Hera was still very upset with Shane. They might not have talked about the questions the enchantress was going to ask, but she was an explorer, someone whose entire job was to uncover mysteries. How did she not catch on to the details that Hera had already told her? And because of that frustration, they started arguing.

Hera could recognize that she got too moody too quickly, but this was also a tense situation. Whether it was an effect caused by the mana in the environment or just because of the tense situation, it didn't matter.

She had failed to notice was that they were walking away from the doorway even without meaning to. And the reason for that was a mystery. It could be just because of the environment, the strange darkness playing tricks on their minds. But it could also be something more sinister. The mana could be trying to pull them in a specific direction. If this were the case, whatever the goal of this lure, the Empress didn't want to know.

One way or another, they had bigger problems at the moment as a swarm of undead were approaching. Hera was happy enough that she now had a chance to hit something and let that aggression go somewhere.

As the first wave of undead got close, it became pretty obvious that they were not actual monsters that existed here. Instead, they were some strange form of their mixed remains, as if someone just grabbed a bunch of bones and stuffed them together.

The first creature was a complete skeleton with only very small bits of flesh attached to its three long arms, longer than the ones a person or even a monster of that size should have, and four smaller hands attached to its rib cage, no arms connected to them, just the hands. It rushed towards Hera, using one of the larger arms as a cane to push itself forward faster, and jumped, trying to bite her.

The Empress quickly shifted her body to the side and summoned Avalon, the chainsword, likely able to handle this type of creature better than most of her Court. With the weapon in her hand, Hera gave an upward swing as the chain revved up, splitting the monster into two pieces with one fell swoop. There was some resistance, but she could feel how the chainsword was able to do quick work of the bones.

At the same time, Nimbus, Vulcan, and Livy appeared behind the Empress. She was a bit worried about calling all of her Court members now because of the small amount of space that they were working with.

She could tell that if she were to take a couple of steps back, she would end up bumping into Alex, Bonnie, or Shane. That's why she only called the title blades that could prove to be the most effective against these skeletons, the ones that could attack with more blunt instruments.

Breaking bones was much more manageable than cutting them. Hence why Forge, a Hammer user, and Nimbus, who used Tonfas, were there. Even Livy, who was a two-handed axe, could use the size of her weapon to slam the monsters as if it were a baseball bat. The size would also help, giving as much damage as possible.

Behind her, Alex and Shane were already attacking, both of them going for a melee approach since they were proficient in hand to hand combat. Bonnie, on the other hand, was using her first type of spells to strike the incoming skeletons from afar. Some had multiple heads, others more legs than they should have. There was even one with four different tails attached to its spine, but the tails were clearly not made from the same creature.

Hera stopped to think what would happen to the Naga once this type of effect also spread to the Coiled Serpent? Could all the thousands if not millions of Naga undead there become one giant serpent? One giant undead, zombified serpent?

But this was not the time to think about that kind of thing. They had to deal with the monsters as the group slowly walked back towards the doorway. They were just a few meters beyond it, but it felt like it was so far away. Especially since they were being surrounded from all sides.

Aside from the three title blades, the rest of Hera's Court was also out, but they were more spread out, fighting against the undead skeletons at the edge of the Empress' range. That way they could start taking them out before they reached the Empress. By her side were only Avalon, Oberon, Vulcan, Nimbus, and Livy. The rest were cutting into the horde in hopes of stopping them from doing too much damage.

Hera's hat changed to the feathered hat form without the Empress asking for it, but it was the best option for a fight like this. Each hit would increase the damage of her attacks, and since Avalon was a chainsaw in essence, she could make the buff reach its maximum value at once.

Hera saw another skeleton coming. This time she wasn't even sure what exactly she was looking at. It was just a mess of bones that kept shifting and clawing at her. Nimbus blocked with his tonfas. While Vulcan came from the opposite side, slamming his hammer not against the creature but against Nimbus's tonfas with the monster getting caught in between. The bones shattered with the impact, and the Sentinel was more than able to withstand the recoil.

As the Empress was expecting, blunt damage was the best option when fighting creatures like this.

Livy used the side of her axe to send a couple of the smaller skeletons flying into the distance. She followed that up with [Draconic Eruption]. A large wave of seawater emerged from the two mouths of her war axe and crashed on top of the incoming skeletons. The Leviathan made a point of aiming towards the weaker group of undead, the ones that didn't have large bodies or massive bones. Hera only noticed them now, as the small ones, who were almost critters, washed away with the waters. But they were just discarded bones that didn't fit the larger skeletons.

