Consumed by the fear of death

It was now two and a half hours.

Only half an hour passed, and Vitor was getting restless.

Why… why hadn't the formation broken yet?

Could it be, as that human said, that they didn't need to consume any mana?!

Using the ghosts as eyes, he could see the current positions and states of those humans.

By now, three of the five humans had fallen asleep.

Two of them had woken up, a man and a woman, both mages. The woman who had killed the 8 Class 3 undead had fallen asleep.

He still held onto a sliver of hope, thinking that the woman must have fallen asleep because she had consumed a large amount of mana.

And the other two's mana must be at their limits, desperately trying to hold on.

Quickly… quickly!

Let these humans fall!

Once this formation breaks, Vitor would show them what despair and fear were!

…Fear.

Fear…

Three hours…

That girl, who was faster than the Howling Succubus, had woken up.

…Hurry!

Vitor was getting impatient!

Why did the opponent still have the energy to maintain this formation?!

If the girl who killed the undead woke up, wouldn't the formation last even longer?!

And now… that man and woman hadn't rested yet, they must have consumed a large amount of mana.

And that white-haired woman hadn't woken up yet… her mana probably hadn't fully recovered either.

「It's about time.」 Vitor said coldly.

「Master, those humans haven't run out of mana, now…」 The Skeleton Mage tried to speak.

「Now?

Now is the time!」

Now! This is the humans' weakest moment!

They definitely didn't expect him to see through their strategy!

...

"Rumble, rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble——"

Suddenly, the sound of bones colliding came from outside the slime Barrier.

Although it had been happening all along, this time it was clearly faster, as if…

Those skeletons were being controlled and collectively standing up.

At this moment, the slime Barrier moved slightly, pushing Layton's shield forward. Layton fell to the ground, waking up instantly.

At the same time, the slime bed retracted, and Ariana fell to the ground with a thud. The sudden weightlessness startled her awake.

She didn't feel any pain from the fall, she now had 8 points in Durability!

"Something's happening, everyone get up." Anyi said calmly, "Princess Karen, what's happening outside."

Karen frowned: "It's… the bones are moving!

They're scattering… No, they're gathering."

When she said scattering, she meant that the skeletons were no longer maintaining their skeletal form and were separating.

And gathering…

These separated bones were gathering towards a certain direction!

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

At this moment, blue flames erupted from the ceiling of the hall, one after another, quickly dyeing the entire hall blue.

Those flames were on the skulls!

Skulls enveloped in blue flames!

At this moment, everyone saw that the bones surrounding them were gathering in the air, forming…

A giant hand!

Before the hand was fully formed, as it was assembling, it suddenly slammed down towards the five—

"Boom!!"

A large number of bones flew out from the hand, along with a large layer of slime. A large hole appeared in the slime Barrier!

They couldn't stay here anymore!

Before they could escape, the hand slammed down again—

"Holy Maiden-sama."

"Okay!"

"Boom——!!"

With another boom, countless bones formed a huge arm that slammed directly onto the slime and the yellow semi-circular Barrier, bones scattering everywhere.

"Boom!"

"Boom!!"

"Boom!!!"

As if not wanting to give them any chance to breathe, the bone hand slammed down again and again, the scattered bones quickly reassembling into arms.

The attacks came in waves, and the single giant hand had now formed into a giant upper torso skeleton!

The hands had also increased from one to two, alternately striking at the five!

"Sorry, I'll take a moment to dispose of my loyal subordinates."

At this moment, a voice echoed through the hall, its tone calm, but the sound reverberated throughout the hall.

Even amidst the fierce attacks, the five could hear the voice.

"Unexpectedly, my loyal subordinates are no match for you humans.

As rats who've infiltrated the castle, cockroaches who can squeeze into any crevice, I admit that your strength is considerable.

However…

It ends here!!"

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!!"

The attacks intensified, Ariana's Barrier making the sound of shattering glass, but it quickly reformed!

No matter how thick Anyi made the slime sword, it could only mitigate the damage, being broken piece by piece by the opponent's attacks.

And Layton, Karen, and Miruku were all stunned.

What… what kind of enemy is this?

A single hand was large enough to crush them easily.

Layton felt that his shield was already quite large, and it had withstood countless attacks.

But…

Under the huge hand, nearly 10 meters tall, he felt like an ant, small and helpless.

Karen felt the same.

Because each skeleton was the size of a grown human.

And this monster was composed of thousands and thousands of human skeletons!

She clenched her fists, her heart filled with endless confusion.

With these fists, where could she possibly hit the enemy?

Could she only break a rib on its finger?

And Miruku felt an unprecedented pressure.

This pressure was greater than the Slime King, greater than the Goblin Centurion, greater than any monster she had encountered since becoming a hero.

Even though she had gained more than 10 points in Strength through enhancement, and had nearly 50 points in Agility, but…

What could she do in the face of such a huge monster?

Sneak around to find the enemy's blind spot and use [Backstab]?

Then get entangled in a pile of bones and die?

No…

In the face of such a monster, she could do nothing!

"Bang!"

Ariana's Barrier shattered again, then instantly reformed, a few bone fragments falling from outside the Barrier.

The others felt immense pressure, and Ariana's pressure was no less than theirs.

If anyone could defeat the opponent, it would have to be herself, using her large-area skills.

Even Anyi, charging into those skeletons, would only be overwhelmed!

And she, who was currently the only one who could deal with this monster, was already struggling to protect the others!

If she stopped maintaining the Barrier for even a second, everyone would be torn apart by the bones!

「What should we do…?!」

How could they possibly counterattack?!