It must be said that the combat power of these Guardians was astonishing. Even while losing balance, the black-armored warrior tried its best to tilt its head.
As a result, Guy and Rock Lee's inevitable strikes landed on the opponent's helmet and shoulder, respectively.
With a clang, the opponent's head, along with its entire upper body, snapped backward.
At the same time, the full-coverage face guard was struck off, revealing what it had been protecting... a pitch-black skull.
These monsters, which had cornered the players, turned out to be Skeletons!
"Damn it, are Skeletons really this powerful? I should have chosen Necromancer earlier."
Kakashi landed an 'assist' strike near Guy, but he himself was slashed by a monster. Luckily, Naruto reacted quickly and saved Kakashi, or he definitely would have been cut down.
Risking being cut down, he finally realized that the true form of these monsters was Skeletons?
This made him regret why he had chosen Elemental Mages instead of Necromancer.
It's just a game. As long as I don't learn Necromancer magic in reality, it should be fine, right?
At this moment, not only did Kakashi's thinking shift, but everyone else also felt that using Necromancy magic within the game should be acceptable, right?
After all, it's just a game.
They were still in the middle of battle, leaving no time for deep thought.
Kakashi was, after all, a battle-hardened Jonin. Although surprised that the enemies were Skeletons, he quickly recovered and rejoined the fight.
"We can't keep this up. We need to focus fire and take down one Skeleton first."
After fighting for a while, even the tough Naruto felt like he couldn't hold on much longer.
If he was like this, there was no need to mention the others.
"Kakashi-sensei, hurry up and think of a solution."
During the battle, Kakashi had been observing his surroundings, trying to find a way to break out.
Unfortunately, the encirclement by the four Skeletons was virtually perfect, and he couldn't find any route for a breakthrough.
There was no choice. Since they couldn't break out, they would have to run onto the Altar.
"Let's get onto the Altar."
At his command, everyone began moving toward the top of the Altar.
"Sasuke, cover the rear."
"Understood!"
Asking Sasuke to cover the rear wasn't sending him to his death, but rather having his three summons block the four Skeletons temporarily.
The three summons didn't delay the Skeletons for long, but in that brief moment, all eight people successfully reached the Altar.
Because the steps were extremely narrow, only one person could pass at a time.
Although the enemy had four members, the remaining three could only stand behind and stare helplessly.
The top of the Altar was quite spacious. Guy told Neji and the others to lie down and quickly recover their HP and MP, so they could soon replace Naruto, who was truly covering the rear... Although facing the same Skeleton, the pressure on Naruto was reduced by more than half.
Because in cold weapon combat, besides hand techniques, footwork is also a very important ability.
However, upon stepping onto these stairs, which only allowed one person through, the narrow space instantly rendered the Skeletons' originally nimble footwork useless.
They were forced to clash directly with Naruto, and this head-on fighting style was exactly what Naruto liked most.
Although his strength was inferior to his opponent's, he had the advantage of height, and since he didn't have to worry about attacks from behind, he could concentrate fully on one enemy. Even while fighting, Naruto's mood lightened.
Because he still had teammates.
In the rear, Kakashi and Sakura were recovering their 'blue energy' (MP) while using magic to attack the Skeleton in front of Naruto. Tenten was also supporting Naruto with arrows.
"Bang!"
After several rounds of attacks, the Skeleton's HP had dropped to a critical point.
Taking advantage of the moment when the Fireball explosion distorted the Skeleton's attack motion, Naruto seized the opportunity, swung his axe in a silver arc through the air, and accurately struck the opponent's neck.
As the head separated from the body, the Skeleton's entire body rapidly decayed and weathered, quickly turning into a pile of black ashes on the stairs.
At the same time, the team's points surged significantly.
"These Skeletons give so many points, even more than killing those piles of Zombies."
"Indeed, the point increase is quite exaggerated."
"What do you Guys say? If we kill all four of these Skeletons and then clear out the small monsters in the Cave, won't the championship be ours for sure?"
"Unless another team manages to kill the final Boss in this Cave, corpse explosion, the champion of this event is definitely ours."
Neji and the others, who were resting and recovering in the rear, immediately became excited when they saw the surging points.
They couldn't help but be excited. In the entire team, besides Sasuke and Tenten being wealthy, and Guy and Kakashi being Jonin (also considered wealthy), who among the rest wasn't dirt poor?
Naruto was also happy about the points surge, but he felt that everyone might be getting a little too excited—there were still three Skeletons left to deal with.
"Stop chatting! Can't you see I'm about to die? Someone hurry up and replace me!"
Using the terrain and chugging a Health Potion, Naruto managed to take care of one Skeleton, but he himself was now barely holding on.
If no one came to replace him soon, he would definitely be cut down by the next Skeleton.
"Don't panic, Naruto, I'm coming."
The person replacing Naruto was Guy.
Guy's class was not Barbarian but Assassin; his HP and strength were insufficient to handle the Skeletons head-on.
However, as a Taijutsu-style Assassin, his movement technique was very strong.
Even though the terrain restricted him, he could still rely on small-scale dodges to evade the Skeleton's attacks.
Of course, he couldn't evade every time. If he was slashed once, he would be heavily injured; twice, and he would be finished.
"Phew~ I can finally rest now."
Taking advantage of the gap left by Naruto's departure, Sasuke immediately summoned a Crow to take Naruto's place and buy time for Guy to move up.
The Crow successfully bought time using its flying advantage, allowing Guy and Naruto to successfully swap positions.
"Rock Lee, hurry up and replace me."
Naruto, who had just reached the rear, heard Guy's cry for help the moment he lay down.
"What's going on? Why does he need a replacement so quickly? Am I hallucinating?"
Not only did Naruto feel speechless, but even Kakashi covered his face, indicating he couldn't bear to watch.
Naruto held off the Skeleton for so long and successfully cleaved it to death. But when it came to Guy, he started crying for help after only a few seconds.
Are you here for comedy?
Guy expressed that he was also helpless and despairing.
The essence of the Taijutsu-style Assassin is evasion followed by counterattack, but damn it, he failed to dodge the Skeleton's very first strike.
Seeing his HP rapidly dropping, Guy chose to listen to his heart (i.e., be cautious) and called Rock Lee for support.
Fortunately, Guy successfully evaded the Skeleton's subsequent attacks, allowing him to hold out until Rock Lee arrived for the rescue.