The frozen earth made cracking sounds as four people made their way through the piles of bones and corpses, which were sprawled across the battlefield like toys in the room of a toddler. Air as cold as that in the North froze the faces of the remaining live people who were either struggling against multiple opponents at once, or bleeding out on the cold, frozen, and hard ground. Pools of frozen blood could be spotted around the vicinity, around the dead, and on the blades of the skeleton horde, which was steadily making its way to Elcrada, the city of adventurers.

However, despite their dire straits, the combined forces of adventurers and priests continued to selflessly fight on. It was partially their own fault they were in their current, unfortunate and impossible situation. Although it was due to their own stupidity that they were losing, currently, neither adventurers or priests were willing to give up the city they had sworn to protect. As touching as that resolve was, resolve alone was not enough to win battles. The enemy in this case was strong, ruthless, and unpredictable. This made it an even harder battle to fight, because no-one knew the goal of the enemy commander who was standing at the edge of the forest. Watching.

Will had noticed earlier that the being, which was leading the undead horde, had held back its elites. The creatures, the young priest assumed were the lichs personal guard, were a special breed of undead called ghouls.

Ghouls were far more dangerous undead, compared to skeletons. While skeletons were extremely hard to deal with, when in great numbers, ghouls were capable of taking on something along the lines of seven adventurers simultaneously. Taking on, in this case, didnt barely winning. No, ghouls were terrifying rotten corpses of either humans or animals, walking on all fours. The reason they were so much more difficult to fight was their claws, which were poisonous. If one were to get scratched, they could be sure that death would follow swiftly. Moreover, ghouls were fast and agile, making them almost impossible to hit with arrows. This forced close-quarter combat, their forte, onto anyone who was foolish enough to challenge a ghoul.

The young priest shuddered at the thought of having to face such an opponent. He could easily beat a few skeletons, because they were relatively slow and stupid. Although ghouls weren't exactly intelligent, they weren't stupid either. Unlike skeletons, they were able to devise strategies, and coordinate their attacks, albeit simple ones.

"Two skeletons coming up! Lin, if you would be as kind as to dispose of them..." Robinia requested of her companion.

Her voice cut through Will's thought process, bringing him back to the reality of the hell he currently found himself in. It was his plan, which had failed and put all of the people present in the current situation. The young priest had made the mistake of underestimating their opponent, who had proved to be much smarter than Will himself. For that, the former monk hated himself. He had done exactly what he despised the most. Been wrong.

The two skeletons, whose deaths Robinia had ordered, were swiftly disposed of with some consecutive use of Arcane Arrow . Their bodies fell to the ground, completely shattered by their greatest weaknesses. The two things Will didn't currently have at his disposal. Ranged magical attacks.

"Will, deal with that one! Fang, two enemies are approaching from the right. Lin, heal Fang, restore Will's mana." The party leader commanded.

The young priest had to give it to her, she was a formidable party leader. A great combatant, however, she was not. Will had proved that back at the inn, but now he really regretted doing that, seeing as he was being saved by the people he had humiliated in front of the majority of the adventurers.

Now, all the former monk could do was make up for doing that, by doing his part of the work. With that in mind, the young priest sprinted towards the skeleton, he had been tasked with destroying.

Will punched it in the rib cage, bringing it to the ground. Following that, he repeatedly stomped its skull, until it shattered, ultimately destroying the Dark Energy which was held inside the undead being. Satisfied with his own efficiency, the young priest slew another two enemies that had targeted him.

Once again, the former monk felt all warmth leave the air. Another frost attack was coming. Fortunately, everyone alive knew what the drop in temperature meant, and started scattering as to avoid collateral damage.

"Consecutive... Frost Bolts..." The chilling voice from the hill exhaled.

Following that, what looked like a hundred shards of ice started raining from the sky. Scattering appeared to have been the right course of action, since both friend and foe was being pierced by the many, massive, falling icicles.

"You need to step up your game!" Someone shouted from far away.

