Ed and his allies fell back to the gate, they had finished gathering plenty of ammo. Ed quickly reviewed the things he could use apart from the stones. He had nine skeletons, 6 potentially harmful potions, and a couple of arrows. Anything else in his bag seemed pretty much useless.
'I can't throw a book at them. Well... The encyclopedia is pretty sturdy'
Ed was anxious, he really didn't know how to handle the situation. It was all beyond his control. Even if he killed all of the current trespassers he would meet much stronger opponents later on. The humans on the outside would not leave him alone.
Ever since he found himself in the dungeon he has worked harder than ever before, he had done things he did not think he could ever do, and he despaired like never before. All those things were beyond what should be expected of a college student.
'This dungeon...'
He was clenching his fists in anger. The situation he was in was not optimistic. But if he did survive, and if he ever gets the opportunity to, he would return the debt. He would pay back the dungeon for allowing it to go through such new and unique experiences. The system watched carefully as it has always done.
Footsteps. Multiple footsteps.
'They have come'
Ed really wanted to breathe in and breathe out to calm his emotions but he couldn't. He saw seven figures approaching from one of the merged hallways.
Ed made his squad line up in front of him. He was going to make them charge into battle and assist from behind.
The figure standing at the front, a burly man, saw the group of Skeletons being lead around by one in a stylish black robe.
'That robe is William's' He thought as he pulled out the greatsword strapped to his back.
Ed saw the imposing enemy preparing himself to charge in. He also saw some of the scouts behind the man pull out their bows preparing to aim at him and his squad.
Although arrows were not good weapons against Skeletons, they were still fairly effective. As long as there was enough force behind the arrow it would at least leave a nick on the bones.
The skeletons, which Ed was barely holding back with his basic transmission skill, charged forth. The undead mobs in the dungeon could not hold back against the living. The man at the lead also charged.
The arrows were let loose some aiming at Ed who was in the backline. Ed with his new adept throwing successfuly veered the arrows off course using some stones. He grabbed some of the arrows in his bag and prepared to throw them towards the strong man who would collide in a matter of seconds with his squad.
The burly man easily sweeped through the ennys with a sideways slash. The wind pressure alone pushed some of the skeletons away allowing them to live for one second more.
Kenny, who was in the lead was not so fortunate. Its head flew backwards towards Ed who was about to throw the arrows.
'F*ck!'
He was delirious, did he already forget his humiliating defeat against the magician? Or did he think that his new opponents would be much easier? He stood no chance in a frontal battle.
He sharply threw an onslaught of arrows towards the burly man who was in the midst of a second sideways sweep. A volley of arrows was also heading towards his direction. Ed lifted his bag to protect himself.
Some arrows lodged themselves onto his bag. He didn't get to see if his arrows had any effect as he had already run away towards the large gate which stood multiple steps away.
The humans which were much further couldn't do much about it, but they were still unafraid. The irregularly smart Skeleton could not pose a problem to people as skilled as themselves, at least not with their numbers. They were much more wary of whatever boss could be found past the dungeon gate.
Ed avoided thinking about his skeleton shields, the only company he had obtained in the dungeon, as he pushed open the gate. He ran into the deep darkness and disappeared.
The humans warily eyed the opening. Bruce had already finished the cannon fodder so they slowly followed after Ed.
"It's trying to lead us into the boss room" one of the scouts sneered.
A low levelled dungeon's boss would not be too formidable. Their expectations were some sort of Skeleton lieutenant at most, maybe a captain.
"Let's go" Bruce said indifferently.
He was angered at the fact that William was eliminated by such a weak existence. Did William get sneaked attack? Did he let his guard down? He could not foresee that the being beyond the door was simply much stronger than they could have anticipated.
They entered the grand room filled with a vast darkness. The door behind them shut soon after they all entered.
After they heard the sound of the shutting door the torches hanging all around the room lit up letting out light that illuminated the whole room.
In the middle of the room was a figure. The figure donned a black robe and held an ominous staff. It was a lich.
The bright room revealed the traces of a previous battle. All of them instantly realized what really happened to William.
The skeleton which was letting out a deathly aura twitched. Its eyes sockets lit up by a deathly purple flame.
"Trespassers are not allowed any further down" the lich declared in its hoarse yet calm voice.
Bruce who was still at the lead was ever so slightly startled by the appearance of a lich. The monster was not something he could handle by himself. But he wasn't alone, there were others.
Some of the scouts pulled out daggers or a shortsword as they readied themselves.
The lich started chanting a foreboding spell. Soon after it finished two armored hands broke through the paved floor of the boss room. Another two pair of hands similarly broke through the paved floor.
The creatures that just pulled themselves out of the ground were wearing full platemail and held sharp swords. They seemed like they were death incarnate. They charged towards the small group that were caught off guard by the sudden appearance of three strong adversaries.
Ed watched from a distance amazed by the lich's battle prowess. He couldn't help but wonder if it was really a lesser lich. He didn't know that liches could be such fearsome opponents.
"We still have the number advantage!" The leader scout yelled. She was trying to break her teammates out of their stupor.
"Let me handle the lich" Bruce fiercely declared.
The six scouts split off into groups of three and intercepted the death knights allowing bruce to charge towards the lich.
The lich had already chanted another spell by the time his opponents reorganized themselves. Bruce who was running towards the lich suddenly felt heavy, it was a slowing debuff.
Bruce's combat capability was instantly halved by his opponent. But he wasn't surprised, he already knew he wouldn't be able to beat it by himself. Even without the knights a lich was a formidable existence.
"This is for William!" He screamed as he mustered all his strength and leapt into the air. He cut down towards the position where the lich was standing.
His greatsword was suddenly intercepted by the ground. The lich had casted a spell which manipulated the earth and used it to block his strike.
The lich never stopped chanting, another curse fell upon Bruce who had just managed to recollect himself. The fast cast speed reminded him of William. He understood how Will was defeated now.
But he couldn't give up. Even as he his stamina was being drained by the second curse. He gritted his teeth and let out a yell as he charged again.
The lich didn't chant this time however, which confused the charging Bruce. That was until he felt a sword pierce through his stomach. He looked back in disbelief, his expression then changed to one of deep resentment as he slowly drew his last breath. The knights disappeared back into the ground soon after.
The scouts were all annihilated. Their corpses were full of sword slashes and they too had expressions of disbelief. The power of the floor boss was incomparable to the minions found throughout the whole dungeon.
Ed who watched from a distance was just as surprised. How did the magician manage to put the lich in a (resting) state?!? The lich swept through a strong warrior and six seasoned scouts in under a minute!
But something just as surprising happened next.
[Champion has met the conditions to level up, do you want to be recalled? Y/N]
A message he didn't expect to see appeared in his vision. For the first time ever his jaw fell to the floor.
'Eh?'
Ed contributed nothing at all to the battle yet he met the conditions to level up? He couldn't fathom why.
The lich had been looking at Ed all the while.