It was the fourth month of the new year. The worst season of the year is gone, and undead monsters can again start carrying messages. The Archlich smirked, seeing a furious necromancer swamped by letters. Reading them wasn’t an easy task. He tried to read them himself a few times when bored or curious. The beginnings of the letter are lengthy and unnecessary, without any useful information, and maybe a few lines of something someone decided could be important. Even if it is valuable information, it is usually lacking in detail. The Archlich decided to give him a few days to sort them and see if there was anything important there. For now, there was another urgent matter, and it looked like his very special necromancer had found something.

  Shortly after beginning his crusade against the false gods, he began experiments to understand the limitations of his servants. It was a suggestion of Arch Warlock, who was doing similar things with his servants and creations. And it was good advice. Like in games, here, because of the shackles of the path, necromancers aren’t allowed to go beyond some limits. For example, they need to see the undead to control them. In the open battle, it doesn’t matter. Zombies that break free will continue to attack the living. And necromancers were doing that deliberately to raise new undead from the bodies of enemies. However, his experiments to push the limits succeeded in founding something rare. Sometimes, some necromancers were able to act through their creations over vast distances. There were limitations. They could use only one zombie, and a small one. Back then, he and Arch Warlock were thinking they had found a way to build an almost instantaneous telecommunication network. False gods, however, acted again. Finding someone with the necessary skills and loyal too was hard. And when one was found, he usually could only operate one zombie. Getting them to control one more was difficult, if not impossible.

  Then, two decades ago, they found Mia. A human girl, then in her twenties. She was able to operate two zombies from the very beginning. On short distances back then, but still. Now it was a three, and she was able to reach the other end of the continent. She was also absolutely loyal, or to be precise, in love with him. Archlich was conflicted about that. On one hand, she was human, hard working, and modest. Not like the elves. Haughty, always beautiful, and live without end. His mother called such people children of Lilith or some other demon. He never listened back then, but he was just fourteen years old. From the perspective of time, he regretted that he didn’t listen to what his mother and father were telling him. Either way, in his opinion, elves, as descendants of false gods, fit this description perfectly. However, despite all Mia’s virtues, she wasn’t baptized, and it cannot be done until this world is cleansed from false gods' influence. Also, his parents need to accept her. For now, he went with Arch Warlock's advice. He doesn’t reject her feelings, but explained to her why he can’t, for now, accept them either. She thankfully accepted that explanation and asked to be taught about true faith. That surprised him. He never thought about teaching anyone, he was sent here to cleanse this world. However, he agreed and told her everything he remembered.

  “Rise.” He told her. “You said that, you got some news.”

  “My eternal Lord. I managed to learn about what happened to the fleet. They are confirmed at best as it’s possible.”

  “Tell me.” He nodded.

  “Your fleet, my Lord, was sunk by a sea monster hidden under ways by false gods.”

  “How did that happen?”

  “Sailors tell two different stories. One was that our enemy lured the fleet to the part of the ocean where that sea monster lives, or they somehow lure the monster.”

  “Why are you so sure about that?”

  “As those gossips are inaccurate, there are two things that make them plausible. First thing is dates. The day when the zombie crumbled and I lost contact with my own is matched to the time of supposed celebrations on the continent. The second is that there are too many coincidences.”

  “What kind of coincidence?”

  “According to the stories, ships that found our fleet carried the so-called prophecy of false gods. And it was a new one given by the new dungeon master. With all respect, my Lord. I can’t imagine anything but an elaborate scheme. The ocean is vast, our fleet had a different route than theirs, and still, they found our ships. And then they got assisted by one of the ancient monsters.”

  “I see. I agree with your reasoning. Still, we need to confirm those stories to be sure.”

  “I told my subordinate from the summoners' citadel that he must send a letter to the necromancers on the continent. Regrettably, because of how long ships sail and how unreliable pirates are, I don’t expect any news for the next half year. If our people on the Auos do their job, there is a chance of getting some confirmation within three to four months.”

  “Agree.” Archlich nods. “I need to talk with Arch Worlock.”

  “At once, my lord.” Mia immediately opened one of the two small cabinets. Inside was the shackled corpse of a small monkey. Steal chains restricted its movements except its right upper limb, for a necromancer to write short messages. For direct talks between Archlich and arch warlock, and sometimes archmage from the summoners citadel, the necromancers were telling what they heard through their zombies. Mia sat on the chair next to it and concentrated on her monkey in the Arch warlock dungeon. She soon received confirmation, and after half an hour, the meeting started. After an hour of talks, they agree that they need to wait for rapport from the continent. For now, there weren’t enough ships to send another invasion fleet. There was also a risk that the enemy might try to attack their southernmost territories. They need to know what is happening in the great desert, before they try a second time to invade the Auos continent.

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  “My Lord?” Mia asked Archlich when she saw him looking at her after she closed the cabinet.

