After one of the brothers turned into a Dark Lich; he started destroying everything he sees, and the first thing he devastated—were the cities that him and his brother was governing before.

The very streets he once walked as a protector became rivers of blood and ash. The houses were crushed under waves of shadow, and the people he had once sworn to lead were turned into mindless undead or simply erased from existence.

The Lich still can think properly, he still has his memories from before when he was human. He remembered the face of his brother and the names of the citizens who had cheered for him. Though; after receiving powers from an evil god—he lost all of his emotions except his rage and the feeling to want to destroy everything.

The love he felt was replaced by a cold, hollow void that could only be filled with the screams of the living.

He became an incarnate of destruction. Leaving mess everywhere he went.

Forested lands were turned into barren wastes, and thriving villages were reduced to haunted ruins within a single night. He didn’t care about gold, land, or power. He only cared about the silence that followed after everyone was dead.

And a month later after becoming a Dark Lich—he became so notorious and known that he was almost considered as the newest demon king!

His name was whispered in fear across every border. Mothers told stories of the skeletal monster to keep their children from wandering too far at night.

But because of his actions—the [Arcanis Alliance] revived again!

This was an ancient pact between nations that had been forgotten during years of petty bickering and border wars.

For a short while; all the wars stopped. A treaty was temporary set as a common enemy appeared. The threat was so great that even the bitterest of rivals shook hands and shared bread. They realized that there would be no world left to fight over if the Lich was allowed to continue his march.

Then from every kingdom, continent, and forces—they sent out their strongest weapon to hunt down the Dark Lich.

[The Heroes]!

A total of 18 heroes was sent to eliminate the Lich along with hundreds of normal knights.

And the Lich faced them all without fear!

He met them on a desolate plain that would later become part of the [Cursed Forest]. The sky turned black as the clash of magic and steel shook the foundations of the world.

Though, because most of the heroes sent were the ones who were nourished to be one; only one of them were truly blessed by a god—the heroes sent to eliminate the threat suffered a great defeat by the hand of the Lich!

The word "hero" had become a title given to the talented and the well-trained, but talent alone was nothing compared to the divine corruption of an evil god. One by one, the heroes fell. Their weapons were shattered, and their spirits were broken by the overwhelming darkness.

They would’ve been wiped out if not for a man called "Dune"—the strongest in the group, a human blessed by [Gaelthra]; the [Goddess of Earth]!

Unlike the others, Dune’s power didn’t come from a book or a training ground. It was a gift he had since birth.

Dune’s powers allows him to manipulate the terrain around him in a massive scale, especially earth. He could raise mountain ranges with a wave of his hand and turn solid rock into a flowing river of mud.

He can do all of this, while he was also a strong archmage!

Dune used his power to shield the others from the vicious shadow magics of the Dark Lich. Huge walls of enchanted granite rose from the ground to intercept the bolts of void energy. He created deep chasms to trap the undead minions that the Lich summoned by the thousands.

He struggled just keeping the monster at bay, and after just fighting him for a while; Dune already realized that they wouldn’t be able to defeat their enemy. The Lich was like an endless well of mana. For every wall Dune raised, the Lich destroyed two. For every strike Dune landed, the Lich simply regenerated.

But still, he also know that if he failed... the Dark Lich will go on to destroy more and kill a lot more.

He looked back at his wounded comrades and the distant horizon where the innocent lived. He knew what had to be done.

And so, in a desperate attempt—

Dune used up all his mana, including his own life force; to create a massive room deep underground with his magic; then using his own life and soul as a medium... He pulled the Lich down, deep into the crust of the earth, far below where any light could reach to separate the monster to the world!

He sealed the Lich in the room, restraining the monster by giving the room a rule not to receive any damage from anything the Lich throw at it! It was a conceptual prison!

No matter how much power the Lich unleashed, the walls remained. No matter how many explosions occurred, the room did not crack.

So while it might be a normal room where others can influence it; for the Lich, it became a prison it could never escape from! The very air and stone were bound by Dune’s final wish.

Dune made the room underground so that nobody finds it ever and accidentally set the Dark Lich free to the outside world again. He chose a place so remote and so deep that it would be forgotten by time itself.

And today, that room—

’Is this room.’

Verc thought as he looked around.

The rule of the room finally made sense to him. The strange lack of damage from the skeleton’s attacks after such a violent fight wasn’t a fluke; it was the literal law of the place.

He just closed the journal he got from the corpse in the secret room. The leather was dry and the pages were yellowed, but the weight of the story felt heavy in his hands.

He looked at that corpse as well, and immediately—

"So, you’re Dune, huh."

Verc mumbled that. He looked at the man sitting in the lotus position. Even in death, the corpse held a sense of dignity that was rare to see.

It seems like Dune didn’t immediately die after creating this seal for the Lich, and as his life faded away; he wrote a journal to fight off his loneliness. He had sat in this dark, silent room for days or maybe weeks, watching the door and listening to the muffled rages of the monster on the other side.

In the journal, he told what happened and why the Dark Lich should never be freed to the outside world. He warned anyone who found the place to leave immediately and never speak of it. And also, he declared that he didn’t regret the decision he made. Even at the end, he was a hero.

"..."

Verc looked at Dune’s corpse with respect. He had met many people, but few who would throw away their soul and their future for people they didn’t even know.

"Thank you."

