"You said there were just a few skeletons here, didn't you?" Stephen almost roared with fury, grabbing Kenley by the collar.

Kenley quickly pretended to be clueless,"I—I didn't know this thing was here! I swear, by the Mother Goddess!"

Forget it, arguing with this peasant is pointless. Right now, dealing with this mage is the most important thing.

"We'll settle this later!" With that, Stephen threw Kenley to the ground, and Kenley scrambled towards the secret passage, pretending to shiver in fear.

Let him enjoy his moment, soon they'll know how powerful this skeleton is! Kenley thought to himself, secretly laughing. They probably don't know how the first-tier assassin title came to be.

"Spread out!" Stephen shouted as he gave his orders.

When facing a mage, they had to be extra cautious. If the mage had area attacks, standing too close together would surely cause trouble.

Additionally, all of them were wearing armor focused on physical defense, so against magical attacks, they were practically helpless.

Dane glanced over the group, then raised his hands high."Awaken, my kin, drive out these filthy intruders!"

"Hmm?!" Stephen let out a surprised gasp. Suddenly, stone doors on the east and west sides of the tomb opened.

"It's skeleton archers!" someone shouted.

At the same time, there was a sound of the ground being overturned, and a set of pale bony hands reached up from beneath the earth—skeleton soldiers!

There were three archers on each side, and six skeleton soldiers rising from the ground. With Dane added, the undead had about the same numbers as the merchant guards.

"Damn!" Stephen broke out in a cold sweat. A single skeleton mage is weak, and with concentrated fire, they could be taken down quickly. But the worst part was the tomb's environment. The dark elements here were abundant, allowing the mage to freely summon his minions. Looking at the numbers, this skeleton mage was probably already at second-tier, and if it advanced further, it could become a necromancer.

"Six people intercept the skeleton soldiers, the other six go after the archers! John, come with me to deal with the mage!" Stephen wasted no time making the quickest decision. The numbers were roughly equal, but since Dane was likely a second-tier mage, the combat power was skewed in the undead's favor.

He knew that the weakness of mage-type enemies was their frail bodies. As long as they trapped Dane and interrupted his casting, they could finish off the other minions, focus their fire, and eliminate Dane quickly.

Kenley shook his head in pity. Without even looking, he knew Stephen's group was doomed. He didn't want to be dragged into the battle, so he quickly slipped into the secret passage while Stephen was distracted by Dane.

Everyone received their orders and began acting, but at that moment, Dane's hands lit up with a blue glow, and icy air began to gather around them.

"Whispering winter, the cold is coming. Freeze! Filthy intruders!" Dane immediately shot a long stream of blue ice wind toward Stephen.

[Spell: Freeze (Second-tier)]

[Damage: None]

[Effect: Freezes the enemy, decreasing agility by 15 points, preventing the use of any charge-type skills below second-tier.]

[Duration: 5 seconds.]

For a level 12 warrior, losing 15 agility points was a death sentence! And this was an area spell with a very short casting time—Stephen didn't even have time to react.

Stephen's charge required some distance to activate. Since he was too close to the treasure chest and too far from Dane, he didn't get within range to charge, giving Dane plenty of time to cast.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

With a sharp sound, Stephen felt his body, along with his blood, as if it were freezing. Though he didn't take any damage, his movements became as slow as a snail.

Freeze was also a cone-area spell, so John and the two unlucky guards behind him also got caught in it.

"We're done for!" The first thing Stephen thought of was how doomed they were.

Taking advantage of the frozen state, the skeleton soldiers attacked the two guards with wild swings, and they could barely manage to defend.

This was the downside of not wearing magic resistance or elemental resistance gear. Freezing-type spells had to be especially wary in the wild, particularly against unknown mage enemies.

Though Stephen was a quick thinker, they were still doomed.

"Pfft—!" A gleaming iron sword pierced through one of the guards' shoulders, and blood splattered everywhere.

HP -17, the guard's face turned pale, and at the same time, the slowed guard next to him was also struck.

"Mark! Sibik!" John grew anxious. He knew those two, but now he was also slowed, so he couldn't help.

