Zeke’s hammer slammed into the necromantic vessel’s malformed head. It snapped to the side, the sound of breaking bones an tearing flesh announcing the attack’s effectiveness. He didn’t stop there, though. Planting his feet on the thing’s shoulder, he cocked Voromir back, then embraced [Unleash Momentum]. The result ripped the thing’s monstrous head off, sending it flying away to slam into one of the walls. The edifice crumbled beneath the immense force, and black blood geysered from the stump of the vessel’s neck.
That was his first hint that he was dealing with an inferior foe.
He knew he’d grown stronger, and not by a small degree. However, he knew he hadn’t become that much more powerful.
“Don’t sell yourself short,” Eveline remarked as he swung his hammer again. It hit with inevitable force, dislodging a mini-van sized chunk of rotting flesh. “But I think you’re right.”
Over and over, Zeke tore through the monster. It tried to stop him, radiating the same formless pressure that had once come so close to killing him. Yet, he bore it stoically, managing the damage with [Hand of Divinity].
Then, he felt something new.
Something far more powerful than anything he could take. He leaped free of the necromantic vessel just in time to avoid being pummeled by a column of dense flames that radiated the level of heat he would have associated with the sun. It wasn’t radiance – not like he’d experienced against Shar Maelaine and her followers – but rather, a level of heat that far transcended anything else he’d ever felt.
It was only after he landed nearly two-hundred yards away that he noticed that his army had finally arrived. And amongst them was Sasha. Her presence – or the power radiating from her – explained the column of flame he’d barely escaped.
“That girl has so much potential,” Eveline said. “If only she had the right demeanor for battle.”
That much was true. Zeke was strong, and he felt certain that [Wrath of Annihilation] was stronger than anything Sasha could manage. But not by much. And with enough preparation, the boarkin girl could bring any number of effects to a battle. She was powerful, albeit in a different way.
But as Eveline had mentioned, she was also ill-suited to the rigors of battle. Physically, she was practically defenseless, but the real issue was her mental state. Some people were made to fight. She most assuredly was not.
And she had the presence of mind to recognize that and focus on other things, like the academy she’d helped to found. Through that, she would do more to augment the tower’s collective power than she would ever be able to assert on her own.
Still, seeing one of her spells in action was a reminder that Zeke wasn’t the only person who could wield enough power to end entire cities.
At the moment, that wasn’t important, though. As Zeke picked himself up from where he’d fallen, he felt something surge beneath him. Deathly energy flowed through the burned husk of the necromantic vessel, then spread across the entire courtyard. Like a dam had broken, thousands of zombies erupted from every opening in the ruined castle, flowing forward and collapsing into the necromantic vessel.
They merged with the mass of necrotic flesh, merging with it and healing the damage that had been done. At the same time, the army opened up, with thousands of kobolds rushing from the bridge and into the castle grounds. The overcast sky lit up with the light of a thousand skills as the kobolds used their ranged abilities.
Finally, a group of more powerful skeletons – noticeable by the sheer weight of their presences – exited what Zeke belatedly realized was an extensive underground area. From the way they moved, it didn’t take a leap of logic to recognize that they were unlike the other unthinking undead. They were sapient.
And they let loose on the army with gleeful enthusiasm.
One threw out teal fire that, when it passed through the front line of kobolds, sucked the very life right out of them. As they collapsed, another of the powerful undead raced forward, moving almost too quickly for Zeke to track, and lashed out with a pair of shortswords. It was like a whirlwind of blades, and it ripped through the kobolds like they were made of paper.
A third stayed back, chanting something that Zeke recognized as a spell.
And finally, a fourth planted a skull-topped staff in the ground and sent a wave of mana to rush through its allies. Runes encircled the other three skeletons, rotating around their limbs and hovering above them. The speed-focused skeleton grew faster. The teal flames became more voluminous. The fourth was unaffected, though.
That, as much as anything firmly established Zeke’s order of attack.
His feet thudded heavily against the ground as he rushed forward. At the same time, Talia met the speed-focused skeleton on its own terms. Her claws clashed with its swords, the sound ringing across the courtyard. At the same time, the front-most kobolds lowered their shields and used a skill that linked them all together. The teal flames washed over the ethereal barrier. It flickered for a second, but it held.
They advanced as one, intending to meet the flood of zombies coming from below.
Zeke sprinted forward, and after a few steps, he felt an infusion of energy he recognized as originating with Jasper. He couldn’t hear the dark elf bard’s song, but that wasn’t surprising, given the clamor of the clash of undead and the shield-bearing kobolds.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Zeke activated Voromir’s ability, then used [Titanic Smash] before swinging his hammer. The weapon swept out, and because he was so far away from his target, the it hit nothing but air. However, the red copy of the weapon extended much further, and it fell upon the augmenting skeleton with predictable weight and fury.
Upon impact, dust billowed, obscuring the results of Zeke’s attack. An instant after the red copy of his hammer hit, he was peppered by flying rocks and bits of necrotic flesh. He rushed through it, barely noticing any of it.
But when he reached the point of impact, he was surprised to find that the skeleton still stood. Encased in a teal bubble, it remained entirely unharmed. The only evidence of Zeke’s attack was a series of cracks upon that sphere of blue-green energy.
That changed when he completed his charge and rammed into it. It shattered like glass, and a moment later, he wrapped his fingers around the skeleton’s neck. Dismissing his hammer, he thrust his other hand through its ribcage and grabbed ahold of its spine. With a roar, he hefted the thing over his head and, heaving mightily, ripped it apart. An eruption of death-attuned mana washed over him as the creature’s motivating force exploded.
Zeke endured it without issue.
After all, death was a part of him now, no different than earth or demonic corruption, and its effect was more energizing than deleterious.
Either way, the skeletal mage died – at least as much as an already-dead creature could – and Zeke tossed the remnants of its body aside. A second later, dense flames bore into his chest, melting the metallic flesh and boiling his blood. He screamed, embracing [Hand of Divinity] even as agony lanced through him. It was more than powerful enough to bypass his natural pain tolerance and dig deep into the core of who he was.
Yet, Zeke was no stranger to pain. Even as his body melted and reformed a hundred times a second, he kicked off the ground and threw himself at the skeletal mage. It threw up some sort of flaming shield obviously meant to arrest his momentum, but it was no more effective than a wall made of paper. He crashed through it without even a moment’s delay and brought his resummoned hammer down with all the might he could muster.
The creature shattered.
Shrapnel of bone exploded from the point of impact, moving with enough force that it ripped through the surrounding zombies with ease. Zeke barely noticed them. They were a minor concern compared to the much more dangerous squad of skeletons.
But now, two were down. Only two more remained.
The sorcerer-skeleton finally completed its spell, and a dense cloud of necrotic energy swept in from the sky. Just before it reached the army of kobolds, a group of spiritweavers led by Kianma concluded a collective chant. A shield of light bloomed above the army, stymying the cloud’s progress.
Power clashed, green and white, and for a second, Zeke wondered which would prevail. But then, he completed his charge and rammed into the skeletal sorcerer. The thing was made only of bone, so it felt light as a feather. It flew backward with such velocity that, when it hit a wall almost a hundred yards away, it shattered into dust.
The cloud disappeared, and Zeke caught sight of Talia’s enlarged claws slicing through the speed-focused skeleton. Its bones fell apart with each surgical cut, and within a second, it was gone.
The battle continued to rage, though. The zombies weren’t like the ones Zeke had encountered back in Darukar. They were much, much older. Strips of ragged flesh remained, but it was hardened by mummification. They also carried weapons, and many wore armor.
Fortunately, they were still zombies, though. That meant they were comparatively slow-moving, stupid, and only really useful for horde-tactics. Countering that was the fact that their numbers seemed virtually endless, and they were far stronger than normal zombies.
For someone like Zeke, it didn’t make much difference. They were weak enough that they couldn’t hope to overwhelm him. Yet, they were more than capable of killing kobolds. Moreover, they were so numerous that killing them – even if it wasn’t difficult – would assuredly be time-consuming.
Unless he used [Wrath of Annihilation], which was out of the question with his virtually unprotected army so close.
So, with the vague awareness of Pudge’s pain dancing in his mind, Zeke waded into the sea of zombies and got to work slaughtering them all. Every swing of his hammer was accompanied by a wisp of his Will, and as a result, each impact exploded a zombie. Yet, with the sheer weight of numbers arrayed against him, Zeke was incapable of quickly dispatching them all.
It was a good thing he wasn’t alone, then.
His army surged forward with the precision they’d learned throughout countless battles against the forest giants, Knights of Adontis, and the forces of the Imperium. Their spears lashed out, while their spears protected them from reprisal. At the same time, they continued forward, one step at a time. And the zombies fell before them.
Meanwhile, Zeke carved his own way forward, and after an intolerable delay, he reached one of the castle’s entrances. From a quick inspection, he saw that it only led into the main structure. He needed to go down, though. That’s where Pudge had gone, after all.
Even as the battle raged, Talia suddenly appeared beside him and asked, “Where is Pudge?”
“I need a way down,” Zeke answered, swinging his hammer again. A half dozen zombies exploded upon impact. “Find me one.”
Talia nodded, then raced off. With her speed, she could cover much more ground than he could ever hope to search. In the meantime, Zeke continued to mow down zombies. Quite a few managed to get past his guard, but they were wholly incapable of getting through his natural defenses.
More than once, he wished he could just ram his way through them. And while he could have probably done that, they were numerous enough that each step would be see an incremental decrease in his momentum. He was strong, but his power was not infinite. They couldn’t stop him. They couldn’t kill him. But they could keep him from reaching his destination.
Besides – he didn’t know exactly where he was meant to go. The castle hosted dozens of entrances, and most didn’t lead downward. So, due to his ignorance and the effectiveness of the zombies’ swarm tactics – at least in terms of delaying him – Zeke was wholly dependent on Talia to lead him in the right direction.
Thankfully, she was more than capable of holding up her end of the bargain, and only thirty seconds later, she reappeared beside him. “Northeast entrance. It is not well hidden. Follow.”
Zeke said, “No. You need to stay here. I don’t want you going anywhere near Micayne.”
“But –”
“Remember what happened in Darukar,” he said, kicking out and obliterating a zombie. “I won’t risk losing you.”
She clearly wasn’t happy with that, but she didn’t argue. After all, she’d seen what had happened to her adopted home, and she knew that, despite her unique nature, she was vulnerable to a high-level necromancer. Perhaps he couldn’t control her, but he could certainly kill her, and probably easily.
“Very well. Go. Rescue him.”
Zeke nodded, then put his shoulder down, and rammed his way through the zombies. As he’d initially predicted, his momentum was spent after only a couple dozen feet, so he used [Shifting Sands] to cover the last fifty yards. Then, he found the entrance and wasted no time before entering the tunnel.
He had a brother to save.