Chapter 162
Back to the Grave
While the rest of the group were facing against undead monsters brought up by the necromancer targeting them, Ryle was speeding through the empty streets with Arkay on her back in search of the assassin. Thanks to the cat boy being gifted in magic, he was able to see a trail of magical energy move through the air and end with the zombies. This allowed him to track the location of the one behind the magic. All they needed to do was find where the necromancer casting the magic was and take him down, which in turn would put an end to the zombies as well.
However, even if Erin was dealing with the more advanced zombie that had pretended to be the actual necromancer and the rest were holding back most of the horde, there were still plenty of undead monsters left to hinder the progress for Ryle and Arkay. Whoever the assassin truly was, they weren’t dumb enough to leave themselves completely defenseless while letting their zombies do most of the work. The empty streets still had plenty of zombies hiding behind corners and other spots, waiting for one of their targets to come close enough for them to take a bite.
It was fortunate that Ryle wasn’t just extremely fast and strong, but she also had incredible reflexes as well.
“Woah! That one got a bit too close!” the blonde said as she dodge out of the way of a zombie that came from behind a corner and tried to lunge at her. “How the hell does this guy have so many zombies in the first place!? Did he commit a mass murder or something recently!?”
“I doubt that’s the case. A lot of necromancers summon their regular undead on the spot, as you can often find at least something buried in the ground beneath your feet,” Arkay explained. “If I were to make a guess, he most likely went to the local graveyard and brought up everything he could from there to use against us. This town is very dangerous to live in, after all, so I’m sure there were plenty of materials for him to use.”
“Great… This place just keeps getting better and better… Why would anyone ever live here!?” Ryle said in disgust. “Anyways, have you been able to keep your eyes on the trail that guy has left behind?”
“Yes! It’s actually becoming clearer, which means we are getting closer to him!” the cat boy replied, looking at the trail of magical energy. “Turn right at the next intersection! We should almost be there then!”
The blonde nodded and followed the instructions given to her. Just as she got around the corner, a bunch of zombies were standing there, waiting to ambush her and Arkay. The undead creatures would have torn apart any normal person that was caught by surprise, but Ryle once again proved that she was anything but normal. The group of zombies ended up being nothing more than a mere annoyance, as she jumped over them with ease and landed behind them.
“Hah! Nice try, but you gotta do better than that, you worm-ridden bags of crap!” the blonde taunted the zombies with a grin on her face as she kept running. “If this is the best this necromancer guy can do, this will be over quickly once we find him!”
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Arkay said in a worried tone, as he stared towards where the magical energy was coming from. “I sense a large concentration of magic ahead of us. I think he might have prepared something more than just regular zombies for personal protection!”
“Gah! That’s going to be a pain in the ass to deal with! Although, I guess we should have expected just as much,” Ryle said. “Once we find the place, you point out the necromancer and go somewhere safe! Let me handle the rest!”
“No! I refuse to simply hide while everybody else is fighting!” the cat boy said defiantly. “I’ll make sure to drive out the necromancer, so you can take him down right away and end this quick!”
“Huh!? A-Arnie, I appreciate that you want to help out, but don’t you remember!? You can’t use your magic around here!” the blonde pointed out. “Wouldn’t it just be better to instead let me handle this!? You’ve done enough as it is!”
“I won’t be able to face the others, if I don’t actually put my life at risk here!” Arkay said with a voice full of determination. “Besides, even if I can’t use my magic, I’ve got ways to fight! Not only that, but I have a plan as well!”
“A plan!? What is it!?” Ryle asked, surprised that the cat boy had come up with something so fast.
“We’re going to show this guy that he isn’t the only one with disposable monsters!” Arkay replied, gripping the vial that Lexton had given him.
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The trail of magical energy led Ryle and Arkay to what seemed to be an abandoned warehouse, similar to the one their group had been led to by the necromancer’s puppet. Ryle wasted no time in getting inside and simply kicked the front door down. Once inside, they followed the trail further inside, until they were in an area that was reserved to housing large boxes full of whatever the owner used to hold there. There they came face to face with the group of undead the necromancer had prepared for his defense.
