We watched as the undead clambered out of their sarcophaguses. Thankfully, most of them seemed to be lesser undead, unarmed, and armored Skeletons. However, they were not our only problem.
The dungeon began to shake again, but in a more familiar way. The hallway of sarcophaguses extended as far as our eyes could see. And although the number of undead would surge over triple digits, it was the looming figures running toward us that were of more concern. Three more of those metal mechs were heading toward us.
Two of them had long spears that were large enough to level a house with a single swing, while the third was more oddly shaped than the others. It was higher off the ground on more spindling legs, while its top was flat. But it was being ridden. There was an entire squad of Skeletons riding atop it.
Some clearly held crossbows, while others were more elite Dread Knights. But I saw what Bowen had described to us before the siege. The magical weapons the undead defenders used against us. They were not as foreign as I thought they might have been. If anything, their design was familiar to me.
Handcannons. A popular ancient firearm. But instead of shooting a projectile, they use magic…how troublesome.
"We can't risk a prolonged battle here. I'll handle the two golems to buy us time," Bowen said.
"That crystal could be the source of all this madness. I will bring it down," Ms. Taurus said firmly.
"Then I'll get the support golem. Sylvia, can you take on that Dullahan for a little longer?" I asked.
"It's tough…but I'll manage," she answered as she glared at the Dullahan.
Cerila gave me a firm nod, and with the plan of action designated, I let mana flow into my limbs. I guided the mana, then formed the spell cores as lightning crackled along my armor. I hadn't quite mastered the lightning blade technique my mother had taught me, but it would serve its purpose. I had to close the gap and defeat that mech and the ranged units atop it before they wreaked havoc on us. The undead could be destroyed endlessly and make as many mistakes as they needed.
But we could not.
I pushed off the ground and sprinted toward the enemy. Bowen's golem sprinted alongside me. A wall of the undead had amassed between us, but it didn't matter. I leapt into the air, and without being told, the construct grabbed me into its hands. My vision swam back, throwing me over the undead and directly at the mechs.
I flew right past the two leading spear mechs and straight to the platform one, that was further behind. I landed on the ground with gravity magic and maintained my speed as I closed the gap. The mech dropped down suddenly and dropped off the frontline fighters. There were five of them, all armored in the same bronze armor as the originals in the Dullahan's squad.
I could try and ignore them, but I saw how the others had moved, and the last thing I needed was these five harassing me while I attacked the mech. Two shield users blocked the front while the other three circled around. I forced mana out to my spear and the ground rippled as spikes of earth exploded out toward them. One of them had separated itself from the group, and I planted my foot and pivoted directly at it.
The monster swung its hammer at me, but I met it with the shaft of my spear. The Dread Knights were as fast as they were powerful. But I only needed to take them on one at a time and with overwhelming force. The bones in my body shook from the clash, but the blow wasn't as bad as I had expected.
With gravity assisting me, I overpowered the creature, knocking its weapon up into the air. I spun my spear around and thrust it straight into its shoulder. Black blood spurted out as I stepped into the creature, preventing it from freeing itself. It was short, and its center of gravity was lower than mine. But as I planted my leg behind it, I swept it off its feet with my spear and forced it into the ground.
I raised a leg as stone encased it and crushed the head of the Dread Knight into a puddle of blood, bone, and armor. I heard small explosions and spun around to see a Fireball heading directly at me. I brought my spear up and sliced it in half, destroying the spell. Another barrage was right behind the first, and I extended my hand and warped the air before me.
The spells and bolts from the crossbows flew off track, and flames leapt down my spear and onto the corpse of the Dread Knight, engulfing it. The euphoria of killing another undead washed over me as I stared out at the other four Dread Knights, who seemed to back off from me somewhat. Undead were supposed to be immune to something like fear or weariness of an opponent.
I can change that, though.
