For all they knew, Mor had calculated the cost of raising another lich as powerful and talented as Lala, as well as the vast amount of resources already invested in her. However, such considerations were of no concern to the liches. It wasn't as if they could defy an order even if they wanted to, especially not one they wanted to comply with, even if Mor and Val were against it.
Lala was more than just a fellow lich; she was the only one among the undead who acted peculiar compared to the rest. She displayed compassion, prioritized her kind, and, well, acted more alive than the living themselves.
Mor had commanded them to heal Lala, a spell that required a significant amount of time and their complete focus. Amidst a battlefield where death loomed at every turn, they stood their ground, bound by the curses that held them to the pact they had made, even within the confines of the tutorial grounds.
As a group of zeeches dove to block the barrage of cannon fire, the intense light blasted the sturdy abomination down to the bone. A circle of curses encircled the fallen bones, raising them to form a shield. Meanwhile, the liches poured their death energy into Lala, closing her most critical wounds at speeds visible to the abyssal eye.
A sigh of relief escaped their bony lips, but the shield shattered under the last barrage of cannonballs, and their dwindling resources caused their knees to buckle, leaving them rooted in place for the next onslaught.
Their skeletal hands, covered with the bare minimum amount of skin, moved as they exhausted their last reserves of energy to retrieve a single potion. As one, they pushed the cork with their thumbs, the sound of the cork sliding against the rim of the glass emitting a gentle yet satisfying 'squeak,' followed by a soft 'pop' when it met the air.
The potion glowed brighter, and they stared wide-eyed at the light looming closer, knowing that even if they drank the potion before its effects took hold, they would all be dead.
Undoubtedly, the undead were among the most self-serving species in the multiverse, a valid fact most times. However, this very trait prompted the higher Archy to place curses upon them, compelling a union to maintain order. This technique proved as effective as a hive mind, and coupled with their near-unlimited health pool, the undead ascended the ranks, even surpassing the hives themselves.
Despite the overwhelming urge to drink the potions, the liches knew the cost was inconsequential when faced with the choice to survive. Whether living or undead, one's own life took precedence. Yet they secured and discarded their potions, obeying a command that forced their curses to comply.
In a stroke of luck, a group of Xome arrived nearby, forming another wall of sturdier undead flesh. This forced act of selflessness granted the liches a second chance, and they broke the curse to retrieve the potions. However, their luck departed as swiftly as it had arrived.
"I will die before losing my baby," Tetsu declared, clearing a path for the axe to follow, with the undead's spatial pouches tagging along. "There's no way I'm paying such a high cost to live," he added, his expression grim.
"Expect the unexpected." Val contemplates Tetsu heading toward one of his animated Horr'ers. He attempted to move but almost fell to his knees as a Rune tugged beneath his feet. "How many places is he concentrating on at once?"
Tetsu cut through the tide of undead in an arc, each strike deliberate and aimed to impede their progress. He was not delusional enough to entertain a battle of endurance with the undead; instead, he exploited their singular weakness by pressing down on it even harder.
Undead limbs flew across the path Tetsu had cleared toward the Horr'er, slowing down the zombies further, many of them missing one or both of their legs.
The zeeches lost their original limbs and gained replacements from the Xome, who prioritized destructive power.
These new limbs were bulkier and more challenging to mold for speed, resulting in the zeeches wasting precious time in controlling or adapting them. While they could have avoided this by not picking up the Xome limbs, their lack of mental faculties made them easy targets to exploit.
Tetsu severed and offered Xome limbs to the zeeches, who accepted without question.
"Here," Tetsu said as he connected the massive Xome limb to a zeech with Runes. "Don't resist. There's plenty more where that came from." He severed another Xome's limb. Puzzled by their anatomy, he added some limbs to his collection. "Claimed this one. Who's next? Hey, wait your turn." He schools a Zeech crawling over another, both missing one arm and a leg. "And why do you want one?" A zombie ignores Tetsu, reaching out with a Xome hand to snatch another to complete its collection.
"He's pinpointing all our weaknesses," Mor hissed.
"Aren't we doing the same?" Val welcomed the challenge.
"At last... A mini-boss fight," Tetsu sighs, readying his axe and closing the gap between them with swift steps.
The Horr'er braced for impact, but Tetsu halted instead, spreading his free hand to catch the second axe. His smile faded into a frown when he noticed the potions and pouches soaring past him. "Damn! I forgot."
Adjusting his plans, the Horr'er focused on acquiring mana potions. Unlike the others, his mana and health pool were intertwined, and it was too low for his liking.
"Focus on the human," Val commanded the Horr'er, anticipating Tetsu's intentions.
