Chapter 27

"Alright let's get the hell out of here." Isaac demanded. The party quickly packed their things. They dusted off their clothes, gathered their equipment, and set out for new lands. But the continuation of their journey was swiftly interrupted. A crack of thunder. A flash of lightning. Sparks infiltrated and ran through the ground as a familiar portal opened. Marching out, rattling with every step, the Lich of Strathum, Necros. "Oh god damnit, not this guy again." Just before the portal closed, Elizabeth could see two other figures, Grimwald and Ronin. She could also hear something. The torturous screams of another, the pleas and cries of Dullahan.

"End of the line mortals! This game ends right here, right now!" He shouted, pointing his boney finger at Elizabeth. "I'm taking that scroll."

"And what makes you so sure of that?" Isaac challenged. Vera and he prepared to attack.

"You forget, paladin. You're challenging a necromancer in a graveyard!" Necros' eyes glowed a sickly green. He jammed his staff into the ground. A sprawling network of glowing, green roots spread out across the land. The earth began to quake. Cracks, splits, and fissures. Suddenly, waves of skeletal and rotted hands burst through the ground. Elizabeth screamed.

"Fuck!" Vera yelled.

"Oh shit." Isaac coward. Hundreds of undead crawled out from the earth. Some wore ancestral armors. Some carried blades of the past. A vast assortment of warriors rose from the dead, all united and ready to strike down the adventurers before them.

"What? Did you really think you were the first party to cross these lands? Egredere, occide et epulare mortalibus!" His voiced boomed like thunder. The corpses lurched forward. They sprinted at the heroes without any sense of fear or reason, snarling and growling. Isaac immediately sprang into action. Bashing the brainless with his shield. Slicing and slashing through the skeletons with his blade. Elizabeth reluctantly joined in, cutting down the undead with her surgical equipment, albeit much slower.

"Doc? When did you learn to fight?" Isaac questioned through the evisceration of decaying matter.

"I didn't! I just watched you!" She panickily screamed back.

"Aw! I'm honored!" Isaac glanced back at Vera. She just stood there, shellshocked. "Vera!" He shouted, snapping Vera out of her trance. "We'll take care of this! You get Necros!"

"Right!" Vera aimed her staff directly at Necros and the hoard between them. "Turn undead!" A heavenly flash and a powerful beam erupted from her staff. All the zombies caught in the crossfire either crumbled or were left dazed. Isaac and Elizabeth cleaned up the corpses, leaving a part in the sea of undead.

"You idiot! Did you really think a low-level spell like that could harm a horseman like me?!" Necros cried out.

"No. I just wanted a clear shot for this." Vera recharged her staff. A reddish, orangey ball formed at the tip. "Fireball!"

"Wait. Did she say fi-" Fire engulfed Necros. A large explosion knocked all combatants off balance, all except Vera.

"What happened to that barrier, Necros? I thought you were gonna block it."

"I will annihilate you!" He cried, bones and robes scorched.

"You can try." Necros growled as he slammed his staff into the ground. A neon ring pulsed outwards, the same spell he used at the CAM. The earth quaked and upheaved. Vera tripped and stumbled. Necros lifted his staff again and waved it in the air.

"Frost!" A breeze of cold air wafted down the battlefield. Vera's legs quickly became incased in ice. "Eldritch blast!" Necros pointed his staff at Vera. Three beams of darkness shot towards her. Unable to move, Vera had to take the hit. "Ha! What was that about barriers?!"

"Yeah, whatever." She scowled. Five shining stars appeared above Necros' head. Shooting off like fireworks, the volley arched their way to Vera. She responded with a counterspell. The magic missiles were repelled, redirected into the battlefield. The hit the ground and exploded into the hoard of undead.

"Hey! Watch it, Vera!" Isaac yelled.

"Sorry!" Necros dug his boney fingers into the soil. He swiped up and from the friction waves of green flame consumed the area. Vera cast a screen to block. But as she put it down to ready her next attack, she was splashed with some liquid. Then her clothes started to burn and melt. She screamed as it touched her skin. "It burns! What did you hit me with?!"

"I'm shocked! The great prodigy of Ethros doesn't recognize acid splash!" Vera cried as Necros cackled. Her arms seared. She couldn't move without causing waves of agonizing pain.

Acid?! Elizabeth thought. "Isaac! Can you hold them off? I need to help Vera!"

"You want me to take on a whole army by myself? Fine. But be quick." Elizabeth nodded and disengaged. She slid over to Vera.

"Oh sure! Bunch up to make yourselves an easier target." Necros prepared to strike down both girls but stopped when Isaac stepped in his path.

"You'll have to get through me first, lich."

"I'm sorry, but do you not remember our last encounter?"

"This is different. I'm not fighting to kill you, now I'm fighting to protect them."

"Oh, spare me the emotional drivel!" Isaac charged at Necros. He barreled through corpses, hacking and slashing to keep the necromancer on his digits. Elizabeth started sifting through her bag.

"Vera, you have a chemical burn."

"I see that!" She cried.

"I need you to cast a spell to flush out your skin with water. Once you do, I can dress you with bandages."

"Alright! Alright." Vera inhaled sharply through her teeth as she flooded her arms with a constant flow of water. Meanwhile, Elizabeth prepared the gauze and bandages, soaking them in healing potion.

"Okay, that should be good." Elizabeth gently took Vera's arms and began wrapping them up. "Be as careful as you can as we finish this fight. And be sure not to overexert yourself! Once we're out of here, take it easy and rest." She instructed.

"Right..." Isaac threw a full force punch with his shield square at Necros' ribs. a direct hit, solid contact. Everyone could hear the ribs crack. His eyes flickered, and the rest of the undead quickly dropped. Necros stammered back.

"Hey, look at that! I can switch your magic off on command!" Isaac joked. "Guess that means you're gonna have to crawl back to your boss a broken collection of bones."

"Ȇ̸̩͚͚̫̈́̋̅͑̃̌͝͝Ǹ̷̳̤̲̔͌O̴̖͆̀̎͌͊͘Ú̷̟́̇G̷̡̨̟̫̰̙̘̓̈̏͝H̸̫͎͎̎̒͊̉̽͗́̚͝!̷͖͎̐̅̀́͝!̴̛͔͈̫̙̪͓̉͋̂̉̂́̽̅!̷̨̬̃̐͆̃͛̍͋̈́̌" He screeched, perturbed by the mere notion that he'd have to face Grimwald a failure. A shockwave pushed Isaac back. Necros' screams rocked the universe. The air became charged with chaos. Necros held his staff straight in front of him, pointed directly at Isaac. "SINGULARITY!" A tiny black spec manifested at the tip. But despite its size, it was beyond mighty. Everything immediately got sucked towards it. A devastating gravitational force. Space and time seemed to warp. And just as quickly as it appeared, the micro blackhole collapsed. The implosion swiftly turned into an explosion, one that obliterated everything in close proximity. The extant of Necros' destructive power, and the lengths he'd go to avoid disappoint, were now unveiled.