Symphonic Odyssey
: Vol. Three: Dark Sarcophagus: Verse One-Hundred and Twenty-Nine

Alvin was still fuming with anger at the loss of his opponent, and he was worried about where he had gone to. That said, this monstrosity that had appeared before him worried him even more than that. He couldn’t get a read on its power level.

At first, it seemed to be somewhere at the peak of the second rank, but its power soon spiked into the upper limits of the fourth rank. Now it was sitting in the middle of the third and Alvin was very wary of this creature. Not to mention it had grown a few meters in height and was a towering threat to their group.

It was some kind of Undead being, but it was nothing like a normal Undead. Most Undead were animated by negative energy that occurred naturally in the world. When a person or being died, they released negative energy, and if enough gathered in one spot, such as on battlefields or in graveyards, that place could become an Undead breeding ground.

This thing was clearly Undead in nature but had no place among the natural ones that Alvin was used to. He wasn’t sure he could even kill this thing. Furthermore, underneath all of that decay was a Conductor of great strength. As a rule, the Undead were already much stronger than the living, but if this thing inherited the strength of that shield-bearing Conductor, they could all be in serious trouble.

“Listen to me, all of you,” began Alvin, “I don’t know what we can do against this thing. I can’t get a read on its power exactly, but I know for certain it peaked near the fifth rank. If it really is that strong, we will all die if we fight it. We need to escape and regroup.”

Everyone seemed to agree with Alvin as he quickly spoke, “However, that’s easier said than done. That thing is blocking the only path out of here, and we don’t even know what it’s capable of. I might be able to hold it off for a moment, and if I can, I want you three to turn the traps back on and get out of here as quickly as possible. It’ll be up to you to protect them with your elemental veil Cypher.”

Cypher nodded but didn’t like what he was hearing. He looked to Spark and his partner nodded and closed his eyes. Cypher returned Spark to the crystal ball and put it back inside his dimensional pocket. He was next to useless in his current state, and this thing around his waist had drained what little Zight he had managed to gather.

The belt chimed again, but this time, a moment after the chime ended, the iridescent belt retracted into the plate and fell off onto the ground. Cypher quickly picked it up and threw it into his dimensional pocket. Now wasn’t the time to worry about what the hell that thing was.

The four of them readied their weapons, and Alvin gave them a final nod as the Undead creature lumbered toward them. Alvin ran forward and slashed at it with his Chainblade. The deadly segments sunk into the flesh of the Undead creature but got stuck as its flesh hardened around them.

Alvin dug in his heels and tugged hard as he tried to free his weapon, but it wouldn’t budge. He raised his hand and chanted a spell, “Trio, Verse 3, Cascade of Water bullet!” A barrage of liquid projectiles flew out and impacted around the embedded sections of his Chainblade. The flesh was damaged horribly and Alvin was able to pull his weapon free.

At the same time, Melodi had nocked three arrows and loaded them with spells of her own. She fired them with a yell and they each hit their targets. The first arrow sunk into the left eye of the creature and exploded in a burst of bright flames. The second and third arrows embedded themselves into each shoulder of the beast, and large spouts of water blasted their way out from each side, nearly tearing off its arms in the process.

The smell of decay wafted over their group and a few of them nearly threw up at the putrid scent, but they all managed to compose themselves. The Undead creature let out a low hearty laugh and looked down on them. It shuddered and all the damage they had inflicted vanished in a few moments. The wounds, of course, didn’t heal.

As an Undead being that was impossible. Healing didn’t exist when it came to such beings, as healing required the use of positive energy to work its wonders. Undead beings thrived off of negative energy. Instead of a smooth and seamless repair of its tissues, the damage had only reverted itself to a new manageable state.

It was a gruesome display as overlapping clumps of rotting flesh and splintered bone melded themselves together. The nightmarish creature then spoke in a low guttural fashion, “You cannot harm me fools. I have become more than mortal! Now DIE!”

The monstrosity swung a gloopy rotten hand down and tried to smash their group, but everyone managed to move out of the way and escape to a safe distance. Alvin shot another barrage of water bullets at it, but this time, they only bounced off of the newly hardened flesh.

Alvin’s eyes widened and he turned to Cypher and motioned for them to leave. Cypher nodded his understanding and glanced at Alex and Melodi, who had seen that interaction. They all prepared to head towards the exit and Alvin leapt up and wrapped his Chainblade around the neck of the Undead creature.

It roared in anger and tried to reach back to grab Alvin. It was luckily stopped by its own mass and couldn’t reach the determined Conductor that stood on its shoulders. It growled then and its flesh returned to a liquid-like state. Alvin’s feet began to sink into the creature, and a foul acrid scent arose towards Alvin as he melded into the beast.

His robes began to smolder as the gloopy substance melted through their wards, and the liquid threatened to consume Alvin as well. He clasped his hands together and expended the last of his Zight. A massive explosion went off and bits and pieces of the beast scattered everywhere. Alvin was thrown back towards the exit by the blast, and he had almost landed on the three young Conductors as they tried to leave.

“Ugh… That’s one way to handle that I suppose,” said Alvin as he struggled to his feet. Alex quickly turned the traps back on and Cypher deployed his Elemental Veil around the group. The creature should have been defeated by that blast, however, it was slowly reforming itself and now it clearly radiated the power of the fourth rank in full.

All four of them shuddered as they looked on in horror, and Alvin quickly rushed them out the door and down the corridor, flipping on the traps as he went. There was no time to spare, and leaving wasn’t ideal, but Alvin was absolutely sure of one thing: They had to escape before that thing attacked them, or they would all die.