Chương 31: A bloody reunion

Ethan looked down at the collapsed girl, his heart racing as he quickly lifted his gaze to check if the reanimations had stirred. Luckily for everyone, they hadn't. The woman had tears running down her face, staring at the undead figure like she wanted to move toward him. Ethan raised a finger to his lips, signaling for silence. Then he looked over the reanimations again. They stood motionless. Unmoving. Not even the faintest twitch passed through them. It looked like some kind of stasis.

Necromancers often did this to conserve the energy of the dead, keeping them dormant until needed. In a way, it was a good sign. It suggested whoever was maintaining them wasn't strong enough to keep forty or more undead active constantly. He didn't have the power to animate them full-time. At least, Ethan hoped that was the case. He had originally assumed the necromancer was quite powerful, but maybe it wasn't as bad as he feared.

He supposed it would be a little unbelievable if someone on the first level had enough power to keep them all active at once. After all, the [Reanimation] skill activated off mana and soul juice. And from everything he knew, it was an active skill, meaning each time the person activated it, their energies would be drawn to power the reanimations and the skill. Even during the extermination of all necromancers there hadn't been someone who could keep reanimations active at all times. Unless they only had one or two.

Which had ended up being the way some necromancers operated, assuming they got their hands on powerful people or monsters. Ethan briefly considered stepping forward and cutting them apart where they stood. He could see they were resting, and from the shape of their bodies, it seemed they had been cut apart and stitched back together more than a couple times. It would be easy. But after a moment, he stopped himself. He didn't know if damaging them would alert the necromancer.

The last thing he wanted was the undead all activating at once. Ethan liked to be confident in his abilities, but he wasn't that confident. Instead, he gestured sharply for the others to back up. Once he dealt with the undead, he would return to put all these people to rest properly. Thankfully, the others listened. One of the warriors reached down and hauled the crying woman to her feet. The group filed backward slowly and carefully.

Each step made Ethan pause, wondering if the reanimations would activate at any given moment. Luckily for him, and the others, they didn't wake. Once they were clear of the threshold, he pulled the door closed and hoped whatever was binding the corpses in place would keep them that way.

"What the hell was that?" the older man asked. He had taken one of the swords earlier, but it now trembled visibly in his grip.

"That's the work of a necromancer," Ethan replied.

"All those people are basically undead, apart from they can be given orders and retain the ability to use their skills, though only to a lesser extent."

"Shit," someone muttered behind him.

"We should go finish them off," one of the women said—the cellmate to the one who had fallen to her knees.

"It could give us the levels we need to pass the Mirage." Ethan shook his head immediately.

"That would be an extremely reckless move. If the necromancer feels them dying and retaliates, we'll all be killed. Our best option is to find the necromancer and kill them. That would at least let those people finally rest."

"If we all killed one each—""No," Ethan cut in sharply.

"No one is killing them. Not until I find what I need in here. After that, you can make your own choices."

"Have some respect, girl," the older man snapped at her.

"This is the man who saved us. And do you really want to cut down people who had once been apart of our guild?"

"There were others guilds in there as well. But yes. They are already dead. We would be putting them to rest!" She hissed. The old man looked at her with disdain. If she felt ashamed, she didn't show it. But she didn't push it, which was enough for Ethan. Even if he agreed with her for the most part. They did need to be finished off, lest their souls be trapped in a body they can no longer control. Stolen story; please report. He turned back to the older man.

"You're certain you saw the girl run this way?" he asked again. The man nodded firmly.

"Yes. Her and one other. The guards were right behind them." Ethan nodded and turned away from the door that housed the reanimations. One thing at a time. He knew the others would struggle to keep up, but he couldn't afford to waste any more time. He broke into a run down the corridors, pushing through the pain in his ribs and forcing [Keen Sense] outward as far as he could stretch it. It didn't take long for him to pick something up. The sound of shouting ahead. Of steel striking steel and the cries of battle.

He broke into a full-on sprint, not worrying about the others behind him. The corridor widened abruptly, opening out toward the cliffside chamber. Wind tore through the gap ahead, whipping dust and loose sand across the stone floor. He burst through the opening and froze for half a heartbeat. The cliff face stretched out across from them, fifty yards of open air separating one side of the gorge from the other. Wind howled upward from below, tearing at clothing and hair alike.

But the real storm was happening in front of him. Bella moved like something unbound by physics. She blurred between guards, her form flickering at the edge of his vision. Two daggers flashed in her hands, silver arcs carving through the air. If Ethan didn't have [Keen Sense], he doubted he would be able to track her. Even with it, he could only just follow her movements.

