Chapter 82: Attack of the Undead King(Part 9)

"By the way, about that thing I suggested to defeat him...how'd that turn out?" Aster asked Jules, as he continued mangling and wrecking the Undead King's body, forcing him to regenerate over and over.

"Huh? What's he talking about?" Responded Siele with a frown.

"Well, I was able to find two Spell Cards, and tried using one on him a bit earlier, but it didn't work...or rather, I didn't get a chance to actually use it. It shattered as soon as it came into contact with the Miasma...unless I'm mistaken, I believe you neglected to mention an important detail about Miasma," She replied as she narrowed her eyes at Aster.

"Crap...yeah, my bad. In my defense, it was an awkward situation and I was kinda distracted, considering that you were, you know, nak-...," He began sheepishly.

"Don't you dare finish that sentence," She cut him off icily.

"...sorry."

"Wait, what's going on? Has she been in contact with The Irregulars? No, there's no way...I'll need to ask her about this once this is over," Siele thought to himself, as he glanced at Jules.

"Well, shit, this is bad...without that, I have no idea how we're supposed to defeat him," Remarked Aster with a grimace.

"Don't worry, I have another one in my Storage Ring," Jules informed him.

"Oh, great! In that case, I'll keep destroying his body until he uses up all his energy, use it as soon as he's-...," Began Aster, before trailing off as several undead creatures suddenly materialized all around him, within his Telekinetic Zone.

He quickly stopped them in their tracks telekinetically as they began to leap in towards him, his focus on the Undead King wavering for a split second, his telekinetic grip on his right arm briefly loosening.

The Undead King was quick to take advantage of that momentary lapse, swinging his right arm across and flinging his middle fingertip outside of the Telekinetic Zone as he severed it with a flick of the claw-like fingernail on his thumb.

His body rapidly turned into black smoke as he rapidly regenerated from the severed fingertip, a few meters away from the range of Aster's Spell.

Aster quickly crushed the heads of the summoned undead creatures and shot towards him as fast as he could, before the Undead King smirked and stomped on the ground as he regenerated, a shockwave bursting out as the ground broke apart upon impact, large chunks of dirt flying out with immense force.

Aster grabbed his own body with his Telekinetic Zone and swiftly flew up before the shockwave could hit him, zipping up into the air and whipping his right arm across, firing off a slashing telekinetic wave at the Undead King, who got sliced vertically in half before the two halves of his body swiftly reconnected.

"[Spiral Flames]!" Exclaimes Jules as she thrust her sword in the Undead King's direction, unleashing a powerful, swirling cylindrical mass of flames towards him, engulfing the right side of his body and turning it to ash as he stepped across to the left, before glancing back as Siele raced across and came charging in towards him from behind, intense water currents swirling around his twin blades.

"[Double Water Slash]!" He chanted as he closed in, whipping his blades across and firing out a pair of pressurized water slashes across each other, striking the Undead King's back and inflicting a deep X-shaped gash across his back, before grimacing as the wound rapidly closed up.

"I think I'll play with you for a while," Smirked the Undead King as he turned his attention to Siele, before summoning dozens of undead creatures all around him, sending them charging towards Jules and Aster.

Aster turned his gaze across to the left as an undead Dragon came zipping towards him with immense speed, its jaws wide open as it closed in on him, clamping around his Telekinetic Zone before it shot through the air with him in its jaws, driving him away from the area.

"You're not getting rid of me that easily, [Telekinetic Burst]!" Snapped Aster, firing a powerful blast of telekinesis into the Dragon's mouth, which erupted out through the back of its head, before he unleashed a powerful telekinetic slash, slicing off the upper half of its head.

As the undead creature began to plummet, Aster grimaced as two more Dragons came charging on towards him from either side, chasing after him as he quickly zipped across the air to evade them.

"Damn it, this isn't good...I can't use my Telekinetic Zone indefinitely, I've become a lot more effective with the Mana Consumption rate of the Spell, but it still takes an immense amount of Magic Power to maintain. I need to deal with these things as fast as possible and get back to fighting the Undead King, before I'm too worn down," Aster thought to himself, gritting his teeth as he spotted several more flying undead creatures heading towards him.

Meanwhile, back at the area the Undead King was in...

