The burning monsters stood there silently as if they didn’t notice the group’s presence. However, it didn’t take long for them to finally take the first step forward. Surprisingly, their flame didn’t seem to be burning the wood they were walking on.
However, that didn’t make the situation any better for Arthur and the others. Without realizing it, they all started taking steps back. The burning monsters slowly invaded the deck as they moved toward their targets.
“You have got to be… kidding me,” Arthur muttered with a dark expression.
“Oi, oi, oi, what the hell is this? I didn’t sign up for an entire army of monsters! I thought you said that there is only one boss enemy.” Danny clenched his teeth. The last thing he expected to see now was a skeleton army burning on blue fire.
“I didn’t know about this either,” Arthur replied as he slowly put his hand on his sword. ‘Shit, there are too many, and they’re still descending from the ship.’ Looking up, he saw the burning flames falling to the ground like rain and it only made his heart sink deeper.
“You bastar-”
“This isn’t the time for petty arguments!” Isla said firmly. “Get your weapons! We’re going to fight!”
Hearing her order, everyone instantly went into formation, staying close to one another. Arthur stood on his own, inspecting the enemy.
‘They are moving very slowly. Didn’t they notice us?’ He asked himself. From what he could see, the monsters didn’t have any hostile aura yet which raised some questions. However, his unwanted answer came rather too soon.
The first line of burning corpses suddenly twisted their necks at a horrifying speed as they looked up, straight at Arthur and the others. It was as if the moment they reached a certain distance, they noticed the enemy.
After that, what ensued was simply… a nightmare.
The monsters suddenly screeched loudly. Their sharp, inhumane voices almost ripped Arthur’s ear drums. With that, they dashed forward at full speed, like a wave of fire heading straight toward the end of the deck.
“Shit!!”
The sudden burst of anger took everyone by surprise.
“Emmy!!” Isla shouted as she lifted her sword up in the air. A purple halo appeared around the blade as she activated one of her abilities.
“Right on it!” Emmy waved her staff as she closed her eyes. Her mouth muttered a few incoherent words as the orb on the staff shone with bright blue. At the same time, above her head, long blue shards of ice appeared out of nowhere.
Each one is as long as an arrow and there were at least a dozen of them. Then, Emmy opened her eyes and swung her staff forward. Instantly, the shards flew forward at full speed.
*BOOM*
Each hit a different target right in the chest as they fell to the ground. However, the moment those dozen monsters fell, they were replaced by even more burning cadavers. That attack didn’t stop the bestial charge of the monsters.
“Get ready for the impact!” Said as she took a fighting stance before dashing forward. Quickly, she found herself facing the first monster and swung her sword, cutting its head before it could attack her. Then, she quickly turned around and sliced another two monsters successively.
The creatures attacked her from different angles, like rabid animals. Their arms stretched forward, trying to grab her. The flames surprisingly didn’t feel hot up close but she didn’t want to know what could happen if she touched them. Isla was way faster and way smarter. Using that agility, she was able to dodge the attacks while dealing devastating damage to the monsters. Each swing of her sword killed a burning cadaver.
‘They’re easy to kill. But… There are so many.’ She clenched her teeth as she channeled her mana into her hand and threw a ball of gravity in the middle of the masses.
A massive explosion erupted, sending many creatures flying everywhere. The monsters continued flooding the entire place endlessly.
“We’re behind you, Isla!”
At the same time, Herculia and Danny dived straight into the chaos. The big man used his massive body to break through the monsters’ lines.
“Get a taste of my ‘Charging Bull’ ability, you small bastards! Hahahahaha!” Like an unstoppable tank, Herculia bashed through through anything that got in his way without stopping.
“Don’t get too far, Herculia!” Danny said as he threw several daggers from his inventory, hitting all his targets right in the skull. His aim was shockingly good. Then, he pulled his light sword out.
*Swish*
Then, like a ghost, he vanished from sight, only to appear behind several monsters. A moment later, the targets were sliced through several times as they fell to the ground dead.
‘They don’t seem to have good eyes if any. ‘Successive Slashes’ is working.’ He thought as he dashed forward, cutting through his enemies.
Meanwhile, Emmy kept throwing projectiles everywhere without stopping. Her ‘Maria’s Heilroom’ necklace made her casting speed considerably faster which made her able to cast even more abilities in way shorter time.
The group was working harmoniously and effectively. Knowing what each one would do, they were able to coordinate their attacks and help each other. In less than a minute, countless corpses fell dead to the ground.
Nothing could stand in their way. But, that didn’t mean that their situation was getting any better. The group quickly noticed that the more monsters they killed, the more landed on the deck and the more crammed the entire place became. They were on the offense, but they were also pushed into retreating slowly as the place became a parade for the Burning Cadavers.
Nobody could stop to even take a breather.
‘We’re being cornered.’ Isla’s face grew darker when she realized the truth. However, her sword didn’t stop swinging for a moment. She couldn’t afford stopping or the monsters were bound to overwhelm her. ‘This isn’t good at all. At this rate, we won’t have anywhere to move.’
She didn’t know what to do yet. Her group was trying to hold their ground, but that wasn’t going to last long. She had to find a solution or a different plan before it was too late. But, what plan can she come up with?
“Don’t back down. Keep pushing! They will eventually stop spawni-” Before she could finish her sentence, her eyes looked to the side, only to see the most shocking sight of it all.
On the other side of the deck, far away from the group, she saw horrifyingly large piles of monsters appearing out of nowhere. With each passing second, several would fall to the ground. Red projectiles flew everywhere, assaulting everything in their way.
At the same time, she looked down, only to see Arthur in the middle of it all. He was moving at terrifying speeds. Both of his hands swung everywhere, faster than the normal eye could see.
Even in the middle of all that swarm of burning cadavers, he didn’t seem to be stoppable let alone killable. The monsters couldn’t catch him, and instead the moment they got close, their heads flew off.
Meanwhile, Arthur was simply in his own world. Before he realized it, he was engrossed in the battle. No second thoughts or unnecessary ideas came to his mind. He didn’t even realize how devastating he was at that moment.
‘Fast…’ Isla’s eyes widened. ‘How fast is he… I can barely see it.’
She could swear that with each passing second, Arthur was getting faster, more brutal, and more effective. He was akin to a killing machine. For some reason, that riled up Isla in a weird way. Her eyes flashed with a weird glint and she quickly turned to the enemies in front of her.
“I can’t fall behind. No, I cannot afford to fall behind.”
