Surviving the Death

"What a hellish place..."

There was no bright sun but a red moon crimson as blood.

What he thought was sand under his feet turned out to be a strange grayish powder very similar to bone dust.

That place turned out to be completely different from the enchanting shore of a small island.

In fact, it was more like an immense desert, where death was the only thing still alive.

"Drunkum... Drunkum... where the hell are you?"

Atlas was left alone. That old drunkard had disappeared surely to laze like a pig.

"Old man... Where the hell am I?"

Bone dust and rocks were all over the place.

There was nothing else around, or at least this was what he believed because, soon enough, the young man heard noises coming from behind a rock.

Skrit!!

'How stupid!!... I alerted the enemy.'

Atlas did not make the same mistake and remained silent with his guard up. Unfortunately, it was too late because something had begun to awaken from his perpetual sleep behind one of the many boulders a few steps from him.

Skrit!!

The situation was becoming dangerous, so the young man pulled out his faithful companion, ready for any eventuality.

'Calm down... since he left me here, that means I can do it...'

Skrit!! Skrit!!

'Here it is...'

A strange gray object like anthracite began to come out from behind a rock.

Initially, Atlas couldn't see what it was, but shortly after, its true form became evident.

'Oh, shit... There is a skeleton...'

Although he was many steps away from the boulder, the young man instinctively retreated and watched the creature reveal itself from afar.

The phalanges emerged one after the other from their hiding place, and the palm of a skeletal hand, partially covered by rags and torn, was finally revealed.

The creature's palm rested on the surface of the rock, and as if pushed by a strange force, the radius, the ulna, and the humerus crossed the threshold.

Skrit!! Skrit!!

Finally, after a long and tedious wait, the creature's deformed skull emerged into the open as if dragged from the ground by a mysterious power.

Earth and dirt covered him, but its demonic body was enough to terrorize the youth. This was his first time facing such a horrendous creature.

'Why am I trembling?' Heck, it's just a skeleton...'

As Atlas scourged himself with silly questions, the skeleton emerged from its hiding place, showing off its gruesome shape.

'What an abomination...'

The disgust for the enemy was such that Atlas took two more steps back, almost reaching those icy waters from which he had just escaped.

Thinking about it, he had not even turned his gaze to those infamous waters to discover their true nature, so driven by curiosity, he turned around, losing sight of the newly resurrected enemy for a few seconds.

'Then this is it... Obscurium... the ocean of Fallen Legends...'

A disturbing sight assaulted his mind. The proper form of those waters was something beyond what he had ever seen.

Of course, there was water, but its color was red as if composed entirely of blood, and the few rocks around the small island were black as obsidian and covered with something similar to scarlet veins.

'This... this is not Oblivion... I can't believe something like this truly exists in this world...'

Although with great difficulty, the young man could even distinguish some white dots in the distance.

Suddenly, his breathing became labored, as if his lungs were corroded from a strange putrid air.

'So this is the terrible power of corrosion spoken by Old Drunkum... It's begun... Luckily, I drank that shitty potion...'

It was quite an unpleasant feeling, but it was still not even close to the pain he felt inside the Mountain of Emerald Leaf.

The panorama was impressive, but his enemy was ready to fight, leaving him no chance to find more clues.

'Its movements are so slow... maybe this fight will not be so difficult...'

Observing it well, Atlas noticed that instead of the orbit, there was a dim red light inside its skull. At first, it was a bit vague, but after a few steps, it became brighter, as if something in those old bones was capable of igniting those flames.

In a few moments, its eyes became so vigorous that the inside of the skull lit up, making the skeleton's appearance even more disturbing.

Skrit!! Skrit!!

There was even an old and rusty sword in its palm. The creature was dragging that weapon, leaving behind a long scar all along the soil.

'It's coming…'

Even though the creature was slow, Atlas did not underestimate it and instead stood in position, transforming his faithful companion into his deadliest form.

He was even ready to activate the new rune, Celestial Darksweeper, which allowed him to mow down the souls of the damned with ease.

Skrit!! Skrit!!

The wait was unnerving, but his body didn't want to move forward for some reason. Indeed, his legs, which had resisted the heavy thrusts of the goblins, were now shaking like the stunted bones of an old man.

'Damn ... What's going on? Why is my body acting like this?'

The lids closed for a moment, just long enough to moisturize his eyes, but the skeleton, who was still far away from him, was gone.

'He vanished?'

Atlas looked around frantically, shocked by the unexpected event.

