"Mass Exhumation." A strange voice rung out, echoing across the entire sect as it was carried around by mana and wind. Ares struggled to pinpoint the source of the voice but as far as he could tell it was coming somewhere from inside the zombie. Not the zombie itself, it had shown no proclivity or talent for magic so it casting an art was improbable, but it rather felt like there was someone piloting it or perhaps inside the zombie. There was no evidence of this, and Ares had already dug around inside the zombie with various attacks earlier, but his gut instinct was telling him there was someone else, a third party, involved. He was right but could do nothing about it as he was unable to locate said third party. Why they were interrupting this fight, how, and where from all remained mysteries for now but Ares was keen to unravel as many of them as he could. The first and most important one, though, was what exact kind of art 'Mass Exhumation' was. It didn't seem like a unique art but it was utilising Grave Lord aspect mana and Ares wasn't particularly familiar with the various necromancer magics out there. He wasn't unaware, he'd read a good few books about the basics of magic under most pillars, but this art seemed like something else entirely... Something a more experienced cultivator would use. This assumption was correct, other than this specific necromancer there was probably nobody trapped within the lower domains that could realistically use this art for various reasons. For starters, it could be considered a 'zone' type of magic. Zones changed the immediate area to favour to user but in order to posses a zone in the first place it had to be built up over the course of multiple years by an expert cultivator. This wasn't something somebody who'd only lived for a few tens of years at most could realistically ever replicate and the fancier the zone the longer the owner spent on it. Even a basic zone was said to take about fifty to sixty years to create for an average cultivator. On the other end of the scale, it was said some Gods spent centuries meticulously and carefully crafting their own magical zones.
Also, with regards to not being able to replicate such a thing easily, with regards to Mass Exhumation in particular, resources were necessary to summon it. Not as in the zone itself chugged stardust or anything but, rather, the way the zone functioned meant a small army had to be built up in advance. Normally grave lord affiliated cultivators would summon their undead individually with various arts and then use even more magic to support them afterwards. That was how grave lords operated at a basic level but, once Mass Exhumation came into the picture, things changed a bit. Mass Exhumation was a zone type magic that allowed the grave lord to summon all of their undead, or a considerable portion of their army, all at once in one location with a single spell. This was the mark of an exceptional necromancer because not only did creating the zone take a long time but it also meant the necromancer had sufficient undead at their disposal to necessitate a zone to summon them all in the first place. Most necromancers replaced undead with more powerful undead as they found or created them, relegating older undead to storage for all eternity as summoning them took up time the necromancer could use to summon something stronger. Eventually, though, necromancers hit a wall and struggled to improve their undead, at which point numbers became more relevant and old zombies stuck in storage could shine once more. At that point, it was better to create a zone to bring forth an army rather than pursue individual strength so the difference between a zoneless necromancer and one with the ability to use Mass Exhumation was typically vast. If nothing else, it indicated they were an experienced cultivator with many powerful undead under their belt, waiting in the wings to be summoned.
Ares had no clue what a 'zone' was because nobody in the lower domains was ever feasibly going to create one. It's not just a matter of time, zones were hard to create unless one reached a specific cultivation realm that was quite advanced. There was no point discussing it now but reaching that cultivation realm was considered to be another major step, similar to reaching transition realm or, in Ares' case, bloodline awakening. There were a lot of cultivation realms that enabled specific types of magic but, as Sheryashka and the other nearby domains were cut off from the world at large, they were relatively unknown. People couldn't reach that level of cultivation and the number of people who remembered the existence of such arts, before the lower domains were isolated, were few and far between. Even still, Ares could tell the magic being used here wasn't simple. The world around him was changing in a way that was similar to what happened when he went all in with annihilation enhancement or war aura... No, it was a bit more fundamental than that. Annihilation enhancement tinged the world around Ares gold. War aura painted the sky a dark red. Whatever this art was it was actually changing the entirety of the world around Ares. The ground became desolate and cracked, dull and eery. The air was stagnant and misty as the sky grew progressively darker and darker until it was pitch black. Walls with square and rectangle storage holes, like that of a columbarium, surrounded the sect and rose roughly a mile into the sky. Tombs, headstones, crypts, mausoleums, and a large cenotaph centrepiece all rose up from underneath the earth as low groans and mumbles could be heard seeping out from within each. A number of lichgates formed, the appearance of which was in tandem with the rattling of bones and creepy, ethereal laughs that faded into the distance.
