From his hiding place on the other side of the school grounds, Coeurl howled to signal the enemy’s approach. It was too soon for Diasnexus to arrive, so these must have been the weaker skeleton forces.
Soon enough, a squad of skeletons emerged from behind a building.
“Six skeletons! Wearing robes! Carrying staffs!” Kayla called out quickly.
The question now was whether they were actually mages… or something more troublesome. “True Sight,” I invoked, using the ultimate recognition magic to see through any illusions.
“No, the mages are the three at the back! The one in the front actually has a huge sword!”
This skeleton which also ostensibly wore a robe and carried a staff was in fact clad in heavy armor, brandishing a sword. Behind it, the three other skeletons in robes hovered, staffs in hand.
“Rushia, don’t hold back, let them have it. You too, Kayla.”
“Got it. Inferno.”
“Mm! White Cannon.”
A scorching fireball and a white beam assaulted the skeletons. In response, the skeletons at the rear thrust their bony hands forward.
Oh no, could it have been a reflection?
“It’s a Barrier!”
Kayla gave a command, and a dark wall materialized in front of the skeletons, catching the flames and beam. A violent explosion followed seconds later, and smoke obscured our view of the skeletons.
“How’s it looking, Kayla?”
“They’re coming, they’re coming!”
Are you some kind of a wannabe psychic? I thought as the skeletons broke through the smoke, flying toward us. Not one of them looked like it had sustained any damage—unlike Deflection, that dark barrier they’d used didn’t seem to require any precise timing to deploy.
Kayla and Arisu asked me questions at the same time.
“What do we do, Dad?”
“What should we do, Kazu?”
They were both looking at me for guidance. I had a few strategies to consider…
“Kazu, how about an Inferno times ten?” Rushia suggested.
It was a viable countermeasure. If the enemy was going to shield themselves, then we could use overwhelming force to shatter their defense. Despite the poor cost-benefit ratio, quickly resolving the fight was crucial, especially with formidable foes ahead.
The downside was clear. With one of the Four Kings soon to arrive, exhausting Rushia now posed a risk.
As the enemy closed in, now less than a kilometer away, I made a decision.
“Kayla.”
“Yeah, Dad!”
“Use Dimensional Step to flank them and hit hard. Take Nahan with you.”
“Roger that!”
Kayla jumped up on Heavenly Turtle Nahan’s shell, grabbing onto his neck and vanishing from sight. Moments later, they reappeared behind the enemy group.
Two white beams, unleashed by her and Nahan, struck the six skeletons…
“They blocked it, huh?”
The three at the back raised another Barrier to deflect the attack. But this maneuver created a significant gap between the enemy’s front and rear ranks. The frontline skeletons continued their direct assault on us.
“Rushia, cover fire.”
“Got it. Inferno.”
Rushia’s fireball struck an unprotected spot, engulfing one of the skeletons in flames. And then… we were back in the White Room. That skeleton hadn’t fallen yet, so perhaps Tamaki and the others had done something.
✦ ✦ ✦
“We all broke through the circle of skeletons! I managed to take down six of them in a flash!” Tamaki boasted with a proud grin.
I praised her generously and patted her head. It seemed Shiki was the only one who’d leveled up this time, bringing her to Level 19.
“I think we’re okay now, so maybe we should send Tamaki back…” I pondered, then changed my mind. “No, let’s not take any chances. Tamaki, why don’t you keep guarding everyone?”
“All right, I’ve got this!” Tamaki responded eagerly.
✦ ✦ ✦
The second we left the White Room, we sprang into action. Kayla and Heavenly Turtle Nahan used Dimensional Step to move to the enemy’s flank and launch a White Cannon. Almost simultaneously, Rushia unleashed an Inferno…
It wasn’t enough to take down the frontline skeletons; however, our concentrated fire forced the battalion of bones to lower their altitude and land on the road, temporarily disappearing from my view.
The distance between us and the enemy was only about three hundred meters, so they were bound to attack the ground soon, but we weren’t about to just sit around and wait for them, neither out of leisure nor naivety.
“I want to snipe. Sha-Lau, go with Rushia to the roof of that house over there.”
“All right.”
As Rushia grabbed onto Phantom Wolf King Sha-Lau, they vanished in a flash of lightning, reappearing atop the red building I had pointed out—a perfect sniping position. Rushia immediately began to flush out the skeletons with her Inferno spell, while Kayla and Heavenly Turtle Nahan also took aim from above.
“Kazu, can I go too?”
“Nah, stay here. They’ll be here soon enough, ripe for the picking.”
Well, that was if my guess was correct. Sure enough…
“Just like you said, Kazu—they’re here.”
The battered skeletons appeared on the ground where Arisu, I, and Divine Winged Apostle Penusa were waiting. These skeletons were probably far stronger than any we had encountered before, with the frontlines being at least of the Godbreaker class. They likely intended to whittle down our forces, but unfortunately for them, we weren’t so easily worn down.
“Arisu, go!”
“Right! Shape Lightning!”
Arisu closed the distance to the six skeletons instantly with magic that turned her into lightning, just like Sha-Lau. Timed with her assault, Sha-Lau also launched a surprise attack from behind the skeletons.
Trying to regroup and counterattack, the skeletons faced Arisu’s thrust and Sha-Lau’s fangs, which shattered the head of the confronting skeletons in one hit. Just then, the sound of leveling up echoed in my head, and we were back in the White Room.
✦ ✦ ✦
This time, Tamaki and I had leveled up. Without much to discuss, we just exchanged information and promptly exited the room.
✦ ✦ ✦
There were four enemies left. Thankfully, my guardian, Penusa, was constantly on the lookout.
“What’s wrong?”
“I sense a presence,” Penusa remarked telepathically.
“Could it be…?”
Penusa affirmed my suspicion with a thought.
I scanned our surroundings, wondering where the enemy could be. Suddenly, Penusa’s expression tensed. Before I could react…
“Master, watch out!”
She pushed me away just in time. A skeletal arm burst from the ground, its fingertips brushing against my left arm.
The undead-resistant fabric sewn onto my tracksuit sleeve disintegrated into ash in an instant. Even so, my left arm was torn off from the shoulder.
Blood sprayed into the air, and I groaned in agony that felt like searing heat. And then, I saw Penusa.
Her beautiful face contorted in pain, she rolled to my side, revealing that she had lost her left leg from the thigh down.
Damn it, this was my oversight!
Lifting my head, I saw a figure shimmering like mist nearby. The red glow deep within the skull glared at me.
“The Ghost King hiding in the ground? That’s not very befitting of your reputation.”
“Do not let your guard down. You’re the man who defeated Azagralith,” the skull said, cackling mockingly.