Saintess Summons Skeletons

Chapter 145: Skeleton Soldier Showdown

Chapter 145: Skeleton Soldier Showdown

Pareth stood his ground in the dark.

Name : Pareth Level : 190

Health :217978 / 217978

Stamina : 41983 / 41983

Mana : 18350 / 19000

He was ready. This time he could directly see his enemies, which was more than what he had to deal with until now. Sofia was observing the enemies in question through his vision.

Ten Avian ghosts. Various armor types and weapons, at least two mages. Depending on their levels it might be tough. Retreat if youre at risk, theyre only experience, we can get it somewhere else.

Be careful of ambushes, the one who teleported me there is gone, he could bring reinforcements. Im leaving you to fight here, Ill try out another one of Scriptures rituals.

The necromancy grimoire might have been a trap from Scripture, but the knowledge inside had all proven to be the real thing until now. She still had three unused rituals she knew from there, they were impractical and oddly specific in their function, but one happened to fit the current situation quite well. Its name was The ghostly ward, ghosts couldnt enter it or it would absorb their mana and leave them weakened or dead in a matter of seconds. That was it, it was meant to protect Necromancers when they used ghosts as part of bigger rituals. She had never used it. It was impractical as it required a large amount of fresh blood, but Sofia could summon that. She got to work drawing it with a chunk of chalk on the houses floor.

Pareths weapon morphed into a huge greatshield hiding most of his massive body as he charged forward. His [Sanctified grounds] were almost 400 meters in diameter now and the Avian ghosts were a mere fifty meters away, this whole place was now his battlefield.

Attacks flew out of the Avian mages staves. Pareth couldnt see them, but he could hear the roaring of the fire coming for him. Steady behind his shield, he kept running. The magical attacks exploded on contact, the heat washing over him. He took no damage. The Avian warriors stood ready to stop him, protecting the mages, while two ghosts with lighter gear spread out to either side.

For whatever reason, these ghosts were grounded. They could move much faster and nimbly than Alith could when she was in ghost form but didnt seem to fly. Pareth kept charging. There were four swordsmen, two of which had shields, and two spearsmen, all waiting for him.

Pareth reached the group. He abruptly stopped before being in the range of the spears and lashed out with his weapons that had morphed from a shield into an absurdly long katana. The blade collided with the ghostly shields of the swordsmen, leaving deep dents in the ethereal weaponry. The spearmen ghosts riposted, stabbing at the neck and armpit of his armor of light, failing to injure him despite their best efforts.

Pareth spun around, pushing the spears aside and bringing his katana up in a high arc. The blade sliced through the air, cutting one of the Avian spearmen in half whose ghostly body exploded on the spot in harmless white particles of light. The other three warriors reacted quickly, but Pareth was faster. He darted forward, his blade changed to a spiked fist, striking one of the swordsmen in the head with a straight punch. The avian warrior stumbled backward, his uncorporeal body exploding in a flash of bright light as he touched the ground.

The two defensive warriors were now in close proximity, raising up their shields. The remaining spearman and swordsman circled him warily, waiting for an opening. Pareth was outnumbered, but he had no fear.

Suddenly, one of the Avian mages let out a shrill cry. Pareth heard a sound coming from above, he rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack that turned out to be a lightning bolt, but the swordsman had been ready to intercept him. He managed to land a heavy hit as Pareth moved out of the way of the magical attack, cutting deep into his armor and damaging his ribs. For the first time in this fight, Pareth lost some health. He had quickly disposed of two of the ghosts but he had targeted them because they looked the weakest and had no shields. The other ones were by no means feeble.

Health :187461 / 217978

Pareth sprang to his feet, ready to continue the fight, he used his momentum and advantageous reach to land an uppercut on the swordsman who had injured him and had still been busy recuperating from his strike. The avian swordsman was sent flying up in the air. Another shrill cry came from the second mage, but Pareth who still had his fist up from the uppercut morphed the fist weapon to a greatshield again. The lightning bolt was absorbed by the shield and Pareth could focus on dodging the assault of the spearman and the two shield warriors with nimble backsteps.

