Well, Your Majesty, now that I have become your subject."
"So. My phylactery?"
Cassius glanced at him, chuckled and said: "Since you are going to dedicate everything to me, doesn't the scope of 'everything' include your phylactery?"
"Let's talk"
His voice suddenly became cold.
"You want to break our contract?"
The lich was so frightened again that he knocked his head to the ground and said repeatedly: "Misunderstanding! Your Majesty! I definitely didn't mean this!"
"That's good."
"Haha, you should feel honored. Without me, your ridiculous tomb will be breached sooner or later, and your life box will be destroyed."
"Don't worry, I have put your phylactery in an absolutely safe place. It is under my personal control. No one can destroy it——"
Cassius deliberately spoke slowly.
"Unless you disobey my orders and provoke me to take action myself."
The threat in these words was palpable, but the Lich did not dare to resist at all.
Orest had no choice but to show a flattering smile on his sunken face that was uglier than crying, and responded smoothly:
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
"Your kindness. I will never forget it."
The opponent dug up the grave, took away the phylactery, and was beaten to the lair. In the end, he had to say thank you, and the "victim" was an extremely evil lich.
——It can only be said that this is indeed a magical world. (End of chapter)