Shadow Slave

'How… how the hell is this thing even moving?'

Defying all logic, the skeleton lunged at Effie with a speed that even Sunny himself wasn't capable of. With no muscle tissue connecting the bones together, the strange creature was still able to stand upright, run… and attack with vicious strength.

A moment before the undead monster closed the distance between them, Effie screamed:

"Stay together!"

Then, she turned her torso and slammed her shield against the lunging monstrosity. With a thunderous crack, the skeleton was thrown back. Its skull and ribcage shattered, showering the tunnel with sharp bone splinters. Like a broken marionette, it fell to the ground in a shapeless pile.

Sunny stared at the mess of broken bones with in confusion.

'Wait… that's it?'

The huntress yelled, tearing him away from these thoughts:

"Don't stop, move!"

The cohort rushed forward, following Effie into the depths of the catacombs. When Sunny was approaching the remains of the reanimated skeleton, he noticed something that made a cold chill run down his spine.

The bones were still moving, slowly assembling themselves back into the shape that resembled a human. Just as he stepped past the creature, one skeletal hand suddenly thrust in his direction, trying to claw at his leg. If not for Sunny's quick reaction, it might have succeeded in injuring him.

one slash of the Midnight Shard, he crushed the clawing hand and threw it away. Falling on the stones a few meters back, the

pull, the bones were putting themselves back together one after another. Those too damaged to be of use were simply replaced by one of the bones scattered on the floor of

thought entered Sunny's

realized why Effie had told them to keep moving instead of trying

it because these

...Or rather, undying.

that he was right. If so, things were going to turn from bad to harrowing pretty

distant rustle coming from the darkness ahead of them. For a moment, he felt fear grip his heart,

sea. Instead, it was dozens… no, hundreds of skeletal feet scraping against the cold stones of

even thousands of

of undead monsters populating the catacombs were coming to rip the

a grimace of dark resentment on his face, Sunny gripped the Midnight Shard tighter and hurried

come and get

***

them in a constant stream. Appearing from

the group, faced the brunt of the attacks. The huntress exerted her inhuman strength, bulldozing through the skeletons like an incarnation of ancient fury. Her round shield acted as a wrecking ball, shattering

devastating flood. She was holding the longsword by the blade, using its crossguard and pommel as an improvised mace.

the finishing blow. His sword shone with a ghostly green light, slicing through bones as if without meeting any resistance. The

but. Each skeleton was stronger and faster than a human could ever be. It took incredible skill, resolve, and coordination to cut through their ranks without slowing down even for

taste the true menace of these undead