He heard a high-pitched whistling sound from behind. Something collided with the back of his helmet with extreme force, then a second projectile hit the same spot almost simultaneously, damaging his skull.

Health :139896 / 217978

These were the avians with light armor, spread out to the far corners of the arena. Pareth turned around and rushed to the closest one. He was reloading a glowing ghostly crossbow. The spearman tried to block Pareths way only to be shoved aside by a heavy shield bash that sent him tumbling back.

Seeing he was targeted, the Avian crossbowman stopped reloading, latching his crossbow to his belt and spreading out his wings. He crouched slightly and was going to take off. Pareth wasnt about to let that happen. [Chains of the four seals]

Pareth sped up as he heard the now-familiar sound of lightning coming down. Narrowly avoiding the attack that struck behind him, he reached the struggling crossbowman who had only had time to break one of the four chains. The greatshield became a war hammer. The strike from Pareth was merciless, smashing against the Avians light helmet from the side; the birdmans head exploded like a crushed ripe fruit.

Another crossbow bolt came from the second crossbowman, glancing off against Pareths armor. Once again, the two shielded warriors approached, and they tried to box Pareth into the corner of the arena. The remaining spearman and swordsman werent far behind, and the mages were worryingly silent.

The war hammer became a giant claymore which Pareth swang in a wide arc above his head. He was giving his opponents a wide opening, but the shield warriors plan was to keep on the defensive, staying barely out of Pareths reach.

[Gravity well]

The avian warriors were taken by surprise and failed to resist the sudden pull, leaving them open and in range. Pareths strike was devastating, cutting both warriors in half at the hip in a single swipe. But he had no time to celebrate, he heard the mages again, and the mana disturbance was so large that even he could feel it

Unable to see the attacks with too little time to recover from the momentum of his swing and swap to the greatshield, he could only protect his upper body with his four [Flying shields of light].

It was uncertain what had hit him but he was sent flying by the impact. The force of the spell was devastating, breaking many bones. Maybe it was thanks to the enchantments carved on them, but the most important ones held out. It also turned out the remaining spearman had similarly suffered from the spell, dying on the spot. So there was at least some good coming out of it.

Health :53101 / 217978

Only one of the melee fighters remained - the one who had injured Pareth and received an uppercut. He was in terrible shape and hadnt expected Pareth to recover from the magical attack so fast. He could do nothing to defend himself against the rapier piercing through his skull.

Pareth blocked a flaming ghostly crossbow bolt flying at him with his left hand. At this point, he had the timing for the bolts well figured out. Finally free to move, he rushed the mages. The dozens of meters separating them were nothing to his Ogre legs. One of the mages tried to cast a spell, but nothing happened, while the other one was now protected by a cubic magic barrier.

The unprotected Avian mage panicked, throwing away his staff which disappeared as it left its hands. He took off, much faster than the arbalest had, managing to get some six meters up into the air before Pareth reached his level.

Pareths weapon became a large clawed glove covering his right hand. He jumped. At the apex of his jump, he was face to face with the fleeing Avian ghost. He caught him by a leg as he fell.

Pareth slammed this mage into the magic barrier of the other. His back bent backward at a very unnatural angle on the barriers corner before his body exploded in soft white light particles. One punch later, and the barrier protecting the second mage who had been frantically channeling some kind of longer spell was no more. Two punches later, and the second mage was no more. He fell back, more lifeless than he already was, his staff producing a sonorous sound as it fell off his hand and hit the ground. His body exploded like the others.

Only the second arbalest was left. He was currently in the process of escaping by phasing through the ground. He looked up at Pareth, then back down.

Pareth rushed, only to see the top point of the Avians helmet disappear through the ground right under his nose.

The glove of light changed to the spiked fist from before. Pareth hit the stone slab under his feet. The cracked stone revealed the top of the avians head. The fist changed back to claws. Pareths hand tightened around the avian ghosts helmet and scalp. He pulled up. The Avians body was stuck inside the ground and his head was inside Pareths hand. Once again, it all disappeared in a weak burst of silent white fireworks.

Pareth was left alone in the dark.

He sat down, waiting for his mana to come back.

Holy Pareth are you okay?