CHPT 72: The Undead can be Troublesome....

Claude groggily opened his eyes to the sound of chaos. He heard the loud clang of metals crashing into each other, arrows flying through the air and people grunting and yelling in effort. The noises rumbled his eardrums painfully.

But, one sound stood out from the rest. Whatever was making the noise sounded similar to a Ghoul, but somehow even worse— even less human, the thing screeched and gurgled hoarsely from a severely damaged and decayed throat, sending all kinds of chills through Claude's body.

"What.....what are you?" A female voice said from somewhere nearby. While he began to look to where the sound of the voice originated from, he started to smell the familiar serene and smoky scent of healing magic.

He eventually looked up and saw Brenda's angelic face twisted into a look of confusion, fear and wonder as she looked down at him.

"[Claude! Your face!]" Arne yelled in his mind.

"My f—"

Claude stopped mid sentence once he saw his reflection in Brenda's thick silver pendant that hung from her neck. Luckily, his mask still covered the lower half of his face, but his eyes burned an enraged shade of green and his face was twisted into a terrifying mask of deep anger.

WWWWHHAUUURRRGLGLG!!!

He was snapped out of staring at his reflection by the hideous sound assaulting his ears once again. The sound triggered a multitude of painful physical and mental memories to override his mind and body immediately.

"RAGH!!"

He roared in pain— which in turn caused more pain. His side felt like it was on fire and his shoulder was ringing with a dull ache as if he landed on it incorrectly.

"Either my healing got better or you're a medical mystery.." Brenda whispered to herself while studying Claude under the sound of of battle in the near distance.

"Shit....I can't let her see anymore of me." Claude thought as he tried to get up.

"ACK!"

He yelled again from his side screaming in white hot pain.

"C-Carter, please don't move until I'm done healing you." She said shakily. Whatever was happening nearby must of had her terrified.

Claude was almost ready to comply with her and let her finish healing him directly, until something was triggered in his mind, something powerful. Out of nowhere, he could feel Frosty's intense anger burning it's way through their link and into his mind like a wave of feral blue flames.

He grunted and bared his teeth in pain as he suddenly needed to get up as badly as he needed to breathe.

"Wait! What are you doing?" Brenda said in shock.

Claude stayed silent and observed the battle taking place in the distance.

Chadwick, Ansel, Riley and Oliver faced off against a Ghoul, he couldn't say for sure but it looked like they'd been fighting for a while based on how heavy they were all breathing. But, that wasn't even the worst part of the problem.

Whatever Ghoul they were facing had to be one of higher ranking and power than the regular ones they previously faced.

The Ghoul they were fighting towered over them all at what had to be at least 8.5 feet tall. It took wild and clumsy giant-like swings that separated the air with loud windy sounds Claude could hear perfectly. Physically, it was on another level compared to the other Ghouls, It's pale and damaged skin was stretched tightly over large uneven muscles that enlarged and rippled every time it swung its imposing and odd looking sword.

Even though it looked like it was dominating the fight, it's body was riddled with arrows, burns and large scratch marks—dozens of scratch marks, done by Frosty, luckily nobody seemed to notice— or care.

He was eventually interrupted by a delayed notification delivered by his system.

DING!!

[The Tangent Boss has appeared! Use your strength and wits to work with your team and defeat The Undead Giant!]

"Carter, I can't heal you as fast from a distance....and your mana's probably low....you've done a lot already, just rest for a moment please." Brenda said while Claude read the system notification.

"There's no time for that, plus your heals will do just fine from a distance. Thanks for everything you've done so far." Claude said as he walked closer to the battle to retrieve his sword.

Brenda watched him limp away in shock at the fact that he truly planned to fight in his condition. She snapped out of it after the giant Ghoul roared again and jogged to catch up with Claude.

"[You understand what condition you're in, correct?]" Arne asked.

"Yes." Claude growled as he painfully walked over to the black lake to get his short sword. He could still feel Frosty's manic anger festering and growing within his own mind as the battle raged on.

Once he reached his sword, he slid his foot under the hilt of it and flung it into the air to catch it so he didn't have to bend over and remind himself of how much pain he was in.

"[What do you plan to do?]" Arne asked with a slight tone of worry in his voice.

Fwooshhh!

"I plan to kill this bastard." Claude replied while activating his skill, (Combat Meditation) to give himself a little extra mana.

Brenda jumped as she watched energy and steam burst from his entire being like an explosion of green flames that lit up the night. Before she could try and figure out what skill he might have used, the bright emerald eruption faded into nothing as quickly as it came.

"Fuck, I've got enough mana for one big move....it wouldn't be a good idea to use, (Beast Trait) then....that's fine, I'm fast and that things a big target, I can take him." Claude thought before charging into battle.

As soon as he got close enough, he began to smell everyone's intense levels of fear filling his nose and entire body like a potent airborne elixir made just for him. The intoxicating smell they were giving off was inadvertently giving him an added boost of strength and aggression that he gladly accepted. Along with the warm and soothing feeling of Brenda's long distance healing, he was confident they could defeat the boss.

Chadwick noticed Claude running towards them at impressive speeds and realized he was looking for an opening. His quick thinking helped him turn the Ghouls attention onto himself— which also meant its back was facing Claude.

Claude was surprised to learn that Chadwick could use the Lightning Element. He watched the Knight send a strike straight at the Ghouls temple that did no more than irritate it. But, the good thing was it got the Ghoul to turn away from him completely.

