The Necromancer III
~~~
The two newly summoned undead amalgamations began their approach with predatory patience. Multiple limbs flexed and tested the air, six skulls swiveling independently as they sized up their prey with intelligence that shouldn't exist in patchwork corpses.
Jin's Reader's Dominion flared reflexively, mapping the new threats. The information that flooded his consciousness made his stomach drop.
Same variants as before. Peak Order II. All the same weaknesses... and all the same terrifying strengths.
Now there are two more, and we're running on fumes.
"Jin?" Rudy's voice had that edge to it—the one that meant he was scared but trying not to show it. "Got any miracles left in that big brain of yours?"
"Working on it." Jin's fingers tightened around Iron Howl, checking his remaining ammunition count. Nineteen armor-piercing rounds. Three holy scrolls. Maybe forty percent of his essence reserves left. "Just... don't die before I figure something out, yeah?"
"No promises, bro."
The amalgamations moved.
Both creatures surged forward simultaneously, their coordination far better than the first one they'd fought. Multiple arms swung in overlapping patterns designed to trap rather than kill outright—they were learning, adapting from watching the earlier fight.
Shit!
Jin threw himself left, Zephyr Striders carrying him across the bone-littered floor in a blur. Rudy dove right, his greatsword coming up just in time to catch a crushing blow that would've turned his ribcage into powder. The impact sent him skidding backward, boots carving furrows through the floor.
A clawed hand swiped at Jin's head from his blind spot. He ducked under it on pure instinct, came up firing. Three shots, center mass, exactly where the junction points should be weakest. The bullets struck home with meaty impacts, but the creature barely staggered.
They're tougher than the first one. The necromancer's giving them more power, more control.
Focus. Breathe. Think.
"These fuckers are coordinating!" Rudy called out, parrying another strike with his greatsword.
Crimson flames wreathed the blade, but even his enhanced strength was struggling against the sheer mass of corrupted flesh. "Jin, they're boxing us in!"
He was right. The two undead amalgamations were working together, likely controlled by the necromancer. They were using their multiple limbs to create a net of clawed hands and crushing blows that forced Jin and Rudy closer together. And behind them, dozens of skeletal warriors were forming up, cutting off escape routes.
Jin's astral sight blazed to life, mapping every threat in the chamber. His stomach dropped as Reader's Dominion showed him the nightmare they were facing.
We won't have any hopes of winning if things remain the same… Not against two of these things, not with the skeletons backing them up, not with—
The chamber floor began to crack and heave once more.
"Oh, come on!" Rudy's voice cracked between desperation and disbelief. "Seriously?!"
Two more sections of floor exploded upward in showers of bone fragments and ancient dust. Two more undead amalgamations hauled themselves up from the ossuary depths, their six combined skulls turning toward Jin and Rudy with malevolent anticipation that promised slow, creative death.
"Hmm... nay." The necromancer's voice carried across the chamber with cruel amusement. "This doth prove insufficient for mine entertainment."
Karlcamahac'Ohsa raised both skeletal hands, and the bone-littered floor erupted in two more locations. Two additional Undead amalgamations rose from the depths, making six of the nightmares now surrounding them.
A passage from the novels flashed through Jin's mind—Lord Mornmont's warning about the death zones: "Never face a dark mage in their lair. Necromancers, Ritualists, and others of their kind spend ungodly amounts of time fortifying their lairs with resources and prepared defenses. It's madness to engage them on their own ground."
Jin's legs felt like water beneath him.
There's nothing I can do about us not being in the lair… but six peak Order II undeads. Plus the skeleton horde. Plus the necromancer watching from his throne…
Wait. A different thought cut through the rising panic. That presence gave us this challenge. If it wanted us dead, we'd already be dead. So there must be a way to win. The question is—what the hell is it?
"There." The necromancer settled back into his throne with obvious satisfaction. "Now we have proper sport. Let us see how long thy spirits endure ere they break most thoroughly."
"Jin." Rudy's voice was quiet, strained. "What do we do?"
The six amalgamations began to close in, a tightening noose of corrupted flesh and malevolent intelligence. Jin's breath came short and fast, panic threatening to override his rationality.
Think, damn it. Think!—
And then it hit him. A realization so obvious he wanted to punch himself for not seeing it sooner.
The necromancer. He's controlling them all. Every. Single. One. That's why they move with perfect coordination, why they adapt so quickly, why they keep getting stronger. He's the puppeteer pulling every string.
Kill the puppeteer...
