I don't really know how much time passed up on the wall before I saw another group of dungeoneers making their way toward the fort, after having exited the stairs leading to the third floor. My best guess was that it had been a few hours, but it very well could have been just a few minutes. I didn't bother checking my status to find out. There wasn't a point in doing so. I crawled quickly along the wall until I knew it was safe to stand, having reached the stairs leading down into the courtyard. "Skeletons, bury yourselves! We have incoming! Let's send these bastards back to Hell!"

At my command, any skeletons that hadn't already buried themselves leapt down into their burial pits, and pulled the dirt down on top of them, while a few others ran out from a supply shed, and stomped on the dirt, making it as even as they could do in a short amount of time, before running back into the nearest supply shed. I myself ran for the barracks, seeing Lilith waiting inside, her rapier in hand.

We both gave each other a small nod as we hid inside the building, ready to jump out the moment the fighting started. I heard one of the dungeoneers yell something out, presumably to one of the disguised skeletons, who then opened the gate, the sound of wooden gears pulling back against the gate, letting the dungeoneer team walk into the courtyard.

Paying close attention, I could hear their footsteps moving deeper into the courtyard, where all the burial pits waited, each of them filled with multiple skeletons, buried just enough to be hidden, but not enough that they wouldn't hear the call to ambush. However, the call didn't come, and the footsteps stopped all of a sudden.

"We're the first ones here?" A male must have asked, though I wasn't sure who. "I doubt it. Nick, what do you think? Were we the fastest among our respective groups?" A woman responded, and I heard the sounds of what must have been a staff tapping the ground a few times.

I heard someone sniffing the air audibly. "The air smells wrong. Let me... Wait, shit! Ambush! Mary, barrier now!" Another voice shouted out. At the word 'ambush,' I could hear every skeleton in the courtyard claw their way out of their burial pits, the nearest ones immediately throwing themselves at the dungeoneer team.

Our cover blown, I heard the sounds of arrows sailing down into the courtyard, along with a few spells being cast. I grit my teeth, let out a metaphorical breath to release any lingering tension, and leapt out from behind the door, Lilith following close behind.

The sight that greeted me was a nightmare. A group of twelve dungeoneers were clustered together, with three burly people at the front attempting to hold back what was a massive tide of low level skeletons, all of whom were battering at the guardians, while some were managing to slip past them, and attacking the others. This however, didn't mean that we were winning. It was a massacre for our side, skeletons going down one after another, each dungeoneer being given various buffs, barriers, along with a few offensive spells being thrown out as well. I could see one of the dungeoneers swinging around a massive club that could have very well passed for a tree, while the other two were using their own massive shields to crush and break bones.

Lilith and I leapt into the fray, both of us activating [Haste] in order to keep up with the whirlwind of bones. In order to break their lines even further, we both went for the guardian who held the club, my axe and Lilith's rapier battering and tearing through his barrier before it could be fully reformed, the magic swirling around him like a hurricane.

"Nick, I can't hold the barrier on Vance! Get the pressure off of him!" Someone screamed, to which two people shouted their response in unison. "I'm on it!" Suddenly we were beset by what seemed like a literal storm of arrows, some glowing, some shooting straight through our ribcages, missing entirely, while others still seemed to be arrows made of a type of nothing that I couldn't even describe. I felt several scrape across my body, and the blistering pain as each one scraped off a little more bone. Before I could actually feel the unbearable agony however, I noticed healing magic being cast on me from the battlements.

Too focused to be grateful, I began casting [Thunder Step] repeatedly, appearing in and out of the dungeoneer formation, slamming my axe into everyone's barrier using the momentum that [Thunder Step] granted me. Each and every one of them shattered like glass, although the shock of doing such a maneuver had bent the handle of my axe backward, rendering it almost unusable. Throwing it at the one they called Vance, I scooped up a sword, ducking under a shield that moved with all the force of a falling mountain. "Vance! Lilly, heal him!" Someone yelled, and I heard another arrow whistle by my head as I almost fell forward in order to avoid it. Scrambling out of the line of fire, I ducked back into the wave of skeletons for a moment.

Taking less than a moment to collect myself, I burst out into the fighting again, alongside Lilith who had lost her non-dominant arm in just a few short exchanges. "Lilith, pull back and get healed!" I screamed, sending out several slashes toward a ranger who moved like lightning, using his bow to deflect each strike. Lilith backed off for a moment, grabbing her severed arm while ducking under three arrows that had been fired at the same time by another ranger who was screaming [Multi-shot] along with a variety of other skills.

