Kapitel 62: Enemy at the Gates

While the two finalists and their respective teams left the ring to plan their attack against the undead raiders of Death Knight Maleagant, the selection match for the last two members of the raid team resumed.

Leo devised a simple game for this round, one he copied from a wrestling show he used to love watching as a kid. It was called a Royal Rumble, and its rules were simple. Eight people came into the ring and did their best to throw each other off it. In the end, the last two standing would be declared the winners.

"Too bad Cyborg Ninja logged out before the event began," Agatha said disappointedly. "She would have made this fight more interesting."

"Yeah, well, you snooze you lose," Leo replied.

The first person to enter the ring was Liberty Belle, the Ghoul Paladin who barely got to show her stuff in the first round. Basing from the determined look plastered on her face, it looked like she was determined to prove herself in the Rumble match.

Iceheart splashed into the arena next, and despite how she antagonized Ath3na, the audience gave her hearty cheers.

These first two combatants began their heated duel with a fiery passion. However, neither of them managed to throw each other off, and by the time the clock hit that three-minute mark, a new challenger stepped into the ring.

"Thorminator enters the ring!" Donatella announced.

Three more minutes would pass with no one losing their spot, and another challenger arrived. This was Dragon Joe, a physical powerhouse in his own right — and everyone in the ring knew that. It was probably why Liberty Belle, Thorminator, and Iceheart all teamed up to ensure he was the first to get thrown off the ring. He lasted fifteen seconds.

"Bloody wankers!" he yelled at the trio just before hobgoblin guards dragged him away from the arena.

As soon as Dragon Joe was out, the hasty alliance that had been formed to stop him once again devolved into total chaos, clearing the way for more challengers to enter the ring unmolested.

"Wundergirl! Anabelle's Dolly! Bulldog Alfie!" Donatella announced each new arrival's name.

Six people gathered in the ring in a battle royal that would last quite a long while for no single one of them seemed too eager to throw each other off for fear that others would gang up on whoever proved to be a threat.

"These guys really need to get this ball rolling," Leo said as he checked the sundial hanging above the floating mirrors. "Or we'll still be here by the time that undead army comes rolling in…"

As if they'd heard Leo's words, the fighting in the ring intensified. One by one, players were thrown out in quick succession until only three challengers remained inside. They were Thorminator, Liberty Belle, and Iceheart — their unholy alliance renewed.

"Woohoo!" Thorminator yelled excitedly back at the audience who was cheering him on for throwing Bully the Kid out of the ring.

Sadly, he made the mistake most people make when they think they've just about won. He turned his back on his erstwhile allies, who, to no one's surprise, smacked him in the back and sent him out of the ring.

"Iceheart and Lady Belle have beaten back their fellow challengers to claim the final spots on the raid team!" Donatella announced.

Back in the control room, Leo clapped alongside the members of his team who were present.

"Alright, someone tell Ath3na and Argonaut to make their final picks so we can get this show on the road," Leo ordered.

---

It was much, much later, after the final intermission had been announced, when Leo and Morgana shadow-traveled from the arena back to the borders of Adventour in order to take a sneak peek at what was coming their way.

"Argh! Cold-cold!" Leo complained as he shivered.

He rubbed his hands over his shoulders.

"Damn, that was cold," he said.

"Shadow-travel can be… uncomfortable to humans," Morgana agreed. "Although Cyborg Ninja has taken to it pretty easily."

"Different strokes for different folks," Leo replied.

He stretched his arms high and cracked his neck. All the while, his eyes searched their surroundings.

"I feel like we've been here before," he said.

Morgana pointed to an outcropping of rock not far from where the shadows spewed them out. They were about the size of two craggy boulders with spikes jutting out of their surfaces.

"This is where Ath3na slew her first wraith," Morgana answered.

"How nostalgic," Leo commented. "It's almost like fate—"

Leo felt his throat go dry as sudden fear crept up his back. He'd been in the Abyss for months and met a great many monstrous beings but never before had he come face to face with such a frightening horde.

"Calm yourself, Leo... or your fear will alert them to our presence," Morgana warned.

She took Leo's arm into hers, and the touch of her fingers warmed him up much like a swig of whiskey warms up a man's insides. It was the very definition of liquid courage.

