This Lich Requests More Remuneration-Chapter 169 - 156 Sneaking into the City

Chapter 169: Chapter 156: Sneaking into the City

Chapter 169 -156: Sneaking into the City

In Amberser’s adventurous life as a mage, there weren’t many things he rode. After all, for any special terrains, he’d simply fly over them with a Flight Spell, and for long-distance travel, he would just ride a horse.

So riding a Black Panther was a first for him, and the experience was far from pleasant.

When Katherine rode the Black Panther, her body undulated in perfect sync with the panther’s running rhythm, as if she were about to merge into one with the beast.

Amberser, on the other hand, felt as if his bones were about to be shaken apart. If it weren’t for his ability to leap into the air and spin around seven and a half times on the spot, he probably would’ve been thrown off.

It was only later that Amberser learned riding skills were not included in the ranger heritage; Katherine had practiced on her own afterwards.

Katherine also refused to share her riding skills, this girl, although verbally no match for Amberser, still felt deep down that Amberser was enslaving Naomi.

She wasn’t wrong, as Amberser, accustomed to enslaving others as a Lich, wouldn’t have entered into a pact with Naomi if she hadn’t been so deeply wounded by “family affection” that she submitted wholeheartedly to him.

One could only say it was a match made in heaven, with each party willing.

Though it was a consensual arrangement, it was undeniably opportunistic.

Katherine was tongue-tied, but her sensitive heart saw through Amberser’s intentions at a glance.

Latter, Amberser had no choice but to cheat using a Flight Spell, floating directly above Naomi’s back, merely holding onto Naomi’s fur and being dragged along, but ultimately he couldn’t keep up with Katherine and was left far behind in the race.

The two weren’t just running aimlessly, but rather, after spending most of the day teleporting several times and making a wide detour across the deadly desert line, they entered the desert city controlled by the Laine Empire.

There was no choice, as the location of the Divine Artifact given by the Elf Tribe was deep in the ocean. To reach that place, one had to traverse the entire Laine, and then enter another kingdom—Emerald Dream Sylvan Noria.

One must set out to sea from this Druid-dominated nation to reach the hiding place of the Divine Artifact via the shortest route possible.

The Emerald Dream Forest had a council system, very similar to Alchemy City, consisting of several Druid Tribes of different affiliations and factions, plus minority tribes of Centaurs, Goblins, Giants, Murlocs, Lizardmen, etc. Representatives from each tribe formed the Emerald Dream Council, upholding a system of harmony between man and nature, and refusing blind expansion and irresponsible natural transformation.

That was starkly different from the tech-crazy Alchemy City, hence the relationship between the two nations was at its worst, and they would have probably gone to war if they weren’t located so far away from each other.

Emerald Dream Sylvan Noria was a typical closed nation with strict limitations on visitors. Amberser, as a Lich, especially one from Alchemy City, was definitely not allowed into the Forest.

However, with Katherine’s help, who was the Elf Queen, as long as she revealed her true identity in front of others, the Druids of Emerald Dream Sylvan Noria would probably welcome her with open arms and grand celebration. As long as Amberser was careful not to expose his Lich identity, there shouldn’t be too much of a problem entering the Forest.

The real trouble was, how to traverse the Laine Empire.

Katherine’s charm was indeed strong—no one would refuse to facilitate her if she simply asked.

But the problem was that the Laine Empire had a very bad habit: every city had built large-scale “Undead Dispersal Magic Arrays.”

Weak Skeleton Zombies, once within the range of this magic array, would immediately be subjected to the scorching of Holy Light, forcing them to flee desperately. Although Amberser was a powerful Lich and the array did little harm to him, the continuous flashing light would mark him out from the crowd.

It was akin to telling all the Laine People that an Undead was trying to sneak into the city.

That’s when the Paladin Legion would take action and hit Amberser with a few Holy Slashes, which would be quite troublesome.

But the Continental Transmission Array was inside the city, and Amberser couldn’t afford to waste several months detouring.

How to get into the city was an issue, and then Katherine suggested an idea.

“What about you pretend to be a corpse? I can say I’m taking the body of a friend back to Emerald Dream Sylvan Noria and need to use the Laine’s Continental Transmission Array.”

Amberser had to patiently explain to her that a corpse was a corpse, and an Undead was different—they were totally separate things.

It wasn’t as if Amberser could just lie down on the spot and play dead; a Light Priest only needed to check and the ruse would be revealed, resulting in an Undead maliciously infiltrating Laine territory, which would lead to open conflict.

Unless absolutely necessary, Amberser really didn’t want to engage with those Paladins on the turf of the Laine Empire, just as one wouldn’t want to fight mages inside a Mage’s Tower; only adventurers with failing IQ would make such a foolish decision.

Katherine admitted she didn’t understand much about the Undead, and could only sigh, “If only I had that huge Spatial Pouch of yours.”

Amberser shook his head, “It’s not that simple. Even if a Mage’s Spatial Pouch is big enough, it still can’t fit a Legendary inside.”

Most mages can study the power of space, thereby creating their own Spatial Pouches, but they are generally limited in size and capacity. Even if the space is large enough, there are restrictions on what can be put inside. Anything excessively heavy or containing too much energy greatly increases the load on the personal space, risking an explosion if handled carelessly.

A Spatial Pouch that could fit a Legendary had yet to be known to Amberser.

His private space, the size of a castle, was created using a high-end Wishing Spell and already had some characteristics of a Divine Realm, something even a Godfavored like Katherine didn’t have and could only covet.

