Skeleton Army?
Before they could adjust their own mood an explosive sound could be heard again, from their location they could see a man running from a red mist while throwing something at it. Not far away from that man, a giant lizard spirit beast seems to be in a heavy injury. Look at the man's distress situation, their own mood becomes somewhat better because there is someone else who has it worse than them, it is like an old saying of happiness over someone else difficulty.
"Fellow brothers where are you going? Don't you see that man cannot even stand against that red mist?" One of the adventurers who happen to see three men go toward the fighting location and he wants to stop them. However, Nacorn's team of the trio who charge toward the place where William currently engaging in escape and defend at the same time without even look at him.
"Let them be, you already kind enough to remind them." Another adventurer with a cold and stern face looks at his teammate and reprimand.
"Well at least someone is willing to die to test the water, why not allow them." A lady who faces has a scar and appeared to be in her middle-age said in not a low nor high voice about her view. They have their own thought about their situation because of the ruined.
Vernora and Vimo disdain this type of man and woman the most because they are always the first ones to betray for benefit. They don't even look at this middle-aged lady and the stern face man before moving straight to William, too.
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Nacorn jumps straight at the red mist from behind in which he just passes through it, no, what makes him stupefied because he just lands where that red mist has just been there and how could he pass through it? The only answer to this question proved that the red mist does not have an actual body. William takes this chance by surprise to adjust his breath and exhausted body, he does not even have the time to notice his surroundings when Benark and Carone appear one after another. His question expression causes the trio to nod at each other, yet before they could speak with William an angry roar like a thunder piercing spread from the giant lizard spirit beast.
Vernora and Vimo who still on their way paused for a breath moment, it was like they are waiting for something. The big bear spirit beast beside Vernora also groans toward the giant lizard spirit beast as it seems to discontent with the giant lizard spirit beast behavior.
The other adventurers who happened to be in there already distress with their current situation now including a giant spirit beast, too, all of them have an ugly face. With that unknown red mist, now they also have to face a giant spirit beast as a foe, how could they be happy?
How come there are other humans who appeared here? This is the question from both William and the red mist because both of them did not notice their surrounding during the cat and mouse games.
Toward William, this is a surprise and hard to explain the feeling. Yet, toward the red mist, this is a good deed. With many more sacrifice objects, the goal of resurrecting the prince will be faster. If not to avoid the empire sending expert to this place, it would already be plundering life from the surrounding region none stop.
After the roar of the giant lizard spirit beast, its huge body that has many bleeding areas starts to recover at a fast rate toward the nake eyes of everyone in there. This snow lotus really the best healing remedy like the legend has said, even if you only have a half breath left from dead, not only it would bring back you to life, but it also could recover your former strength in a blink of an eye. The scarred face woman's eyes become madly red when she sees clearly the snow lotus over the top head of the giant lizard spirit beast. With that snow lotus, her face would recover its former beauty, which women dislike themselves become more beautiful. If she arrives here faster, maybe she could have a chance to snatch that lotus from the giant lizard but everything is late already.
The red mist never put that puny lizard in its eyes, with that injury and its domain, even if that lizard breakthrough there no way to win against it. From the moment that any living being entered here their life belongs to its hand. Yet, before it could think any further, a childish voice that could hardly separate between male or female nor understand being said: "you...criminal...who...ruin...my...clan..."
Where is that voice come from? Everybody in there tries to find the source of the voice, yet before they could know where it is coming from, the giant lizard spirit beast body no longer a giant that could intimidate its prey or enemy. Its body shrinks from a small hill till it becomes as small as a Zeberia which adventurer normally use as a mount. From the look, they could see a clear blue crystal embed itself on top of the giant lizard spirit beast forehead. Its skin no longer has the marks of that left behind from the past fighting instead it becomes smoother and pleasance to the eyes of the onlooker. Everyone has the same question 'What's happened with this giant lizard?'
Except for Vernora who seems to delight and surprise at the same time when she sees the process of the giant lizard spirit beast body tremors changing. She just witnesses an incredibly rare sight that hard to come even a thousand years, a mutation of a spirit beast.
For William, he does not have that luxury of time to appreciate this rare panorama right now for him every moment he could get will increase his survival chance, how could he waste this opportunity.
"I deal with you later." After saying that the red mist, does not even care about Nacorn's team who surrounds it. The air particle surrounding the red mist becomes dense until it almost suffocates the four of them, after that, they are throwing out like an arrow that just left the bow. William's body landed near the cave entrance which happens to be his goal from the beginning.
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"Not bad, not bad, not bad." The overpraising word from the red mist toward the giant lizard spirit beast does not make it overjoy instead the giant lizard hatred becomes stronger. Both of this thing and that human will receive its wrath for destroying its clan. "If you become my lord mount, I will consider left you a life."
