I was lost. It was kind of pathetic, but the warren like labyrinth that formed the core of the fortress/lair was kind of like a 3d maze created by an insane person, a description which seemed to perfectly fit the late Neduzar. Even his memories did not help, as it seemed like the design of his inner sanctum was completely different from what I was experiencing. Of course, the reason for the mess was that the egotistical bastard had believed everything but magic was beneath him in his last few decades and had left the modification of his lair to his underlings.

It didn't help that the teleporter outside the throne room was completely broken, its magic having been burned out and its parts essentially melted to scrap. That was not all, as I found that most of the magic defenses that should have existed in the inner sanctum had been destroyed. The damage did not appear to be from any battles and almost seemed to have occurred in the same way everywhere, something that indicated a major catastrophe had occurred.

As a result, I was left navigating the dark, repetitive halls with my only companion being the floating ball of light that I had cast using a 'Book' spell from my memory. My summoned skeleton avatar could not exactly cast powerful spells with its soul size being relatively small, but its soul that I was parasitizing was large enough that it could store enough mana for me to use some low level spells. What more, I could easily recharge its mana using the soul connection to my lich self.

Most of the rooms I came across were former storage spaces or guard posts, mostly filled with a variety of skeletons and objects melted or turned to scrap. I sighed, looking at all the ruined work. At one point in time, this fortress was one of the most heavily defended places on the entire continent and probably one of the most ostentatious and luxurious. It had been like on Earth, when billionaires thought nothing about gold plating their toilet seats. However, Neduzar had literally coated most of the walls of his sanctum in precious metals. Gold was just a decoration. Stuff like mithril, orichalcum, adamantium, and half a dozen other, even more rare 'magic metals' were the mainstay. “Fucking rich people..”

Though it all now belonged to me, it seemed it was more like my metal casket, since every large entrance or doorway I found seemed to welded shut and their magic not working. I almost despaired and considered using a high tier spell from the throne room to literally blast through the walls. However, I stopped myself at the last moment, remembering that some of the magic metals were resistant to magic and various forms of destruction. The chances of causing a cave in on myself was also higher than anything else.

Eventually, I found my exit. It was a passageway leading to the outer parts of the fortress that had its gate partially stuck open. Crawling through the space got me to another dungeonesque looking hallway, though this one missing all the precious metal. Stone rubble was collapsed in most places, including right near the gate, forcing me to use my acrobatic skills to maneuver through. Eventually, I got through everything, reaching what looked like a wide open area, though the skeleton's limited mana perception and visual abilities along with just a ball of light limited what I could see.

However, the presence of some large chimney like extensions disappearing up into the gloomy, dark ceiling and the sight of a large circular forge nearby pretty much told me that I had found the fortress industrial zone. This was where all the magical armor and weapons were once forged for Neduzar's undead legions. My decision to explore further, however, was cut short. I heard something, though very faintly. It was like a skittering nose that got louder and more frequent. It was more than nerve wracking, as the sound was getting closer from most of the directions in front of me. “[Light Globe] X 3.” It only took a dozen or so seconds to cast the simple 'Book' spell a few times, so that my surroundings were lit up quickly.

I felt like I was back on Earth, coming home after a long day's work and turning on the lights, only to find unwanted visitors. Dozens of motorcycle sized, insectoid creatures skittered out from the darkness, essentially surrounding the front of me. Looking like a cross between an ant and a scorpion, the creatures brandished their claws, mandibles, and stingers, making a cacophony of noise. “Shaaaahhhh!”

Lichopedia gave me their name: Arganaths. “Fucking metal eating shits...” It only took me a moment to remember that the fortress was right on top of a large iron mine, hence the large quantities of iron and steel that was used in the inner sanctum. Watching the critters slowly start approaching me, I felt my nonexistent hair rising as I wondered how big their nest was and how long they had been nesting.

I only had once choice for a response. “ x 5.” The 'Lineage' spells took only a few seconds to cast, as black tinted, arrow like energy bolts quickly condensed in front of me and blasted out at my targets.

“Shaaahhh!” It was a good thing the damn arthropods couldn't exactly make vocal sounds, as hearing them squeal as they died would have been annoying. The arrows pierced the first five, literally penetrating their armor like exoskeleton, leaving a corroded entrance and emulsifying their insides. I stepped back proactively, trying to keep my distance, even as my lich self pumped mana carefully back into my skeleton avatar trying not to collapse the avatar's soul. I wasn't crazy enough to stand my ground or any other bullshit. My capabilities made me the perfect moving turret, and the idiotic idea of close quarters combat with my pathetic skeletal avatar was plain stupid

“ x 5!” Another wave of energy bolts hit the approaching metal eaters, sending them tumbling a short distance. With each death, however, the damn things continued to become more agitated, and the scraping and skittering noise from the surrounding darkness only continued to increase.

Dodging a couple that got close enough to try and stab me with their tail stingers, I tumbled off to one side, making for anywhere I could find space to maneuver. “ x 3!” Being a mind and soul affecting, low level 'Lineage' spell, it was perfect to create openings to run through,. The spell blasted out in a cone shaped wave in three directions around me, sending the damn metal eaters scurrying away instinctively from a superior, terrifying being.

Jumping over an anvil that looked like it had been chewed on, I tried to find 'high ground' from where to fight from. At the pace I was going, I knew my mana reserves could last a few hours of low level combat, before I had to actually stop to recover mana. I regretted that all my magical equipment had been destroyed, since they would have enhanced my mana recovery at any given time. Though, my 'all natural' state was nothing to laugh at, as I could literally fight an eternal low level war if I only fired off a low level spell once every minute.

This is what it meant to be a High Tier Lich, who had lived for centuries, if not millennia by now. “Hahahahahahahahahah!” Laughing internally like a madman, I jumped on top of a stone platform of some sort, holding my arms out with energy bolts blasting away around me. Just then, I saw something large appear out of the darkness, about the size of a car. Its claws were massive, and its eyes burned with deadly hatred. It's stinger... well, its stinger fired a sharp projectile, which ripped through me, shattering my skeletal avatar and sending my skull tumbling onto the floor below the stone platorm. Even as I was in stunned in disbelief about the sudden turnaround, I saw a large metal eater loom over me. I grimly stared back at it for a second, before yelling internally, “I'll be back,” just as the damn thing crushed my skull with its claws.

Back in my throne room, I gloomily watched the torches burn as I replayed the memory of being crushed by an insect. The soul seed that I had parasitzed my skeleton avatar with had rejoined my main soul, but it had still brought back the feeling of death, an unfortunate side effect. However, I was a fucking lich, death incarnate in the mortal wold! And, even though it was an ant like creature in a fantasy world that could eat god damned metal, it was still just a fucking an ant. If the LARPers heard about this, I momenatarily wondered what they would think of my performance so far. Slamming my armrests, I made up my mind.“Fuck this! It's on, you shits!”

“ x 15!” I felt my mana dip a little, considering I had just cast 15 relatively powerful, low level spells all at once. However, I only felt pleasure watching my minions rise in bursts of dark mist, thanks to the souls of my recently dead enemies. The bastards had invaded my fortress, had trashed the place, and had literally eaten my possessions, and they didn't even have the decent excuse of being my brother or sister. They were going to learn that they fucked with the wrong lich!