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.

Falling on the stones a few meters back, the hand remained motionless for a moment, and then began crawling

pull, the bones were putting themselves back together one after another. Those too damaged to be of use

disturbing thought entered Sunny's

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

these creatures were…

...Or rather, undying.

so, things were going to turn from

caught a distant rustle coming from the darkness ahead of them. For a moment, he felt

dozens… no, hundreds of skeletal feet scraping against

even thousands

populating the catacombs were coming to rip the

face, Sunny gripped the Midnight Shard tighter and hurried after the

come and

***

them. First in ones and pairs, then in small groups, the bloodthirsty skeletons assaulted them in a constant stream. Appearing from the darkness of the catacombs, they lunged at the cohort

huntress exerted her inhuman strength, bulldozing through the skeletons like an incarnation of ancient fury. Her round shield acted as a wrecking ball, shattering the undead monsters

crushing force of a devastating flood. She was holding the longsword by the blade, using its crossguard and pommel as an improvised mace. With white flames dancing in her eyes, she moved from one skeleton to another, skillfully deflecting their blows and crushing one skull after

meeting any resistance. The proud Legacy fought with graceful precision,

monsters seem almost easy. However, Sunny knew that it was anything 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

to taste the true menace of these undead abominations