Just as the two of them were completely on different wavelengths yet chatting away without issue…
Step, step, step…
A series of footsteps echoed once again within the passage ahead.
“Lady…” Holly wrapped her cloak even tighter around herself, looking at Ileya beside her.
Even if she was not particularly sharp, she realized it. The footsteps appearing now could almost only belong to the enemy.
Facing this situation, Ileya directly reached out and pulled Holly into her embrace!
Before the girl could cry out in surprise, Ileya shifted and ducked behind a large rock.
Clack, clack…
At that moment, the Skeleton Soldiers that had been standing idly nearby also moved. Clutching their tattered weapons, they marched straight into the darkness ahead.
As the Skeleton Soldiers moved, the scene ahead gradually revealed itself to Ileya.
About 100 meters forward, there was a spiral staircase leading upward.
Several figures draped in black cloaks were slowly descending. The moment the Skeleton Soldiers spotted them… those individuals also noticed the group of undead.
“What… what are these things?!”
“Reanimated… why are there things like that here?” a well-informed cultist asked in confusion.
As for wild undead, they were not unheard of in this world.
For instance, there was the Lich known as the “King of the Dead.” These existences were referred to as “Reanimated” by the local humans.
Such beings were generally not very powerful and possessed rather concerning levels of intelligence. If they did not carry diseases or plagues, they were actually much easier to deal with than the Divine Kin.
Following that cultist’s explanation, the other cultists around him drew strangely shaped daggers and watched the approaching skeletons.
“These things have almost no intelligence; they just aren’t afraid to die. Everyone, be careful!”
As the lead cultist spoke, he picked up a sharp stone from the ground and hurled it at the leading Skeleton Soldier!
Crack!
The stone struck the cranium, directly shattering a piece of the Skeleton Soldier’s skull.
Seeing such fragile Reanimated, the cultists all breathed a sigh of relief.
They had been ordered to find traces of the missing “Divine Guard,” and their own strength was not particularly high; most of them were just ordinary believers.
Among them, only one was a Transcendent who had been granted a blessing during the last ritual.
However… every person here had several lives on their hands. Dealing with living people would have been no problem for them, let alone these even more fragile dead!
The group of cultists immediately stepped forward and launched an attack on the Skeleton Soldiers.
‘Eight people, seven acting, and one watching… Is the one watching the Transcendent?’
Sitting against the giant rock, Holly listened to the Lady’s self-muttering and saw those red eyes glowing with faint blue ghost fire in the dim space.
She opened her mouth to speak.
However, she did not know what to say. She could only say that their two combat styles were indeed different. As expected of a Lady.
“Hmm? Is something wrong?” Ileya asked, tilting her head as she saw Holly’s hesitant expression.
“No… it’s nothing. Just that sitting on the ground, my butt is a bit cold…” the Holy Sword Bearer whispered, scratching her cheek.
“Then…” The Lady gently patted her own thigh. “Why don’t you sit here?”
“Wh-?!” Holly’s cheeks flushed red again, and her head quickly dropped. “Maybe… I shouldn’t…”
“Heh~ Don’t you want to know what’s happening… over there?” Ileya pointed toward the battlefield.
She certainly did! The last battle had been… not exactly without its thrills, but it was a far cry from the soul-stirring, heart-pounding combat Holly had imagined.
Now, she really wanted to see what these people’s abilities were.
“Um… can I see?” Holly blinked, only to see Ileya pat her thigh again.
‘Ugh… although it’s a bit embarrassing, well… we’re both girls anyway~’
Holly somewhat bashfully sat down.
A faint fragrance unique to the Lady slowly wafted into the Holy Sword Bearer’s nose…
Before she could continue to distinguish or feel it…
Poke!
In the next second, Ileya lightly tapped her forehead with a finger.
“Huh?”
A tiny flicker of faint blue ignited within the girl’s black pupils!
Soul Vision!
This was one of the basic skills of a Necromancer, but at this moment, Ileya had used an advanced technique to share her own vision with Holly!
On the battlefield ahead, over a dozen Skeleton Soldiers were surrounding seven cultists.
In terms of momentum, they certainly had the advantage, but unfortunately, there was a clear gap in combat power.
The haphazard attacks of the Skeleton Soldiers could not threaten the cultists at all.
Instead, even though these cultists were not Transcendents, every strike they landed could knock back… or even finish off a Skeleton Soldier.
‘You don’t plan to step in… well then, let me increase the pressure on you a bit.’
Just as Holly was sweating for the little skeletons, the Lady’s voice suddenly came from behind her.
Awoo…
Awoooo—!!
Immediately after, high-pitched wolf howls echoed through the entire underground cave tunnel!
Before the cultist at the very front fighting the Skeleton Soldiers could react, a black shadow lunged from the side! It tackled him directly to the ground!
“Eh?!”
“What?!” The other cultists were momentary stunned, but in the next second, even more howling black shadows lunged from the darkness!
The Skeleton Soldiers took this chance to attack fiercely, swinging their rusted weapons and wounding several people!
“Are these… wolves?”
The cultist who had not yet acted raised an eyebrow, watching a Zombie Wolf whose entire face had turned to bone as it pinned a cultist down and tore at him.
“Grrr… Awoo…”
“Ma… Master! Quickly… quickly act!!”
With the addition of the Zombie Wolves, the battle situation instantly shifted from a sure victory to a disadvantage! The group of cultists began to panic!
“Hmph, a bunch of trash!”
The Transcendent cultist curled his lip, then slowly pulled off the glove on his hand, revealing the palm hidden beneath.
At first glance, that palm looked no different from a normal person’s.
Gurgle!
But in the next second… a bloodshot, small eye resembling a pustule opened in the center of his palm!
Awoooo—!!
Right then, a Zombie Wolf happened to bypass the others and charge toward his position!
A faint light flickered within the wolf’s mouth, as if it would spit out soul-burning ghost fire in the next second!
“Mindless beast, how can you comprehend the power of the True God?!” The cultist gave a contemptuous smile and raised his hand, aiming the eye that looked like a yellow pustule at the Zombie Wolf.
Whoosh—!!
In an instant, it was as if someone had pressed the fast-forward button on the Zombie Wolf!
Its entire body began to rapidly rot in mid-air, and before it even hit the ground… it had turned into a pile of ash!
“This…” Before Ileya could even express her surprise, Holly’s mouth fell open!
‘My clothes… didn’t they turn into ash just like that before?!’
‘But… but why did he aim at my clothes instead of killing me instantly?’
‘Could it really be because of some perverted… fetish?’
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