Meanwhile, the other guards were caught in a chaotic melee with the skeleton soldiers and archers, and they didn't have time to turn around and assist.

At that moment, Dane's hands glowed red again!

"Mother Goddess, forgive me!" Stephen couldn't help but curse. This was a dual-element mage, how could this be fair?

To know that the fire element is the most lethal magic in the early stages, and is a favorite of players, Stephen, being a native of the Oden continent, knew this better than anyone.

Dane immediately conjured a fireball and chanted an incantation. The destructive power of the second-tier fireball was definitely not something these first-tier warriors could withstand.

"Run!" Stephen immediately shouted to the soldiers behind him, who were exposed to Dane's fireball, because Dane's target was them.

But it was too late!

"Boom—Boom—!"

Two massive fireballs, like merciless beasts, instantly engulfed the two guards who were still focused on the skeleton soldiers!

HP -85!

The two guards had only around 54 HP, and they couldn't withstand such a powerful attack.

"Ah, ahh—!" With screams that echoed with despair, they were burned to nothing but blackened bone frames, a gruesome sight.

Once death appeared in the crowd, fear spread like a virus. As everyone heard those screams, their attention was immediately drawn to the horrifying sight.

But while they were stunned, the skeletal frames didn't have the leisure to watch others die.

Two distracted guards were immediately struck by swords, and with the interference of four fewer guards, the archers quickly got their chance and shot arrows at the two guards who were hit by the swords.

"Ugh—ah—!" One moment of distraction, and they were done for!

The icy arrows pierced through their bodies, and the skeletal soldiers took advantage of the opportunity to slash open their chests, spilling blood and internal organs in a horrifying display, plunging them into a sea of fear.

This scene scared the young guards senseless, with one collapsing to the ground in terror. However, he reacted quickly and dodged a sword strike from the skeleton soldier by rolling to the side.

"I—I'm not fighting anymore!"

"Help! Help!" Several guards immediately turned to flee, trying to escape in the direction they had come from.

But at that moment, two more skeletal frames entered through the front gate and blocked it, sealing off their escape!

The skeletons they had previously looked down on now stood like two death gods, blocking their only path to safety!

"We're finished! We can't get out!" Two guards backed away in terror.

At this point, Stephen finally regained control of his body, but in the short span of five seconds, so much had happened.

The continuous deaths had crushed their morale, and several guards were mentally breaking down. Plus, the front gate was now blocked by more guards, sealing off their escape route.

Stephen was furious. It was all because of that sly peasant! He scanned the scene but couldn't spot that damn guy. Perhaps he was hiding or had already fled.

When I get out of here alive, I'll skin him, rip out his muscles, and feed him to the dogs!

But surviving was the most important thing now.

"Charge!" Stephen shouted in anger, his sword thrusting into the skeleton mage's chest, as if releasing all his fury.

HP -31, Dane's HP dropped by a quarter.

Kenley narrowed his eyes. He hadn't been able to get a good look earlier when Stephen quickly killed the two skeleton soldiers. Now he realized that Stephen was wielding a finely crafted sword.

No wonder this guy became the leader. He had such a good piece of equipment.

[Item: Cain Empire Military Sword]

[Level Requirement: Level 10]

[Class Requirement: Warrior, Berserker, Knight, Assassin, Paladin, Magic Knight]

[Quality: Exquisite (Blue)]

[Attributes: Physical Attack +22]

[Gem: Strength +5]

[Notes: Crafted by the artisans of Marlon Imperial City's army. Reliable quality, a guarantee for soldiers' lives.]

Wow, it even has a Strength +5 gem! No wonder this guy could break a skeleton soldier with one strike. If he had three more hits like that, Dane would probably be dead by now.

But things were not so simple. If it were an ordinary skeleton mage, Kenley would be considering running right now. If Stephen really killed Dane, the next person to face trouble would be him.

However, Kenley knew well why Dane was called the first-tier killer. Don't forget, Dane was a deceased noble mage, and he had inherited magic spells!

Just as Stephen thought he had struck a blow, he clearly noticed that Dane was weakening. He thought he was about to kill the mage, claim the treasure, and trample on that peasant who made him grind his teeth in frustration. But then something unexpected happened!