The fallen stalactites that had once sealed the entrance to the boss room now lay in shattered ruins, their jagged remains jutting from the cavern floor like the broken teeth of some long-dead leviathan. Dust still hung thick in the air, stirred by the frenzied claws of the Werebats as they forced their way through the narrow gap. Their bodies pressed against one another in a squirming, snarling mass—wings tangled, fangs bared, eyes burning with a mindless, all-consuming rage. A frenzy that made them look like they were monsters from a horror movie.
Ludwig could hear the wet, guttural snarls of the closest Werebat as it wrenched itself through the opening, its talons gouging deep furrows into the stone. Saliva dripped from its maw in thick ropes, its breath reeking of rotting meat and blood. Behind it, dozens more writhed in the tunnel, their collective fury turning the air into a suffocating miasma of hatred. The sound of their screeches was deafening, a cacophony of nails on glass and bones cracking under pressure.
Only this movie was all too real for Ludwig.
“This is going to be tough,” Thomas said.
Ludwig didn’t answer immediately. His gaze remained fixed on the encroaching horde, his mind racing through calculations. The Werebats were packed too tightly, their numbers too overwhelming for conventional combat. But that very weakness was their undoing.
A slow, cold smirk curled his lips as he raised his hand. “You think so?” he said, his voice eerily calm. “We’re not under the eyes of the Empire anymore.” Dark energy crackled around his fingertips, a swirling miasma of violet-black power that hissed like a living thing. “[Taint].”
A spell he rarely used, technically he only used once before. It was a rather weak spell, a curse in fact, that would perfoliate through an entity’s body and curse them, weakening their flesh and bones, and corroding it. It wasn’t that great to use in one against one combat as it was a slow ticking spell that did very small amounts of damage.
However, where it excels was in group combat, against many opponents, especially opponents that allowed the spread of this curse.
A violet and violent surge of dark energy shot out from Ludwig’s hand and latched onto the Werebat that was trashing the most trying to get inside to tear through Ludwig for having killed their boss.
The creature’s body convulsed once when it was afflicted with the curse, deep dark purple marks and mares spread all over its body, a burning sensation seemed to assault it as small puffs of smoke rose from its body, but the Werebat didn’t seem to mind the damage it was receiving. After all, from what Ludwig could see, the Werebat was losing miniscule amounts of health due to the curse.
“That’s it?” Thomas asked, incredulous.
“That’s only the start,” Ludwig said as he jumped forward and dove his weapon right through the infected werebat.
In one fluid motion, he lunged forward, his sword flashing in the dim light. The blade punched through the cursed Werebat’s gaping maw, skewering it from jaw to heart with lethal precision.
[You have slain a Werebat]
The creature collapsed, lifeless—but Ludwig wasn’t done.
“Rise Undead!” Ludwig cast as soon as the creature died.
[You have revived a Zombie Werebat]
For a brief moment, Thomas looked skeptical. “One zombie isn’t going to stop them.”
He was right. With the Zombie Werebat at the front, the hundred of Werebats behind it would maul it and turn it to minced meat in seconds, but things weren’t as simple in Ludwig’s calculating eyes.
The taint which was afflicted onto the living Werebat was now affected by the power of Undeath.
***
[Congratulations you have uncovered a harmonious Skill]
[Your curse [Taint] has fused with the Undeath Aura of a Zombie- [Contagion].]
[Tainted Contamination] All creatures in the vicinity of the Cursed Undead will be afflicted by Tainted Contamination, the damage of [Tainted Contamination] will scale based on how many enemies it afflicts.
Each consecutive spread will duplicate the base damage.
The curse can be applied and re-applied on already cursed targets indefinitely.
The curse [Tainted Contamination] can only spread through physical contact.
***
Almost instantly, the purple marks spread to the nearest Werebat that was also trying to get inside, then the ones behind it and the ones behind that too.
In less than a few seconds, the screech of Werebats seemed to grow to a crescendo.
Ludwig barely had time to process the notification before the cavern erupted into chaos. The Werebats’ frenzied screeches turned into shrieks of agony as the curse ravaged their bodies, their health bars plummeting in rapid succession.
And the notification of Inflicted enemies began scrolling down Ludwig’s sight like a cascading waterfall.
In matter of seconds, hundreds upon hundreds of Werebats were afflicted, and in almost similar time…
[You have slain Werebat]
[You have slain Werebat]
[You have slain Werebat]
…
The system messages flooded Ludwig’s vision, a relentless cascade of death. Within seconds, the entire horde was collapsing, their bodies withering under the exponential growth of the curse’s damage. The cavern floor became a writhing sea of twitching limbs and dissolving flesh, the air thick with the stench of decay.
“YOOO what the hell, that’s broken?!” Thomas asked, his flickering form glowing brightly this time from sheer surprise.
Ludwig exhaled, watching the last of the creatures twitch and die. “Yeah, I guess so.” He flexed his fingers, the remnants of dark energy dissipating. “But there’s a limitation.”
“Are you kidding me? What sort of limitation could even make this look bad?”
“The fact that Tainted Contamination needs physical contact to spread. So unless they’re huddled up together like this, it’s quite useless, in fact Contagion from zombies is actually more effective because it afflicts a small area around them. But this fused skill needs the enemies to touch and be huddled up together to spread this fast. Now time to get the loot,” Ludwig said as he walked out of the now cleared cave.