Chương 13: Three Vs Three

As the zombies rushed him, something within him awoke, a feral rage, an overwhelming urge to tear everything apart. With a primal roar, he lunged, his claws flashing red as he struck. Each swipe of his massive paws shredded a goblin, releasing thick, noxious gas as they burst upon death. Maximus ignored it all; his only goal was to kill them.

He leapt from goblin to goblin, either raking them apart with his claws or sinking his saber-like fangs into their bodies, tearing them into pieces and spitting out chunks of decaying flesh.

"A beast entered our headquarters!" one of the necromancers shouted, while the other roared, "Corpse Explosion!" And as he screamed, the remains of the zombies Maximus had slain detonated in flashes of green, decaying flames, and flying body parts. Jagged shards of calcified bone whipped through the air like shrapnel, puncturing his emerald flank and hurling his heavy mass across the concrete floor to the far end of the massive warehouse.

His Cat Form crumbled as he reverted to his human shape, dropping to one knee, pieces of bone lodged through his back and limbs, making him look as if he had wrestled a porcupine.

"Sprout… Call for help," he rasped weakly. Sprout nodded, opening a small portal before slipping through it, leaving him alone. Maximus pulled out his staff and used it as a crutch to rise, his body shaking and bleeding heavily. He cast Rejuvenation on himself and swallowed a handful of seedlings. Spectral Wolf, come to my aid. He whispered inwardly as spirit energy gathered at his feet, coalescing into a dog-sized translucent wolf that emerged with a low growl, its fangs gleaming with a deadly glow.

"Who are you?! Why are you spying on us?" the blonde necromancer shouted.

"Silence, you ghoul. How dare you take so many lives?!" Maximus roared, deliberately provoking them, hoping to force a mistake.

"Ghoul? Me?" the blonde gasped, while the other two burst into laughter.

"Hah! I told you, you're not as pretty as you think," the brown-haired necromancer said between chuckles.

"I'm prettier than both of you!" the blonde snapped.

"What the hell does our taking over this place have to do with you?" He ignored his comrades and barked back at Maximus, who was slowly recovering his vitality.

"Your goblins attacked me first, so I came to see what was happening here. And what a sight I found." Maximus growled.

"His shouting is pissing me off… Skeleton Warriors!" the blonde screamed, summoning five skeletons armed with crude iron swords.

"Bone Wall!" the third necromancer shouted, fusing the scattered bones of the fallen goblins to seal the exit.

"Zombies, attack!" the brown-haired man yelled, commanding the remaining undead forward. Curses… Maximus frowned as his Spectral Wolf lunged ahead, tearing an arm free from one of the skeletons with a loud crunch. Seeing his wolf attack, Maximus raised his staff, channeling spirit energy into it before slamming it into the ground.

"Entangle!" Roots like serpents burst violently from the ground, binding skeletons and zombies alike, even ensnaring two of the three necromancers.

"What the—?!" the blonde screamed as the entire room seemed to ignite with chaotic energy.

"Nature's Wrath!" Maximus unleashed a blazing beam of verdant power that struck the two necromancers head-on, igniting the poisonous gas still lingering in the air. Meanwhile, the Spectral Wolf dismantled three of the five skeletons before Maximus called it back, activating his Lupine Legs and sprinting through the now-collapsed Bone Wall. As he burst outside, he heard familiar shouts.

"Die, you damn monsters!" Oscar roared as the cries of zombies were cut off one by one. Maximus and his wolf raced toward the sound of battle; it seemed all the remaining undead outside had converged on the two invaders.

At the village gates, Oscar danced around ten or so remaining zombies whose legs were frozen up to their knees in thick, translucent ice, while Felix struck with precise, measured movements, avoiding the mad clawing strikes and bursts of poisonous gas as the monsters collapsed.

"Spinning Gust!" Oscar shouted, spinning his spear before him and creating a focused vortex of wind that pushed the poison away before he carried the motion through, mowing down the remaining goblins. As the last of them fell, Maximus arrived.

"Took you long enough!" Oscar grinned as Sprout leapt from atop his head toward Maximus.

"This little guy of yours suddenly showed up right before a loud explosion went off inside the village," Oscar added.

