Blood Legacy: New World Of Doom

Chapter 168: Skeleton Officer

The Augias they had rescued earlier was one of the most massive, but it was only the third largest of its group. Two other creatures towered over it by several meters, the dominant ones of the herd.

The remaining six creatures were almost half the size, more like the height of an ordinary giraffe. Their strength was much less, but their mobility was far superior to that of the three behemoths. Ikaris determined that they were juveniles.

Scanning the battlefield more carefully, Malia suddenly pointed her finger at the largest Augias and shouted, "Hey, look!"

Ikaris and the others followed the direction of her finger and noticed a frightened tenth Augias, tiny compared to the other nine. This one was cowering terrorized between the legs of the largest Augias, who consequently didn't dare move for fear of exposing its offspring to the hungry Skeletons.

The huge creature stood still to protect its cub, but the Skeletons were having a hard time penetrating the thick leather of its skin. Ordinary Undeads with their rusty swords were just not able to harm it even if they were to keep at it all day long.

Regrettably, they were not alone. Seeing that they were getting nowhere, some of the larger Skeletons uttered an ominous cackle to instruct them to retreat and four of them swooped down on the creature. Now it could only bleed and be slowly devoured in silence.

When the most formidable of these Skeletons, an even more intimidating Undead than the one Ikaris had ambushed, raised his greatsword over the neck of the huddled behemoth, they knew it was bad news

The Skeleton's long claymore glowed dimly, and with a sharp thrust he drove it deep into the creature's throat. A strange reddish metallic sheen deflected some of the force of the impact, but the tip of the blade still sank several dozen centimeters.

The excruciating pain caused the previously stoic victim to roar in pain and subconsciously it shifted from its previous position, exposing its cub to the Undeads. The baby Augias whinnied in terror to call for help, but it was too late.

A pleading neigh then abruptly echoed from the Augias' mouth that had led them here. Ikaris and the others did not speak its language, but understood its request.

'Am I capable of defeating this Skeleton?' He asked Magnus mentally.

'If you play all your cards and strike fast and hard... Maybe.' The Vampire didn't dare lie.

"That's enough." The teen said as he drew his sword. To the others he ordered grimly, "Attack."

He did not have to repeat himself twice. The scene of the Augias protecting his cub had moved them. The first to strike was Ruvaen, the elf who loved the forest and nature.

Grabbing his dagger, he threw it with precision at a Skeleton that was about to take a bite out of the baby Augias. The Undead's skull was knocked aside by the force of the blow, but another Skeleton immediately took its place. Without hesitation, Ruvaen equipped one of his javelins and speared it with a perfect throw.

Swiiish! Swiiish!

Even without his bow, the elf was devastatingly accurate, and in under a second, he disposed of all the javelins he'd brought with him, eliminating 6 Skeletons in total. He finally drew his sword.

"Let me save the cub." He declared without giving them a chance to argue. "You take care of the others."

"I'll take care of this Skeleton." Ikaris immediately chimed in, pointing the creepy Undead onto the back of the larger Augias. "Kailu, focus on the injured if there are any. Don't take any chances."

Before Malia and Liam could ask him if he needed their help, he accelerated sharply, finally showing the full extent of his agility. With his partial transformation, he was almost ten times stronger and more agile than a very athletic man of his build.

In the blink of an eye, his figure exceeded 200 kilometers per hour, becoming a complete blur. This was the first time Ikaris had dared to move that fast and he was not used to it. He activated his Stealth Spell and pushing with his legs against the ground he took off into the air like a cannonball.

He visualized the same stellar result as against his first Undead, but what ensued jolted him cruelly back to reality. The Skeleton who was about to stick its blade a second time in the neck of its target suddenly froze, its claymore lifted above its head and spun around with superhuman speed.

Clang!

The clash of their weapons shook Ikaris' arms to the bone and before he could recover from his stupor, a brutal front kick sent him crashing back to the ground. He got up with a somersault, but his eyes turned serious when he saw the deep imprint of his opponent's skeletal foot in his leather armor. Without his armor, he would probably have puked his guts out.

He looked up at his enemy and turned off his stealth mode. Since he was spotted, he might as well challenge him openly. He also took the opportunity to study his appearance.

This Skeleton was about two meters tall and its skull had long curved horns on each side. Its jaw was disproportionately large and filled with long fangs. Two greenish flames danced in its empty eye sockets and its bones were black as ink.

Although it had not had time to regenerate any of its organs nor shreds of flesh, the aura emanating from this Undead was several times more dangerous than the Skeleton Sorcerer he had previously defeated. Naturally, he did not try to use his Appraisal Spell on this thing. It was a waste of time.

'This Undead was either a Minotaur or a Demon when he was alive.' Magnus informed him in his head gravely. 'Its Sparks are all atrophied, but its experience and some passive abilities remain. It seems to have recovered some bits of memory from when it was alive. It must have been a soldier in the past, probably an officer because of its strength and the allegiance of the other Skeletons.

It's a Body Lord Sorcerer at least, but not human. Remember that. Its basic physical attributes are not its weakness. Since it can't use spells yet, it's safe to say you're on equal footing. This is your chance to test your limits.'

"Vrevre!" The Skeleton officer had no intention of giving him time to strategize.

Even if its intelligence was limited, its instincts as a commander remained. Using the troops at their disposal was the logical reflex of any general.

All of the Skeletons that had been attacking the baby Augias and its parent suddenly lost interest in them and pounced on Ikaris like a pack of hungry piranhas at once. Ruvaen was so taken aback that he forgot to fight.

The youth's heart pounded at the sight, but his unflappable composure immediately took over. Connecting to his Necromancy Spark, he commanded in a clear, articulate voice with great spirit,

"Attack that Skeleton."

The Undeads that were about to swoop down on him braked sharply, sometimes even stumbling because of the suddenness of the counterorder. Their bones creaked as they received this contradictory order, but as soon as Ikaris touched them and gave them some of his Mana, their hesitation disappeared.

Like puppets controlled by invisible wires they slowly turned with frightening synchronization toward their previous leader and suddenly charged at it.

Ikaris staggered after they left, a small puddle of sweat forming underneath him after touching more than fifty Undeads. That was his limit.

There were more to come. The ones he had not been able to touch, began to engage him again after a few seconds of hesitation but he was ready. In a few swings of his swords he slashed through more than twenty Skeletons before Ruvaen took over.

Together they managed to fight their way back to the huge Augias and its cub. The Skeleton leader still stood on its back.

The Skeletons that Ikaris had temporarily taken control of had started climbing up the giant creature's body to get to it, and it had crouched over its offspring to shield it from the onslaught at all costs, not yet realizing that the terrifying Skeleton on its back was their target.

At the foot of the Augias, Ikaris saw the Skeleton Minotaur mechanically slaughtering its minions with its claymore, showing no sign of dismay. Being an amnesiac Undead had its perks.

Its speed and technique was as breathtaking as one could expect from a former soldier and Lord Sorcerer. It went without saying that none of those puny Skeletons managed to touch a single one of its bones. Their broken bones littered the back of the Augias, forming a messy pile of whitish fragments.

Before the victorious Skeleton had time to rally any more minions, Ikaris again leapt toward his enemy, but landed safely on the Augias' back a few feet away.

"Now it's between you and me." He proclaimed in a low voice as he raised his guard.

After a quick thought on how to proceed, the teen connected with his Necromancy and Black Magic Sparks. His eyes began to glow crimson, then black, and he slowly articulated with utmost concentration,

"Black Veil."