Chapter 85: Attack of the Undead King(Part 12)

"Damn it! This is exactly why I wanted to keep him away! Wait...he won't unleash his flames so freely if I summon my forces close to his allies, he told them to stay back before attacking just now," Realized the Undead King, before he rapidly shot towards the others, swerving and weaving across as they unleashed a barrage of Spells at him, leaping forward as Raven fired a fierce blast of flames down towards him, while thinking to himself, "I have less than a thousand undead creatures left now...there's no point in being conservative anymore, I'll summon every last one of them here!"

"Shit...!" Exclaimed Jules, as the Undead King summoned all his remaining forces into the area.

The creatures rapidly spread out and shot towards her and each of The Irregulars, forcibly splitting them up.

A massive eruption of purple flames burst out, wiping out several of the creatures, but with the others in the midst of the enormous swarm of undead, Raven held back on his flames, to avoid burning his friends, as well as Jules.

Flashes of light, telekinetic blasts, powerful explosions and waves of flames burst out all around the area as the others fended the undead off, cutting them down rapidly.

Raven flew up with a grimace and began targeting the airborne undead creatures, trusting the others to handle the ones on the ground as he fired out a barrage of swirling fireballs at the flying creatures.

"Damn it, there's just way too many of them...and is it just me, or they moving better than the ones I fought earlier? Hm, maybe the Undead King is able to control them more effectively the closer they are to him...either that, or the more we reduce their numbers, the less his focus is split up and therefore the better he'll be able to control the remaining ones," Surmised Raven uncertainly, as an undead Wyvern evaded his flames and shot towards him with a fierce roar, several other of the flying undead Monsters converging in on him from multiple directions in unison.

As he zipped across the air to evade them and unleashed more flames, he scanned the area below, trying to catch sight of the Undead King, who had blended in with the crowd of summoned undead...his assessment was accurate, in regards to why these creatures were moving and fighting more effectively than the ones he'd encountered earlier.

The Undead King had started with an army of about twenty thousand undead creatures, which had then been reduced to about fifteen thousand following Raven and Celia's assault on the Death Zone.

And while those forces had inflicted significant damage to the nation, their numbers had been decimated, thanks to the efforts of the First and Second Squads in the locations outside of the Capital, while The Irregulars had heavily contributed to wiping out a large number of the undead forces in the Capital.

The undead creatures were mindless beings with no will of their own, and with the sheer number of the forces that the Undead King had gathered, it was all but impossible for him to control all of them.

So, he simply programmed them to attack any living creatures they encounter. And while the undead creatures got a boost to their physical capabilities in comparison to when they were alive, their mindless state resulted in their attacks being straightforward and easy to predict, making them easier to deal with than if they were alive.

But now that their forces had been so significantly reduced, the Undead King was able to control most of the remaining forces a lot more easily, making them much more of a challenge to fight.

Still, The Irregulars and Jules were more than able to hold their own, despite the numbers disadvantage they were facing.

That said, they were getting steadily pushed back, bit by bit, the undead forces splitting them up further and further away from each other.

"Tch, there's no denying it, I definitely overestimated my forces...I never imagined that they would get wiped out so quickly and easily. It won't be long before what's left of my army is decimated...," Frowned the Undead King, hiding among his forces to stay out of Raven's sight, before a smirk spread out across his face as an idea came to mind, "Alright, then, so be it...if my forces are inevitably going to be wiped out, I might as well make full use of them while I still can. Ohh, this is going to be good..."

Suddenly, the undead forces surrounding Celia scattered away from her, a look of surprise appearing on her face before her eyes widened in alarm as the Undead King rushed out of the crowd of undead he was hiding in and shot towards her rapidly.

"NO!!!" Yelled Raven, starting to swoop down before all the remaining flying creatures charged in towards him, surrounding him as he snapped in desperation, "Get the FUCK OUT OF MY WAY!!!"

The Undead King weaved across as Celia fired off a barrage of explosions at him, evading them as they struck the ground behind him and erupted fiercely, chunks of dirt flying out before he put on a burst of speed as he began to close in on Celia.

"[Giant Light Blade]!" Ravella's voice rang out, before a massive slate of light rapidly extended out towards the Undead King, aiming to slice him in half before he could reach Celia.

The Undead King leapt forward as the large blade of light closed in on him, slicing a deep gash across his back, but it wasn't enough.

Ravella then cried out in pain as an undead creature sank its fangs into her shoulder, before gritting her teeth and unleashing a powerful burst of light, blasting the undead creatures around her away before grimacing as she got promptly surrounded again.

"Damn it...!" Exclaimed Aster, expanding his Telekinetic Zone and crushing several of the undead around him, but there were still too many surrounding him to move freely.

