Sir Lebil, which I learned was the name and appropriate way to refer to my [Captain], must have known of everything.

He was sweetening the rest of the expedition. Reassuring them of how safe it was, and how unlikely it was that we encountered any issues in a FF-rank expedition.

I heard him saying that a boy like me, who had never gone to any expedition before, could not know what he was saying. That’s, I supposed, the only reason he had asked me before.

He had been trying to gauge me, my experience and knowledge on expeditions. And he had done a good job.

Lebil—because I refused to add the sir—must have known that we were going into something more than a FF-rank. I was inclined to say they had bought him.

Did that mean I wanted to leave? Hell no. If anything, it would mean more experience for me. And to be honest, I didn’t think Lebil wanted to die there.

Realistically, I saw two options. First, he didn’t care at all for the rest of people in the expedition and didn’t mind seeing them die. Second, he was highly overestimating the abilities of the crowd here.

Not even overestimating; daydreaming about them. It would be nothing short of being dumb. No, I believed he was aiming for the first outcome. He could probably dress that up somehow afterwards.

Overall, everyone was too chirpy and optimistic towards our near future. I was not.

We advanced in a ruckus, not only of metal and clothes but also of voices and shouts. Every step we took, the fog descended one more centimeter. Soon, we would be submerged completely in it.

We managed to reach the entrance of the building—a big uneven hole in the wall that I had certainly not done. Nothing had disturbed us so far.

“Our goal is simple,” Lebil announced. “We go in, destroy every and any machine, and that's it. Any enemy we just obliterate an-”

I clutched. My hands rushed to my ears. I have to stop it!

A high pitched howl was piercing through my ears and directly into my head.

I quickly turned my head to the sides, everyone was similarly in pain. I couldn't hear their screams, even if I saw their mouths moving.

And then they came.

Nine. Nine beasts on our backs, cutting the path to the road and the forest.

I saw Lebil rushing inside, a few people choosing to follow him.

“That won't work!”

I shouted, but not even I could hear my voice. How would they?

I ran after them as I tried to decide what was worse, if the nine hounds waiting for us outside or the human-looking beasts on the inside.

My skill told me, the things inside looked human, but that they had no flesh. They were made of bone and only bone.

They were the scientists and lab assistants I had killed after being summoned and experimented with.

The whole seven of them.

“Tanks!” My ears suddenly cleared and Lebil’s voice came loud and clear, “form a wall around the hole!“

He wasn't useless, after all. Whatever skill he used, it had cleared the aftereffects of that shriek.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

I crossed through our forming defensive position, wolves hot on my tails.

We were at a crossroads.

No chances of going back.

Approaching enemies from the inside.

“I need you to buy me time!” I yelled to Lebil.

Even if we were not in good terms, and even if he was willing and ready to sacrifice everyone, he should have been able to see I was his best bet.

“Seven undead ahead,” I said hoping the word undead made sense to him. “I suspect one of them can mind control.”

I left out the part where that meant the wolves were under control. As I had already told him.

Orders were being shot from all squad leads. People quickly gathering inside the defensive formation.

Not all of them made it safely, though. Or alive.

“Ten minutes! I can't promise more than that.”

As soon as Lebil said that, his whole figure illuminated. A ray of light descended, ignoring the ceiling, and connected to his head.

“Mother, guide us!”

I cringed until I saw the notification.

[Divine prayer]

All stats increased by 10% for the next 10 minutes.

Not bad at all! Whether the whole mother thing was needed or not, I didn't want to know the answer to.

Ten minutes. I repeated to myself.

Seven enemies, six of them grouped together and protecting the seventh one. I could see all of it with my passive.

They weren't far from us and they were coming, so intercepting them was trivial. What I would do next, however, wasn't as much.

They looked very much like undead did in games. A bunch of skeletons glued together by some visible magic. I could see the threads of magic that kept the bones from falling.

And I could see where that magic came from.

Right in their chest, protected behind their ribcage, was a floating orb of pure magic.

It spun with invisible currents of air sending strands of energy flying far from it. Chaotic spurs splashing everywhere they went.

They were pure magic. Moved by magic. Made by magic.

“FF-rank dungeon my ass!”

That was not mere corruption. They had not altered a living being. The system had brought them back and slapped them with magic.

Could everyone see the orb—their core—or was it my perception skill? I just knew, instinctively, that I had to hit there. And hard.

I also knew that their power was several steps above mine. I wished the system told me something. Their classes. Their levels. Anything.

[∆μ]

Garbage. Corruption. Something beyond my comprehension. Or all of it at the same time.

I couldn't let them do the first movement. But I was too late for that.

Skinny and shaky. A finger raised.

Green energy condensed into gushes of wind. The wind roared. Its finger hid behind a mass of stormy green wind.

And it let loose.

My eyes widened, a mini hurricane coming my way. I focused. I gathered energy, more than I would usually do to manifest a single arm. I condensed it.

And I shot forward the solid energy to stop the energy ball.

[You have lost 12 energy]

The enemy attack bore through the middle of my futile defense. It tore apart a hole and hurried into my own energy.

[You have lost 18 energy]

My whole artificial arm torn in two before it managed to stop the destruction a fraction of a second before hitting me directly.

I was sweating.

A finger, a gesture that barely took a second, one or two more seconds of build up, and I had just lost 30 energy.

Blocking was not an option. Not of the six of them decided to do that same thing. I would be expended in not even a minute, forget about then, and die.

I had to move.

I prayed, to whatever Mother Lebil had prayed, that they wouldn't be able to follow me. Or, if they could, that their attacks wouldn't be following me around.

Oh please, don't make them follow me around.

I jumped into action, literally. My feet lost contact with the ground and immediately two energy arms were pushing me out of there. One pushed against the wall and the other against the floor.

I was flying faster than I would ever want to. The scene with the stairs becoming all too familiar again. But there was no other option.

Three more fingers raised as the other three skeletons were busy understanding what had happened. They glowed green, and only then I let my hand push from the other side's wall.

I inverted my direction and refrained from closing my eyes. Energy was condensing already in case they could track me.

I braced for impact. My teeth clenched and my punches whitened from the sheer pressure from the situation.

But the impact never came. I saw them, three wild balls of wind beelining towards my previous position.

I wanted to celebrate, but I had more important things to do. I darted forward, lunching myself towards the nearest of the three skeletons.

Yes! They are slow!

I saw their eyes barely managing to find me, struggling to keep up with the speed. That was my opportunity.

I saw the opening, and I took it.

My energy condensed one more in my chest’s hole as I let another burst of solid energy target the undead.

It was perfectly aimed at its rib cage, right where the core was hidden. And it hit.

[You have lost 11 energy]

It hit hard. The hardest material I could have ever imagined. Not even punching the hardest of metals could compare to what I was feeling.

The energy of that arm disintegrated upon contact. The rib cage, however, was as solid as it had been. Not even a single crack had developed.

Right then I understood.

“This expedition is doomed.”