"Rudy!" Jin grabbed his friend's shoulder, meeting those purple eyes with sudden fierce certainty.
"We're not fighting these things!"
"What?!" Rudy's expression cycled between confusion and hope. "Then what the hell are we doing?!"
"We're killing that bone bastard on his throne!"
For a heartbeat, Rudy just stared at him. Then understanding dawned, and his grin turned absolutely feral.
"I like that plan way better!"
"It's the only way!" Jin's words came rapid-fire as his tactical mind assembled the pieces. "Spirits only know how many undead and resources this bastard has stockpiled. We need to end him before we run out of juice!"
The nearest undead amalgamation swung multiple arms in a crushing pattern. Jin was already moving, words spilling from his lips:
« "Essence, pull and repel—cast away what seeks to harm!" »
The clawed hands deflected sideways as his hastily cast barrier met the attack. It wouldn't hold for long, but it didn't need to. They weren't fighting anymore.
They were running.
"Come on!" Jin tore open another one of his precious holy blessing scrolls, golden light erupting around his fingers in brilliant cascades. Like before, he used his Harvest chains to absorb the divine essence directly, surrounding both himself and Rudy with a corona of protective holy power that made the shadows recoil.
But this time, instead of dispersing the energy, Jin began feeding it into Essence's Edge. The dagger's crystal core pulsed as holy attribute, slowly, steadily converting the remaining unattuned essence into purified divine power.
Going to need every advantage we can get. I hope this will be enough.
The Eternal Sovereign's breathing pattern kicked in, essence flooding through his system in controlled bursts. His perception expanded, mapping the chamber in perfect detail. Twenty meters to the necromancer's throne. Six Elite Guards between them and their target. Dozens of skeletal warriors forming a living wall.
We can make it. We have to make it…
« "Essence, swift as storm wind—grant speed to those who dare, Essence, strong as mountain stone—let endurance answer prayer!" »
Silver wind currents enveloped both teenagers, sinking into muscle and bone with a sensation like liquid lightning. Jin felt the effect immediately—his exhausted legs suddenly felt fresh and powerful, his reaction speed doubled, his essence reserves stabilizing by drawing directly from Essence's Edge.
Blood trickled from his nose. The strain of casting so many sorceries with depleted reserves was catching up to him, but he shoved the pain into a mental box labeled 'deal with later.'
"Rudy, stay close! We're breaking through!"
"Right behind you, bro!"
They charged.
The first undead amalgamation tried to block their path, multiple limbs swinging down in a coordinated attack. Jin didn't slow down. He fired Iron Howl one-handed while his other hand directed essence, casting the lowest of one-verse sorcery.
« "Essence, scatter and drive back!" »
The combination of honed bullets and kinetic force magic created just enough space—a gap barely wide enough for them to slip through. Rudy's greatsword took a glancing blow that would've shattered bone, but the enhancement held. They pushed through.
Skeletal warriors lunged from both sides, rusted weapons seeking to drag them down. Rudy's greatsword became a whirlwind of crimson fire, each swing scattering bones like bowling pins. Jin grabbed a handful of bone fragments as they ran, essence crackling around them.
« "Essence, bind and strike—let these fragments find their mark!" »
The bone shards transformed into guided projectiles, streaking outward like buckshot from a shotgun. A skeleton's skull exploded. Another lost both arms. Three more went down in a clatter of bones.
"You're teaching me magic when we get out of here!" Rudy laughed breathlessly, his Asura path clearly feeding on the combat high. "I don't care if it takes me years to learn—I love magic!"
"Deal! Now shut up and run!"
The second amalgamation blocked their path, this one learning from the first. Instead of a direct attack, it spread multiple limbs wide—creating a wall of corrupted flesh they couldn't dodge around.
Fine. Through it is.
"Rudy, shield!" Jin pulled the Bulwark of Duran from his spatial storage and tossed it. Rudy caught the round shield mid-stride without breaking pace.
"Got it!"
Rudy planted his feet and raised the Bulwark of Duran. Jin jumped onto the shield's surface, using his friend as a springboard. Rudy launched him upward with enhanced strength, and Jin sailed over the amalgamation's reaching limbs.
For a heartbeat, Jin was airborne, looking down at the nightmarish battlefield. He saw the third undead amalgamation positioning itself below, clawed hands raised to catch him. He saw the necromancer rising from his throne—was that concern or amusement in those burning eyes? Jin couldn't tell. He saw Rudy charging through the gap Jin's aerial maneuver had created, leaving destruction in his wake.
