Chapter 701: The Skeleton Who Saved the Day ( Bonus )

The Forsaken Apostate moved again, and this time, Two had attacked him.

One of the wolf’s eight eyes turned golden.

[ Skyless Howl ]

Mana pressure was released along with Two’s howl, and for a moment, it struck the energy flow around the knight.

But the Apostate had now recognized the pattern of this attack.

Instead of trying to resist it directly, he placed one of his damaged wings in front of himself as protection and lowered his sword at the same time.

The wolf tried to change his direction.

But a new wave of runic energy was released along the blade, and the slash struck the wolf’s side from a short distance.

Part of his defensive covering and the tissue beneath it were cut open, and the wolf’s huge body was thrown backward and dragged across the stone ground.

A trail of blood remained along his path.

Two immediately tried to stand up, but his front leg bent under his body’s weight for a moment.

He showed his teeth.

All eight of his eyes remained fixed on the knight, but his movements had become slower than before.

Lian checked the condition of all his Colony members in an instant.

One had suffered severe injuries.

Two was injured in his side and shoulder.

Four could no longer control his poisons with his previous accuracy for a while.

And Three had also lost part of his defense, although compared to the others, he was in the best condition.

’Things are getting bad.’

He looked at the knight.

The Apostate was not unharmed either.

The armor on his shoulder and right arm was damaged, several gray wings had lost many feathers, and the effects of Corrosion Poison still remained on parts of his armor.

But his new skill had completely changed the situation of the battle.

’How many runes are left?’

Lian glanced at the floating symbols.

Several symbols were still around the sword.

’If I let him release all of them, I might lose my Colony members.’

He took a short breath.

Then he moved.

[ Thunder Ashen Step ]

The distance between him and the knight decreased.

The Forsaken Apostate immediately turned his sword toward him, but this time, Lian passed beneath the blade and reached the damaged shoulder at close range.

[ Glacial Reaper Claw ]

The icy claws struck the crack in the armor, and the sound of metal breaking was heard.

One of the defensive plates broke away from its position and fell to the ground.

Lian immediately directed a thread of End Energy toward the exposed area.

The Apostate was forced to move backward for a moment.

But just as Lian was about to launch another attack with Eclipse Energy, one of the remaining runes glowed.

A huge pressure came down on his body from above.

Damn it.

This time, the Core of the Fallen Star could only reduce part of the pressure.

He lost his balance for a moment, and the knight used that opportunity to swing his huge sword toward his side.

Young Vorhelm tried to change his position, but the runic pressure did not allow him to move far enough away.

The blade struck the side of his ancient armor, and a heavy sound echoed across the plateau.

The defensive plates distributed the force of the impact between themselves, but the strike was too powerful for Lian’s body to remain completely unharmed.

One of the armor plates cracked.

Young Vorhelm was thrown several meters backward, even so, he controlled his movement with the help of the Wings of God and landed on the stone ground.

But this time, one of his knees touched the ground for a moment.

He tasted blood in his mouth.

Lian slowly raised his head.

A drop of blood ran down from the corner of his mouth, and he wiped it away with the back of his hand.

’That one really hurt.’

His gaze fell on the damaged armor for a moment.

Structural Memory was repairing part of the deformation in the plates, but fully repairing such damage required more time and mana.

He looked at the knight again.

The Forsaken Apostate was standing farther away.

He held his huge sword in front of his body, and several remaining runes were rotating around it.

’So this is the true power of his new skill.’

He slowly stood up.

For a moment, he looked at the condition of One, Two, Three, and Four.

’If we keep going like this, we’ll have to retreat.’

He was not willing to lose all the Special Members of his Colony in this situation just to defeat this knight.

But just as the Apostate raised his sword for another strike....

A quiet sound came from among the dust....the sound of someone plucking the strings of an instrument.

Lian remained motionless for a moment.

Hmm?

The first notes were lost in the sound of the wind.

But a few moments later, the melody became clearer.

A calm and strange song that was unexpectedly different from the ruined surroundings of the plateau.

