“This one.” I turned to the three others in here. “Come on.”
I stepped through and they followed. A gust of wind hit me the moment I put foot to the ground. The darkness had vanished in an instant, and in its place stood a slightly lesser darkness. Clouds cast all over the sky, shielding the light from the sun, and the shade of black roamed my surroundings.
“I hear something,” Freya said.
I closed my eyes, concentrating. Footsteps.
“What the heck is that?” I made my way forward.
The ground cut off a few yards ahead. A cliff. My muscles tightened, and I froze in place, a few inches from the edge.
“This is the one we were pressed up against before,” Nyx said. “When we were attacked.”
I chuckled. I forget what attacked us. I leaned over the edge.
And then I remembered.
A sea of white surged over the ground, expanding for miles and miles in every direction.
A Skeletal Army was here to welcome us.
***
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Skeletons.
It just HAD to be skeletons.
Rattling and screeching sounded below us. I looked at the miniature figures of bones beneath me.
About a mile down. I squinted. Probably more.
“How many do you think there are?” Freya pulled out her longsword.
“Don’t know,” I said. “Definitely upwards of four thousand.”
“That’s a lot of skeletons. Is this the Dark Lord’s work?”
I shook my head. “These things are more than Level 500. The Dark Lord is far too weak to be able to summon these many skeletons at such a high level.”
“Something else is causing this.”
“Do we take these things out?” the Death Lord asked, standing on my other side.
“Depends,” Freya asked. “Do you think we can avoid this army?”
“No clue,” I said. “We don’t even know what it was that the Hexel ruins are supposed to be hiding.”
“So, we don’t fight?” the elf asked.
“Well, I didn’t say that now, did I?” I grinned.
“Fine then.” Freya closed her eyes, and a white light flashed from her skin.
Her form flickered. Winds swirled around us, and sparks showered the air, as though lightning were ready to strike the earth. Her appearance morphed, with her hair turning blood red and her eyes changing to a deadlier version of the same shade. Runes of black formed over her body, rising from underneath her skin.
The longsword on her back glowed white and expanded until it was a massive broadsword of jet black. The blade was as wide as the length of my forearm and stood about one and a half times as tall as she was, radiating pure power with its form.
I smiled. “You’ve gotten stronger.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Were you not expecting that?”
“I wasn’t expecting you to be in the high 700s.”
“I’m a special kind of existence,” she chuckled.
The Death Lord glanced down. “I can’t tell what these skeletal men are even fighting for in the first place.”
I followed the motions of the group as a whole. “Seems like a lot of chaotic movement to me.”
“Do you think they have some reason for being here?”
“Well, even I can’t summon these many minions at once, and at such a high level at that,” I said. “If someone summoned them here for nothing, that would have been a heroic amount of effort for no use.”
“But what if these creatures had come up on their own?” Freya asked.
“Think about it,” I said. “If these many skeletons came here on their own, there would have to be a reason for it. If anything, we would have sensed the event that brought them up to the surface.” I gazed at the ranks of the enemy. “This army isn’t here on accident. There’s a reason to it.”
“What are we going to do then?”
I grinned. “Blow off some steam.”
“Eh?”
“You’ll see.” I leapt off the cliff. Nyx, get the Berserker out.
“What?” the spirit asked. “You’re going all out?”
I smiled. It’s been a while.
The wind roared in my face as I flew down to the ground. The skeletons all turned up to me, and in a second the entire army was staring at my falling form.
“Well, at least I’ve got their attention.” I grinned.
A hundred yards to impact
“Nyx, the armor.”
Eighty yards.
“I know, I know,” the spirit said. “Wait a moment, would you?”
Forty yards.
A stream of lights emerged out of nowhere, and followed me through my descend. The orbs of white swirled around me, latching onto my body.
Ten yards.
Dark pieces of metal formed around me, interlocking as the formed the armor.
Impact.
I smashed my fist into the ground as I came down, and a terrifying shockwave shot from the contact point, surging through the skeletons around me. Bones and dust went flying into the air, and decorated the sky. When the smoke settled, piles of white dust laid all around me.
I stood up, my body now encompassed in a sleek, jet-black piece of armor—the Berserker armor. That took out more skeletons than I expected.
“Well, you just dropped from a mile up,” Nyx said. “What did you think would happen?”
A gentle breeze blew past my face. A massive twister of wind about five yards wide kicked up a moment later and surrounded me completely.
“You idiot,” a voice said.
Freya and the Death Lord dropped down from within the funnel, and their feet gently touched down on the surface.
“That was…quite the entrance, Diablo,” the Death Lord said.
“Hey, it was worth it,” I said. “I would definitely do that again.”
The twister cut off, and skeletons charged at us, armed to the teeth with weaponry.
“Alright, time to go!” I slid out Dawnbreaker and Dearthsoul. The purple jewel on both the blades glowed hauntingly, casting their light onto my armor.
Freya and the Death Lord launched their attacks into the enemy forces, with Freya taking down two with a swing of her sword, and the Death Lord taking down two hundred with a beam of darkness.
Better go fast. I jumped into the middle of their ranks. There won’t be much left for me otherwise.
