Chapter 161 Mist, Keep.

Jay and Anya continued to sneak through the mist behind the skeletons while the dihexapedes continued to shriek and call out through the dungeon. After walking for some time, a tall black tower slowly emerged from the heavy fog. It was made from heavy blocks of the same dark stone as the rest of the dungeon.

The entrance had no door, and was extended outwards from the structure like a tunnel. After sending in a skeleton to make sure it wasn’t a trap, Jay quickly stuck his head in to take a look around – on the inside, it was just an empty room. There were no windows or stairs going to the top of the tower; there wasn’t even a gate.

“Weird. I didn’t see any other structures before we started walking… It’s like this tower just appeared somehow.” Jay whispered.

“Me either.” Anya shrugged.

After looking around and finding nothing of use, the two left again. Jay couldn’t help but wonder why the strange tower had appeared in the mist though. He could only guess that it raised from the ground and was simply another weird part of the dungeon.

They continued in roughly the direction of the pyramid, leaving the empty tower in the mists behind them.

Suddenly, Jay stopped in his tracks and looked around while having the skeletons form a circle around them.

“hm?” Anya gave him a questioning glance.

“Do you hear that?” he whispered.

“Hear what?”

“Exactly… they’re all quiet.”

The only sound was a gentle breeze travelling through the ruins, as the calling dihexapedes were now silent – but not for long.

Sounds of multiple shrieks bellowed out, a crescendo of wailing voices sounded out all around Jay and Anya.

“Fuck, we’re surrounded… looks like they’re pack hunters” Jay said, raising his shield.

*Skriiiii!~*

The first dihexapede appeared from the mist with a slicing attack against one of the skeletons – the skeleton saw it coming at the last moment and was ready, bracing itself before taking a hit.

The two skeletons near it all got to work, smashing their hammers against the creature.

The dihexapede was much shorter than the level 133 they initially came across, and its speed was similarly slower; about the same speed as one of the skeletons, though this was still incredibly fast by human standards..

With no time to rest, another dihexapede appeared from the other side of the defensive circle.

Anya already began to launch bolts at them, causing them to stagger for a moment and allowing the skeletons to get some easy hits in.

Meanwhile, Jay hadn’t acted yet. He looked conflicted as he was still listening to the screeching sounds; despite there being numerous voices they were only being attacked by two. Perhaps these two dihexapedes were merely the tip of the iceberg.

Suddenly, the dihexapedes both looked at each other and scurried off, climbing back into the ruins and hid in the mist.

“That was weird…” Anya said, “maybe they were scared of each other?”

Anya’s attitude was pretty casual compared to Jay. Jay was not responding as his thoughts were racing about what to do.

He thought about the possible defensive formations they could take against multiple dihexapedes, but it seemed that fighting as many as three of them would become a life and death battle.

One thing was clear to Jay: they were in imminent danger.

“Those two were just to test us.” Jay whispered, “We might have to leave the dungeon.”

Anya now looked conflicted too – she definitely didn’t want to leave, and fighting with Jay was a rare opportunity only afforded to her.

The attack hadn’t begun, and perhaps it was a good thing that Jay didn’t attack. The dihexapedes wouldn’t know his power and would possibly hold off attacking. Even for a moment it would be an advantage.

Jay was stressing slightly, clenching his jaw while trying to think up any possible formation – but he realised that wasn’t the answer.

This was when he remembered the silk woods dungeon. Against an overwhelming force of ethereal spiders, he used a chokepoint.

“We have to get back to the tower.” he was still whispering, but a little more loudly.

“O- ok.” Anya was surprised at how tense Jay seemed; he was usually much more relaxed.

*SCRRRIIIIIIII!~~~*

The attack signal sounded as they started moving back to the tower. It seemed that the dihexapedes noticed their change of direction, and responded immediately.

“Run!” Jay yelled.

He had three skeletons protect them from behind, while two ran at either side.

*Scriii!~*

One was really close, screeching from somewhere behind them, but no one looked back.

[Your feeble creature has been slain]

The small skeleton was grabbed and executed immediately, though Jay ignored the notification. He was just glad that the new skeleton served a purpose, even if it was to slow down a group of dihexapedes, if only for a moment.

Jay’s shield squeezed his arm right before another dihexapede appeared from the mist in front of them.

*Clung!~*

[-3.3]

He raised it just in time, blocking a slash from its claw while he had the two skeletons on either side jump on it and keep it busy. They couldn’t afford to slow down.

