The large figure from behind refused to move an inch as it didn't feel like Maverick was worth it's time. The four lower level subordinates happily put their focus on him though as they saw this as an opportunity to grow higher in level.
"Come on! Are you going to keep looking at me all day!?"
Upon hearing this the zombie like creatures charged towards him at unexpected speeds caused him to stagger in his movements as he evaded them. Their surprising speed caused Maverick to believe that they were not the normal zombies he knew after all.
Jumping some meters back, Maverick stood in a defensive pose awaiting the next attack of the undead creatures. A trail of sweat could be seen sliding down his temple as his heart beat increased at an alarming rate.
At this moment, he could not help but have second thoughts about his decision to face the four alone. There was no denying that he was out of his depth against these monsters.
Cree hiding behind the large rock noticed this rather quickly and proceeded to attack the leader of the group. Take down the leader and the rest would scatter, that was his mentality at the moment. Taking a well placed strike at it's head with his hand from behind, he soon found out that this may be too high of a task.
"What!?"
"Don't be surprised, of course normal attacks wouldn't work on the undead. You will have to come up with something else", Claire adviced as she watched the battle.
The armored skeleton's head rose up, locking eyes with Cree who was awaiting it's next move. All of a sudden, he could feel the monster's killing intent as it's eyes turned blood red.
Stretching it's hand out, it created a long skeleton blade that emitted some kind of dark aura. No one had to tell Cree who was looking on that he had to avoid that blade by all means.
The skeletal threat swung the blade creating a gust of wind infected with this dark energy. Luckily for Cree though, because of the speed he had acquired from drinking the Hollow bat's blood, he was able to dodge this attack easily.
One thing was obvious about this large figure and that was the fact that when it came to speed he had it beat. Using his realized advantage against it, Cree took multiple shots at the creature's body. This ultimately turned out to be for naught when a powerful right hand from the monster connected with his gut.
"Urk!"
Flying a distance away, Cree had a collision with a solid rock behind him. The skeleton's attack made him sure he was seeing double the moment he got on his feet. In his eyes, two images of the large Abstract could be seen walking to him before they fused into one. Free from the effects of the right hand, Cree could see the monster approaching him in steady steps. It was pretty clear that it wanted to finish the job.
Raising it's hand towards Cree, a view of grotesque bacteria could be seen running wild on it's hand before launching at him.
"You might want to dodge that", Claire said from the side lines.
Following her advice, Cree dodged an assault from the vicious bacteria shot at him.
"What was that all about?"
"It's a skill that changes one into a bacterial surging undead. Would have been the end of you if it connected."
Now having a reason to be more concerned, Cree believed it was impossible for him to win this fight. The thought that he had put the lives of him and Maverick at sake for something like this made him feel sick.
Turning his attention to Maverick in the distance, he could see him evading the assault of the level 4 undead barely each time.
'If we continue like this we will be screwed!'
Cree's internal thoughts were cut short when he noticed the skeleton's blade, filled with dark aura heading his way. Ducking as best as he could, Cree avoided the attack but not without losing a few strand of hairs. Witnessing the hair strands that had been cut off turn into ash, Cree became much more intent on avoiding this blade. Luckily for him though, the moment he had dodged the blade it had gotten stuck on a wall a distance away.
Not wanting to waste his opportunity, Cree dashed off towards the creature grabbing and ripping it's right arm clean off. After this, he had a cocky grin on his face until the hand he had ripped off moved on it's own freaking him out. The arm wasted no time forming a cluster of bacterium to attack him, however Cree was quick enough to hurl the arm away before it did.
Distracted by the arm temporarily, Cree was left susceptible to a punch from the bacterial monstrosity. Receiving a second strike from the Abstract, Cree was better able to shake it off, however it did not take away the dizzy feeling he had.
Connecting it's second arm to it's body, the monster had it's focus on Cree who was trying to stand up on his feet. Activating it's bacterial skill once again, the level 8 creature took aim of Cree only for it's shot to be thrown off it's course by Maverick.
"C'mon Cree, don't let a sack of bones be responsible for your death! We got this!"
Coming back to his senses, Cree was astonished to see Maverick come to his aid. He took a glance at the area in which he fought previously only to find the level 4 undead stuck in the ground. Remembering that Maverick had such a skill, he took a sigh of relief before turning his sights to the Abstract in front of him.
"Yeah, you are right. Let's take this pile of bones down."
Taking it to their enemy, the duo attacked with their combined might only to fall short to the superior power from the Abstract. It knocked the two back with the swing of a hand, sending them meters away.
"Such power..!", Maverick voiced out as he tried to get sand out of his mouth.
The Abstract made a loud battle cry temporarily stunning the two. Afterwards it took wide lunges as it sprinted towards them, indicating that it now took them seriously.
Upon reaching the two, the monstrosity threw arms which were ultimately either dodged or defended by the two.
A situation like this was not a good one as one was likely to miss a step. Sadly this happened on the part of Cree as he blocked a blow from the Abstract. While blocking the monster's punch he had tripped over a stone causing him to loss balance. The creature took advantage of this as it hindered Maverick with a strike before assaulting Cree.
"Watch out!", Maverick warned from the side.
Accepting his fate, Cree closed his eyes awaiting the Abstract's attack. In that spit second he could feel his heart beat loudly in his ears until it was non-existent
Shnk!
Opening his eyes he could see Maverick standing right in front of him. The monster's hand had passed through his body exposing it's fist at the opposite side to Cree.
At this moment, Cree noticed the blade that the monster had thrown previously, right next to him. It would seem as if the monster had knocked him that far back.
In one swift motion, Cree removed it from the building and smashed the skeleton's head into bits. Just then the creature's body fell to the ground motionless. With the Abstract defeated the sword turned into ash shortly after.
[Level 8 Leading Undead (Rot fiend) defeated]
[You have successfully reached level 5]
[Proceeding to show current stats]
[Name: Cree
Level: 5
Race: ???
Class: None
Strength: 15+5
Stamina: 19+2
Agility: 32+2
Mana: 20+5]
Cree was not in the best position to check his new stats as his attention was glued to Maverick in disbelief. He was gasping for air with life gradually fading from his eyes. Holding him close, Cree wept as he looked at his face which was full of shock.
"Stay with me! We are almost there! Maverick!"
Not long after he said these words, Maverick gave his last breath leaving Cree along once again. Cree tried his best to hold back the pain he felt, however this only resulted in a lump developing in his throat and a harder grip around Maverick's body. It would seem that his insinuation from before was spot on as he did not true into an undead because of the monster's armor.
Claire who had witnessed the scene in front of her was awfully quiet for someone of her nature but Cree paid no attention to this. After this moment of grieving, he proceeded to dig a grave for him, burying him within the area.
Taking one more glance at the grave in front of him, Cree took off heading towards the Rift cube which was only a few kilometers away, with Claire close behind. As he ran towards the light beam ahead, he couldn't help but feel as if he was meant to be alone even in this altered world.