And then, he mumbled that.

He also read that not only the room seals the Dark Lich, it also weakens the monster by putting a massive debuff on it. Dune had woven a weakening curse into the fabric of the room. It drained the Lich’s mana and slowed its reactions. Dune did this if ever someone finds themselves in this place, to give them a chance to survive.

And because of this—Verc survived, that was why he was thankful to Dune.

*****

Anyway, as much thankful and he respects Dune for being a true selfless hero—Verc wasn’t going to let such opportunity slide, and he doesn’t want to leave this place empty handed after almost losing his life.

He was a pragmatist at heart. Respect was good, but survival and power were better.

So even feeling guilty—

"Sorry."

Verc just mumbled that, and with a frown on his face—CHOMP.

He took a bite at Dune’s corpse, on its right arm!

He felt the cold, dry skin against his teeth. It felt like biting into ancient parchment, but he didn’t stop. Verc started drinking the blood immediately.

At first, he couldn’t get any, which didn’t surprise him, after all, it’s been ages since Dune died. The body should have been a husk by now. Verc doesn’t even know why his body is still intact. He just thought that maybe it’s because of the blessing of the goddess to him. The divine energy must have acted as a preservative.

But then, after a while more of sucking on Dune’s right arm—

"...!"

Verc drank a few drops of blood, and after that, it continued to add more! It was like a hidden reservoir of life essence had been unlocked.

And after a few minutes of drinking blood... Verc drank at least as much of a small bunny’s blood amount! It wasn’t a lot, but for a body this old, it was a miracle.

Verc tasted the blood. It was unlike any blood he had ever consumed before. It didn’t taste metallic or salty. It tasted like cool spring water mixed with the scent of fresh rain on dry earth.

It was the most delicious one he had, he thought he would be repulsive of it because he’s a demonic being, and Dune was a human blessed by a goddess. He expected his body to reject the "holy" nature of the blood. But this is not what he was expecting, he even recovered a decent amount of energy even though he only consumed a small amount of blood!

Verc also expected Dune’s corpse to dry up as usual, but for some reason, that didn’t happen. The arm looked exactly the same as before he had bitten into it. Which he was glad, to be honest. He didn’t want to leave the hero’s body looking like a shriveled grape.

’Now... what did I get?’

Verc then asked himself. He felt a strange warmth spreading from his stomach to his limbs. It wasn’t the violent heat of the Lich’s mana; it was a steady, grounding vibration.

He closed his eyes and started scanning his whole body, in and out. He looked at his mana circuits and his soul structure.

He felt a new skill being engraved onto him. It felt like a heavy weight was settling into his mind, giving him an instinctive understanding of the stones and the soil around him.

And after a few moments of searching, Verc found it.

The new skill that he got...

"?!!"

It’s called [Terrain Manipulation].

It was Dune’s special skill that he got from the goddess.

*****

"W-What?"

Verc was surprised. He stared at his hands, which were still slightly stained with the dust of the secret room. He didn’t expect to get the special skill Dune wrote in his journal.

He actually wants to try it now. He wanted to see if he could make the walls of this prison dance or if he could open a path to the surface with a thought.

But he couldn’t, he felt like his mana was empty, and he’s low on energy as well.

The blood had helped, but it was just a drop in the bucket compared to what he had spent fighting the Lich. Also, worst case if he failed on controlling the skill; then he will be buried here deep underground.

He didn’t know the limits of the skill yet. If he accidentally collapsed the ceiling while trying to move a wall, he wouldn’t have the strength to dig himself out.

And so, Verc just decided to try the skill after getting back to the village. He needed a safe place to test his new powers.

"..."

But first, he looked around him. Even with the Lich gone, the room didn’t feel "clean." He felt the thick condensation of dark mana everywhere from the Dark Lich, even though it was already dead. The air was heavy with the leftover spite of the monster.

The reason the [Cursed Forest] above kept mutating and the monsters were becoming more aggressive was because of the corrupted mana leaking from this place.

The seal was actually weakening, and the leaking got stronger every year. Dune’s soul had been the anchor, but even a hero’s soul eventually wears down after centuries of holding back a literal god’s power.

If Verc hadn’t seen this place now and defeated the Lich—then that monster would’ve gotten out back to the outside world in a year of two. The seal would have shattered, and the Lich would have finished what it started hundreds of years ago.

"Hup...!"

Anyway, Verc decided to sit down near Dune’s body. He felt that he owed the man at least a few hours of company. He was also in a lotus position, mirroring the dead hero.

And as he was sitting—he used [Mana Circulation].

WHOOOSH~

He was going to recover his mana at least before leaving. The walk back to the surface would be long, and he didn’t want to meet any monsters with an empty tank after leaving the cave.

And also, with all the mana in this place, it might make Verc go to the next level of his strength. The dark mana of the Lich was still floating around, and though it was toxic to most, Verc could absorb it without problem.

"..."

He closed his eyes and began to pull the surrounding energy into himself. It was a slow process.

And after a few moments later—Verc entered a trance as usual.

... ... ...

... ... ...

... ... ...

*****

Just like that... Verc didn’t open his eyes until three days had passed.

And by the time he opened his eyes and was about to leave the cave he was in—

"It’s the final march, let’s go!"

Elianna and the expedition group had just left the city of Sionann, and now; they’re heading straight to the [Cursed Forest].