Looking at the group, one could easily make the mistake of thinking that they were just normal people, but closer observations would reveal their true nature. Much like the man they had faced earlier, none of them were wearing masks to shield themselves from the harmful gases that covered the town. You could also tell that none of them were breathing, as there was no rhythmical movements with their bodies that came from it. Both Ryle and Arkay were also certain that if you were to touch them, you would feel how cold they were and that there was a lack of pulse.
However, this didn’t mean that none of them could be the necromancer, as they could still be a naturally born undead. For all Ryle and Arkay knew, any of the five could be the real mastermind behind all of the attacks they had bee facing.
Ryle’s eyes scanned the group before her, analyzing each member before her in order to get an idea of their abilities and fighting styles. She could tell that each one of them had been an expert fighter before dying.
First one was a male elf with two swords at his side. The longer seemed to be a rapier, while the other one was a simple short sword. The blonde could already imagine the fighting style consisting of incredibly fast thrusts that were accompanied by the occasional swings from the shorter blade.
The second one was a female dark elf with a rather large halberd. While she had a very athletic build, she wasn’t excessively muscular. This meant that she wielded her weapon with skill and control, rather than simple pure strength.
The third one was a male human armed with a crossbow. Judging by the camouflage-patterned clothing he wore, he had been either a hunter or some sort of a guerrilla fighter. Ryle’s nose managed to pick a faint smell of gunpowder coming from him. It seemed like the necromancer had switched his usual weaponry consisting of firearms due to the gases.
The fourth zombie was a male dwarf, who was carrying a very large sword on his back. Judging by the muscles on his arms, he was more than capable of wielding the weapon with force. Unlike the dark elf, who would use her large weapon through skillful control, this guy was more on the side of hitting things as hard as he could, until they broke.
Last one was a very large troll, wielding a massive club made out of a combination of wood, iron scrap and big animal bones. Judging by his appearance, he had most likely been a more savage troll that lived in the wilds and attacked travelers, unlike other trolls that lived as a part of regular society.
image [https://i.ibb.co/8LB5sjK3/Ch-162-Pic-1.jpg]
A bead of sweat slid down the side of Ryle’s face, as she stared at her opponents. There was a combination of speed, power, finesse and range within this group that was going to make the coming battle a tough one. Depending on how well the necromancer was able to coordinate their attacks, she might just be forced to focus on avoiding attacks and not get a chance to strike back.
“...Arnie, any idea if any of these guys is the necromancer?” Ryle whispered to the cat boy. “All I can tell is that we’ve got five tough bastards in front of us, but none of them give me the idea that any of them is an actual magic user. Unless he’s hiding somewhere.”
“No, it has to be one of these five. They’re the only ones giving off magical energy,” Arkay replied as he observed the five undead warriors. “Whoever this necromancer is, they’re very skilled at manipulating magical energy. They’re actually making it circle through these guys in such a manner that it’s impossible to tell where the original source is.”
“Does that mean we’re going to have to beat all five of them?” the blonde asked. “I mean, I’m willing to go for it, but it’s going to be tough.”
“No need to go that far. Just engage them in combat and make them move. The necromancer will eventually make a move that will expose himself,” the cat boy explained. “The more complex and powerful moves these guys need to make, the more magical energy the necromancer will be forced to use. I will be keeping an eye for the moment one of them shows a large increase in their magical energy output. That will reveal us just who the real one is.”
“So I just gotta keep these guys moving, until the one hiding behind the scenes screws up? Got it,” Ryle said with a grin, as she lowered Arkay to the floor. “You just get yourself to a safe spot and watch, as I make these guys dance way more than they ever did while alive. I’m sure you’ll find out the real necromancer in just a few seconds.”
With their battle plan ready, the blonde walked up to her opponents as she cracked her knuckles. All five undead warriors took their stances, their attention fully directed at the opponent before them. Silence fell over the warehouse, as the combatants just stared at each other in silence.
“Are we going to do this or what?” Ryle asked arrogantly as she waved her hand in a way that beckoned the five to come towards her. “I don’t have all day here!”
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The blonde’s taunt seemed to work, as the five zombies she was facing sprung into action. The troll was the first one to attack, as it swung its club at Ryle. She was able to jump to the side, avoiding the strike that destroyed the concrete floor with ease. This attack was followed by the elf charging at the blonde with both swords drawn. Much like she had predicted, he used his rapier to send out deadly thrusts at a rapid fire rate, while occasionally swinging his shorter sword at her when there were openings that he could exploit. Ryle managed to weave through the attacks and get close to the elf, allowing her to deliver a powerful kick that sent him flying back.
