Just to be safe, Leo cast both Blood Aura and the Shimmering Dome, sealing the group inside a layered shield just as the massive wave of mana washed over them.
The ground shuddered, and in the next heartbeat a skeletal hand clawed free of the soil. Then another. Then another. Within moments, thousands of ashen arms were breaking through the earth, dragging up an army of the dead.
The night filled with rattling bones and hollow moans.
Leo stepped forward, blood gathering around his hand, prepared to unleash destruction—when Arthur raised a hand to stop him.
"Leave him to me." His gaze sharpened and he pointed toward the cloaked figure standing beside Aran. "That one is yours."
Before anyone could answer, Arthur's body became radiant as he went into the sky, his sword elongating and reshaping into a blazing spear. With a single throw, the weapon flew, and a hundred more appeared beside it, cascading down like a golden storm. Each spear detonated on impact, vaporizing the skeletal legion in an instant.
The battlefield went silent, save for the ringing echoes of destruction.
Then Arthur was gone in a burst of light, streaking toward Aran. His blade met a skull-topped staff that materialized in the necromancer's grip, and the clash of power split the air. The earth trembled as staff and sword ground against each other.
Meanwhile, the second figure revealed his strength. A colossal hand of viridian energy, like a giant's claw, manifested at his side and swung toward Arthur.
Briva's bow thrummed. A pale green arrow, glowing like distilled nature's wrath, streaked through the sky. She aimed not at the man but where he would go, knowing there was no easy evasion midair.
The necromancer twisted at the last second, conjuring another spectral hand to wrench himself backward. The arrow missed by a breath, tearing only his robe.
He landed hard—straight into Elna's shadows. She appeared behind him like a phantom, dagger aimed for his heart. But before the blade touched flesh, green veins spidered up her arm, racing across her body. She shattered into shadow.
Leo was already in motion. He launched a Blood Slash from only meters away, a crimson arc ripping forward. It collided with a translucent green barrier that flared around the enemy, forcing him back several steps. For a moment, it seemed the slash might break through, until the barrier pulsed, turning crimson to rot. The Blood Slash unraveled into nothing.
Elna spilled out from Leo's shadow. "He has a barrier, anything that touches it is cursed and decayed."
Briva loosed another arrow, testing the theory. As soon as it reached the barrier, the projectile dissolved midair, eaten away by the same corruption. She landed beside them, frustration on her face.
Leo narrowed his eyes, his voice low but certain. "Briva. Shoot again."
She blinked, uncertain. But she obeyed, drawing another arrow, leveling her bow, and letting it fly.
The shaft streaked toward the necromancer, and once again, the corruption rose to devour it.
At that moment, the necromancer pulled back his hood, revealing the face of an aged man with hollow eyes and deep scars etched across his skin. His voice carried a dark amusement.
"I am Archmage Hakan."
The three froze for a heartbeat, thrown by the sudden civility.
"What's with the introduction?" Leo asked flatly, narrowing his glowing eyes.
Hakan smiled thinly. "It's only fair you know the name of the man who kills you."
"Are you underestimating us?" Briva shot back, her bow still raised.
Leo's tone hardened. "Don't let your guard down. He's at least A1." He shot a glance toward Arthur.
Not far away, Arthur was still locked in his own storm of battle—his light cleaving swathes of skeletons as he fought his way toward Aran, the clash of staff and blade flashing like lightning.
Hakan followed Leo's gaze. "Impressive… one of you is quite the fighter. But I am not one to toy with prey. I end it quickly."
The air thickened as a foul mana surged from his body. Dark green tendrils coiled together, twisting upward like a rising spine. In seconds, a monstrous form erupted behind him: a towering skeleton's upper body, glowing with sickly green fire. Its enormous arms stretched wide, and its eyes burned with twin infernos.
The abomination opened its maw—and spewed a rolling tide of poisonous gas.
"Blood Aura!" Leo reacted instantly, wrapping all three of them in the crimson shield. But he knew it would drain him fast.
Before despair could take root, a roaring tornado materialized out of thin air, pulling the poison into its spiraling winds and flinging it away. Briva stood firm, bow glowing as nature's force surged through her.
From the other side, Elna extended her hand. Blood and shadow coiled together into a seething sphere, which she hurled straight into the monster's gaping mouth. The explosion thundered, shadows swallowing the battlefield.
When the smoke cleared, the giant skeleton remained unscathed—but its poison breath had ceased.
It studied them for a moment, then raised a massive hand. A blinding emerald light gathered in its palm, burning hotter and hotter before it thrust forward in a devastating punch.
Thorn erupted in Leo's grip, sheathed in blood. He slashed, unleashing a massive crimson sphere. The crimson and the emerald collided midair, an earth-shaking detonation followed, forcing the giant's arm backward. The blast washed over its form, dimming its glow.
Hakan chuckled softly, though his construct flickered. "Impressive. To not only stop my strike, but to overpower it…" His burning eyes fixed on Leo, whose body was drenched in sweat. "…But you can't do it many times, can you?"
The skeletal titan's fist surged again, slamming down on their position. The earth cracked, dust and mana bursting outward.
When the light cleared, the spot was empty.
"Illusion…" Hakan muttered, realizing too late.
From behind, the night sky rained with arrows, each one wrapped in explosive light. They struck the giant's back in a thunderous barrage, blossoms of fire and wild energy engulfing the monster.
Hakan was about to turn and counter when his own shadow stirred. Elna emerged with a dagger ready—but the instant she stepped too close, her figure shattered into smoke. The very air around Hakan was poisoned, thick enough to tear even illusions apart.
