Satoru stared at the behemoth size of the dragon. He remembered what Galvan had told him about the dragons of this world.
When dragon reached a certain age called Great or Greater, they started to become weak at their mentality. As their body had reached to its pinnacle of the draconic supremacy, it was time for them to leave their body on this mortal plane and ascend to higher plane of existence. It was correct to say that the dragons of this world were not immortal creatures, but rather longest living mortals, and thus killable.
But that was not everything.
There existed a special breed of dragons called True Dragons who could ascend to higher lifeform through the act of gathering enough divinity and aging. It was their age that made them stronger, not the training. And with enough time, they finally learnt the special arts of Dragon Ascendance.
In this form, they were immortal and invincible against the Enchantment, Necromancy and Transmuation schools of magic. Simply, they were immune to any alteration on their mind, body and soul. Their presence caused the allies to become mentally strong, while the enemies would be debuffed with fear effects.
High magic defenses, physical attack would be deflected and normal enchanted weapons would be ineffective over them.
Satoru could not help, but sighed as he was about a mini boss. Tchazzar also had the buffs for being the chosen of Tiamat.
It was going to be a tough battle as his entire build around death magic enhancements and undead summoning. And he came prepared with his perfect plan. The chances of its success was 60%, albeit a little low, but that was fine with him.
While the Dragon was napping, Satoru used his special skill Rite of Darkness.
An undead creation skill to enhance his Create Undead skills by sacrificing enough people into it. For that to happen, he killed the most prominent champions and mages, who worked for Tchazzar. As a quasi-deity, his followers numbered around in thousands, which was smaller than a demigod whose followers were in ten thousands or more. Using that threshold, Satoru targeted his clerics, his cultists and even some other bands who wanted to increase Tchazzar's influence over the realm.
Surprisingly, Tchazzar was incapable of granting spells to his followers like how others Dragon Ascendants did. There must be a good reason for why the chosen of Tiamat was crippled in this field, but it might not be the best time to contemplate over such topics. He had made a deal with Diderius and the Mummy Lord had told him various things about Tchazzar as well.
To end this battle fast, he used his trump card right away.
[The Goal Of All Life Is Death]
.
.
.
Tchazzar was feeling angry. No, this was not enough to express his murderous intents. His mind was filled pure, unadulterated desires of torturing this lich until it begged for its sweet release. But he would never grant this mercy upon this corpse.
"Take this!"
Tchazzar roared and pounced at the lich like a cat pounced at its prey. The lich teleported away instantly. But this did not stop him from laughing his barrage of attacks. His draconic aura surged with immense heat that the temperature itself rose to new heights.
His burning claws swiped the castle's floor like it was made of cotton, his tail smashed at the lich with enough force that it broke the sound barrier and his mighty roar pulsed with his rage that any mortal lifeform would die instantly. Not only because of the loudness of his roar, but also the invisible force that shattered even the walls.
"Why are you running now?! Come and face me!?!"
He could see a clock ticking behind the lich, but it was doing anything to him, so the spell might have failed. Just like his death magic. There was no fear inside of Tchazzar at this point. His mind was getting crazier than before as the battle moved forward.
As the clock reached to its end, a sense of loss filled his mind. Tchazzar could not tell, but he was feeling slightly heavy. But he shrugged thus feeling and launched his spells upon the lich.
Immolation, a 5th level evocation spell that dealt immense fire damage. Combined with his draconic heritage, the spell's power was multiplied by many times. The lich cried in pain and teleported away.
Tchazzar's gaze sweeped over the whole castle, but he could not detect the presence of the lich. Had he won this battle? Was this all that lich could do?
"Hmph! This is what you get for getting in my way." Tchazzar scolded at the place where he saw the lich last time, crying in pain.
"What shall I do now? Should I search for more followers? But where...?" his thoughts interrupted as he heard the voice of that lich again.
"My, are you trying to relax in the middle of a fight? Aren't you a little lazy?" The lich came back with his clock thing again. It started to tick again as he used his magic over him. But he didn't feel the effects of the spell. He considered it to be weak.
1...
"You are alive? Or is it your clone whom I am talking to?"
4...
The lich chuckled like he heard a joke, "Hahaha, I assure you that I am the real one. I don't need a clone to face you. It seems that I have underestimated you."
8...
"Hmph. So you have finally understood the true winner our fight? Took you long to know the outcomes, and here I thought you were smarter than the others." Tchazzar mocked.
10...
"Ah, it seems you did not get my words. I meant that how weak you are. Just like a dumb beast who can only bark, but can't bite me at all."
12.
The clock vanished and again he felt that chill in his spine. But this time, he felt even weaker than before. However, the taunts of the lich were more effective than this weakening effect. Tchazzar's claws burnt with crimson fire and his eyes saw red.
In his blind fury, he used his Fire Breath at the lich, combined with his Dimensional Lock spell to stop his target from teleporting away. But the lich managed to dodge his attack with little difficulty. His momentum made him crash to the wall at his side.
This was the second time Tchazzar heard his cries. So without letting go this opportunity, the fiendish red dragon slammed his paw over the lich, crushing the bag of bones with his active fiery aura.
Tchazzar smirked. He had won. The lich was finally dead. Now, he just needed to prepare for few weeks before this lich would regain his body back.
However, his plans came at abrupt halt as he felt his paw being pushed by something.
"What the hell is this?!"
Tchazzar exclaimed in astonishment of the lich's strength. No, it was not that lich who pushed him back. It was another undead.
A summon perhaps?
