Chapter 194 – Undead Army

(Ikarus) <Wow… I can see why this is a problem for you Mute, they're freaking everywhere>

(Mute) <…! >

(Petra) "Heh, we'll be sure to destroy them for you Mute. It may take a while though"

(Ariza) "Uh huh, those frozen undead shouldn't stand a chance if we're careful"

(Zeki) "Er, why are you lot being weird about this? There's no threat here at all, orangey alone can nuke them into dust"

(Asmodeus) "Heh, red one has a point. This should be no challenge"

Having spent the night in Mute's igloo, now carrying the rest of the party alongside her dragon to dragon as well, she's taken us to where the bad men that stabbed her are at and damn, it's quite the sight.

Ahead of us, excluding the never-ending snowfall, is a battlefield filled with thousands and thousands of humanoid shaped creatures, closer inspection proves they are nothing like that though.

We have snow golems, ghastly wraiths, hellhounds, skeletons, even zombified frozen undead, all roaming across the ice fields like they own the place. I can definitely see why Mute struggles with these enemies, she's only ever been able to use water magic, and with the sheer quantity of these numbers would prove anyone problems. Besides, would water magic even be useful against undead creatures? Water at this temperature would probably turn to ice. Judging from the fact most undead look thawed over already, you can assume she would be extremely ineffective.

<True kid… it might be wiser to save the nuking in case we need later though. Even though I say that, I'm still going use something else right now…>

'…Aesa?'

[<Confirmed, ability -sun kiss- is now in effect>]

My logic in activating sun kiss comes down to the fact we're facing off against undead and that it's an AOE attack. Light magic should in theory work excellently against all things considered sinister and undead, right? Some things don't translate well to this world, but pretty sure light magic works that way.

Ah, probably should've saved if we do happen to find the demon lord, need to live in the current moment and all that. We don't even know if he's here yet, and with the number of low levelled enemies down below, this seems to be the way.

Anyways, gliding above the gigantic hordes of the undead, my ability takes a little longer than usual to fester, but once that blinding light has built up to a reasonable level, it quickly disappears and sunbeams start to shoot down everywhere.

Within seconds, gigantic holes form in the army, as the beams of light seem to be really effective against these wandering undead, splash damage must also be getting applied considering how many are dropping like flies.

Thankfully, the friendly fire effect negating ability clearly is working. I honestly wouldn't mind if one or two beams 'accidently' hit Asmodeus, but I don't think it works in that way. Not even a single one is bugging us right now, only focusing on the undead down below.

Once the attack finally settles, there still stands thousands of these brittle creatures all around, only leaving a small dent in the grand scale of things. I was probably underplaying the number of undead that roam this frozen wasteland, tens of thousands is probably more like it. It makes me think just how many bodies were needed for this to occur, undead have to be created from something so was this place once a thriving town or city? Guess we could start digging for ruins under the snow, that sounds like a complete waste of time.

"Erk, that was pointless orangey so let me down cause I'm-"

<No kid, use your brain for a second, you forgetting just how cold it really is?>

That's honestly the main reason why I'm in dragon form and we're still making fire up on my back. The cold is just too bitter for us to split up and lose that body heat we have all somewhat close together, I'll let him down if he insists but a frozen Zeki is no good to anyone… other than Ria, I guess. She'd still find some way of tormenting him even if he was in cryosleep. I wonder if that's even possible in this world, best not get distracted right now though.

'Aesa, let's go for some napalm next'

[<Confirmed, next ability is now in effect>]

Once the next of my kill all abilities has been activated, the snowfall pretty quickly turns into a red coloured rain, we've all seen this buildup like the other attack before though. The snow turning red underneath the corpses is a tad different but to be expected seeing how the rain soaks everything in it touches. However, the second the downpour comes in, we're set…

And it does, alongside the spark that ignites it all, causing a fiery inferno to burn all of the enemies down below. Keep in mind, I'm still gliding throughout this in attempt to spread the love of napalm to all down below. Unfortunately, this still appears like it isn't going to be enough.

Once the attack ends, snow falls once again quickly settling the roaring flames, that definitely took out a few thousand more but we've still got loads more to go.