Simply put, the ability to summon a zone this powerful from Vraizon was incredible. There were various constraints on the necromancer, so it's not like anything he summoned here would be capable of destroying planets or anything, but it's not like he didn't have a couple of powerhouses stored away amongst the various remains scattered in his zone. Actually, this zone was the reason he wanted the Primordial Blade. Mass Exhumation could be considered a type of storage but it had limits. The Primordial Blade was said to contain an immeasurable amount of space within it and that seemed like the perfect place to further build up the necromancer's army. Even if the Blade itself was primarily dedicated to 'spatial' and 'time' oriented magic, according to those who researched it, it's not like those in other fields couldn't find uses for it. Nonetheless, the Blade belonged to Ares now and he was the only person who could make full use of it... Or any use of it whatsoever, really, as it was unwieldable by anyone but him. The necromancer wasn't so obsessed with the Blade he'd keep pursuing it if he knew that but, then again, he didn't even know Ares had it anyway. This fight was a result of pure happenstance and various coincidences. It was a fight neither were going to back down from, though, because the tenth stage zombie was a valuable undead. It's power was lowered due to the necromancer's adjusting of it but that power could be reclaimed and it would become a real menace again. Not the ace of the necromancer's army but a key figure in it worth fighting for.
The Zombie Matryoshka regenerated in its final form, towering above Ares and coming in at least at four times his size. The zombie could block out the sun standing in front of Ares had the sun still existed within this purgatorial zone. Perhaps the zone had strengthened the zombie further or maybe the tenth form was actually just this strong from the beginning but Ares could tell that he wasn't in a position to play around with it anymore. Using the scythe was fun and all but the time for that was up now because Ares wasn't certain he could even cut the zombie anymore without using arts or a disintegration coating on his weapon. Furthermore he wasn't even faster than the zombie anymore, that was the conclusion he came to after eyeing it with his omniscience. No strength advantage, no speed advantage either. Ares still had his footwork and raw skill but neither of that was really enough to keep the zombie at bay for long enough to cinch a victory by the skin of his teeth. It's not like Ares would lose immediately but he would get hit eventually and be unable to block a strike at some point, taking a blow felt like an inevitability against this monster if he stuck to the scythe exclusively. With magic he'd be fine, though it might take some time to whittle the zombie down, but Ares wasn't going to do that either. He'd already used his magic earlier but he main point was that there was something he hadn't considered which might be a little problematic. Part of the reason he could launch his annihilation magic in such a carefree manner usually was either because he would kill his opponent before he ran out of mana or refresh his mana thanks to Grim Cessation siphoning some from the deceased. The former was unapplicable, as Ares would take a fair bit of time to chew through the zombie even with magic, but the main issue was actually the latter problem. As all manner of hideous, deformed undead were coming to life all around him, Ares wondered if Grim Cessation would do... Literally anything? Killing a living person, animal, or monster meant their mana reserves could be stolen from then and there but what about undead? most normal undead didn't have their own mana reserve, and relied on their summoner's mana pool for magic, so would Ares even get a mana refund for killing them? Killing the Matryoshka alone might be ok with his magic but destroying this entire zombie army appearing before his very eyes, with no Grim Cessation, might not actually be possible. Perhaps the currently-spawning liches had their own mana to siphon but it wouldn't be nearly enough.
This encounter was actually somewhat important for Ares who was now able to spot a weakness of his own he hadn't considered. Undead, and maybe other lifeforms like certain plant monsters or non-sentient robots, wouldn't give him mana back. In a one on one fight it was irrelevant but if assaulted en masse, though he still had an advantage due to the nature of his magic, he would have to at least aim arts more efficiently and not rely on what could be considered an infinite mana glitch. Ares didn't much like this development, so made fixing it a priority in his mind, but for now at least he had to deal with this zombie world art in a different manner. It's not like he couldn't use his magic at all but, if it wasn't the best option anyway... Why not bring out Garmr? Then he really wouldn't be able to use magic but the other benefits more than made up for it. Ares was always more likely to run out of mana in his human form than stamina as Garmr. Rather, Garmr's stamina might actually be unlimited? Ares had never come remotely close to testing it as he could probably sprint in a straight line mad-dash as Garmr for weeks on end without feeling out of breath, let alone work up a sweat. Garmr was less efficient at tackling large crowds like this but... Who cared? Garmr was still Garmr at the end of the day. Everything that was being summoned all around Ares would die one way or another.
