Chapter 408: Ending the Play

The increase in morale was a need for the humans' survival and therefore for Ed. This was because he had put too much effort into this for it to fall through. He had set up a string of coincidences that seemed easy at first glance but required a lot of precise timing.

The timing on trap triggers had to be delayed to not kill anyone but intimidate them enough for the dungeon and the knights themselves to feel there was a threat. This at times required triggering something new like caving in the floor to prevent them from dying and at other times, it was about coordinating with W.

But that too was something easier said than done. The transmission had a delay of a few seconds and grew shorter and shorter as both W and Ed came closer to one another.

W then needed to pass things onto Brennan, who had to react and play his part accordingly. The humans believed they were fortunate and in a way they were, all the danger they avoided could have easily killed some of them if Ed wasn't so meticulous in his plan.

Even the part of encountering a defenseless white skeleton was a part of the ruse. He was bombarded at first sight, but Ed was prepared for that response. He had worked together with W to make his appearance as coincidental and casual as possible.

From thereon things were just a matter of faking a couple of exchanges with the knights and mages. A problem arose from this, though.

The constant exchanges were slowly damaging or outright destroying the weapons of the attackers. This was making their attacks much weaker. His weapon was at fault, but not bringing it out was suspicious.

This made it a blessing that Brennan boosted their morale when he did. With the increase in morale, the strength the humans outputted was increasing once more and they just might regain that strength they continued to lose. That's why Ed found this morale boost so necessary.

Yet, Ed also knew that he couldn't fool around too much.

[You've been dealt damage. -41 hp]

The humans were still tough targets. His health would be quickly drained if he messed around too long. The skeleton's health was only almost exactly half of the orc body's. That felt like such a dramatic downgrade.

'Dodge from below!' So while Ed did not need to even the odds, he was still planning to do it. If he died, he died! Such an attitude was something humans were afraid of, they could not replicate said attitude without suffering great casualties.

The knight that was in front of Ed took a step back, keenly dodging the blade that came up from underneath the ground. This resulted in them being deeply puzzled. What was that?

[You've been dealt damage. -36 hp]

But there was no one to answer that man's question, and there was no one to praise Ed for his leading role in this play. One of the knights took the chance of striking Ed after the missed strike, and they were not the only ones.

Other humans also took the liberty to attack Ed with all that they got.

[You've been dealt damage. -8 hp] 

The damage they did wasn't necessarily the greatest, but it was starting to slowly accumulate. By now it was no longer time for Ed to linger, he started moving onto the next phase.

The earth suddenly trembled and Ed's figure was now surrounded by walls of the earth which then flung forward in their particular direction.  The knights that met them head-on were all sent back like flies buzzing around unwanted. The attack was like a wave of earth that violently washed them away.

Ed was annoyed, but there was also now a glint in the eyes of the knights. The skeleton had to be close to death's door! The evidence was the burst of power it suddenly exerted!

Unfortunately, they weren't even halfway correct.

The earth trembled once more, but this time it shook with intent to kill. Sharp stakes of earth shot out from beneath them, each carefully aimed at the knights and mages.

"Don't give up!" Brennan Bosque continued to shoot out words of encouragement while the knights suffered from another near-death encounter.

'This isn't sustainable' He had just gotten started so the mana consumption was not very high but it would start to stack up eventually. Ed couldn't allow the farce to continue, he had to end it now!!!

Ed's cast speed suddenly ramped up and earthen shots, earthen spikes, and all sorts of earthen spells were bombarding the humans. He was disregarding mana consumption entirely.

"Wha-" A knight carrying a spear was shocked after 10 pieces of rocks came hurling at him without mercy.

"Eh?" But most of the rocks faltered before reaching him or missed entirely. The other knights were experiencing the exact same phenomenon.

"This…" Stuart was shocked. The situation was too strange!

"Dont- Don't relent!" Stuart shouted. All he knew was that whatever the reason, the skeleton missing attacks was an opportunity. They would push harder!

With the shots missing, a knight made a wide swing. The air trembled after it was mercilessly cut apart. But it wasn't a swing at the air, the distant Ed was the target on the receiving end!

[You've been dealt damage. -109 hp]

It was a direct hit, Ed felt his body being forced back by the attack. He swept his gaze past a couple of knights and then…!

He flashed towards a smaller, more isolated group and then went mad within its ranks! His sword split the throat of a first knight, sliced off the arm of a second, and skewered a cowering magician with a thrust.

The handicapped knight was not getting off alive though, in a fluid motion Ed's sword found its way back to him and rid him of not just an arm but also his head.

By this point, Ed had struck fear into the core of the people. But only half of his health remained.

The series of events took less than 5 minutes to take place yet Ed had already claimed the lives of approximately 7 people.

The white skeleton which had parts of its pristine bones dyed in red, the source of fear, turned its head. Some knights felt themselves gripping their weapons more tightly.

"Re- Ready yourselves!" Stuart found it really embarrassing that they couldn't handle this lone skeleton, but the numbers they possessed weren't overwhelming enough. The crypt also limited the scope of attacks they could send out.

The magicians for example could rarely sneak in a powerful spell without risking friendly fire. Only so many knights could surround the skeleton without outright mobbing him. If they mobbed it, then there really wouldn't be a way around the friendly fire.

With these regretful thoughts still in Stuart's mind, he readied himself for another series of bloody standoffs. His group of less than 30 could not handle this skeleton! It was without a doubt an A-class threat by now!

The skeleton bolted.

"Erm, what?" The skeleton bolted. It turned around and ran.

'I need reinforcements!' Ed thought audibly as he began to flee towards the nearest outpost. He did this because the final step was, of course, running.

He just needed to pretend to have been put in a pinch. Realistically, he was in a precarious situation, it was just a precarious situation he could escape at any time.

It lessened the difficulty for sure, but why would Ed want it to be any harder?

The humans who were left behind by the skeleton were stunned into place.

"Forget about it, we should continue our way out" The sweetest voice of the group spoke. It was that of Brennan Bosque, he was the one that had been helping them constantly escape danger and the king of their nation.

He was both a man worthy of respect and a man they owed their lives to.

"Escort out the king…" Stuart said defeated. This felt like a battle without purpose now that the target ran away. If they had acquired that drop item… the lives that were lost could have been made up for.

But alas, the skeleton knew better than to stick around for long. But that it was alive ignited the hidden fear that it would return inside of Stuart, and that told him to get out faster.

***

Ed hadn't fled too far. He fled just about far enough to judge his performance this time.

'The act was pretty convincing I reckon' Ed thought continuing towards an outpost.

His goal was to give Brennan an alibi. The humans outside could argue that the hints he provided in the dungeon were too suspicious, but otherwise, that effort was a success.

The other thing was to fool the dungeon, but there was no real way to know if his efforts were or would be paying off.

Outside that, this battle had a couple of small gains. The leveling up of swordsmanship and requiem, as well as a couple of human souls. They were still necessary for his next level up.

If Ed had to give himself a mission ranking, he would give himself a b- for achieving most objectives but failing to go beyond that.

'W, how is the situation there?' But the mission might not be over, if the humans chased, he would be screwed!

After a short while, W replied.

'We will be getting out' Was the message he sent. Ed's empty sockets seemed to shine with glee. The antics of W, Bloody, and Brennan outside were something to look forward to.