Cough!!!
The young man coughed blood, and as soon as his gaze lowered, he saw a black spear with the tip wrapped in a strange miasma piercing his abdomen.
"Crap!!"
For some reason, he was still alive, but his condition was critical.
Each breath took him one step closer to death, but he held on and gulped down one of Grandma's Regenerating Potions.
The potion did an excellent job and brought him far away from the gate of death.
The scent of blood attracted unwanted attention. In fact, the two skeletons, still in battle with the Stony Spirit, turned their deformed skulls towards him and opened their macabre jaws, which were composed of a long line of crushed teeth worn by time.
Skrii! Skrii!
The two bastards looked possessed. The flames in their eye sockets, initially red, turned blue, with a red glow right in the center of the flames.
Suddenly, they rushed at him like ravenous wolves, with much smoother and different movements than before.
"What's going on?"
Atlas couldn't move freely with that damn spear stuck in his abdomen, so he was worried when he saw those two dark beings approaching him so quickly.
Fortunately, the Stony Spirit reacted promptly and shattered the air with his giant palm blocking their way.
The first blow stopped their mad rush, and the second slammed their body to the ground.
BOOM!!!
Skrii!!! Skrii!
"I don't know how long he could resist. I have to get this spear out of my body..."
With the potion circulating in his body, Atlas took the handle of the spear with both hands and, after a deep breath, pulled the handle out with one movement.
Rivers of blood gushed from the wound, but the incredible potion was working wonders with its frightening healing effect, burning the young man's body from within and slowly regenerating his flesh and organs.
Pulling out that weapon had exhausted him so much that he dropped his body to the ground without strength.
"Shit... what the hell is that crazy old man doing..."
Atlas couldn't stand up, and it wasn't very encouraging in such a dangerous situation.
"Mmmm... I can't stay here..."
The battle between the Stony Spirit and the two skeletons was still heated. These two monsters were madly trying to overcome that gigantic wall made of sentient stones.
Skrii! Skrii!
BOOM!!!
The voice that had wanted to warn him was clearly from Drunkum, but where was he at this critical moment?
By now, the young man's blood had wet the whole floor, forming a wide, crimson pool, but the potion's healing effect began to take effect, and the forces in his body were slowly returning.
The worst was over, but what could he do with his body in this terrible condition?
If he wanted to resume the battle, he had to show off every shred of cunning and technique he had at his disposal.
"I have to finish this fight very quickly..."
The Stony Spirit had resisted as long as possible, but eventually, his body crumbled and returned to his world, freeing those two ravenous demons from its grip.
Skrii! Skrii!
His body was screaming in pain, warning his heart and mind, but the young man held his faithful companion and reactivated the technique interrupted by that brutal attack.
"Earthly Blessing! Earthly Submission!"
But he didn't stop there and instead turned his gaze to the skeleton on the left, the one with the two short axes in his icy hands, and uttered the last move at his disposal: "Eternal Grasp! "
The skeleton sank to the ground, surrounded by a thick golden cloud.
The battlefield was ready, so the young man activated the Chaos Rune, enveloping the blade in holy light, and engaged in an arduous battle with the enemy on the right.
AH!!!
Atlas avoided for a breath the devastating swing of the sword and struck the skeleton's femur from below.
BANG!!
The blade reached its target, but surprisingly, the bone was hard as metal.
The faithful companion leaped back, so the young man had to deal with the enemy's second blow, a blow aimed precisely at his left shoulder.
"Impenetrable Void Shield!!"
Summoned by the angry battle cry of his summoner, the black shield revealed itself and intercepted the blow as usual.
Unfortunately, the enemy's attack was so powerful that his body was pushed back a few steps.
"Damn… it looks stronger than before… What the hell is going on? His strokes are faster and have excellent style. It feels like fighting a sentient creature."
Skrii!!
The eye sockets lit up with red mixed with blue flames, and surprisingly, the skeleton moved its free hand toward the shield.
"What the..." Initially, he was surprised by the creature's action, but then Atlas guessed its intentions: "... Impossible... it's the first time I've seen them act with a bit of logic!"
Sensing the enemy's actions, the boy jerked back, preventing the skeleton from holding the shield with his filthy hand.
"Damn... Who are you?" Atlas roared.
Skriii! Skriii!
Unfortunately, no one answered.
Indeed, there was an answer, but it was the skeleton's brutal charge.
Skriii!
Holding the sword above its skull, the creature cut down with unprecedented precision and skill.
That attack was so frightening that Atlas rolled to the side to escape from its enemy's maw.
"Shit…"
His body crashed to the ground, and to avoid the next blow, he rolled to the side, further distancing himself from his assailant.
One blow after another cut the air within an inch of the young man, proving that the skeleton was an entirely different enemy from those previously fought.
"Damn... It can't be a normal evil spirit..." Atlas kept dodging and parrying one blow after another until, at one point, he thought back to the words of the village chief: "... So it wasn't a lie. These skeletons have a shred of intelligence and are not entirely consumed by their emotions..."
He remembered everything that had happened in Obscurium, and thinking back to the clumsy movements of those stupid skeletons on the islet cleared up all his doubts.
Cornered by that bastard and with another nearly free from his technique, Atlas found himself forced to use a power he had long hidden...
"Vile creature… perish!!... Ruthless Void Blade!!"
The black shield disappeared, and in its place appeared a short weapon with a blade as cold as the icy lands of the north.
Impassive in front of that brutal blade, the skeleton continued undaunted to mow down the air like a reaper. Still, after dodging the powerful thrust, Atlas acted faster than him and pushed the tip of the Ruthless Void Blade into the enemy's orbit.
Skriii!
The enemy drew his last breath while a greedy black hole devoured his residual power.
The bones fell to the ground one after the other, except for the skull, which gradually disappeared into thin air...
The young man was overjoyed, but since this was not the right time to rest, he swallowed another potion and got ready for the next fight...