Surviving The Fourth Calamity

'Snow Cloud Peak', who had already walked to the forefront, was frowning and shouting at the Earth Mages to construct a temporary earth wall: "What are you thinking? Isn't pulling up a wall much easier than using the Earthquake Technique?

Even if there are more of these things, could they knock down your wall? Is the mana needed for wall repair lower or is the mana for digging tunnels lower?

Eventually, you'll have to repair it yourselves!"

The Earth Mages finally responded, raising a dirt wall less than two meters in front of the dodging Knights. It allowed Knights to smash those bouncing potatoes with their shields and the Wind Mages to hide there blowing wind... sending back the foul odors up the mountain.

'Snow Cloud Peak' furrowed his brows, looking toward the mountainside. With high mage perception, he could sense an uncomfortable gaze fixated on him.

This group of Goblins truly lives up to their reputation as the race of Toril Spartans; their combat skills are indeed high. Of all the battles he has commanded, these Goblins have been the quickest to identify his position as commander.

Whatever method these monsters have to execute a decapitating strategy against him is unknown... If they're planning merely a Dare to Die Squad, it certainly won't reach him.

But even if he were taken down, it wouldn't matter much; Snow Old Dog often commands battles lying on the ground.

In fact, when the soul flies in the air, the view is wider and more assured.

'Snow Cloud Peak' couldn't help but glance back; the communication between 'Lu Huayu' and that Yinbutu Crown Prince, he had been listening closely, and he understood why Road Eunuch would encircle that lich.

Snow Old Dog showed a slight sneer... Road Eunuch usually likes leveraging relationships between men and women, so he sees the recklessness and evil motives of these people most clearly.

However, Road Eunuch overlooked one crucial point... These people might be guilty beyond redemption in their world, but in Toril, even if their hands are covered with civilian blood, hardly anyone bothers to exterminate them for justice.

The stronger one's power, the more freedom they possess, even those so-called righteous deities care little, as long as they aren't committing acts that endanger the nation, killing a few people is insignificant.

Hence, those fixated on trivial matters, regardless of level, are ultimately formidable only at home.

The Toril Crystal Wall protects and confines them... Those Star Gates leading to the outer universe remain ever unpredictable, and without divine protection, venturing out faces existential threats. Those with genuine courage to explore the cosmos or threaten the entire world are instead usually research enthusiasts.

Scientists' exploration spirit remains the strongest... In their world, bound by legal norms and pervasive surveillance, evil labs conducting human research still emerge every few years!

Although the major blame lies with those bosses craving eternal life or engaging in politics, many cold-blooded scientists align seamlessly with them.

They're fully aware of how the hands they cut came to be, aren't they?

Some Toril mages hardly differ from these cold-blooded scientists... except that the creatures they dissect are slightly more numerous.

If something piques their interest, even deities can find themselves on the operating table!

'Snow Cloud Peak' listened attentively, 'Lu Huayu' was exceptionally skilled at drawing out information, and Prince Holmes actively mentioned the lich he was curious about.

Though their styles differ, since both are engaged in biological research, Road Eunuch merely sighed a few times, glanced curiously at the aristocratic young master who mentioned the lich, and Yinbutu Crown Prince steered the topic by himself.

The most attention-grabbing feat of this lich was the creation of Lich's Blood, and while seemingly unharmed, he could manipulate these creatures, which theoretically shouldn't be controllable.

Such things generally reveal themselves alongside the creator's death... Only through incredibly severe abuse does enough resentment towards the creator materialize, even implicating all mages in its hatred.

Lich's Blood attempts to envelop the mage, enters his throat, blocks his nostrils, and absorbs his spells, causing suffocation. Even if the target loses all magic, Lich's Blood continues to wrap him, draining every bit of his mana.

Lich's Blood is immune to all weapon attacks. Due to its nature of absorbing magic, all spells directed toward it will be harmlessly absorbed. The only way to kill Lich's Blood is to use non-magical acid, flames.

Of course, there are some special magic stripping methods that can be effective... but Alchemist Masters are rare in Toril.

Ordinarily, the hatred of Lich's Blood towards its creator never eases, just like its weaknesses remain unchanged eternally.

But the Lich-created Lich's Blood not only stayed in the waterway below his Magic Tower, attacking all illegally trespassing enemies, it could even block strong acid attacks, whereas flames... Non-magical flames indeed can't harm those hiding beneath the river's bed dozens of meters deep.

Stronger natural fires aren't unheard of, but near a Lich's Magic Tower, such tricks requiring time to develop are exceedingly unlikely to succeed.

'Snow Cloud Peak' set eyes on this 38th level Great Liche, alive for millennia, precisely because of such peculiar Lich's Blood.

