A New Dawn 141 Battle of the Wild Mountains : Part 9

Especially when they heard their orders. When the officer in charge told that to those assembled in front of the ominous underground maze, more than one had his face turning white. Grabbing the hammers nearby, they couldn't help but shudder, knowing very well what they will do in a short time. So, after bypassing another wall of shadows that was dispelled by the mages, no one was looking at the polished stone ground with good feelings. After a few seconds without anyone moving, one either brave or suicidal had the guts to raise his hammer and hit the ground.

THOMP

The metal almost bounced back, not even making a dent at the stone tab. Sighing in relief, more began to methodically do the same after each step. Like that, every single part of the tunnel was slowly shaken by the hammers, using brute force to reveal any traps inside those walls. After the soldiers had accomplished their work, both the mages and the adventurers began to examine the result, searching for any clues.

But, even after reaching the end of the tunnel and seeing the next wall of shadows, nothing was found. The heat had only grown slightly, but it was still bearable. As for the magicians, as much as they wanted to act lofty, their perception was barely able to even sense the walls near them, even less anything beyond that. Because of this, they could only reluctantly dispel that batch of darkness, once again. At least, they were still more useful than the more or less kidnapped adventurers that were acting like mouses, jumping in fright at any sound.

Sensing that the opening was wider than the one they used to enter the tunnel, one soldier threw his torch as far as he could. The dim light that was floating managed to show the reflections of many armors and swords, proving that they had at least found the undead. Not daring to dwindle any longer, everyone began to retreat with great speed. Unfortunately, this time, Malakov was not willing to let them escape that easily.

VRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Multiple openings in the walls of the tunnel appeared, showing the undead that were located within them. Shocked by that, the humans had not the time to even react before receiving countless deadly spells. The screams that could have been heard from even the outside if nothing had been done were silenced by the liches. In a few minutes, the hundreds of explorers had all been erased from this world, and any traces of that short skirmish was slowly being cleaned as well. The few soldiers that stayed in the third room to act as witnesses could only speculate about why the wall of darkness in front of them had reappeared once more.

However, after a dozen of minutes, seeing that no one was coming, the humans that had been barely a few meters away from a carnage decided to leave this place. Letting one torch near the exit, they only threw one additional glance before leaving for good. Getting woke up only to hear the disappearance of those sent to explore, Lord Darkwater only gave an order to make everyone leave at once and prevent anyone from entering before dawn. Before returning back in the comfy bed in his tent.

The next morning, the vision that greeted Ferrod and the army behind was a vast cavern. Previously, the undead legions were numbered in hundreds of skulls, covering a relatively small amount of ground. But now, they could no longer count accurately how many of them were present. Raising his head after hearing the voice in his head, the second prince of Massalia couldn't help but curse those dark gods for being so vicious.

Because the humans were just at the entrance, they were still not attacked yet, but what awaited after just one additional steps would be huge rocks thrown at them. Of course, that won't be the end of it, but Ferrod couldn't see what else was prepared for them. The undead hands he could just notice in the holes in the ceiling were not giving him a lot of clues. Looking around once more, he still did not see one of the two armors he fought yesterday, neither the tall black one or the iron small one.

But when he looked at the very end of the room, he could see the same lich that nearly knocked him out. His blackened claws were doing weird moves, something he couldn't understand. Getting closer to Five, that was the temporary leader of the disciples of the Archmage while Three was still exhausted, he asked her about that, only to see her freezing after she looked more carefully.

"Hero Ferrod, it is not magic. However, he is gesturing the secret code of the Organization." She tried to speak as quietly as possible, worried that what she said could fall into unwanted ears. "Are you talking about those things like, knocking something twice with the little finger and one with the middle finger, the call for an ambush? That kind of stuff? How could a lich know that?"

The criminal organization had lasted for thousands of years and was even older than some nations. Its origin could even be tracked not long after the birth of both the Massalia Kingdom and the Synnada Empire. However, not everything was changed, and some of the basic gestures still maintained their original form, like a call for help or warning for an ambush. Besides those few, Ferrod did not know the other signs or even the true sign language created by those outlaws.

"Yes, I had a lot of ... I am afraid you will just have to trust me when I say this." Only a fool wouldn't understand what she meant when she first stopped talking. The Hero was still a bit worried by hearing that the Archmage was close enough to the Organization for one of his own disciples to know that much. Nodding his head, he saw the female magus murmuring things as she was concentrating on the hands of the lich.

"mmm ... mmhmh ... mhuh? Three right, one up? But that only means ... Basically, what that undead is saying is, if you fight today, they will spare nothing at killing you." She had greatly reduced the nearly minute-long exchange to just one short sentence, and Ferrod couldn't help but wonder how much did she left out. Starring at her more intensely, she only shrugged it off, like it was nothing. After being reborn as a Hero, only a few could resist him anymore, making him slightly displeased by the reaction of the magus.

