Ruin of the legion (3)

"Ruins are pretty easy huh? They're nothing compared to the tower floors," boasted one of the members of the Riot Guild's attack force as he bashed a skeleton in the head with a baseball bat.

"Well, that's to be expected. We only have to deal with the small number of skeletal soldiers that get past those four," replied another member of the attack force as he turned to look at the destruction that Judith, Sarafina, Michael, and Agent Ria were causing on the battlefield.

"But isn't it kind of weird?" asked the first member of the attack force.

"What do you mean?"

"We've been here for nearly thirty minutes, but it doesn't seem as if the number of skeletal soldiers is decreasing, if anything it kinda feels like they are getting harder to kill,"

"You're just exaggerating, stop thinking so hard and deal with the skeletons that slip through," replied the second member as he bashed another skeleton with his gauntlets.

***

"Master I've confirmed that the guild leaders of the Daybreak Guild, the government, the church, and the Quincy Guild have entered the Ruin.

However, the guild leader Andre was nowhere to be seen, and instead, the vice-captain of the Riot Guild represented him." said a man dressed in a brown hooded robe, as he bowed to a dark figure sitting atop what seemed to be a throne in a dimly lit hall.

"The captain of the Riot Guild huh? It doesn't matter, with his attack force thinned he won't be able to retaliate once we decide to take over this region." replied the Master.

"Master I know it's highly unlikely, but what if they are able to beat the ruin of the legion? After all, we didn't lie about it being an E-difficulty Ruin,"

"Beat a ruin? Amos are you aware of what the success rate of ruin raids currently is?"

"Y-yes master, isn't it 60%?"

"Wrong, those were figures I forged in order to lure out the attack force of various guilds. The real success rate is 0%. That's right, out of all the F-difficulty Ruins challenged none of them were ever successfully cleared,"

"B-but how? Surely others would catch on and realize that ruins were never completed,"

"How would they my dear Amos? My information Guild currently controls the spread of information, all network lines had been cut so there is no way for them to communicate unless they have government links or use radio communication."

"But even then, if there are no survivors to tell others that a ruin was not completed then how would people know? " laughed the master from atop his throne.

"So, the guild leaders are currently facing a ruin harder than the ones that haven't even been completed yet?"

"Indeed. In this world information is power, and he who controls the information controls the world,"

***

"Oi, could you guys hurry up and advance towards the general? I can't keep shooting out these lightning bolts forever," shouted Agent Ria over the sound of weapons clashing.

Her lightning bolts seemed to be getting weaker, the radius of her blasts was half what they once were, and the intensity of the heat wasn't even enough to completely disintegrate a single skeleton anymore.

"I'm trying, but Michael can't make it past the skeletons at the front, and I'm not sure how long I can keep him in this realm," replied sister Eleanor, sweat dripping off her face.

"The same goes for Sarafina, the ten skeletons in the front seem to be different from the rest," added the blonde man in a black suit.

"Am I crazy or does it seem like these skeletons are getting stronger?" shouted Judith, her face covered in sweat and blood as she struggled to deal with the skeletons that were slowly surrounding her.

"Actually, now that I look at it, their attack patterns have gotten more complex, it's almost as if-. Fuck!" shouted Agent Ria as she finally realized something.

"What? What is it?" asked the blonde guy.

"We have to finish this quickly. The skeletal soldiers are learning new combat abilities in real-time, just look at them. When we first came here their combat abilities were subpar, but now they're at the same level as most of the members of the attack force,"

"S-shes right!" shouted one of the members of the Daybreak Guild before getting stabbed in the throat with a rusted sword.

His skin instantly turned to dust, exposing his skeleton, he then stood back up and in place of his eyeballs was a green glow.

"A-Alvin!" shouted his comrade, however his cries fell on deaf ears. The undead Alvin activated his ability, causing the skeletons nearby him to have a higher defense.

"T-they retain their abilities even after joining the legion?" stuttered sister Eleanor as she watched what had just happened.

The general at the far end of the battlefield raised his hand, and at the same time, the undead Alvin raised his hand as well.

"What's he doing?" shouted Judith from where she was fighting.

The general's hand shone a bright green color, causing every skeleton on the battlefield to glow green as well.

"D-don't tell me," stuttered Agent Ria, a look of despair visible across her face.

"He's using that ability on all the skeletons. So for every member we lose, the whole legion gains their ability," added Judith with a hopeless expression as she became mauled by the skeletons around her.

Before it had just been a tad difficult to fight against the skeletons, but now with the defense upgrade, it became nearly impossible to deal with all of them. The number of cuts on her body was steadily increasing, and soon she wouldn't be able to hold on anymore.

"T-This is supposed to be an E-difficulty Ruin!? Those bastards lied to us!" shouted the blonde guy as Sarafina began getting swarmed by a horde of skeletons. Her blades had become cooler and could no longer cut through the enemies like swiss cheese.

"We have to defeat the general quickly!" shouted one of the members of the RIot Guild, before getting slashed at the throat.

Just like before, her skin turned to dust, and her skeleton was exposed. Both she and the general raised their fists, and all the skeletons gained the ability to create an ethereal shield.

"Fuck!" shouted all the leaders in unison as they realized that this ruin was a death trap.