Siele quickly ducked as the Undead King whipped his fist across towards his head, narrowly evading it before a powerful gust of wind erupted above him from the force of the swing of the Undead King's arm, before Siele swiftly thrust both his blades into the Undead King's stomach, violently twisting them across before unleashing bursts of slicing water slashes inside his body, tearing the Undead King apart from the inside.

He then quickly pulled his blades back out and backed away several paces as the Undead King regenerated, before firing out a pressurized burst of water at him from his mouth, blasting a hole through the middle of the Undead King's face, before racing across as the Undead King shot towards him as his face rapidly grew back.

He chuckled in amusement as he chased after Siele, before leaping towards him with immense force, shooting through the air before swinging his right hand at the back of the Knight's head to try and grab him as he closed in.

Right as his hand got within reach of the back of Siele's head, Siele quickly ducked right in the nick of time, just barely avoiding the Undead King's grasp before slamming the base of the handle of one of his blades onto the middle of the Undead King's torso and rapidly chanted...

"[Grand Water Cannon]!"

A devastatingly powerful blast of water erupted out at point-blank range, tearing a large, gaping hole through the Undead King's body, his arms hanging on by a thread as most of his torso vanished in the blink of an eye.

"[Water Tentacles]!" He swiftly chanted, backing away as the Undead King regenerated, eight water tendrils extending out of his lower back before he sent them shooting towards the Undead King rapidly, as he finished regenerating.

As the tentacles closed in on the Undead King, Siele swiftly grabbed hold of his wrists and ankles with four of the tendrils, before plunging the rest into his body, branching them out into razor sharp spikes, tearing the inside of his body apart.

He then tightened his grip over the Undead King's limbs as he shot towards him, unleashing a barrage of powerful water blasts, peppering and battering the front of the Undead King's body severely.

The Undead King then broke free of the grasp of the water tentacles by swinging his arms out with immense force, Siele grimacing but didn't slow down or stop, before unleashing a powerful thrust of his left blade as he closed in on the Undead King, firing off a pressurized blast of water from the tip of the blade.

He then swiftly whipped his other blade across as the Undead King began to reach out towards him with his left hand, the blade slicing through his wrist and severing his hand off.

"Now, take this, [Torrential WATER CANNON]!!!" Exclaimed Siele, as he sprang back, tossing his blades up into the air before raising his hands towards the Undead King and unleashing one of his most powerful Spells, a tremendous mass of pressurized water bursting forth from his hands and slamming onto the Undead King's body, before he vanished from sight as the devastating blast of water drilled forward with immense force.

It carved a path through the ground, the entire area rumbling before a deafening crash rang out as it collided against a building before tunneling through it, deep cracks spreading out across the walls of the building as the windows shattered, the glass shards raining down as the Spell petered out, water filling the trail it had carved through the ground, right as the building caved in and collapsed, a large cloud of dust rising up as cracks spread our across the ground around the building, loud crashes echoing out as a large pile of rubble formed where the building had been standing.

Siele let out a slow exhale as he locked his gaze onto the rubble as the dust began to clear, getting ready to react and respond as soon as the Undead King emerged from the rubble...

"What are you looking for?"

Siele froze up as the Undead King's voice came from his left, having regenerated from the hand Siele had severed before unleashing his Spell.

Siele's eyes widened in alarm before spinning across and meeting the Undead King's gaze, a malicious smirk across his face before he let out a chuckle and drove his fist towards the Knight with immense force.

As the Undead King's fist closed in on him, Siele quickly crossed his blades in front of himself defensively as he formed intensely swirling masses of water around the blades, his chest tightening as the Undead King's fist slammed onto the blades and shattered them to pieces upon impact, the water around them dispersing before the Undead King swiftly raised his right foot and drove it towards Siele's stomach powerfully.

"[Water Armor-...]...!" He quickly began to chant, a thick layer of water starting to form over his entire body but abruptly falling apart as the Undead King's foot slammed onto the middle of his stomach with a crushing impact.

Siele coughed out blood with an agonized wheeze, blood pouring out of his mouth as he got sent flying back rapidly, his right shoulder slamming onto the ground before he skidded away several meters, coming to a screeching, painful halt.

He shakily tried to get back onto his feet, before collapsing onto his hands and knees as his vision blurred sharply, coughing out more blood and gasping in agony, excruciating pain throbbing across his stomach.

