Whispers of a Dead Empire

Just as I brought up my shield, the tip of a sword slammed into it. A small cluster of sparks cascaded to the side, and I was pushed back a few inches from the sheer strength of the strike. From the shadows, I could set of milky white eyes fixated on me and radiated a fierce intelligence.

A silver bolt of magic rushed over my shoulder and slammed into the chest of the zombie, which caused him to jump back into the darkness. The remaining torches flickered as the darkness seemed to crawl along the walls toward us.

"We need to move; we can't fight in this space," I called out as I tried to look around the hall. The only way out was the window or behind the boss, but we couldn't fight in this tight environment. The walls would keep us locked in, and we wouldn't be able to use our full strength. But if we busted the window, the entire base would know we are here, which would be just as bad as fighting another boss.

I grit my teeth as I tried to work through an exit plan. If we broke the window, we might be able to make a run for it, as long as we can get past the undead. We just couldn't be on the main road back. I raised my shield to intercept another blow from the zombie and was pushed back another few inches. Dozens of cracks lined the magical surface, and it flickered, and I knew it wouldn't be able to take much more.

"Gunther, break the window. You three make a run for it. I'll hold this creature off." I grabbed my sword and brought it forward, and steadied myself.

"Are you an idiot? You can't fight this boss alone." His words struggled to break through the noise of shattering glass.

"I'll be okay. Make a run for it, and I'll be close behind. I'll meet you at the safe house as soon as I can." I stepped in front of them and held my sword upright and towards the captain. My eyes narrowed as I tried to make out his form through the darkness, but it seemed almost alive and like it was trying to quench the surrounding light.

'"You better, you still owe us that round of ale." Carter yelled back to me. His voice trailed away. I took a deep breath and steadied my nerves. This wouldn't be my last resting place; I refused to let it be so. I would just hold out here for a moment before I too jumped the window and made a run for it. We could handle a boss, but not a boss in the heart of the enemy stronghold. Besides, my team's life came first. If I could keep them alive, that was all that mattered to me. This was a risk that they didn't have to take.

I saw the faint glint of steel rushing towards me, and I activated my Passato Sotto skill. Time slowed down as I quickly threw my weight down. The captain's sword moved past my head, and I barred my sword straight towards his chest and activated double strike. I couldn't see in the inky darkness, but it was worth a shot.

The tip of my rapier rushed forward and impacted the zombie's chest. However, before I could cancel my double strike skill, I saw a cascade of sparks rain down from the tip of my sword. Fuck, he was wearing armor. I really needed to move. If I wanted to stay alive, it couldn't be in this room. It had to be where I could see properly. Otherwise, It would be like throwing myself against a brick wall.

I activated a quick step and shifted back to my original position. My body burned in protest from using that skill once more in such a short time, but it had to be done. Without a second thought, I flung myself from the window. The ground rushed up to greet me as I fell, but just as I impacted it, I shifted into a roll to distribute the weight. I threw my glance around to see what was happening and saw that my team was nowhere in sight. But the undead were in a frenzy as they poured from buildings and shored up the gate and wall breach.

Getting out of here would be a pain in the ass, but since it was just me now, it should be doable. But just as I tried to run, the sound of something heavy slamming into the ground caused me to pause, and I spun around and could finally see the zombie clearly.

Well, he, since it was clearly a male, stood almost two meters tall. His hair, unlike the other zombies, was still intact and looked to be high and tight. The visible parts of his flesh were grey and covered in a thin layer of slime that still seemed to ooze. Parts of his face were rotting, revealing the bone underneath and a few brown teeth. He was clad in metal armor with an ornate design that could hardly be seen through the dirty and dried blood. His left arm was broken and twisted in a strange direction but would twitch now and then.

But the worst part was the darkness that seemed to rise from the surrounding ground. Tendrils of inky darkness rose like wisps of smoke wrapped around him as if they were snakes. The moonlight seemed to bend as it touched the veil of darkness before it vanished. He took a step forward and seemed to grow larger as a sliver of fear embedded itself into my mind, and the air tried to force me to my knees.

Shit, this boss was no joke. His intimidation skill must be upper-middle tier if it's cutting everything by a quarter. I brought my sword to bear, and the darkness condensed around him, forming sets of runes that flowed around him like water. To top it all off, he was a mage! Damned spell blades are annoying as shit. Why does everything here have to be a pain in the ass? I gritted my teeth and prepared to use my barrier once more. Since my stats were quartered, I had to be fully prepared for anything that may happen.

The captain brandished his blade, which looked like a long sword, but was tapered down to a fine point. It reminded me of a court sword, which means that I would have to be worried about pinpoint strikes. So this would be a battle of the duelists. I glanced around me to get a bearing on the undead in the area and saw that they were encircling us. But made no further motion to attack. The dozens of eyes on me made me feel like I was a lamb on the way to the slaughter. Was this how the gladiators at the arena felt?

I cleared my throat and observed the captain. The darkness wrapped around his sword and, in a blink, he vanished and reappeared in front of me. The tip of his blade came barreling towards my throat. Oh, he didn't play around. As I brought my arm up and centered the shield on the palm of my hand, forcing it to condense down into a point. I only had one chance at this. I caught the tip of the blade just before it hit my throat, and I felt my arm scream out in pain as a sick crack filled the arm and threw me back a few feet and into the ground.

I gritted my teeth as I stood up. My entire left arm was on fire, and the pain was gnawing away at my concentration. I didn't have the strength to fight him, and that status effect was cutting down my choices. I babied my arm as I glanced around, trying to see if there was a small opening that had yet to be filled by the undead. I glanced back at the captain and then to the spot once more as I tried to plan an escape route.

If I could slide past the undead, I could quick step to make some distance and get to the breach. It was just a little odd that they didn't seem to be closing me off entirely. I sheathed my sword and glanced at the spot once more, deciding that it was now or never. Without a second thought, I turned tail and ran as hard as I could. It tore at me that I was running from a fight, but I didn't stand a chance here.

I pushed my legs as hard as I could as I slid past the outstretched fingers of zombies. My arm screamed out once more as the sudden movements kept shifting it. With the wall breach in sight, I activated quick step and quickly closed the distance. Though at the cost of losing stamina and another wave of pain. I stopped and threw a quick look behind me and saw that the undead still stood where they were. The captain, however, was calmly walking towards me, his sword brandished to the side and wrapped in flames that were as black as night. The undead parted around him like the sea as he calmly kept walking.

My heart clenched in fear as I turned and ran as hard as possible through the breach and into the forest, ignoring the main road. Now I understand why they didn't stop me. I ran through the thick trees, the foliage reaching out and cutting minor scratches into my face, yet I ignored them as I ran from the monster that was following me.

I ran for what felt like hours, but it was about ten minutes. The boss's health bar was still there, but the intimidation effect was long gone. How was it still following me? Didn't that break the conventions of how bosses operated? I ran and ran until I came across a patch of forest that seemed even more dead than the rest. A few deceased zombies sat near the edge, but I didn't question why they were there; all that mattered to me was escaping from that monster.