Chapter 22 A Cunning Guardian

[You have turned an Inferior Wyvern Skeleton into your Abyssal Underling.]

The wyvern's bones were covered with muscles and skin.

Red scales covered its body and wings.

'A Wyvern... They're similar to Dragons, right? I wonder if they exist in this world. Dragons...'

The new Underling measured about 7 meters from head to tail.

'I'll probably keep you for a while. Maybe fuse you with a Guardian. Status?'

[ Name: (None)

Species & Level : Inferior Abyssal Wyvern Lv1 (0/5000Exp)

HP: 2400/2400

Endurance: 1300/1300

Mana Points: 8000/8000

Stats: Strength: 90

Agility: 75

Sense: 50

Vigor: 240

Endurance: 130

Mana: 800

Skill(s): Fire Breath.

Flight.

Draconic Tail Flick

]

'Draconic, huh? Guess that answers my question about Dragons. Anyways, it's not bad. High Mana Stat. The rest isn't anything special though...'

Mark turned his gaze towards the doors in front of him.

'Four Guardians... Which one should we start with?'

The group walked towards the doors.

They entered the room.

Filled with green gas, it was tough to see through the smoke that reigned inside the room.

'I can't feel any presence in here...'

Light growled.

'You can feel them, huh? Good thing we have you and your high Sense Stat...'

The next second, a pair of eyes glowed in the dark.

The light shined blue.

'A normal Skeleton?'

That lone pair of eyes became two pairs.

A second later, there were three.

Once there were 10 pairs of glowing eyes, Mark understood what was happening.

'Multiplying? Something like that. Kira.'

A handful of Lightning Bolts flew through the room and exploded until those pairs of shining eyes were no more.

But about 5 seconds later, a new pair of eyes stared at the group.

'Kalès, go. Destroy whatever is in there.'

Right away, the Orc Of Minos ran forward and smashed the Skeleton he found.

But a new one appeared.

'Are they immortal? No. They seem to pop up randomly, not on the spot we've defeated the previous ones. Then, what is it?'

Mark was amused and slightly perplexed.

It was the first time a Guardian Monster did not fight in a straightforward fashion.

'Leave them be.' Mark ordered.

Kalès came back to his Master's side.

Pairs of glowing eyes kept appearing.

'Mm. It's getting sort of annoying. Gotta figure it out...'

More and more Skeletons appeared.

A few minutes later, there were about 70 of them.

'They're appearing one by one. Seems like there's no limit to how many can be in the Boss Room at once. The Guardian must be the one summoning them. Yeah. That makes sense. He keeps summoning them one by one... Kalès, Kira and... Umm, the wyvern. You three destroy all these Skeletons. Light, let's find that Guardian.'

Thunderbolts and a stream of fire obliterated dozens of Skeletons while Kalès smashed other ones to bits.

Meanwhile, Mark and Light were wandering around the room.

'It's dark. And the green smoke doesn't help...'

Five minutes later, Light howled.

'Did you find it?'

Mark ran towards Light's location.

'Huh? You think?'

Light barked.

In front of the two, was a Skeleton.

It wasn't bigger than the other ones.

Its bones didn't look sturdier.

Nevertheless, the Skeleton wore a dark robe and an amulet around its neck.

It was sitting on the ground with its back against the wall.

The scene would have made Mark chuckle if he could.

'Don't tell me... He's been hiding his glowing eyes with his hands this way from the beginning? That's too funny! Hey, is this really the Guardian? Seriously?'

[Correct.]

'Mm. A letdown. Oh well, let's smash it to pieces, I guess...'

Just as Mark extended his arm forward, the Skeleton stood up in a heartbeat.

'Huh? So you still want to fight? Let's do it-'

The Skeleton started running away.

And Mark didn't chase it.

Surprised and slightly entertained, he stared at the fleeing Skeleton.

'Why are you running?'

The Skeleton ran towards the center of the room.