With a deep sigh, Ares form changed quite rapidly as he morphed into his revenant form. Once complete, he breathed golden fire towards the sky and let loose a piercing howl that stunned all the rising undead in their tracks. Out of seemingly nowhere, a gargantuan being of pure physicality and might manifested and any and all confidence the opposing side may have held were gone at this point. The Zombie Matryoshka had a retreat path available to it, it needed to make it over to a crypt wherein it could hide and be forcefully recovered by the necromancer after the Mass Exhumation was dispelled, but it had opted to stick around and see if Ares had a means of dealing with it or not. The ninth life it lost was a relatively slow burn so the zombie didn't think Ares would be able to kill him immediately. Put simply, it underestimated the risk and held too much faith in the necromancer's Mass Exhumation. Suddenly its tenth form and the zone felt like roadside pebbles trying to stop a landslide, that was the instinctual decision the zombie came to. The necromancer agreed and so he wasted no time in bringing forth even greater hordes of undead not to kill this unprecedented monster but to simply halt it for a minute or two while the Matryoshka fled as was originally planned. But would it even work? Garmr had already vanished from his staring point and was now towering over the Zombie Matryoshka from behind. It was impossible to tell when Garmr got there but it hadn't made any moves since, it merely taunted the zombie by showcasing its own considerable size and the shift in power dynamic between the two. The strength and speed disparity had been reversed and Garmr still possessed the skill advantage too. Actually, that was an understatement, the disparity hadn't been reversed, it was somethin way more than that. It was impossible to tell how much stronger than the zombie Garmr was as even the necromancer didn't know. He was a feeble experimenter and back line mage so, despite his drastically superior cultivation, he wasn't sure he could take a direct punch from this ridiculous creature either. He thought he merely stubbed his toe on a roadblock when first viewing Ares but now he was realising he'd accidentally kicked something far more dangerous. This wasn't a hornet's nest, it was more like walking into a zoo and trying to box with the lions and tigers while wearing a blindfold. Perhaps the level of difficulty in dealing with this giant wolf was higher than even that but, again, it wasn't actually possible to pinpoint where this thing's strength began and ended.
Though it pained the necromancer, he could only try and summon even more of his special undead to try and assist the zombie even if it meant some of them were broken or destroyed in the process. Until reinforcements arrived, however, the zombie was on its own. The liches had blasted the wolf behind it with magic that bounced of its muscles, smaller zombies were impaled on its fur for merely trying to attack Garmr's legs, and the ghosts were the most pathetic of all as they were obliterated by passive snarling from the egregious beast. The only thing that could 'put up a fight' right now, and even saying that was a gross exaggeration, was the tenth form Matryoshka. It turned around and threw a huge fist, the speed of which was lightning fast. This strike alone would have killed every core disciple and most of the elders present if they had to go up against it, so it's not like the Matryoshka wasn't extraordinarily dangerous... And still...
Pat
Anticlimactic. The Zombie's fist was resting rather politely on Garmr's torso and doing little else. That attack, if it could even called such a thing in the face of Garmr, was more useful in terms of dusting off stray hairs than it was doing damage. If the zombie launched that 'attack' multiple times over Garmr would consider it grooming at most.
Grab
The zombie looked down at its firmly grasped wrist but its vision was soon shifted such that it could see the peaceful dark sky above. It had been manhandled and lifted off the floor with a casual swing and, soon after, its face was buried in the ground. Having been slammed once once embarrassing but what came next was a series of lazy overhead swings by Garmr who didn't even need to move his legs or waist in order to keep blasting the Zombie back and forth. It would be an exaggeration to call the zombie a chew toy as at least they were more durable and lasted longer against the average dog than it did against Garmr. The zombie was battered and bewildered, it could feel the afterlife creeping up on it every time its head was driven deep into the ground. This would be a humiliating death if ever there was one as Garmr's free hand was probably 'busy' picking its teeth out of sheer boredom. The zombie was strong but compared to the likes of Tom Tom's Riddlemyd form it still had a ways to go to catch up to a being like that. It's not like Garmr really struggled with Tom Tom either so this zombie was not in Garmr's league in the slightest. Even if humanoid Ares would have had to put in some effort to kill this thing Garmr... Was still Garmr when it came down to it. The light in the zombie's eyes was fading but help was on the way at long last.