'How could he have disappeared? Just now, it was there...'

Swish!

Suddenly, the young man felt the air behind him shake as if torn by something and bent his torso forward.

Unfortunately, the object behind was moving with lightning speed, and shortly after the noise, something hit his back, slamming him against the ground.

AH !!!

Atlas could not contain his voice and cried out because of the devastating blow received from the enemy.

His body tumbled until it reached those rocks from which the being had awakened.

Skrit !! Skrit !!

The young man wanted to fight back. Unfortunately, his movements were slow, and suddenly, another devastating blow hit him in the back.

Bang!

The armor blocked a large part of the damage, but it was clear that he couldn't keep going for too long.

Fortunately, the young man found a brief moment from the series of blows and reacted for the first time by placing his left hand in front of him.

'Impenetrable Void Shield ...'

The scarlet rune promptly responded to the command, and in an instant, the black shield revealed itself, blocking the devastating thrust.

Exactly as he had anticipated, the shield quelled the creature's wrath, but he also felt his Chaos Energy reducing by a lot.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The skeleton was tireless and impassive. Seeing the sudden appearance of the magical object, it continued to scourge the shield with its weapon.

Even though it was just a heap of bones held in place by magical power, the creature's strength was so devastating that the young man found it difficult to reposition his body in those conditions.

'Damn ... This creature is at the Intermediate Stage of Descendant Chaos Realm. A difficult opponent, but not at the same level as the Rocky-Armored Bear I met last time. I have to stay lucid and find a chance to attack...'

Bang! Bang! Bang!

His energy kept dropping, almost reaching a dangerous level.

But it was then that the young man remembered his grandfather's teachings...

Performing a mighty bash at the right moment could save you from a difficult situation.

Right now, it was the most logical thing to do, and what was better than that portentous shield?

Finally, when the blade was about to strike again, Atlas counterattacked, pushing the black shield decisively forward.

BOOM!

The two attacks almost canceled out, and unlike the skeleton, which was thrown a few steps back, Atlas felt only a slight push.

It was time to react, and the young man did just that. He leaped into the air, landing with his feet firmly on the ground, and lunged like a raging bull forward.

A celestial glow enveloped Astra's blade, showing that the Celestial Darksweeper rune was ready to mow down the soul of that abomination.

Slash!

Atlas overcame the fear haunting his mind and brutally hit the creature...

The creature took a devastating blow, and the battered bones from the celestial blade were sawed by a long, bright mark.

Even though he had taken that full blow, the skeleton was a creature from the world of the dead, and he felt no fear or pain. In fact, the undead cut the air with his sword as if nothing had happened.

BOOM!

Slash!

The skeleton's moves were swift but mundane, which made the battle much easier for the young man.

In fact, it was enough for him to follow the rude movements of the enemy for some time to devise the best combat method against his adversary.

BOOM!

Slash!

Parry the blow and counterattack. What could be easier?

The only problem was winning the battle before his Chaos Energy ended.

BOOM!

Slash!

Between sharp attacks and promptly devised dodges, Atlas waged a tough battle against a creature that was at a much higher level than his own, and for the first time, he realized that the Chaos rune in his palm was, truthfully, a frightening creation.

BOOM!

Slash!

After a while, the marks now covered most of the creature's bones, and it seemed as if they were purifying the soul of the fallen through them.

In fact, the more Atlas hit the creature with that blade, the more the light in the skull lost intensity.

Along the battle, the glow had gone from a deep red to a faint red ...

Clearly, the young man had noticed that change and immediately realized that the creature had almost exhausted the magical power that allowed him to walk once again in the world of the living.

Slash! Slash! Slash!

Finally, with three blows at the base of the rib cage, the two flaming eyes died, and as if the threads that held them together had been severed, the bones fell to the ground one after the other.

'Sigh… it's over.'

The young man's legs gave way, and, exhausted from the intense battle, he fell to the ground, breathing heavily.

'Damn ... and this was just one... Who knows how many there are ...'

After the battle, the youth absorbed the Chaos Energy from the bones, restoring a bit of strength.

Surprisingly, the creature's energy was abundant and gave the youth many benefits, almost sending him to the Intermediate Stage.

Tired of the brutal battle, the young man allowed himself some rest but was aware that this was not the ideal place for such a thing, and he continued to observe the surrounding area very carefully.

And in fact, just a few minutes later, strange noises shook the stillness once again.

Skrit !! Skrit !! Skrit !! Skrit !!