In the rubble of the western district the war between the living and the dead was still raging. The skeleton army had shrunk to less than half its original size. The players and NPCs on the other hand had suffered little casualties but many were wounded.
Wounded soldiers bunkered in half collapsed houses and stores nursing their wounds. Outside, the remaining players and soldiers fought valiantly. Soldiers stood tall in formation and marched forward in unison. The players roamed freely in small groups hunting the undead with a few solo players in the mix.
One of these solo players was Ember. She stood among the soldiers, fire spread from her hands and flew at the undead army. The soldiers acted like a protective shield around her as she cast her spells.
A white blur shot from behind the skeleton army. The undead assasin rushed straight at Ember, it's one hand held a dagger. The soldiers hastily turned toward it but they reacted too slowly. Three soldiers were cold on the floor before the assasin was forced to stop by a stream of flames.
Ember hurriedly stepped back while casting another spell. Her arms waved as fire grew and condensed in her hands by the second.
"Shit! The other silver one is here!"
She shot her spell upward, her hands streched to the sky as a red beam shot out. A fire ball exploded from the concentrated flames. It shone bright like a miniature sun in the darkness of the barrier.
Every person in the city looked towards the spectacle. Many looked on in awe as the flame grew but some took it for what it was, a flare.
The undead assasin quickly recovered from the flames that assaulted it. Eight soldiers practically surrounded it on all sides but it wasn't fazed. In the blink of an eye it was in front of the soldier closest to it, it's dagger already through his neck.
"Carl!!! Shit! This is fucked! I don't wanna die!"
The soldier next to the now dead Carl stood facing the undead assasin. He practically froze in fear before turning around and running as fast as he could.
Fear spread through the remaining slodiers like a plague. The second the first one ran, all of them ran. But they weren't fast enough the assasin chased after them like a bone white shadow. It went from soldier to soldier leaving cold corpses in their place.
Bodies fell one after another in front of Ember's eyes as she prepared a spell. Her face was pale white with mana exhaustion but her hands kept moving. Fire grew and condensed in her grasp as her face grew paler.
Before the assasin could reach her a condensed beam of flame shot staright at it. An explosion spread and Ember was shot back a bit by ifs impact. Smoke filled the area as the flames disappeared.
Ember laid a couple feet from the smoke cloud before quickly standing up. She peered into the smoke as best she could, her eyes squinting.
"....Maybe I killed it. No, I haven't leveled up at all. It's in there somewhere"
From behind her a calm voice echoed out.
"Yeah it's there somewhere. Need some help here? I saw your flare."
Ember quickly turned back to find her back up was a newbie, his name [Derrick Cyrus]. His armor was clearly a starting set, he only had shoulder pads and a chest plate. A standard longsword sat at his hip. He had silver hair and golden eyes, almost the color of the sun. A sun amulet decorated his neck.
A sigh escaped her lips.
'This does not look good. This is my backup? I'm so dead'
"Listen noob, I get you're excited to play the game and fight monsters but this isn't your fight. You can't handle him and neither can I, we're fucked. The most we can do is stall him until other players get here. And even that might kill us."
"You sure are cheerful. If neither of us can kill him, let's work together. It might not be much but here."
He reached out his hand as it began glowing golden. Divine power spread from his hand into Ember. Her complexion changed in seconds, her palor disappearing.
"My name is Derrick by the way. I'm a paladin of Altan the Sun God."
At that moment a white blur shot from the smoke. The assasin came rushing at Ember, its condition was noticeably worse. Scorch marks were littered on its form and some bones had turned completely black. Derrick was surprisingly quick to react, especially for a low level player. He rushed in front of Ember a held his long sword tight.
The assasin's dagger clashed with his sword. Sparks flew before the long sword was pushed down. Derrick hurried to recover but the skeleton got an attack off. A long gash appeared on his right arm and blood tricled to the floor.
Ember began moving to the side as they clashed while preparing a spell. Her hands shot forward at the assasin as flames shot at it. Flames assaulted the assasin from the side with a small explosion.
The recoil sent the assasin to the side, stumbling to the point it fell. Derrick took complete advantage of this opening. Now that had the time he activated his main attack skill. His long sword began to shine with golden light. It was almost as if sunlight was eminating from its blade.
He raised his sword over the assasins head and brought it down with a stab. Only the assasin didn't stay still. Before Derrick could kill it, the skeleton hastily stood up. The attack did hit, it just didn't kill it.
Instead of stabbing its skull, the sword plunged down on its pelvis. The glowing sword basically split it in half, burning the already scorched bone. Its momentum carried it forward a bit before its steps faltered.
Bones clattered on the ground as the assasin collapsed. Derrick once again approached the incapacitated assasin and raised his sword. This time he brought down the glowing sword and split its skull. He fell down on one knee his hands still gripping the sword.
The repeated use of his most powerful skill had taken more out of him than he thought. Derrick raised his head as notifications rushed his display. At that exact moment the darkness barrier that covered the city cracked and shattered.
Shards of darkness rained down as the sky was revealed. In the east the sun was rising, the red dawn breaking the darkness. Ember apprached from the side and spoke up.
"Thanks Derrick. You actually did a lot more than I thought you would."
"You're welcome. Though that last part was unnecessary."
Derrick stood up with a smile and turned to her.
"You know for my first actual quest. I think I did pretty good if I may say so myself."
"Honestly pretty good is an understatement."
Ember had a deadpan expression as she turned to the rising sun.
"The barrier broke. That means the guy behind all this is dead and every skeleton left died with him. It's over."
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Chapter 23! Sorry for the clickbait it pipped into my head and i thought it would be funny. actual fight against Corvus the lich is next chapter. had to wrap up the assasin and Ember came to mind since i kind of sidelined her before. new character was introduced what are we thinking? since i knew i'd kill the soldiers i thought some support would be necessary.