"So what? Am I supposed to stay here and watch it?" "One moment please." She began to agitate her hand and do weird things with her fingers and arms. A bit puzzled, even those surrounding them began to wonder what was happening. "Wait, are you actually asking them?" The second prince couldn't believe his eyes, especially when he saw her stop for a second and nod at him. Since when they were supposed to happily chat with the undead?

"He said yes. And he will not move as long as you do not move. We, on the other hand, are free to do anything." Seeing her smile, Ferrod was wondering if she had lost her head. How could she be so certain that the lich will not break down his words was a wonder. Calling a random scout, he informed Lord Darkwater of what happened, leaving the soldier equally baffled. The two men looked at the woman that was still smiling, then both shook their heads, not wanting to know what was inside the mind of a Magus.

After some long minutes where everyone was waiting, the answer arrived. "Listen to Five." Grabbing by the collar the scout that was sweating, Ferrod was fuming. "What does he mean by that? Is he also listening to a lich?" Still being shaken, the unfortunate soldier could only reply what he was ordered to. "Lo . rd . Dark . water . said . the . lich . is . more . dang . erous . than . youuuuuu"

Finally calming down, the Hero fell into contemplation. The way they were thinking was not totally flawed. After all, he was just one man in the end, while the lich was a mighty magician. The recent conflicts had already proved how much was the difference between a warrior and a mage, only allowing a few exceptions. Like the Sword Saint Gwendhir with the relic of the last Hero of Massalia. With a sword capable of destroying spells with a swing of it, he was one of the few capable of beating anyone under the 5th Circle.

However, even he could only stall a true magus. For example, he had beaten Arthar Rodil when they were both younger, but he had lost against him a few years ago after nearly two hours of fight. However, it was also worth noting that the magus in question was one of the most stable mages of Massalia, with his control over mana refined after years of research. If it had been a wandering magus or one of those dark ones that hid in their holes, they wouldn't haven't stood a chance.

"Fine, but let me tell you, you are both making a huge mistake. It is impossible to trust those monsters. And I will not let my kingdom fall into their hands." Not pointing out how he qualified Massalia, Five only nodded her head slightly. However, with the absence of the Hero to breach the lines, and the massive amount of liches present against them, the soldiers had a hard time even reaching the skeleton warriors.

Neither the magicians, the magus nor the disciple of the Archmage managed to destroy anything but a few skeletons here and there. Getting completely overpowered, the human side was getting horrible losses, for next to no gain. The never-ending stream of rocks falling on them was not getting any better, and the hand of Ferrod was itching to draw his sword. After nearly an hour where the soldiers had barely managed to slay a hundred skeletons, the Hero could not stay immobile any longer.

SLIIIIIIICK

He was still in the middle of unsheathing his weapon when he saw the huge black mist spreading from the other side of the room. It was nothing like the other spells that the liches used, like some fireballs or even bone arrows. Covering the undead in it, it made Ferrod stop for a bit, as he could no longer see the peculiar lich. However, the mist also slowed down before reaching the humans, who were not particularly thrilled to enter head on in that.

Centimeters by centimeters, the second prince had almost got his entire sword out, only to see that the strange spell was mirroring his movements. Sensing a gaze on him, he saw the female magus looking disappointed by his behavior, pointing at the dark cloud right in front of them. One soldier clearly more mad than the rest tried to touch the mist, only to be grabbed and disappear from the sight of his comrades.

Realizing that if that thing swallowed them all, they would lose countless mages, Ferrod gritted his teeth and let it go. As soon as he removed his hand from his weapon, the dark mist began to dissipate, only to show the clean skeleton of the soldier, a meter away from where he once was. The fighters surrounding it stood in a daze for a moment, before an arrow claimed the life of another one. In reality, during that time, the undead had never stopped killing humans, it was only the living beings that were all captivated by the strange spell.

As the day progressed, more and more mages began to retreat, their mana completely emptied. After all, with all those casters launching spells after spells, the underground base was now completely void of any lingering mana. Normally, that type of situation shouldn't happen, where a mage couldn't even throw a single spell. Besides the mana in their body, they could still borrow some from the air around them, but right now, they could not grab anything.

With the departure of the ones that protected, the soldiers were in no rush of losing their lives. If they were feeling a bit useless when the magus were present, they were now nothing more than meat being methodically chopped. With that, even before the sun was beginning to descend, no one alive was left inside the tomb. However, even now, they still hadn't found a single trace of the lost expedition of the precedent night. Letting place to the human imagination to imagine the worst possible outcomes.

Chapter end