Chapter 14: Skeleton Legion:
Dim light illuminated the grand halls of the labyrinth, and pillars of gold, brightly reflected the golden torchlight. Equally spaced between each pillar were black stone bricks, seemingly untouched by the expanse of time.
However, unlike the untouched walls, the floors were cracked from battle, and bones littered the glimmering floor.
Starlight and the rest of the cohort walked carefully through the large halls of the labyrinth, swords drawn. They had already encountered a few dozen stray groups of skeleton monsters.
There were only two dozen troops and two skeleton dogs per group. They would have been an easy kill if it weren't for what the groups had originated from. The groups were most likely scouts from the traveling legion of skeletons, and none of them knew where it was.
Each fight had to be taken seriously and treated carefully; one mistake could lead to the entire legion finding them. With five Travelers, the skeleton legion would not be too challenging; it was only a large group of lower-ranked monsters.
But that's what inexperienced and negligent Divers would think. The legion was not just a large group; it was titanic! If one was not careful, even if they were a Traveler, it would be impossible not to be overwhelmed by such large groups.
Starlight gripped his sword tightly in his hand. Well, that's all he could do with it. In an earlier battle against a lone infantry skeleton, Starlight's sword fell out of his hand after an encounter between their blades. After that major blunder, Liriel had him tie his hand to the handle with bandages so that he wouldn't make that mistake again.
"Wait… there are enemies ahead!" Bram called out cautiously.
Godric cursed under his breath and slammed his fist against a golden pillar. He looked back at the group, giving a tired stare. "Prepare for battle… just in case we'll try to avoid it."
Starlight tensed. This was what he said every time. He looked over to Liriel, her silver hair hung over her dusty armor. He watched her tentatively, ready to follow whatever she did.
Liriel sighed, unsheathing her silver longsword and holding it at her side. She stopped in place and tilted her head back to Starlight, crystal green eyes gazing into his own jet black ones. Liriel stared at him for a moment, studying his entire person.
'Does she want something?' Starlight thought, as he also stopped walking, continuing to stare at her.
"What are you waiting for? Do you want the monsters to come to us?" Liriel teased, as a faint smile crept up her lips.
"What?" Starlight tensed, 'Is she teasing me?'
Shaking his head, he stepped closer to Liriel, taking his place beside her. As he did, Liriel also began to walk.
Surprisingly, instead of slowing down the pace and being more careful about every step, they were walking faster than before. Previously, the first few times they had encountered a group of monsters, they had tried to be sneaky, but every time, it blew up in their faces.
They all knew that they would encounter the group of monsters; there was no point in wasting their time trying to avoid it.
Soon, the group was running through the magnificent halls of the labyrinth, a variety of footsteps echoing through the grand halls. Up ahead, the corridor stopped and pivoted into a corner.
Bram, who was running in front of the group, suddenly held up his hand. The entire group came to a halt, with worried expressions on their faces. Up ahead, around the corner, a faint sound of bones hitting the black stone bricks could be heard. It was a group of monsters.
The corner was still far ahead, but the sounds of troops marching could be heard. There were certainly going to be numerous monsters.
Starlight's face grew dim, his expression a mix of anxious, excited, and stressed. The fight would definitely be the greatest he'd face since entering a labyrinth, but unlike in the rooms, they would be stuck in the halls of the labyrinth, and forward and retreat were the only options.
Around Starlight, the cohort was preparing for battle. Godric took out his backpack Artifact and was taking small pieces of wood out of it. Upon exit from the backpack and being placed on the ground, they grew larger. The small pieces of wood grew to become wooden barricades.
Previously, in one of the first rooms the group arrived at, there was a castle filled with skeletons. After sieging the fortress, Godric took many defensive items from the castle, which served the group well in the battle in the room, and would again today.
"Get ready!" Godric called out. All eyes darted to the end of the corridor and the corner.
Just as he said that, a white figure walked out from behind the corner. A long snout appeared, followed by a body. The body was ivory white, two skinny legs came from its shoulders, and behind them a large body with twenty-six ribs protruding from it. At the end of the ribs and spine were two more legs, followed by a long tail.