"Good thinking Chadwick." He thought as he switched the grip on his blade and prepared to deliver an attack to the Ghoul.

Shwip!

WHROAGLGL!

Claude swung low at the Ghoul's Achilles' tendon to further impede its movement. He felt his sword brutally slice through the thick and grisly tendon, in response the Ghoul made an angered noise that rose up from its liquid filled throat.

"Welcome back, kid." Ansel huffed out in between ragged breaths.

He felt Frosty sneak up next to him and lick his hand happily once he realized he was alright.

Claude quickly scratched behind Frosty's ears before speaking to the group.

"You guys hang back and regain your stamina, I'll be alright alone for a little." Claude said while he watched the Ghoul limp over to the members of the group and swing clumsily at them.

"Yea, like that's gonna happen." Chadwick said before stepping beside him and adding, "Me and Ansel can give you damage dealers openings to kill this thing. This is a team fight, whether you like it or not."

"Very well." Claude thought before the Ghoul staggered over to him and swung its dull long sword.

WOO!!

Claude, Frosty and Chadwick back stepped in unison before sprinting off in opposite directions to circle the Ghoul.

As they ran around in opposite directions, Chadwick went on the offensive and sent another bolt of lightning at the Ghouls lopsided hairless head while Riley shot a volley of arrows at the creatures body.

The Ghoul began to chase after Chadwick after being shocked. During this time, Claude and Frosty attacked the Ghoul from behind.

Before he could land a hit, a number of events took place within the span of mere seconds.

He heard an arrow whiz through air and flesh. Soon after it sounded like Chadwick yelled in pain instead of the Ghoul, and the smell of fresh living blood rose up above the rotting smell of decay.

Suddenly, Riley shrieked as Chadwick was hit by the flat of the Ghouls blade and sent tumbling through the dirt.

"CHADWICK!!" Brenda yelled before running over to heal him.

The Ghoul made an attempt to stumble over to Chadwick and finish the job, but Ansel rushed in front of the Ghoul with his shield raised.

Claude was stunned by his confusion until he noticed Riley standing in the distance with a horrified look on her face and her bow lowered.

"She accidentally shot him?" He thought in surprise.

"[I don't know about that.]" Arne said.

"What?"

"[Remember, you can see with your nose just as well as you can with your eyes. Is your nose telling you she feels the way she looks, is your nose telling you she feels any type of guilt or sorrow for hurting her leader?]" Arne asked.

Claude focused his senses and looked in her direction. But, before he could figure anything out, the Ghoul was swinging its large blade at Claude's legs.

WOOM!

Dirt cracked and rose into the air from the Ghouls sword cutting through it and heading towards Claude's knees. He quickly jumped over it in response, while he was still in the air, he swung his sword at its exposed pale neck.

Shwip!

He drew a thin cut across the Ghouls neck that leaked a foul smelling dark red and blue liquid. The cut was deep, but it wasn't enough to kill something Undead.

He dashed away from the Ghoul to safely think of how to kill it. The Ghoul stumbled after him and roared angrily, the cut in its neck leaked and spurted from the pressure of its yell.

He looked around and noticed his teammates were incredibly exhausted— and scared, now that their leader was out of the fight. He could practically see their will to fight leaking out of them like the blood pouring out of the Ghouls neck. This left him with one decision.

"Ansel, Riley and Oliver. Go protect Brenda while she heals Chadwick." He yelled to them.

"What? What about you? You're an Assassin, you can't solo a boss." Ansel said in protest.

"I can hold it off, I have an idea. Now go just in case it backfires." He said.

The group quickly gave in and jogged over to Chadwick and Brenda.

He accidentally met Brenda's eyes and saw her face change as she caught onto what was happening. He smiled shyly to try and ease her nerves before putting his attention back on the Ghoul. Her tear filled eyes stayed in his mind for a moment after he looked away.

"Alright you pasty bastard, let's dance!" Claude taunted while Frosty snarled next to him.

WOARRGLG!

The Ghoul roared and limped towards them at unnatural speeds. Claude and Frosty returned the charge confidently.

Once it reached them, it took another swing that Claude easily dodged by sliding between its legs. The Ghoul turned around to face him only to end up on one knee from Frosty bashing into its damaged leg from behind.

Claude took the opportunity to to go on the offensive. He dashed at the kneeling Ghoul and used its knee as a step up to launch himself into the air above it.

The Undead Giant looked up in search of its attacker, all it saw were bright green eyes shining in the dark night sky above like predatory beacons. In that very moment, when it peered into Claude's eyes, it started to feel the beginnings of fear taking root in its cold undead heart.

Claude flexed and tensed every muscle in his arms as he fell through the air and prepared to kill the Ghoul.

"AHHHH!!!"

SWI—CK!

Claude opened his eyes in confusion and noticed his sword was caught halfway through the Ghouls neck.

The Ghouls eyes seemed to light up in relief as horrid smelling liquids leaked from its wound and down Claude's sword.

Thud!

The Ghouls body shook as an invisible force crashed into its side. Frosty seemed to notice that Claude was in danger and immediately took action by bashing and clawing into the Ghoul.

WOARGL!

SMACK!

The Ghoul reactively swatted at the object it couldn't see attacking it. Out of pure luck, it's large white hand crashed into Frosty and sent him rolling through the dirt with a pained yelp.

"NOOOO!!"

Claude roared madly and felt himself beginning to change. But, before he could, the Ghoul used its free hand to punch him directly in the chest and send him flying into the dead and lifeless forest....