Dozens of meters away, Elna reappeared from another shadow, her amulet pulsing with sapphire light. The gem flared, and a vast circle of darkness opened beneath the skeletal giant, wide enough to swallow it whole.
The construct began to sink.
Hakan's smile only deepened, but before he could weave a spell, another magic circle lit up beneath them—vast like the other, etched with radiant lines. Gravity crushed downward with such force the giant skeleton had to slam both hands into the earth just to resist.
"Now!" Leo barked.
They attacked from every side. Briva loosed arrow after arrow, each glowing with explosive force. Elna conjured blades of shadow and blood, hurling them in deadly arcs. From the front, Leo's slashes became roaring waves of crimson energy, each Blood Slash tearing toward their foe.
The skeleton buckled. Cracks spread across its body, its glow flickering like a dying torch. For a moment, victory seemed within reach.
But Hakan never lost his smile. A surge of virulent mana burst from him, flooding into the construct. The giant skeleton roared, thrusting its arms upward—then released a devastating wave. A green explosion blasted outward in a perfect sphere, shattering the magic circles and erasing everything in its radius.
"You should not underestimate an A2 necromancer."
The shockwave hurled Leo to the ground. Gasping, he barely had time to raise his sword when the skeleton hand appeared to finish him. But Elna erupted from his shadow again. This time her dagger carved across his chest, drawing blood.
Hakan staggered back in surprise. The skeletal form around him flickered violently, then collapsed into fragments of green fire. Snarling, he thrust a spectral hand from the ground toward Elna, but she had already melted back into the darkness.
When he looked up, all three stood together again, facing him. Blood dripped down his robes.
"You set all that up… just to force me to drop my defenses?" He chuckled, though his eyes glinted with unease. "Clever. Very clever."
The truth was obvious now, the massive shadow beneath the skeleton from before wasn't to destroy it, but to siphon away the poison cloud and peel back Hakan's protective barrier.
Hakan touched the wound on his chest. The flesh knit back together, smooth and unmarked within seconds. His grin returned as the ground beneath them blackened, grass shriveling, trees twisting into withered husks.
Briva's bow trembled in her grip, her voice tight with fury. "He's draining the land… devouring all the life around him!"
The skeletal giant began to reform around Hakan, its frame knitting together with eerie speed—until thick branches erupted from the ground, forcing him to leap skyward. The summoning faltered mid-formation.
Leo was already waiting. He surged upward, sword blazing crimson, and brought it down in a vicious arc. A shield of green energy, like the same marrow that made up the skeleton, flared around Hakan's hand and caught the blow.
Leo pressed harder, raining strikes from every angle. But Hakan moved with impossible speed for his age. Each slash was parried, each shadow weapon dodged, each branch evaded. His wrinkled face was calm, almost amused.
"It's a wise choice not to let me cast again," he said smoothly.
"Stop acting like a teacher!" Briva snapped. Her bowstring whistled, unleashing a glowing arrow.
Hakan lazily moved his hand to intercept. The arrow vanished an instant before impact, only to reappear behind him, angled slightly higher. His eyes flickered in surprise, just for a breath.
The arrow struck his chest but shattered against a thin, hastily formed rib of green bone. He smirked—until a second arrow, black and seething with compressed power, shot through the opening.
The arrow blasted straight through Hakan's chest. His smile finally cracked.
With a snarl, he conjured a colossal hand and slammed Leo backward. While clutching at his chest, Hakan fell to the ground hard. Blood was gushing freely, worse, it wasn't healing. It was flowing in thin streams toward Thorn.
"You dare… to drink my blood?" His voice carried both outrage and disbelief.
Leo's lips curled. "Don't worry. I can filter the poison." Thorn pulsed, burning away the corruption as the blood merged with him.
Fury twisted Hakan's features. Mana burst from his body, rattling the battlefield. His skeletal colossus snapped back into being, denser, darker, its skull sprouting two jagged horns.
"This won't be enough to kill me."
The giant opened its mouth. Hundreds of small skeletons spilled out, rushing across the ground like a tide of bone.
Leo cut them down in wide, sweeping arcs, blood energy tearing through skulls like paper. Briva loosed a rain of arrows, thinning their ranks, while Elna leapt through shadows, her blades flashing. She emerged high in the air, slicing two skulls apart—
—and the colossus turned its gaze toward her.
Its jaw gaped wide. A beam of concentrated green fire shot forth.
Elna's eyes widened. She burst into a cloud of bats, trying to dodge. But the beam was faster, wider, relentless. It clipped her waist, slamming her out of the sky.
She crashed into the earth, clutching her side. Poison already spread in dark veins across her skin.
The skeletal colossus wasn't done. Its arm extended unnaturally, stretching like sinew, reaching straight for her prone form.
Leo's veins bulged as he drew on every ounce of power. He blurred forward, placing himself between Elna and the attack. Thorn met the skeletal fist in a resounding clash, stopping it cold.
And then, behind them, the earth shuddered. Briva transformed. Her band flared jade-green, vines crawling up her body until she stood as a towering avatar of living wood, bark-hard and burning with green light. With a roar, she hurled herself at the colossus, smashing into it with raw force.
Leo barely had time to glance back as Briva's monstrous form grappled the giant. He knelt by Elna, his heart hammering. The poison was spreading fast, eating her from the inside. He had no way to purge it. Arthur was still locked in battle far above, out of reach.
"Damn it…"
And then, something shimmered. A small vial floated toward him, catching the dim light.
"Use this."
Leo's head snapped up. His eyes widened in disbelief.
Two men stood a few paces away, as if they'd stepped out of the shadows themselves.
A smile tugged at Leo's lips despite the chaos. "Mr. Edgarth… Ryan."