63 Cave in

A dead end… and the only way out was to get back to that area where the skeleton was still guarding. Briar looked back at the entrance with a grimace. 

His bony enemy was still trying to dig and get through the small entry. Luckily that area was barely human sized and that gigantic thing will not be able to fit in. 

Debris fell as the skeleton tried to break through it but the solid edifice did not even budge. 

"How in the heaven's name would I be able to defeat that? Even if I dismember it, I bet it would only reform itself." He muttered as he observed his opponent. 

The entire thing must have been around 10 meters or more. The entire frame was made up of bones from the fallen ones. If Briar hack of a limb, it would certainly use the other bones to resconstruct itself and form the same gigantic frame. 

The prince sighed. Human sized enemies are fairly easy to deal with but gigantic ones would be a challenge.

He felt something thug at his shirt and turned at the mini Atropa. She had peeked out of his pocket and offered a parchment to him. 

The prince then took the parchment in bewilderment. It was void of any writing. But after a few minutes, words had formed as the ink began to spread on the said parchment. 

"Your highness, are you all right?" the words formed before they gradually disappeared. 

Briar was a bit perplexed but then when he looked at the mini Atropa he figured out the this is her way of communicating. 

"I am doing well." He replied while stroking the doll's head. 

The mini Atropa smiled and moved her head even closer. She seemed to like being petted for she had closed her eyes and her smile got wider.

"cute.." Briar thought. He liked how soft her hair is. He also wanted to pinch her soft chubby cheeks. 

But he stopped short, this isn't the time for him to be petting this little one. He had an enemy to deal with. 

"Then, I am relieved." The words appeared in the parchment. 

"Anyway, what are you?... never mind… why are you here? Where is Atropa?" he asked in succession the miniature version of the girl. 

"My mistress is somewhere in the floors above. She is safe…somehow. She had asked me to do an errand but I had gotten separated from the others and got lost." Came the response. 

Briar was quite relieved to know that Atropa was safe. 

But something got his interest. "The others?" the prince asked. 

"I could produce copies of myself so that it would be easy for me to perform the task. The other clones are already trying to fulfill mistress's order." Was the reply. 

Curiosity got the best of him, so he inquired. "If you don't mind what was your mistress's order?"

The words had formed in the parchment. "She told me to find the phylactery. The undead will not stop until the phylactery is destroyed. Master shattered the body of the lich but the main body and phylactery cannot be found." 

"That means that those undead children and those skeletons were made by the lich." Briar put the pieces together. "In this case, I have to destroy the phylactery to end this."

The doll nodded. 

"Were you able to locate the phylactery?" he asked. 

At his query, mini Atropa shook her head. Then the words appeared. "The place was too big. I have send out almost a dozen or two copies but we still couldn't find it." 

"A pity then… If only the phylactery would be destroyed, that skeleton will cease to move as well." He mumbled. 

The doll waved at him to read the parchment. "I haven't found the phylactery but I knew of a way to defeat that gigantic thing." 

The flaxen haired grinned as he read the words. "Thanks, I'll do that. Will you be all right if you stay here?" he asked. 

"I will stay with you." The words formed. 

So he took the little one with him and proceed just a few paces away from the opening. He was a bit hesitant but since this is Atropa, or rather her miniature version, he knew he could trust her. 

From where he stood, he could see the skeleton which was still trying to break the area where he was hiding. 

When the hand moved, Briar could somehow catch a glimpse of the area outside. The doll was right. He could really use those things. 

Although he was still trapped inside that cavity, he was still thankful that he was not that helpless. 

Unlike earlier when he first confronted the gigantic undead and only managed to retreat and avoid its attack, he knew that he could finally stand a chance this time. 

He knelt and held the halberd with both of his hands. Using it as a catalyst he gathered enough mana to amplify the phantasm. 

Getting up, he then struck his halberd to the ground. Once the blade hit the surface, a rippling effect was produced. The ground shook which in turn made a lot of debris and dust fell.

Briar then aimed the pressure above the ceiling. The shaking had continued and the rumbling got louder as rocks and huge mineral deposits had begun falling down. 

As he applied more pressure and had used more mana, bigger boulders and stalactites had broken and fallen down towards the skeleton. 

Since Briar was still inside the tunnel, he was able to avoid the cave in. But since his opponent, gargantuan it may be, was left outside and was crashed by the heavy boulders and probably by that entire floor. 

After a few minutes of waiting for the shaking and falling to cease, the dust had settled. Briar got up and stood beside the opening. It was blocked by a huge boulder. 

Taking his halberd, he manipulated his mana and made the debris move aside. He stood a bit agape at the sight. The entire area was reduced to rubble. 

The giant skeletal undead was nowhere to be seen. Light streamed a bit from above since the upper floor had turned into a rather large cavity. 

He felt a pat on his left cheek and found the mini Atropa who had managed to climb up his right shoulder. 

"Thank you! You gave me that idea." 

The little one smiled before motioning the parchment. 

Briar then read. "I had remembered that you have the affinity for earth. I thought that it would work quite well given the area where we got trapped." 

"I see. By the way, what should I call you?" he felt bad not calling the mini Atropa with a name. 

"I am still Atropa. But if you are not comfortable calling my mistress's name, you can call me Attie." Came her candid reply.