Chapter 18

As it lunged forward, Kai instinctively took a few steps behind. He could hear the guards gasping behind him.

The skeleton landed on its bony feet and looked in between the guards and Kai.

Its eye sockets glowed as fire erupted out of them. Kai’s eyes raked down to its body. It was nothing but bones, barely a low grade undead. With its jagged teeth, it grinned. A twisted smirk contorted its features.

“Stay back,” Kai ordered.

The skeleton seemed to analyse the people for a few seconds. Its smirk only grew as he continued to search for something.

“What is it-”

Before Killian could question, it lunged forward, Its bony hand whipping forward. Kai dodged it and rolled on the ground. He got to his feet immediately and stood next to the skeleton.

“That's a skeleton!”

“Lord Arzan, are you okay?”

The guards shouted out, their voice filled with shock, but he ignored them for the time being.

It looked at Kai and let out a harsh, low, guttural sound out of its teeth. Whatever it yelled, sounded as if a bone was scraping against a stone.

It raised its hand, and formed a fist.

Kai noticed a few patterns pulsated with crimson light across its limbs and ribs.

Those were marks given by a human to it. It wasn't a skeleton borne from a dungeon or something natural.

Kai prepared himself, while giving a look at Killian, signalling him to be on guard.

The skeleton lunged forward once again. Its hands were in the air as it tried to get a hold of Kai.

Kai bent his upper body and turned to his sides, making the skeletal figure pass him, but he slammed his hands into its shoulder, and it stumbled off balance.

It was strong and swift, immediately bolting upright. Whoever had made it had been careful to make sure it could hold its ground in a fight.

Without wasting another second, with a flick of his wrist, he summoned the winds, whispering a quick incantation under his breath.

“[Rise Gales].”

But the skeleton, fueled by unearthly speed, deftly dodged the onslaught of wind, moving with an uncanny swiftness that belied its skeletal form.

The skeleton once again made the same scratchy noise through its gritted teeth.

The glare of fire in its eyes grew.

“Umph!”

Before Kai could think, the skeletal monster tried to grab him by his hand.

Its bony fingers tightly wrapped around Kai as he tried to break free and prepare another spell.

His eyes that were focused on the monster in front of him, shifted to the guards. They were preparing themselves to attack the monster from behind.

“Don't let the bastard touch the lord! Attack him!”

Killian yelled and sneaked from behind. He swung the sword in an arc, trying to hit the skeleton and break its neck into two.

As soon as the sword hit its neck, the bones broke and a gap appeared in between its neck, but the next second, it started to heal.

Killian’s eyes widened.

Kai was not surprised as he already sensed the types of enchantments on it.

Whoever brought life to the skeleton must have been a skilled Mage with a mastery over undead enchantments and the way they worked.
The skeleton’s scratchy voice once again echoed through the silent forest like nails scratching on a chalkboard.

The only other noises were of Kai who took heaving breaths, cursing his body for the nth time.

It turned around immediately and looked at Killian to attack it.

Kai took that moment to cast a spell. He drew the spell structure in his mind, and started pushing mana from his Mana Heart. It was a 2nd circle called [Heat Wave] and took more concentration to use, but if he was right, it would be enough to deal with the skeleton.

As he prepared the spell, Killian actively dodged each strike the skeleton threw at him. The other guards surrounded him, not moving in case they got in his way.

“[Astrum Veil].” Kai said the incantation aloud.

The mana rushed from his body, and sent a wave of heated air towards the monster. It hit him and immediately bursted the insides of the bones.

In the next second, they broke into hundreds of pieces and flew in the air. It almost looked like a firecracker from afar.

“Ahh!” Its hollow voice filled the air as the bones fell to the ground.

Killian and other guards gaped at the charred bones on the ground, some crackling and dropping into the stream, mixing with the water and burying deep inside. The guards stepped on them to make sure it was dead.

“Are you okay?” Killian asked.

“I’m okay,” he stated.

He took a few steps back to take deep breaths. The spell had taken more energy than he initially assumed. Just to make sure the skeleton dies, he had used more than the required mana.

His eyes returned to the damp soil near the stream. He walked closer and picked one of the bones that were everywhere.

As he took it to his hand, he saw the glimmer of crimson energy dying slowly. It turned back to a pure white piece of bone.

Kai squinted his eyes at it.

