The [Descent] into Dark Depths II: Surrounded. Outnumbered. And might get Boned to Death!
~~~
"Shit, shit, shit!" Jin backpedaled, raising Iron Howl. The muzzle flash lit up hollow eye sockets as his first shot punched through a skeleton's ribcage, doing absolutely nothing. "Rudy, these things don't care about body shots!"
"Then aim higher!" Rudy roared, his greatsword taking a skeleton's head clean off its shoulders in a shower of bone fragments. "Or get better at shooting!"
Thanks for the advice, Captain Obvious.
Jin's second shot caught another skeleton in the skull, and this time the undead warrior crumpled into a pile of bones. But there were still a lot of them left, all rising from their coffins.
Why didn't I grab an automatic weapon?
Undead... damn, we don't have any holy-type attacks. Wait, we did get some divine blessing scrolls from the treasure chests.
He checked his inventory and found five blessing scrolls and a fireball scroll. I'll use those if things turn really bad.
Good, now what about these skeletons?
Jin focused on the nearest skeleton and activated his Reader's Dominion.
o________o
[Creature Analysis: Undead Skeleton]
Class: Undead / Aberration
Essence Signature: Necrotic (Minor)
HP: Moderate
Attack: Moderate (Bone/Weapon Strikes)
Defense: Low
Speed: Moderate
Traits and skills:
» Undying Form – Lacks vital organs; piercing damage is largely ineffective
» Relentless – Will continue fighting until destroyed
Weakness: Holy, Light, Life Energy, Heavy Blunt Force
Resistance: Darkness, Poison, Fear, Death Effects
Observation: Animated remnants of fallen soldiers, bound by necrotic essence. Individually clumsy, but dangerous in groups with weapons. Destroy completely to prevent reanimation.
o________o
At least they're not as disgusting as the rats.
"Jin!" Rudy shouted over the cacophony of rattling bones, his greatsword already carving through the nearest skeleton. "What's the plan? Tell me you've got something!"
"Yeah, I do!" Jin put two rounds through a skeleton's ribcage, scattering bone fragments but barely slowing it down. "Don't let them surround us, aim for joints, and try not to die!"
"That's your brilliant insight?!"
"Says the guy who told me to aim higher!"
A skeleton reached Jin with surprising speed, swinging a rusted sword in a vicious overhead arc. Jin's reflexes barely let him sidestep as the blade scraped across his shoulder, only to screech off his enchanted armor.
Ouch, damn that hurts... There's definitely no damage mitigation on this gear...
Jin spun and closed the distance, jamming his dagger into the skeleton's spine, right between two vertebrae. The skeleton stumbled but didn't fall—just turned its skull toward him with that unsettling red-eyed stare and tried to headbutt him.
"That's actually terrifying." Jin grabbed the skull and yanked it clean off the spine, tossing it across the chamber like a macabre bowling ball. The headless body flailed for a few seconds before collapsing into a pile of bones.
"Nice!" Rudy called out. His greatsword swept through three skeletons in a single horizontal arc, their spines snapping like twigs. "Though I think mine's more efficient!"
"Show off," Jin muttered, putting another round through a skeleton's knee joint and watching it topple forward.
But even as they fought, more skeletons kept rising from their coffins. And worse, Jin's astral sight was picking up something disturbing—the bones weren't just reanimated randomly. That meant they were summons on top of being reanimated. Streams of dark energy flowed from deeper in the cave system, puppeteering the undead like marionettes on invisible strings.
There's a necromancer down here. Has to be.
Another skeleton lunged at him, and Jin raised Iron Howl, pouring a wisp of his essence into the chamber to enhance the bullet's penetration. The enchanted round punched through the skeleton's skull in an explosion of bone fragments. The creature's animating force dispersed immediately, its bones clattering to the floor.
"Rudy, stay close to me!" Jin called out, backing toward the most defensible corner of the chamber. "We need to control the engagement!"
"Got it!" Rudy's greatsword swept in a massive arc, cleaving through three skeletons at once. Unlike the necrorats, these undead didn't shatter easily—his blade carved deep notches in their bones but didn't destroy them outright.
