Alvian ignored the fodder. His target was the Lich.

He launched himself into the air, the [Vestments of the Void Monarch] allowing him to glide over the grasping hands of the skeleton horde. He aimed his lance at Harvey's chest.

"[Glacial Void Pierce]!"

A beam of black ice shot toward the Necromancer.

Harvey didn't block. He grinned. He pulled on the red chains. One of the prisoners—a young woman—was yanked down from the ceiling, pulled directly into the path of the beam.

"NO!" Valeria screamed from across the room.

Alvian's eyes widened. He twisted his wrist, wrenching the lance to the side. The beam missed the woman by inches, slamming into the golden altar instead.

"BOOM!"

Gold coins and bone fragments sprayed everywhere.

"Soft," Harvey cackled. "Heroes are so predictable. You hesitate. You care. That is why you will lose."

He waved his staff. "[Spirit Shackles]!"

Green ghostly chains erupted from the floor, wrapping around Alvian's ankles and wrists. They burned with cold fire, sapping his stamina.

"You are strong," Harvey hissed, floating closer. "But strength is nothing without the will to use it. I have sacrificed thousands to reach this state. What have you sacrificed?"

"I sacrificed my patience," Alvian growled.

[Void Anchor: Invert.]

He didn't try to break the chains. He used them. He anchored himself in space, becoming an immovable object. Then he pulled.

"Strength: 270."

"CRACK!"

He ripped the spectral chains out of the floor, taking chunks of the bone foundation with them. He spun the lance, severing the bindings.

"Seraphina!" Alvian shouted. "The prisoners! Cut them down!"

"I'm trying!" Seraphina yelled, dodging a bolt of green fire. "The barrier is made of concentrated death mana! My daggers can't pierce it!"

"Then I will," Alvian said.

He landed on the dais. Harvey summoned a bone golem to intercept him. Alvian didn't even slow down. He activated [Shadow Step], blinking past the golem and reappearing right in front of Harvey.

He drove the lance into Harvey's gut.

"SQUELCH."

The lance went straight through. Black ice spread from the wound. But Harvey didn't scream. He laughed.

"You can't kill what is already dead!"

Harvey's body dissolved into a swarm of green beetles. They buzzed around Alvian, biting at his armor, before reforming ten meters away. His health bar hadn't moved.

[System Analysis: Enemy possesses [Lich's Immortality].]

[Physical/Magical Damage Nullified.]

[Source of Immortality: External Soul Vessel.]

"A Phylactery," Alvian realized. "Of course. Standard Necromancer trope."

"You look confused," Harvey taunted. "Did you think stabbing me would work? My soul is not in this shell. My soul is eternal! I am the Lord of this Valley, and you are just fertilizer!"

He raised his staff again. The red chains on the prisoners glowed brighter. The civilians screamed as their life force was drained to heal the minor scratch Alvian had inflicted.

"Stop it!" Valeria yelled, smashing a skeleton aside and running toward the altar. "Fight us, you coward!"

"I am fighting you," Harvey sneered. "I am fighting you with your own weakness."

Alvian stood still amidst the chaos. He analyzed the mana flow. The red chains were pulling life force into Harvey. But there was another line. A faint, silver thread of mana connecting Harvey to something else. Something nearby.

He looked around the dais. The altar was destroyed. The organ was just pipes. Where was it?

His eyes landed on a small, unassuming wooden box sitting on a pedestal behind where the altar had been. It was plain, unadorned, but the mana density around it was astronomical. It pulsed with a heartbeat that matched the red chains.

[Item Detected: Soul Phylactery (Corrupted)]

"Found you," Alvian whispered.

He moved.

Harvey saw his gaze. Panic flashed in his green eyes. "NO! GUARDS! PROTECT THE SANCTUM!"

The three Flesh Golems abandoned Valeria and charged Alvian. A wall of bone spikes erupted from the ground.

"Too late," Alvian said.

He didn't run. He used [World Step]—the active ability of his Mythical dagger. He cut a hole in space and stepped through.

He reappeared behind the pedestal.

Harvey screamed, a sound of pure terror. "DO NOT TOUCH THAT!"

Alvian grabbed the wooden box. It was cold, vibrating with the souls of thousands of victims.

"This is your immortality?" Alvian asked, holding it up.

"I'll give you anything!" Harvey begged, dropping to his knees. The skeletons in the room froze. "Gold! Power! I can teach you the secrets of life and death! Just don't—"

"You have nothing I want," Alvian said.

He looked at the box. He could crush it. That would kill Harvey. But that was inefficient. It was a waste of resources.

"System," Alvian commanded. "I have a target for [Super Upgrade]."

[Target: Soul Phylactery (Corrupted).]

[Warning: Item contains unstable souls.]

"I don't want to destroy it," Alvian said, a cruel smile touching his lips. "I want to reformat it."

"Upgrade."

[Ding!]

[SSS-Rank Authority Invoked.]

[Consuming One (1) Daily Charge...]

The box began to glow. The dark, corrupt energy turned white. The screams of the trapped souls turned into a harmonious hum.

Harvey shrieked as his connection to the box was twisted. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! IT BURNS! THE LIGHT! IT BURNS!"

[Upgrade Successful!]

[Item Evolved: Sanctified Soul Vessel.]

[Effect: Converts necrotic energy into Holy Essence.]

Alvian held the purified box. The red chains holding the prisoners shattered. The green fire in Harvey's eyes turned white.

"No..." Harvey whispered, looking at his hands as they began to crumble into dust. "My... great... work..."

"Your work is done," Alvian said.

He squeezed the box. A pulse of holy light exploded outward, washing over the entire Cathedral. The skeletons collapsed into piles of bone. The Flesh Golems disintegrated. And Harvey, the False Prophet, screamed one last time before dissolving into a cloud of purifying light.

[You have slain Harvey the Necromancer!]

[Quest Complete: The False Prophet.]

[Experience Gained: 2,000,000!]

[Level Up!]

[Level 44.]

Alvian stood in the silence of the purified church. He looked at the [Sanctified Soul Vessel] in his hand. It was warm.

"One Warlord down," Alvian said, pocketing the item. "One to go."

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