The skeletons moved slowly, making their way to the entrance of the house. When they saw that the door was closed, one of the skeletons stepped forward and forced it open. The other skeletons approached the door as well. About ten skeletons entered through the door. Inside the house, not a single sound could be heard. Suddenly, the door closed again, and in the darkness, a long green sword began to move in all directions, shattering the skeletons' bones and smashing their bodies into pieces. After that, the green sword stopped glowing. The surroundings fell silent as if water had been poured over everything. More skeletons came in from outside. This time, the green sword ignited again, and after a brief moment, it extinguished once more. The skeletons fell to the ground.
In the distance, the necromancer pointed to the house with his left hand while flipping through the book he held in his right hand. With that, more skeletons began to enter the house. This time, they broke in through a window next to the door rather than from the door itself. Despite this, the darkness inside the house remained largely unchanged. Once again, the green sword appeared from somewhere. The skeletons, rather than attacking the sword, struck at it with their weapons. However, the sword continued to move.
One skeleton, wearing a helmet, swung its sword at the green glowing sword, aiming not beside it but directly at it. At that moment, the glowing sword dropped in front of the helmeted skeleton. The skeleton leaned down to look at the sword that had fallen to the ground and raised its head. In that instant, its helmet flew off along with its head. Following this, the skeletons outside began throwing torches into the house to illuminate the interior. The inside lit up, revealing Gustav, who was rushing forward. One of the skeletons attempted to attack him from above. Before the skeleton could swing down with its weapon, Gustav struck its ribs with his sword, shattering its bones.
On the other side, Valorant unexpectedly rushed in, smashing one skeleton and crushing its bones, then began to attack the nearby skeletons with his rusty sword. He swung twice with the rusty sword, but it broke. Seeing the sword lying on the ground, Valorant ducked to avoid an attack from a skeleton and picked up the fallen sword. With that sword, he struck the skeleton, shattering it.
Valorant:
-"We need to change our plan. They want to set the house on fire; we have to deal with those outside quickly."
Gustav:
-"You go outside, I'll handle the ones inside by myself."
Valorant dashed out the door and ran up the stairs, smashing through the four skeletons that were climbing them with his sword. All the skeletons outside began to rush at Valorant. He dodged their attacks while smashing them to pieces. One skeleton lunged directly at him, but Valorant evaded it. Another skeleton attacked him from the side. The number of skeletons around Valorant increased rapidly, and they began to surround him. He sensed that they were also trying to encircle him from behind. At that moment, he burst through the skeletons surrounding him.
He looked around once more and saw the skeletons passing through the house from the other side, thinking, "The skeletons are crossing through the house to the back. Gustav won't be able to stop them. The rest is up to you, Attu. I hope everything will be okay."
Valorant had been in many battles like this and knew that he should survey the area carefully before making any decisions. Therefore, he took his time and refrained from using his "Fiery Wrath" techniques.
Meanwhile, inside, Gustav was fighting against the skeletons that had made their way into the house. Unknowingly, Gustav had let a few skeletons slip past him because their numbers had become overwhelming as they entered the house.
Attu stood by the door, watching it closely, but he didn't hear any sounds from outside. The room felt very quiet and still. At that moment, Attu rushed toward the only window in the room and smashed it. He struck downward with his sword. His blow hit the head of a skeleton emerging from slightly below the window, shattering it as it fell to the ground. Attu looked down and saw more skeletons crawling up from the wall below. On the other side of the room, they were trying to break down the door to enter.
Attu first looked down at the skeletons coming up from below and began counting them, "One, two, ... ten." He stopped and then knocked down another approaching skeleton with a blow to its head. He turned to the door and noticed cracks forming on it. "This door won't hold up for long. I need to position myself to ambush them."
The skeletons struck the door several times and one skeleton with armor managed to slip inside. Attu swung his sword at it, but the blade merely grazed the armor and bounced back. The blow had no effect on the skeleton. Attu attacked again, but a larger skeleton standing behind the armored one struck out with its foot, sending Attu flying under the window. The blow from the skeleton hit Attu hard, and he crashed against the wall. Blood flowed from Attu's mouth as he hit the wall.
At that moment, it felt as if all the strength had left Attu's body. The sword in his hand felt incredibly heavy. He remembered what Valorant had told him during their training in the forest.
Valorant:
-"Attu, how many times have I told you? When you strike, aim for the open areas of your opponent, not just any place that seems accessible."
Attu:
-"How can I find an open spot? I can't even see one on you."
Valorant:
-"Your opponent won't reveal their weak spots. And why are you letting your mana dissipate when they're attacking you? You need to strengthen your fire mana in return so that their blows won't hit as hard. Plus, your strength will increase. Get up and let's practice again."
Attu recalled these words and thought, "I let my mana dissipate while I was being attacked. I need to use my mana. For some reason, I keep losing control when someone tries to strike me. I have to fix this. Why is this happening? What did I feel when they were hitting me? Pain? No, that's not it. Then what was it before? It was something that could drain all my strength." He looked at his shaking hand. Seeing this, he realized, "Ah, it's all because of fear. I'm afraid of their attacks. I need to overcome my fear." Slowly, Attu stood up. He raised his sword and shouted, "Fiery Wrath, Level 1 Fire Mana!" At that moment, he felt as if all his fear had vanished.
Attu began to feel much lighter. He countered the armored skeleton's overhead attack. He then started to think critically, "Where is its weak point, the exposed spot? I need to find it. Look carefully; where could it be? Wait, I can see it; it has a weapon. That'll slow down its movements, and its weak point…" He studied the skeleton's weapon closely. "I found it! Its joints!" he exclaimed, and he struck at the joints of the armed skeleton with his sword, obliterating it.
At that moment, another skeleton swung an axe at Attu, aiming to chop off his head. Attu bent down, dodging the blow to his left. Then, he struck the skeleton's arm, shattering its bones. The axe fell heavily to the ground. After that, Attu removed the head of that skeleton.
On the other side, the skeletons didn't allow Valorant even a moment of respite. He thought, "If this keeps up, I'll become exhausted very quickly. It's time to use my techniques." Valorant tried to find an open space around him and managed to locate a small area. He pointed his sword to the right and shouted, "Fiery Wrath, Level 2 Fiery Hands!"
At that moment, green fire began to envelop Valorant's hand. The green flames billowed down his forearm toward the tips of his fingers. The sharp edge of his sword also ignited in green fire. The fire on the sword suddenly intensified, making it appear as if more sword length was emerging. The flames were extremely hot and exuded pressure, almost as if Valorant's sword was growing even larger. He swung his sword horizontally, incinerating every skeleton and everything else within the radius leading to the doorway of the house.
The fire that erupted from the sword was so hot that nearly nothing remained. The only thing left of the beauty at the entrance of the house was a charred, flat patch of ground.
Smoke filled the area, making it impossible to see anything. Valorant wanted to check if the necromancer was dead, so he approached the door to see what was left of him. As he got closer to the door, he looked. Right in front of the door, the necromancer stood unharmed, as if nothing had happened.