This Lich is a Better Landlord Chapter 121

On the barren wilderness, roaring flames illuminated the sky.

A massive swathe of hellfire trapped over twenty elves within its blaze. Countless demons charged out from the flames, throwing themselves at the elves with reckless abandon.

Catherine watched the surging tide of demons. calmly drawing her bow and releasing an arrow.

Thousands of streaks of starlight burst from her hand, pinning a large swathe of demons to the ground. A massive black panther stood guard by Catherine's side, blocking stray arrows and spells from all directions so she could focus on exterminating the fiends.

The elves accompanying Catherine were all elites; their archery and magic were equally sharp, their explosive attacks steadily suppressing the ocean of demons.

Although there was no immediate danger, the hellfire showed no sign of extinguishing.

Thousands of demons had already fallen, yet the speed at which they rushed out had not diminished in the slightest.

The elves were beginning to feel the strain. If this endless stream of demons continued, they likely wouldn't be able to hold out.

Suddenly falling into such a desperate situation made the elves suspect this was a trap set by Ambrose.

An elven guard urged Catherine, "Your Majesty, please leave first. We've fallen into that lich's trap. He has no intention of negotiating; he only wants to seize this opportunity to assassinate you."

Catherine was also suspicious. Was the lich's negotiation a sham? Was his true goal to kill the Elf Queen?

Because the capital of the City of Alchemy had been reduced to ruins and the kingdom's entire teleportation network had collapsed, the elves couldn't use the Continental Teleportation Array to reach their destination directly. They had to teleport to the border and then travel quickly by magic.

And this route had been arranged by the other party.

As the intermediary, Ambrose had designed a route for both the Desert Dwarves and the Elves that would "cause no misunderstandings." Catherine had believed in the "sincerity" Ambrose had shown earlier, so she had cooperatively followed this path.

She hadn't expected to encounter an ambush just as they were about to reach their destination.

This was definitely premeditated. Otherwise, it would be impossible to open a semi-permanent Hellgate in this place.

The Hellgate distorted the surrounding space, preventing even Catherine from using teleportation magic to escape. An endless stream of demons rushed out from the hellfire, constantly wearing down their strength.

It seemed very likely that the other party had deliberately set this trap.

But upon closer thought, Catherine felt something was off. If they really wanted to intercept and kill her, would they rely on these low-level demons?

Although the demons before them were numerous, most were winged Dretches. About the height of a dwarf, their emaciated bodies were no stronger than ordinary beasts. Aside from their sharp claws and teeth, and the ability to fly, they weren't much more dangerous than wild dogs.

Occasionally, a few Chasmes were mixed in among the Dretches. These monsters looked like a hybrid of a human and a fly. disgusting to behold and capable of simple spells—tricky and cunning demons.

The battle situation looked like the elves were being suppressed, but Catherine hadn't even used her full strength yet. Setting aside her legendary spells, summoning a single giant eagle would be enough to fly her away; these demons couldn't stop her. Catherine was only trapped here because she was protecting the other elves.

"Do not persuade me to leave. If their target is me, they wouldn't rely on just these means. Prepare yourselves; we are going to break out."

Catherine gathered her mana and began a rapid incantation.

The black panther shielded Catherine tightly, using its body to block the demons' attacks.

In just a few seconds, the black panther sustained several injuries, but the beast guarded Catherine without retreating a step until her spell was ready.

A translucent magical barrier quickly expanded outward, and every demon caught within it froze in place as if turned to stone.

Transmutation Spell—[Time Stop]!

Within the barrier's range, everything except the caster fell into a state of frozen time.

A huge chunk was instantly gouged out of the surging demon army, revealing a massive gap.

Dozens of points of light flew from Catherine's body and merged into the other elves. Normally, only the caster is immune to the effects of [Time Stop], but Catherine's Legendary Boon, [Selfless Sharing], could extend this immunity to others.

"Now!"

Catherine mounted the black panther and charged toward the edge of the time-stop barrier. The other elves followed closely behind her, rushing into the frozen zone together.

The frozen demons couldn't resist at all, helpless as elven blades sliced through their bodies and tore their flesh.

The demons' scalding, foul blood sprayed into the air, only to be frozen in mid-air by the time-stop effect.

Wherever the elves passed, they left a passage of carnage.

The demons outside the barrier wanted to intercept, but the moment they touched the boundary, they too were frozen. Trying to go around the barrier to re-encircle the elves was futile; they couldn't keep up with the elves' speed.

Catherine had already led the elves out of the encirclement. Just a few hundred more meters and they would be free of the Hellgate's influence, allowing them to use teleportation magic.

But the ambushers had prepared more than just this. Just as Catherine stepped out of the time barrier, the ground erupted with massive amounts of lava. Hellfire shot into the sky as four towering Balors crawled out of the magma, blocking Catherine's path.

Balors were infamous greater demons even in Hell. Massive in stature, wielding flaming swords and whips, they symbolized the most ancient evil. They threw themselves into battle with hatred and fury, capable of destroying all enemies with fire.

The moment these four Balors appeared, their aura of fire engulfed a hundred-meter radius, plunging the elves into scorching heat.

