BXBX NOVEL Chapter 545 544: In Depth Scouting (5)
Seeing Jahi and the others step into the hall, I pursed my lips as I turned back towards the giant four armed skeleton in the back, my mind whirring as I observed how it just stood there, its twin blades held loosely in its hands while the sarcophagus was secured behind its bulky frame.
That sarcophagus had to be something extremely important for this Bone Fortress to operate, hence why it was being guarded by the largest, strongest skeleton construct on this entire island.
Metal Magic, something unknown inside that bronzed sarcophagus, two blades held at the ready, and its own bulky, powerful frame made this Undead something that we would think thrice about facing even with some time to plan.
If I was right in my train of thought, specifically with that sarcophagus housing something important for the entirety of the Undead faction, then this was an unavoidable fight for us in the future, and one that we would need a very detailed plan for.
"Think we should pull back quickly now..."
The Demoness bolstered the golden dome around them as the large undead took a step forwards, it\'s silver eyes flaring with power as its empty upper hand began to reach for the sarcophagus as well, the runes on its surface shifting and changing as they formed a Ritual Circle, allowing it to begin casting high level magic with speed.
Pulling a thick, barbed lance out of the lethargically spinning Ritual Circle, the Undead hurled it at the dome and observed the damage it caused, its hand returning to the sarcophagus and altering the Ritual Circle as it continued to walk forwards.
"Yup, we\'re pulling back! Anput!"
Crouching, the Jackalkin pressed her palms against the ground and erected a towering wall of stone and metal in front of them, which began to crack as a barrage of metal spheres slammed into its surface, cratering the thick barricade.
A thin sheen of gold covered the wall as well, reflecting some of the spheres and giving them some time as they turned and fled, making me do the same as I slipped out of the hall and back onto the roof, where I dropped down into the forest and rushed away silently, making my way around the long way to rejoin them.
Just like before, Jahi was leading the way as she brought us back towards the battlefield, Anput arming herself and the other two warriors with Kanabo again as the Demoness said "That thing\'s going to be a huge pain in the ass. Too many unknowns and not enough desire to get embroiled in a battle with it right now..."
"We did the right thing by pulling away; there were still a lot of undead around the outside courtyard, and the last thing we\'ll want to do with that type of enemy is fight them when they have a bunch of low level chaff around to pull some attention away from it. Not worth it. Besides, we need to make some plans for both the Bone Fortress and Monster Den, as well as check on these enemies as well, see if they\'re still weak or not."
Everyone nodded at my words as we rushed through the forest, eventually finding ourselves at the edge of the large clearing - that was now blackened and charred - and looking out over the sea of monsters and undead battling one another again, like nothing had happened earlier.
Leone and I remained behind Jahi and Anput as they waded forwards, smashing a path through the hordes and guiding us towards the other side of the clearing, all of us wanting to sit down and discuss what had happened today as we came up with a more concrete plan once again for this island.
Nirinia brought up the rear and made sure nothing could reach Leone or I, though we aided the others with pinpoint spells that knocked the elites away as well as utilizing buff spells to allow them to clear the way quicker, fueling their strength and speed.
It wasn\'t an ideal day out into the island, but it was a fruitful one that was well worth the time spent and energy used, since the amount of experience and progression from this day would be far more than before.
Besides the gains for my System - my levels and stats - we also gained large nuggets of information regarding two of the three factions residing on this island, with potential understandings on how to stymie the flow of their troops even just a little.
The large pool of sludge getting fed by those organic tubes as well as the Ant Queen for the Monsters, and the pit of bones, thin skeleton crafters, and that sarcophagus for the Undead.
Those clusters of knowledge would be useful in making a plan for our conquering of the island, and there were a few ideas already floating around in my mind regarding how we should tackle those problems.
For now though, I took note of the ease of which everything around us was felled by the powerful swings of the Kanabo\'s and our magics, suggesting that their adaptations to our earlier massacre either hadn\'t fully taken place yet, or it was as small as we believed it would be.
Cleaving a path directly through the ocean of enemies was a bold and - admittedly - dangerous strategy, but it was one that we were capable of as we reached the edge of the battlefield once more, allowing us to slip into the forest and away from the monsters and undead who fruitlessly tried to chase after us.
When we returned to the beach - like clockwork - Anput and Leone remained in the forest to gather fresh ingredients while Nirinia and Jahi dove into the ocean, searching for fish.
As for me, I began to prepare everything I would need to make our meal while also opening my System and looking over todays gains, which brought a large smile to my face.