That remark was followed by a tired laugh which came from all over the battlefield. It was refreshing to hear that people retained a sense of humor, even in the hellhole they were currently in. Will too was chuckling slightly, since he found the pathetic attack from the hill slightly funny, seeing as it had killed more enemies than allies.

The temperature further dropped. Will could feel his breath getting stuck in his throat, making breathing near impossible.

"Ice... Bomb..."

Suddenly, every single icicle, that had hit the ground, exploded into a million tiny, sharp shards, which pierced priests and adventurers alike. This attack, however, didn't kill a single skeleton, since the shards of ice simply flew through the already existing gaps between the skeletons bones.

Will's felt his heart sink in his chest, as he looked around. The number of living allies had been just about halved.

"Robinia, there's no choice. We have to take on the lich!" The young priest shouted.

Anger had filled his heart. He had seen many of the people he respected die today. When he looked around, he saw many a familiar face, be they priest or adventurer. Some of them had been happily drinking with each other back at the inn. The creature responsible for the misery, they were all feeling, would have to die a million times, in order to repent for what it had done. Will was going to take a life off of that sentence.

"A lich?! Is that what that thing is?!" Lin screamed. She appeared to know what a lich was, and what it was capable of doing.

'Good. Yes, create a panic. That helps...' Will sarcastically thought to himself. He was about fed up with fighting. If he had to be honest with himself, the young priest would rather just bare his neck and get it over with. Death was a more merciful fate than fighting a few hundred skeletons along with comrades who were worse than insufferable.

"Yes, its a lich. Now are we going to do something about it?" Will asked.

"Of course we are." Robinia said.

Everyone around her was quite sure she didn't understand what they were up against, but in a way, that was better for everyone. The less panicked everyone was, the better.

"Then let's go!" The former monk shouted, as he started running towards the hill, on which the presumed lich was standing.

The temperature dropped further, as the party of four approached the hill. It was remarkable that they were even able to find the strength to brave the hill, seeing as almost all oxygen had left the air.

"Ghouls... Fend them... Off..."

And as if they had been waiting for an opportunity to do exactly that, for the entirety of the battle, the two ghouls started running down the hill on all fours.

"Robinia, Lin, and Fang, go fight the ghouls. I'll take on the lich for starters. Join me as soon as you defeat these two, alright?"

Everyone around the young priest nodded in agreement. They were probably happy they weren't being sent to fight the lich first, so Will had to wonder exactly how much of their motivation was due to the fact that he was going against the terrifying opponent first.

"Oh... It is... You, young... One..." The hill's occupant said, as it watched the priest, who was struggling for air, make his way up the steep hill.

"I'm coming for you, you goddamn demon!"

A chilling laughter came from where the creature's mouth should have been, following Will's overconfident threat.

"You will... Make a fitting sacrifice... For the master."

"Who is this master you speak of? I would like to know who's responsible for your creation, since they have a lot to answer for." Will said, finally reaching the top of the hill he had had such a hard time making his way up.

The creature tilted its head slightly, like a hawk observint its prey. Once again, it was giving the young priest that stare it so enjoyed giving him. It looked at him for a while, before filling its lungs with the cold air, which almost felt sharp as it went through the throat.

"Frostbolt." It said, its voice strangely clear, compared to when it usually spoke.

Will dodged the following shard of ice with relative ease. He had made it a rule be prepared to dodge, whenever the strange being started talking. One could never feel entirely safe, when in the company of a monster like that. But the young priest wasn't the only one who would have to take precautions.

"Ray of Hope!" Will shouted, spending some of the magical energy he had been saving.

A beam of light came from above, scorching the cold creature, which was caught in the midst of the spells holy light. The ray kept burning away at the unholy being, which was still standing still.

The young priest who had stopped moving, so that he could admire the view, wondered whether or not the monster was being damaged. He couldn't tell, since the light was so bright, it was impossible to see through. However, the former monk had to assume that it was being damaged to some degree, because of the sickening, boiling sounds that came from the depths of the bright abyss the undead creature was currently caught in.

