Chapter 47: 47: Island of bones (2)
Harley and Vernox observed the shores of this distant island. The light that penetrated through the fog still made this place quite bright.
The lands were filled with bones of all sorts of creatures. There were the ribs of what looked like a creature with an exaggeratedly long horn on its nose. There was another skeleton which resembled that of a serpent, and even far away they could see a colossal skull lying on the ground.
"We don’t have much time. Anything we face, we have to blitz it. Our bodies would be restored once we get out of this trial," Vernox spoke, grasping the sword in his hands once more. His golden eyes scanned the bone-strewn landscape with cold calculation.
Harley held the silver sword in his teeth, opening the coat he wore. He then tore a piece of the white shirt he wore inside and used it to tie his wounded leg. The arrow that had been shot at his leg was already removed, but the wounds were still open. He wouldn’t just regenerate on his own. The makeshift bandage quickly turned crimson, but it would hold for now.
"Blitz it, huh?" Harley muttered around the blade, tightening the knot with a sharp tug.
"Easy for you to say. I still feel pain, ya know."
Vernox didn’t smile this time. He simply nodded toward the straight open view ahead of them, deciding to go deeper into the island.
"Don’t slow me down."
The two of them moved.
They advanced at a quick pace, holding their weapons close to their chests as they scanned the environment for dangers.
Harley in particular didn’t like the sensation this place gave him. He was going to face something unknown, and that was what scared him.
’If I had a heart my entire body would be shivering from my heart rate.’ His eyes darted upwards, and he waved his sword in an arc, slicing a bone mid-air.
"Where did that thing come from?" Vernox turned around, seeing the bone that was cut.
"I don’t—"
*DOOOOM!*
Then the ground began to tremble.
From the carpet of bones beneath their feet, small fractures spider-webbed outward. Pale, skeletal hands punched upward through the debris—clawed fingers made of fused finger bones and shark teeth. One after another, more and more of the things began to rise.
"Oh no. Undead creatures." Harley gritted his teeth. Meanwhile Vernox raised his sword to his chest level, ready to attack.
’What the hell are those things?!’ Harley reeled at the disgusting appearance of the creatures.
They were gaunt, bipedal creatures pieced together from bones, weeds and even bits and pieces of flesh left on the island. Their bodies were chaotic patchworks—human torsos fused to the long, powerful legs of some extinct predatory bird, arms ending in jagged clusters of ribs sharpened into blades. Their heads were mismatched skulls, some with elongated snouts, others with multiple rows of teeth, all glowing with the same bright golden light in their empty eye sockets. They moved with unnatural, jerky speed, bones rattling loudly as they charged.
Harley spat at the ground, tightening his grip on the silver sword in his hand and slashed downward in one fluid motion. The blade cleaved through the first one’s skull, immediately making the entire body crumble. But even as the body collapsed, the scattered bones twitched and began to pull themselves back together with another head that was intact.
Vernox was already moving. His sword flashed in a wide arc, shattering two more in quick succession.
"Aim for the head! That’s what keeps them alive!" Vernox shouted, and Harley continued to attack, over and over and over and over.
{You have slayed a scheme 5 creature, bone wraith}
{You have slayed a scheme 5 creature, bone wraith}
{You have slayed a scheme 4 creature, bone wraith}
The Oracle sang in his ears, and he completely blocked himself from his hearing and only focused on what he could see ahead of him right now.
Harley adjusted his stance, driving his sword straight into the next creature’s eye socket. The golden light inside was extinguished with a hiss, and the entire thing crumbled into inert bones.
But there was no time to breathe.
From the thick mist deeper inland, more shapes began to emerge—an endless horde. Four-legged nightmares assembled from mismatched predator limbs burst forward on all fours, elongated skulls snapping hungrily. Behind them lumbered massive, hulking things built from the heavy bones of sea giants and beached whales, their shoulders broad and their arms ending in clubs made of fused vertebrae. They swung their bone-maces in wide, crushing arcs.
Worse still were the flying threats stitched from delicate wing bones of giant bats and seabirds. They swooped down from the small fog-shrouded cliffs, screeching with voices like scraping bone on bone, razor-sharp talons extended.
