Godslayer's Rebirth

Chapter 7: Tough battle

Dust still hung in the air like a second skin, clinging to every breath.

The Commander’s roar rumbled through the broken hall, shaking dust loose from the fractured ceiling.

Its red eyes burned hotter — no longer just embers, but raging infernos of malice.

The skeleton horde surged forward in a unified charge. The noise was deafening — the rattling of armor, the clash of rusted weapons, the pounding of hundreds of bony feet against the stone.

Xavier spun his shorter blade in a reverse grip. “Hold the line!”

Avalon’s golden, slit-pupil eyes flared brighter. He didn’t need to be told.

His body already moved before the order finished leaving Xavier’s mouth.

> [Lightning Cloak – Lv5: Active]

Blue arcs exploded around him, burning away the cold bite of the undead air. Every muscle in his body felt lighter, faster, sharper.

He was a storm inside a tomb.

The first skeleton lunged for his head with a spear — he sidestepped, grabbed the shaft, and with a twist, shattered it against the wall.

The next came from the right — he ducked low, sweeping its legs out from under it, then stomped its skull into the cracked floor.

Behind him, April’s bow thrummed three times in the span of a breath. Arrows split the gloom, each finding its mark in a skull or glowing ember eye.

Lex knelt, fingers tracing quick sigils across the floor — each line lighting up before erupting into a short-range frost explosion that froze three enemies mid-charge.

“On your left!” Ryan’s voice barked.

Avalon turned just in time to see a massive skeletal brute, its armor fused into its bones, swinging a two-handed axe toward his ribs.

His hand snapped up —

> [Instant Attraction – Activated]

— and the brute’s weapon tore itself from its grasp, flying into Avalon’s palm. Without hesitation, he swung the axe back into the brute’s skull, splitting it in half. The body crumpled.

The Commander moved.

One moment it was hunched, its claws digging into the floor — the next, it blurred forward with speed unnatural for something so large.

The air split as its clawed hand carved a line through the dust, aiming straight for Avalon’s chest.

> [Absolute Perception Lv5 – Predictive Focus]

Avalon had already stepped sideways before the attack began. He let the claw pass inches from his ribs, then slammed his lightning-coated fist into the monster’s elbow joint. Bone cracked.

But the Commander didn’t howl. It simply tilted its head, as if curious, and then — its chest plates split wider.

A pulse of black energy blasted out in every direction.

Avalon’s senses screamed.

Skeletons that had been falling apart moments ago shuddered, bones snapping back together. Their movements doubled in speed, their strength tripled. The air grew colder.

April cursed under her breath. “They just got stronger—!”

“They’re feeding off him,” Xavier said tightly. “Cut him down, the rest will fall.”

Avalon’s lips curved into something sharp. “Then we cut him down.”

He launched forward, electricity screaming off his skin. The Commander raised an arm to swat him — Avalon leapt high, planting a boot on the limb and running up to its neck.

> [Judgment Gaze Lv5 – Paralysis + Fear]

The golden flare of his eyes froze the monster for the barest second — just enough for Avalon to slam both fists into the side of its skull.

Bone fragments cracked loose, but not enough.

The monster threw its head sideways. The motion hurled Avalon across the room like a rag doll.

He hit the wall hard enough to crater it, dust raining over him. His health bar flashed in his vision —

> [HP: 102 / 250]

“Bridget,” he muttered, forcing himself up.

“I’m fine,” her voice echoed in his head, dry as ever. “You, however, are halfway to the grave.”

“I’ve been worse,” Avalon spat blood onto the stone and rolled his shoulders.

The Commander charged Xavier now, claws swinging in a blur. Xavier ducked the first, parried the second, but the third caught him in the ribs. Armor dented inward with a sickening crunch.

Ryan slammed into the Commander’s side, shield-first, but it was like hitting a mountain. The creature barely shifted.

Lex’s frost runes exploded at its feet, locking its legs in ice for a breath — just a breath — before the monster shattered it and swung again.

Avalon’s vision narrowed.

He didn’t hear the battle anymore. Didn’t hear April’s arrows, or Ryan’s grunts, or the clattering bones.

He only saw the Commander.

> [Divine Copy Lv5 – Technique Assimilation]

Silver flame burst across his fists — Xavier’s own energy, replicated perfectly.

He sprinted.

The first skeleton in his path lost its head before it could turn. The second crumpled under a spinning kick. The third — Avalon didn’t even touch, simply blew apart under an [Instant Repulsion] shockwave.

Then he was there — under the shadow of the Commander.

He slid low between its legs, slamming his copied silver-flame-coated fist into the already injured knee joint. Bone shattered. The monster roared, collapsing to one side.

“April! Now!”

April’s bowstring sang — a glowing arrow streaked forward, embedding itself in the exposed socket where the monster’s skull met its spine. Energy flared, staggering it further.

Avalon jumped onto its hunched back.

Lightning surged down his arms, wrapping his fists in a swirling mix of blue arcs and silver fire.

> [God’s Eye Focus – Critical Strike]

He brought both fists down into the back of its skull with every ounce of strength he had left.

The world flashed white.

The impact shook the floor. Cracks spiderwebbed through the monster’s skull — then, with a sharp crack, it split open.

The crimson lights in its eyes flickered — then died.

The Commander slumped forward, hitting the floor with a sound like a falling building.

All around, the skeleton army froze mid-step. Then, like puppets with cut strings, they collapsed into piles of lifeless bone.

> [Quest Complete: Trial of the Undead]

[Reward: 3200 XP]

[Item Acquired: Summoning Technique Scroll]

Avalon stood over the fallen monster, chest heaving, lightning slowly fading from his skin.

Xavier limped forward, one arm clutching his ribs. “Not bad… Storm.”

Ryan picked up his shield from the rubble, looking begrudgingly impressed. “Guess you’re not dead weight after all.”

April smiled faintly, lowering her bow.

Lex, panting hard, wiped frost from his gloves. “That… was intense.”

Avalon didn’t answer. His golden eyes were still locked on the monster’s corpse. Something… felt wrong.

Bridget’s voice cut through the fading silence.

“Avalon.”

“What?”

“…It’s not over.”

The ground beneath the Commander’s body began to glow. Faint, at first — then blinding. Black cracks spread out across the stone like veins.

A low, guttural whisper filled the air — not from the corpse, but from the walls themselves. The glyphs along the tunnel lit up in blood-red.

April’s expression tightened. “That’s… not possible.”

Lex stumbled back. “That’s a sealing script—someone’s opening it from the inside.”

The monster’s body jerked once. Twice. Then… it began to sink into the glowing cracks, dragged into the floor by something unseen.

Avalon’s eyes narrowed. “Bridget…?”

Her voice was sharp now. “Run.”

The last thing they heard before the light swallowed the room — was a voice that was not the Commander’s.

“…You’ve freed me.”