Although I had slain a hundred enemies around me, I had not killed the necromancer. Scanning the mana once more, I felt…
In an instant, I spun 180 degrees and raised my palm at an angle to deflect a massive slash spell flying toward me. It was the same Ara incantation, but far stronger than the one Anna had just used.
The slash struck my barrier, ricocheted and shattered, bursting into a thirty-meter-wide cone of blue mana in the sky.
Ariel screamed and grabbed her face, seeing it on her phone.
"What's going on?" Arthur said.
"Nestor got hit by an explosion from behind," Haruto said.
"Haruto! Six skeletons are heading your way!" Capellia said.
"Understood. Everyone, positions!" Haruto said.
---
The second defensive line — Ariel, Daria, Haruto, and Arthur — stood battle-ready. None of them carried artifacts, as there was nothing suitable for this situation, even for them. Ariel, Arthur, and Daria held the front, while Haruto, the healer, stayed behind.
"Finally!" Ariel said.
"My first kills on this mission," Daria said, stretching.
"Stay close, Ariel. I'll cover you," Arthur said.
"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine," Ariel said cheerfully, though she shook like a leaf in a storm. "I can take care of myself."
"Quiet and careful," Haruto murmured to himself.
Soon, they heard the rattle of bones hitting the ground — six skeletons were charging at them. Each wielded a sword or spear, clad in rags and scraps of armor. One sprinted ahead of the others, far faster than the rest. A tattered cloak, like a poncho, hung loosely from its shoulders.
"One!" Haruto shouted, casting a spell and hurling a fireball at the lead skeleton. The hot projectile shot past Ariel and Daria, struck the skeleton… and did nothing. The flames didn't even ignite its cloak, only scattered harmlessly.
"Damn," Haruto said.
Ariel, Daria, and Arthur were about to charge, but noticed the skeletons slowing their pace.
All six stopped. And they looked… strange. Not cautious, not fearful. They halted like runners suddenly deciding to rest, gazing at the group of living humans before them. Each examined them slowly, curiously, in silence, without unnecessary movement. One peered up from below, another tilted its head sideways, while the leader calmly studied them one by one.
Ariel's heart pounded harder — just like when they were ambushed during training with Nestor.
"Do we attack or what?!" Arthur said.
"No, wait," Haruto said, gathering a ball of lightning in his hands. He aimed the charge at the Leader and fired.
The Leader, anticipating his intent, waited for Haruto to extend his arms and… simply sidestepped. The lightning struck deep into the ravine. Silence hung for a moment as the skeletons judged how to respond to such a pitiful attack. Then the Leader raised his head and began clacking his teeth. Loud, dry snaps echoed through the gorge, growing quickly — until all six rattled their jaws so wildly it seemed the sound swallowed the entire canyon.
"Damn… I wasted a solid chunk of mana and didn't even hit. Panicked and aimed poorly," Haruto thought.
The Leader turned back to the group, fixing his gaze on Haruto. He lifted a hand and slowly pointed at him.
Haruto caught his breath at the gesture. Ariel darted her eyes between the skeletons and her companions, not knowing what to do.
At last, the Leader lowered his hand, raised a thumb to his neck, and dragged it across, showing what awaited them. Ariel suddenly imagined that finger slicing her throat and hitting her spine.
"No. Calm down," Ariel thought.
At that moment, the skeletons, as if on command, lunged forward. Ariel barely dodged the first strike and jumped back. The Leader's blade nearly severed her neck. She threw herself forward, struggling to keep her balance, and struck with a mana-imbued fist, which he evaded. Around her, her comrades fought back, but their formation collapsed within seconds.
Ariel and the Leader clashed in close combat. Using her Ta, she tried to move faster, dodging his sword. After another dodge, she countered, landing her first blow. Her fist struck bone, and she felt the mana charge collide with his barrier. Summoning magical creatures was a power beyond humans, yet the principles remained: break the barrier and inflict enough damage, and the magic holding the creature together would collapse — killing it for real.
Glancing back, Ariel saw the others faltering, some fighting two enemies at once. She gathered strength, sidestepped, then charged — dodged a thrust and struck a skeleton's ribs. She felt her blow pierce the barrier and land inside its aura. The bones exploded apart, leaving only a faint haze. She had managed to break through by charging her fist with a small explosion. Weak, but enough to tear the creature apart.
Meanwhile, Arthur struggled against two skeletons at once. They seemed to be toying with him, pressing one after another. Finally, one circled and slashed across, severing Arthur's arm.
"A-aah!" Arthur screamed.
At that instant, the second skeleton raked its blade across his eyes, splitting both in half. A fountain of bright red blood gushed from his arm and head. He screamed like a madman, collapsing, panicked as he tried to heal himself but unable even to stop the bleeding.
"Ah-ah-ah!" Arthur moaned, his cries fading into sobs.