Hera saw another large skeleton abomination approaching, this one with a spine way too long for its body. She quickly stepped forward, getting in between the various rib cages that were attached to that creature, and told Avalon to change to his fastest setting. The chain blade revved up with some noise, but not so much so that it would be overpowering to the rest of the fighting. And with a single blow, the creature was destroyed, its elongated spine severed.

The pieces of bone all fell to the ground and slowly started moving in the same direction. This likely meant that despite being able to defeat those creatures, they were still being reformed somewhere. Thankfully, Hera and her friends were getting back out and not staying here in an endless war.

Confused about how this was possible, she tried using [Observe], but the monsters didn't give off any information. According to the system, they were not actually classified as individual monsters but something else.

The only thing that Hera knew would have that kind of effect would be golems or something similar to them. If they were a recent type of summon or a construct, when established they would have their own name. Even if they didn't show up as a monster, they would appear as an object. But not having them show up at all meant these skeletons were not the main objective of whatever was happening here. They were just a consequence of the spell or skill. Just like golems.

The Empress was able to come up with that conclusion while still fighting more of this horde of skeletons that were constantly attacking them. And now they were getting closer and closer to the doorway. Just a few moments and they would be able to transfer over.

In the distance, the sound of something large moving echoed through the area. But it wasn't sounding as if it was getting closer. It felt as if this thing, whatever it was, was just passing by.

The Ophidianite felt a sense of dread washing over the entire group. If they were dealing with something that big, not only would they have to use a few of their more powerful skills, but they would also make a lot of noise. And that noise seemed to be attracting more and more undead towards them.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

While Hera and the girls were momentarily distracted by this giant creature, Oberon took charge of the Court and told them to clear a path between the Empress and the doorway. They did so with deadly precision, destroying every single skeleton that was in the way. They did that, despite most of their attacks were not as effective against skeletons as they would be against other creatures. Thankfully, they had the benefit of being made of mana, allowing them to bypass some of the physical resistance that these creatures seemed to have.

Just as the sound ended, Oberon shouted towards the Empress, 'Go.'

Hera shouted to the rest of her friends. Bonnie and Alex didn't hesitate and started running as he she commanded. Shane took a bit longer since the enchantress was not very used to fighting with Hera by her side. That small moment of delay was enough for a few of the larger skeleton abominations to approach and try to lash out, sending out various spears made out of bones towards Shane.

Not wanting to let her friend get hurt, even though they were arguing a lot, Hera stepped forward and told Avalon to trigger [Ouroboros Bloom]. The petals from the side of the blade shifted and spread out as if they were being tossed by the chain that continuously spun with the blade. Each of those petals spun so quickly that they were able to intercept the attacks, causing them to shatter with the impact. But doing so also destroyed the blossom petals that were created by the skill.

It wasn't that much of an issue since there were thousands of them, but it was a barrier that had an expiration date. And Hera wasn't about to wait around to see how long it was going to take for it to lose its effect. She just grabbed Shane by the arm and started running towards the doorway, touching it mere seconds later, once Alex and Bonnie had already crossed to the other side.

Just before Hera pressed yes on the notification that appeared, she recalled her Court. The feeling of being submerged in warm water washed over them, and soon they were back in Deakoshara, in that strange tunnel that was more or less void of undead.

"The fuck was that?" Shane gasped as soon as she regained control over her body.

Hera frowned, thinking the Enchantress was talking to her. But that reaction wasn't directed at anyone specific. It was directed at the situation.

"I got to ask," Alex spoke up, turning to Shane. "Are you going to insist on trying to figure this out on your own, or are we going to ask for help? Because I really think we are going to need some assistance on this."

The enchantress sighed. "No, no, yeah, this is too much. We can't handle this by ourselves."

"I mean, we probably could," Hera said.

Everybody gave her a confused look.

"I mean in the sense that if we were stuck in this situation, we could handle ourselves. But I agree that it's better if we go look for more help. Maybe the alliance can help us."

As she spoke, a glint of light caught her eye. With a confused expression, she turned to the side only to see emerging from the doorway glowing shapes, as if someone was transferring over. For a brief moment, they all assumed that there was someone else back there and that their presence was able to point them in the right direction.

But it was only until the shapes started to take form. Skeletal hands, large hands that didn't match the body, strange amalgamations of limbs, and more bones than they should have for every single part of their body. What was following them was not a person but the same skeletons that they were just fighting. And it wasn't just one or two. There were at least a dozen different creatures crossing the doorway.

"Are they all devils?" That was the only thing that came across Hera's mind. The only type of monster that was capable of crossing doorways were devils, creatures that somehow managed to break free from some of the system limitations. It took one of the heroes to deal with the last group of devils that appeared in the main Spirits room. But even back then, there were only a handful of them. This number was already much bigger than what anyone had fought on their own.

