Chapter 84 - Rotting Meat, Bones and Skin
Thanks to being in the same party, I knew that the other members were getting EXP too, which I didn't mind. I even got a notification for Termi's Leveling Up, which I ignore. I continue using wide and erratic slashes, extending Beholder's Eye's blade to cut down a large amount of the undead at once. They only seem to replace each other, which makes me even more giddy. My excitement only grows after I've hit another Level Up, as an achievement pops up as well.
[The user has defeated 1000 enemies at once!
This achievement forcefully rose one or more stats.
+1 AGI, +1 STR]
"Hell yeah!" I yell as I spin around, lowering my stance as my sword lags behind by my side. "Clearing of the Waxing Gibbous!"
Although it isn't my best name, I extend the blade out, swiping it horizontally in a wide semi-oval arc in front of me. As I finish out the swipe to my right side, the blade slides back to its normal length with a loud 'clack!' A second later, the top parts of the undeads' heads in front of me separate from their jaws, falling to the ground all at once.
"Reform sure is useful," I note as I speed off again. Not to mention, the only strength the human-sized enemies had was their numbers. The medium-sized-house ones had a much higher Level, but they were incredibly slow, and since the majority of them were three-quarters of the way up the hill already, only three or four of the golem-like monsters had turned to face us. They sneer at me with their ruggish, rotting brown skin hanging loosely off their faces, their hateful gray eyes locked onto me.
Ignoring them, I parry the claws of two vampires, their gray-black skin conversely stretched tight over their bones, and they hiss at me before I push them off, easily decapitating them. I take a moment to glance over at my party, ensuring they're fine. Since I'm taking out most of the undead, their main focus is me, so only a few stray groups end up attack them at a time. As I slash down a few more of the unending army, another achievement pops up.
[The user has defeated 2000 enemies at once!
This achievement forcefully rose one or more stats.
+2 AGI, +2 INT]
"Better and better," I mutter with a grin as I dash around in a mad and unpredictable dance, hard lines and turns carving off heads.
***
Eniyala uses three of her eight spears to clear out another group while Termi simply enlarges her shield to 20 feet tall, crushing a large group of zombies at once.
Ever since she became the Mage Saint, Eniyala had unlocked almost every base Affinity — Water, Sky, Light, Land, and of course, Fire. However, her extremely strong Affinity to Fire was weakened to accommodate this change, and she was still adjusting. The others had raised an eyebrow, but honestly weren't surprised at her new status. Especially Klum, who just responded "I know," before uncharacteristically walking off when she told him.
In any case, she was still most attuned to Fire, so she had five fire spears, and the other three were made of Light, which she used to finish undead who survived the initial blow.
"Hey, did you see that weird thing in your Statbook too?" Termi asks suddenly, drawing closer to Eni as another group wanders closer to them.
"Weird thing?" Eniyala asks, opening it to check.
Although called a Stat'book,' what they really just are is a thick front and back cover with a single page, which was the Stat page. If one thought about what they wanted to see, they could turn the page, and another would then appear behind it with the information page you had requested. Throwing her hand across the page, Eniyala thought, 'new messages,' and sure enough…
(The Sword Saint's Disciple has defeated 1000 enemies at once!
Due to being in the party, you have earned Stat Points. {Stats converted for your Class}
+1 INT, +1 MAG)
(The Sword Saint's Disciple has defeated 2000 enemies at once!
Due to being in the party, you have earned Stat Points. {Stats converted for your Class}
+2 INT, +2 AGI)
And, as she watched…
Scribble scribble…
(The Sword Saint's Disciple has defeated 3000 enemies at once!
Due to being in the party, you have earned Stat Points. {Stats converted for your Class}
+3 MAG, +3 INT)
(Stats taking effect in 3…)
Lynsel speaks from behind her shoulder. "I don't have anything weird! What do you mean?"
Just then, it hits Eniyala at once. "It's something called an achievement," she says quietly to Termi, who gives her a look. "You've gotten these before?"
The blue-haired woman shakes her head. "My first time, but he's talked about it. Maybe because we're both Saints? Would explain why it's my first time seeing it, and why they can't."
Termi nods. "Smart thinking. I can see why you were chosen."
Before Eniyala can reply, the small woman dashes off, smashing heads with her mace in glee, most likely due to her new Stats. 'At least she's getting the growth she wanted.'
But the lingering thought of the gambler's words sat inside her head.
'So what if I wasn't the first choice?! After what he made me Sacrifice, I'm not backing down now."
Having bolstered her state of mind, she summons ten chains of Light, leaping forward using two of them to start tearing into the undead as well.
The two non-fights stand idly with artificial smiles on their faces.
"They're certainly going all-in," Yorun says hesitantly.
"Actually, this is pretty average stuff," Lynsel replies, munching on a piece of dried meat as he watches the decimation in front of him.
***
[The user has defeated 3000 enemies at once!
This achievement forcefully rose one or more stats.
+3 INT, +3 STR]
[The user has defeated 4000 enemies at once!
This achievement forcefully rose one or more stats.
+4 AGI, +2 MAG, +2 VIT]
I casually think about swiping the messages midway as the large creature tumbles to the ground, standing confidently on its head. As they disappear, I notice how much more thinned out the army of dead creatures is becoming. With Eniyala and Termi now entering the fray, the raised monsters couldn't replace the numbers rapidly falling to the three of us. "With just three Saints… Imagine if there were fiv— nope, that would be very bad, Klum, stop it."
As I sweep down another row of monsters, I begin to notice a pattern in the surging waves of fighters. 'Wait a minute…'
Quite literally cutting a path through the normal monsters, I dash up to the second of three giants, hopping up its leg and sweeping arm as it tries to attack. I plunge my sword down into its small head as I plant my feet on the broad shoulders of the oversized zombie version of Lynsel. However, I'm paying more attention around me, looking at the numerous heads of reanimated corpses, both skeletal and rotting, and the mostly bald heads of the vampires. As the body I stand on topples, I spot it.
Ripples of dark Mana flow outwards in a highly- concentrated area of monsters, and from the current angle I'm viewing it at, I see more of them rising up around a central figure that looks like a zombie.
As the re-slayed corpse slams into the ground, crushing several smaller bodies beneath it, I land deftly on the head of a skeleton, using the heads to jump that direction. I slash by my feet as I leap, cutting cleanly through the skulls of each monster for added carnage and more importantly, EXP.
As I near the culprit, the zombies and skeletons nearby seem to… melt? And converge upon each other, quickly forming a thick, grotesque wall of meat and bone in front of me.
"No problem!" I say with a smirk, feeling the glow in my eye shine brighter.
[Critical Sight+ was activated.]
[Critical Mark has been hit. Dmg was adjusted to 500%.]
WHAM!
A large slash cuts halfway through the long and thick wall, and it starts to regenerate at a rapid pace. "The fuck??"
Once healed, the flesh bubbles and shifts, changing into a face the size of one of the giant's bodies.
"Fuck you! Killing my beautiful puppets! I'll kill you! Prepare to be crushed, you bug!!"
"… Eh?"
I watch as the gross mound of rotted corpses reshapes again, forming another giant with hard armor. The skin is a mottled green, with several stacks of bones poking out like shards, held together with fibers of muscle leading back into the body. Its giant claws and teeth are a mixture of cracked and splintered bones and the weapons the skeletons and zombies had been using. It has no eyes; just eye sockets that glare at me as it opens its mouth, and lets out an earth-tremoring roar.
"Well… fuck," I say, swiping at the vampires lurching forward to hold me down as the giant, three times the size of the one I had just killed, raises a horrific foot to stomp on me.