Chapter 63
The wind howled across the Frostlands, pelting Lilith's face with ice crystals.
She didn't dare slow down. After summoning a Skeleton Horse, she pulled Giles onto the mount and drove it across the frozen plain at full speed without looking back.
She had never expected two powerful humans to be waiting outside the dungeon.
If only the native leaders were chasing her, the situation might still have been manageable—they had just fought a brutal battle and carried varying degrees of exhaustion and injury.
A completely fresh Elite-ranked enemy was another matter entirely.
Could she fight someone at that level in her current state? She didn't know.
Her only option was to run for Frostbound Bastion, but they had emerged near the heart of the Frostlands.
She had no idea how far away the Bastion was, or whether she could reach it before the enemy ran her down.
And even if she made it, would the forces stationed there actually be enough to stop an Elite?
It had come down to one question: was the dragon claw worth her life?
She glanced back. Frost Power and Undead Magic both grew stronger in this frozen environment, giving her a slight edge over ordinary terrain.
The pursuing Elites were steadily closing the gap, but they wouldn't catch her right away.
Her head start was the only reason she still had room to breathe—they had lost more than ten seconds outside the Portal, and without that delay, even her full speed would never have been enough.
She used that narrow window to make her final decision. Before she abandoned the dragon claw, she needed to know exactly what it did.
Lilith pulled the relic from her inventory and opened its System information.
[Item: Severed Claw of the Dragon God]
[Description: Said to be the severed claw of a legendary Dragon God, cut away before it completed its apotheosis. A legendary dragon tamer later nourished it with dragon blood for a thousand years, barely preserving a trace of its divinity.]
[Item Type: Integration Relic]
[Primary Effects:]
[1. Contains an immense reserve of energy capable of comprehensively enhancing the user, including magic and Rank.]
[2. Unlocks eligibility to summon an Ultimate Undead.]
[3. Grants Wyrmsight and reinforces the user’s body to a level approaching that of a true dragon.]
[4. Grants mastery over true Frost Power.]
[5. Grants the exclusive skill: Draconic Dominion.]
[Note: Due to the relic's extreme energy density, integration requires time. The exact duration depends on the user's Lord Talent.]
Lilith nearly forgot she was fleeing.
All of that comes from one relic?
She no longer wanted to give it up. The benefits alone could transform her strength—and besides, there was another problem. Even if she surrendered the claw, would her pursuers actually let her walk away?
Almost certainly not. The best possible outcome was that the human knight spared her life, dragged her back to the Stormcrown Empire, and locked her away for interrogation.
It took only a moment to choose. She would keep the claw and fight for it.
This world rewarded strength, not hesitation. Anyone too afraid to gamble would never reach the top. And since she had decided to bet everything, the preparations she'd made earlier wouldn't go to waste. Her enemy was Elite-ranked—that justified using everything she had.
Behind her, Nysia spotted the dragon claw in Lilith's hand and confirmed she was chasing the right target. The situation was still tangled, so she contacted her companion through a Royal Knight communication crystal.
His voice answered moments later. "You should be able to handle your target alone for now. I caught the other woman, but questioning her will take some time. I also intend to deal with the Werewolf who trespassed into Stormcrown territory."
So he couldn't reinforce her immediately.
Nysia wasn't worried. She trusted her companion's strength as much as her own, and killing the invading Werewolf would reinforce the Empire's authority. The Frostlands might lie along its border, but they still belonged to the Stormcrown Empire.
She ended the communication and threw herself fully into the pursuit.
Ahead of her, Lilith had settled on a plan of her own. If she could reach Frostbound Bastion, the undead army she'd ordered there could hold Nysia off and buy her enough time to integrate the dragon claw.
The problem was that Nysia was Elite-ranked. Even if every Veteran-ranked undead in Lilith's Territory attacked at once, there was no telling how long they would last. Would it be enough time? She didn't know. Would integrating the claw give her power to match an Elite? She didn't know that either.
Lilith had already reached Tier 8 Veteran.
If the relic held as much energy as the System claimed, it might be enough to push her into Elite Rank—but major Rank advancement seemed to demand some form of trial or prerequisite, and she'd never stood at that threshold before. She couldn't be certain of anything.
Everything hinged on a chain of gambles. Reach Frostbound Bastion. Trust the undead to delay her pursuer. Finish integrating the dragon claw. Emerge strong enough to survive the battle.
Screw it. I'm doing this.
A sharp whistle cut through the wind behind her.
Lilith's instincts flared. The incoming attack was so fast she had no time to trace its source—she summoned her strongest defense on pure reflex.
"Ossuary Colossus!"
A colossal skeleton formed around Lilith and Giles, sealing them within its armored frame.
An arrow struck the bone plating a heartbeat later.
The impact detonated against the Ossuary Colossus with terrifying force. The recoil nearly threw Lilith from the Skeleton Horse, and fractures spiderwebbed across the enormous bones protecting her.
She stared at the damage in disbelief. No enemy had ever cracked the Ossuary Colossus. It was one of her strongest abilities.
Worse, that arrow clearly hadn't been Nysia's full power. It felt more like a probing shot loosed from the edge of her effective range—and even so, Lilith had needed her strongest defense just to block it.
So this was the difference between Veteran and Elite Rank. Not a gap in strength. A gulf.
Lilith wasn't the only one surprised. Nysia had expected her arrow to cripple the fleeing Veteran, yet Lilith had stopped it without any visible injury. What truly caught her attention, though, was the power Lilith had used.
Her pursuit faltered for a moment.
"That was... necromancy?"
A human had appeared out of nowhere in the Frostlands, openly wielding Undead Magic. Under the laws of the Stormcrown Empire, that alone carried a death sentence. But capturing a living Necromancer and delivering her to the Empire would be a far greater accomplishment than killing her on the spot.
Nysia lowered her bow and pressed two fingers to her lips.
A piercing whistle knifed through the blizzard. The sound climbed into the clouds, answered by the commanding cry of a great eagle, and lesser creatures across the Frostlands instinctively flattened themselves against the snow.
Lilith looked up.
A massive griffin dove out of the clouds.
Its wings stretched more than twenty feet across, and golden feathers sheathed its powerful upper body, gleaming like metal in the pale light off the snow.
Its head and forelegs were those of an enormous eagle; its muscular hindquarters belonged to a lion.
Silver-white armor guarded its back and chest, the royal emblem of the Stormcrown Empire engraved across the plates—leaving no doubt about whom the beast served.
The griffin wasn't merely fast. Its combat strength approached the peak of Veteran Rank. Lilith couldn't even be sure she could beat Nysia's mount in a straight fight.
The griffin descended with frightening precision and landed beside the Royal Knight. Nysia vaulted into the saddle in one fluid motion, clearly long accustomed to fighting alongside the creature. Reins in one hand, bow in the other, she fixed her gaze on Lilith as the griffin spread its wings.
"You won't escape, Necromancer!"