'Should I have just used a nuke in the beginning? No, I still don't think that would've been enough. Really can't justify supernova for something like this'

By this point, I'm wondering if we can just leave these undead alone but, that seems irresponsible for a magnitude of reasons. Like for example, what if the ocean were to freeze over and this army made its way to the mainland? Besides, it's not even like we even know where the cave is just yet, the density of the forces still makes this irritating.

'Sighhh… let's go for burning hellfire next'

Aesa activates another attack but since this one is part of the nuke-supernova family, the orb needs to be thrown. You know, these dragon paws are more difficult to hold things with compared to hands, still shouldn't stop a good toss down below.

Dropping it into the densest region remaining, the area below rapidly expands into a fiery fog, burning and incinerating anything in a town sized region. Many more undead become one with the land but still, the fight isn't over just yet. How long is this going to take?

'That still hasn't done it!? Man, this little thing is becoming a slug'

I've basically wasted three kill all abilities on these enemies and there's still at least a good thousand or so left spread out. I'm getting tired of this now; the snow is already a blackish-red from all the devastation and this is taking too long. This is supposed to be my thing, being able to wipe out insane numbers of enemies all at once, and I feel like I'm failing at it, goddamn it! Maybe the coldness or this area has some kind of nerving ability effect? I'm using that as an excuse.

"Uh… can I try something quickly Ikarus?"

Honestly, I've found it a little weird why everyone has been quiet while I've been doing this, couldn't Petra at least be cheering me on? I mean, I know they're trying to keep warm and all, this is also what I'm best suited to but still! Even some backseat complaining would work well.

"Of course Ariza… Petra, I'm annoyed with you"

"Heh, why's that Ikarus? You want me to start fighting as well?"

"No no, this is best suited for me, just… it would be nice you were cheering me on or something"

"Heh, like a cheerleader? Go Ikarus! Does that help?"

"Putting your sarcasm aside… a little"

Ariza takes a stand up on my back, gets her bow out and ready to fire, and then aiming for… the sun? I barely care about that because I've now got a vivid image of Petra the cheerleader in my mind.

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---I'm now doing Ikarus cutaway images apparently…

https://i.ibb.co/NmDJ1zt/Petra-Cheerleader.jpg

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The arrow flies direct and true, completely disappearing from sight into the sun. Obviously, it hasn't gone into the actual sun but is something else supposed to happen, right? It seems to be taking a while.

The result is worth the slight anticipation when thousands of arrows fly from the heavens, even fading through us as they spread across the dirty snowy battlefield. This attack seems to have just as much range as my attacks and every arrow appears to hit their targets, not wasting a single projectile.

…

"Erk, how the fuck is that fair!?! Brother gets to show off using her bow yet I'm stuck with this stupid piece of shit spear, that does literally nothing!?"

"Heh, nice attack blue and orange ones. Looks like we're in the clear now"

<…! >

"Heh, do I need to cheer for you as well Ariza? Ikarus seems to want me as the cheerleader of the group for some reason"

"Please, as if I would ever visualize you looking like that Petra… whoops. Anyways Ariza, is that the bow or an ability? And where the hell did you even get that?"

Of course, all of us are going to be a little gob smacked seeing Ariza's development behind the scenes, never realized that white bow of hers can do all that as well. Our healer is going to be so missed when we sort out all this God stuff down the line, maybe there's a way they can join us in the heavens, it doesn't seem that's the case though.

"Uh… think it counts as both Ikarus. I probably shouldn't say, but since it's you, it should be fine. Loki… kinda gifted it to me, said he managed to swipe it from Apollo's hidden collection"

So wait, Zeki has the spear of Ares and Ariza the bow of Apollo? Damn, our phoenix fam really have connections, even me and Petra don't have any God tier equipment… well, does Excalibur count? Doubtful since there's a huge difference between king and God.

"Are you not worried about potentially pissing off a God though Ariza? If that bow is stolen, maybe he might want it back?"

"Uh huh, maybe a little Ikarus? By the sounds of it, no one knows where Apollo is, so Loki said it should be fine"

So, originally Dionysus syphoned off some of Apollo's powers and allowed our favourite Charlotte to use his powers and Loki's done the same with one of his artefacts? This already sounds like a potential enemy pissed off at us in the making.

