Skeletal Army

Codey and the others continued north until they reached the cemetery's exit. Their path was not only uninterrupted but also not particularly tough until they came upon a misty slope that served as the lone obstacle between them and the town on the Grim Isle's northern side.

They came upon a spherical cave, and once inside, they discovered a road that looped back to the top of the bridge, but Codey was still plagued by a terrifying feeling.

"Are you certain this is the correct route to the town? This looks to be out of place, and the road appears to be littered with skeletal remains."

Nina, who had gone through it extensively to ensure there were no adversaries to put them in danger, was perplexed.

"People don't come here very often since many have stated that there is a nemesis that should be feared, yet there were no harmful individuals who tried to harm me when I passed through."

"Have you thoroughly examined the area? If there were any rumors that this area was a particularly hazardous route. Then you were either lucky or you just missed the fundamental trigger that summoned the danger that lurks here."

"No, I'm sure there wasn't anything! How could I miss it if this cavern is looped around and you have to cross through the looping path to reach the bridge to get to the town? I don't think I'd be able to miss it!"

"I understand your skepticism, Codey, but if Dinny didn't cross any lines of danger, I believe we'll be fine. We only need to follow the looped road and then cross the bridge; once that's done, we'll be there, and I'm sure Tim and the rest of them will appear."

"No, Codey is correct in his suspicion. While there appears to be no risk, Nina, there may be a necessary object to awaken the threat. I'm confident we won't activate the trigger if we take our time, but if we rush through, we risk being encircled by the enemy or anything else."

Nina walked recklessly, disbelieving others that there was any danger, so she was confident to continue walking. However, she stumbled over a branch on her first few steps, and a hole appeared in the floor. As she fell into the deep pit, she shouted, and the others instantly called out her name.

They couldn't see Nina's body when they glanced down the hole since it was completely black. It startled them and made them want to chase them down, but not before shouting out for her.

"Can you hear me, Nina?! Is everything okay down there?!"

Ayuka yelled, and her voice echoed through the hole, reaching Nina's ears, who had been clinging from a vine.

Her left arm had been bleeding from the speed with which her flesh was swiped across the stones when she had fallen and caught herself violently on the vine. She mumbled something in agony and looked up to see others staring at her.

"I'm fine! I only got a minor scratch as a result of the fall, so don't worry!"

She glanced down beneath her soles in the hopes of seeing the bottom, but even after falling, she was still unable to see the ground, only blackness and nothing to leap on.

"Keep holding on down below! I'll be right with you!"

Ayuka yelled, but the activating trap unleashed not just a bottomless pit, but also the howls of the dead.

As they began to line up from the middle of the road all the way to the top of the cave, the skeletal fragments dispersed around the looping path began to coalesce into proper skeletons with bows in their arms.

They were encircled by terrifying skeletons with fiery arrows, preparing to annihilate them one by one with their flaming arrows. Because they were trapped at the bottom, they had no choice but to fear the gigantic skeletons when another one sprang from the top.

They all looked ahead, watching as an armored skeleton slammed its knees into the earth, causing a tremor on the floor as dirt was thrown into the hole and rained on Nina's head.

The vibration of the heavy body forced the vine to loosen, causing Nina to fall more, and she began to feel dizzy after shouting. She was afraid of falling into the darkness, therefore she felt the vine rubbing against her palm even harder, causing her blood to splash to the bottom.

"What the hell is going on up there, guys?! I'd appreciate it if you could help me with this. I'm on the verge of falling, and my wound is killing me!"

The enormous skeleton straightened up from his knees and reached on his back, dragging a club composed of thick bones forward, drew Codey and Ayuka's attention.

"We'll be out there with you as quickly as possible. Just a moment, we've got some things to take care of."

Nina began to believe that she wouldn't have enough endurance to hold on to the vine or that the vine would loosen first, preventing her from enlisting the help of her companions, as she heard Codey's call.