"I ever tell you that you're awesome, kid?" Leo asked as he followed Morgana to the outcropping of rock.

"You don't say it enough," Morgana chided playfully.

The pair of them hid behind the outcropping of rock as they watched the undead stroll past not thirty yards away from them.

"There are more than a hundred of them, Morgana," Leo whispered.

Marching at the front was a large group of grotesque-looking reanimated corpses Leo could only assume were zombies.

"At least they're not draugr warriors like Lagertha," Morgana commented.

Behind these zombies were armored warriors whose heads were little more than skulls.

"Twenty Grave Warriors," Leo called.

Behind these grave warriors were a troop of pasty-faced, bulbous-eyed creatures who resembled a member of Leo's team.

"Do you think these ghouls are all soul-sucking executives like Dani?" he joked.

"Probably," Morgana answered in all seriousness. "Ghouls are nothing if not soul suckers."

After the ghouls appeared another group of armored soldiers. Only these were mounted like knights of old and the armor they wore looked to be fashioned from bone. They rode on wolves as big as cows with snouts that were twice as large as a regular wolf's.

"Skull Knights," Morgana answered his unasked question. "They're nasty, nasty creatures who are completely loyal to their summoner… and they're a pain to kill…"

Floating side by side with these skull knights were creatures that have never stopped making Leo feel chills climb up his spine.

"These wraiths are a little different from the ones I'm used to," Leo commented.

"They're Cairn Wraiths," Morgana explained. "They're quite handy close combatants… wish I had a few in Adventour."

"Explains the scythes in their hands," Leo replied.

A quick headcount told Leo that there were at least a hundred of these undead creatures. This was expected. What Leo didn't expect were the walking corpses of dead shadow beasts moving side by side with the undead raiders — from sword-tail dire wolves and blood bears to Nether-dragonlings and death stingers.

"There are at least fifty of the walking dead monsters," Leo counted. "Maybe more."

"They're the least of our worries… look." Morgana pointed to the very back of the enemy forces.

Three pale-faced, red-eyed beings sat on a carriage drawn by two skeletal horses. They were vampires, Leo realized. After all, he recognized the dark malice seeping out of them for he'd been around Masamune a lot.

But it wasn't the vampires Morgana pointed to. It was the creature lounging in the back seat.

It had an emaciated face that was almost skull-like in the way the skin clung to his bones. The eyes burned with blue fire. The hair also burned blue.

"Mr. Bones," Morgana growled.

Mr. Bones wore monk robes dyed in the deepest black. Wrapped around frail fingers was an ebony scepter that wouldn't have looked uncommon in the hands of a priest.

At the mention of his name, Mr. Bones turned his head in the direction of Morgana and Leo.

"Oh, crap… he can see us, can't he," Leo asked.

"No… he can probably sense my presence close by but he doesn't know exactly where," Morgana answered.

"He's looking right at us," Leo countered.

"In this desolate landscape… where else would you look but this piece of rock we're hiding in?" Morgana countered back. "Besides, even if he can see us… there's no way he'd challenge me with such a tiny number of underlings supporting him."

Mr. Bones raised his fist in their direction. Then, to Leo's surprise, Mr. Bones sent them the middle finger.

"Are you sh*tting me?" Leo asked.

Mr. Bones waved the middle finger around to the rest of the nearby surroundings, proving Morgana's point that he hadn't pinpointed where they were hiding.

"Oh, it's on now, little lich…" Morgana's eyes narrowed. "My forces will destroy you!"

AUTORENGEDANKEN
GD_Cruz

Greetings, fellow reapers!

Hope you enjoyed today's chapter. :D

I'm liking Mr. Bones... he's got some big cohones to be flipping off Morgana.

Also, I didn't mention this in the chapter but Iceheart will join Argonaut's team while Liberty Belle will be part of Ath3na's group.

Tomorrow begins the final match of the Deathly Challenger's Cup! Enjoy!

Lastly, if you aren't aware yet, GMofS is joining the Mass Release Event that was launched last saturday. We'll be releasing three to four chapters this Thursday, July 23! Look forward to it.

Guys, help spread the word about the GMofS and share it with your friends. We need your help to get higher in the rankings!

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