The Fiendish dragon groaned in annoyance as the new undead jumped at his face and sliced his greatscythe like an expert scythmaster. The attacks were beautiful like a dance, but it was all wasted upon him. His regeneration was stronger than the undead's attacks. The crowned undead attacked him relentlessly, but no matter what he did, the Dragon Ascendant ignored this mild annoyance and searched for the undead.
He used his special planar senses to search for him, but the lich managed to evade his senses.
It was like the lich had some sort of resistance against the divination magic.
"Searching for me?"
The lich's voice came back to him with the very same clock thing. And it was ticking again.
"Why are you running away everytime we fought? Are you pulling some pranks on me? And what is that clock behind you? Answer my questions at once!" The dragon demanded as he opened his maw for another breath attack.
This time he used Forcecage, Power Word: Stun, and to catch him by surprise, Sunburst.
All these spells activated at the same time, breaking the castle with another hole. And the undead still managed to dodge, but he seemed to be damaged by the light of the Sunburst as well.
He got a chance!
His fiery claws swiped over him, sending the undead through many walls. Tchazzar followed his trail and came outside. However, he was ready for what he saw.
His subjects came back!
The illusionary wall that fooled him into believing his subjects' kidnapping, crumbled apart. He concluded that the lich had used an artifact or a ritual to hide his devotees under the veil of illusions.
But there was something missing.
"..."
His most loyal subjects were nowhere to be found. The population of his domain, Luthcheq, looked far smaller than what it used to be.
Suddenly, he felt another jolt of pain in his heart, but he resisted it somehow. He touched his chest and sensed his heart to be healed, albeit slower than before.
The realization struck as he realized his mistake.
"You have killed my devotees."
"Indeed. You just forgot to add the cultists as well, but I guess, they come under the same roof as your devotees."
Tchazzar ignored him. His mind was analyzing the whole fight at a rapid pace.
The sudden attacks from a lich, him hiding the livestosks, using that strange clock thing until it's hand reached the top and him taunting him to fight. All of this had started to make sense to him.
As a quasi-deity, his faithful livestocks provided him enough support to his existence into this world. But as a Dragon Ascendant, he could store the excess divinity, or the divine spark, within his soul. For his every death, a part of his divine spark would be used by him to come back in life.
He could not die permanently until his divinity dried up to its last drop. And this lich was just doing that.
The clock was a sign of a dark omen that slowly bypassed his death immunity and resistances to kill him. Without his followers, his divine spark would run dry and then...
"... I will die."
"Hoh. You finally understand my plan. Now, that's what I call intelligence. With your physical intact, you were unaware of how your divinity was slowly stripping away. So, I will strip you down to your weakest self. How is my plan? Great, isn't it?"
Tchazzar paled. He felt his Awesome Aura being degraded to Frightful Presence. This could mean only one thing to him.
He had no more divinity to live with.
He quickly took the flight and dashed away from here. But the lich was fast.
"Like the hell I will let you run away. [Grasp Heart]."
This time he felt pain again, and just as he attempted to resist, his body froze in the mid-air.
He fell to the grounds with massive thud. Pushing his body was futile, the lich had completely jammed his body.
On the other hand, the lich appeared in front of him. As of now, Tchazzar saw the spectre of death within his visage. He could only shudder in fear as the lich drew out his skeletal hand over him–
"Stop right there!"
And stopped in his tracks. He looked at the person who dared to stop him. Tchazzar also rolled his eyeballs to watch this third person. It was none other than the priestess of his newest temple.
She appeared young and beautiful in her white garb. She must be in her twenties or something.
"If you dared to attack our Majesty, then you have to defeat all of us. You may be able to handle one, but the same won't happen again."
Her bravery could be seen with her standing at the frontline with few other adventurers of varying professions. There were clerics, barbarians, druids, wizards, paladins, fighters, monks and rangers. All of them were standing up for him. Just for him.
Tchazzar felt a sense of warmth in his throbbing heart. He promised to himself that had he survived, he would put the girl as his last meal. And if she wanted, he would let her mate with him. She would be honored to bear his children.
But the lich was stubborn as he ignored her words and put it upon him.
Tchazzar mentally screamed at the pain he felt. It was like somebody used Negative Energy Flood on him and Energy Drain at the same time. He wanted to run, but couldn't do so.
His eyes watched the adventurers thing to kill him with the barrage of spells and various attacks.
They were weaker than his real bodyguards, but brave souls. Their passion to save him was eminent in their eyes and actions. But the lich, this damned lich didn't budge at all. He stood firmly against them like a mountain.
Out of nowhere, the lich did something and everyone fell like the puppets whose strings had been cut.
Even the priestess who could be his potential mate. If he remembered well, then her name was Lilynette or something. She managed an orphanage only for boys and used to play with them. It's sad that he never understood her well.
Such a kind soul she was.
Tchazzar groaned in pain, as his consciousness was fading away. He closed his eyes and let the death claim his soul.
For those who are confused for how Satoru could use TGOALID so many times in his battle against Tchazzar, was because he ran away in a demiplane that Diderius has searched for him. A slight help from the Mummy Lord to end the battle this fast.
Tchazzar was an arrogant for not using tge Dimensional Lock at tge beginning of the battle and fought Satoru as he considered him to be a Thayan wizard. But he was also dependent on his immortality and divinity too. Causing him to overlook the whole fact that there could be someone capable of killing a deity.
Satoru, on the other hand, was teleporting into a demiplane where time moved faster than the Prime Material Plane. As such, his cool down period ended faster than it should. But he needed to used it subtly as he could not let Tchazzar be suspicious over him.
There are many planes worth of exploring. Plane of infinite kicks, Plane of rainbow colored worms, Plane of pastries? Yeah, that too.