It inspired her to begin climbing over the vine, which shook with every movement she made. It wasn't the safest strategy she had, but if she had made it to the wall, she could have used one of the pebbles to measure the height of the fall. However, that plan was entirely thwarted.

The vine gave in and ripped apart the minute she reached for the rock. Nina was forced to descend down and plunge beneath the darkness, her screams reaching the hole's top.

Others were able to hear her cry and the torn vine as Ayuka rushed over to the charred hole and screamed her name.

"Nina!!"

Tim was thrown off balance by the gigantic skeleton's ax's relentless banging. He didn't have much luck coping with the quakes and tremors, so he couldn't attack since the rumbling would stop him.

"The hits of this colossus are too difficult to balance on! I can't do much, is it on a rampage or something?! It doesn't appear to be slowing down!"

While Elliott proceeded to hug a tombstone asleep, sobbing and crying, he yelled. Karisa and Tim, on the other hand, paid no attention to him while maintaining their footing.

"This ruckus has to stop at some point! If not, it should hopefully get tired after some time, right?" Karisa inquired, bewildered by the skeleton's fury.

The colossus lifted the ax near his shoulder height and swung with full power as the final hammering of the ax drove Tim off balance and he sank forward. Tim's eyes, shook, and he couldn't have avoided it even if he wanted because he was falling, so he used his sword to deflect part of the impact.

The sword and the ax collided, but Tim was overcome by the force and was hurled backwards into one of the tombstones, which absorbed the blow. Despite the fact that the hit was harsh and might have easily shattered his back, he was fortunate to survive.

When the colossal stopped spinning on the floor by spreading his arms and legs, it went from a standard hit to a whole spin. It opened its mouth and let out the rage that had been building up inside of it.

Tim knelt on the floor in agony, reaching for the sword. He was bleeding heavily from his mouth, and he had scratches all over his body. He wiped the blood from around his chin and sweated as he struggled to get up straight, but he pushed through the discomfort.

"It's all about force and earthquakes in this game. Seriously, if things keep going like this, I'll never be able to hit it with a successful strike."

Karisa managed to slip up behind the huge skeleton and grab her pole with both arms while the colossal skeleton's sight was fixed on Tim.

"With my weapon, there's little I can do to destroy its skeletal body, but if I can be the bait, Tim should be able to land a final blow..."

She inhaled and exhaled deeply before grabbing the pole with both arms and charging at the skeleton from behind. "Right over here, you hulking pile of bones!" After seeing Karisa's attack on the skeleton, Tim's eyes widened in surprise.

She swung the pole from under her shoulder above her head and slammed it down with all her strength when she was close enough.

Her pole slammed with the top of the skeleton's head, causing it to become frenzied. The hit was a success, and the skeleton's attention had been drawn to her. She observed the skeleton swinging its ax at her after bouncing off its back on the floor and landing crouched.

She mumbled, startled, and pressed her torso into the earth to avoid the swinging ax, which would have slaughtered her frail body if it had hit her. The skeleton raised its gigantic leg and prepared to stomp on her not long after, but she rolled out of the way just in time.

The sole created another tremor, and she felt excruciating pain throughout her body due to her being near it.

She needed to scream in pain since the power of the tremor felt like her body had been slammed by a vehicle. "It hurts! It hurts!" She screamed and twisted on the floor, holding her left arm, but her screams were swiftly forgotten when she saw the skeleton sweep the ax across the pebbles, aiming it for her stomach.

As she moaned in anguish, her eyelids shook, and she immediately clutched the floor behind her head and lifted her bottom off the ground. Her arms were stretched into the air, and the ax was swinging inches from her bottom.

As she grasped the side of her pole, she shifted her body into a handstand and back roll.

"Way too close!"

"Tim, I won't be able to do much, but if I can keep it focused on me, you'll have more time to fight it. So make sure to strike when the opportunity comes up, okay?!"

Tim was impressed by her daring, but clinched his teeth and smiled as sweat ran down his brow. "Sure, you've got it; give it your best!"

To be continued...