The Black Necromancer

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Leon and Adrian exchanged a dozen blows in the span of a few seconds, their strength on equal footing. However, Leon was beginning to feel pressured. A light that was radiated from Adrian's body had a hot, burning feel to it, and while it was not all that strong when he stood at a distance, now that he was up close, exchanging blows with Adrian, he felt the burn. The dark aura that hung around his body burned up at a rapid pace. His mana was being eaten up and drained much faster than what he could recover, and his condition was getting worse with each passing moment.

Leon felt an even greater need to get rid of these humans fall upon his shoulders. While he was still a bit hesitant before, he now knew that the humans of this world posed a much greater danger to himself than he thought, and he attacked with renewed vigor and ten times as much ferocity!

The pressure was instantly ramped up as both fighters put their all into the fight. Arcs of red light flashed all around Adrian as he swung his twin swords, while arcs of blue light flickered all around Leon. White and Black teeth were bared as if both of them were dogs fighting for a bone.

Boom!

The pressure in the air suddenly erupted, flinging both of them back. Leon stumbled but quickly regained his footing, having gotten used to stumbling a long time ago. Adrian was not much different, as he was a moderately skilled and experienced fighter. The two of them instantly bounced back up and crossed swords again.

Leon summoned a hail of fiery, red flames that rained down on the surrounding area, in a bid to throw Adrian off his game. The explosions were loud and powerful, shaking the entire area. But even under that bombardment, Adrian and Leon still continued to exchange blows.

Cut after cut appeared on Adrian's fair skin and he gritted his teeth in pain. His HP was plummeting and he would soon be forced to put away his <Blood Rage> skill. Already, he was down to around 70 percent of his HP, even with the boost given to him by Bella's Blessings.

In just mere moments, the battle had entered its climax!

Not too far away, Bella and Kaladin had distanced themselves from where their companions were fighting. Unlike the high paced, close quarters battle, theirs was less fast paced, but equally as intense.

Kaladin remained unmoving, his arms raised up into the air, his sleeves sliding down to expose his bony arms as he cast a myriad of spells. His strong mind was focused on casting spell after spell to deal with the human girl before him.

Bella on the other hand was much less proactive. She was technically of the same rank as Kaladin, but she was a mage that was more focused on supporting her teammates than fighting on her own. Unfortunately for her, not everyone got what they wanted, and she was now in an unfavorable position. She had no choice but to go one on one with this powerful undead mage before her.

"Do not resist your fate. The master has already decided that you will die today. Do not fight it and perhaps he might raise you as an aide after this is over." Kaladin's monotonous voice rang out through the area the two were fighting in.

Bella simply gritted her teeth as she withstood the barrage of fire arrows that was raining down against her water barrier. She conjured several wind blades, controlling them to speed around and attack Kaladin from the side. The skeleton mage simply raised his arm and blocked it off by summoning a wall of fire. He then retaliated by sending a couple of lightning snakes to ramp up the pressure on Bella.

Bella's face paled, and her lips trembled with exhaustion. The Blessings that she had bestowed Adrian earlier had already drained about half of her entire mana reserves. Although she had topped off with a mana replenishing potion, she was still not able to get back to her peak performance. Who would have thought that even with all the boosts from Adrian's skills and the Blessings, the sword wielding skeleton would still be able to match up. Right now, the Holy Halo that she had cast on him was probably the only thing still preserving his life.

The Holy Halo was a skill that had come about her being a mage who dabbled with Holy Magic. It was like a repellent of Dark Magic, Curse Magic, and other Unholy elements. Against the undead, it would be quite effective. She had also cast it on Malaki before they had run off.

Thinking of the faithful tank of their party, Bella's heart squeezed with pain. A fire burned in her eyes as she glared at Kaladin with a gaze full of anger, hatred, and resentment. She mustered all her strength to begin casting another set of spells. Water serpents and birds of prey composed of wind began to form all around, launching attacks against Kaladin in a bid to stop the skeleton mage from concentrating too much on pressuring her.

A stab of pain lanced through her abdomen as her mana reserves took another hit, dropping down to twenty percent. She bit her lips, drawing blood as she prayed up to the Gods that she had devoted her entire life to.

'Please... Save us.' She prayed upwards, hoping to be heard.

The skies above rumbled and lightning crackled, preceded by loud thunder claps. A particularly bright bolt of lightning flashed, striking down to the town and causing the air to become charged with energy. Light flashed around, burning the eyes of all who saw that bolt of lightning.

It was as if the Gods were descending.