He was stuck. Behind him was the undead bear and who knows how far of empty passageways cleared out by the beast's charge. In front was the fully equipped [Skeletal Guard] and their explosions of flames. Behind him was death, but in front was a deadly gauntlet that he would have to run. And to make it worse, he wasn't sure if just being spotted by then had alerted the Lich. The Necromancer had shown that it knew when one of its minions was sent back to the grave, but if these ones were special in some way or its ability extended beyond just their deaths then reinforcements could already be on the way. This was made worse by the fact he had no idea how to defeat the two in front of him, let alone if there were more.
He took a deep breath and reminded himself that he had beat worse odds than this. What was one of these compared to Richard Montague, a ghoul that could paralysed his limbs and claw out his flesh? This was only one more challenge added to the others that he had already overcome. Their movements had been slow, almost ponderous, when they had attacked him, so dodging any direct swings against him would be easy. It was the crimson equipment that was the true issue. Any hit on the red metal would shoot blazing hot fire towards him, and he only had a thin barrier that hadn't even recharged fully to defend against it. Avoiding that would be near impossible, but maybe there was a way to minimise how much hit him.
With a plan in mind, he turned to the wall beside him and cut out a thin slab of stone as wide and tall as him. Then he carefully carved a handhold in the back of it and hefted it to check its weight. With his new Strength it was manageable, but it's size made it unwieldy. That wouldn't be an issue, however, as he was only planning on running down the hall with it and not using it for the actual fight.
Steeling himself, he braced the slab against him and charged around the corner. This time he didn't stop to assess his enemies' reaction. He couldn't even see them from how large his barricade was. Then he heard the clang of metal on metal and saw red light join the blue illuminating the passageway walls. Flame splashed against the front of its shield, but the stone held and only a small bit of the fire managed to curl around it. The licks of flame were easily dealt with by his shield and he continued onwards.
He put his bodyweight behind the slab and angled towards where he had seen one of the [Skeletal Guards]. Another clang, more fire, and he was upon it, slamming into it with the force of a man possessed. The Attributes must be weighted, because with less than double the Strength Attribute he felt almost thrice as strong as when this all began. When he felt the impact, he threw his shield to the side with his whole body weight. His momentum, assisted by the muscles in his legs that spurred him forwards, the ones in his hips that twisted him to the side and the ones in his arm were used to throw the undead and his shield at the same time.
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Bone, stone and metal flew threw the air and crashed into the wall in a massive cacophony of sound. Cracks appeared through the slab but it held, protecting him from the massive explosion of fire that blossomed behind it. Every point of impact between the armour and the slab as well as the armour and the wall produced flame in reaction. The result was a blazing bonfire that raged on behind the slab since it was restricted in where it could escape to.
Liam didn't have time to watch that though, as the other undead was unfazed by the fate of its brethren. Its own shield shot out towards him with surprising speed and he was forced to the side where he was met by a sword swing. He brought his axe up to defend and knocked it and the resulting blast aside.
With his superior speed, Liam brought his weapon up from the deflection into a swing that targeted the skeleton's visor, black smoke spilling out of him to cover his axe as he spent his last two Lifeforce to activate his Power. His aim rang true and struck it, but the axe head was too thick to pass through the gap. Luckily, that wasn't what Liam was aiming for. Fire spilt out of the bone, mixing with the mist and burning it's way into the undead's eye sockets. The attack reached inside its skull and warred with the spark of blue light that presumably animated it. He watched as its HP dropped rapidly from the clash, draining as it's magic was burnt in the internal battle.
Fire from its helmet roared in response, attempting to burn his axe and the hand holding it. A thin, shimmering shield appeared around his limb and protected him as the flames spilled over it. He retreated back to avoid another swing from each of its Armaments and angled himself so that he was facing both it and its companion. It turned out that his caution wasn't necessary as the stone slab fell away to reveal that the creature behind it was slumped against the wall, blackened bones only held in place by its armour. He could practically see the heat radiating off the metal and watched as the bits of bone he could see charred even more. He glanced at the remaining one and checked its HP.
[157/270]
His tactic had been more effective than he had thought, knocking out over 100 of its HP. It seemed that the magic holding them together didn't have any resistance to fire despite the undead creating it. This would be something he exploited both now and in the future against these red boned undead.
He kept forwards to intercept the [Skeletal Guard's] attempt to slam its weapon into its shield. He hooked his axe around its sword arm and dragged it out of the way, stepping into its range and headbutting it along the visor. His shield materialised and mixed with the black smoke from his [Spirit of Death], blocking the fire that blossomed out of the helmet and causing it to be redirected back into the skull. Another 30 HP down. His shield wore thin and he pulled back, still controlling is sword arm. He stepped around and behind it before pulling sharply, causing the creature to slam its weapon into its own head. He repeated this a couple of times before it turned towards him. His axe rose and delivered the final blow to its eyes, the walking suit of armour and bones slumping to the ground. He had won.