Part Twenty-Seven

“Well, well, well, would ya look at that. Turns out I was right. Heheheheh.”

?...? ?...? ?...?

“Uh, no one? I just kinda said it ‘cause it sounded right. Yeesh, now you three are starting to sound like Ash. I don’t need four sarcastic know-it-alls.”

With the Undead dealt with, there was nothing to stand between me and the eastern tower. And luckily, there was a staircase inside, just as I’d predicted. I was finally starting to figure out how this Dungeon operated, which was only natural given how long I’d been in here. It really seemed to enjoy contrived gimmicks like this, something I wasn’t really a fan of.

Why would there ever be a tunnel inside the fort? It undermines the whole point of building the walls and locking the gate. I know this is a Dungeon, but couldn’t they have designed this better? I’m not expecting it to be fully realistic, as that would be highly irritating to deal with, but couldn’t they have done a better job? Maybe make the gate from something slightly less sturdy? Haaah, whatever. As long as I’m getting in.

*…*

Just as I entered the tunnel, Ash sent me a warning that something had emerged from the keep, a beast-like Undead covered in more Miasma than any other we’d seen in here. The creature immediately began sniffing around the gate before heading towards the north tower. It was evidently going to hunt me down. I told Ash to keep an eye on it, as I had my own problem.

“Eyaaaaaa.”

“Yeah, that checks out. Of course there’d be a guard down here.”

A large, armor-covered Undead stood in the tunnel, holding a tower-shield as well as a longsword. This was probably the best-equipped Undead I’d seen yet, as even its armor seemed high-quality. It was also probably the most powerful too, as it immediately cloaked its sword and shield in Aura, and shifted into a battle stance.

Death Warden

Rank: B

Description: A powerful Undead usually tasked with guarding important locations or people. Wardens possess the same properties as other Undead, as well as knowledge on Mana Arts, usually ones relating to swordplay or the defensive arts.

This was bad. Not only was I faced with a powerful enemy while I was physically and mentally drained, but there was a second Undead pursuing me. A pincer attack by both of them was sure to get me killed, but I had nowhere to go. And so I quickly made a decision, one I hopefully wouldn’t regret.

“You three, go tell Ash to fight whatever Undead is coming this way. You don’t have to kill it, just hold it off long enough for me to dispose of this one. Got it?”

^…^ ^…^ ^…^

I received three very pleased replies from them, though they were gone by the time I tried to respond. My familiars could communicate with each other the same way I could talk to them, so they must’ve seen just how much Miasma was coming off that thing. To them, it was basically a buffet of delicacies. Hopefully they wouldn’t get in over their heads, but I couldn’t really worry about them right now. The Death Warden was already charging at me.

*Clang, clang, clang, clang!*

Letting the enemy take the opening move was a mistake. Not only was the Warden strong, but its movements were also deft. Each blow seamlessly moved into the next, and it used that to press me harder and harder, slowly causing me to lose ground. And because of how low my mana had gotten, I really didn’t have the room to try and launch a counter offensive to turn things around.

Grk, shit, this isn’t good. My hands are going numb from deflecting its blows. I might end up dropping one if this keeps up. That’ll just be the end of me. Perhaps it was wrong to send my familiars away? No, being caught by both Undead would be even worse. I’ve just gotta buckle down and fight it off.

Mustering up the dregs of my mana reserves, I increased the output of the Aura I'd cloaked my swords in, strengthening them even further. This was basically the next step in my Aura training, and was just me constantly doing the same thing I’d do for an enhanced Aura slash. The only downside with this was that it out a large drain on my mana pool, limiting how many Skills I could use at once.

But it was worth it, as the Warden's longsword began chipping as it caused with my swords. I was essentially trying to do the same thing I’d done to the Death Knight, though I was going about it differently. Trying the exact same thing here wouldn’t have worked since the Warden had a shield as well.

Unfortunately, the Warden quickly sensed what I was up to, and adjusted its tactics in response. It shifted some of the Aura from its shield to its sword, increasing its sharpness and durability. My swords would still eventually break it, but it would take too long now. I’d run out of mana before then.

But all was not lost, as this presented me with a new opportunity. Infusing more mana into the white sword, I used it to sheer off the top third of the Warden's tower-shield. That threw off the Undead’s balance enough to make yet another opportunity for me. I used that to kick its sword out of its hand, then drove the black sword into its face and cast [Possession]. I’d never actually tested this spell on an Undead, but something tells me that it would at least be a little bit effective here.

[Possession] was a very weird spell. When cast, it created a cloud of specially-created Miasma that would invade the body of the closest entity that wasn’t me. Once it did that, it became a sort of…construct within them, usurping control of their body. And since this usurper was connected to me via Magic, I could control it to a certain extent. It was a similar connection to the one shared between me and my familiars, but much, much weaker.

Now unfortunately, Undead are rather resistant to Grudge Magic. Even though I’d cast [Possession] right into its body, the spell was having a hard time taking control of the Death Warden. It was only able to just barely affect its motor skills, though that was plenty. With its reaction speed affected by [Possession], the Warden was unable to hold me off for much longer. A few quick exchanges quickly saw it cut in half.