However, the blonde couldn’t afford to stay still and catch her breath, as her ears picked up the sound of someone coming at her from behind. She jumped in the air and did a backflip, avoiding the large sword of the dwarf and getting behind him. Ryle was about to deliver a powerful blow to the back of the dwarf that would at least incapacitate him to some level, but the sound of crossbow being readied caught her attention. She barely managed to duck her head down in time, when an arrow flew over her.
“Hey! Watch where you’re pointing that thing!” the blonde shouted at the human zombie, who was preparing his next shot. “I don’t like having sharp things getting shot towards me, jackass!”
Not wanting to deal with projectiles flying at her, while also focusing on melee combat with the other zombies, Ryle dashed towards the archer in the hopes of taking him out of the picture. Just as she was about to reach him, a large blade similar to an ax came down at her and almost cut her head off. The blonde managed to step back in time, after she noticed something coming towards her from the corner of her eye.
Now it was the dark elf that stood in her way. The halberd-wielding zombie swung her weapon around like it was a part of her body, twirling it around with ease and masterfully delivering powerful slashes that could cut through flesh and bone like a hot knife through butter. The added length of the halberd’s pole made the weapon a lot more difficult to deal with, as it could keep the opponent at a distance and not allow them to counterattack.
Just as Ryle was busy trying to avoid the wild swings from the dark elf’s halberd, she noticed the elf and the dwarf come from behind her. The elf was aiming to run her through with his rapier, while the dwarf was going to bring down his sword in order to split her in half. The blonde managed to move out of the way of the rapier’s thrust and get behind the elf, kicking him in the back in the process and pushing him towards the dark elf. After that, she jumped to the side to avoid the dwarf’s sword that crashed to the floor, before jumping towards him to punch him in the face and send him flying.
With the dwarf out of the way for the time being, she turned her gaze towards the two elves and saw that the idea she had thought of while avoiding all the oncoming attacks had worked. By pushing the elf towards the dark elf she had hoped that at least one of them would have ended up hitting the other with their weapons, thus taking out one of her opponents. Just as she had hoped, the elf’s rapier had gone through the body of the dark elf.
“Ha! Take that you corpse bastards! How do you like me now!?” Ryle boasted, before she saw the elf simply pull his weapon out of the dark elf’s body, who seemed to be completely unbothered by what had happened. “Oh right… Zombies… I forgot normal means don’t work on you…”
Just as the blonde was realizing how much tougher than she had initially thought, the troll came for another attack. This time the undead creature went to grab her with its free hand and managed to succeed, due to Ryle being distracted by her other opponents. The troll’s large hand wrapped around the blonde’s right leg and held onto it tightly.
“...Oh crap,” Ryle said, just before she was lifted off the ground and swung around wildly.
The troll seemed to treat the blonde like some sort of a ragdoll, as she was being swung around while she screamed. The swinging came to an end when the undead creature was about to smash its opponent on the floor, but Ryle managed to escape just in time by slipping her leg out of her boot. While she managed to avoid being crushed, the momentum still caused her to fly through the air and crash into nearby crates.
“Ow… That hurt like hell… You better not ruin my shoe,” the blonde muttered as she got up with shaky legs. She noticed the crates contents and grabbed one of the cans the wooden box had held within. “Great… Canned food. I hate canned food… Couldn’t this guy have chosen something like a pillow factory as his hideout?”
Ryle didn’t have much time to be lost in thought about her feelings towards the cans she had found, as four of the five zombies came rushing towards her with the human archer getting to a better position to aim at her.
However, the canned food she had accidentally landed on provided her with surprising weaponry to use against her opponents. Gathering some of the cans in her arms, she began to throw them at the zombies with all of her might. While such an act wouldn’t necessarily be lethal when done by a normal person, the blonde was far from a regular person. Not only did she possess very strong physical capabilities, she also used her ki to strengthen her throws, transforming the cans into lethal projectiles that whizzed through the air like bullets.
Seeing the oncoming attack, the zombies did what they could to defend themselves, but it was proving to be very tough. The speed at which the cans were coming at them wasn’t something that could be taken lightly, even for undead creatures that didn’t feel pain or have the same weaknesses in their bodies as living people did.
