Chapter 343 (1/2)
Randidly blinked, thinking furiously. He couldn’t think up a good reason why NOT to, which was exactly why he was hesitating. But maybe that was what the Creature wanted-
“Arrrrrrrrrghhhhhhhhhhhhh!” Randidly bellowed, throwing his hands up to the sky. A spear advanced, that was it. All of this double thinking… it was useless. He had a weapon against the Creature now, maybe, thanks to Lucretia. They had found Rhaidon, who appeared to be in no immediate danger.
That was positive. The Wild Rider’s Regalia was behind him, and the Skeleton Knight brought his Regalia to him. There was nothing to think about. Use absolute power, and crush them all.
“Yes, let’s.” Randidly said, listening as the sounds of battle grew more intense, as Neveah, Thea and Dozer ripped into the Skeleton Knight’s personal retinue. But none approached the two individuals standing in the center.
At first, Randidly expected that there would be some sort of ceremony to it, but as soon as Randidly agreed, he felt something in the air, something change. A dampening of the noise, a great barrier around them. Not isolating them, but pushing everything farther away. Randidly’s eyebrows rose. This was…
The Skeleton Knight nodded. “You have good senses. It cannot prevent interference, but… it discourages it. Now then.... Let us continue until both of us are dead.”
The Skeleton Knight looked expectantly at Randidly, who could only shake his head. “Was that… supposed to be a bad joke…?”
“Mmm, perhaps,” The Skeleton Knight conceded, as he walked towards Randidly. “I have spent precious little time conversing with you humans, and your customs are… mmm… not sophisticated, but rather devious, in terms of humor. Hard to get a grip. I think I’m doing admirably, considering the circumstances. If I am to rule you people, I must understand them.”
“In order to rule us…” Randidly said slowly, as he moved to meet the Skeleton Knight in single combat. “You need to beat me.”
****
Simon focused his will, channeling it through his Soul Bound companion, feeling his Astral powers growing stronger. A giant claw formed, and began to rake through the charging skeletons around them, that threatened to overwhelmed them.
Or at least, Simon initially assumed they would quickly overwhelm them. They were tough enemies, high above the level of the skeletons they had faced in the past. Already, Simon had gained two levels in the course of the fight, just crushing the weakened ones left by the other people around him.
But, as the fight dragged on, it seemed that Simon had vastly underestimated the scope of this battle; simply put, his teammates were unreal.
Perhaps it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that as the fighting intensified, Neveah became increasingly wild, lashing out in every direction and leaving only wreckage. In her brief moments of respite, she ate the bones around her, her body trembling, and slowly but surely increasing in size. It filled Simon with awe.
This… was a Raid Boss. This was a creature that had reached Level 30 by relying on its Stats and meagre Skills alone. And now… it had the benefit of inheriting a portion of the Ghosthound’s strength…? It would be more surprising if it wasn’t monstrous.
No, what really shocked Simon was the performance of Thea and the one the Ghosthound referred to as Dozer.
Dozer, of course, was someone they had heard about in the North. He was the siege breaker of Donnyton, a man whose huge strength could crack any armor, break any formation. And although his size wasn’t immediately as impressive as his myth’s, the huge club that he wielded like it was made of plywood was exactly what the rumors had spoke of.
Before him, the skeletons were nothing. Even Neveah’s tail couldn’t move with the brutal speed of that club. Bodies were reduced to powder with a methodical efficiency of a surgeon. The whole time, Dozer’s face was rather placid, his eyes scanning the battlefield, flicking over to the spot where the Ghosthound was, which was currently obscured by a weird mist.
Simon frowned at that, but before he investigated, he spared Thea his attention.
He had never seen Thea fight before, but since learning that their ages were relatively close to each other, as compared to the Ghosthound, he had assumed that she wasn’t as powerful as he had initially expected her to be, based on her gruff exterior. If anything, Simon learned he should have adjusted her in the opposite direction, moving her towards the upper tier of anyone he had seen before.
There was a ferocity to her, a wildness to her that Simon could never remember seeing, a brutal strength as she dual wielded hammers, knocking back skeletons, while Chrysanthemum knocked the bulk of the forces off their balance.