He showed up just as a man lunged for her throat, but then she was suddenly behind him, blade sliding under his ribs before he even finished his swing. She tore it free and pivoted, slicing across another's hamstring before vanishing into shadow again. Five guards already lay motionless on the stone. There were at least ten more, standing and fighting. Ethan's eyes shifted to another area of chaos. A tall blonde stood near the cliff's edge. She wielded a dagger, but there was nothing delicate about her movements.

Her strikes weren't quick like Bella's—they were heavy. Brutal. When she stepped inside a guard's reach and drove her blade forward, the impact folded him. She grabbed another by the collar and hurled him sideways into a rock wall hard enough to crack bone. If it weren't such an intense situation, Ethan would have been impressed. But then he saw her. Leah. His thoughts came to a complete halt. She stood behind the blonde. She was far thinner than he remembered. Her face dirty and streaked with blood.

She looked ready to collapse but still, it was Leah. She held a weapon awkwardly, stepping in only when the guards were distracted. But the blonde was the main fighting force. Ethan's heart slammed violently in his chest. He was moving before his mind caught up. Most of the guards were facing away from him, attention locked on Bella and the blonde. They hadn't even realized another threat had entered the fight. Ethan closed the distance in seconds. His sword thrust forward.

The blade pierced cleanly through the back of an unaware guard, sliding between ribs and punching out through the woman's chest. The impact jolted up Ethan's arm, but he didn't slow. He kicked the woman off his blade and twisted immediately to the next target. The second guard barely had time to turn. Ethan's sword carved across his exposed neck in a brutal arc. Blood sprayed across the stone and was instantly torn away by the wind. The man collapsed, choking. But it seemed his surprise attacks had ended.

One guard broke off from Bella and charged. He held a sword similar to Ethan's own. Their blades met with a harsh clang. Pain flared in his ribs as his body and [Steadfast] competed. Luckily, the guard took a step back to readjust. Ethan took that moment to attack. He struck out in quick succession, his blade whistling through the air. The guard parried twice, his eyes widening as he struggled to keep up. Suddenly Bella slid on her knees behind him. Her dagger sliced out, hacking at his legs.

The man staggered and Ethan took advantage. He struck out again, his blade slicing his chest. His dark robes ripped apart and blood quickly followed. Ethan brought his sword down again, cutting into his neck until it detached from the man's body. At least this way they wouldn't come back as undead. [Keen Sense] flared. Ethan pivoted as someone tried to stab him from behind.

He spun around and parried a second attack, letting the blade glance off his borrowed sword, and punched the guard in the throat with his free hand. The woman staggered, gasping, and Ethan finished her with a downward thrust through the collarbone. Bella flashed past him again, reappearing just long enough to drive both daggers into a guard's spine before ripping them free. Ethan turned, looking for another person to face.

The blonde let out a low growl as she tackled a man, slamming him onto the stone and hammering her dagger down into his chest repeatedly until he stopped moving. It was gruesome. He watched as blood spattered up and onto her face. A guard was coming up behind her. Ethan rushed forward and cut him off, slicing deep across his thigh before finishing him with a thrust through the sternum. He wasn't even given a chance to fight back. Another attempted to break for the cliff edge.

Bella intercepted him mid-step, appearing from nowhere to hook a dagger under his jaw and pull backward. His body dropped without ceremony, falling from the cliff. Now, there was only one last guard. He looked around at the dead bodies, sword trembling in his grip as he looked back up and between Ethan, Bella, the blonde and Leah. He hesitated, turned and tried to run. That was his mistake. The prisoners Ethan had rescued rounded the corner. They attacked like rabid animals. Ethan almost felt sorry for the guy.

Until finally there was silence. Only the wind made itself known. It annoyingly assaulted his bare torso. Ethan turned, looking away from the prisoners and toward the cliff. At the edge, Leah stood. Her hands were visibly trembling. The strange weapon fell from her hand and clattered onto the stone. Ethan felt something loosen in his chest. He had finally found her. And she was alive. She took a hesitant step forward.

"E—Ethan… is that you?" Ethan nodded, a smile forming on his face.

"I told you I'd find you." Leah broke into a run. Ethan let his sword slip free of his hand just in time as Leah slammed into him. She buried her face into his shoulder, her form shaking. He wrapped his arms around her.

"It's okay. I'm here."