Jin twisted in midair, Zephyr boots giving him just enough control to adjust his trajectory. He landed on the undead's shoulder, used it as another springboard, and kept moving.
Behind him, Rudy roared something incomprehensible and barbaric as he carved his way forward, leaving a trail of destroyed skeletons in his wake.
The fourth amalgamation tried a different tactic. Instead of attacking directly, it activated one of its abilities. Necrotic Miasma began pouring off its corrupted form—a visible aura of death essence that corroded everything it touched.
Jin felt his vitality beginning to drain, his enhanced speed flagging as the miasma sapped his strength. The golden protective aura around him flickered, struggling against the concentrated corruption.
No. Shit!
Jin pulled on his reserve of harvested holy essence—just a whisper of it, carefully rationed. The words burned his throat like swallowing fire:
« "Essence, cleanse and purify—let holy light shield us from corruption!" »
The golden aura around both teenagers flared brilliantly white, pushing back the necrotic miasma like dawn burning away fog. The amalgamation's death aura recoiled, its multiple skulls shrieking in frustrated rage.
"Nice!" Rudy caught up to Jin, both of them running side by side now. "How much further?!"
"Fifteen meters!" Jin's enhanced perception showed the distance closing. "We're almost there!"
The fifth amalgamation didn't try to block them. Instead, it used Grave Grip—multiple limbs lashing out with blinding speed, seeking to seize and crush. One clawed hand caught Rudy's shield arm, another wrapped around his waist.
"Rudy!"
"Go!" Rudy's greatsword carved through one grasping limb, but two more replaced it. "Don't stop!"
No. Hell no. We do this together or not at all.
Jin's essence lash snapped out, wrapping around Rudy's chest. He yanked with everything he had, and the combination of his pulling and Rudy's struggling broke the undead's grip. Both teenagers went tumbling, hitting the ground hard and rolling back to their feet through pure momentum.
"Thanks for the save!" Rudy gasped.
"Just keep running, dumbass! And save Warrior's Call for when I signal—we're going to need it!"
Ten meters from the necromancer's throne. The sixth undead moved to intercept their final approach, but it was too slow, its massive bulk working against it for once. Jin and Rudy split around it on opposite sides like water flowing around a rock, reuniting on the other side without breaking stride.
The skeletal warriors formed a final wall between them and their target. Dozens of them, packed tight, weapons raised.
No time for finesse.
Jin drew on the absolute last of his normal essence reserves, pulling from Essence's Edge's crystalline core until the dagger's usual glow dimmed to barely a flicker. His legs trembled with the strain of channeling so much power. Blood flowed freely from his nose and eyes now, painting his face in crimson streaks.
But he had enough. Just barely enough.
Let's see if having an affinity actually helps, like the books said...
Jin's teeth clenched as the first verse tore out of him, frost coiling from his lips like visible breath in winter:
« "Currents of essence, yield to my command, Breath of the north, descend at my call. Let warmth falter, let stillness spread, I summon the veil of unyielding frost!" »
The air grew thin and biting, stealing the breath from everyone in the chamber. Jin's vision blurred as his consciousness threatened to fracture under the strain. He heard the necromancer's voice in the distance—surprised, maybe alarmed—but couldn't make out the words.
Not done yet. Not... done...
Jin forced the second verse through lips going numb from his own magic:
« "In the marrow of all things, let silence dwell, In the bones of the world, let winter take hold. I trade my breath for your frozen tide — Fall, and bury all in cold!" »
The temperature in the chamber dropped forty degrees in a single instant. Frost exploded outward from Jin's position in a perfect thirty-meter sphere, spreading across bone and stone with crystalline fingers that sang as they grew.
The skeletal warriors' movements slowed dramatically, then stopped entirely as ice locked their joints in place like statues. The amalgamations' corpse-mass began to freeze solid, their regeneration grinding to a complete halt.
But in that moment—in that all-consuming cold that should have been killing him—Jin felt fine.
Better than fine.
The frost didn't bite him. Instead, a newfound clarity seeped into his consciousness. The lower the temperature dropped, the more pronounced the effect became. His cryo affinity was responding to his own magic, amplifying and refining it in ways he'd never experienced before.
The ice spreading from his position wasn't just cold—it was absolute. Where it touched corrupted flesh, the necrotic energy simply... stopped. The frost purified as it froze, his affinity working in perfect synergy with the holy attribute he'd been accumulating.
But Jin knew that no matter how good this looked, it was only a two-verse sorcery; even if boosted by his affinity, the effects wouldn't last long.
