Chapitre 101: 12 Waves (III)
At the last moment, Snow twisted. She tensed her arms and shoulder, ramming into the skeleton. It collapsed, but that didn't stop her as she caught herself from toppling along with it.
"This is going to be a bit more difficult than I thought." Snow breathed out a bit heavily. She glared at the other skeleton that surrounded her.
The dim gray light broke through the dark, bringing with it much needed light. There wasn't a full moon out, making it a bit difficult to see, but the glowing green eyes that floated in the dark and whatever light was available that the booths and the small hanging light had cast. It took a bit of time throughout the battle to get used to the dark, especially when flashes of spells danced around Snow like fireworks.
Some mages control wasn't so spectacular as it created a small grass fire around them, creating blazing flames. The others had to quickly control the outburst of magic, making the fight a bit more difficult.
Snow stood in place. Her chest slowed down as she caught her breath.
Her eyes glared as she licked her lips a few times to dab at her chapped lips. She was a bit thirsty, but she kept herself in check.
If five wasn't enough, another seven skeleton's appeared around Snow. It was as if they were chattering away with their jaws, laughing at her for being surrounded. It irked her.
"Oh no, you don't," Snow hissed under her breath. She was the first one to sprint out to take out one of their heads, followed by switching over to lopping off another that was getting too close to her side.
Snow danced with the rest, dodging in and out as her sword flashed with quick strides. Her white magic glowed around her blade, making it much easier to cut through their bones.
Compared to the others, she was having an easier time taking down a large group of skeletons, were some misused their magic and put a skeleton on fire.
It was a comical sight to see for Snow, but it caused a bit of disturbance in the group as it made the skeleton warrior much more challenging to deal with. The bones didn't melt; they even seemed to enjoy being in flames as they rushed towards the other groups, breaking up the formation.
Such problems caused a few unlikely Players to get stabbed or killed.
Snow finished with her group of skeletons. She had to rush in to take out the skeleton that was causing trouble. Her magic splashed out to the other Players, sending healing waves that help patch them up on the spot.
"Pay attention to your magic!" Snow shouted, her eyes darting to the next trouble that was brewing not too far away. She pulled her hand back and threw her glowing sword in the air. It split apart the skeleton with a loud thud, disintegrating it in seconds.
The other Players stared, flabbergasted at the sheer power that she had shown. If it weren't for their party members yelling at them to move, they would have gotten injured as well. But luckily, they quickly focused on their task, spreading the skeletons into more manageable attacks.
Snow took this chance to use her claws. Her feet pushed her off into a jog as she raced towards her sword.
Diving into a swinging skeleton, her hand shot out, grabbing a rib bone with her right. Her other hand held onto the skeleton's hand to stop the descent of the sword. It wasn't hard, mostly because the weight of the blade was all she needed to worry about as their stick arms were like twigs. She crushed the bones with her claw hand in one and yanked out the bones in the other.
It was quite a disturbing sight to see as it looked like she was playing doctor - rearranging the bones into its own little sculptural art, which she didn't kill. Breaking wrist, legs, crushing shoulders, and chest, she moved onto the skeleton without much trouble.
"Kill it!" She shouted to the nearest Player, who was dazed for a moment.
Some wondered what she was doing, but realized that she was leaving them for the others to kill.
The nearest Player finally woke up, scrambled over, and quickly took advantage of this, Snow did her best to continue to disable as many as she could.
She made her way to her sword that was embedded into the ground. None of the skeletons came near to pick it up as they felt the divine energy from it. The rest of the waves, the Players pushed through.
Snow stifled a sigh and a groan as she sat down.
So far, the Players had kept their deaths minimal as only a handful fell to the skeleton's blade. She didn't know how they made it through to the ninth wave, but they did. Even she felt exhausted as if she had run a marathon.
The bodies of their fallen were moved to the side. Away, so nobody would trip on them.
Snow noticed the others were bringing the dead bodies over as the numbers increased to about a hundred Players. She was a bit surprised that only a hundred Players fell, which she calculated a bit more.
The number of bodies that were hacked, mutilated, and other unfortunate circumstances brought a sense of a weary mood in the group. Many Players were afraid as they knew that the rate that it was going, they would die.
Ryan, who was directing the placement of the dead, came over.
"Saintess," Ryan asked, hopefully. He looked at her and then at the bodies, motioning her with his eyes.
Snow wondered what he wanted as she waited with her legs partially crossed as her arm rested on her knee. "Yes?"
"Could you?"
"Could I?"
"Resurrect them."
"I'm sorry?"
Ryan was uncomfortably shifting, reminding her of a child's potty dance. "Could you resurrect my friends?" He pleaded again—this time with a much stronger voice that had a hint of a demand.
Snow was struck by his words. How was she going to tell them that she didn't know how to resurrect the dead? She wasn't like Dairen, who can make them into servants. Such an act was considered unholy.
The other Players started to crowd around her, their gazes filled with hope that they could see another miracle.
Snow felt overwhelmed and unsure of what to do. She had heard from Heather that she brought back thousands of Players from the dead. How? She didn't know. It was too crazy for her to understand such a thing happening.
There were stories in history where some Priestess and Priest were able to resurrect the dead, but such skills were lost—almost becoming a myth. But now, the Players were all coming to her as if she brought the Myth back to life.
It took a moment for her to think up something, but the thoughts were quickly thrown away as there wasn't much use. She could see their trust and hope bubbling out of their bodies.
At first, she was hesitant at their hopeful gaze. She wasn't sure how to tell them without breaking their spirit that it wasn't possible. But the nagging feeling that she had done this before was bothering her.
With a bit of reluctance, she gave up and stood up, walking towards the dead.
It was a disturbing sight to see so many dead, perfectly placed out next to each other. Many were severely injured from burns, cuts, and disembowelment. It would make anyone heave from such a bloody sight. Snow had to control her gag as her stomach churned.
"I honestly don't know what to do." Snow replied bluntly. It wasn't like the spell would just suddenly pop up in her mind, right?
"Please, Saintess."
The mumbles of the crowd kept pushing her forward. Their words wouldn't let her go. She felt suffocated, almost choking her with their gazes that told her otherwise.
Snow took a good look, trying to figure out what had allowed her to create such miracles. Her mind flipped through memories, trying to recall the blank events, but instead, it gave her a blinding headache.
Eventually, she threw the activity aside. With a deep breath, she steadied herself to find other solutions.
Her gold eyes stared and suddenly noticed that hundreds of shadows had appeared around her like ghosts next to the dead bodies.
Alarmed by the sudden appearance, Snow unconsciously took a step back. What was she seeing? Ghost? Appreciation? Demons?!
The black shadows turned their heads towards her, and some even started to walk in her direction. Pitter patter of their footsteps rang through her ears, telling them that they were real. A heavy air of cold swept through her body. She paled.
"Stop!" Snow raised her voice and hand. Startling the crowd and the shadows around her as they froze. "Stand back!"
As if on cue, everyone moved back.
It was strange. Almost comical as the experience boggled Snow's mind. Snow waited for a moment, trying to make sense of everything that was going on. So far, the shadows listened. It was as if they were waiting for her command to move again.
With her courage renewed, Snow took a step towards the nearest body. It was a young girl, barely passing fifteen. Her heart felt tight at the sight of the young girl that had been slaughtered on the spot. She noticed a shadow standing on top of the body, staring at her.
For some reason, Snow had a weird feeling that the shadow was the girl.
Weird. Snow thought. Her gut was telling her it was true. Without realizing it, her hand reached out to touch the shadow. A wash of cold hit her like a storm. She shivered. Her hand came in contact with something solid, startling her.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone