In a dark and gloomy place, dense miasma hung in every inch of space. It was an atmosphere steeped in darkness, where the moonlight and stars couldn't penetrate. The ground, covered in a thin layer of black moss, echoed with the muffled sounds of skeletal footsteps.
Hundreds of skeletons lined up, positioned in a disorderly formation, like a legion of specters hungry for commands. They held makeshift weapons, crafted from dubious materials, whose rudimentary appearance contrasted with the lethality they exuded.
At the epicenter of this macabre theater stood a necromancer. His hooded cloak concealed his face, but his expression, twisted and concerned, was perceptible even in the shadows.
His eyes burned with a malevolent gleam as he raised a staff made of black wood, adorned with arcane symbols. As the staff ascended, the laws of death seemed to bend before him, obedient to his command. A sinister magical melody echoed through the air, like a somber summons calling forth the power of darkness.
Quickly, the necromancer began to create more undead. The new material had arrived recently, and he was the Queen's army creator. From the depths of the dark earth, discarded bodies and bones came together, and macabre creatures writhed, emerging with a sinister creaking.
He didn't hesitate and, with overwhelming momentum and an excessive expenditure of Qi for the task, employed another technique to completely dominate the minds and bodies of the newly summoned.
‘The numbers are now three times larger than before. I have to execute the orders perfectly this time,’ thought the necromancer after completing the entire ritual.
He watched the newcomers closely. ‘That damned dracolich must be involved in this. The attack and internal theft would only be possible with mastery of death Qi superior to mine,’ he reflected, concluding that everything was normal with the now-controlled skeletons. That failure to dominate the previous skeleton had been unusual and inexplicable, raising suspicions of external interference.
"For the Queen!!!" shouted the necromancer, raising his staff. Following him, a sinister chorus resounded, with hundreds of skeletons chanting the cry with equal intensity.
The dense miasma, stretching over a vast area, began to move rapidly, and the black army of skeletons followed in unison. The necromancer floated high above, surveying the surroundings and expertly controlling the dark domain.
‘All skeletons are under my command, and if the dracolich moves directly, I will notice immediately. The only valid option for them to sabotage me again would be an attack coming from the dark laws above my understanding,’ the necromancer whispered to himself, carefully evaluating the possibilities.
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‘He is capable of that, but I am properly prepared defensively.’ A shadowy aura emerged with overwhelming intensity, enveloping the necromancer like a devouring blanket of darkness. It seemed as if he were absorbing all the laws and life itself around him, becoming an impenetrable force.
‘With this, it will be clear that no power from Qi can instantly kill me, and if he moves carelessly, I will have evidence against him. Now I can fully focus on eradicating all the outposts of these pathetic creatures,’ declared the necromancer, his determination firmer than ever. The darkness surrounding him seemed to pulse in response as he led his army of undead toward the next massacre.
In the midst of the steadily marching army, dozens of meters above them, a subtle event occurred on the necromancer's back. One of the skeletons, following the march like all the others, discreetly glanced upwards and then changed direction rapidly.
‘Darn it, even though he's useless, he seems to be quite cautious,’ Zane grumbled.
‘He has a defensive black cloak... our tactic of attacking him when he lets his guard down is useless now. Even if we use all the accumulated Qi, his defense, powered by Yin Qi, can withstand the attack. We will never be able to kill him in one go,’ analyzed Gael.
‘We lack brute power. I knew we should have absorbed as many lives as possible,’ replied Zane, frustration evident in his voice.
‘Stop complaining and think of something. We're burning our limited energies blending in with these skeletons.’
‘Conventional techniques won't work; only direct attacks with weapons might have some effect. Unfortunately, we only have stored arrows and spears,’ Gael commented, with a thoughtful tone.
‘Everything in this universe is trash, and the life force of these soldiers was of terrible quality. Even if we attack directly, we won't win due to a lack of Qi.’
‘However, these weapons, despite being rudimentary, contain a spear that mixed wood with a metal alloy; it belonged to the soldiers' commander. He must have been someone important among these useless ones. If someone on the same level as the necromancer used it, it could injure him,’ Zane remarked.
‘The level of the spear is sufficient, but our power isn't...?’ Zane began to say but was abruptly interrupted by a sudden change in Gael. He had a premonition of a strange idea sprouting in his partner's mind.
‘Use all the power of the rune to disguise the movement and get close; I will concentrate the rest for the attack,’ Gael said as five runes subtly appeared on the skeleton's bones.
Having two minds operating in perfect sync was something peculiar, Zane thought, as he moved closer to the necromancer. It would be completely impossible for an ordinary person to control and use two subtle techniques simultaneously because they would quickly find that the level of both techniques would decline, and the Qi consumption would increase due to the lack of control. However, for them, this was not an issue.
The necromancer was calm, gazing at the horizon when he noticed something strange. The nearest outpost was completely extinguished, and he couldn't sense any life presence coming from that place. ‘Did they know about my attack?’ he speculated, furrowing his brow.
The situation became even stranger when he realized the almost untouched belongings and traces of death in the camp. By focusing his senses further ahead, he spotted, a few kilometers away, other camps with living people.
‘There's no strong dark Qi here. Are they having an internal dispute? These idiots can manage to kill each other even when they're fighting in a war,’ he pondered, confused by the situation.
Suddenly, while he was still lost in thought, he felt a strange fluctuation and was stunned. A deafening roar, like an apocalyptic thunderclap, reverberated in his ears, but the sound didn't come from above, it came from below.
RUMBLE!!!
He didn't have time to shift his gaze and only felt blood rising in his throat. Looking down at his own chest, he saw a red-glowing spear piercing through it. The strike seemed to have come from an expert assassin, above anything he had ever seen, and he was impaled without any chance of defense. However, he immediately realized that the wound wasn't fatal and turned to face his attacker.
The shock was even more extreme when, looking into the empty, red eyes of the attacker, he realized it was a sinister and malevolent-looking skeleton. In a matter of milliseconds, a wave of heat erupted from his chest, and his vision brightened before abruptly fading.
BOOM!
"Hahaha! Explosive cannon, a success!" The sound of excited laughter echoed, sinister, coming from a skeleton, but no living beings were present anymore.
‘They were weak, but the weapon wasn't,’ Zane thought, even as darkness enveloped him.