A whip wreathed in hellfire lashed out, firmly binding the black panther Catherine was riding.

The black panther's charge was intercepted by the Balor. Its flesh seared by the flames, the beast let out a howl of agony.

Catherine deftly flipped off the panther's back. She dismissed the summon before landing, simultaneously drawing her bow and firing an arrow at the nearest Balor.

Starlight condensed on the arrow. After leaving the string, it split into ten thousand rays of light, enveloping the Balor.

The Balor let out a roar of pain. Catherine's arrow had riddled its body with holes; its heavy hellish armor seemed as fragile as paper.

Although she had heavily wounded the Balor with one shot, the other three demons cared nothing for their companion's life. Their flaming whips were already lashing toward Catherine.

Catherine could only dodge while returning fire.

But the Balors had learned. Faced with Catherine's arrows, they simply used [Teleport] to dodge.

Empowered by the Hellgate, the Balors spammed [Teleport] as if mana cost nothing, turning these berserkers into assassins.

Catherine tried several times but could only inflict minor injuries on these Balors. Although she was keeping them occupied, the other elves couldn't withstand the environment.

The Balors' inherent fire aura made the surroundings scorching hot, continuously burning all mortal creatures.

Catherine's magical equipment was enough to resist this fire damage, but the other elves couldn't grant immunity to the overlapping fire auras of four Balors.

Their hair began to curl, their faces turned beet red, and some of their weapons became so hot they could barely hold them.

Catherine was forced to cast a weather-manipulating Transmutation spell, causing heavy snow to fall from the sky.

The snowflakes melted into the fire aura before they could hit the ground, turning into a thick fog that blanketed the area. Although it didn't completely extinguish the flames on the Balors, the heavy snow offset most of the fire aura's effects and turned the battlefield into a misty haze, blocking the enemy's vision.

It seemed like both sides had been blinded, but the Balors constantly made sizzling noises in the fog. Catherine could pinpoint their locations by sound alone.

She drew her longbow to its limit and released a brilliant arrow.

This time, it wasn't ten thousand stars, but a single arrow condensed to the extreme.

The magical arrow struck a Balor's head with precision, leaving it with only half a skull.

The massive demon crashed to the ground. The fog had blocked its vision, preventing it from using a teleportation portal to escape in time.

Just as Catherine prepared to aim at the second Balor, the earth shook again. More lava surged forth, and three more Balors crawled out from the underground.

Endless heat dispelled the fog, turning the battlefield into a sea of fire once again.

Furthermore, the [Time Stop] barrier had vanished, and the swarming lesser demons began to close in again.

"Your Majesty, forget about us! Leave quickly!"

The elves realized they were burdening their Queen, and each one felt deeply ashamed.

It was only because these demons were too despicable. Using a Hellgate for an ambush not only created a massive terrain advantage but also interfered with the elves' spellcasting. Only a legendary powerhouse could remain unaffected in such an environment.

If they had been given even a little time to prepare—even just half an hour—they wouldn't have been beaten so badly.

But war is cruel to the weak. They now had to admit they were burdens to the Queen. If they delayed any longer, Catherine would likely exhaust her mana.

Catherine looked at the elves who were resolved to die, feeling a sharp pain in her heart.

She had come to save people, yet was she only going to send more elves to their deaths in vain?

Catherine fell into despair. Even though she still had a chance to escape, she didn't want to run anymore. The elven race... had long lost its future.

Watching the encroaching demons and the elves tormented by the heat beside her, Catherine opened her mouth, unable to hold back the truth any longer. At the very least, let them understand why they were dying.

"Everyone, actually, this time..."

Just as Catherine was about to reveal the truth, she suddenly heard a Balor scream.

Turning her head, she saw the massive demon entangled in green magical energy. Its magma-like flesh cooled and crumbled rapidly, finally turning into a semi-rotten corpse.

Then, the blue light of soul fire ignited in the Balor's empty eye sockets. It swung its greatsword and hacked at its former companions.

Catherine recognized this as a high-tier Necromancy spell—[Finger of Death].

It killed the target instantly and rapidly transformed them into a zombie.

But Balors possessed powerful magic resistance. Under normal circumstances, [Finger of Death] shouldn't work on such a demon.

Catherine looked up at the sky in astonishment. bathed in moonlight, a black-haired youth sat upon a resplendent throne.

Ambrose's voice drifted down from mid-air: "Apologies, Your Majesty Catherine. There were some minor issues with my reception work. But please rest assured, I will handle these accidents."

The demons on the ground roared at the sky, sending countless fireballs flying toward the youth as if to drown him.

Ambrose snapped his fingers lightly. An [Antimagic Field] appeared beneath the throne, annihilating all incoming fireballs.

Immediately after, a rustling, eerie sound came from all around. The corpses of the dead demons were writhing.

One, two... a massive horde of demon corpses stood up, baring their claws and teeth as they pounced on their former allies.

It was the simplest zombie reanimation spell, but empowered by the Golden Throne, Ambrose raised tens of thousands of zombies in an instant.

Now, it was the demons who were outnumbered.