Ignoring the original plan, Tetsu abandoned the axes and dove for the potions and pouches. "Sorry, mate. Priorities," he muttered, letting go of the weapons and lunging low to retrieve the items before the brainless behemoth trampled them.
Val's command to claim the axes came too late, leaving the Horr'er immobilized as it struggled to prioritize between conflicting orders. The opportunity presented itself, and Tetsu threw a fistful of mana, tagging all the items beneath the rotting creature. If not for his greed, the pungent odor of rotting eggs would have knocked him unconscious and made him puke in his deep eternal slumber.
"My axes," Val commanded, but the Horr'er hesitated, reaching for the spinning weapons, unaware of the Runes conjured on its wrists and shoulders.
Seizing the moment, Tetsu rolled between the Horr'er's legs and delivered a powerful kick behind its kneecaps, forcing the behemoth to its knees. Meanwhile, two Runes on the Horr'er's back, working in tandem with those on Tetsu's back, lifted him upward while the axes swung beside the Horr'er, tagging the items on its sides.
Tetsu kicked the axes into a wider arc, ensuring they tagged every single item. Despite Val's command for the Horr'er to protect its neck, Tetsu remained focused on collecting the distraction items. He managed to gather them all, and then stood dazed, scratching his head as he tried to recall his primary goal.
"Oh!" Tetsu exclaimed as he flipped to find the Horr'er growling at him. "Sorry, forgot! I was so happy... you don't care, do you?"
He kicked the axe hilt and spun beside it like a fan, unfazed by the looming threat of the enraged Horr'er.
Val intensified the connection between himself and the Horr'er, predicting and issuing orders before Tetsu could launch a strike.
Tetsu feinted with one spinning axe and drew a shallow cut on the Horr'er's knee with the other, prompting Val to grit his teeth and growl with frustration at each exchange.
"Never have I witnessed such proficiency with an axe, and he isn't even activating any of its skills," Mor remarked, gaping at Tetsu, who left another shallow cut on the Horr'er's shoulder. "Those are all shallow cuts," Mor added, attempting to console Val but convincing himself of the process.
"All aimed at severing his limbs and slowing him down," Val grunted. "If I infuse mana into it, I won't be able to face him later. He's smart, that one."
"No offense, my lord," Mor bowed. "But the Horr'ers aren't as intelligent as you."
"Get to the point, Mor," Val commanded.
"All your commands are interfering with the fight," Mor confessed, bowing even deeper.
Val acknowledged the situation and sent one final command to crush the human.
"Mini-boss controlled by the big ugly boss. No fun," Tetsu remarked, shaking his head as he noted Val's orders and dodged a sudden frenzied fist.
The Horr'er abandoned its calculated approach and began lashing out at Tetsu like a wild beast. Tetsu retreated, observing the creature's attack pattern and manipulating the savage strikes into a collision course with the unfortunate undead nearby.
A black vortex swirled around the Horr'er's shoulder blades, draining the undead of their mana, causing a black mist to seep out of their pores, and reducing the army into motionless corpses.
"Vortex of Hell," Val and the Horr'er chanted in unison.
Unlike the Draugr's skill, which boosted their attributes, a black mist emanated from the Horr'er, sucking the mana from the surrounding undead.
"Ah... thank you!?" Tetsu raised one skeptical eyebrow, then the other. "Changing sides, welcome aboard? Mind clearing a path for me to escape. You can lead."
"I will lead you to your grave," the Horr'er replied with a toothy smile, brimming with power.
"You're," Tetsu interjected, correcting the Horr'er's grammar.
"No! Yours."
"Yes! I get that. I was completing the dialogue. Will lead you to your grave."
"No. Yours."
"No. You're. Ree..."
"Yours."
"You are... are."
"You're?!"
"Yes."
"No! Mine."
"What!? That doesn't sound right. But it is grammatically correct."
"ARH...!" the Horr'er shrieked and charged.
Tetsu sidestepped, dodging the zeeche's attack from behind while thrusting the spinning axe forward to halt the Horr'er's advance. He then pushed the zeech forward, stepped around it, used it as a stepping stone, and leaped onto the Horr'er.
The Horr'er caught the spinning axe, but Tetsu hammered the first one with the back of the second axe, driving it into the creature's chest. Using the recoil of the strike, he spun away and aimed at the Zeech's legs behind him, slicing them clean off.
Two zombies in the incoming horde tripped and fell, creating a pile, Tetsu maneuvered around it, plotting to increase its height. Dumb undead soldiers climbed on top of each other in their futile attempts to reach him, further raising the pile's height.
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