After taking a minute to examine the leader of the group of undead, Marcus was almost certain that they were a powerful undead known as a lich.
He had come across a few entries about such beings within his reading at the adventurers guild and Borealia's royal archive when searching for information on ghost kings and fonts of death which he needed in order to achieve his evolution.
'Thin pale skin that is translucent, hair that is bone white, eyes that are red like blood, and an aura of oppressive death. Four characteristics that a lich is said to possess.' Marcus thought while looking down upon the mastermind behind the resort and his undead minions.
Of course, these were characteristics of a few other undead creatures, with Marcus himself having a couple of them as well, so he could not be one hundred percent certain in his ascertain. Still, he got the feeling that such a powerful being was likely to be a lich, since it was one of the highest class of undead in the same vein as a ghost king.
'If only Mraz could use her dragon eyes to appraise him. But if she did that, there is no doubt he would notice.'
Without knowing exactly what the lich was capable of, both Marcus and Mrazivý were unsure how to proceed.
They could judge a decent amount without any skills simply thanks to experience and they both could tell that this lich was stronger than them. Albeit, not by such a degree that they would be instantly crushed.
He was not giving off the same level of pressure as Boreas, Jaela, or Ardea did, and was closer in line with the Archdevil that Marcus and Lilia had fought.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtUnfortunately, it was not just the lich, but also four powerful undead minions as well.
None of them were even close to as powerful as their creator and Marcus and Mrazivý felt they could take on all four without too much trouble, but with the lich being in the equation as well, their chances were not the best.
'It is best we retreat. We managed to at least gather a decent amount of information. Now we have an approximation of the power for the lich who likely created this resort to infect people. All we need to do is gather our forces and strike as one. With our beast companions along with James and Fallon, we can likely overrun this place without any trouble.' Marcus thought, forming their next plans in his head.
Yet when he was about to gesture to Mrazivý that they should retreat a most unfortunate situation occurred.
A panel on the back wall within the room near the bed opened, and a skeleton dressed in the clothing of a butler that had previously been hidden came to life.
With shock on their faces, Marcus and Mrazivý stared at the skeleton with dumbfounded expression.
So far, they had managed to avoid any encounter with the undead creatures roaming around through the facilities under the resort, but now a stroke of bad luck had them face to face with one of them while in the lair of a lich.
In a flash Mrazivý moved to destroy the skeleton, but it was already too late.
The moment before she crushed its skull, the skeleton let out a loud shirk that alerted every denizen within the underground complex that there were intruders.
A cloud of white dust exploded from Mrazivý's hand, but there was no satisfaction on her face.
She had failed to dispatch the enemy before a warning signal was let out and now she and Marcus were in grave danger.
"Mraz, head back the way we came as fast as you can and fly back towards Borealia one you are out. I will hold them off for as long as I can before retreating." Marcus said while turning towards the direction of the lich and his subordinates.
However, Mrazivý shook her head and stayed where she was.
"No, I will fight with you. We at least have a chance together. We need only activate the emergency signal Boreas gave you and hold out until he arrives." Mrazivý said, a resolved expression on her face.
Marcus wanted to retort that it would take too long for Boreas to arrive and that he could escape on his own easily after she had gotten away, but he never got the chance to.
One of the lich's minions had jumped up onto the balcony and was exuding a hostile aura towards them.
With a quick appraisal Marcus found out that the entity before them was called a phantom armor and was at level seventy-four.
Its entire body was made of adamantine and it wielded an adamantine sword and round shield.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmIn a flash it unleashed a slash towards Marcus who was the closest to it.
Except its blade passed right through Marcus as he turned the targeted area of his body ethereal.
Then to counterattack, he pointed his right hand forward and unleashed a laser spell directly at the phantom armor's chest.
The spell hit with an incredible amount of force and knocked the phantom armor off of the balcony but failed to do much actual damage.
'Its magic resistance is really high.' Marcus noted from this one exchange.
"Marcus, two more have come up the stairs!" Mrazivý shouted.
She had already taken out her amethros saber as was staring down a woman where exquisite clothing and jewelry whose race was listed as zombie empress, and a skeleton champion wearing adamantine armor and wielding a large tower shield and a halberd that were also made from adamantine.
The zombie empress was level seventy, and the skeleton champion was level sixty eight.
Neither of them was as strong as the phantom armor Marcus had just repelled, but they were honestly the least of Marcus' and Mrazivý's worries.
The lich along with his final minion had ascended into the air and were staring down at Marcus and Mrazivý who found themselves surrounded and outnumbered.