“Uncaring Rip!”

Jay stashed his shield and reached out with his gauntlet – the creature shuddered for a moment while its collar bone was ripped out, causing it immense pain.

*Schrriiiii!~*

Despite the tense situation, a sly grin appeared on Jay’s face, though only for a moment.

Jay and Anya slipped past it as it was beaten by the skeletons’ hammers. Jay made them throw caution to the wind and take damage so they could deal as much as possible. The dihexapede clearly didn’t expect such resistant yet careless enemies as it let Jay and Anya dash by.

Only two skeletons were left guarding them now, bringing up the rear of the party.

Jay and Anya kept running, only hoping they were going in the right direction – the tower was still nowhere in sight, while it was hard to tell if they were even going the right way.

“Damn, how many skeletons will I have to sacrifice?” Jay wondered.

Losing skeletons wasn’t so bad, but each of them carried the bone hammers which took blocks of metal to craft; Jay had no more metal chunks or hammers in his inventory, so equipping the skeletons after resummoning was not possible – they would have to find the hammers again.

With enough distance, Jay had the skeletons disengage from the dihexapede, but one didn’t make it.

[Your skeleton has been slain]

The lone skeleton caught up to them quickly – however, another dihexapede soon emerged from the fog too, and hence another skeleton had to be sacrificed.

“It might as well be the weak one.” Jay thought, commanding it to jump at the new enemy.

A few shrieks later and the third skeleton died.

[Your skeleton has been slain]

It did the trick, buying them some time.

As they ran, it sounded like a stampede was coming for them, but thankfully the tower emerged from the mist once more. It was like a breath of fresh air, and each of them felt a rise of hope in their hearts.

“There!” Anya yelled.

The two dashed in quickly, followed by the two remaining skeletons.

“Get ready.” Jay said as he stood in the entrance.

A dihexapede came charging in straight after them – only to be met with the blunt strikes of the hammers.

Bits of its body chipped off and cracked as it cried in pain. Immediately it regretted its foolish charge, yet it couldn’t stop.

The sheer speed of it managed to push back the skeletons and get close to Jay, but he braced himself and got his shield out, letting it take all the damage. Smashing it with his shield and it was brought to a halt.

Jay smiled as it came to a stop. He was glad these dihexapedes were smaller, remembering how the assistant sent him flying.

*Shring~*

[14.4]

Immediately he retaliated, slashing his sword across its decaying human face.

The two skeletons got to work now, hitting its sides while Jay slashed in its face, it was forced to back up.

The dihexapede was in a horrible position; each hit of the skeletons against its legs and the twisted black spines across its back, causing it to shudder in pain and slow its movement. Meanwhile the sword attacks on its face were stopping it from accurately slashing its talons at anything.

Jay smiled slyly, its retreat was pathetic and this was all he needed: time.

A pile of bones suddenly appeared near him and was suddenly covered with the dark green necrotic mana.

Bones began floating in the cloud of mana, and one by one, skeletons marched out with a glint of revenge in their eyes; the last one summoned was the level one feeble creature.

The higher level skeletons were summoned with their armour on, it became a part of them, – though after dying it was cracked all over with chunks missing.

Seeing their poor armour, Jay decided to remain defending with the other skeletons while letting them eat their fill of the bone pile.

The two skeletons were holding it off, but without Jay there, they were taking a few hits too. Before entering the fight again, Jay took a moment to analyse it.

<[Dihexapede Soul Eater – Level 3]>

[HP 103/103]

[Damage]

– 6 slashing (upper body appendages)

– 4 slashing (legs)

<[Skills]>

[Congenital Linking – 31/58]

– Shares its strength with other creatures

[Amalgamation] (Body Parts)

– Consumes to grow stronger

– Has become immortal

[Dire Blades]

– The dihexapede slashes its target with its sabre talons

– 4 damage per successful leg slash.

[Brittle Armour]

– 40% damage reduction to slashing, stabbing damage.

– 20% more damage taken from crushing damage.

[Helvetia’s Revenge]

– Magic damage immune.

– Any wielded weapons become cursed.

<[Description]>

[A soldier of… Hunger. Pain. Empty. Hunger. Pain. Empty. Hunger. Pain. Empty. Hunger. Pain. Empty.]

“Oh, it’s only level three? I guess it’s strong because of the soul linking…Damn, so there’s thirty-one of them? I wonder what happened to the other twenty-seven…” Jay rolled his tongue in his cheek.

“I wonder if there are bigger packs than this.”