21: Reveal yourself!

"The walls are moving! it must be that puffball's doing! now things just got way more complex."

Sage was now in a position where he had to come up with a solution to the maze's abstract structure. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to find the necromancer.

He marked each entrance he passed through and the walls next to them. He observed the timing of when the walls moved and which direction they moved in. After a while, he was able to discover a pattern to their movements.

"Ha! I found the area I was searching for. The shady aura is seeping out from the cracks on this wall."

>>>>>>>>>>>>

~Meanwhile~

Mark was fighting desperately to keep the undead at bay, he was flooded by groups of numerous skeleton, one after the other.

(*slash*)

(*pow*)

(*clang*)

"Sage! you better get your butt back here quickly!"

Mark was completely oblivious to the danger that lurked behind him. He was suddenly struck from behind by a black and ominous light. In an instant, Mark fell to the ground and the undead gained the advantage to strike him.

The one who attacked him stood on top of the puffball's statue, it was the necromancer.

On the other hand, Sage demolished the wall that blocked his way, only to find an ornament belonging to the necromancer. Although Sage obtained an item, he concluded that all this was a trap to lure him away from Mark.

[*ping*]

[*You have obtained the replica of Necro's bracelet.*]

[ Necro's bracelet (replica)]

[Level > 20]

[Although it is a replica you can control a large amount of the undead.]

"It was a trap! and I fell for it, I have to quickly get back to Mark!"

Sage was about to make his move but was suddenly stopped by the bracelet's aura. An image unexpectedly morphed out of the bracelet, it was a skeleton decorated with jewels and wrapped with a black cloak. It began to speak.

"Greetings human!" the skeleton spoke out with a majestic voice.

"You look like a human yourself, the only difference is that you're all bones."

Sage replied to the figure in a sarcastic manner.

"How dear you! do not mistake me with you mortals! I Necro am a Lich, an immortal being!"

In anger, Necro screamed at Sage. He swiftly denied his identity as a human.

"Well, whatever," Sage said while trying to avoid his grandiose speech.

"You! whatever, I have something more important to tell you." The necromancer sighed deeply while trying to suppress his rage.

"It's about. The leader."

The air became silent and the pressure became dense.

'Leader? Logia! do you think he means...'

~Inside the System~

'Yes! it's exactly who you're thinking about, it's him. Tray! But, I don't understand, why he would tell you about him? maybe he's trying to trick you.'

'I don't think so Logia, let's hear him out first'

Sage's expression became calm and emotionless, to avoid Necro sensing the anxious aura around him.

"Anyway I'll talk, the leader will be here soon,"

Necro alerted them with a deep and ominous voice, but the reaction he was expecting was not the reaction he got. Sage looked unimpressed because this was something he already knew.

"Are you even listening!!" Necro screamed out in annoyance, but he decided to calm down and continue explaining.

"Listen, human, what I mean is that the beast wave you first encountered wasn't even the real invasion, something much worst will be coming. Monsters on a completely different level.

Their intelligence far surpasses that of a human's and strength, they were strong enough before and now that they follow the leader, I can't even message their power anymore".

The atmosphere became pressuring once again this time the problem was for real, Sage knew this was a very serious matter that he couldn't ignore, but...

'Logia how many hours do we have left in the place? and can you check on Mark for me? I have a bad feeling about this, I still couldn't find Necro's real body'.

~The system~

' Sure it approximately 1hr 90minutes left. I can sense Mark's aura from here but it's faint, wait!! I can sense Necro's as well, his right next to Mark's'.

Things were not turning out well for Sage. He returned to face the entrance he created for himself, only to find it sealed shut, his expression change from worried to anger, he looked back to the holographic image on the bracelet.

"Was this your doing!!? what the point of all this!?" he blurted out in anger towards Necro.

with a malicious smile, Necro answered. " Did I do anything? Did anyone tell you to stay here and listen to me? Well whether you believe me or not is entirely up to you human, farewell, I hope you can get through that obstacle".

(*swish*)

and just like that Necro's image disappeared into thin air.

"Agh, that son of a!!, ahh anyway, now's not the time for me to complain I got to go save Mark."

But that was easier said than done, all the walls that Sage marked were nowhere to be found, each one of them was left without a scratch. Sage began to panic, thinking that he could lose someone close to him like family.

'Logia! could track Mark's precise location!?'

~Inside system~

'No, I can't! I don't have enough strength right now.

Sage's face went pale, memorise flooded back into his mind of his mother, not knowing if she was dead or alive. But he suddenly came up with an idea.

"If I can't go through the walls I'll just go above them". Sage said with enthusiasm, but when he looked up there was nowhere for him to jump onto and manoeuvre.

"Agh!!! what is this Karma!!? but I've never done anything wrong in my life! how am I going to get out of here, so I could get to Mark!?".

Sage wondered if he would get to Mark on time to save him, he had no choice but to start breaking the walls. But they weren't so easy to destroy and even if it were destroyed it would regenerate into an even stronger one.

~Meanwhile~

Mark lay flat on the ground not moving an inch, his body covered in blood and arrows. surrounded by a hoard of the undead.