Four low level skeletons moved in to assist me in place of Lilith, although it seemed the bow wielding maniac in front of me was unstoppable, the wind whistling in response to his movements. Stepping back for a moment, I discarded my shield in favor of another fallen sword, my heel accidentally crushing the skull of one of my fallen comrades. I stepped back in, although I was slower now without [Haste] backing me up. Out of mana already, I had to rely on my own wealth of combat experience and a skeleton stepping up one after another to help me put immense pressure on the man before us. The bow whipped around, cracking me across the face, sending my jawbone flying away.

Searing pain surged through me as the damage was done. However, this pain was nothing compared to the anger that flooded me immediately afterwards. I threw the sword from my left hand at him, before stepping around two skeletons to my right, my anger telling me that I needed to kill someone. It didn't matter who.

I saw a cleric healing the guardian called Vance, who was holding his leg with both arms, his weapon a few feet away, and fortunately for me, he had no barrier. The ranger attempted to block me, though two more skeletons taking my place prevented him from doing so, six weapons managing to create a stalemate that he couldn't break out of. I found myself stepping forward, past their line of defense.

A mage pointed her hand at me, and began chanting a spell, her eyes wide, a ruby staff held in her other hand. The other ranger fired five arrows in rapid succession at me, two of them missing, while the other three tore off my left arm at the shoulder. The pain was horrific. I took another step forward, and found myself staring down at the wounded man, an axe stuck in his thigh. The cleric swung a mace at me with clear desperation, her other hand on the man's thigh, a faint green light emanating from where it had come in contact with the wound. I saw a male cleric turning towards me, an amulet held in his hand, beginning to shine with what I could only describe as divine light.

I stepped to the left, avoiding the mace, and shoved my sword straight through the terrified man's heart, before tearing it back out. It took a moment for the dungeoneers to register what had happened as I a familiar feeling rushed through me.

Level increased to 27! Hp, Mana, Stamina restored!

Injuries fully recovered!

Enemies killed at Level 26: 127

[View Details]

My limbs regenerated, my mana returned, my health restored, I looked up to see the male cleric cast a spell, blasting me backward, into the mass of remaining skeletons. I could feel my body immediately begin to scream in pain again, as it felt like something was burning me from the inside out. "Vance!" Someone shrieked, before I could hear three people collectively screaming with a mix of rage, sorrow, despair, and grief. "Come and get me if you want revenge, you assholes!" I shouted, using [Dark Speech] for the first time in quite awhile.

In the next moment I saw a piercing streak of light shatter half the skeletons in front of me, and I could see the other ranger, who had shot five arrows in an attempt to stop me. His eyes were burning, tears falling, and his teeth were grinding together. I could see the mage and cleric were in similar states, although it was clear that the cleric was far more distraught than the other two, which worked out in my favor. The less their healers could do, the better.

With no skeletons blocking my path, and nobody else in my immediate vicinity to take cover behind, I used a [Thunder Step] to close the gap between me and one of the other guardians, a woman who was wielding a wooden shield and a mace. She never saw me coming, as I appeared behind her with a thunderclap, bringing the sword down into her shoulder. She screamed, her shield lowering just a bit as the blood began leaking from her body. Before I could strike another blow however, I felt something slam into me, sending me to the ground as my ribs cracked.

As the healing magic cast by Iliana began to work on my bruised and battered body, I looked up to see the edge of a massive shield falling toward my neck, and I panicked, using both [Thunder Step] and [Haste] to move out of the way, appearing behind all the other skeletons. I heard the sound of metal crushing and breaking the bones of my fallen comrades, and a loud thud from roughly where the shield must have landed. "Nick, we can't hold like this! We need to start pulling back!" A mage shouted, recreating the barriers that I'd broken earlier.

"I got it! David, heal Ivy! Jacob, grab Vance! We can still revive him if we get out of this, but you and the rest of Blueberries need to get over the wall, and get a headstart! We'll cover you! Now move!" I heard the impossibly fast ranger that must have been Nick shouting in response.

Revive? You can revive them? Oh hell no, you don't!

I forced myself back to my feet. I'd leveled up, only to be knocked down to a point where it was like death had his fingers grasping my soul. "No way am I letting you recover..." I muttered to myself. My body still felt like it was on fire, but the pain was weakening. I found Lilith at my side as the remaining skeletons to join the battle were slowly forced to follow the dungeoneers while they shifted the battle toward the walls.

We ran back into the fight, our bodies bloody, battered, and breaking, but still functioning. We hadn't lost yet.