This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom.

But such a space couldn’t be lent to others; otherwise, Amberser could hide inside it and evade detection by the Laine Empire.

After thinking for a while, Amberser had a sudden inspiration and summoned his Mercury Avatar from out.

The silvery little creature hopped about, showing affection to Amberser, and seemed to have grown a bit more after a few days.

“This is my Mercury Avatar, definitely a living creature, which the Laine’s magic array won’t detect as an issue. If I do this…”

Amberser stretched out his hand and gave his chin a forceful tug.

In the midst of Katherine’s screams, Amberser removed his own head and then placed it inside the Mercury Avatar.

The sensation of being enveloped in mercury was unpleasant, but Amberser’s skull was not metallic and thus wouldn’t be digested by the Mercury Avatar.

And with the Mercury Avatar boasting significant Magic Resistance, it should be able to evade detection by the Magic Array.

Watching the skull submerge into the mercury, Katherine fell into utter silence.

Being undead sure has its perks; who knew you could pull off stuff like that?

The most crucial aspect of a Lich was the soul, and as long as there was a vessel to contain it, shape and size were irrelevant, a skull could be perfectly concealed inside a Mercury Avatar.

“I won’t be able to speak, so it’s all on you from here. Katherine, can you lie?” Amberser asked.

“How can I not, for something so trivial?” Katherine confidently replied.

Heh, nine times out of ten, such arrogance leads to trouble… But with Katherine having a charm aura, it’s hard to say.

Amberser didn’t have a choice now and had to pin his hopes on Katherine.

To ensure a higher chance of success, Amberser also reminded Katherine not to enter the city looking like an Orc and get caught immediately; she had to disguise herself as a human.

Katherine, filled with excitement, meticulously prepared a new identity for herself.

A human Ranger from Alchemy City, who had spent a considerable time in the Silvermoon Tribunal, hence her elf-like mannerisms — a flawless cover story.

Her parents were alive and well at home, her father a businessman and her mother a Ranger. It was her mother’s adventure stories that had inspired her to become a Ranger. Furthermore, she had a contract with her family to earn 100,000 Gold Coins within ten years, or else return home and get married.

The fiancé arranged by her family was a decent man, but she truly didn’t like him, hence her current state of semi-fugue, resolved to never go back even if she couldn’t earn enough money.

The Mercury Slime by her side was a creature she had encountered in the sewers under Alchemy City and taken a fancy to, contracting it as her pet.

She was now striving towards becoming a Legendary Ranger.

The reason for going to the Emerald Dream Forest was to help her beast companion ascend; she had heard Druids could aid these creatures in evolving into a stronger form.

As she reviewed the new identity she had fabricated, Katherine felt extremely satisfied, confident that every detail was covered and no one would be able to question her story.

Thus, Katherine arrived at the city known as Sandshadow with the Mercury Avatar by her side.

Once a desert city belonging to the Dwarf Kingdom, now no races other than humans could be seen. The city walls showed little change, but the sky above the city was constantly streaked with platinum light, the entire city shrouded within a vast Holy Light Magic Array.

Even before entering, hymns praising the Lord of the Dawn could be heard emanating from within.

Having been recently reclaimed by the Laine Empire, it was a critical time for proselytizing, which made the religious atmosphere in Sandshadow City particularly intense.

Katherine took one last look at her notes to ensure she had memorized all details of her new identity and then mustered the courage to approach the city gate.

Now morphed into a human girl, she was dressed in light Leather Armor, with a cape common in the desert covering most of her face, leaving only her eyes visible.

But even swathed so securely, when Katherine appeared at the city gate, the soldiers tasked with guarding it stared at her, stunned, for several seconds.

How beautiful are this girl’s eyes?! They were nearly mesmerizing.

As Katherine approached, preparing to announce herself, she saw several beams of pure light descend from the sky and start circling the Mercury Avatar’s body, as if sensing something.

Katherine’s heart skipped a beat. Wasn’t the Mercury Avatar supposed to shield itself from the Magic Array’s detection with its Magic Resistance? Why was it discovered before they even entered the gate?

The soldiers seemed to sense something amiss, too; they drew their swords and commenced chanting sacred prayers, no longer paying attention to Katherine.

In the territory of the Laine Empire, every devout believer could wield the power of Holy Light, even children, making it a forbidden land for Undead. Not even Amberser dared to force his entrance.

Katherine wanted to explain, but her earlier fabricated pamphlet had no mention of this! Wasn’t the plan based on not getting caught in the first place? Now that they had been discovered directly, how was she supposed to convince anyone?

In her panic, the Mercury Avatar burped out a small piece of bone.

The circling Holy Light, as if finding its target, immediately flew toward the fragment, purifying the Dark Magic Power infused bone into ash.

The Mercury Avatar uttered an honest-sounding apology, “Oops, sorry, swallowed a couple of Skeletons on the road, still digesting them. Burp~”

After the Mercury Avatar regurgitated another piece of bone and it again attracted the Holy Light’s purification,

Katherine quickly grasped what was happening and hastily added, “Ah, yes, that’s right, I forgot about that. The desert hasn’t been very safe lately. We encountered many undead on the journey.”

The soldier at the gate glanced at Katherine and almost without thought, believed her words.

“So that’s the reason. Respected Ranger lady, your actions are commendable. Here, I will write you a certificate so that you won’t be hassled on your way into the city. May I ask your name?” the soldier asked, his eyes shining brightly.