Being perceptive, upon hearing about this acid-resistant trait, his first reaction was recalling the Lake Goddess and Silver Wolf killed off due to the chaos invoked by Goddess of the Spring back then.

'Snow Cloud Peak' understood clearly, unlike him, Road Eunuch hadn't faced the painful curse from the Gale Wolf Demigod nor directly felt the sorrow on that Stele, so he nearly forgot those past events.

Who would have thought, a mission from years ago could still have repercussions now?

But he really did have some doubts... He was well aware that both the Lake Goddess and the Silver Wolf God had self-destructed, so initially, he felt nothing.

But having experienced the Gerns World, he had seen the Godfire Crystal Shards left by the self-destruction of the Sun God.

Now older, he occasionally found himself reminiscing about the past, and the stele of the Gale Wolf God often popped into his thoughts... He couldn't help but wonder, weren't the Lake Goddess and the Silver Wolf God almost as powerful as the Sun God of the Gerns World!

Where were the Godfire Crystal Shards of that couple then?

And the flesh and blood of those demigods like the Gale Wolf God? Did the demons eat them all?

'Snow Cloud Peak' of course knew, that this might just be his imagination running wild, linking random thoughts together.

But sometimes, one doubt is all it takes.

He just felt that there was a problem with this Lich's Blood that could resist acid.

'Snow Cloud Peak' studied the description the Yinbutu Prince gave about the Lich... creating some bizarre pack of wolves with all sorts of attributes, used to patrol the forest surrounding his Magic Tower.

Some bizarre feline creatures, like leopards with many snake heads... which should be snake leopards, an ancient species.

Then Prince Holmes specifically emphasized the presence of Fortune Devouring Beasts in that forest.

Fortune Devouring Beasts appear like slender, short-haired housecats with golden or black fur, seemingly harmless and beautiful. They indeed won't attack anyone actively, but encountering them results in a loss of some attributes at best, and total chaos at worst, making one attack the nearest creature, friend or foe, other than the Fortune Devouring Beast itself.

This is also why nobody in the Giant Valley wants to live outside the forest where the lich's Magic Tower is located, even though the soil there is loose and fertile, perfect for agriculture.

And the reason such creatures as Fortune Devouring Beasts appear is due to the spirit of vengeance from animals.

'Snow Cloud Peak' tapped on the tablet, feeling more convinced after analyzing the situation of the two liches.

All that's left is to see how the Undead Tribe collects the intelligence... hopefully, it won't come down to William making this final judgment.

It's not that he thinks he can't be wrong... even if he's wrong, it's fine if Road Eunuch is right.

But work has to be done all the same, who wants to get 50 bucks when they can get 100?

"Old Dog, roll!"

'Snow Cloud Peak' didn't hesitate to fall to the ground and roll right towards the crowd... Ah! Got lucky this time, the direction should be his own people, didn't get many kicks.

'Perfect Bald' leaped up, stepping directly on 'Magic Sword's' shoulder, then jumped again, hitting the black sharp long arrow, which planned to adjust its angle for another try after missing the first hit in the air, with his small shield onto the ground.

'Hard Wind' quickly crouched down, pressing his human-height shield over Baldy's shield... the long arrow was thrashing so aggressively inside, Hard Wind was almost thrown off entirely.

'Magic Sword' quickly pressed on the other side of the shield.

"Earth Magic, quick! Turn the ground within three meters around the shield into stone, the higher level the better!" 'Snow Cloud Peak' shouted, having resolved the danger, "Don't use other spells! That's a Demonslayer Arrow!"

A few knights had already gathered around Old Snow Dog, their shields reaching 2.5 meters high, forming a solid wall.

'Snow Cloud Peak' looked up at the goblin commander holding a giant bow and watching coldly from a distance, couldn't help but scratch his head: "Looks like there are more! Not sure how many they have left, tsk!"

'Perfect Bald' said leisurely: "Why don't you hide behind? Or get your carriage over here."

'Snow Cloud Peak' shook his head, glanced back: "Their target is me, isn't that perfect? But it's best to last a while longer, it'd be bad if the arrow hits Rainfall, if I go down, he'd be too conspicuous.

It's a shame we don't have a resurrection for battle here."

'Perfect Bald' raised a brow, by the sound of it, that painting was probably given to Rainfall again.

That's true, considering Old Dog, who couldn't aim accurately beyond three meters, could only use it as a decor piece... he didn't dare to, either.

The Demonslayer Arrow finally ceased its struggle after 5 minutes, 'Perfect Bald' had 'Luo Sanquan's' shield pressed over his head, gave a signal to 'Hard Wind' and 'Magic Sword' crouching on the ground, and whipped open his own small shield as they retracted theirs instantly.

The long arrow just about to take off was grabbed and slipped into his pouch directly.