Chapter 53: The bridge [13]
I had slain 3 monsters of the same rank as me in just a few seconds, which was really impressive for how I’ve been progressing so far.
It would have been time-wasting if I fought each one by one.
That said, I dashed towards the direction where the four skeletons I had just killed came from, where there was another tunnel entrance — that was the path that would lead me out of this mountain.
However, that same path right now was being used by the other skeletons that were now coming my way — I could hear their bone rattling sounds.
Before I reached the entrance, I finished off the skeleton whose skull I had destroyed and was now currently being rebuilt again.
[You have killed a Low Greater Monster, Undead Skeleton.]
I continued and stopped in front of it and raised another wall, sealing the entrance.
I was surrounded on both sides.
Soon, I felt a powerful force hit one of the walls that I had raised, forcing me to look behind — which was the one closing the entrance of the tunnel where I had come from.
It was the giant skeleton that was hitting the wall, having probably heard the alert scream from his companions.
At that moment, multiple attacks hit the wall behind me, shaking the cave slightly, some small debris fell from the force of it.
It was the rest of the army, they were here, I could feel their mana signatures.
I was in a kind of small predicament here.
I couldn’t escape from behind, because that meant I had to get through a whole army of undead skeletons. So the only option was to face the giant skeleton, which was what I had planned from the start.
It wouldn’t be that difficult to kill the giant undead skeleton, from its energy I could feel that it was on the same rank as me but in Mid class. I just had to kill it fast enough before the army broke through the wall behind me.
"Ezio, you really ruined my hunting session." I said.
’Not my fault.’
"And whose fault is it then?"
’You distracted yourself, so that’s on you. Think of this as a kind of training where you have to be focused even when you’re talking to me. Like multitasking.’
Training my foot.
I walked to the middle of the cave and stopped. Then I let the wall that was holding back the giant skeleton crumble.
The giant undead skeleton walked in holding the same huge battle axe on its shoulders.
The giant undead skeleton only walked a few meters in and stopped beside two pillars, his teeth chattering as he looked at me with an empty stare.
I clasped my hands together and started stretching my body, popping some of my bones from here and there.
"That was a good stretch."
Once I was done, my hand was already resting on the hilt of my katana.
The giant skeleton removed the axe from his shoulders and slammed it on the ground, sinking into the earth. After that, the giant undead skeleton started walking forward, dragging the axe behind him with one hand, the blade carving a line through the earth.
The giant undead skeleton released a hollow scream and then started running towards me, the ground shaking from his movement.
I didn’t wait for him to reach me, mana infused in my legs and then I launched myself forward leaving a streak of white and black thanks to my outfit’s colors.
I reached the giant undead skeleton in a blur and at that moment the blade of his huge axe was already descending to split my face in half.
Using my left foot, I pivoted my body and moved to the side, dodging the axe by a hair’s length. The giant undead skeleton’s attack missed and hit the ground heavily, raising a cloud of dust and debris.
My katana screamed as I drew it and thrust towards the giant undead skeleton’s chest, aiming for the red core between its ribs.
I wanted to end the confrontation fast but the giant skeleton seemed to be against my wishes. He pulled his heavy axe from the ground and raised it up, blocking my attack with the metallic shaft of the axe.
At the same time the giant undead skeleton spun his axe and slashed at my chest. I stepped to the side and dodged the axe easily, then at my will a spike made of darkness rose from the ground and thrust towards the giant undead skeleton with speed.
The undead skeleton suddenly moved with a faster speed such that he was able to raise his axe and slash it down, cutting the black spike in half.
When he looked ahead, the sharp tip of my katana was inches away from his skull, threatening to pierce it, but suddenly my attack was parried back, sending my arm back.
I used that momentum to retreat with some perfect backflips.
Now, on the skeleton’s head, a huge bone-like spike was attached to its forehead — during my attack, the giant undead skeleton had used some sort of power that made a bone spike rise from his forehead, saving his skull from getting stabbed.
"So your power is to manipulate bones..."
Certain monsters and beasts have special abilities that differentiate them from the average monster or beast. If you remember, I had fought two beasts having such special types of powers — the bamboo praying mantis who used wind magic and the fire monkey that used fire magic.
And in this case, from just a glance, I could already guess the power of the giant skeleton in front of me.
Well, it was easy, skeletons are bone creatures so the power had to be something related to that.
The question now was whether he could use it only on his body or could he use it at long range.
So I attacked to find out.
I pressed my right foot forward and a sharp wall of compressed darkness rose horizontally and moved forward at a fast speed to cut the giant undead skeleton in clean halves.
The giant undead skeleton didn’t run away and instead slammed his giant axe on the ground, and a wall made of bones rose up and came into contact with my attack. The moment they both collided, a small explosion of black energy and shattered white bones spread aside and the cave shook.
Some of the bone fragments flew towards me thanks to the explosion, moving at a fast enough speed that if they hit me, they could hurt me real bad and even kill me. So I raised up another wall of darkness that shielded me from them.
Before I could even let the wall crumble, the giant undead skeleton moved so fast that it closed the distance between us in a blink. His axe slammed against my wall with so much force that a huge crack formed on it.
I used that opportunity, when his axe was down, to jump over the wall and kick the giant undead skeleton, who was pushed back, his feet digging into the ground.
The skeleton chattered its teeth as if in anger and ran towards me.
I did the same, and we met in the middle. Our weapons clashed, releasing sparks in the dark, the ground groaning and cracking under us, forming a small crater.
My katana was already moving and slashing with elegance towards the giant undead skeleton’s chest. But my attack never landed because the giant undead monster moved again with a speed that wasn’t supposed to be possible for his huge body, and dodged my attack.
His axe slammed down towards my extended arm, intending to chop it off. But I didn’t give him that pleasure when spikes made of darkness rose from below and thrust up, blocking the axe and sending the giant undead skeleton’s arm back.
And an opening was created.
I pulled my left arm back and clenched my hand into a fist — I enhanced my fist and then, like a whip, my arm pushed forward with so much explosive force and punched the undead skeleton right in the chest.
Crack!
The ribs cracked into bone fragments, and the giant undead skeleton was sent flying back like a rag doll. His body flew and crashed against one of the pillars, bringing it down, shaking the cave intensely.
Shit, I pray that this cave doesn’t fall on us.
The giant undead skeleton got up as if it hadn’t just been hit with a punch that was enough to crack through stone.
I had tried to break the core with that punch, but the giant undead skeleton’s chest was just tough.
The broken ribs of the giant undead skeleton started forming themselves again and became brand new as if I hadn’t cracked them just now.
I infused mana in my legs and then dashed forward, closing the gap between us in a heartbeat.
Our weapons clashed and each time they did, sparks would be produced that would light up the air for a moment before going out. It kept happening again and again as metal clashed against metal — inside the dark cave, it looked like flashing fireworks were taking place.
And as we continued to exchange attacks, soon I noticed that there was something special about this giant undead skeleton.
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