"Seems that's all the entertainment I can get out of you. Guess I'll put you out of your misery," Sighed the Undead King, before turning his gaze across as a massive, towering pillar of flames erupted a short distance away, several charred chunks of undead creatures flying out around it and hitting the ground, crumbling to ash upon impact, right as Jules came charging through the flames with an enraged look on her face, a few cuts and scratches across her arms and face.

The Undead King met her gaze with a malevolent smirk, before turning his attention back to Siele and racing towards him with immense speed, Jules' eyes widening in horror before she quickly sprinted forward in desperation, unleashing a blazing wave of flames towards the Undead King to try and slow him down.

He swiftly summoned a wall of undead creatures to his left, the flames engulfing them and shielding him, before he leapt forward as he began to close in on Siele, balling his fists together and raising them up as a wide, murderous grin spread out across his face.

"NOOOO!!!" Yelled Jules, as he began to swing his fists down at Siele's head, who was barely conscious.

Suddenly, the Undead King paused as he spotted a rapid blur appearing in his left peripheral, starting to turn his gaze that way before an immense force slammed against his side, crushing his arm and sending him hurtling across to his left with a rapid spin, before his body slammed onto the side of a building with a deafening crash, the windows shattering upon impact as deep cracks spread out across the building.

"Hm? Wait, I don't see any of the others, so who set off the flare?" Muttered Tacitus, looking around as he swung his sword across.

"Th-thank goodness...," Uttered Jules shakily, before grimacing and whipping her blade across to the left as an undead creature leapt towards her, unleashing a fierce blast of flames and turning the creature to ash.

"Vice-Captain! Are you alright!?" Exclaimed Tilda, as she and Jorel caught up to Tacitus.

Siele had lost consciousness, his breathing shaky and labored, his face pale as beads of sweat poured down profusely.

"That looks pretty severe...you should take him to a spot clear of Miasma and heal him," Tacitus advised them, before narrowing his eyes as the Undead King regenerated and got back onto his feet, stretching his arms up.

"Ah, I remember you, you were in the ruins-...," He began as he recognized Tacitus, before he was abruptly cut off as his body suddenly got cut vertically in half, a deep slash appearing across the building behind him.

"Yo," Aster's voice echoed out from above, a dark look in his eyes as the Undead King regenerated.

"Ah, so he's the one who set off the flare," Tacitus thought to himself as Jorel picked up Siele and took him away, as Aster floated back down and landed on the ground.

"Looks like a crowd is starting to gather. In which case...," Smirked the Undead King, as he summoned a few hundred of his undead forces into the surrounding area...

Meanwhile, in Beryl Town...

"[Piercing Lightning]!" Exclaimed Rione as he swung his index finger across, firing out a rapid beam of lightning and severing the head of an undead Wyvern.

As the creature's head hit the ground and rolled away, before its body collapsed with a thudding crash, Rione took a deep breath as his chest pounded, sweating pouring down his face as he tried to catch his breath.

"Captain! It seems the town is clear now, a few of the others are combing through the area to make sure there aren't any stragglers left!" Called out a Knight, as he came jogging over.

"I-I see, that's good...with this, we've cleared Sapphire City, Opal Town and Beryl Town of the undead," Replied Rione, as he wiped his sleeve across his forehead wearily.

"We just received word from the Second Squad, Amethyst City is also clear. It seems things are going well in Malachite Town as well. We haven't heard anything from the Third Squad though."

"Well...it could be worse, I suppose. We need to hurry and clear the rest of the nation of the undead...I need to head to the Capital and help with the main battle, against the Undead King, but I can't do that until we've made sure that the other locations are-...," Remarked Rione, before trailing off and stumbling as his vision blurred, his fatigue having piled up.

"Captain! Are you alright!?" Exclaimed the Knight as he rushed over and supported Rione before he could fall.

"Y-yes, I'm fine, it's nothing to worry about."

"Pardon my saying this, sir, but I must beg to differ...you're on the verge of collapse, you've pushed yourself too far. You need to rest...we'll do what we can until you've regained some energy, so until then-..."

"No, I can't do that, not in these circumstances. Fetch me a Recovery Mage, I-..."

"You've already had the Stamina Recovery Spell cast on you thrice today, it isn't safe to use that Spell on a person too frequently, your body won't be able to handle the strain!"

"Even so...countless Knights have already given their lives in this battle. It would be nothing short of an insult to their sacrifice if I didn't push myself as far past my limits as I can," Stated Rione firmly, a look of determination in his eyes...