Bang
Something crashed into Garmr's side and he was forcefully dragged a few steps away form his original position. He wasn't hurt but it was still impressive for him to have been moved without his own permission. Whatever it was that struck him had to throw its entire body at him to get any results but what was impressive was impressive regardless of how it was accomplished. Ares had even let go of the zombie during the collision but that was more so because it slipped out of his hands mid swing rather than being unable to hold onto it. If Ares was taking the fight even remotely seriously no such thing would have happened. As for what struck him... A bone dragon? A bundle of white bones taking the shape of a dragon was crouched low to the ground and snarling at Garmr without any fear. Or, well, it had no fear up until Garmr's sharp glare shut it up and turned it into a pile of walking rickety, creaking bones that shivered from head to toe. Its posture lowered even further as though its innate animalistic impulses, from when it was alive, were telling it to be submissive. Still, the undead dragon was about a realm above transition in terms of combat strength so it didn't fully back down and run away with its tail between its legs. It was undead, so it couldn't breathe fire, but it retained a great deal of strength and was, hopefully, going to stall Ares while the Matryoshka made a break for it. The necromancer wanted nothing less than to sacrifice such a strong creature, it was only this weak due to being summoned so far away from its master and in a lower domain where it was restricted, but harsh times called for desperate measures and the Matryoshka was ultimately worth more. In fact, there were other strong undead appearing on the horizon too as the necromancer wasn't even certain the dragon was enough on its own. Zombie giants, Dullahan, ancient vampires... All were being thrown at this humongous wolf in a bid to martyr, not even leave a single scratch. It just didn't seem possible. Garmr had been rushed headfirst into by the undead dragon and it looked like a child struggling to push a couch. The expectation was a truck ramming into a deer but the result was almost comically tragic instead and that was where hope died.
The only solace in all this was that the Zombie was running away and Garmr appeared to be making no moves to stop it. Perhaps Garmr ultimately didn't care that much, or maybe it was unaware the Zombie had a means of leaving this place, but it's not like he was going to complain about this small mercy. The Zombie looked back and nearly fell over in fright as he watched the undead dragon be dismantled in the blink of an eye and have its bones turned into makeshift clubs. Garmr whacked the zombie giant across the head and blew its brains out all over the floor before breathing fire on a swarm of vampires and melting them into tthe ground. Garmr bat aside the Dullahan effortlessly and began trampling the undead hordes as he marched through them like they barely existed. He picked up speed with every step and began barreling towards the Zombie Matryoshka on all fours, bashing aside anything in his path simply by running into it like an unstoppable freight train. The ever enlarging wolf of despair catching up the Zombie made it tremble as it ran with all its might towards the stairs ahead of it leading into the earth. If it could just make it inside it would be safe and secure and be able to run away from this nightmare. Though the surroundings had turned dark and gloomy, the only ones feeling horrified right now where those who tried to aggress against the mutated revenant storming around and breathing fire like a mad dragon. Every swipe tore through tens of undead, flinging skeletons and zombies alike off into the distance and creating piles of shattered corpses. The Zombie could practically feel Garmr's destructive breath tickling its spine as it dived down the staircase and it shut behind him barely in the nick of time.
Thud Thud THUD
With every bang, the Zombie could feel death draw closer and that became even more true when Garmr's hand pierced the bunker and darted straight towards the Zombie's head. It shut its eyes and braced for finality but nothing came. No pain, no merciless trampling of dignity. It opened its eyes and found it had been safely relocated milliseconds before disaster and breathed a sigh of relief, falling backwards onto the floor and holdings it large hand over the place its heart would have been beating had it still had one that functioned properly. It was back in the necromancer's lair in Vraizon and completely safe... Or so it thought.
BANG
The Zombie was blasted into the nearby wall and its arm was missing from the shoulder down. Whatever just struck it would have blown its head off if it had been aimed even a sliver higher than it was. The Zombie looked down and, upon catching sight of the object that crashed into it nearly fainted shock. The undead dragon's skull merely stared back at the Zombie with empty eye sockets before cracking and turning into dust. Garmr had traced the smell of the Zombie all the way back to Vraizon and pitched the skull with enough force to nearly assassinate it from a sperate domain...
On the one hand, that seemed like it would be the end of this encounter as there was nothing more Garmr could do after losing the scent it temporarily managed to track... On the other hand, what the hell kind of enemy did the necromancer just make?