When the mana died immediately, he noticed the distinct pattern the skeleton carried and the enchantments it had received. The seals seemed to be used to enchant the skeleton's speed and defence, a basic work done well.

He sighed and crushed the bone, seeing it crumble into pieces in his hand and sweeping down, joining the wind that came from the stream. It flew in the air like dust.

He looked back at the guards who had their eyebrows furrowed. A few seemed to be craning their necks to look for any other skeleton that might be in the vicinity, and Killian seemed like he wanted to ask something, but was waiting for him to talk first.

“I was wrong,” Kai said, biting his lips.

His assessment of the mana fiends throughout the venture had been as wrong as it could get.

He had jumped on to the dead mana and the weaver situation, thinking it could only be mana fiends, but those were not the only beings using dead mana.

The guards frowned as he continued. “We are dealing with a worse target than mana fiends. Going by the skeleton's power… we are not going to have it easy.”

“A band of skeletons, my lord?” Killian asked, looking down at a piece of bone by his foot.

“Not just that.”

“What is it then?” he asked.

“It’s a necromancer. That skeletal assailant had enchantment all over it to power it up. A normal skeleton soldier would barely be able to move like that.”

Kai frowned. Necromancy. He'd read up a lot on it. It wasn't just another art of magic; it was a forbidden one which was as bad as selling one's soul to the devil if not worse. He'd always steered away from it.

Each skeleton, each animated husk raised by a necromancer, carried within it not just death, but dead mana.

Necromancers were forbidden just because of the nature of it and how the uses of dead mana by a Mage could easily change the whole persona of that person and corrupt its body.

Though, most necromancers he had read about knew the side effects and readily accepted it in exchange for a chance to get power and a chance of immortality. If he was right, there would be a few lich lords that would be born around this era.

This also explained why monsters had simply went towards the village instead of turning into mana fiends. They were running away from the skeletons and the necromancer.

If he was right, the necromancer they were dealing against used human skeletons that were mostly easier to raise as undead. It wasn't to say monsters couldn't be used, but raising them as an undead was a hard task.

Only the most skilled necromancers would be able to achieve that and there were only a few like those in the history of the world.

“Normally necromancers are much worse to handle. I’m not sure how big of an army the one we are dealing with has. It can be ten or a hundred,” Kai said as he looked at the guards with a serious expression on his face. His eyes were stern, thinking of strategies moving forward.

“Should we retreat? This is getting too dangerous. If it's a hundred, we won't be able to fight,” Killian asked, his eyes roaming around the forest and looking back at the guards.

Kai shook his head.

“No, we can't afford to retreat now. If we leave the necromancer unchecked, his power will only grow. Eventually, it will become a threat too great for the kingdom to handle alone.”

There were more than one instance of a necromancer taking on a kingdom. Strangely, a lot of them only choose the part because of revenge either against another Mage or nobility.

“So, should we keep up on it?” Killian asked, looking back at the guards who seemed a bit nervous now.

“Let’s move ahead, but if it's more than what we can handle, we will retreat.”

Kai ordered, thinking that it was the best strategy they could opt for now.

They started moving ahead. This time, the sensitivity for the surroundings heightened as they walked.

Kai was careful with every step, and he saw the rest of them following his actions.

Their eyes raked through every visible corner in the forest. Now, where were the damn skeletons hiding?

***

Killian watched Lord Arzan attentively.

He couldn’t help but observe his steps as he took the lead.

He hadn't seen Lord Arzan move out of his room much, not back at the Duke's house and not when he had gotten the title of a Baron. But now, things had changed quickly.

He internally frowned as he remembered how this all happened within a matter of a few days.

Even right before when he was fighting the skeletal necromancer, the way he moved seemed to be with practice and was tactical.

He noticed several times that Lord Arzan always took a step back to analyse the opposing enemy and then would lunge forward with calculative movements ahead.

By experience Killian knew that someone with no prior battlefield experience or experience couldn’t do that with so much ease.

But how? How could Lord Arzan learn all of it in no time? He did mention once that he read and learned a few tactics from the books, but it just couldn’t be all. Books wouldn’t teach this much. They just wouldn’t.

“I feel something incoming, be prepared,” Lord Arzan said, his shushed voice filling the air.

The guards looked at each other, but Killian’s eyes shifted from Arzan to focus on the surroundings.

His eyes looked from one tree body to another.