Young Vorhelm turned his head slightly.

This melody...

He had heard it before.

On the way to the center of the prison, when he met a creature that still remembered music even after forgetting its own name and past.

No way.

Lian looked toward one of the broken stone statues.

And there, a familiar skeleton was standing with a bone guitar in his hands.

The Bone Minstrel lowered his head slightly with the same dramatic behavior as always.

One of his bony hands rested on the guitar’s neck, while he gently played the strings with the other.

Then, without paying attention to the ruined condition of the battlefield, he said in a cheerful tone.

"Greetings again, ladies and gentlemen!"

Lian looked at him for several seconds.

Is it really him?

The last time he had seen this skeleton, he had been happily playing his guitar on the way to the prison’s center and had not seemed very upset about forgetting a large part of his past.

He had even said that his legs were moving toward the center against his will, and now, apparently, that same path had brought him here.

The musician played a few more notes.

But this time, Lian noticed something strange, the pain in his side was slowly decreasing, and he placed his hand on his armor for a moment.

The injury caused by the sword strike beneath the defensive plates was still there, but the pain was gradually becoming weaker.

Wait...

Lian checked the condition of the Special Members through Hive Dominion.

The same thing was happening to them, One was able to move one of his injured arms again.

Despite the injury to his side, Two slowly stood on all four legs and recovered part of his lost speed and balance.

Three also straightened his body.

Four, who had been struggling to control his poison flows until a few moments ago, was once again able to move energy through his body with greater accuracy.

’Is his music healing us?’

But before he could think any further, another feeling appeared in his body.

His mana flow had become stronger.

His muscles responded better when he moved, and the power he could release through his attacks had increased noticeably.

At that moment, a transparent window appeared before his eyes.

[ External Enhancement Detected ]

[ Combat Power Increased: +25% ]

Lian stared at the words for a moment.

Twenty-five percent?

This enhancement did not change the limits of his base stats.

Instead, it temporarily increased his current combat power, an increase that could make a huge difference when fighting a powerful Unholy.

And more importantly, all four Special Members of the Colony were also affected.

Lian looked at the skeleton again.

’A Level 22 Unholy Withered... really has this kind of power?’

It was not that such a creature could not have this ability, but he had not expected an Unholy monster to have a support role rather than a combat role.

The musician was still happily playing his guitar.

It was as if he knew nothing about the plateau being split apart or the knight whose attacks had shaken the mountains.

Lian remained silent for a moment and then smiled.

"So we meet again."

The Bone Minstrel gave a dramatic bow.

"Of course, sir! I’m always happy to meet my loyal fans again."

Young Vorhelm laughed briefly.

"I think we need your music more than ever today."

The musician placed his bony hand on his chest.

"What a great honor! For such wonderful listeners, nothing less than an unforgettable performance would be acceptable."

Then, with a quick movement, he began playing the strings again.

A new melody echoed across the entire plateau.

Lian turned his gaze back toward the Forsaken Apostate, the knight had looked at the musician for a moment, but before he could react, young Vorhelm took another step forward.

This time, the look in his eyes had changed.

Well.

Now it’s our turn.

The Forsaken Apostate raised his sword, and one of the remaining runes around the blade began to glow.

But this time, Lian did not wait.

’One, Fault Hand.’

The huge ant struck the stone ground with one of his healthy hands.

[ Fault Hand ]

A deep crack began beneath One’s claw and moved toward the southern part of the knight’s platform.

The Apostate immediately shifted his weight, but at that moment, another of One’s hands moved.

[ Cascade Rupture Hand ]

The cracks spread and connected several undamaged sections of the stone ground.

The knight was forced to open one of his lower wings to maintain his position.

But Lian had already been waiting for that reaction.

’Two.’

The Eight-Disaster Wolf raised his head, and one of his eyes turned golden.

[ Skyless Howl ]

The Skyless Howl echoed across the battlefield, and the compressed wave of mana disturbed the energy flow around the knight’s wing for a moment.