  “You are over forty years old right now. Yes?”

  “Yes, my Lord. But I assure you that I have a lot of time before I started getting old.”

  “Yes, but sooner or later it will start happening. You are too important. Soon, we will need to make you a lich. Your talent is too unique to be thrown away.”

  “Me? A lich?” Mia couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “I live to serve.” She bowed sincerely. Mia was overjoyed. At last, her dream will come true. Archlich accepts her. Soon they will be joined with an eternal bond. Yes, it wasn’t marriage, but very close. After the final battle, when they win, she will ask his family for permission to be his wife. And she was sure they would accept her.

  “Time to stop joking and stop playing. I say it’s final time to try beat this fucking snake, and get that mana stones!” Nurmela shouted to the gathered adventurers ot the banks of the lake on the seventh floor.

  “Finally!” Someone shouted, and others started cheering.

  “The plan is simple. First, mages will shoot a volley of their spells to catch his attention and see how hard he is. If he survives, Nonisa will freeze him in the water. If she managed to do that, this golem will be an easy target. Wed and his men will climb a pillar in the meantime to get the stone. Any questions?”

  “I mean, not only will I freeze it, but it will be half destroyed when I'm done,” Nonisa said.

  “We will see if there will be anything left for freezing.” Answered Hiki.

  An opening volley was impressive. Two stone shards and one fireball leave visible damage on the armour of the golem snake. The guardian of the stone jumped into the water and started swimming in the direction of the adventurers. When he was emerging from the water, Nonisa shouted.

  “Freeze!” Her spell managed to turn half of the water in the pond into ice, capturing the golem. Only one third of it was above the ice block, but even its head was covered in ice.

  “That is how you do it,” Nonisa said between deep breaths. The rest of the adventurers didn’t waste time and started smashing the golem. New hammers were useful for that, even if they look ridiculous.

  “I say, it went quite well,” Jilax observed when they were eating dinner.

  “I’m not quite sure if fighting this golem makes any sense. You will get money for the mana stone, sure. But inside the golem, there is nothing valuable.” Crall said.

  “We need an artisan adventurer. He would identify anything that can be sold, and he would know how to get it intact.” Nurmela observed.

  “New caravan from the south should arrive any day. After the return, we should ask newcomers if someone is interested.” Jilax nods.

  “So tomorrow we skip the turtles and go try the volcano part?” Crall asked to confirm plans.

  All team leaders confirmed.

  Outmaneuvering turtles wasn’t hard. Precise shots made them hide inside the shell, and all adventurers had shields ready. Inside the volcano room, they move slowly but decisively. The open layout allowed them to decide for themselves where they wanted to go. There were two different directions adventurers could go. One was the entrance to the next floor. The second one was to fight with the drake and take the fire elemental stone. They chose the second one. Doing both on one go was impossible. Small agile golem lizards, hiding behind boulders or jumping from them, weren’t dangerous. That kind of enemy was a common thing for adventurers. The main problem lies in the hot air, which is hard to breathe. All of them agree that standing in the scorching sun of the desert was a better option.

  Adventurers approach the drake as usual. The shieldbearers were at the front, supported by mages from behind. The rest will be attacking from the sides. At the beginning, everything was going as usual. Then, one of the mages saw mana gathering inside the golem.

  “Shields! Everyone, watch out!” He shouts. Adventurers immediately run or hide behind shields. One didn’t make it before the golem spits fire from his jaws. Healers weren't able to do anything to rescue him. After the drake was slain, there weren't any cheers. Adventurers take the head of the drake, the fire mana stone from the crystal tree, and the charred body of the dead warrior, and return to the surface.

  Later that day, when adventurers were going to the inn, they spotted Dungeon Mistress sitting in front of the obelisk. On the monument was one more name. She was looking at it, and tears were on her cheeks.

  “Dungeon Mistress?” Paoli approached her.

  “Paoli? Don’t worry, I’m alright.”

  “Then come with us. We plan to drink a lot tonight.”

  “You want to drink with me? Even because of me, your friend just died?”

  “Dungeon Mistress, were you giving orders to the golem while adventurers were fighting it?” Paoli asked.

  “No. I’m even scared watching what you're doing there.”

  “Did you order that adventurer to go there?”

  “No.”

  “So it’s not your fault. It was his decision, and you can be responsible only for your decisions.”

  “But without me…”

  “Without you, Dungeon Mistress, he will die anyway,” Crall interjected. “Venomous snake, poisoned dagger of bandits, bad food. Now stop whining like some cultist. It's time to get drunk. We slew a mighty beast. Yes, it cost the life of this unlucky fellow, but that only makes this more important.” He lifted Naomi from the ground and sat her on his arm.

  “Please put me on the ground!” Naomi squealed.

  “Time to party!” Crall shouted, ignoring her.