Episode 8: Grave Under (8)

"Kehehehe~ Rise my family~ Rise!" Within the foggy graveyard, a half-zombie and half-skeleton lich could be seen gleefully sitting on a lone gravestone behind an army of undead. "Rise and save them all from the despair of humanity!"

Before the crazed little girl, skeletons, ghouls and zombies alike began to emerge from the ground.

"Kehehe~ They want to play a game of hide and seek and so be it!" she laughed. "They cannot escape! It will only be a matter of time before they will all be saved!"

"Grr..."

"Raghh..."

In unison, the undead began marching forward, all headed towards the mausoleum.

"Kehehehe... Soon, you will all be one with us!" she preached. "No longer will you all suffer!"

"Tok..."

"Rrghh..."

As the horde of undead grew bigger, a sudden loud gunshot rang out into the area.

"Kehehe~ Are they ready to give in?" Alerted by the sound in the distance, the lich turned her head over towards the direction of it. There, she was greeted by the sight of thunder blitzing through the battlefield. "...?"

As lightning began to spread across the graveyard, it zapped at the horde of monsters, momentarily paralyzing them in place. Following after, multiple hunters could be seen pushing their way forward as they tore through the formation of the undead army.

"...?!" At the scene before her, the lich was taken aback.

"Everyone! Keep going at this pace!" Yun screamed as he shot out a constant streak of thunder into the area. "We're almost there!"

"Hah! Take this you damn zombies!" Cole charged through the electrified horde, attempting to clear a pathway for the group to reach the lich.

"What the hell is this?" Hugo uttered in confusion, crushing the zombies more easily than before. "These guys are nothing!"

"This is way more simpler than I thought..." Rei muttered to herself.

"Don't let your guard down just yet!" Jace stated as he shot out a few bullets towards the zombie horde. "Yun, continue pushing forward! Weaken any zombies that come near us so that the Strikers and Marksmen can kill them off in one go. Huey, be on standby for your shields! Use it whenever someone is in trouble!"

"On it...!" Huey nodded his head.

Soon after Jace's arrival, an immediate plan of action was hatched up by him. The plan wasn't all that complicated. In reality, it was incredibly simple. All the hunters had to do was rush the boss.

"Get out of the way!" Landon shouted, constantly shooting out a stream of bullets over towards the zombies, taking them down. "Take this!"

With Cole, Hugo and Fred at the forefront of the group, zombies were flung away left and right until finally, the hunters reached the lich.

"Kehehehe... So you all have come to me willingly to surrender yourselves, huh?" The little lich crazedly grinned. "Very well then!" At that second, blackthorns jutted out of the dirt, lunging straight at each hunter.

"Everyone group together!" Jace shouted out. "Barriers!"

"...!" At the young black-haired man's command, Huey quickly created a barrier around the three frontliners, who immediately tanked all the attacks from the vines, leaving the rest of the hunters untouched. "D-Dang... I didn't know my barriers were able to tank all of that..."

"It was possible thanks to Cole's hardening and the Striker's ability to tank a few hits," Jace stated. "Your barriers acted as a sort of support for them."

Previously, the group of hunters were extremely disoriented in the chaos, unable to work together. However now, with Jace's directive commands about the hunter's kits, they were able to reach the lich in no time and fend off against her attacks.

"Damn... If it was like this..." Cole frowned. "Then we could've saved...!"

"Kehehehe... Interesting!" The lich laughed. "You are all fighting back? Kehehehe!"

"Oh just shut the %&$^ up!" Hugo scoffed, immediately closing the distance between himself and the lich. "Just die!" At that second, he swung his axe at her.

"Kehehehe!" Unfortunately for Hugo, the lich easily dodged the attack.

"Oh, you're not going anywhere!" Right at that moment, the Striker-class hunter lunged forward, stabbing at the boss. "Marksmen, now!"

"Got it!" The two Marksmen nodded their heads.

Without wasting any time, the female hunter hurriedly aimed her bow at the lich, quickly pulling back her bowstring as she shot out a powerful arrow that struck at the lich. Meanwhile, Landon shot out a barrage of bullets at her, hoping to get a few hits in.

"Kehehehehe!" Despite directly taking attacks from all sources, the lich only laughed. "Kehehehehehe! How dare you fight back!"

Following her psychotic laughter, more vines began to shoot up from the ground, lashing at the group of hunters in retaliation. However, Hugo and Cole quickly intercepted the attack, preventing any further damage from happening.

At the same time, Yun, Jace and Huey were busily supporting the party on the side. With Yun's lightning, he created a ring of thunder around the group, paralyzing the undead as they crossed the line.

As for Jace and Huey, they were dealing with stray monsters that got past the Magician's circle whilst keeping an eye out for any incoming danger.

"Kehehehehe... How dare you... How dare you...!"

As the group continued to rain down attacks on the boss, the lich's body started to shake. Her laughter was becoming even more crazed by the second.

"...!" Jace frowned at the sight. "Everyone, get away from there this instant! Hurry!"

"...?!" As soon as the hunters heard Jace's command, they immediately leapt backwards, stopping their barrage of attacks. At that second, blackthorns began to wrap around the lich, as if they were devouring her.

"W-What's going on...?" Rei blinked, fearful.

"Tch... Don't tell me... Is it another stupid surprise?" Hugo frowned.

"Be on your guard!" Yun shouted out.

Right at that moment, a figure flashed before the leader's eye and a sword slashed at him.

"...?!" In a split second, blood spurted out of Yun's body. "W-What...?!"

"...no!" Jace's eyes widened in shock, hurriedly shooting at the figure before Yun. "Hugo, Cole, Huey, help Yun! Stop that swordsman!"

"Grrr..." From below the foggy ground, two hands jutted out of it. "Family..." Then, as the body began to reveal itself, the sight of an undead Magician and Synergist could be seen.

"B-Ben...?! S-Sally...?!" Cole's voice trembled.

"Dammit! So Silas is dead as well!" Fred cried out.

"Kehehehehe~ You all thought it was over?" The little girl's psychotic laughter rang into the air. "No... It's not! It's never over! I will have my revenge on humanity for abandoning me! I will have my revenge on all of you for betraying me!"

"...?!" As the blackthorns slowly began to unwrap themselves, the group of hunters were greeted by the sight of a young girl. She no longer looked to be a lich. Instead, was awfully similar to that of a human.

"I will kill you all!!!" The girl screamed, commanding the blackthorns to lunge towards each hunter. However, unlike before when they were caught off guard, the hunters managed to dodge the attack successfully.

But, unexpectedly, just as they did so, the Magician lifted up his staff and bombarded the group with his spells. Meanwhile, the Synergist began summoning magic circles which buffed up the horde of the undead.

"I will not be abandoned again... I will NEVER be abandoned again...!" The boss screamed.

"U-Ugh... Too much...!" Landon gulped at the sheer sight of the encroaching zombies. "Way too much!"

"D-Damn..." Yun slightly faltered to the ground, coughing out blood. "I-I can't..."

At that second, the ring of lightning disappeared, allowing the undead to make their way over towards the group freely.

"This is not good!" Fred screamed. "We're gonna die!"