But Mark was not worried one bit, as one of his loyal Underlings was there.

The Orc Of Minos, Kalès.

The Skeleton stood in front of the latter.

Pressure-

An ominous feeling.

Mark's heart skipped a beat.

Light's ears twitched.

The Skeleton grabbed its amulet and raised it up with both hands.

The amulet rose from its hands and stayed in mid-air for a bit.

Light started growling loudly.

Mark ordered Kalès to destroy the fragile Skeleton.

But before the Underling could get to it, the Guardian was swallowed by the jewel it was wearing seconds earlier.

The Guardian, had disappeared.

The hovering amulet fell to the ground.

Its jewel seemed darker than before.

The next second, the green smoke that reigned inside the Boss Room started moving.

Violently, as if a storm had appeared, the smoke spun and spun around the room's center.

Around the amulet.

'What is-'

A second later, the smoke entered the dark jewel.

Suddenly,

Crack-

'Come back.' Mark ordered Kalès while staring at the amulet cautiously.

The crack spread, and the amulet broke.

Although momentarily hidden by a dark magical shell, a Monster had appeared.

Like a veil, the dark shell started fading.

'Is that...'

The Monster was taller than the Skeleton that had been swallowed.

In a way, it resembled a Skeleton.

But at the same time, it was completely different.

Its body was covered by the same dark cape the Skeleton previously had.

Two red eyes stared at the group.

'...The Guardian?'

[Correct.]

Mark's eyes widened.

The Guardian was not a Skeleton, as it had flesh.

But that flesh did not cover its whole body.

Only spots were covered by it, while the rest was not.

The Boss Monster's right leg, just like its hands, was all bones, while its left was not.

When it came to the Guardian's visible face, its mouth, nose and cheeks were covered by flesh.

The Monster raised its right arm.

Its bony fingers extended towards the group.

In front of those fingers, tiny balls of energy appeared.

Dark energy.

'That's-'

Mark had already witnessed the devastating effect of such Magic.

'Dodge. More than anything, its attacks must be dodged-'

Before Mark could finish ordering his Underlings, thin streams of black energy were shot at the group.

All, managed to dodge the attacks.

All, except Kira, whose body was too big.

The instant the black stream of energy hit the Underling's back leg, its limb started turning to dust.

Mark ran towards Kira.

'Wyvern, come here. Quick. Shit. It's the same Skill! The same one that Calamity...!'

The Guardian raised its left arm.

The Boss Room shook.

Various cracks appeared on the ground.

The next second, a dozen Monsters rose from those cracks.

'Summoning? Just like-'

Except this time, the summoned Monsters were not mere Skeletons.

Two of them were Inferior Wyvern Skeletons.

Three were Minotaur Skeletons.

The rest were either Orc or Werewolf Skeletons.

'As if dodging those black streams didn't cause enough trouble??' Mark thought to himself as he crushed the Werewolf Skeleton that separated him from Kira.

The summoned Skeleton Monsters started attacking.

The Guardian raised its right arm once more.

Its index finger pointed in the Inferior Abyssal Wyvern's direction.

'Left arm for summoning. Right arm for attacking...?' Mark hypothesized.

The Inferior Abyssal Wyvern Underling was close to Mark.

A sphere of dark energy, much larger than the previous ones, appeared in front of the Guardian's finger.

'This one might be enough to finish the wyvern or even Kira in one hit. No time...!' Mark thought.

The black energy was shot towards the wyvern at an insane speed.

Mark touched Kira's body with his right hand.

The attack flew through the room.

Mark spun around and leaped forward.

The black sphere was inches away from the winged Underling.

Mark's left hand grazed that same Underling's wing.

Just before it could reach its target, the Underling was turned into a red sphere.

The deadly black bomb passed by Mark.

A huge portion of the wall behind him was turned to dust.

'Alright. Which one of you two should be the base for this one?' Mark thought.

Two floating spheres of red energy in his hands.