Nearby, Daria blasted one skeleton apart, but the second grabbed her head and smashed it against the canyon wall. She struggled to break free but couldn't. The skeleton was absurdly strong, even against her Ta. The first slam dazed her; then it clutched her skull with both hands and kneed her face again and again. All Daria could do was scream in pain and fury, trying to break free. She charged an explosion in her hands, but couldn't focus — firing it uselessly to the side instead of at her captor.
The two skeletons who maimed Arthur now rushed to Haruto from both sides, joining the one he was already fighting. He dodged the first swing, but the second went straight for his chest. Haruto clenched his focus, screamed, and released streams of lightning in all directions, stunning the skeletons and forcing them back.
But the sword still stuck from his chest.
Arthur's, Haruto's, and Daria's struggles all happened at once, with Ariel catching only fragments of the horror.
"Damn!" Ariel cried.
Now four skeletons turned to her, clattering their teeth. One gestured, and they all dropped their weapons, lunging barehanded. Ariel cast an explosion, but missed, and two instantly grabbed her. She activated the last of her Ta mana, struggling to break free, but the other two pinned her arms and legs.
She was terrified, realizing they didn't kill victims instantly — they liked to torture them. She thrashed, but they held her tight while the Leader pondered how best to torment her.
At that moment, several slashes streaked past her eyes. She flinched, shut them instinctively — then heard Capellia's bright, cheerful voice.
"I think you'd better run away now! Ariel, you hear me?"
"Yes," — she opened her eyes and saw Capellia spreading her arms to heal everyone. Golden mana poured into them. Arthur's eyes slowly regenerated, the cuts sealing. Where his arm had been severed, golden threads glowed, closing the wound and halting the blood.
"You'll have to walk without a hand for now, I don't have time. Now run straight down the canyon until you reach the exit. I'll tell the soldiers to meet you. Bye-bye!" — she sang out and blinked instantly to the battlefield.
Ariel and the others were left panting, slowly regaining themselves.
Haruto: Let's go, — he said, standing. — Hurry, everyone. More might be coming.
He shook Arthur to rouse him. Arthur, dazed, slowly stood, glanced at his arm, and staggered into the gorge. Ariel and Daria rose too, and they all began retreating.
---
My name is Ivan Orlyk. I am the author of the corruption now spreading across Ashtaron. I was always a fine warrior, and now I have an army. I was a nameless boy, but now I intend to become something far greater. The skeletons, though speechless, forged me a crown of bone. I am the best, the strongest, and it suits me well.
All around me lay the scattered bones of a hundred of skeletons just destroyed. When Nestor burst into the center of my army, he wiped out them all in one strike. But now he was surrounded. All of them glared at him, rattling bones and armor viciously, awaiting my command.
Looking closely, I saw that he was a young man in dark shorts and a sleeveless shirt. I didn't recognize that he was Nestor, the second prince of Rus' yet, but I will soon. Copying me? Though today I wore white shorts and a vest—lighter clothes for the heat. Of course, I could negate any effect of heat with healing, but why waste mana? I didn't know how strong this wizard was, so every drop could mean life or death.
If a mage doesn't use spells, it's impossible to gauge his power. Mana simply flows within, unreadable even to me. But once he activates a barrier, you can scan it like any incantation and measure its strength. Still, that too might be a bluff: no wizard is obliged to use their strongest shield. Experienced ones rarely do — there's no point wasting mana without need. Nestor had a barrier up — sturdy, well-made, but not too powerful. Soon I would see if he was conserving mana because he had little, or, like me, simply refusing to show his full hand too early.
"Excellent block. And quite the dramatic landing," — I said in a young, strong, slightly mocking voice. Nestor was tall, muscular, short-haired, in light casual clothes, and had an ordinary face. Nothing remarkable, except his formidable physique.
"What's your na—" he began, but before he finished, I appeared before him and blasted him point-blank. He shot thirty meters away like a cannonball, smashing dozens of skeletons in his path.
"Ah, bastard!" — he yelled, quickly rising.
It seemed I hadn't pierced his barrier. Not bad. He had reinforced it just before the strike. A clever way to conserve mana—strengthening the shield only at the moment of impact, then releasing it. I waved a hand, commanding the skeletons to attack. Then I soared upward and launched dozens of slashes at him. Nestor dodged one after another, forcing his way through the throng of skeletons blocking his path.
My skeletons couldn't pierce his barrier; he plowed through them, burning dozens with his flames. But there were thousands. At last, he slowed, trapped as they grabbed his arms and legs, stabbing spears and blades at his shield. What now? I focused, aimed, and hurled another massive slash at him. But before it could strike, Nestor lifted into the air.
So, he could fly too? Fine.
He cast a colossal lightning bolt at me, splitting the sky and striking where I hovered. When the flash cleared, Nestor peered into the spot I had been — but found only a faint blue mist.
"Damn… where is he?"
"Pathetic," — I said calmly, floating in the air behind him.
He whirled, but I blasted him again, slamming him into the ground with a thunderous crash. Judging by his barrier, he was still alive.