"What happened?" Felix asked, his gaze lingering on Sprout for a moment longer than necessary.

"There are three necromancers, you were right," Maximus said, his voice steady despite the blood still dripping from his wounds.

"There was a fourth, much stronger, but he left… Not before breaking my stealth and trapping me with the others." He drank some of his potion and swallowed a handful of seedlings hurriedly. Then he added, "They're still inside. Let's go." Maximus summoned his blade and turned back toward the village.

"Wait! Are you crazy? Three of us against three necromancers?" Oscar muttered.

"We can't leave them alive. They are enemies, Oscar. They will hunt us down." Maximus replied, his voice turning cold and resolute.

"Agreed." Felix nodded, spinning his sword once as the lingering frost in the air condensed along the blade's edge.

"God damn it, you two… Fine," Oscar growled.

"Come here and die!" Just as they were about to charge back inside, a loud shout echoed from behind them.

"I don't like the sound of that," Oscar said, shaking his head, then smirking.

"Though I do like the challenge." With that, he sprinted after Maximus and Felix as they rushed back into the fight.

The blonde necromancer wiped the blood from his face as his two comrades wrapped their scorched arms with what remained of their robes. Bits of what looked like bone armor crumbled off them as they stepped outside.

"I'll kill him and make a servant out of him. He will serve me forever!" Blondie gritted his teeth.

"Come, you two… You're not dead yet," he muttered as the others limped behind him. Just as they were about to summon more skeletons, Maximus returned with backup. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

"Surrender, you monsters!" he shouted, pointing his blade toward them.

"You think zombies are all we had? Idiot. Sacrifice Vitality!" the blonde shouted, and the other two joined in. Their faces paled as the scattered corpses began glowing green.

"Golem!" The body parts assembled into a three-meter-tall monstrosity, limbs, organs, and bone barely stitched together with writhing strands of green mana. They worked together to use a skill? So, rituals can be performed through the system… Maximus thought, uncertain how it functioned.

"That's a C-Rank skill; how can you use that?!" Oscar shouted.

"Shut up and die!" Blondie screamed as the golem charged toward them.

"Felix, freeze its legs, I'll assist. Oscar, take care of the necromancers! Spectral Wolf, help Oscar." Maximus ordered as he cast Thorn Whip, lashing toward the golem's legs. The vine wrapped around the creature's limbs, but it snapped like a dry twig, and neither the poison nor paralysis had any effect on the charging monster. Felix sighed and drove his blade into the ground.

"Freezing Ground!" he roared as a wave of frost burst outward, racing toward the golem and the necromancers behind it. The frost climbed up the golem's body, slowing it, but not stopping it.

"I'm spent, Maximus. Do what you can." Felix said weakly as he rose, gripping his blade and preparing to strike. Meanwhile, Oscar dashed to the side, circling the golem as he charged straight for the trio.

"Skeleton Warriors!" the necromancers shouted in unison as fifteen skeletons rose from the ground, their sockets burning with green flames as they lunged at Oscar. Two of the necromancers collapsed shortly after, leaving only Blondie standing, clutching his snow-white staff as he watched the battle unfold.

"Golem, you pile of bones, kill them!" he roared. As Oscar swept through the skeletons with his crimson-gleaming spear, Spectral Wolf, tearing bone from the walking targets, Maximus focused all remaining energy on his Lupine Legs and lunged forward. He dodged the slow but still brutal swings of the golem's disfigured arms and climbed swiftly onto its back. Driving his blade into its spine, he released Static Surge, sending violent electric currents through its body.

The monster roared, tearing free of the frost as it began thrashing wildly, slamming into nearby buildings in a frenzy and squishing Maximus violently just as Barkskin flashed to life. Felix seized the moment and leapt forward just as the golem crashed into a wall, bloody Maximus still clinging to its back like a madman, vomited a mouthful of bile mixed with blood, as he poured all his spirit into repeated bursts of Static Surge.

Felix drove his blade into the creature's flank, slipping between its twisted limbs and releasing frost mana directly into its core. Ice and lightning worked together, ripping through the unstable construct and bringing the massive abomination down. With a thunderous crash, the golem collapsed, dust rising into the air. Maximus pulled out his homebrewed potion and swallowed far more than he should have, tossing the bottle toward Felix.