The dog had a faint glow around it, and grey gas flowed like liquid around its bones. It was Essence, Divers and Monsters alike had Essence; their ranks could be told by the color of Essence. Fiends and Descenders had white, Wretches and Wanderers had grey, and Wraiths and Travelers had Black. Because of the lack of muscles, blood, and other things to help skeleton monsters move, their Essence took the role of those things.
"It's a dog! The dog monsters Bram mentioned." Starlight muttered under his breath as he looked at the fearsome monster.
As Bram said, it was a Wretch. There were two types of dogs he mentioned, large and small. This one was huge. It was five times as large as Starlight and utterly devoid of life, made entirely out of bones.
Walking behind it were dozens of skeletons, clad in dirty armor and covered in rotten rags. As the wolf's head turned to look at the upcoming hall, its gaze fell upon the six humans. It stood still for a moment, and so did the skeletons behind it; the entire hall fell silent, the cracking footsteps of bones stopped immediately.
As the bone wolf observed the group of humans, each of the members got into fighting stances, preparing for an intense battle.
The wolf moved closer, fully turning the corner, and was followed by hundreds of skeletons. In the skeleton legion were infantry, archers, a few brutes and dogs, and finally a commander, who rode upon a massive dog, even larger than the first.
The front of the legion stirred, countless skeletons suddenly ignited with a burning passion to fight. Infantry ran down the halls, trailing behind skeleton dogs, their swords held high.
Starlight gripped his sword with both hands, trying to stay calm. He sauntered back, behind the wooden barricades, behind the five champions of the white city; he retreated to the only relatively safe spot.
He was just a mundane human, lucky to have a few strong Artifacts. He had no place fighting against legions of Fiends and Wretches.
Starlight watched as a storm of sparks fluttered around Liriel. As they dispersed, a beautiful wooden bow appeared in her hands. A quiver also appeared on her back, full of feathered-ended arrows.
She reached back, taking an arrow, then brought it to her bow, nocking it. Bringing the bow into a stance, she slowly drew the heavy string, anchoring it.
With a loud boom, she released the arrow, and it shot down the hall at an unimaginable speed. Starlight failed to trace its path, but still looked to the oncoming skeletons. A moment after the arrow shot from the bow, a line of skeletons burst, their bones flying in all directions.
Starlight opened his mouth in shock, 'Since when did Liriel know how to use the bow?' He assessed her in a new light, his sky-high impression of her rising to new heights.
But before he could express his amazement to her, the monsters had reached the barricades. Countless skeletons clashed against the reinforced wooden barriers, their arms reaching over with swords, slashing them in the hope of hitting human flesh.
Several dogs jumped over the small walls, snarling and jumping at the nearest human. Bram rushed around their encampment, trying to take all the skeleton dogs' attention. He succeeded, and almost all of them chased behind Bram; the others easily took out the strays. As Bram ran around the fight, the dogs behind him would suddenly fall over dead.
Lyra was guarding the right, sweeping her spear over the barricades, smashing the skeletons' ribs and chests open, killing them on the spot. Godric took the left and brought down his mace over the head of the creature. Aster stood behind them, dealing with any strays; he was also guarding Liriel, who was shooting her bow, from any oncoming arrows.
A tense equilibrium was in place, but it could be easily broken. The monsters' side had an overwhelming advantage in numbers, and currently, only Infantry were attacking; there were still archers, brutes, and others.
However, the humans were also holding back; none of them was operating at full power. But that quickly changed.
Starlight slightly smiled. The battle was going their way, if only slightly. The champions were holding back the skeletons, with the barricades taking minimal damage.
'It looks like we might actually win this.'
But as soon as he thought that, his face paled. Above, moving across the tall hallway, a dark swarm was shooting through the sky.
"Fast!" Starlight remarked as he pulled the Shroud of Ivory over his chest and face.
Just as he did, countless shards pierced the stone brick floor, and the sound of metal hitting metal permeated for a few moments. Then silence.
Lowering his cloak, Starlight looked around. Scattered over the floor were arrows — some shattered, some broken, and some piercing the ground.
'Arrows.' Starlight studied the grand scale of arrows that were spread throughout the battlefield, amazed by the sheer amount. He looked at his cloak, near his shoulder, an arrow made from bone, the feathers torn, was sticking out of his cloak.
The Shroud of Ivory had stopped an arrow. Starlight shivered as he pulled the arrow out of the leather. Dropping the arrow, he looked back where it had pierced his cloak; the dent was gone, and the cloak was in pristine condition.