He scrunched his nose up as he tried to smell a similar scent that came from the skeletal body before— dead mana. It smelled like a rotten egg mixed with a corpse. But he didn’t get anything.

As the only sound he could hear was of the moving footsteps of his guards and of Arzan’s he was certain that there was no one.

He said, “But there’s nothing-”

A skeleton jumped from the trees to their left.

Its scratchy voice filled the air. This time, it bore a dagger.

The dagger wasn’t a usual one, but one filled with some sort of energy erupting from it.

The dark aura filled dagger swung in the air, aiming for a guard.

Killian lunged forward and deflected it with his sword. A loud clang resounted and he heard Lord Arzan yell a spell. A gust of wind hit the skeletal monster, making it stumble in its feet.

“There’s more, Killian!” Arzan’s voice came in a hurry.

Killian looked back instinctively.

Three more skeletal figures surrounded them the next second. They have a similar dagger on them and look as threatening as the other.

The guards moved to take their formations to intercept them, already on guard against them while Lord Arzan faced one himself.

The skeleton in front of Arzan thrust forward.

Killian swiftly moved from his position to protect Arzan. He barely deflected the blow, the clang of steel on bone sending shivers down his spine.

The skeleton didn’t even flinch at Killian’s move. It tried to attack further with its dagger, taking steps forward, one after another.

The dagger drew along Killian’s sword.

With that, the rest of the skeletal figures started to attack. Steel swords started clashing against the bones. The skeletons were quick to hurt a few guards.

Killian took a few steps forward and swished with his blade, making it lean back and started aiming for its neck. The skeleton fought back with its dagger.

He gritted his teeth. Each parry, each riposte was fueled with fear gnawing at the edges of his mind.

From the corner of his eyes, he saw Arzan casting spells to protect the guards. For that brief moment, the skeleton drew the dagger across Killian’s forearm.

He hissed in pain.

“Argh!” Killian ignored the pain and charged forward.

His sword made contact with its head first, landing a fast and hard blow. Then with its gut, and finally its knees. It fell to the flow, one leg bent.

Killian took the moment to lash at it with rage as he started attacking with his sword left and right.

A few bones cracked, but it was still standing, the bones healing at a swift pace.

“Lord Arzan!” Killian asked for help, knowing only he could destroy the skeleton in one blow.

He heard Arzan casting the same spell he did for the previous skeleton. Soon, the wave of fire hit the skeleton, making it fall to the floor, cracking its bones loud.

Killian physically felt the wave of heat that Arzan sent through.

His eyes lingered at the broken bones for a second, before seeing how the rest of the guards were struggling.

Although Lord Arzan was quick with his spells, he was not able to manage all the three skeletons alone.

Killian quickened his feet and started bolting forward, hitting skeletons one after another and protecting the guards.

He heard bones cracking under his sword and his movements encouraged the rest of the guards.

“Duck!” Killian yelled at a guard who was struggling against a skeleton.

The guard ducked immediately and the skeleton looked up ahead, distracted. Killian jumped forward, lunging at it and bringing the weight of his sword down.

As soon as his blow hit its shoulder, it stumbled a few steps behind.

Killian took this moment to grab the dagger from its hand and threw it away.

He attacked its shoulder area and swiftly bent to attack its knees.

As expected, without the dagger, the skeleton was useless, privy to his attacks.

With nothing holding back, he thought no more. He started to attack the same monster, over and over. Finding any bony structure and tearing them to pieces of dust that blended with the air.

Soon, the skull fell on the floor.

Killian panted for a second as a satisfied feeling filled his heart. But his attention was soon distracted by a loud cry that came from a guard.

He turned around to see a guard lying on the floor, bleeding heavily from his rib cage area. On top of the guard, the skeletal figure was dragging his fingers on top of him. Scratching sides of his face first, and then going lower.

Killian moved to intercept, but a wave of shimmering energy hit the skeleton, wrapping the attacking skeleton in its crimson sheen.

The skeletal figure froze. Next second, another gust of wind hit its neck, removing its head from the body.

The undead fell on the floor as Killian rushed to the guard, seeing blood all around him. Turning him, he saw that the other guards had taken care of the rest of the skeletons.

A few people looked injured, but they were still standing. Except one.

“Lord Arzan,” he said, looking at Arzan who for the first time in a month looked lost at words as he stared down at the heavily bleeding guard who seemed to be taking his last few breaths.