Chapter 42 Slaughter (1/2)

”AHH———!!!”

The whole room shook violently when a terrifying screech pierced the air. It was as though a hundred of people screamed at the same time. The white tiles on the floor began to tear apart because of the explosion. It was until then that Lize realized why the room was entirely white — the 'tiles' were made out of bones that compressed against each other till no gaps could be seen!

A chill ran down Lize's spine. If not for Rhode's timely reminder, she could imagine herself entering this horrifying room and who knew what would happen to her after that?

Lize subconsciously turned towards Rhode who was standing beside her, his arms folded and his face indifferent as usual.

How did he know...?

Rhode felt her surprised gaze, but he eventually chose not to explain himself. Telling her that he had died here once, and resurrected again wouldn't be a wise choice... right?

Now wasn't the time to think about such things.

”Lize, get ready to attack.”

Once the sea of white bones retreated, the black and dirty stone floor revealed itself. The atmosphere of the room changed drastically, and the previous dream-like beautiful ambiance disappeared. However, the statue still stood beautifully, its holiness and purity weren't affected at all even after all that happened.

But there was no time to appreciate this beautiful disaster. He gave Lize specific instructions and rushed headfirst into the room. While he was running towards the center of the room, he thrust his arm forward, and in his palm, a bright red card materialized once again, turning into a sea of flames which enveloped his whole body.

”———!!!”

Countless of bony arms shot towards Rhode, but before it could reach him, the flames surrounding him lashed out and deflected all of the arms. The Flame Killer's anger was apparent. Even though summoned spirits do not experience true death, but the pain they felt was still genuine.

While each individual bone arm didn't carry a high attack power, they made up for their shortcoming with sheer numbers. Rhode didn't have any ranged area of attack spells, and Lize's spells just didn't have enough power to cause significant damage. Even though they could still eventually wear this foe down by attacking and retreating carefully, but they wouldn't be able to sustain their consumption of soul power.

Thus, Rhode had no choice but to utilize a rather odd and unorthodox strategy — throwing the Flame Killer like a grenade and resurrecting it! Then he would just rinse and repeat the process.

The poor black hound. Its pitiful, heartwrenching whimpers fell on deaf ears and could only helplessly obey its master.

Clang!

Rhode helped block an attack that was heading for the black hound. But it wasn't because he had good intentions, but instead, he wanted to inch closer so he could throw the black hound deeper.

Sure enough, once he got closer, the massive number of bone arms quickly forced Rhode to take a defensive stance. Facing the countless arms head-on wasn't a smart choice, thus, Rhode retreated decisively and 'intentionally' left his summoned spirit behind.

Any idiot would realize that this was a trap. Fortunately, these bone arms appeared to be boneheaded as well. They foolishly grabbed at the pitiful hound and dragged it back with them.

Boom!!!

Without hesitation, the arms tore the black hound apart and it blew up once again. This time, the sea of bones fell to the floor due to the impact. The white bones now were charred black, and some were even broken into thousands of fragments.

Rhode flipped his palm again and summoned the red card.

Luckily there was no way for the spirit to reject him. When the black hound appeared, it stared at Rhode with dead eyes. A great resentment filled its heart, and it lost its vicious demeanor from before. If not for the soulbound contract between the both of them, this poor 'living grenade' would immediately turn around and dash off without hesitation.

The 'cool' Rhode was yet again indifferent towards the black hound's apparent resentment, and he just whistled, indicating it to continue moving forward.

And so, the battle started again.

Surely, if the undead had brains, it would've already decayed. Thus, it didn't question why did something that was supposed to be dead, didn't stay dead. Facing the black hound that rushed towards them again, they just tore it apart like before without hesitation and tasted the explosion repeatedly. The Flame Killer's explosion on death wasn't something that can be blocked easily. After multiple explosions, the sea of bones decreased by a good 30%. It was up to this point when they decided to fill this sudden gap, but little did they expect that Rhode had already quietly crept near them.

Since Rhode had completed this quest before, naturally, he knew where the problem was. The sea of bones was just a distraction and the real enemy was the holy statue at the center.

”Lize, shield!” Rhode shouted towards Lize who was standing further back.

Soon, a golden light wrapped around Rhode's body. This action caused the bone arms to target him, but Rhode was ready as he welcomed them with the sword in his hand.

Slash!

With a flash, Rhode tore the bones apart. Then, as a follow-up, Rhode activated his Shadow Flash and leaped to the sky.

While Rhode's speed multiplied several times after activating Shadow Flash, it still could not totally negate the danger he was facing. When they came in a large number, speed wasn't a problem for them. Soon, many arms trailed behind Rhode, most of them missed him, but some still managed hit the shield which resulted in their fingertips being injured.

Lize then made her move.

Raising both of her hands, pillars of holy light fell from the skies and crushed the bone arms that tried to block Rhode's path. Bits and pieces of bone matter fell onto the floor.

Although it wasn't a genuine spell, since Lize had a faint bloodline of an angel, it still could be cast. As though burned by fire, the sea of bones began to tremble and screamed in a fury. Soon, these bones formed into a 'stream' and speared towards the entrance where Lize was standing.

Meanwhile, Rhode began to lose speed.

After all, he wasn't an angel. Even though Shadow Flash was able to increase his speed, it still had a time limit. Moreover, gravity was a constant, and it bore down on him continually, limiting his movement. Clearly, uncle Newton was not satisfied with him wanted to use him as an example to give a memorable lesson.

The bone arms were beneath him, and Rhode who had lost the momentum to cross the barrier of bones to reach the statue was in dire straits. If he fell into the sea of bones, it would be the end of his life.