The Ruined Death Knight

Chapter 199 - Skull Of The Sands

"Beat your highest alert! The enemy could be hiding under your very feet!" Herald yelled to all other Explorers, while especially looking at those who were taking this lightly.

Though he knew that those people could handle themselves, Herald somewhat regret bringing those few that walked like they owned the place.

"Does who aren´t yet aware, the enemy that we could be facing wolves two times your size in every way! Not only that, we would be facing a magic caster using dark arts! The taboo magic that is necromancy!"

"Once you killed something, make sure to kill it twice before those you slew get up to bite your damn lazy a*ses!"

Those few who heard him and were indeed lazing around clenched their weapons harder while looking for any possible danger.

Sadly though, those few were the minority.

Most of them just brushed Herald's words as the usual friendly warning.

Though most of them were in the near 2nd-tier, with some being 3rd-tier combatants.

They weren´t soldiers.

Taught advantage tactics how one should maximize the combat potential of a group overall instead of a soldier.

They instead were Explorers.

People abandoned homes after hearing tales of great fortune and power laying in the ancient tombs and ruins in this huge desert. 

Most of those people were self-taught with the mindset of everyone is up for himself on ton battlefield.

Or rather, exactly such people had to have such a mindset to survive being an Explorer.

The difference between the young and desperate people searching for a quick way to find fortune and glory and those veterans.

Were accumulated mistakes that they had.

Though the many challenges that the desert offered, they survived yet.

Thus making them gain the title of a veteran.

Even though their journey they were newbies that we were far more powerful than them, in the end, they survived.

Because of that, Herald found it very unfortunate for such people to have been blinded by the light called pride.

It was human nature for being proud of someone for recognizing one's accomplishment.

Sighing internally, he walked in the front.

"Let's go! Our destination is the tower!"

Packing up their stuff from their break, they all entered the ruins of the city.

With the priestess and the three magic casters as the core. Herald´s group surrounded them while the remaining group of Isamus stayed at the front with Sylva taking the role as their scout.

Though not a single one of them were trained as a soldier, that didn´t mean that they were stupid enough to disrespect the role of their support. Those are the magic casters in the middle.

Moving in the front, Herald walked beside Isamu who was with Sean.

"Hey Isamu, what you told me before...are you serious?" Herald whispered to Isamu.

Turning his head to face Herald, he nodded in confirmation.

"Yes... though that´s the young´s magic caster guess. What he made sense..."

"If the necromancer that we told you about hasn´t yet left this place, then the possibility of him being an undead is quite high."

Hearing that, Herald cursed under his breath.

"If that is the case, then it will be much harder than I originally expected. But is still doable. The problem is if there isn´t a magic caster at all."

"What do you mean...?" Isamu said with a frown.

"Yo, don´t stare at me like that. If the magic caster has run away, do you believe that he would leave any loot for any of us? Heh, if it was me, I would take everything that I could before I run away." Herald explained while letting out a dry laugh.

Though it might have sounded like a joke to others, Isamu understood the hidden meaning behind Herald's words.

Though his group had their priestess and the revenge of their past comrades in the past. Herald's sole reason for coming here was to get a profit.

Back a few weeks ago they negotiated that his group will only become the bare minimum profit out of this expedition so that they could cover for their supplies. All other stuff from ancient relics or mass of gold would go to Herald and his group.

It was such an outrageous deal that the past him would, without doubt, reject it. But Isamu knew better now.

With their priestess being dead set to go, all she had to do was to leave their already destroyed party and join Herald's group.

Though he knew that she wouldn't do that to join a bunch of randoms, his inner doubt wasn't.

Losing her from his party would be a hefty loss for them.

Caster practicing holy magic was already rare enough in the whole world. And finding one in the desert was all the more so.

Being able to cast the spell or miracle that they so liked to call [Heal Wounds], was extremely valuable after all.

So for revenge on his past friend and future, Isamu didn't mind much of losing potential profit.

Herald though couldn't do the same.

He brought more than 20 people with him, who all expected to get pieces of the awaiting treasure.

While those two continued talking about what to expect in the tower with Sean joining the conversation from time to time.

They soon found themselves in front of the enormous Tower.

"Heh, so that's the tower. It looked impressive from the distance, but upfront it's something else..." Isamu muttered to himself.

"It seems old...what do you two think about this tower?" Sean asked the Priestess and Sylva.

"I don't like it here. I feel something strange upon staring at that tower." Priestess said unsure as to why that was the case.

