The Pillar of Enera

[Book II Chapter 73] Zentrias: The Dead City

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Zentrias dropped down to the cliff’s edge and felt a healing warmth envelop him. The skeletons chasing them stopped and glared in their direction.

“That’s the first section taken care of.” He proclaimed. “Let’s look at what’s next.”

The sanctified ground was a thin strip which ran the length of the valley filled with the skeleton army. On the other side was a smoothed cobblestone plaza divided in the middle by three upward steps. On the higher side armored figures were scattered about, standing at attention and completely immobile. One who didn’t know better might mistake them for statues.

“Black knights.” He reported solemnly. Beyond the plaza was a thick wall stretching into the vilestorm. The only passage through were portcullises distributed at fixed intervals every hundred feet.

“What we need to do is clear.” Carol pointed to the ground where words were etched in stone.

CHALLENGE ONE AND EARN THE RIGHT TO PASSAGE

“So this serves as the first floor’s boss fight.” Zentrias determined. “Should be pretty straight forward.”

“I don’t like it.” Dawn crossed her arms. “They seem off somehow, far too calm and passive. What’s up with them?”

“These undead are different because they’re specialized.” Carol said absently.

“Which means?” Dawn pressed.

“Guess I’ll explained.” Rose sighed. “You know how adventurers take classes to enhance their effectiveness?”

“Like being a shinobi?” Dawn interpreted.

Rose nodded. “Undead can do this as well. And just like humans must act and dress convincingly to reap the benefits, so too must they.”

“Their sin is honor.” Carol gestured to their motionless foes. “They will never strike by surprise or gang up on a weaker foes. In exchange for adhering to these restriction, they gain a frightening power.”

They decided on a quick breather. Zentrias paced back forth attempting to relax when he noticed Rose focused on the walls behind the knights.

“You aren’t supposed to be able to skip dungeon bosses, but in this case…” Rose said slowly. “Couldn’t we just scale those to reach the next area?”

“Probably,” Zentrias agreed, “but there would likely be dire consequences. Cheating the HEAVENLY DAO never works.”

“But you know.” He added, smiling. “Since you’re a necromancer, why don’t you tell me what your foresight says about your suggestion.”

Rose pursed her lips at the subtle jab, but closed her eyes and concentrated. She then flinched, stepping back.

“Death…” She mumbled, suddently sweating. “I got by the knights and they didn’t chase me. On the other side was a city spreading out for miles. Above it… The only time I felt anything like that was when I took the oath.”

“Sounds like we’re doing this the proper way.“ Dawn smiled and gazed out. “Which do you think is strongest?”

“Perhaps the halberd wielding one.” Zentrias answered. “Though there isn’t much difference.”

Dawn walked out and shouted, “I choose you!” Her target responded, descending to the plaza’s lower portion. The two faced off quietly.

“Are we letting her fight alone?” Rose asked.

Zentrias shrugged. “She appears determined, and it’s an opponent she should be capable of defeating. Besides, this is a good opportunity to remind her of how dangerous undead can be.”

Dawn commenced by hurling a flurry of frozen spears. The dark knight deflected the largest and let its armor repel the rest. It then pressed forwards, instantly breaking out when trapped in ice.

Realizing range attacks were ineffective, Dawn summoned short shorts and switched to close combat. The two danced about testing each other’s defense. The knight was displaying prodigious mastery of his weapon, but somehow Dawn wasn’t falling behind. Eventually, she parried a swing, stepped in, and smashed her short swords into the dark breastplate so hard they shattered. As the black knight went flying backwards, a metallic gauntlet reached down, scraping the stone. Halting its momentum, the black knight immediately lunged. Dawn retreated before the unanticipated counterattack but was a moment too slow. The halberd’s tip struck her side, penetrating the ice armor.

“Don’t worry.” Carol reassured the anxious Rose. “Zentrias won’t let anything happen to her. He’s really strong against the undead.”

True, they are one of my best matchup. Against the non-living, he could employ his eyes without reservations, and a dark knight’s tough armor was especially vulnerable to his ability. Although that won’t be necessary this time.

Dawn expression turned serious, and she resumed her aggressive offensive. Except instead of going for a single big flashy blow, she was landing a steady stream of weaker ones which didn’t leave her vulnerable. She’s learned to not underestimate their quick recovery.

The dark knight endured another fifteen minutes before collapsing into gritty smoke. Dawn watched confused. “We don’t need to destroy them multiple times?”

“No, this is usual.” Carol explained. “A dark knight’s armor is abnormally strong so it rarely breaks, but enough damage will eventually whittle away the grudges sustaining it.”