Harley and Vernox stood back to back against each other, fighting off the horde of creatures. Their attacks never failed to hit the head of a creature. Even if they were outnumbered, their strength could keep them going for a long time, but they couldn’t fight forever.
Harley didn’t know how long it had been since he had been swinging his sword. At some point, he stopped hearing anything around him and just focused on swinging; there were no other thoughts.
For if he were to falter even a single swing, he would die. He swore not to die in this trial. Even if his hand was going to be cut off in the worst case, he didn’t care.
When he couldn’t swing in time he punched and headbutted a creature so hard its skull exploded. But he kept going also because of another reason: he really didn’t want to lose to Vernox, who seemed to be even more determined than he was.
{You have gained a new attribute, State of Slaughter}
’Let’s see who falters first.’ Harley smirked, continuing the onslaught.
The ground kept splitting open. More of the rattling horrors clawed their way out in an unending tide. No matter how many they destroyed, two more seemed to rise from the scattered remains or slither out of the mist. There was no end to them.
Harley’s wounded leg burned with every step, but adrenaline kept him moving. Eventually, he finally heard Vernox’s voice.
"There’s too many! We can’t fight them all!"
Vernox parried a snapping jaw, then kicked the creature back and shattered its head. "We don’t fight them all. We run! Head for the colossal skull—keep moving forward!"
They broke into a desperate sprint, slashing and dodging as they went. Harley’s silver sword carved through anything that got too close while Vernox cleared a path ahead. A flying creature dove at Harley’s face; he slashed upward, clipping its wing and sending it spiraling into the swarm behind them.
The island wasn’t large. There was a very small hill that they had to pass over to reach the skull, and the creatures even followed them up there.
As they climbed over the small hill the colossal skull came into full view, resting like a small mountain at the edge of a wide bone plateau. The horde seemed to thin slightly here, as if even the skeletons were wary of what lay inside.
Then a low, rumbling growl echoed from within the enormous eye socket.
Harley skidded to a halt, eyes widening. "What the—?"
Inside the colossal skull, curled up and sleeping peacefully, was a creature that looked like a grotesque parody of a baby giant. It had the pudgy, fat body of a human infant, rolls of pale, rubbery flesh spilling over itself, but its head was massively oversized, almost as wide as its own shoulders.
The thing stood over ten meters tall even while sitting slumped against the inner wall of the skull. Tiny horns protruded from its bald scalp, and its mouth hung slightly open, drooling thick strands of greenish saliva that sizzled where they touched the bone floor.
Its chest rose and fell with each thunderous breath, sending faint tremors through the ground.
The remaining horde behind them hesitated, rattling uncertainly, as if afraid to wake the sleeping giant.
Vernox’s golden eyes narrowed. He planted his feet and raised his sword, voice low and steady. "Harley... get ready. That’s our target. I’m going all out to kill that thing. We only have a few hours left."
[2 hours left]
"Buy me some time!" Vernox shouted, stabbing the black sword into the ground and closing his eyes.
Harley kept quiet, gritting his teeth and turning around to face the incoming horde. Seeing them coming in a wide arc, he simply focused on the nearest one and rushed forward.
"ARGH!" Harley’s arms were already beginning to get weak, so he quietly chanted a verse.
"Kneel, and be remembered." Instantly he felt a surge of energy in him. It wasn’t even enough to make him back at full health, but his arms were stable again.
*BOOM!*
A huge explosion occurred behind Harley, making a huge wave of fire wash over the battlefield. The creatures pushing Harley were pushed back in an instant.
"What the hell?" Harley turned around and staggered back a step, silver sword lowering in pure shock. "What the hell... Vernox?!"
Ahead he could see a person who had the same long black hair, but with inhuman features. Two long black horns curved upwards from his head, slit eyes like that of a dragon. The majority of his body was covered in red scales, and he had two draconic wings on his back, wide as he lunged into the colossal skull.
The baby giant stirred inside the colossal skull, its enormous eyelids fluttering open. Sickly golden light flared in its eyes as it sensed the intruder above it.
