This Lich is a Better Landlord Chapter 84

Inside the City of Alchemy, a fierce battle was underway.

The Paladin Legion assumed a formation like a sword blade, weaving left and right through the undead army, nearly routing Withered Rose's forces completely.

Holy Light countered the undead too terribly well. Moreover, the power of these paladins converged perfectly, making the entire legion practically indestructible.

Holy Light transformed into sharp blades, slicing the undead army into scattered pieces, unable to organize effective resistance.

James Watson did not join the troops' charge. For a Legendary powerhouse like him, charging with subordinates was a total waste.

As a Cleric of Light, James Watson mastered hundreds of divine spells. What he needed to do now was float above the battlefield, constantly buffing this army with spells.

*Mass Courage*, *Healing Word*, *Death Ward*, *Warding Bond*... As various divine spells were layered on, the combat power of this Paladin Legion multiplied tenfold. From the start of the battle until now, not a single person had been injured, yet they had already slain a triple-digit number of undead.

If not for the fact that the opposing force contained quite a few powerful Death Knights and a ridiculously large number of Automatons, the paladins would have won long ago. However, it was only a matter of time. This undead army seemed cobbled together, with extremely irrational troop coordination.

Suddenly, a dark green ray flew from the flank, accurately hitting James Watson.

*Finger of Death*. This was a high-tier necromancy spell rumored to have the potential to instantly kill a dragon. Once successfully killing the target, it would instantly turn them into a zombie under the caster's control.

However, the destructive Necrotic Energy could not penetrate James Watson's magic shield; it only shattered an enchanted ring on his hand.

James Watson sneered. "I've been waiting for you."

A brilliant light lit up above James Watson's head, turning into a blazing aura that spread outward.

In mid-air, Withered Rose's figure was blasted out of hiding by the aura. Raging sacred fire spread to her body, constantly burning her undead form.

This was a divine spell only a Cleric of Light could master—*Dawn's Light*. Borrowing the power of the Lord of Dawn, it created an aura that could dispel all darkness. This darkness referred not only to the environment but also to all dark things hiding nearby.

Withered Rose had been hiding using *Greater Invisibility*. She had risked using *Finger of Death*, wanting to take out James Watson, but she hadn't expected the powerful necromancy spell to be blocked, followed by an instantaneous counterattack.

The power of the Holy Light constantly corroded Withered Rose's body, using dark mana as fuel to burn frantically, enveloping her entirely.

Any other undead would have been rolling on the ground in agony long ago.

But Withered Rose seemed to feel nothing. She allowed the Holy Light to spread over her body, her crimson eyes staring fixedly at James Watson through the barrier of light.

James Watson only felt a wave of numbness in his body. He keenly sensed dark mana invading his system, as if a hole had been dug in his chest and massive amounts of foul corpse water were pouring in.

The pain wasn't obvious; it was mostly numbness, causing his body to stiffen.

James Watson had to cast *Greater Restoration* on himself. This divine spell could remove the vast majority of curses. It wasn't ineffective; the numb sensation indeed disappeared the moment the spell was cast. But after the spell ended, the sensation quickly reappeared.

This was actually a continuous curse effect. Dark mana was constantly eroding his body, trying to turn him into an undead.

Such a terrifying curse reminded James Watson of a fearsome name.

"So it's you. You are the Undead Queen who invaded Ryan two hundred years ago!"

Withered Rose let out a maniacal laugh. "Hahaha! The moment your shield shattered, I locked onto you with my soul fire. No need to struggle. Become my puppet. I will turn you into the lowest zombie and hang you on the city gates of the Ryan capital."

"Arrogant undead."

Even facing a legendary figure, James Watson showed no panic. He cast a spell on himself that could be called utterly ordinary—*Gaseous Form*.

This was a very common spell that could turn the caster's body into a cloud of mist, granting complete immunity to physical attacks and the vast majority of magical attacks. It was generally used to pass through special terrain, such as slipping under door cracks or through pipes.

Ambrose had also used this spell to squeeze into the narrow sewer entrance.

Although Withered Rose's *Death Gaze* was powerful, able to continuously inject dark mana after locking onto the target to forcibly convert them into undead...

The prerequisite was that the target had to be a living creature.