Nyx sighed. “Good to know you’re worrying about the right things.”
The moment my feet touched the floor I spun around, with my blades stretched out. The weapons crushed through the bony warriors, turning them into piles of dust in an instant. I spun till I felt dizzy and almost stumbled to the floor. I made a final slash with both my blades, pushing the enemy away and giving myself a moment to breathe.
Piles of dust laid on the ground—the remains of the beings I’d attacked. The sea of white however, flowed all around me, with a single speck of red and two specks of black inside it—the Death Lord, Freya, and I.
I shot forward, charging into the rest of the skeletons, and thrust my palm out. “Uher!”
A dark phoenix surged out of the ground, smashing a few skeletons as it rose, and many more as it broke through their ranks. Most of the skeletons however moved aside, minimizing the damage to the army.
I slashed into the nearest skeleton, launching my own attack. That was odd, wasn’t it? I asked.
“What the skeletons just did?” Nyx asked.
Yeah. I thrust into two skeletons at once, bringing them down instantly. It was almost as though they were…organized.
“Well, maybe they’re capable of some kind of organization,” the spirit said.
I blocked a strike from behind me, and slashed through my attacker. It’s still odd. I pushed on, attacking many more of the skeletons.
Freya was wrecking the forces as well, with her massive weapon sending bones and dust flying into the air. The Dark Lord mixed up his fighting s
tyle, punching through a few skeletons and then summoning a blast of darkness soon after.
I leapt high up into the air, gazing at the enemy for a moment. A lot of what I had seen from the cliff was now gone, reduced to piles of dust. However, a large number of skeletons still remained. More than four thousand easily.
We took down only a thousand? I wondered.
“It makes sense,” Nyx said. “You haven’t used your full force yet anyway.”
I thudded back to the ground, with the resulting shockwave taking out the few skeletons around me. “What?”
“He means me,” Acnologia said.
My eyes widened. “I completely forgot about you!”
A dark form stood at the top of the cliff, with its wings spread out.
“It is fine,” the Dragon said. “It is not that easy for me to attack when you three are moving around like this. It is very likely I would accidentally hit one of you.”
I mean, as long as you don’t hit Freya, we should be fine. I slashed at the skeletons before me, cutting through their ribcages.
“I will not impede on your ‘steam blowing’ session.”
I chuckled. “Thank you.”
“If you need me however…”
“I doubt we will.” I spun around, slashing through about twenty skeletons and bringing them all to a stop. “It’s been all one hit K.O.s from the first strike.”
“Impressive,” Nyx said. “But not as much when you realize these things are a full ONE THOUSAND LEVELS below you.”
Fine, fine, you don’t have to yell. I rolled my eyes. I know what the level difference is.
A blast of darkness shot a few inches to my right, and surged through a hundred and fifty skeletons.
“Ah, sorry,” the Death Lord said. “I almost got you.”
“That’s fine.” I leapt into the air, heading to another section of the army. The moment my feet touched down, I twisted, recoiling my muscles. “Bladestorm!”
I surged through the enemy, landing multiple hits a second, and when the special move ended, about five hundred piles of dust laid inside a circle of fifty yards. Not bad. Didn’t think I’d take out that many.
“Again,” Nyx said. “You’re an Eternal whose level is a thousand levels higher than those skeletons.”
I siged. You just won’t let me have fun anymore, will you?
“Don’t be so dramatic.”
My blade impaled a few skeletons before me, and I swung up, throwing them high into the air. The skeletons disintegrated into the dust as they rose to the sky, and descended to the ground as flaky specks of white.
About three thousand enemies now remained. Ugh, so many more.
“What happened to blowing off steam?” Acnologia chuckled.
I blew off too much, I grinned. I thrust my hand in the air. “Erkiela, Peona, Vapireo Giola!”
My Chain Casting skill linked the spells together in a flash. A bright burst of light surged out, and right after it, a ring of raging fire exploded from me, searing through the skeletons. A wind twister sprung up an instant later, picking up the flames and adding more ‘bite’ to them. The gales tore through many more skeletons, simply blasting through some and throwing others hard enough to kill them. Finally, the twister dropped, and another took its place, only this one used water instead of wind.
I quickly stepped up, throwing Dawnbreaker up into the air and jutting my free hand into the raging waters. “Iglacier!” I yelled.
The whole structure froze immediately, trapping the hundreds of skeletons it had caught within it. I caught the falling blade and slashed into the ice, cracking through the surface. The whole structure fissured, and I hastened the process, striking the ice multiple times in a second.
A crack echoed, and tiny shards of ice splattered onto my face. The frozen sculpture of water and bone shattered. Huge chunks of ice crashed down to me, but I stepped out of the way. I leapt up, using the crashing blocks as stepping stones, and jumped high above the crumbling structure.
I stood atop the topmost piece of crashing ice, dropping along with it, and gazed down at the field below. A thousand skeletons. That shouldn’t take too long.
“Freya and the Death Lord have been pressing the enemy back pretty hard,” Nyx said.
I chuckled. Guess they had steam to blow off too. I backflipped from the falling piece of ice, and descended to the ground.
