Without any warning, Sodden felt his ankle tighten violently. A bone-chilling cold pierced through his boot, and he instinctively looked down.
A pale, bony hand was clamped tightly around his ankle!
Following the arm, he saw a Human Race skeleton that had previously been lying contorted on the ground. Deep within its empty eye sockets, two clusters of ghostly blue Flames silently ignited, staring straight at him.
"Moradin’s forge! How is this rocky scum moving?!"
Sodden was so shocked that his Redbeard nearly stood on end. His gruff roar shattered the dead silence.
Despite his astonishment, the Dwarf Warrior’s tempered battle instincts had already kicked in. Without even taking a moment to think, he brought his War Axe crashing down with a fierce gust of wind.
CRACK!
With a crisp sound, the bony hand gripping his ankle was severed cleanly, and he immediately kicked it away.
The severed bone hand hit the ground with a CLATTER. It maintained its grasping posture, twitching slightly on the floor before finally going completely still.
This sudden turn of events instantly caught the attention of Raine and the others.
To their amazement, the skeleton missing a hand was now using its other arm to push itself off the ground. With a chorus of CLACK CLACK from its grinding bones, it shakily climbed to its feet.
"What’s going on?"
Kaelin gripped her sword hilt tightly, her emerald eyes filled with disbelief.
Those ghostly blue hues and that moving skeletal frame proved beyond a doubt—this was an Undead Creature!
"It... it shouldn’t have awakened..."
Winnie’s face beneath her hood grew even paler, her eyes brimming with confusion.
Raine remained silent, but his heart sank heavily.
Winnie was right. Even in this fantasy world of Sword and Magic, it defied common sense for dead creatures to spontaneously transform into the Undead. They had to have been awakened by some kind of Power, but what exactly could have done it?
Before he could think further, patches of ghostly blue light flared up from the surrounding darkness, one after another.
Following closely behind was the sound of grinding bones, washing over them like a rising tide.
CRACK CRACK, RATTLE RATTLE.
At first, the noises were faint and scattered, but they quickly merged together, making it sound as if the entire hall was squirming and struggling.
One by one, the skeletons of Human Race soldiers stiffly pushed away the shattered remains pressing down on them, attempting to stand up once more.
Those massive Skeleton Beasts also began to move. A Skeleton Earth Dragon raised its skull lined with Sharp Teeth, several skeleton wolves shook off centuries of dust, and the bony wings of a Skeleton Winged Dragon were slowly unfurling.
As far as the eye could see, the ghostly blue light was nearly merging into a continuous sea.
Cold sweat instantly broke out on Raine’s forehead, and an icy chill shot from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head.
This was an ancient battlefield where thousands of Sharp Wolf Soldiers and Magical Beasts had been buried. If they all awakened and turned into an Undead Army, the outcome would be unthinkable. Let alone their four-person squad, even a fully equipped army would likely be swallowed by this endless tide of death.
They had to leave immediately!
Through his cold sweat, Raine’s first thought was the Path of the Last Breath they had used to get here. However, when he glanced in that direction, his heart plummeted into the abyss.
The entrance to the passageway was already completely blocked by densely packed, swaying blue lights, thoroughly cutting off the group’s retreat.
At the same time, all those eye sockets flickering with ghostly blue light locked onto Raine and his companions. The aura of the living made them extremely uncomfortable. They despised life, and they wanted to destroy it!
The frantically rising killing intent, like freezing ocean water, instantly engulfed the entire squad.
Facing a siege from hundreds, if not thousands, of Undead in an open area, even average Professionals would have no choice but to fight until their dying breath!
"Fall back to the right-side door!"
Raine’s roar boomed like thunder. Before his words even finished echoing, he took the lead.
With a sharp SWISH, an Arrow flew from his bowstring and nailed itself precisely into the skull of a Skeleton Earth Dragon that was about to lunge at Kaelin, forcing it to pause.
The others reacted immediately.
The door on the right that Raine pointed out was no more than twenty yards from their current position. More importantly, that stone door looked perfectly intact, and it was opened inward just enough to leave a gap wide enough for the squad to slip through.
If they could just rush inside and push the heavy stone doors shut from within, they could isolate themselves from this tide-like swarm of Undead outside!
Having confirmed their target, the group pushed themselves to the limit, sprinting desperately toward the door that represented survival.
Just as they dashed for the stone door, the entire hall seemed to boil over as countless skeletons swarmed them from all directions!
Those endless waves of Sen Bai bodies and the giant, thrashing skeletons looked exceptionally terrifying under the illumination of the Magic Halo as they constantly pressed in on the group!
"Stay close to me!"
Sodden roared, charging at the very front. He slammed his Shield into several skeletons ahead, forcefully bashing open a path. Kaelin followed closely, swinging her sword with all her might to force back the remaining enemies in their way.
Winnie’s pale fingers danced rapidly as an invisible Arcane Force Field expanded outwards with her at the center, violently shoving away several skeleton wolves leaping from the flank.
Raine focused his targets on the massive Skeleton Beasts. Moving rapidly, he drew his bow, firing Arrows one after another to disrupt the enemies’ advance.
The piercing SWISH of Arrows tearing through the air, the crashing of Shields, the snapping of bones, and the heavy panting of the group all intertwined. It was like sinking into a deadly sea of Sen Bai; every second stretched into eternity, and every inch forward was an agonizing struggle.
Finally, the gap in the stone door, wide enough to let a person through, was right in front of them!
"I’ll bring up the rear!"
The Dwarf’s voice was as steady as a rock as he forcefully tackled several approaching skeletons, sending them flying backward.
"Kaelin, get in first and set up a defensive line!"
Raine’s shout cut through the cacophony of grinding bones. His eyes remained alert, not only guarding against the tide of Sen Bai before him but also glancing toward the dark crack of the door. It held the hope of survival, but it also came with potential dangers. In a death trap like this, nowhere was absolutely safe.
Kaelin nodded, slipping sideways into the stone door like a cheetah.
"Winnie, go inside and immediately activate your Arcane Force Field!"
He continued giving orders, signaling for the Tiefling girl to assist Kaelin in dealing with the unknown darkness. Not daring to delay for even a moment, Winnie gritted her teeth and dashed inside.
"Sodden! Alternate your retreat!"
He quickly backed away alongside the Dwarf, who was swinging his War Axe fiercely, while continuing to suppress the surging large Skeleton Beasts in front with his Arrows.
"Got it, Earth People boy!"
Sodden roared, using a single axe strike to shatter a Goblin skeleton that was trying to climb his Shield. He and Raine fought their way back, their backs to the door.
Soon, with a precise shot, Raine shattered a Bone Claw that had almost grabbed the Dwarf’s Horned Helmet. Almost simultaneously, his swift figure retreated through the doorway.
[You have activated the core landmark of the Crown of Grey Rock: "Rock Camp". The number of activated core landmarks in this area is (4/6).]
Raine had absolutely no time to inspect the changes in the Exploration Chapter, immediately shifting his gaze to the Dwarf. He saw Sodden following closely behind, managing to retreat inside unharmed despite the close call.
"Close the door!"
Along with Raine’s low shout, he and Sodden erupted with all their Power simultaneously, slamming their shoulders hard against the inner side of the heavy stone doors.
RUMBLE—CRUNCH!
The fastest-charging Skeleton Beast tried to jam its bony arm into the gap, but the tremendous force of the closing doors instantly crushed it, sending a shower of bone fragments flying!
Finally, before more Undead could crash their way in, the stone doors boomed shut, completely sealing off the countless flailing bony arms, the flickering blue Flames, and the scalp-numbing sounds of scratching and battering outside.