Tougher than they look…
Three skeletons rushed him simultaneously, their bones clicking together in a symphony of death. Jin dove sideways, putting two rounds into the lead skeleton's head before the others could adjust their attack. But he was running out of room to maneuver, and his ammunition wouldn't last forever at this rate.
Think, Jin. What else can I do? The Mantle—I can harvest things. But can I harvest from the undead?
Jin reached out with his Mantle, feeling the concept of harvest bloom in his consciousness. Invisible ethereal silver chains manifested around him, gleaming with an inner light that made the shadows dance wildly. He shot the chains forward toward the nearest skeleton, watching them wrap around its ribcage like living rope.
If I can harvest their animating energy...
"Harvest," he whispered, pulling on the concept with his will.
Dark energy flowed through the chains—necromantic essence that had been animating the skeleton. The moment it touched his essence core, Jin's concentration shattered completely, and he doubled over, retching violently.
Oh fuck oh fuck oh FUCK!
The energy was wrong. Not just different, but fundamentally opposed to living. It attacked his life force like spiritual acid, trying to corrupt and consume from within. Jin's consciousness recoiled in horror as the necromantic essence spread through his spiritual pathways like poison made of liquid death.
"Jin!" Rudy's voice carried panic as he saw his friend collapse. "What's wrong? What happened?"
"The energy—" Jin gasped, fighting to stay conscious as his essence channels burned. "I'm stupid! Fuck!!!!"
He activated Overdrive, pushing his mind into hyperspeed to trace the necromantic essence through his spiritual pathways and systematically purge it. Every second felt like agonizing minutes as he fought the foreign energy, but the damage was already spreading. His essence core felt raw and tender, like a muscle that had been overworked to the point of tearing.
Jin fumbled for one of his life potions with shaking hands, downing the entire vial in one desperate gulp. The healing energy clashed with the necromantic corruption in his system, creating a sensation like being struck by lightning from the inside out. But slowly, agonizingly, the life force won, burning away the death energy and leaving him nauseated but breathing.
Lesson learned. I'm never harvesting anything without proper information again. Ever.
"Fuck, that hurt," he muttered, wiping bile from his mouth as he raised Iron Howl again.
"You good?" Rudy called out, his greatsword taking the legs off another skeleton. The thing kept crawling toward them even without working limbs, which was somehow worse than when it could walk.
"I'm alive." Jin raised his weapon again, but his hands were shaking from the essence backlash. "Just had to learn the hard way that death magic and living people don't mix!"
"What the hell were you trying to do?"
"Something stupid! Focus on the fight!"
Jin kept his distance, using the enhanced accuracy his skills provided to offer cover fire while Rudy tore through the skeleton horde like a one-man wrecking crew. His friend had found his rhythm.
Jin froze as a memory from every undead movie he'd ever watched crashed into his consciousness, along with some very basic knowledge about how necromancy worked.
Oh no. Oh fuck no.
He whipped around toward the entrance they'd come through, his astral sight piercing the darkness beyond. What he saw made his blood turn to ice water in his veins.
The tunnel was full of movement. Dozens of skeletal figures shambling through the passage, their bones clicking together in a percussion section of pure nightmare. Worse yet, the skeletons they'd "killed" on their way here were pulling themselves back together, grabbing loose bones from the floor and reassembling like some kind of hellish jigsaw puzzle.
They're undead for a reason. Of course, they don't stay down unless you destroy the source.
"Rudy!" Jin's voice cracked with panic. "We've got a problem!"
"Kinda busy here!" Rudy grunted, his sword taking another skull apart in a shower of bone fragments. "What kind of problem?"
"Remember how we killed all those skeletons on our way down here?"
"Yeah, so?" Rudy's voice carried growing concern as he caught Jin's expression.
"That's the thing about undead," Jin said, watching the tunnel entrance with growing dread. "They don't stay dead unless you destroy whatever's animating them. And I don't think we found that yet."
Rudy followed his gaze toward the tunnel and cursed creatively in three languages Jin didn't recognize. The passage was filled with reanimated skeletons—not just the ones they'd fought, but dozens more, drawn by the noise and violence like moths to flame.
From deep in the dark, red eyes flared to life. Then another. Then another. Until the tunnel seethed with a forest of gleaming points, all fixed squarely on them.
~~~