I became a legion lich

223 Invading spirit

‘They’re going to be slaughtered at this rate.’ The spirit orc thought in frustration, realizing that despite the demihumans’ best efforts, they had already lost thousands and even more were wounded, while their enemies still hadn’t lost a single soldier.

As if to force the spirits not to interfere, the acid rain increased in intensity again and now the spirits barely had leeway to pay attention to the fight.

The entire barrier was being eroded away and it required the undead’s concerted effort to prevent the ton of acid above their heads from destroying the entire forest. The acid dissolved after a while, eroding the barrier, but more was being poured out by the wasps every second.

He noted that despite the demi-humans quickly getting back on their feet and fighting back, the black barrier would not break so easily without the orcs, the greatest damage dealers among the demi-humans.

The skeletons returned to cast magic on the demi-humans, further increasing the damage and the number of deaths.

‘If we do nothing, we will be crushed without fighting back.’ The orc spirit thought as it hardened its resolve. ‘Brothers, I’m going forward to try to find the enemy leader. Continuing like this will only lead to our death.’

The other spirits said nothing, knowing that someone needed to do something to reverse the situation.

The orc spirit returned all the energy it had accumulated back to its body and fed its avatar only the bare minimum necessary to move. He would lose any extra energy he tried to take with him, and he wanted to reduce his losses as much as possible.

He left the edge of the forest and ran as fast as he could, trusting that his brothers who stayed behind would be able to hold the barrier on their own. He began to feel pain throughout his spirit as he was drawn back into his original body, but he just gritted his teeth and continued forward.

.....

Cracks appeared across his body as he felt a headache that felt like his head would split in half, but he managed. The front ranks of the undead came within range of his mystical senses and he was able to see into the tormented souls of the undead.

The orc spirit felt a tightness in his chest when he saw the souls chained in suffering, but he concentrated on his task. Thanks to the chains, he only had to follow the chains to find Athos, feeling goosebumps at the sight of his soul. He also found Treevor next to him and found its appearance odd, but just assumed it was a plant monster or something.

‘I found! It is a humanoid skeleton wearing full armor and a helmet with four horns. He’s next to the plant monster that’s probably his bodyguard, so be careful!’ The orc spirit spoke through the mind link with the demihuman spirits and leaders, describing Athos as best it could.

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He began to retreat after finishing his work, wanting to reduce his damage as much as possible.

‘We need to break through the barrier first to get a glimpse of the enemy. Start charging the crystals and give the last charge the moment the barrier drops.’ The orc patriarch responded and roared, hurling himself against the barrier despite the wizards’ spells bearing down on them. The recovered demihumans also attacked again, using various elemental abilities against the barrier.

The barrier trembled under the combined efforts of the demi-humans, and before long it would give way. Athos noticed that the attacks intensified and confirmed the progress of the plan with the skeletons.

‘The barrier will break soon, bearers of shared curses prepare to retreat. Wyverns, are you ready?’ Athos asked, confirming that all skeletons were in position to attack.

‘We are ready, master.’ Malic responded from the sky, ordering the wasps that still had some acid to release everything in one last attack before moving away.

‘I’m also ready, although I’m still not sure about that plan.’ Treevor replied somewhat uncomfortably, but it was too late to back down now. He picked up a teleportation crystal and began charging it quickly.

‘Bearers of shared curses, prepare to deactivate the forced teleportation the instant the barrier breaks.’ He ordered and the skeletons nodded in the affirmative.

The barrier was unable to withstand any more damage and began to collapse, but the mages cast spells to provide cover for the shared curse bearers to retreat.

‘Now!’ Athos commanded as soon as the barrier collapsed and Treevor did as he was told, disappearing in a purplish-black orb. He reappeared with a gust of wind at the edge of the forest, startling the orc spirit that was retreating a few meters from him.

‘The enemy has teleported-‘ He tried to warn his brothers, but one of the vines on the back of Treevor’s head reached out and pierced him between the eyes, destroying the spirit and cutting off communication.

Normally a simple blow like that wouldn’t be able to destroy a seventh layer spirit, but the orc spirit had purposely lowered its own amount of energy and its body was already starting to crack, so Treevor just gave the final push.

‘I don’t have time for this.’ Treevor thought as he looked away from the disappearing spirit and touched the tree in front of him, spreading his senses throughout the forest. It was a skill he hadn’t used in a while, but he never forgot how to use it.

Treevor felt the forest reject his intrusion as filthy, but he forced his will anyway.

‘Who are you?’ The spirits that sensed Treevor’s invasion spoke in his mind in unison and struggled to try to expel him. They were able to communicate with each other through the forest even without magic, so they immediately felt the foreign will.

‘Your death.’ Treevor responded with a mockery, angering all the spirits at once. They joined together to expel him, but a searing pain took over their bodies.

The land around Treevor quickly withered and died, while the tree he was touching withered, quickly spreading throughout the forest. The spirits that lived here forbade demihumans to interfere with the forest, so the trees grew freely and were all connected.

The effects of plundering the world caused all the trees to wither, and the land the spirits had nurtured for so long became dead and sandy, unable to support itself. Tremors began as sand collapsed into the empty space where the demi-humans were.

Earth magic had been used to harden the ground and make the subsoil sustainable, but Treevor destroyed it all, burying the noncombatant demihumans alive.

Amidst all the desolate land, only the spirit trees remained, but their state was precarious. They were able to partially resist the effects of world pillage thanks to their spirit nature, but they were still slowly withering.

“Arghh...! What the hell is this creature?!” The slime spirit screamed in panic and pain, feeling its real body weaken more with each passing second. He split the energy that had accumulated over time between his body and spirit to lessen the effects, but it only partially worked.

The energy actually formed a shield that protected him from the draining effect, but his energy was being drained in place of his body.

‘How amazing.’ Treevor thought, feeling all the amber energy he absorbed. The forest and nearby lands generated a great deal of energy, but it was the spirits that were the main course.

The energy they stored was of a quality superior to itself, so it was diluted by seeping into its amber eye, greatly increasing in quantity.

‘I want more.’ He thought greedily, his legs turning into roots and sinking into the earth to remain connected to the spirits. With the trees dead, it was the only way to maintain the effect of world pillage.

‘We have to kill him quickly!’ The spirits sensed danger and began to charge at Treevor, casting their best spells against him.

‘Right choice, but predictable.’ Treevor responded, the activating field of the dead and darkening everything within 100 meters around his body. The enchantment only covered 50 meters normally, but Treevor forcibly expanded the area of effect using corrupted amber energy.

‘What is it now?’ The spirits thought in shock, unable to complete the spells they started casting. They felt the corrupted world energy burn their avatars and no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t access the world energy.

“Do you really think you can stand there dumbfounded? Come at once!” Treevor sneered, snapping them out of their stupor.

The spirits mistook his words for the arrogance of someone confident of victory, but Treevor’s words weren’t meant for them.

“I apologize Mr. Treevor, but we didn’t think you had enough power to turn miles of land into wasteland in seconds.” The wyverns appeared from the sky and apologized to Treevor, before charging the spirits.

The spirits had momentarily forgotten about the wyverns in the sky and racked their brains to think of a force to overcome the current situation, but their despair only increased.

His mystical senses revealed that on the backs of the wyverns, there were several black souls bound by equally dark chains. They were mage slayers, who had been dismantling their bones and clinging to the wyverns’ bodies all this time.