The Invaders of the Large Tomb

Hekkeran wiped the sweat off his face after beating his tenth group of opponents since the start of the battle, a pair of ghasts.

Although he wanted to rest, there was no time for it. He gulped some water from a pouch on his waist, and signaled a retreat as he calmed his breathing down. However, or rather, as expected, the enemy had no intention of giving them any time to rest.

A group of three skeleton warriors, with a robed skeleton mage mixed into it, jumped out to block their path.

“Conserve your mana!”

“Got it.”

“—Enough, understood.”

In a situation like this where they could be surprised at any time, magic—which could easily deal with any situation—was a trump card they could not use casually. Because of this, they had conserved their mana as much as possible.

That being said, several of their abilities with limited uses per day had already been exhausted. This was the result of being swamped by the large amount of traps and undead.

There were skeleton archers lined up behind barred windows, and out of swords’ reach. It was difficult to deal fatal blows since the skeletons were resistant to piercing attacks, but Roberdyck was able to exorcise the undead.

He was also able to eradicate the undead that were throwing bottles of poisonous gas at them.

He exorcised the flying undead and the “floor-imitators” which glued their victims to the ground with their bodily fluids.

And he also exorcised a team of several undead that caused all sorts of status ailments such as plague, poison and curse.

All this had taken a heavy toll on his daily uses of ‘Turn Undead’, leaving him with only a few remaining uses. Conversely, they had managed to conserve other abilities as well as mana. The only tough battle had been the one with a flesh golem mixed into a battalion of undead.

“Warning! Multiple footsteps from behind!”

“Undead reaction! There’s six of them!”

Along with Imina’s warning—followed immediately by Roberdyck’s—the tension ran high. The reason why the five skeletons ahead of them weren’t attacking was probably because they were waiting for a chance to execute a pincer attack.

Hekkeran considered their next move.

Several options appeared on a list in his mind. First, they could make a pre-emptive attack on the enemies in front of them and bring them down. Or they could launch a suppressing attack on the enemies in front of them, then turn to attack their pursuers. This plan would require good observation skills to determine the strength of the forces in front and behind them, then take on the weaker group first. They could also use magic to hinder one side, then take the opportunity to break through the other.

They were all effective, but none of them could turn the situation around. In a moment of inspiration, Hekkeran decided to trust his instincts.

“Hekkeran! What shall we do?”

“Turn back! There’s a path to the side! Retreat there!”

The instant his voice rang out, Imina, who had been the rear guard, ran. Arche and Roberdyck followed her. Hekkeran was one step behind them.

The fact that Imina was running meant it wasn’t an impossible distance. Not wanting to fall behind his teammates, Hekkeran ran as fast as he could. The enemy wouldn’t let them escape easily, of course; the footsteps of several undead could be heard pursuing them relentlessly.

“Have a taste of this!”

Hekkeran took out a bag of alchemical glue and tossed it behind him.

The alchemical fluid splashed out and spread over the ground.

The results were immediate and the footsteps stopped instantly.

Intelligent undead might have made a detour, but such thinking was impossible for lesser undead.

Furthermore, skeletons lacked muscles, and thus they found it very difficult to break free once they were stuck.

“More undead reactions! Four from the right!”

“It’s a wall!”

“No, it’s an illusion!”

Four ghouls grunted as they charged through the wall. Although they were scrawny undead that were little more than skin and bones, they were still a fearsome sight when attacking with their outstretched yellowed claws. That said, there was nobody on this team who would be frightened by such an attack.

“Don’t look down on me!”

Seemingly unaffected by the ambush, Imina immediately unsheathed her shortsword and swung it at the ghoul’s neck. Dirty-looking fluid oozed out of a ghoul in place of blood, and it fell. Beside her, Roberdyck swung his mace with all his might and crushed another ghoul’s skull.

Judging that it was safe to leave those two alone, Hekkeran turned his attention to the rear. They were still being chased. Should he throw another bag of glue just to be on the safe side?

Just as Hekkeran was about to toss one, the shape of a terrifying undead loomed into view.

“Elder Lich!”

At the same time, he noticed lightning crackling on the lich’s finger. Hekkeran was familiar with the spell in question.

‘Lightning Strike’ produced a straight line of piercing lightning, and there was only one way to dodge it.

“—Push the ghouls back!”