Helping Hand
Grim stayed low after the bone dust in the area cleared…
In his current state, there was no way he would be able to deal with the left over undead that currently combed the area.
Luckily for him there was an abundance of hiding spots all around him. He chose to slip into a decent sized crack in a nearby wall and wait until he regained his energy.
'At least I managed to thin their numbers relatively well, by my guess there should be about 150 or so left.'
The whole time he had been counting how many undead ran by his hiding spot in order to get a grasp of his current situation so he was fairly confident in his estimate.
'I wish I could use mana sense, but because they are undead that doesn't work. If only…'
Unable to finish his thought, it was cut short when he sensed an unfamiliar Ki signature heading toward the canyon.
'Another enemy? Shit…'
…
Leezy landed hard atop one of the walls leading into the canyon.
Looking down into it, he could see a large amount of undead darting around as if searching for something.
There still was no sign of his brother though.
'Mana Sense'
As soon as he used it, the entire canyon shifted in appearance. He could see tendrils of dark energy trailing off of the skeletons and zombies which surprised him.
He also sensed another Ki deeper in the canyon but it was so faint that he didn't notice.
'Let's do this shit!'
Without hesitating, he jumped high into the air and landed with a loud thud in the middle of the canyon, sending a small group of nearby zombies flying away from the force of the impact.
Every undead that were combing the area just stopped and turned toward Leezy in unison.
Without hesitation, Leezy spun and swung his great-sword at the nearest enemy, grinning as it was cleaved in two. Black blood drenched the ground as the zombie guts spilled.
All of the zombies in the area immediately surged forward, looking like a tidal wave of rotten flesh around him.
Swinging his greatsword left and right, he killed a couple of them before they completely engulfed him in a decent sized mound of bodies.
A faint glow could be seen shining from within the pile as the zombies began shifting.
Slowly the whole pile started to be lifted off the ground and once lifted completely, blue lightning began surging through every single zombie.
Boom!
Each one of them gurgled as they were fried.
Eventually they all burst from the intense heat that filled them covering the entire area in guts, brain and melted flesh.
Leezy stood alone in the aftermath of it all, greatsword in hand and covered head to toe in gore.
The remaining skeleton's gathered around him in a ring, but hadn't attacked at all yet.
Looking around, he just glared at them.
"Well? Come on, do what your dumbass zombie friends did and try to jump me."
When they still didn't move to attack him, he ran over to the nearest one and was about to swing when something strange happened.
The skull pauldrons on his shoulders opened their mouths and began sucking in the same dark energy he noticed flowing from the skeletons earlier.
Interested, he stayed his hand for the moment and waited to see what would happen.
After a brief moment, his pauldron's glowing eyes flashed and a high pitched screech echoed from their open mouths.
Around him, all of the skeletons went to the position of attention and lowered their weapons.
'No fucking way…'
…
Further away, Reyes felt the shockwave that occurred from Grim's attacks.
Turning around mid stride, he looked back to where he had come and was about to trek back when the ceremonial dagger in his pack began to pulse.
Turning his head to look at his pack, purple light spilled through its openings. Around him, purple orbs began spilling from the ground, hovering in the air and illuminating the area.
As far as the eye could see, there were rows upon rows of graves and tombs. Without noticing, he had stumbled directly into the middle of a massive graveyard while following the footprints that were left behind.
In the distance across from him was a giant tombstone that was fashioned in the shape of an ancient celtic cross. Sitting atop of it was someone wrapped in red robes that had a black skull embroidered on it.
"Well, well, well…what do we have here? Seem to be a bit lost eh?"
"I am guessing you are the one who left those footprints?"
"Yes…I suppose you could say that Reyes."
Hearing the person mention his name, he immediately took hold of his katanas and drew them.
"How the hell do you know my name!? Who are you?"
"Me? I am your hunter!"
The man cackled maniacally while throwing back the hood of his robe revealing a man that looked more dead than alive.
A pair of crimson red eyes glowed softly among the pale white skin of his face. His white hair that was slicked back betrayed the youthful appearance of his face, stopping just short of his ears that were pointed at the top. The grin that stretched across his face revealed a pair of sharp vampire fangs that hung over his bottom lip, the stain of dried blood faintly visible while under the moonlight as Reyes locked eyes with the man.
"Hunter? Come get your prey then you son of a bi-."
"Silence! The day will come where we will do battle, but for now I will be taking back what is rightfully mine!"
Interrupting him, the man held his hand out in front of him and the dagger that was in Reyes's pack shot out from within, firmly landing in the man's grasp.
"I have more pressing matters to attend to at the moment Reyes, so instead I shall leave you with a parting gift. Think of this as a taste of what is to come!"
Stabbing the dagger into the tombstone below him, the man's laugh echoed through the graveyard as a low rumble shook the ground. The dirt from around the cross heaved and shifted as a pair of massive skeletal hands broke through.
"Remember the name Lucius, captain of the Black Legion for it shall be carved into the bowels of history! You were lucky to survive my will when i possessed that pathetic little girl Reyes, but tonight you shall not find such luck!"
Upon hearing what Lucius had said, anger took complete hold of Reyes's body.
Paying no attention to the hands that continued to unearth themselves, he swung his blades at him.
"Really? Was that supposed to be a taunt? I fea-."
His words were completely cut off as blood splattered his robe. Two large wounds opened his face, forming a large X that split it into four even sections.
"HOW DARE YOU!"
Clutching his face, he glared at Reyes with intense anger. This was the first time someone had ever wounded his flawless face. Even though his wounds always regenerated, he felt infuriated at the thought of being forced to feel pain.
Blood dripped onto his hand as he stabbed the dagger once again into the tombstone below him.
"YOU WILL KNOW FEAR AND PAIN TONIGHT REYES! I WILL MAKE SURE OF THAT!"
The rumbling in the area intensified as the skeleton that was unearthing itself fully became revealed, lifting the entire tombstone into the air.
Before Reyes now stood a towering skeleton with a gold crown upon its head. On both of its wrists were gold bracelets that were glowing and fully etched with runes. It's eye sockets glowed purple as it swung it's hand at him with no hesitation.
Diving to the side, the skeleton barely missed him, leaving a huge crater the shape of a handprint in the dirt beside him.
"Have fun fighting the King of Giants but please don't die too quickly Reyes! I want to see you bleed!"
Yelling from atop the King's head, Lucius vanished in a swarm of bats.
…
Grim just stared at Leezy in surprise…
Everything that was happening could easily be seen from his hiding spot just a few feet away.
He watched in silence as the whole pile of zombies were obliterated.
He watched as Leezy absorbed dark energy from all of the skeletons that stood around him, converting them over to his side once he was finished.
'Lightning Element and the ability to manipulate arcane energy? Just who the hell is this guy?'
The fact that the cloaked figure from earlier gave all the undead a decent boost in power, yet this stranger was able to just swoop in and wrench control back over the skeletons like that was nonetheless impressive.
Feeling pumped up from watching and his energy almost replenished, he came to a decision.
'Looks like it's time for me to lend a hand…'