“Bladestorm!’ I yelled, breaking through the hundred skeletons close to me, and surging out at many more as well.
The ground rumbled. A howl screamed to the skies, sifting through the clouds. Fissures cracked through the surface, and dark miasma rose from within.
I fell back, sliding up to where Freya and the Death Lord were. The elf swung through twenty skeletons before her and turned around. “What the heck is going on?”
A large bony hand rose from the fissure, thudding onto the land. Even ten skeletons wouldn’t have added up to the size it as at.
“Damn,” I whispered.
The ground cracked even more, and a giant skeleton rose from the ground, towering fifty yards high up. Its eyes glowed a bloody red and it looked down at me, glaring.
“Fall back!” I yelled, and slid further away from the army and this giant.
Only, saying ‘giant’ was wrong.
Many more hands broke from the surface—one from each fissure on the ground. Skeletal Giants stood up, towering high into the sky.
Four of them.
“That’s a lot,” Nyx said.
They’re level 600 though. I lifted my sword up to them. Shouldn’t be too hard.
I hunched down and shot into the air. I held Dawnbreaker out straight, and the blade impaled the Skeletal Giant’s head. The weapon went straight through, cracking the bone in an instant. I planted my foot against its shoulder and leapt up, onto the next giant, and impaling its skull as well.
“Zoran!” Freya yelled. “There’s something inside them!”
Eh? I blinked.
A giant’s fist smashed into my body and I shot back to the ground, sending dust and mud up into the air.
“Are you okay?” Nyx asked.
Please, that didn’t even shave of 5% of my health. I stood up. Something inside them? I don’t see—
A crude object of red caught the dull light and reflected it into my eyes. It was placed in the middle of the giant’s ribcages, strapped to the backbone. What the heck is that? I blinked.
“I don’t know.”
I can’t see clearly from this far away.
I shot up into the air once again, aiming for the ribcage this time. The Skeletal Giant threw its fist at me, and I improvised. I placed my hand on its thrusting fist, and pushed myself up, rising up to its skull instead. I spun as I reached, and slashed hard into the bone, shattering it.
The debris hadn’t even fallen when another fist emerged, crushing through the skull, but aiming for me. I placed my foot on the fist and pushed myself to the next Skeletal Warrior’s ribcage. Its other hand came down, swiping at my form.
I swung hard at it, breaking through the bone, but lost my momentum, and dropped back to the floor. The moment my feet hit the ground I pushed up yet again, aiming right for the ribcage. The red hunk inside it came closer, and then the skeleton’s hand covered its chest, blocking my view.
Not this time. I held my blade out straight. I impaled the giant’s fist, crushing through it, and went straight into the ribcage. My hand latched onto one of its bones, and stopped my movement.
The attack had hit the skeletal giant too hard, and the creature disintegrated into dust. My hold disappeared, and I dropped to the floor, with dust pouring down all around. I thumped softly into the pile, and then I heard another sound.
Silence took over the air. I sat up, and glimpsed around. Everything was gone. The skeletons had all turned to dust — both the giants and the smaller ones that had remained.
What was that thump? I looked down. I brushed off mounds of dust, digging into the large pile. Specks
of red emerged inside the white. The remains of that thing inside them? I dug faster.
A limb emerged — a hand, bloodied and disfigured, with the bone twisted in horrifying ways.
My eyes widened. Oh god.
Soft footsteps approached me. “Get off,” Freya said.
I was about to protest, but the look in the elf’s eyes told me not to. I jumped down from the top of the pile, and landed at her side.
She thrust her hand up and a gust of wind came forth, striking the pile of white. Dust went flying away, and another thump sounded. A red hunk laid on the dark surface now.
I rushed up to it, with curiosity building through me.
A bloodied body laid there, disfigured beyond recognition. My gaze rose up to its head, and then I froze. I turned to Freya. The elf had her hand over her mouth, with her eyes wide and her body shaking.
My chest tightened as I looked back at the hunk of meat, at the pointy ears jutting out of what used to be a head.
Whatever this thing was now, it used to be an elf.
A dark elf.
Ijyela’s brethren.
***
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Drops of red slithered down my fingers. My nails were soaked in blood, just from touching the mass of disfigured meat before me.
What have they done to you. I averted my gaze from the body. Piles of white dust lay around us, some in neat mounds, most of it just scattered around. I walked over to the large mound a few yards away—the remains of another skeletal giant.
I turned to Freya, and the elf nodded, thrusting her hand up from where she stood. A gust of wind spurred, blowing the specks away and revealing a mass of meat underneath it as well. My gaze rose up to the head of the form.
I clenched my fists. Another elf.
“Why are all these elves inside these skeletons?” Nyx asked.
I don’t know. I eyed the messed-up form. This one was worse than the previous. Other than for the head, nothing else made it look humanoid. Its body had been crushed up, and blood trickled down the mess that remained.
I pulled my gaze away. I couldn't even stare at these things for more than a few seconds. I didn’t want to.
Footsteps approached. “What do you think is going on here?” The Death Lord stood beside me now.
The Eternal: A Boxed Set (World of Ga'em Book 6) Page 108