I lunged at the others, and their weapons lit up orange with the power of their runes. I kept the same pace and separated as many as possible with magic while only taking on one or two at a time. I separated the shield users again with magic as a hammer and sword Dread Knight came for me. I deflected the hammer with my spear and sent a knee into its chest, knocking it back.
Lightning and mana coursed over my body as I traded strikes with the sword user. Its sword was moving so fast it was like a blur, and I watched it swing at me despite not being close enough, as a blade of air came at me. I dodged just in time to avoid having my face carved off, but it still managed to leave a scratch.
I sent a bolt of lightning at it, and the Dread Knight blocked it with the flat of its blade. I hoped the spell would lock the creature up, but it seemed to have been countered completely. I thrust my spear at it, and it dropped just below it. The monster swung at my leg, and I planted my spear into the ground. The Dread Knight's blade bounced off, and I reached down with my gauntleted hand and gripped the blade of the sword.
Stone encased my hand and the sword as the Dread Knight looked up at me with glowing, hollow eyes. I ripped its sword from its hand and brought down my fist onto its skull. Armor cracked and fragmented as blood exploded out. I kicked the monster away and sent a Fireball into its corpse for good measure as the hammer swung at me. I sent my spear into my ring and dodged backward and away.
The Dread Knight pressed me, but I managed to stay just out of reach as one of the shield users sprinted at me. I stomped the ground, and a wall of earth blocked it, but the monster ran through it straight at me. As the wall exploded into a shower of the stone, all I needed.
A white-hot Fireball expanded and launched from my hand as it flew toward the hammer Dwarf. The creature was fast enough and managed to use its hammer to hit the spell, but instead of being destroyed, the spell exploded. The undead flew back with such force that it blew apart multiple sarcophaguses before being crushed into the wall.
I turned just in time to see Bowen's golem rip the leg off one of the mechs and drive it into the side. It looked like his has taken a considerable amount of damage so far, but it was still holding strong. Cerila was making short work of the minor undead and Sylvia was still locked in battle with the Dullahan. Ms. Taurus, on the other hand…
A Lich with quickly reviving Dread Knights is holding her back, it seems. I'll have to go and assist her.
I sensed and heard the spells and leaped out of the way as the area where I was exploded with a multitude of elemental magic. The two shield Dread Knights ran toward me, and I sent a Fireball at one, but I gritted my teeth and prepared to dodge as a hexagonal pattern appeared in front of the shield.
My Fireball slid into it and right back at me. It was the first time I'd seen them use anti-magic, but at least it was on a minor scale. A horde of minor undead was starting to pile up close to me as well, but they could be ignored for the time being. I launched into an attack and kept both the Dread Knights at bay.
My reach was superior to theirs, but I couldn't pierce through their shields and overwhelm as quickly as the others. With my magic being blocked, these two would be a little more of a challenge but…
I planted my feet and ran directly at them. The two Dread Knights raised their shields to block, but I jumped into the air and bounded off them straight into the backline. I put a great amount of distance between the two as I ran after the mech. Noticing me, the machine spurred on and moved with a surprising amount of agility and speed as it ran into the protection of an ever-increasing horde of Skeletons.
The squad atop the mech fired down at me, but at my speed, I was able to dodge their attacks even as I got closer. The mech stomped into the horde, crushing its allies. I raised my spear and raised large earthen walls layered behind the next. The mech was quick, but it was no monster. It didn't possess an uncanny ability, and it was still beholden to inertia.
The golem crashed into the stone walls, breaking the first few but eventually faltering at the fourth and fifth. Wit being slowed and trapped, I sent out more spell cores as earthan hands grabbed ahold of it. Unlike the two other mechs that seemed geared toward direct combat, this one must have been used for support or simple transport. It lacked the bulk and strength of its counterparts.
I leapt into the air atop the mech as one of the Skeletons frantically reloaded its handcannon. I ripped the weapon from its grasp and stored it in my ring and kicked the creature in the chest, snatching its…power bag along with it?
