Hank stood at the front of his squad, his expression hiding the adrenaline coursing through him. His fists gripped his double punch shields tightly, and with each swing, they met the armored skeletons head-on. CLUNK! CLUNK!
Their swords clashed against his shields, but they couldn’t break through. He grinned, feeling invincible for a moment, but then a third skeleton slipped in from the side.
SLASH!
Pain shot up his leg. "Fuck!" he yelled, stumbling back for a split second. His level two armor held, though the material crumpled under the blow. His leg was saved, for now. Before he could retaliate, Wang Bo leaped into the air, yelling, “Monkey Smashes Cricket!” His staff came crashing down on the skeleton’s head with a loud CRACK!, but the skull didn’t shatter completely. The skeleton’s helmet absorbed most of the damage. Wang Bo frowned, but before he could curse, Isabella swooped in, her swords flashing.
Isabella, as always, was a whirlwind of precision and fury, cutting through an armored skeleton like it was nothing. Each slice was swift, brutal, and efficient, the mark of a warrior who knew her strength. Around her, the skeleton army was falling apart, but there were always more.
Atlas, meanwhile, was a force of nature, ripping through the horde like a storm. It didn’t matter if the skeletons were armored soldiers, bestial, or regular; none of them stood a chance. His experience, honed skills, and the boost from his achievement, ‘‘Bonus Damage Against All Skeletal Creatures‘‘, made the battlefield around him a void of death. Where he fought, only skeletal remnants and emptiness remained. Every strike was precise, every swing designed to bring down a foe with minimal effort.
‘The best thing about skeletons,‘ Atlas thought as he cut through another one, ‘no blood, splattering on me,‘ He wiped his face, grinning. ‘Sure, you might catch a splinter, but not being covered in guts is a big bonus. Fuck! Keep my brain in the game!‘
He refocused, his twin swords slicing through the next opponent, clearing a path for his comrades.
But behind him, the new recruits were struggling. They weren’t prepared for the sheer volume of enemies, their formations faltering. Fear flickered in their eyes as skeleton after skeleton kept coming, their blades meeting bone but not always finishing the job. Atlas could hear their panicked breaths, see their hesitations.
The gap between seasoned veterans and fresh blood was showing.
‘‘‘
The battle raged on, the ground shaking under the weight of clashing armies. Hank gritted his teeth, bracing as another skeleton soldier charged toward him. His shields met the attack with a CLUNK, forcing the creature back. His leg throbbed from the earlier hit, but he refused to slow down. He bellowed over his shoulder to his team, “Stay tight! We can’t let them break through!”
Wang Bo was beside him, weaving through the melee with a grin on his face. He cracked his staff into another skeleton’s ribcage, sending bone fragments flying. “Ha! You call that armor? Blind crafters could do better!” he yelled, his voice booming with excitement. CRACK! Another hit from his staff, and the skeleton’s head snapped back, but the helmet still absorbed much of the damage. “Damn helmets,” he muttered under his breath, but he didn’t stop moving.
Isabella, a blur of motion, carved her way through the battlefield with a grace that was almost unnerving. Her twin swords danced in the dim light, slicing through bone and armor alike. She faced down a heavily armored skeleton, her face calm and focused. With a swift downward slice, she severed its arm, then spun, cutting through its legs before driving her sword through its skull. CRACK!
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Another one down.
All the while, Atlas was a one-man wrecking crew. His swords flashed with deadly accuracy, cutting through anything in his path. He moved through the horde like a storm, skeletons falling at his feet with every strike. His mind was sharp, despite the chaos. ‘This is it. If we falter here, they’ll overrun us.‘
He turned, catching a glimpse of the new recruits. They were now panicking, their inexperience showing as they flailed against the relentless wave of undead. One soldier’s shield shattered under the pressure of an armored skeleton’s strike, sending him stumbling back. Fear flashed in his eyes, and he froze.
“Nooooo!” The soldier desperately fended off the advancing skeleton.
Atlas growled under his breath. “No time for hesitation!” he roared. He charged toward the soldier, knocking the skeleton aside with a powerful swing of his sword.
CRACK!
“Get up! We don’t have time to die!”
The soldier scrambled to his feet, shaking, but he nodded, gripping his sword tighter. Atlas gave him a firm pat on the back before diving back into the fray, tearing through the next wave of skeletons. Around him, the battlefield was a blur of clashing metal, breaking bones, and shouts of desperation.
“STOP THEM!”
CRACK!
“MEDIC!”
Hank blocked another heavy strike, his arm aching under the force. But he pressed forward, refusing to let the line break. “Stay strong! We’ve got this!” he yelled, his voice filled with determination. He glanced at Atlas, seeing his leader tearing through the enemy with terrifying efficiency. It gave him a burst of strength, and he slammed his shields into another skeleton with a shout.
Behind them, the recruits were slowly starting to find their rhythm, fighting back with renewed vigor. The line was holding—for now.
But the undead horde showed no signs of slowing.
‘‘‘
Even though the Portal Crushers were doing well, the new recruits, who had barely gotten any training after their unexpected portaling into the wasteland, were starting to crumble. They fell, wounded, to the ground. The veterans tried to keep an eye on them, but the battle was a storm of swords, shrieking undead silence, and bestial bones rampaging through the field.
“No!”
“Get a medic over here!”
“I’m down, save me…”
Portilla and Crushir were in their element, smashing through the skeletons like nothing. Without any risk of suffering flame attacks, they were juggernauts of destruction. Their regeneration shrugged off every cut and strike the skeletons could deal. Atlas, Portilla, and Crushir shone like beacons of hope in the chaos, with Atlas in his hot pink armor and the siblings in their dented but sturdy gear. The newcomers struggled to rally, but with inferior weapons and armor, they couldn’t stand their ground for long. Fort Bone had only given them level one gear, while the veterans and leadership had the tougher level two gear.
The noobies—under-armored, inexperienced, and panicking—were facing the fight of their lives. Nothing on Earth had prepared them for the horrors of the wasteland portals. They kept falling.
The undead horde, though, had started to thin out. The skeletons near the Portal Crushers kept attacking, but those on the outskirts were drifting apart, spreading in all directions like an ink spill. ‘It seems like they’ve lost some direction,‘ Atlas thought, crushing another armored skeleton beneath his blade.
Finally, the battle started to wind down. “Medic!” one of the veterans shouted. Barbara and her MASH team were already at work, administering potions from Hex in the City and applying ointments from vending machines. Bandages were flying everywhere as triage took over. It had been a brutal fight for the Portal Crushers. Twenty men had fallen, with another thirty or so wounded. The ground was littered with mana coins, armor, swords, and the skeletal remains of the undead. Blood, viscera, and shattered bones splattered across the loot, a grim scene that looked like a twisted Jackson Pollock for the wasteland.
The porters set down their crossbows and started packing the loot. Atlas, lost in thought, was thinking about the losses. More names to be added to the memorial tablet—something he never wanted to see. But he knew the Wasteland wasn’t a peaceful place. It had claimed countless lives in his first lifetime here, and it would keep doing the same.
‘It’s hard doing this again,‘ Atlas thought. ‘I can’t save everyone. How much more do I have to give?‘ They still hadn’t found the skeletal dungeon, and until they did, these hordes would just keep growing. ‘Their growth is faster this time. It’s far worse than my first life here.‘
Taking the army back to Fort Bone, the army trudged back in silence. There was a fatigued determination on their faces as they carried the loot and the bodies of the fallen with them.