You have defeated Ursi Spiculum, Level 16.

Lucius let out a breath as the system message popped up at the bottom of his vision, rolling his eyes when the telltale feeling of his Vitality increasing surged within him.

"Really? You need to eat right this second, Whisper!? Hurry up and come help!"

Lucius was currently chasing the leader through the outskirts of the campground. The man was not impressively swift, but a moment ago, when Lucius caught up to him, he realized the leader had swapped himself with an illusion at some point. When the understanding dawned on him that he had been chasing a fake, Lucius quickly focused on Sense Danger to pinpoint the man's actual location before setting off after him again.

Passing through a cluster of dense trees, Lucius spotted the blood-soaked leader leaning against a tree, waiting for him. The man was breathing heavily, blood dripping from his mouth. Apparently, the wounds Lucius had inflicted were more potent than he originally thought. As the man's full figure came into view, Lucius gaze was drawn to the large black and red eggs in each of the leader's hands. This set of eggs was much larger, and gave off a more ominous feeling, than the one used to attack David previously.

The moment of distraction caused by chasing the illusion had seemingly allowed his opponent to prepare the next round of attacks. When Lucius saw the black eggshells suddenly explode outward, releasing large clouds of gray smoke, he prepared himself mentally to dodge whatever horrid magic was brewing. However, the smoke simply lingered around the leader's body as the man retrieved something from his storage ring.

"You are strong, little assassin. The Mother was right to warn me about our impending encounter, and I was right to prepare a special sacrifice just for you!"

The leader held a large canvas sack, dark red liquid dripping from its bottom. When he tipped the sack over and let its contents tumble to the ground, the sight of what fell out made the breath catch in Lucius' throat.

The object on the ground, now being swarmed by the large cloud of gray mist, was the dead body of a young boy. The boy's eyes and mouth had been sewn shut, and his small body was covered in lacerations and bruises. It was clear he had been severely tortured before his death.

Lucius halted in his tracks, staring wide-eyed at the body, disbelief delaying his reaction as he struggled to process the reality before him. His fists clenched hard as he looked back up at the leader, his brows furrowing as he spoke in a hushed tone.

"What have you done..."

The leader's lips peeled back into a grotesque grin as he saw Lucius' pained expression, revealing blood-covered teeth. Cheerfully, he began to explain his awful deed.

"You did this! If you would have never come, I would not have needed the sacrifice and the boy would be alive. An innocent soul, whose death was slow, painful, and terrifying. This is the potent foundation of the curse I have prepared for you!"

Lucius felt a jolt run through his chest like a lightning bolt as Sense Danger went haywire. The child’s body began to twist and lurch violently as the gray smoke invaded it. Ignoring the warning in his chest, Lucius refused to wait for the curse to complete. He activated Flicker once again. Moving carefully to avoid touching the gray smoke, Lucius unleashed a furious barrage of attacks on the wounded leader. Learning from his earlier mistake, he avoided spreading out his strikes this time, aiming each blow at the same spot on the right side of the leader's chest. The leader's Aspect activated, mitigating most of the damage, but the sheer number of attacks, combined with the damage buffs from Assassinate, created a powerful effect.

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When Flicker ended, Lucius quickly retreated to the nearest tree, leaning against the trunk as he struggled to catch his breath. He looked back to assess the outcome of his efforts in time to see the leader’s eyes shoot open wide the moment his Aspect deactivated, hands clutching at his chest as blood sprayed from his mouth. Lucius had aimed every attack at the man’s heart—a vital organ that did not fare well after being lacerated dozens of times.

As the leader collapsed to his knees, still gripping the fabric over his chest with a pained grimace, the abominable spell he had conjured completed its activation. The skin on the small body tore apart as it rapidly expanded, growing in a horrific scene as it changed into a tall skeletal figure composed of jagged black bones. Its skull resembled a grotesque hybrid of a wolf and a gargoyle. Red lights flickered in the hollow eye sockets of the skeleton as it turned its gaze toward Lucius.

The creature's long legs pressed off the ground with tremendous force, propelling it through the air toward Lucius. It moved so fast that he barely had time to react, throwing himself away from the tree with all his might. The tree exploded into a shower of splinters as the black skeleton tore past it. Lucius clenched his jaw, realizing that the monster was as strong as it was fast.

"Hurry up, Whisper!"

Lucius pushed through his fatigue, fleeing through the forest and refusing to let the monster close the distance. He launched Piercing Throw again and again, but landing a solid hit on the creature's thin, jagged bones was nearly impossible. Even when he managed to connect, his blade barely left a scratch. Whatever this thing was, it was the most powerful monster Lucius had ever faced.

Exhaustion mounting, Lucius waited until the last second to dodge the skeleton’s lunges. But as the creature charged toward him, it extended an arm, manifesting a long whip made of the same gray fog that had created it. The sudden change caught Lucius off guard. He gasped, his eyes widening in shock as the whip coiled around his leg, ripping him off the ground and hurtling him through the air toward the monster.

Lucius was disoriented, sharp pain radiating through his entire body from the whiplash as he sailed through the air. The skeleton seemed to grin as it pulled back its fist to strike the flying human. However, just as the black-boned fist was about to connect, Lucius reached out with his left hand, activating the Overload skill on his ring for the first time.

The magical runes on the ring suddenly released a great flood of light, as an intense ripple of power burst out from them, the power instantly formed a glowing translucent bubble around Lucius. The bubble warped inward as the inertia of Lucius’ flying body collided with the monster’s powerful fist. Time seemed to freeze as Lucius hovered in midair, the bony black fist pressing into the forcefield just inches from his face. Then, like a spring releasing, the bubble containing Lucius hurtled backward through the forest like a meteor, smashing through trees and ricocheting back and forth a half dozen times before finally coming to a stop.

When the forcefield dissipated, Lucius scrambled to his feet and stumbled forward, the world spinning wildly as he struggled to regain his balance. Clutching his head tightly as he did his best to restore his vision. As his sight began to steady, a rope of shadows suddenly yanked him back down to the ground, as a bony black fist sliced through the air where his head had been just moments earlier.

Shadows began lashing at the skeleton as Whisper returned to Lucius’ side, but the monster effortlessly snapped the bindings as it continued its relentless march toward him.

"You need to think of something, Father. I cannot restrain the cursed creature."

"I know... Try to buy me some time!"

Ignoring his exhaustion, Lucius activated Flicker for the third time. While Whisper did his best to delay the skeleton, Lucius sprinted away from it through the forest, heading back toward the heavily injured leader. When he reached the spot where the man had collapsed, Lucius nearly fell himself as Flicker ended and the overwhelming fatigue struck him like a tidal wave. Yet, he found what he was searching for. Floating above the leader's body was the magical eye being used to see through Lucius’ Aspect.

As the black skeleton began closing in on him again, Lucius lunged forward without hesitation. At this close range, the magical eyeball was hopelessly outmatched. Matriarch’s Fury pierced the floating orb effortlessly. Green flames consumed the floating eye as it shrank back to its original size and Lucius flicked his wrist to throw it from his blade. At that same moment, the black skeleton froze in place.

The powerful creature cast its glowing red eyes around, scanning the area where Lucius had just been standing moments earlier, searching for its target that had suddenly vanished from its sight.