Even with all the enhancements and careful preparation, casting two-verse sorcery had strained his essence channels to their absolute limit. Jin's legs gave out completely. He stumbled forward, would have face-planted into frozen bone if Rudy hadn't caught him.
"Jin! Stay with me!"
"I'm good... just..." Jin's vision swam, his essence reserves completely tapped out. Blood dripped from his face like tears. "Keep... going..."
"Not without you, bro." Rudy hoisted Jin's arm over his shoulder, practically carrying him the last few meters. "We finish this together."
Five meters from the throne. The necromancer was standing now, skeletal hands raised defensively as arcane symbols began to glow around his fingers—fighting back the creeping frost with raw power. His burning red eyes held genuine concern for the first time in centuries.
"Impossible!" Karlcamahac'Ohsa's voice carried disbelief and rapidly growing rage. "How doth mere ORDER ZERO mortals possess such potency of will?! Such unfathomable depth of essence?!"
Jin managed to raise Iron Howl with trembling hands that could barely grip the weapon. His last three armor-piercing rounds, each one coated with every scrap of harvested holy attribute he'd been carefully accumulating.
Everything they had left. Everything they were.
Rudy's greatsword blazed crimson as his Asura path responded to their desperate final gambit, temporarily enhancing his physical capabilities beyond anything human. His purple eyes burned with battle-fury that bordered on transcendent.
"For everyone in Vienna," Rudy growled through gritted teeth.
"For everyone who's going to die if we don't make it out of here alive," Jin added, his voice barely a whisper.
They moved as one entity.
Rudy charged from ground level, his greatsword raised high for an overhead slash that promised to split the necromancer from crown to pelvis. Jin threw himself forward despite complete exhaustion, using the absolute last dregs of his Zephyr Walk to get airborne one final time, firing all three remaining rounds at point-blank range.
The necromancer's aura flared—his full ORDER III presence manifesting without any restraint whatsoever. The pressure crashed down on them like a collapsing mountain, trying desperately to stop their momentum, to crush their will into dust, to rob their attacks of all killing force.
Jin felt the suppression hit him like a physical blow. Sixty percent of his damage was negated, maybe seventy, the sheer difference in their ranks creating an impassable wall between mortal and something overmortal.
But they'd already committed everything. There was no going back now.
Rudy's greatsword met the necromancer's hastily erected barrier. The ancient shield cracked. Shattered. The blazing blade carved deep into Karlcamahac'Ohsa's skeletal torso, black blood spraying across frozen bone in arterial spurts.
Jin's three bullets struck the necromancer's skull simultaneously. The holy attribute detonated on impact, golden light consuming corrupted bone. The necromancer's skull cracked with the sound of breaking glass, fragments flying in all directions.
They hit the ground beyond the throne, rolling to a stop against the far wall.
For a single eternal moment, there was only silence.
Jin struggled to his hands and knees, every muscle screaming in protest. He looked back at their target through vision blurred by blood and exhaustion.
The necromancer stood there motionless. A massive wound carved across his torso, leaking darkness. His skull fractured into a spiderweb of cracks, essence leaking out like black smoke.
Please be dead. Please let that have been enough.
Then the necromancer laughed.
The wound began to close with sickening wet sounds. Bone regenerated at visible speed, black ichor flowing backward into the closing gash. The cracked skull reformed segment by segment, red eyes blazing brighter than before with newfound respect.
"Well struck, young mortals. Well struck indeed." The necromancer's voice carried genuine respect tinged with dark amusement. "Thou hast managed what few have accomplished—thou hast drawn mine blood and made me feel pain."
Jin's heart sank as understanding crashed over him.
The aura suppression. That damned ORDER III aura had reduced their killing blow to a fatal injury.
"Fuck!" Jin's voice cracked with desperation. "The aura... that goddamn ORDER III aura!"
The necromancer raised one skeletal hand, and dark energy began to coalesce around his fingers—swirling corruption that promised absolute annihilation.
"But alas, thy valiant effort ends here, young warriors. Let me show thee the true gulf that separates our powers—the unbridgeable chasm between mortality and immortality."
The blast of dark energy erupted from the necromancer's hand like a tidal wave of concentrated death. Jin tried to move, tried to do something, but his exhausted body had nothing left to give. Rudy raised his shield with the last of his strength, but they both knew with terrible certainty that it wouldn't be nearly enough.
The explosion engulfed their position in a maelstrom of corrupted power and screaming darkness that promised to erase them from existence itself.
~~~