The human archer was able to avoid all of the cans that were thrown at him due to having a better position to do so. The others were forced to defend themselves to the best of their abilities, which wasn’t enough for all of them. The dark elf was able to handle the oncoming projectiles the best, as she deflected them all with her halberd. The dwarf simply placed his large sword in front of him as a makeshift shield that blocked most of the attacks, but a couple managed to slip past his defense and actually break his arm. Even if a broken limb didn’t cause him to scream from pain and drop to the floor, it still left him unable to use one of his limbs. He was still a dangerous force to be reckoned with, despite losing an arm.
However, the elf and the troll hadn’t been as lucky as the others. The elf’s weapons weren’t best suited for defending against such an onslaught of projectiles and one of them soon hit him in the head, bringing an end to the zombie. The troll, on the other hand, couldn’t move fast enough because of its massive size and could only bring its arms in front of it in order to shield its body. Multiple cans hit it in every visible part of its body, leaving the metal containers sticking out of it, like a strange pincushion. None of the attacks had been able to hit a vital part for a zombie, thus leaving it still operational.
“Damn… I got only one of them, huh?” Ryle muttered to herself after launching her attack. “Well, at least that’s some progress… Even though this is not going well for me at all.”
Looking over her opponents again, the blonde tried to analyze the situation to the best of her ability. Since taking down all five of them would be a tough battle that she didn’t feel confident she could beat, she tried to find out which of the five was the actual necromancer, so she could end the battle much faster.
The elf was obviously not the necromancer, as he was down and the other zombies were still moving around. Ryle also doubted it was the dwarf or the troll either, as their movements were more reckless and straightforward, making them easy targets for counterattacks. While the dark elf seemed to be very skilled and good at avoiding most attacks, she was still being put at risk more than a person that was used to controlling others would like to.
After thinking about it, the blonde came to one conclusion. The human archer had to be the necromancer, as he was constantly hiding in the background, leaving him out of harm’s way. In her mind, this was the perfect spot for someone to hide and manipulate things from the background.
“Guess you’ve been made, pal!” Ryle grinned as she turned her gaze towards the archer. She then dashed towards the human zombie with the intent of taking him down for good. “Your ass is mine, punk!”
The other three remaining zombies chased after blonde, which only served to enforce her belief that she was correct in her assumption. If the other undead creatures were so adamant on protecting the one she was targeting, then it must mean that he was the necromancer.
However, Arkay had noticed something that questioned Ryle’s assumption. He had been observing the zombies and hadn’t seen anything in the archer that indicated he was the necromancer. Instead, it looked there was something else in him that was gathering magical energy. As soon as he realized what it was, his eyes went wide with shock.
“GET AWAY FROM HIM, RYLE! HE’S NOT THE NECROMANCER!” the cat boy shouted as loudly as he could. “THEY’RE TRYING TO GET YOU INTO A TRAP!”
Upon hearing the warning, the blonde reacted immediately and jumped to the side, even though she was just about to reach the archer. Almost as if following Ryle’s example, the other zombies also jumped back, like they were avoiding their undead comrade. Soon after everyone had avoided the zombie archer, he was enveloped in a strange glow, before exploding.
Ryle had managed to avoid the blast just barely, as the force of the blast pushed her away. She managed to somewhat land on the ground in a manner that allowed her to avoid damaging herself. She then rushed over to Arkay’s side in order to learn what had just happened.
“Thanks for the save, Arnie! Had you not noticed what was going on, my ass would be toast right now!” the blonde said, grateful for the cat boy’s help. “But how did you know that it was a trap?”
“During your fight, there were no large fluctuations in the magical energy that the archer’s body held within. Had he been the necromancer, I should have seen changes in the energy within his body,” Arkay explained. “He was most likely kept in the back in order to give you the idea that he was the necromancer, so that you could be lured into a trap. Just as you were getting closer to him, I noticed strange energies build up in him, which was most likely a self-destruct spell that the real necromancer activated.”
“I see… But who the hell is the real necromancer?” Ryle asked. “Even if we have crossed out two of these guys, we still have three left! And I hate to say this, but I’m not sure how much longer I can go on with these guys…”
“We might not be in such big trouble, in the end,” the cat boy said. “I think I have figured out who the actual necromancer is!”
