A Trap

This time, it took longer for Quirin to solve the complex runes on the door in Latham Ruins. Everyone except Gazel waited quietly for Quirin to finish his work until the door gave off a bright light that dispelled the illusion of the armored figure that had previously frightened them.

"Is it finished?"

Henrik asked, and Quirin replied with a shake.

"I just managed to unravel the runes set up to create the illusion. This door had several different runes that were set together. I had to unravel them one by one to open this door," Quirin replied. Henrik nodded, then said nothing more after that. Everyone sat and waited again until Damian, who had been sitting quietly, suddenly stood up and looked behind them with furrowed brows.

"Did you hear something?"

Elijah stood up, then tried to sharpen his hearing to find out what Damian meant. Unfortunately, a human hearing was slightly worse than that of the elven race. It took longer for Elijah to hear something. And that something seemed to be the sound of a wall cracking slowly.

BOOM!

Not long after that, everyone heard a loud sound. The others immediately rose from their relaxed positions in alarm. Damian and Henrik immediately readied their weapons. Meanwhile, Elijah and Gazel prepared to unleash their magic whenever the enemy started attacking.

"Quirin, if you want all of us to survive, finish the runes on the door quickly."

"I understand."

Quirin took Elijah's words seriously and began to increase his focus and work speed. The loud noises they had originally heard began to sound more numerous and faster than before. Elijah gulped his saliva harshly, then looked at Gazel, who had turned deadly pale behind Damian.

"Gazel, quickly illuminate this place like before."

"Ha? How dare you call me without honorifics-"

"Hurry up!"

Perhaps because they were being pressed, Gazel no longer protested when Elijah snapped at him like before. The man raised his hands, which were shaking violently, and began to chant magic that could illuminate the path in front of them.

"Light."

When the originally pitch-black street was surrounded by light again, everyone could hardly believe what they were seeing. Hundreds of skulls that had been on the wall were now walking toward them, along with a line of armored figures. Their swords were also now in a ready-to-fight position, a sign that Elijah and the others were the targets of their extermination.

"Look at that!"

Henrik shouted, and the others saw how the undead had stopped walking when Light Gazel's magic almost hit them. They were almost relieved to see that the undead were afraid of Gazel's Light magic. But soon, their relief turned into anxiety again as the undead continued to push each other forward even as the front of the army began to explode from the Light magic hitting their bodies.

"Humans, we need more Light magic!"

Damian shouted, and Gazel could only obey the order for the sake of his own life.

"Light!"

As another line of undead began to explode from Gazel's magic, Elijah began to notice a change in the movements of the armored undead. Elijah observed it for a while before ordering Gazel to stop attacking after he realized that the change was due to Gazel's actions.

"Stop using Light magic! They'll attack quickly this time!"

Elijah had just said so, and the armored undead was already charging toward them while using the skeletons as their shields. Elijah immediately used Thunder magic before Damian and Henrik advanced to attack their enemies. Thanks to the attack, Elijah managed to make it difficult for the enemy to move for a while so Damian and Henrik could cut them down easily.

"Hurry up, Quirin!"

"I'm trying!"

Elijah urged Quirin again because no matter how many enemies they killed, the undead seemed endless. Using magic had drained more than half of Elijah's MP after a while. Elijah clucked in annoyance, then quickly took out the bottle of MP replenishing potion he had prepared in his bag.

"Damian, Henrik, keep attacking them like before! I'll immobilize them, and you guys will give the final blow!"

"Alright!"

It had been a long fight, but no one wanted to give up when their lives were on the line. Bottle after bottle had been consumed by Elijah. Even Gazel, who had the most stock, was starting to get tired because drinking too many potions at once would not be good for the user's body.

"Quirin!"

"Done! I've finished solving the runes engraved on this door!"

Just as Quirin shouted that the undead who had been attacking them suddenly screamed, and her scream echoed so loudly that the place began to tremble from the sound. The screams seemed to be filled with deep anger and hatred. Their eyes turned red while their attacks grew stronger, even as their attacks turned messy.

"Everyone, quickly enter this room!"

Quirin called out, and the first to run in was Gazel, who was scared to death. The armored undead and angry skulls began to mount each other as if racing to catch them. Elijah, Damian, and Henrik continued to retreat while attacking them until they finally came to the door Quirin had opened.

"You guys go ahead!"

As part of the werebeast race, Henrik could heal himself to some extent, so he put his other teammates ahead of himself. The werebeast waited until everyone had made it into a safe room before he retreated to save his life.

"Argh!"

Unfortunately for Henrik, as he stood at the front to protect Elijah and Damian, his leg was caught by the enemy, which caused his body to be thrown hard against the wall afterward. The powerful attack made it difficult for Henrik to stand up again. Meanwhile, the undead had started to approach and could have entered the same room as them if someone didn't close the heavy door immediately.

"Henrik!"

Damian might be an elf who didn't care much for other people. But Damian knew that Henrik had fallen behind because of their precedence, so he felt he couldn't just leave Henrik behind.

"What are you trying to do!? Close the door quickly! They'll get in if we don't close this door soon!"

Unfortunately, Damian had only taken one step forward when Gazel held his hand tightly. The man also urged Quirin to close the door immediately and left Henrik, who was still struggling to get up after being thrown against the wall so hard.

"Let go of me, human! Are you crazy? He's in that situation because he protected us before!"

Damian violently released Gazel's hand grip, then ran out confidently. If Damian hadn't left, Henrik might have been dead because one of the armored undead managed to get to him and almost cleaved Henrik in half with his greatsword. Damian parried the attack with his sword. As Elijah had said earlier, Damian's swordsmanship talent was much greater than his magic talent.

"Ugh. Just leave them alone and close this door!"

Gazel tried to close the big door himself. However, he wasn't strong enough to make it move. Elijah's eyes fell on Quirin, who was silent without doing anything. Elijah could see that the madman was secretly smiling as if he was enjoying the chaos on his team.

Elijah clucked, then looked at Damian, who was beginning to struggle when he carried Henrik as he fought the enemy who was trying to get to him.

"Get out of the way."

Gazel thought Elijah had come to help him close the heavy door. But unexpectedly, Elijah came out to help Damian carry Henrik toward the door.

"Thunder!"

"Thunder!"

"Thunder!"

It wasn't Elijah's plan to constantly use his magic to open the way for them. But in this situation, Elijah had no choice but to spend all his MP to help Damian and Henrik.

"Close the door quickly!"

The enemy was only a few steps away from them when Elijah and Damian finally managed to get Henrik into the new room. This time, they finally closed the door together while being assisted by Quirin, who finally came forward to help close the door.

SLAM!

When the door was completely closed, there was only a loud bang outside with no sign that the undead could force their way into this new room. Gazel backed away in fear. Meanwhile, Damian and Elijah were panting from carrying the unconscious Henrik while fighting the enemy.

The creepy banging sound was slowly fading away. Although it was only temporary, at least they could rest assured that they were safe for the time being.