He looked back at others, they were back to fighting the skeletons like nothing had happened. There were still some arrows sticking out of their armor, but if they were injured, they didn't show it.
However, despite the humans immediately resuming the fight after the rain of arrows, it was too late. More and more skeletons were pouring over the barricades, making their way into the small encampment.
A swarm of sparks lit around Liriel as she stored her bow and quiver. She graciously unsheathed her sword, twirling it before getting into a stance.
Instead of attacking the skeletons, she looked back at Starlight. "I'm going to give you two infantrymen to fight. Don't let me down."
"Wha—" But before Starlight could respond, Liriel smiled and looked away. Two skeletons approached her and swung their swords.
Before the blades could reach their target, Liriel disappeared, leaving a cloud of dust. Then, both skeletons fell forward and launched through the halls. The two Fiends landed several meters away from Starlight, looking at him with a hungry gaze.
Starlight looked back at Liriel, who appeared behind where the skeletons just were. She gave him a light smile, then turned back, looking to fight.
The skeletal monsters stood up, shaking their bones and gripping their rusty swords. They stood side by side, their furious gazes directed at Starlight.
Gripping his sword and bringing it into a stance, Starlight shivered. 'This… is going to be hard.'
The first of the skeletons charged at Starlight, its armor fully eroded, with just a brown cloth hung over its shoulders. Holding its blade to stab at him, Starlight quickly dodged, side-stepping out of its way.
'This should be the weaker one; it doesn't have much armor, and its sword is broken.' Starlight swiftly counterattacked, lifting his sword high above his head and bringing it down. Starlight's silver blade met the skeleton's broken one, the force putting cracks in it.
The skeleton stepped forward, using its overwhelming power to shove Starlight back.
After regaining his balance, the skeleton was already attacking him. Its broken sword swung down from his principled stance; in a moment, it was already inches away from Starlight's chest.
His body adjusted to the right, and the sword hit the cloak resting on his arm, bouncing slightly.
Starlight took the chance to back up. Although uninjured, Starlight was still sweating like crazy and had a grim expression. He was struggling to fight one skeleton; what if the other joins in?
But the monster didn't give him time to think; it immediately pounced on him.
The monster charged forward with immense power, while the sword was raised in its high stance. Starlight raised his sword, holding it at a tilted angle.
The skeleton's broken sword collided with his own. Using all of his strength, Starlight pivoted his body and sword.
The enemy's sword glided against the pristine silver of his own, its tip hitting the ground.
"Attack!" A faint, bitter voice rang in his ears, its melodic tone like an angel whispering in his ear.
Unconsciously, Starlight lifted his sword and struck down on the staggered skeleton. But before his blade could reach the ivory bone of the monster, footsteps and the rustling of rags resounded behind him.
A sword shot out, aiming for his heart from behind him. Sensing the incoming attack, Starlight rolled away, not allowing his attack to connect to the ragged skeleton.
Getting up from rolling across the stone floor, Starlight looked back at the pair of monsters.
He got a good look at the skeleton that had just attacked him. This skeleton, unlike the ragged one, wore rusted armor, and a dirtied red cloth hung from its shoulders. Its sword, although rusted, was still intact and sharp enough to decapitate Starlight in one strike.
The armored skeleton looked down at its kin, who were regaining their balance.
The entire exchange between the three had only lasted for a dozen seconds, but Starlight was already exhausted.
He could barely keep up with the one monster; now he would have to fight two at the same time!
"Dodge!" The same bitter voice rang through his ears again, but just as soon as it had, the tip of a sword covered his vision.
Barely managing to dodge in time, Starlight found himself lying on the ground, looking back up at a sword. Without giving him any time, the sword fell, the blade tilted so the edge would slice Starlight open.
Rolling to the side, Starlight quickly got back up, but the skeleton soldier was faster. Its blade, which had just pierced Starlight, sliced through the air.
The rusted blade clashed against Starlight's, cracks forming on the former.
'I just need to break his blade,' Starlight thought as he prepared his own attack.
The silver sword shot towards the armored skeleton, but the skeleton blocked it effortlessly, but it wasn't for naught. More cracks appeared on the monster's blade.
