Chapter 204: Despair

Vlad immediately rushed towards the skeleton and cut it down into multiple pieces.

"Senior," he called out to Raphael, who had fallen to the ground, blood pooling beneath him. The sword was still lodged in his abdomen.

Vlad didn’t even realise that the skeleton he had just sliced apart had already reassembled itself. In its hand, it carried a sword of purple energy, thrusting it towards Vlad’s neck from behind.

"Three Ring Pyro Spell: Inferno Flame!"

A burst of amber fire erupted from Seraphina’s hand, striking the skeleton. The purple energy blade in its hand vanished as its bones slowly turned to ashes.

"Hugo, can you still fight?" Seraphina demanded, her eyes fixed on Daemoth ahead.

"Th-this much is nothing," Hugo muttered, covering his body in a thin veil of Anemo mana that stopped the bleeding from the numerous wounds covering his body.

"Place Alisha with Raphael and focus on the battle," Seraphina ordered.

Raphael and Alisha lay on the ground, with Hugo, Vlad, and Seraphina surrounding them from each side, facing outward.

Daemoth stood casually a few metres away from Seraphina, not even bothering to stop them from forming their little strategy.

"Are you prepared for your performance?" Daemoth asked, his cracked lips spreading into a faint smile. "You are the five heroes fighting against the final antagonist. Make sure the battle remains entertaining."

A chair made of bones materialised behind him. He leisurely sat down with his legs crossed, his face resting against his fist.

"Three Ring Pyro Spell: Rain of Inferno Arrows!"

A magic circle materialised above Daemoth, from which numerous flaming arrows descended.

Just as they were about to strike him, a shield of interconnected skulls appeared above him, shielding him from the attacks.

"I’m not the one you will be dealing with," Daemoth said, raising a finger.

A dark purple shadow spread beneath him, covering the entire ground.

"Three Ring Necro Spell: Skeleton Legion."

With the movement of his finger, hundreds of skeletons ascended from the purple floor. Their eye sockets burned with purple flames, and they wielded weapons of a similar colour in their hands.

"He doesn’t possess the Umbra element," Hugo murmured, his eyes widening at the sight. "H-he is a Necromancer, the only mages who can outclass any mage of the same rings."

Daemoth merely smiled at his words. With a flick of his finger, the entire army of skeletons bolted towards the squad.

Seraphina took the front, where the largest number of skeletons were gathered. With a series of hand signs, she formed several magic circles above her head and began burning away the skeletons with her Inferno spells before they could reach her.

Hugo activated his Aura and cut through the skeletons with practiced swings of his saber.

Vlad kept only a thin, gaseous layer of Sword Aura on his blade, relying mostly on his physical strength to cut down the skeletons. He covered a larger area to reduce the pressure on Hugo.

Piles of broken bones began accumulating before them. No matter how many skeletons the two knights cut down, the fallen skeletons reassembled and rose again.

’Alisha is unconscious. Raphael is seriously injured. Hugo is barely holding himself together,’ Vlad muttered inwardly, observing the situation while cutting down the incoming enemies. ’Only Sera’s fire can stop the skeletons. Hugo and I are just tiring ourselves out. I can’t let all the burden fall on Sera alone.’

His hand moved to his waist, where he pulled out the Dark Heart.

"If Electro Mana doesn’t work on these skeletons, how about Umbra Mana?" he shouted, putting Éclair back into its sheath.

At the same time, vapours of dark, flaming Aura poured into his other blade. The moment it struck the skeletons, the Umbra Mana devoured the purple flames within them.

The fallen skeletons didn’t rise again.

"D-dual elements?" Hugo gasped, his eyes widening at Vlad.

"Just protect yourself. I will take care of the skeletons," Vlad ordered Hugo, cutting down multiple skeletons with wide swings of his blade.

Hugo nodded. There was no time to get distracted. He only blocked their strikes while Vlad sliced them down.

In just a few minutes, the hundreds of skeletons had been taken down.

Seraphina didn’t waste a second. The moment the last skeleton fell, she drew her wand from her storage ring for the first time.

It was a black-coloured wand. At its end, a rose-shaped gem was embedded, shimmering with a crimson glow.

She moved her hand in a skilful motion, forming a magical circle that seemed even more complex than any circle she had formed before.

"Four Ring Pyro Spell: Inferno Blast!"

A concentrated beam of golden lava shot from the circle, targeting Daemoth.

His grey eyes widened slightly in surprise, his face, which had been tilted sideways and resting on his fist, moving upright.

He extended his hand forward. The beam of lava struck the nail of his index finger, which glowed with purple energy.

The beam split apart into multiple lines that moved past him.

"L-Lady Seraphina is a Four Ring Mage?" Hugo exclaimed, his lips trembling. "A-and he blocked her Four Ring Spell with just his finger."

Hopelessness and despair filled his heart, the saber in his hand trembling. "H-how are we supposed to defeat someone like hi—"

"Keep yourself together!" Seraphina snapped, her pink eyes never leaving Daemoth. "As long as I stand, I will not let anything happen to any of you."

"Hahaha, well said, well said," Daemoth laughed, clapping in amusement. "A leader that doesn’t give in to despair. Audiences love such heroes."

He extended his hand again.

"Four Ring Necro Spell: Army of the Undead."

He moved his hand upward, summoning around a hundred more undead monsters.

These were different. The skeletons wore damaged armour, and there were a few archers among them as well. However, what left the group with parted lips were the monsters behind the skeletons.

They were humanoid monsters with dark skin, wearing broken armour. Their postures were grotesque and twisted.

Some had their eyes hanging out of their sockets, some had exposed jaws, while others had ribs bulging from their skin.

"Th-they are zombies," Vlad murmured, his grip instinctively tightening around his blade.

Daemoth observed the hints of terror on the trio’s faces with a satisfied smile as he declared, "Well done surviving the first raid. Now let the second raid begin."