However, as much as I wanted to, I couldn’t afford to take a break now. My familiars were still fighting an as-yet unknown Undead. Depending in what it was, there was a significant chance of one of them being killed if I didn’t hurry. Given that, I ran as fast as I could without using mana, but an odd sight greeted me once I reached my familiars.

“Baow, baow, baooooow!”

*…*

^…^ ^…^ ^…^

…What…exactly am I seeing?

I’d expected to see a grand struggle between my familiars and the Undead, but this was nowhere near what I’d thought it would be. Not only were all four Spirits just fine, but the Undead they were fighting was now in several pieces, each one restrained by tendrils of Miasma that were slowly peeling away its own. Despite all that, the Undead in question, a much larger Death Beast, was frantically biting at the air around it, trying to catch at least one Spirit. Unfortunately, its efforts were in vain, as they soon stripped enough Miasma from it to render the beast inert. Not dead, but essentially the same thing in the long run.

^…^ ^…^ ^…^ ^…^

Wow, even Ash seems happy with this outcome. But uh, how exactly did this happen?

A quick examination later on would reveal that Dread Shades were capable of turning their bodies into pseudo-blades formed from Miasma, and they’d used that to chop the Beast up before stripping away its Miasma, an ability that all Dread Spirits seemed to possess, even if nowhere near as much as Ash. From what I understood, the other three Spirits had less than a tenth of the siphoning ability of Ash. Individually, they’d never have managed to take all its Miasma, but all four together had been too much for one Undead to handle. It just showed how much being outnumbered could suck.

There’s probably a lesson to be learned here, but I’m not really sure what it would be. Though at the very least, I probably don’t have to worry about any Undead if I fight them one-on-five. Wait, no, I shouldn’t be too reliant on their ability. There’s always a chance that there might be something that can perfectly counter them. Haaah, why must this shit be so complicated?

***

After a short break to let my mana recover a bit, I set off down the tunnel. Contrary to my expectations, there were no further Undead guards, and we soon came to a rather large door that opened into what appeared to be a dungeon. The normal kind, not one of the System-generated ones. Slightly confusing, that. Well, it wasn’t exactly normal either.

“Eaaaaagh.”

“Erraaaagh!”

“Gaaaaaah.”

There were about a dozen cells that had large iron doors that prevented me from seeing inside, but strange, horrific screams were coming from within. Whatever was in them wasn’t happy to be there, as the doors would shake every now-and-then. Even my familiars didn’t want to go in them, so we quickly made our way past. Unfortunately, that wouldn’t save us from danger.

*Crash!*

“Geeeyyyyaaaaaahhhh!!!”

Just as we were about to leave the dungeon, one of the doors burst open, and the thing within rushed out at me. The humanoid creature was decidedly grotesque, with chunks of discolored flesh hanging off of it as it charged at me. Large claws tipped the ends of each of its fingers, and it swung then at me to rip me apart, though its movements weren’t anything to right home about. I easily parried the blow and cut off its head in retaliation. It happened so fast that I didn’t even think to Analyze it.

*Crash, crash, crash, crash, crash, crash!*

“GYAAAAAAH!”

“RRRRAAAAAGGH!”

“Ah, go figure.”

Just as I’d gone to turn back around, all the other cells burst open as well, causing every last one of the strange creatures to rush at me. Despite how weak they were, these things were fast. I could handle a few by myself, but with this many charging me, one was bound to slip through. I really didn’t want to get caught by one and them, as they looked highly unhygienic. Fortunately, I wasn’t alone.

!...! *…*

Twin spears of Miasma implied the four monsters in front, and my hastily cast [Rots] caught the next three. The one after was decapitated by a blade of Miasma, and then two more were caught by black tendrils of quickly turned into ash. Turns out they were Undead, not monsters. Curious, I Analyzed the last one just as I went to kill it.

Vermin Zombie

Rank: C

Description: An Undead resulting from a failed Necromancy spell. Vermin Zombies are uncontrollable, and will attack anything they see on sight, even other Undead. In addition, their claws are filled with Miasma, causing anything they cut to immediately begin rotting.

Oi, that’s terrifying! I don’t think I’d survive that! Jeez, just hide something so dangerous down here, why don’t ya? Fucking Dungeon.

Thankfully I’d already dealt with the remaining Zombies, so there was hopefully no danger of that happening to me today. It also popped an idea into my head.

Hm, that said the Vermin Zombies are the result of failed Necromancy. And all the other Undead in here were created by Necromancy as well. Does that mean that the Mid-Boss is a Necromancer? Hm, and if it follows the current patterns, it’ll probably be an Undead Necromancer. So…a Lich? Hm, that could be a problem. Liches are probably pretty strong, and no Lich worth their salt would let me fight them alone. It’ll likely have a guard or five. I’ll need to rest some more before I fight it, but where?

Actually, this dungeon's pretty secure. The cells are completely trashed, but the main room is fine. Plus there’s a deadbolt on the outer door as well. The other door worries me a little since it’s connected to the tunnel, but I could just barricade it with the destroyed cell doors. And if the worse comes, I can just have my familiars wake me up.

It’s a little risky, but I need the rest. My mana's running low, and I can feel Mana Exhaustion setting in. Even if I do continue on, I won’t be fighting as well as I could. I don’t like it, but I don’t feel like I’ve got too many alternatives. Guess it’s time to roll the dice.