'Again!' But before Starlight could attack again, a broken blade shot from behind the skeleton's body.
'Dammit,' Starlight didn't have time to dodge. He adjusted his position, and the jagged tip of the broken sword pierced his cloak.
Starlight stumbled back a few steps. The armored skeleton took advantage of this, preparing another strike.
Just as the armored skeleton was preparing for its attack, the ragged one stepped out from behind it and held its sword high above its head.
Noticing this, Starlight suddenly stepped forward. Instead of defending, he attacked! The ragged skeleton would take a few moments to fully use his move, so he was going to kill it now. Starlight also believed that the armored skeleton could not kill him in just one move, unless it struck a spot unprotected by his cloak.
Starlight charged at the ragged monster and shot his sword out. And just as that happened, the armored skeleton also attacked.
The rusted sword was about to hit Starlight's chest, so he slightly moved, avoiding a fatal strike, and directing the blade to hit his cloak. But the monsters' attack wasn't so simple.
Instead of following through with the strike, like Starlight thought would happen, the skeleton didn't attack at all.
'A feint!'
The skeleton adjusted its body, leaning slightly. The monster shot its arm forward with immense force, sending the sword straight towards his chest.
"Move!" The same voice rang again, this time more commanding and cold.
Momentarily, Starlight lost control of his body, and his torso slightly adjusted. Then pain came, a raging burn ran through his body, and he felt the side of his chest grow weak.
The rusted sword, instead of stabbing into his body, slid against his shirt and skin, slicing into both, drawing blood, and colliding against the inside of his cloak. But he wasn't dead.
Just at that moment, Starlight's silver blade skewered into the ragged skeleton's neck. The bones instantly shattered, and the tip of his blade ran right through, killing the monster instantly.
The ragged skeleton stirred, then lost all energy; the glowing white energy surrounding the skeleton dimmed and disappeared, dispersing into the air.
Now it was just Starlight and the armored skeleton.
If the remaining skeleton was stunned, saddened, or angered, it didn't show it. It pushed its blade against Starlight's body, digging deeper into his flesh.
"Kill it!" The bitter voice sounded in his head, and Starlight moved. Ignoring that his sword was still in the neck of the fallen skeleton, Starlight cut through it with ease and sliced towards the neck of the armored soldier.
Sensing it was about to die, the skeleton retreated, withdrew its blade from Starlight's side, and stepped back.
"Damn it," Starlight grunted as he held his side. He was losing blood and had to end this battle quickly. Although he suffered a detrimental injury, the other side wasn't unscathed; there was only one skeleton left.
Ignoring the burning pain, Starlight stepped forward, holding his sword in both hands. The skeleton did the same as they walked to meet each other.
Boom!
When only a couple of steps away from each other, a massive explosion occurred toward the main battle. The skeleton turned its head and stopped in place, a sinister gaze coming from its empty eye socket.
'Godric!' The explosion was one of Godric's Relic abilities. 'But why is the skeleton stopping?'
Suddenly, the answer dawned on him. All monsters had an insatiable desire for the essence of Divers, less so, human flesh. The skeleton originally went to attack him because it thought it could only get human flesh, so why not go for the easiest and closest target? But now, it sensed the superior essence of a Traveler, and it was lusting for it.
Taking advantage of the situation, Starlight suddenly lunged at the monster. The skeleton finally remembered its fight and turned to him, but it was too late. His sword pierced into the chest piece of the armored skeleton, knocking them both to the ground.
"Guhh!" As Starlight mounted the skeleton and pushed his sword deeper into the armor, passing through it and entering its rib cage. The skeleton, with one hand, stopped his sword, and with the other, grabbed his neck, choking Starlight.
The overwhelming strength of the skeleton stopped Starlight from killing it, but also couldn't try to escape. They were locked in an equilibrium.
But it didn't last long. Starlight possessed an overwhelming advantage, and he utilized it to the fullest.
Giving Starlight a look with its hollow eyes, the skeleton monster finally succumbed to the damage and let go. Starlight silver blade pierced through the skeleton's ribs and brushed against its core, which was located where its heart would have been.
The skeleton's hand fell from Starlight, allowing him to breathe again.
After resting for a moment, Starlight stood up and drew his blade from the skeleton warrior's carcass. He stared down with weary eyes and a pale face, and whispered, "...Thank you."