From this speaking of the red mist, William's expression becomes even more dignified. How long has this place created? No one knows exactly the time it was created if he does not receive the mission from White drake, then this region will become a living hell when that entity successfully resurrects. Not to mention, the Sun city even this nation will not survive this plague. Right now he should not be thinking about the worldly affair, but his survival instead. It seems the lord's body is together with spirit soil at the core of the ruin inside this cave.
'Fight, fight each other to your heart's content.' William whispers to himself when that red mist charges itself at the giant lizard. However, his preying did not succeed because the giant lizard spirit beast does not attack the red mist yet it runs toward his direction.
'Oh my god! don't you hate it more than you hate me?' William does not know whether to laugh or cry when this happens. He prays again for the red mist to intervene in this stupid lizard. This time heaven finally receives his imploring. "Eh, you want to ruin this lord good deed." This giant lizard becomes more cunning after the breakthrough as it could see clearly how the red mist treats William.
"You have triggered the anger in me." The red mist land an attack to interrupt the lizard's goal to kill William first. Now the battlefield becomes somewhat chaotic because William becomes the center of attention between these two deadly god entities. Just a moment ago, the red mist wanted to kill William while leaving his corp intact, but now it is defending him from the giant lizard attack.
William wants to pull White drake out and slap it a few times for its stupid suggestion. If not because of its idea, how could he stay in this situation? No, he ought to blame himself for his incompetence. The stalemate between the giant lizard and the red mist does not last long when a few adventures try to break the invisible cage that prevents them to escape from here.
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"Do you have breakfast this morning?" a rebuke could be heard as a ball man fighting all his might to break the invisible cage that covers this ruined place. "Use all your strength for this father!"
"No matter how hard I try, I could not even shake it. This is useless, better preserve your strength." The tattered clothes man who knows how many fighting he had experience before to get this battered clothes and messy hair. No one could see clearly his appearance or where he has come from. But from the look of it, he should not be from Sun City.
"Who are you? Dare to fight me!" The stern face man looks at the tattered clothes man and said with an annoying tone. "I don't know what cave have you come out from. But, don't you dare to mess with my business. Or, you will know who you are facing." He does not look at the tattered clothes man for more than a few seconds before rebuke toward his underling. "Continue to bombard it, I don't believe it won't break."
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"I let you alive till now, you ought to thank me for that." The red mist avoids a frontal attack from the giant lizard before whispering something. Not long after the entire outer layer of the ruin begins to vibrate, the adventurers who happened to be in there begin to run into the inner region. Not all of them are fast at running, the ground beneath their feet become soft at an extreme quick phase. The ones that move slowly get sucked into the ground beneath their own feet, this scene cause many of them who move fast enough to sweat from top to toe. The yelling for rescue from one after another, yet, no one dares to come close to the invisible cage now. There is also someone who tries to rescue his teammate.
"Many thank brother for your rescue." A man that his teammate rescue said with a heartwarming voice and expression, but the man who rescued him look at him with disbelieving eyes, it was like he saw a ghost. Before he could say any further, he feels a stabbing pain spread from his lower body. The moment that he looks at his lower body that only has the skeleton remain of his leg. After that, his body was also engulfed in a pool of boil blood that spread from underground after the quivering end. Besides his hair and clothes that floating everything else sunk in the blood boil pool. As for the man who tries to pull his companion out of the blood boil pool, running all his might toward the core region for afraid to be the next that dying like that.
This is the first time that all of them experience such fairy tale fantasy. This a dream, right? They want to wake up from this nightmare faster. Yet, not long after the ground that they thought they were safe, to begin with, begin to shake again. This time the ground beneath them does not become soft, yet, the remaining skeleton of many unknown spirit beasts starts to stack up together and form many different sharp of beasts and humans as they stand up and face them. Before they could be thinking furthermore, the empty eyes socket of the skeletons grow red light in them. Their movement speed is not that fast, yet an adventurer who happened to have lost his soul toward what he just experience and feel the loss of his teammate, feel a stabbing pain over his chest when he regains his sense again.
The adventurers who see clear what happening starts to run for their life, but the more they venture toward the core region the more dangerous they will face. Yet, if they remain here, they have to face an endless army of the dead. They could not turn back or stay here...
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From this scene, Vernora who is in the middle region becomes somewhat distressed. Now there is not even a single safe place to hide, with her current situation how could she survive this place. Not to mention, she the one who causes Vimo to dead with her. "I am sorry."
"No, even if I don't meet you here. I would still enter this place, too, since there might be a chance for curing you. Because curing you, is my life long cherish wish. We have faced many difficulties in many ancient ruins, this is just one of them." The two always being together no matter where they go. Not to mention Vernora always take care of her when she was just a lowly servant. Who knows how many ruins have they seek in order to cure vernora disease? They could only go toward the center of this ruin now with the awake of the skeleton army at the outer region.
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'William your chance to survive depends on this little beast. So, you have to better your timing to enter that cave, no matter what.' White drake remains William the key point to survive this trail. They cannot rush to enter that cave or that red mist will intervene in them.