“Good.” Dawn exhaled in relief. “That was quite draining.”

With the clank of chains, the nearest portcullis opened to let them through. They proceeded inside under the watchful, hate-filled eyes of the remaining knights, and found themselves in a corridor running the length of wall. Along one side were wide rectangle windows with steel bars, and outside was the city Rose had mentioned. Black specters hovered menacingly high above the eerily quiet buildings. Even with the sanctified grounds sheltering them, Zentrias felt fear.

“Those are grim reapers,” Carol stated coldly, “undead who take the guise of death itself. Extremely rare, even immortals struggle against them. Saints stand no chance at all.”

Zentrias glanced at the fog blanketing the streets. “So we must sneak though without alerting them…”

Carol nodded. “A grim reaper’s sin is dignity. They’ll give chase to prey they’ve spotted, but they won’t waste time searching blindly.”

“Another specialization…” Dawn mumbled. “It’s interesting seeing undead act against their nature. Makes me wonder: are there any that can talk? Defeating opponents you can converse with is far more satisfying.”

Carol shook her head. “If you encounter one who can speak, just run as fast as you can——.”

With a ghastly screech, a grim reaper dove into the city. The distant sound of battle and collapsing building echoed the misty streets.

“What if we mess up and attract a reaper,” Dawn asked. “Do we stay to together or split up?”

“It’ll depend on the situation,” Zentrias answered soberly. It was a choice he hoped not to make.

They took the stairs down, but, before leaving safety, Carol crafted a magic circle on the ground. While she worked, Zentrias sharpened his senses. Ragged breath and wheezing reached his ears from several directions. He grimaced. Undead didn’t bother forming lungs, which meant they were dealing with those variants which reanimated corpses.

A giant cloaked figure materialized above Carol’s spellcraft, only to disintegrate into a swarm of rats. They scurried every which way.

“I wish Filia was here.” Carol lamented. “Her echolocation would be perfect for this.”

“How is it?” Zentrias asked.

“The vermintide has encountered several ghouls and is leading them away.” Carol answered. “The path is clear.”

They proceeded through the white haze at a brisk pace without encountering opposition. Carol’s vermintide was patrolling a wide area around them, distracting enemies. It was almost too easy.

Zentrias remained on edge. Ghouls were the least dangerous of the undead, the result of grudges too weak to form their own bodies which resorted to inhabiting a cadavers. They weren’t challenging enough for a dungeon of this level, even with the reapers overhead.

Carol suddenly sped up. “The vermentide encountered a wight. It’s ignoring the rats and searching for us. I should be able to get us by, but be ready in case.”

While the others tensed up, Zentrias found comfort in knowing the area’s true threat. Formed when ghosts corrupted by the Abyss took possession of their original bodies, wights could have strength equaling that of a black knights depending on who they’d been in life.

A minute later, Carol stopped, “There is another wight ahead, but if we take a detour, the one behind us might catch up.”

Zentrias had a bad feeling. While ghouls were stupid, wights had the cunning typical of undead.

“We take out the one in front.” Zentrias declared. “I’ll suppress the noise we make.” Sounds were vibrations disturbing the air. With his affinity towards destruction, he could drawn them in and absorb them.

The wight was an adventurer from millennia ago, an axe wielder with an earth affinity. She might have been beautiful once, with red hair flowing over mummified flesh and blue, hate-filled eyes. Rose and Dawn took her on, while Zentrias focused on maintaining the quiet. Fortunately, this one wasn’t overly fierce.

When they were about done, he saw Carol waving furiously. He dropped his magic to let her speak. “A herd of ghouls is approaching. The vermintide can’t stop them.”

“Your suggestion?” Zentrias shot out.

“There’s a sewer system directly below us.” Carol pointed.

Zentrias silently blasted a hole in street, and they dropped down. Carol provided an update as they raced through the underground. “Three wights are guiding the ghouls. Two are directing them into the sewers, and the third is moving to cut us off. I’m not sure we can escape…”

“Do your best.” Zentrias said, cursing under his breath. Damn undead dungeons… These wights must’ve encountered another party. After being broken free of their default passive states, they’d marshaled underlings to hunt down other trespassers.

While escaping the encirclement, they ran into yet another wight at the end of a passageway. It smiled viciously, glowing a bright orange as red runes covered its weathered body. Oh no, not a fire affinity… A pillar of flame engulfed the undead, breaking through the ceiling and shooting up through the fog. They heard the screech of a reaper.