As the Undead King then closed in on Celia, the gash across his back rapidly healing, he turned his head across as she drove a swift punch towards his head as her fist glowed intensely, a powerful explosion bursting out of her fist as it shot past the side of the Undead King's head.

She then quickly raised her left arm up defensively as he drove his right fist towards her torso with immense force, before screaming in pain as a loud crunch rang out, the bones in her forearm snapping like twigs as the Undead King's fist slammed onto the middle of her arm, despite her gauntlet absorbing some of the impact.

"Now, die-...!" He began to exclaim as he started to reach out for the top of her head, before abruptly trailing off as a massive, devastating explosion of purple flames erupted across the air, blanketing the entire area in a fiery purple glow, right as a deafening, bone-chilling roar rang out.

The Undead King quickly snapped his gaze up, just in time to see a rapid blur closing in on him before he found himself hurtling through the air to his left while spinning around with immense speed, a loud crash echoed out as he slammed onto the side of a nearby building.

Raven shakily stepped towards Celia and placed his hand on her shoulder, healing her broken arm before quickly pulling his hand back and backing away with a strained look on his face.

"R-Raven, great timing, I thought I was a goner-...," Began Celia with a relieved, grateful look on her face as she got back onto her feet and started to approach him.

"N-no, get...get back! I...I can't control it...!" He uttered through gritted teeth, an ominous glow shining out of his purple scales before an immense shockwave of heat erupted from him, knocking Celia away as Raven threw his head back and let out a feral, vicious roar.

His face began to change shape, extending forward and resembling the jaws of a Dragon, as the purple pattern across his scales expanded, intense sparks of lightning crackling around his body as his hair turned a darker shade of purple and grew longer.

His forearms grew thicker as his scales turned jagged and razor sharp, his claws curving as his wings expanded and narrowed, his fangs growing longer and sharper as well.

"This doesn't look good...," Muttered Celia with a wary grimace as she got back onto her feet, as the others began to finish off the undead creatures around them.

"What's happening to him?" Frowned Jules, as she sliced off the head of the last remaining undead creature attacking her with a swift whip of her blade.

"Is that his Dark Raven form? No, it looks different to how the others described it," Remarked Aster, getting a bad feeling.

"We, uh...we should probably clear the area!" Called out Tacitus, as he began to move further away.

"Hahahaha, looks like you've lost control, unlike last time! Not that you can understand me in your current state, but-...," Began the Undead King, before trailing off as Raven turned his gaze towards him and raised his left arm in his direction.

The Undead King's eyes widened as Raven's arm suddenly extended out and shot towards him rapidly, too fast to keep up with.

He began to scramble away as Raven's hand closed in on him, but it was too fast, clamping around his neck before he could react, Raven's claws digging in deeply as he crushed the Undead King's throat.

The purple pattern on his arm then began glowing deeply, the glow sharply brightening and intensifying before a devastating blast of flames erupted from Raven's hand, turning the Undead King's entire body to ash in the blink of an eye, charring the dirt around that spot black as a burst of smoke erupted out.

As he retracted his arm back, Raven let out an ear-splitting, bloodcurdling roar, echoing out across the area deafeningly and chilling the others to the bone...

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the city, a short while ago...

"Take this, [Bone Bullet Scattersh-...]...!" Began Lexia as she took aim, before trailing off in bewilderment as all the undead creatures in the vicinity vanished from sight, "Uh...the fuck?"

"What just happened? Did we win?" Responded Colt with a bemused look on his face as he walked over towards her.

"Yeah, somehow I doubt it ended that easily. No, this must be something else...but what?" She frowned warily.

"Do you think the Undead King is capable of summoning his undead forces to his side?" Suggested Colt uncertainly.

Since The Irregulars hadn't witnessed the Undead King's previous attack on the Capital, they were unaware of the fact that he could summon his forces. And Jules neglected to mention it to Raven and Aster since she'd assumed they already knew about it.

"Maybe, it's certainly a possibility. Well, whatever the case, our next move is clear either way...we need to hurry up and get to where the Undead King is," Surmised Lexia, cracking her knuckles.

"Yeah, sounds good. Except, uh...which direction was the flare set off from, again? We've been stuck in this spot for a while fighting the undead creatures that were here, I kinda lost track of the direction we were heading in," Responded Colt sheepishly.

"You idiot...you should pay better attention to your surroundings. The direction we were heading is was...was...uh...that way...I think...," Muttered Lexia uncertainly.

"You think?"

"...shut up."

"Heh, what was that about paying better attention to my surroundings? Maybe you should take your own advice and-..."

"I-I said shut up! I-it's this way, I'm pretty sure...yeah, we're going this way!" Huffed Lexia, pointing ahead before storming off in that direction.

"Guess I'll follow your lead. But are you really sure you're heading the right way, or are you just-...?"

"Zip it."

"Yes, ma'am."