"Dispel..." A calm voice said from within the brightness.

Instantly, as if it had never been there, the ray of light dissipated. Where it had been, the strange being now stood. Steam was rising from it, testifying that the spell had indeed been at least somewhat effective. But Will couldn't rejoice, for he had just witnessed magical power of a tier he had never seen before.

The spell, which had been used by the creature, was called Dispel , and was a spell that required its user to be able to wield Control Magic of the sixth tier. Control Magic was a type of magic that allowed its user to change the nature of magic within other people, cancelling their spells at the wielder's whim. Will only knew a few people, namely the bishop and the Archbishop, who could use Control Magic of more than the fourth tier.

Still completely static and silent, the creature watched its opponent, as cold sweat broke out all over the young priests body.

'How do I fight this thing?' Will wondered.

His mind was a mess of thoughts about running away, jumbled his sense of duty, which still remained clear in his head. Even though he wanted to, as he had had many times before, the young priest couldn't bring himself to run away from his sacred duty. Not after coming this far. After surviving where his comrades couldn't. It would be disrespectful toward the memory of his elders, if he ran away when facing the being that had deprived them of their lives.

"Purify!" Will, shouted, but once again, the spell was countered by Control Magic.

Frustrated, the young priest decided to do a Level Estimation on the creature, since it clearly still wasn't intent on coming at him seriously. Now was the perfect opportunity to get a better idea of what he was up against.

"Level Estimation..." The young priest whispered, hoping that the otherworldly entity wouldnt hear him.

Name: ? Level 88-102 Frost Mage, Control Mage, Undead, Dark Mage, ???, ???

Strength: A+

Agility: C

Intelligence: SS

Magic Affinity: S+

Astounded at the mass amount of arts, the being had mastered, Will failed to notice the fact that it had started moving towards him. Too late, he noticed the icy aura, which was slowly closing in on him. Engulfing him. Consuming him. Slowing him down to the point where he couldnt react to the lichs fist, which was rapidly approaching the former monks face.

"Purify!" Will shouted, one last time, before being punched in the face by the approaching creature that still remained unaffected by the purification spell that had been used against it.

The young priest was sent flying down the hill, he had put so much time and effort into braving. As he flew down, he realized just how small the obstacle truly was. In the few seconds, the former monk was speedily approaching the ground, he saw his allies, overwhelmed by the two ghouls. Then he hit the ground with such speed, the impact fractured numerous bones in his body.

Will screamed, as he realized the horrible state his body was in. His hand was bent the wrong way and so were his legs.

"Major Heal..." The former monk managed to whisper through his trembling lips, which were bloody from the mass amounts of blood that spurted from Will's mouth.

Almost immediately after the spell had been muttered, the young priest started to feel better. After a few minutes had passed, he was well enough to lie somewhat comfortably. He had been continuously chanting the spell over and over again, until he finally felt well. Will felt responsible for the way the battle had turned out, even though it wasn't his fault for the most part. However, he had been the one to propose the plan they had gone with. Even if the poor execution was not his fault, he did hold some margin of responsibility for the way things had turned out.

'I did this...'

That thought repeated itself in his head, as he pushed himself to his knees from where he rose to his feet.

Will looked at the three adventurers he had partied up with. They were furiously fighting the two ghouls, but it wasn't going very well. Fang was severely bleeding and clearly affected by the ghouls' poison. Robinia was having a one on one with the leftmost ghoul with Lin providing support. The second ghoul was towering over the wounded Fang, who could do naught but fend for himself, since there was no help to get from his allies.

The young priest came to a realization, as he looked at the battlefield where his allies were fighting a losing battle.

'I need to take responsibility. I need to end this.'

And with those words on repeat within the depths of his mind, the former monk started braving a hill, which was much too tall for him to climb, in his current state. His eyes were set on the ghastly being that awaited him at the top.

It was patiently waiting for its prey to come to it once again, and again, until the young priest would finally roll over and die.