What is this stuff? Why is it sparkling and multicolored like rainbow sand?
I ignored it and also stored it as I tore through the undead with my spear. With the gray blade engulfed in flames, I dispatched the helpless group. My spear ran through their hollow skulls as I ripped them to shreds with magic. In the end, I rammed my spear into the top of the mech. Machinery whirred and smoked bellowed out the two Dread Knights engaged me atop the faltering machine, and I defended their attacks as I neared the edge once again.
I lept off and sent a Fireball into the machine, and the entire thing went up with a deafening boom. A pillar of multicolored fire sprang up. I took a moment to take a deep breath. I wasn't out of steam, far from it. My mana reserve had plenty in the tank to continue on.
The Skeletons shambled closer, and I blew a path through them as I made my way back to Ms. Taurus. Bowen's golem was fighting the last mech. One of its arms had been cleanly sliced off, and the black metal was riddled with puncture holes. But the thing was doing its job well.
As I closed in on the fight at the crystal, I watched as Ms. Taurus was suddenly flung to the side, despite there being nothing that directly hit her. Perhaps sensing me, the robbed Lich turned its attention to me and raised its iron staff toward me. Orange runes glowed along its shaft as the red crystal on the end glowed.
I sensed a spell core suddenly approach me, but it was too late. I felt the impact on my side and gasped in pain as I was blown away. It felt like a truck had directly hit me. I rolled across the ground and into a group of Skeletons. But a sudden flash of ice covered them all and froze them solid.
I stood up and inspected my side. The pain was already gone, and when I breathed in, I couldn't feel that anything was broken. Even my armor was relatively undamaged. Usually, I would have broken a rib or four at least, but…whatever Sylvia did to me must be doing wonders to make me sturdier.
I didn't understand what had hit me, and I was hesitant to use Soulsight with how much dense mana and powerful people were moving about. But I needed to see what was happening if I had—
I gritted my teeth as I was forced to my knees. Whenever I tried moving, it felt like an immense weight was pushing down atop me, but only when I moved. I chuckled bitterly.
So…even this one figured out how to use gravity offensively, huh? It's a shame I can't ask for lessons. This Lich was far below the Arch Lich.
Mana left my body and went into the spell core as I pushed against the gravity of the Lich. The creature was glaring at me from a distance as the air warped and wobbled, but eventually, I managed to negate the effects. If there was one thing I practiced, it was using gravity magic on myself. Perhaps I lacked the raw output to use it offensively, but maybe I could mitigate that in the future.
"Well, food for thought," I mumbled as I sprinted toward the Lich.
The Lich only had meager Skeletons protecting it as the entire Dread Knight force was focused on tying down Ms. Taurus. Even with gravity magic randomly slapping her around and pressing her, she wasn't a War God in name only. With gritted teeth and a bloodied face, she thrust her spear into the chest of Dread Knights, pulling them into her and kicking them with so much force she shattered armor and bone.
The Lich tried to suppress me with gravity magic again, but it was fruitless. It sent its minions my way, but I dispatched them with a single swipe of my spear. I closed in on the Lich and grabbed it by its head, crushing it as my spear pierced its chest. Unlike the others, the Lich didn't release any blood and simply fell over into a pile of bones. The rush of pleasure from slaying another undead washed over me as I watched the orange light flicker from its hollow eyes.
It was almost like…the Lich was happy to finally die. I wonder why I get that feeling without any clear evidence. It's not like I can see its face.
I freed my spear of the corpse as Skeletons slumped to the ground. I moved over to the dungeon core shard and thrust my spear into it. Cracks spidered through the structure, and although I couldn't see it, I could feel the mana leaving it. Then, the crystal began to make an audible cracking noise that only grew louder and louder, as did the sensation of mana in the air. I stepped back and away from it, but realized too late.
Damn. It's going to explode, isn't it?