Chapter 145: Skeleton Soldier Showdown

Chapter 145: Skeleton Soldier Showdown

Pareth stood his ground in the dark.

Name : Pareth Level : 190

Health :217978 / 217978

Stamina : 41983 / 41983

Mana : 18350 / 19000

He was ready. This time he could directly see his enemies, which was more than what he had to deal with until now. Sofia was observing the enemies in question through his vision.

Ten Avian ghosts. Various armor types and weapons, at least two mages. Depending on their levels it might be tough. Retreat if youre at risk, theyre only experience, we can get it somewhere else.

Be careful of ambushes, the one who teleported me there is gone, he could bring reinforcements. Im leaving you to fight here, Ill try out another one of Scriptures rituals.

The necromancy grimoire might have been a trap from Scripture, but the knowledge inside had all proven to be the real thing until now. She still had three unused rituals she knew from there, they were impractical and oddly specific in their function, but one happened to fit the current situation quite well. Its name was The ghostly ward, ghosts couldnt enter it or it would absorb their mana and leave them weakened or dead in a matter of seconds. That was it, it was meant to protect Necromancers when they used ghosts as part of bigger rituals. She had never used it. It was impractical as it required a large amount of fresh blood, but Sofia could summon that. She got to work drawing it with a chunk of chalk on the houses floor.

Pareths weapon morphed into a huge greatshield hiding most of his massive body as he charged forward. His [Sanctified grounds] were almost 400 meters in diameter now and the Avian ghosts were a mere fifty meters away, this whole place was now his battlefield.

Attacks flew out of the Avian mages staves. Pareth couldnt see them, but he could hear the roaring of the fire coming for him. Steady behind his shield, he kept running. The magical attacks exploded on contact, the heat washing over him. He took no damage. The Avian warriors stood ready to stop him, protecting the mages, while two ghosts with lighter gear spread out to either side.

For whatever reason, these ghosts were grounded. They could move much faster and nimbly than Alith could when she was in ghost form but didnt seem to fly. Pareth kept charging. There were four swordsmen, two of which had shields, and two spearsmen, all waiting for him.

Pareth reached the group. He abruptly stopped before being in the range of the spears and lashed out with his weapons that had morphed from a shield into an absurdly long katana. The blade collided with the ghostly shields of the swordsmen, leaving deep dents in the ethereal weaponry. The spearmen ghosts riposted, stabbing at the neck and armpit of his armor of light, failing to injure him despite their best efforts.

Unable to see the attacks with too little time to recover from the momentum of his swing and swap to the greatshield, he could only protect his upper body with his four [Flying shields of light].

It was uncertain what had hit him but he was sent flying by the impact. The force of the spell was devastating, breaking many bones. Maybe it was thanks to the enchantments carved on them, but the most important ones held out. It also turned out the remaining spearman had similarly suffered from the spell, dying on the spot. So there was at least some good coming out of it.

Health :53101 / 217978

Only one of the melee fighters remained - the one who had injured Pareth and received an uppercut. He was in terrible shape and hadnt expected Pareth to recover from the magical attack so fast. He could do nothing to defend himself against the rapier piercing through his skull.

Pareth blocked a flaming ghostly crossbow bolt flying at him with his left hand. At this point, he had the timing for the bolts well figured out. Finally free to move, he rushed the mages. The dozens of meters separating them were nothing to his Ogre legs. One of the mages tried to cast a spell, but nothing happened, while the other one was now protected by a cubic magic barrier.

The unprotected Avian mage panicked, throwing away his staff which disappeared as it left its hands. He took off, much faster than the arbalest had, managing to get some six meters up into the air before Pareth reached his level.

Pareths weapon became a large clawed glove covering his right hand. He jumped. At the apex of his jump, he was face to face with the fleeing Avian ghost. He caught him by a leg as he fell.

Pareth slammed this mage into the magic barrier of the other. His back bent backward at a very unnatural angle on the barriers corner before his body exploded in soft white light particles. One punch later, and the barrier protecting the second mage who had been frantically channeling some kind of longer spell was no more. Two punches later, and the second mage was no more. He fell back, more lifeless than he already was, his staff producing a sonorous sound as it fell off his hand and hit the ground. His body exploded like the others.

Only the second arbalest was left. He was currently in the process of escaping by phasing through the ground. He looked up at Pareth, then back down.

Pareth rushed, only to see the top point of the Avians helmet disappear through the ground right under his nose.

The glove of light changed to the spiked fist from before. Pareth hit the stone slab under his feet. The cracked stone revealed the top of the avians head. The fist changed back to claws. Pareths hand tightened around the avian ghosts helmet and scalp. He pulled up. The Avians body was stuck inside the ground and his head was inside Pareths hand. Once again, it all disappeared in a weak burst of silent white fireworks.

Pareth was left alone in the dark.

He sat down, waiting for his mana to come back.

Holy Pareth are you okay?