Alex tried to fire a [Wind Cutter] spell, a version that was so advanced that it was fully invisible, but the spell ricocheted off the white light that was covering the creatures. It seemed that even the MAZE protected monsters when they were going from one room to the next.

Still, the moment one of the skeleton abominations started to move, they jumped into action. These monsters were dangerous, yes, but they were not impossible to kill. And if these were really devils, then they had to get rid of them as soon as possible. Otherwise, they would risk letting them grow unchecked for who knows how long.

Hera called her entire Court, the fear, confusion, and anger seeping into the blades. Her emotions were so wild right now that Forge instantly reached 100% of his demonic form and turned his body, crackling open with fire from within and becoming charred. But at the same time, Hera felt his emotions were stable. He wasn't the wild beast that he usually was. Instead, he was calm and more understanding of himself.

She was about to ask what was going on when she heard a mad cackle coming from a different blade. Avalon was using his skill to filter emotions, but instead of just filtering them, he was absorbing everything. The chain sword started to laugh, continued to laugh as he shouted in the Court's mind,

'Give me your skulls! The Empress deserves a throne. A throne of skulls! HahAhaHAhAhahAhahaHA!'

And as absurd as his reaction was, it was also somewhat contagious, not in the crazy part but in the excitement. The battle cry was more than enough to invigorate the entire Court. They all jumped towards the monsters, lashing and clawing with everything they had.

Vulcan was using his newfound clarity with every single attack, with every single move he had, since right now he couldn't use any skills due to his demonic form. Bonnie, Alex, and Shane also joined in, doing their best to destroy the abominations.

While the fight itself was not as hard as it was in the other room, especially because here they were attacking the creatures as they came along instead of having to deal with them all at once, it was still difficult.

With the feathered hat form increasing the damage the entire Court dealt, Hera decided to add the Imperial Barracks effect of her [Imperial Domain] to increase their power. Spectral shelves and mannequins appeared around them, which caused some confusion to her party members, but her Court understood that their presence was increasing their power.

But while fighting the abominations during the transfer was easier, it also created a new set of problems. The noise of the battle, the shouts, the sounds of bones breaking echoed through the tunnel. And they were so loud that the undead horde that was in the city was starting to take notice of their presence.

Hera glanced out to watch the incoming shambling swarm of undead that seemed to be moving but surely in their direction. To make matters worse, from the other side of the tunnel there were also more undead coming. They were much farther away, and there was still a gap between this tunnel and the next where they could fly away, but if they took too long to finish this, it was likely that they would be trapped from both sides and from below.

Another amalgamation appeared, transferred from the Elysian Fields. This one was just a mass of tentacles with a skull in the center. The Empress created a [Venomous Javelin] and tossed it at the creature, activating the break combo. With the doorway behind it, she wasn't worried about damaging the environment. After all, the doorway would stop all damage.

The doorway itself to the MAZE was blessed. It shattered the moment the javelin impacted the monster. Its bones scattered in millions of pieces that showered the surrounding undead. The ones that were closest to the monster were even partially destroyed with the sheer strength of the shards.

Two more skeletal abominations came out of the doorway, but their numbers were clearly thinning out. While the first couple of waves had 10 or 12 of them, now, after eight waves, they seemed to be coming only one or two at a time.

The other undead were fast approaching, or at least as fast as a shambling horde could move. The group killed the last aberration, a poor attempt at the creation of a dragon. It had the right number of limbs, but its wings were made out of leg bones, and its head was just a collision of different jaws and broken bones placed together.

Once that was destroyed, they waited a couple of moments and saw no more light coming from the doorway.

"Everybody move, move," Hera shouted and started running towards the Emperor's seat. Even if it was far in the distance, it was still the area where the undead of the city were further away. And there was enough distance between them and the opening of the tunnel to allow the group to jump on top of Nimbus, who struggled to get them all on the roof of this structure.

Once they were in a more or less safe location, Hera rushed to the area right above the doorway and summoned her Court inside the tunnel once more. She let them stay there with enough members to reach the doorway just in case another of the skeleton abominations managed to cross over.

Thankfully, nothing seemed to be coming even after a few minutes. But it wasn't all good news. Her Court could see that on the sides, undead were starting to pile up to form mountains of corpses so they could reach the top of the tunnel. They were still able to chase after them even if they were no longer in their sight. Maybe it had something to do with smell, or maybe it was something else, but they had no idea.

In the end, once the pile started to approach the roof of the tunnel, the group decided to leave. Bonnie called Ruby, and Hera called Nimbus as they flew off back to Zaxalam and the area of the first plateau.

Things here were much worse than they initially thought, and they couldn't afford to waste time in solving this.

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