Anyways, despite the battlefield being basically done, there still remains a few groups left of confused wandering undead, probably numbering in the double digits by this point. Ah, we can see that cave Mute mentioned as well now, albeit the entrance is nearly hidden away in blackened snow. Give that a few hours and the snowfall will cover it back up.

"Let's just finish off the last few with fire, then head for the dungeon… huh, forgot wraiths only take magical based damage so those arrows didn't do much, should only take a moment though…"

__________

"Is that… oh, for fuck's sake, it's a freaking dungeon, isn't it?"

"Heh, why do you think that Ikarus?"

"Just look at the facts Petra. We enter that cave and all of a sudden, we're in a corridor with unnatural looking obsidian black seemingly out of nowhere. I've been in a place like this way back before, my money is on this being a dungeon"

If it isn't obvious by my moaning and everyone else becoming unsure, I'm positive this cave turned unnatural corridors has to be something like that. The entrance itself just looked like a narrow cave so me and Mute quickly downsized into humanish forms, then we basically came upon this within minutes. 

"Uh… should we turn back then? It might be too risky"

"…?"

"Erk, we seriously aren't leaving now, are we?"

You know, Ariza does have a massive point. We really can't afford to come up against a God who dislikes us in their own world, that would end up being suicidal. With the way this works though, we haven't come across a fountain or a portal so it should be fine for now, right? Ah, we'll just TP right out of there if things get dicey.

"Heh, let's just continue on and if there's anything we need to enter Ariza, then we'll have a real talk or get Ikarus to teleport us way"

'She beat me right to it… and winks towards me. Did she know I was about to say the same exact thing? Sometimes, I swear she knows me even better than Aesa'

[<Impossible Ikarus, no one knows your uniqueness better than Aesa>]

'Now now Aesa, is that jealously I hear in your voice since Petra obviously knows me best? You can always be wife number two if robotic isn't enough'

[<… >]

Aesa can obviously tell I'm messing with her but complete silence in response? Where's the threaten by suicide or something like that? It's always irritation that causes her to do this.

'Did you really hate me calling wife number two that much? It wasn't meant as a poop joke if it sounded like that'

[<Aesa knows Ikarus… the problem wasn't that Aesa disliked being called Ikarus's second wife, that's reason for silence. User appears to have somehow corrupted as title should piss off… but it doesn't>]

'What the fuck!? Okay, we're really getting too chummy with each other it seems…'

Getting past whatever confusing turns of events that was, now making me question everything, we continue heading further down the void like black hallways and still no end appears in sight. This is actually going to turn into a proper harem if Aesa ends up becoming like this.

…

The silence beckons all around us since we're trying to be careful yet, nothing appears to be inside this place. It's like all the undead were shipped off outside to forget about, if this is where they even came from. I normally would natter to Petra to pass the time but right now, I'm conflicted about something.

'Hey Aesa… you have any idea how, I can kinda torment our wife a little? It doesn't have to be much, just any ideas because there's got to be some way I can win against her'

Being behind her and getting the occasional glimpse of her bottom in that robe she loves to wear; a quick memory comes to mind of our last 'session'. I've never been able to effectively woo her other than one moment or two, so finding someway of effectively teasing her would be really cool. I've been searching for a way for way too long so maybe a different perspective may help.

[<Is this really the time and place for Ikarus?>]

'No, but I'm getting bored right now, these halls are empty and none of my red flagging powers will change that'

Another corner to this stupid place making me feel like we're walking in circles now. Seriously though, how do I even go about strutting my stuff appearing sexy for Petra? I mean, she always likes me embarrassed and wearing cute ass outfits, but that isn't going to cut it for this. If only there was a sure fire I can make her suffer… in a loving way, of course.

[<Next time Ikarus ends up in a situation requiring firm hand, Aesa will try and offer advice to fend off wife's advances>]

'Hold up, why would I want to fend off her advances though? I love it when she does that'

[<Trust Aesa, this will be the best way of teasing wife Ikarus. You'll understand why someday>]

Almost like she knows we're thinking about her behind her back, Petra gives me a quick grin still while leading. She's thinking of some way of making me embarrassed, isn't she? It's either that or something perverted.

Eventually, we get out of the black tunnel and come across something extremely unexpected.

"Oh… maybe this isn't a dungeon then…"