20 An Unlikely Ally

"Who is there?!" Kai yelled seemingly at emptiness.

As he surveyed the area, he could swear there were multiple times there was something right in the corner of his eyes, or eye sockets. Was he going insane with all the happenings lately? Kai was thinking perhaps he should bite into some valuable rocks and hope for the best while hiding out here. Who knows? Maybe he'll level up again.

As Kai's gaze looked around carefully, it fell upon the kid again, Arthur.

"Hey, pal, you couldn't sleep?" Kai asked, trying to sound as amiably as possible. The next moment, however, he noticed that the glint in Arthur's eyes seemed to be gone. It was almost like he was looking at a corpse.

Arthur spoke in a monotonous tone.

"We should leave this place immediately."

"Hey, kid, are you sure you are all right?" Upon closer inspection, it didn't seem there were any other irregularities. This all somewhat seemed familiar.

Arthur tried to push Kai's legs, wanting to bring him out of the forest.

"Let's leave, I dislike here."

Even if Kai hasn't always been the smartest person, or thing, in the room, he wasn't utterly stupid. He had figured it out.

"You are controlling children now?!" he yelled in fury. If he was the one they messed with, that would be fine, however, he couldn't accept these Skinwalkers were irresponsible enough to use such spells on children.

Kai remembered that Gort had broken out of the spell on his own during the attack of the goblin army, but it was unlikely Arthur could do the same.

Arthur's voice changed suddenly, and he no longer tried to push Kai outside of this oasis they had found. The kid looked directly into Kai's eyes spoke with another overlapping voice hidden beneath his, "You will leave, or the child will die. You are not welcome here."

Kai gritted his teeth as his eyes searched for the Skinwalker. It was unknown whether the kid would truly be released. Perhaps his best chance was to defeat the witch here to release the child. He considered his options, looking through his skills again.

"Appraise," Kai uttered the word quietly while looking at Arthur.

*Arthur has been appraised*

*The target's certain stats cannot be listed due to lacking ability, remaining stats are as follows*

*FATE: 12*

*The target is currently under the spell Gaze of the Skinwalker*

"Shit, I knew it."

Before Arthur could speak again to urge him to leave, Kai put his hand on Arthur's head as the kid looked at him in a puzzled manner. It seemed Skinwalker also didn't know what this Skeleton planned.

"Spell Absorption," Kai whispered.

*The spell has a minute chance of succeeding. Continue?*

"Yes," Kai mentally commanded as soon as the message appeared in his mind's eye. The UI that he was able to see was both very visible and wholly invisible at the same time. It was quite literally similar to looking through a third, hidden eye when he wanted to see the system.

*The spell has failed, exacting a toll on the caster's body*

However, Kai tried again and again, repeatedly. Each failure felt as if a part of him would crumble, yet it never happened.

"Leave this place, and the child will be returned," Arthur said. "An incompetent greenhorn like yourself couldn't possibly cancel out my abilities. You will only continue to foolishly harm yourself."

"Fuck you!" Kai mumbled under his breath, which was also non-existent, similar to his eyes and flesh, as he was a skeleton.

"Spell Absorption."

*The spell has succeeded, no other spells can be restored until it is released*

Without Arthur finding the chance to speak another word for the sinister Skinwalker, he was set free of the spell and collapsed as if he was still sleeping. Kai caught him before he fell and with a sigh of relief, headed to leave this place. Kai wasn't going to willingly spend another minute here.

The moment the spell was broken, Kai felt a wave of danger wash over himself. It was worse than when he was locked with his own undead creatures trying to tear him apart. If he didn't want to leave before, nothing could make him stay now.

Just as he turned to run towards the shrubbery separating this magical oasis from the rest of the forest, his path was cut off by the Crow, the leading figure amidst the three Skinwalkers. Kai would never mistake those yellow and sinister eyes for another.

The Crow's speed was spectacular, Kai could never hope to match it. However, he could at least know what he was dealing with. He quickly muttered the word "Appraise" once more as soon as he laid eyes upon the Crow.

*A Skinwalker has been appraised*

*The stats are as follows*

STR: 4

DEX: 13

INT: 15

CON: 2

FATE: 6

Kai's mind churned at great speed so that he could make the best out of a bad situation. The Crow seemed neither durable nor too strong, if he could just land a punch, he could find an opening to run away. While he was contemplating his options, something unexpected happened.

"This is the second time," the Skinwalker spoke. Unlike what he had thought, the voice sounded like it belonged to a young woman. Her voice was almost as alluring as the succubus'. "And now, I won't allow you to leave." It was obvious from her voice that she was furious.

Her INT stat was almost as high as the City Lord's, furthermore, she was a lot faster. This was unlikely to be a matchup he could win, especially while carrying a kid in his arms. "What the hell," Kai thought to himself as he tried his luck.

"Have you never heard of Skeleton Lords, I wonder?!" Kai solemnly said while his voice thundered. Oddly enough, Arthur seemed to be happily sleeping still.

In response, the Crow moved fast enough that she looked as if she had disappeared from her location and appeared right in front of Kai. She threw a punch at Kai's right leg, but it somehow landed like an attack made by claws. Kai actually felt some pain. It was as if his right leg would shatter.

Kai took a swipe at her while holding Arthur with his left arm. She nimbly dodged out of the way, almost effortlessly. Her blow had caused Kai to kneel already. She followed with a blow with her palm at Kai's head and took the kid from his arms, retreating to safety.

"Light of Death," Kai used yet another skill, covering the entire oasis and more. He had been using this skill to incite fear from time to time, but he understood at this very moment that the skill was also boosting his own abilities, as he was also undead.

Even if the ability didn't make him faster, at least it would be harder for her to knock him down again whilst making his attacks more devastating.

He was ready to lunge at her to save Arthur, but she gently laid him on a comfortable patch of grass far away, before returning to face Kai.

"I will escort the child to safety once you are dust," the Crow said, her yellow eyes piercing into Kai's very soul. He had no doubt she meant each of those words.

Kai opened his mouth to speak, but he was cut short by a lower-ranked demon jumping into the oasis with a look of urgency etched on his face.

"They are both here!

Even the Crow seemed rather puzzled. Kai used this chance to talk his way out of this confrontation. With a wretched grin on his skeletal face, he asked,

"Have you ever heard of the saying 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend?"