The *Gaseous Form* spell completely converted the human body into smoke. It wasn't an illusion, but actual mist.

In such a state, no amount of dark mana could modify James Watson's body anymore. It effectively countered Withered Rose's strongest method.

But doing so was not without cost.

In the *Gaseous Form* state, James Watson lost most of his spellcasting abilities. The various divine spells previously buffing the Paladin Legion lost most of their effectiveness.

The Paladin Legion, which had been rampaging through the undead and Automatons, suddenly slowed down. Cavalry that lost speed found it difficult to win through formation alone.

However, James Watson was confident. The strength of these paladins alone was enough to slay all enemies.

Sure enough, as soon as their speed slowed, the paladins scattered directly, wielding their longswords shimmering with Holy Light to fight. *Divine Smite* rose and fell in waves, the killing effect hardly inferior to the group charge from before.

James Watson also wasn't afraid that Withered Rose would turn to deal with the paladins, because he knew her *Death Gaze* required complete focus to maintain. Once her attention shifted, he could return to his original form and provide support to the paladins again.

And in terms of support capability, Withered Rose, the Undead Queen, couldn't compare to James Watson, the Cleric of Light.

James Watson thought to himself, *My luck is good this time. The troops led by this Undead Queen are very fragile. Once victory is secured on the ground below, the Paladin Legion can concentrate their power to slay this Undead Queen. Although it's only purifying her body, it counts as a good harvest.*

James Watson was just feeling that the advantage was his when suddenly a loud noise came, deafening like a meteor impact.

The Headless Knight, riding an eight-legged steed, suddenly appeared, charging toward the Paladin Legion.

This giant and giant horse, standing over ten meters tall combined, were a complete monster. Thick dark mana wrapped around him, truly turning him into a billowing meteor charging frantically at the paladins.

Gareth the Headless Knight, the man who once brought shame to the Empire.

At that time, he was just a lone little undead, relying on a rusty longsword to hack out a path of escape. The record looked impressive—escaping from the encirclement and interception of a thousand paladins—but there was too much wretchedness in it. Gareth relied entirely on various ambushes and traps to escape, surviving several times purely by luck.

But now it was different. Gareth wore top-tier enchanted armor forged by dragons and rode an undead warhorse bred specifically for him. Combined, they became an unstoppable torrent of darkness.

Those Automatons made entirely of metal were like little bugs blocking the road in front of Gareth. They were either crushed by hooves or knocked flying. The even more fragile undead were blown away like dry leaves by the whirlwind generated by Gareth's charge.

Ignoring friend or foe, the knight's charge paid no heed to his own side, targeting only the scattered paladins.

James Watson watched from mid-air as a mass of thick black mist tore across the battlefield, leaving a gruesome gouge in its wake.

At least thirty paladins died in this single charge, and many more were knocked flying and seriously injured.

James Watson could no longer spectate. He actively canceled the *Gaseous Form* spell effect.

As soon as he regained his human form, the numbing sensation reappeared. Withered Rose had no intention of letting him off.

James Watson knew he had no retreat. If he didn't want to be refined into a zombie, he could only bring out his most powerful skill.

Ignoring the changes in his body, James Watson recited the hymns of the Lord of Dawn with the most pious attitude. Countless platinum lights began to fall from the sky, completely enveloping James Watson like a curtain from the heavens.

The power of a Cleric of Light came from the gods' grace. Naturally, the most powerful force of a Cleric of Light was summoning the god to descend.

*Divine Intervention*. A powerful divine spell that even a Legendary-tier Cleric of Light could only use once a year.

Praying piously to the Lord of Dawn in despair, begging this god to cast a fleeting glance.

Holy Light descended. A majestic silhouette appeared faintly in the sky. The Lord of Dawn responded to James Watson's plea, looking down upon this city from his divine kingdom.

A rumbling roar echoed. The entire City of Alchemy was shaking. The earth began to crack, and countless clouds of dust were shaken into the high air.

James Watson had just felt relief that the power of the god was still so great, but soon felt something was wrong.

The divine spell *Divine Intervention* hadn't fully unleashed its might yet. The earthquake in the City of Alchemy had nothing to do with the divine spell.

Something seemed to be hidden beneath this city, and it was destroying it!