“Really? That’s great! Now I can focus all my efforts into pounding his ass into the dirt!” the blonde said with a grin as she cracked her knuckles. “...By the way, who is it?”
“It’s the troll,” Arkay replied.
Upon hearing the cat boy’s response, the blonde turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow, wondering if he had been joking, but saw that he was completely serious. She then turned her gaze at the undead creature in question, wondering how it was the person they had been looking for.
“...Arnie, I love you and I think you’re amazing and all, but are you sure about this?” Ryle asked. “I don’t mean to be a jerk, but that guy doesn’t strike me as someone who could perform any kind of magic at all, let alone control multiple zombies at the same time! He looks like he would struggle with reading books meant for toddlers!”
“I know what you mean, but there is actually a reason for this. I noticed a strange fluctuation of magical energy within that guy, when you were fighting them,” Arkay began to explain. “However, there was something strange about it. Instead of the magical energy circulating in the troll’s body itself, it seemed to be centering within something inside of it.”
“And that means what?” the blonde asked.
“I believe the necromancer is hiding within the troll itself!” the cat boy replied. “I think he used the fact that zombies don’t need internal organs to his advantage by hollowing out its body and hiding inside of it!”
Ryle’s eyes went wide at the idea that someone could do such a thing, but she then noticed that the troll seemed to back away upon hearing Arkay’s theory. This was more than enough to destroy and doubts she might have had towards his assessment and she now focused solely on the large zombie.
“...Looks like you hit the nail on the head. The big guy seems to have taken a step back now that the gig is up,” the blonde said as she walked towards the zombies. “You stay back here. I’m putting an end to this right now.”
Before anyone could react, Ryle sped towards the troll zombie like a bullet. Knowing that his life was in danger, the necromancer moved his other two zombies to intercept the blonde.
The dwarf swung his sword with one arm, still able to make a powerful attack, but Ryle easily ducked underneath it. The dark elf tried to bring down her halberd on the blonde, but the attack was sidestepped with ease. The only one in front of her now was the troll, who swung his club wildly from side to side. This finally forced Ryle to step back, as she was almost hit with the massive weapon, which in turn allowed the other two zombies to catch up to her.
However, just as the dwarf and the dark elf were about to cut down the blonde, an unexpected savior came to Ryle’s rescue. Arkay had run after his companion and, upon seeing the two zombies approach her, had pushed his body to the limit in order to run towards the two undead creatures and jumped in front of them, causing them to trip on his body.
For a very brief moment, Ryle looked with horror at her young friend being trampled, but that soon turned into boiling rage directed at the person responsible for it. Much like back when they had faced the Reaper Maggot, anger took over the blonde’s mind as she dashed towards the zombie troll like a missile.
The massive creature was about to step to the side in order to the oncoming attack, but found itself unable to move. Looking down, it noticed a strange purple slime that was covering its legs and holding it in place. It had even reached up to take hold of the troll’s arms, pulling them down so that it couldn’t defend itself.
This was the golem Lexton had given to Arkay doing its work. Before entering the warehouse, the cat boy had released the creature in order to slip it inside unnoticed. Knowing that there would be only one chance to catch the necromancer off his guard, he had instructed the artificial monster to lay in wait until it received a mental command to attack. Once the necromancer’s true identity had been revealed, Arkay had sent it a command to grab the troll and hold it still in order to make sure Ryle’s attack would land.
With an explosive force, Ryle flew into the troll’s chest and burst through the creature’s back, leaving a large hole in the process. As she came out of the other side, she was holding onto a short human male, who had been hiding inside the undead creature. This was the true face of the necromancer that had been controlling the horde of zombies.
image [https://i.ibb.co/JWmN2Vzx/Ch-162-Pic-2.jpg]
After landing on the ground, the necromancer that had now been brought out of his hiding place tried to desperately get out of the blonde’s grip. Whether he was trying to fight back or plead for mercy would be left unknown, as Ryle’s anger didn’t allow him to do much.
Without saying a word, the blonde gathered her ki into her fist, unleashing her signature move that absolutely demolished its target and sent him flying through several wooden crates and metal shelves. In that instant, their battle against the undead horde was over.