"Stop the wizards, hey Jethro! Take care of them."
Jethro, the priest, took out some crucifix-shaped charms that are bronze in colour. He threw them at the shadow soldiers. The shadows ruptured, revealing the blue crystal core in them. Alicia, who was equipped with a bow, used her prana channelling and made prana arrows.
She aimed at them and shot at the cores, blasting them one by one. She didn't master the technique of using three arrows at once. But Johan hid behind a broken stone slab among the ruins and silently watched the battle between his crew and the awakened corpses.
The altar emanated grey fog with a malicious blue aura with a THUD sound.
Only 5 of the mages were standing, and others were either damaged severely or vaporised by then.
"I think I can make my appearance now."
Johan sneaked out of the stone slab and kicked the remains. Showing that he also fought alongside them
Alicia opened her mouth.
"You don't need to act like that, kid."
Kid? You bitch! You don't have any right to call me kid. Look at you first!
Johan lampooned inside.
"I..."
Suddenly the monster corpses arose, but they were not shadows; instead, they were real corpses! The real remains in the ruin arose before them. Arthur's face turned grim.
They looked at each other for ten seconds and ran at the incoming monsters.
One of the goblins raised its axe and heaved a "ho!" But due to the degraded vocal cords, it failed to do so.
Various kinds of disfigured monsters and limping monsters came at them.
....
After nearly 1 hour of fighting, they almost wiped out fifty per cent of the monsters. Still, the remainder posed the major problem. They were the strongest ones.
Johan silently stood beside Alicia and used the short dagger to kill the remains of the monsters that Alicia left behind after piercing them with the prana arrows.
But suddenly a sneaky kobold, dressed in broken armour and fibre pants, thrust its spear into the back of Alicia, bleeding her to death.
"Hey, Alicia!!" Johan's eyes froze at the scene. The kobold soon took over Alicia and turned its rusty spear toward Johan.
"No!!!!" Arthur shouted.
Johan retreated back only to find big-sized werewolf-monster-type 'living corpses'.
Surrounded by monsters, Johan was in a dilemma on what to do to escape this hell.
Things were going out of the crew's hand. Realising this, Arthur turned his gaze over the altar that continuously released the grey fog, which stayed at the low-ground level.
Other small-sized monsters started to jump on Alicia's corpses as she yelled. They ate her neck flesh. Some ate her gut area while... it was a tragedy scene that Johan couldn't witness.
Traumatised by his companion's death and the surrounding monsters, he froze on the spot.
The priest took out the charms and threw them at rotting monsters. He immediately threw prana blasts, followed by it, blasting the monsters that surrounded Johan.
They retreated from Johan and turned their heads towards the white-dressed, blonde-haired priest.
Unable to help the screaming Alicia, they felt the sorrow at that moment. The path is blocked by various monsters that came to eat her.
Both of them, the priest Jethro and the knight Arthur, decided to finish this. Arthur was about to be depleted of prana. He is using his prana to channel it through his sword; in that way, slicing through the monsters will be a piece of cake. The yellow-coloured prana started to flicker in his sword. He came to an understanding that their grave is here.
Again, the power burst from the centre of the altar.
"What shit is going to pop up 'this time'?"
Arthur looked at the altar in vain, which is surrounded by the curled-up skeleton of the Great Serpent.
A blue aura surrounded the serpent's body. Its tail moved. Its eyes had dark flames. Flesh followed by white scales started to grow on this serpent. The flames on its eyes condensed to yellow evil serpent eyes.
"What! It's that serpent resurrection this time! Jethro, do you have enough prana? I think this is the last one."
"Arthur, I don't. Yeah, this might be the last time we are fighting together."
The serpent's pupil turned. It hissed. It opened its blue crystal fanged mouth. Its snakelike tongue screamed, followed by the blazing emission of blue flames. The flames quickly spread out. The remaining mages used this flame and manipulated it to attack the remaining members.
For the monsters, they absorbed it, growing double the size.
"..." Johan was dumbfounded. He understood that he could no longer see the light called victory.
"How the hell!" Arthur couldn't understand a thing happening.
"Accept the reality. We shouldn't have come to this tomb."
"No. We can't win this." Arthur said with a gloomy face. He was wearing. His sword was about to crumble any moment. The priest, Jethro, was out of charms and prana to cast spells.
...
Johan was caught in the chaos. The others...they were dead by the ferocity of the monsters. For the serpent, it was coldly looking at the pitiful Johan, who was about to lose his life.
It suddenly thrust its body, throwing away all the monsters. The remaining corpse of Johan, which was still breathing.
He had no arms; they were torn off forcefully by one monster while his hip muscles were eaten away. His face being disfigured by acidic secretions. His body was damaged by the blue flames. The legs of Johan were either fractured or broken. He couldn't even limp! It was a lost hope. The serpent softly grabbed Johan with its mouth and threw him at the centre of the altar.
The monsters ran to the altar but stopped soon, watching the serpent degrading; its flesh pieces dropped one by one. Its bones became sand. In a fraction of a second, the great monster vanished without trace. The fate of other monsters was no different.
Only Johan's eyes were working. His senses were made numb.
His blood flowed at the levelled cylindrical mottled stone. The strange patterns awoke. Blue glowing patterns came to life. The four pillars which were broken got repaired, forming the huge pillars around the altar.
A large statue of a brave knight armed with many weapons arose from the corpses' ashes, converging itself into a statue. The heavily armed king-like figure looked at the pathetic Johan, who was lingering.
Suddenly a cold was heard. He can't distinguish between the real voice and the inside mind voice. It's surreal for him. But he was sure that it was a high-level entity.
"Do you wish to protect…your...family?"
His life was hanging on the last breath. At that moment, his mind turned to his mother. He remembered the lovely moments with his mother and his sister. His eyes filled with tears and blood, giving a pathetic sensation.
"Y-Yes."
"Do you really want to save them from this universe's chaos?"
"You want power to fend off these dark creations of this universe?"
"Y-Yes!!"
"Then become my vessel; sharpen your mind. Arise from the ignorance. You shall possess the void in your left hand and the hands of the architect in the right hand. Arise as my knight. Arise as my knight."
The voice trembled the whole hall.
Johan's body suddenly started being covered by golden armour, and his body stood up. A cape was formed, fluttering because of the strong air force from downwards. A golden helm formed.
It enveloped his head. But suddenly a darkness covered it. The golden armour became darker as he heard the cold, loud, echoing voice again.
"As a vessel of mine, a fallen ■■, you have become an 'Anomaly Inviter'; though you are cursed, it's all for your good fate. Remember, you will be summoned again. After 10 years, you will be summoned in the War of Gilgamesh, where other powerful creatures and entities gather again against the ■■.
Slay the titans, any dragons, any abomination; your goal is one, and that is to get stronger to protect. If you want your family again, arise, my child."
"Being the son of ■■, you sure are a disgrace. You shouldn't have come here.' They must be playing a game. This will be the endgame for who..."
Zap!