"It's...huge," Sylva said the first thing that came up in her mind upon watching the tower.

"Hehe, which one do you mean? The tower in front of you or the one beside you." Sean said with a grin on his face.

"Ugh, men." Showing a face of disgust,  she move away from the trio and stared hard at the gate of the tower.

"Alright, everyone! The treasure is just ahead of us! Be it we face a necromancer or monster! They are no match for us! Now let's march-" before Herald had even the chance to finish his motivation speech, he was shortly interrupted by a cold serious voice.

"Wait!" 

Turning his head like everyone else, they started at Sylva in confusion.

Ignoring that she just had ruined the whole mood, she slowly pulled an arrow out of her quiver while raising her bow.

"It isn´t the time to get all compatible while does things are under the sands..." She said as she pulled the string of her bow together with the arrow while aiming up to the air.

"Huh? What do you mean-"

Focusing her mana into her arrow, she whispered a cast and then released the string of the bow.

"Everyone! Prepare for battle!" She yelled as she stared at her arrow.

The arrow that was slightly glowing in light started showing cracks to be gradually spreading through the arrow. 

Upon everyone's stare being focused on the arrow, everyone except her group got surprised that the arrow suddenly burst into tiny pieces in the air.

`[One of Hundred Arrows]´

The small remaining pieces of the arrow suddenly as gravity had lost its meaning started levitating in the air. The mana that each piece of the broken parts had soon started to grow bigger into a shape of thin spike up to the air.

The next moment, once the spikes in the air took up a similar form started to fall directly in front of the gate.

Like a pouring rain hitting the ground, the sand where each spike fell raised the sand while they went much deeper inside the sand.

When every single one of the spikes fell, they were a moment of silence in front of the tower.

"Hey, archer. What was that all about-" Before one of the explorers could even continue to question her. Soon the ground started to shake slightly.

Drawing the next arrow in her bow, Sylva responded. "Don´t underestimate your scout's sense."

As if mines in the ground simulation had been activated, the sand started to exploded upwards to the air, together with the howls of the unresting undead.

"Gwaaaagh!"

"Geeeeawah!"

"Gwaaasagh!"

"Gwweaa-!"

...

In a blink of an eye, 20 or undead wolves started to rise from the ground up, showing their terrific skulls full of killing intent to the killing.

Glancing at the living, they wasted no second to release their instinct and to follow their master's orders.

Kill those who attacked you!

"What the- Everyone! Prepare for battle." Herald yelled out loud.

"Everyone! Those things are of the 2nd-tier! They weaklings!" Isamu added to Harald´s yell as he realized how everyone was momentarily shocked to see so many undead pops up from the ground.

The first undead to fall was pierced through his skull by Sylva who prepared herself beforehand.

Some who saw that got their confidence back while all others just had to do what they could.

Luckily for them, warm light farms gentler than the scorching light of the sun appeared behind them.

"[Holy Light]" The priestess from the back yelled while raising her staff high.

In front of the light, the undead who were about to crash to everyone else started to halt their steps as intense pain that they shouldn´t feel started to appear.

"Gwaaagh!"

"Good job, O priestess! Everyone! Kill those bone skulls!"

Rushing towards the undead, they quickly destroyed them with very much resistance.

"Haha, that was a piece of cake!"

"Those things were nothing!"

"I could fight another 10 of those!"

Seeing the now terrifying undead now destroyed to the ground, some of those explorers kicked their skulls as they felt embarrassed to fear those weak things.

"Heh, if those guys were the guards of the so-called necromancer, then this wouldn´t even be that hard." One of the explorers said while he went towards the gate of the tower.

Taking a step inside the tower, similar to before, the sand exploded up high, revealing another bunch of the undead skull wolves.

Without the man having the chance to run away, 3 of the undead pounced at them and turned him into shreds. Each of that undead takes a part of the man for themselves.

"There is more! Priestess! Use the light!" Herald yelled as he faced the undead in front of him,

Compared to before, they now had no light behind their back as they thought there was only 20 undead.

As for why the wolves came separately, that was behind the order of their liege.

That it was...

`-If someone were to enter the tower or try to attack you, kill them´

As the second wave wasn´t attacked.

The undead responded to the first part of the command.

****

Currently up into the tower

Danzel who was entirely swinging his sword around halted upon seeing a status window appearing in front of his face.

[You received 20 000 XP]

"I see...someone came into the tower.

Sheathing his sword in his scabbard, he walked outside the last floor.