"Drink up!" he shouted before vaulting over Oscar and the remaining skeletons, landing behind the blonde necromancer.

"May you find absolution in death," he said simply, before severing the man's head with a powerful strike, his blade cracking in two from the force. As the necromancer fell, several skeletons collapsed, allowing Oscar to finish the rest.

"You killed him?!" Oscar gasped.

"Never spare someone who attempted to take your life and can hold a grudge," Maximus replied coldly, using Thorn Whip to bind the remaining two necromancers. Thorns sank into their flesh, applying paralysis.

"We still need answers from these two," Maximus said before collapsing to his knees.

"Mate, you're a mess!" Oscar finally noticed his condition. Felix rushed over, handing the bottle to Oscar.

"Drink," he said, before beginning to pull out the embedded bone shards from Maximus's body. Maximus winced with each piece removed. Not stronger than a cub still… He thought bitterly as the pain finally set in, his vision blurring. I can't lose consciousness now. [Health: 37 / 600] He took deep breaths, drawing in spirit energy and forcing it directly into his body, not even through his seed, but raw and unrefined.

"What are you doing?!" Felix shouted as green energy became visible around him.

"I'm trying something… Keep going," Maximus muttered. Felix sighed and continued pulling out the bone fragments, while Oscar stood nearby, oddly enjoying the sour potion as he watched. As Felix pulled out the shrapnel, Maximus used the healing properties of the spirit energy and guided it directly into his wounds, trying to shape it the same way he would mana when crafting spells.

If I take the formula of Rejuvenation and apply some concepts of Holy Magic, I should theoretically be able to create something new, he thought as he closed his eyes, still twitching at every bone being pulled free. Slowly, more and more emerald energy gathered around them, thickening in the air, even Sprout releasing its calming scent, helping everyone steady their minds and ease the tension.

The translucent seed within Maximus rippled and began to absorb the excess energy, while his wounds started to close on their own, slowly, steadily, as if stitched together by the hands of nature itself. Half an hour later, Felix and Oscar sat nearby, guarding the now-awake necromancers, who shrank back at the sight of their blonde leader's headless corpse. Woosh! With a gust of green wind, Maximus opened his eyes, his body restored, his stamina and spirit replenished. Notifications flooded his vision.

He pushed them aside for now and rose to his feet with a faint smile.

"You succeeded?" Felix asked.

"I did. I can teach you, if you want." Maximus replied with a small, satisfied grin.

"I'd like that." Felix smiled softly.

"What the hell are you two talking about? And what the hell did you just do? That wasn't a skill!" Oscar questioned, clearly baffled.

"I got the idea from them, actually," Maximus said, glancing at the bound necromancers.

"They used a ritual to summon the golem; by sacrificing the vitality of three bodies, they bypassed the requirements of a stronger skill. So, I thought… Why wouldn't I be able to use natural energy similarly to achieve something beyond my current limits?" He omitted the full truth, but he wasn't lying when he said they had inspired him. The system… It's more flexible than I thought. It doesn't confine us; it only shows the paths. The rest… Is up to us.

That's probably what separates the truly strong from the average. Maximus thought.

"Well then…" Maximus rose and walked toward the bound pair.

"Why don't you tell us why you did it, and who that black-skinned man was?"

"We… We wanted to become immortal," the brown-haired one stammered.

"To raise armies. So, we found each other and started working together. That's when the Skill Hunters approached us. They said they saw potential in our group. We were supposed to join them once we collected enough skill stones."

"And now it's all over! You ruined everything!" the man suddenly screamed. Slap! Maximus's hand transformed into a bear's paw mid-motion as he struck him, slamming the man into the ground with a wet crack and a splash of blood.

"Now then…" Maximus said calmly, his voice turning cold.

"You're the last one. And I don't like people shouting at me." He crouched down, his presence heavy and suffocating.

"I also don't like it when lives are taken so carelessly… It irritates me, you see," he added quietly, leaning closer to the trembling man.

"Now, tell me everything you know about these 'Skill Hunters'… And that shadowy man." He paused, his gaze sharpening.

"And have you seen an assassin girl… And a red-haired man among them?" The necromancer began to shake. ‎