Faced with the crypt lord rank necromancer from the Eternal Life Sanctum, the group of adventurers that had been able to push forward unimpeded so far, finally hit a wall, as countless powerful undead and skeletons surged forth under the control of the powerful necromancer. Giving the group little time to prepare, as none of them had expected to encounter such a powerful necromancer at the edge of the main battlefield.
Still, with the movement of the powerful necromancer that had stepped forward to block them, the army pushing towards the dungeon core weakened significantly, as the powerful undead and skeletons that had been pulled out to block the adventurers had been pulled directly from the frontlines where they had been holding back a large number of S and SS Rank Monsters that now jumped at the opportunity to push forward and ambush the main part of the undead army that had been rendered defenseless by this sudden movement-
Thud~!
Of course, the one truly in charge of this attack had already known about this movement and in turn directly mobilized several towering skeleton guards more than five meters tall each with a towering shield equal in size to their towering skeleton bodies. Blocking the attacking monsters before they had the chance to do any real damage to the undead and necromancer now hidden behind these towering skeletal guards that formed an unbreakable wall that the monsters had no way to push through.
[Skeletal Death Guardian (Summon), lvl 151 (111)]
[Skeletal Death Guardian (Summon), lvl 144 (104)]
[Skeletal Death Guardian (Summon), lvl 147 (107)]
[Skeletal Death Guardian (Summon), lvl 143 (103)]
[Skeletal Death Guardian (Summon), lvl 153 (113)]
[Skeletal Death Guardian (Summon), lvl 141 (101)]
[Skeletal Death Guardian (Summon), lvl 157 (117)]
[Skeletal Death Guardian...]
And as Scaly watched this group of powerful skeletons emerging from seemingly thin air to block the monsters that seemed close to breaking through the frontlines of the Eternal Life Sanctum, she also took the opportunity to inspect this group of new arrivals that had shown up and ruined things before chaos could descend upon the battlefield.
The similarities between them and the skeletons that had been left guardian the spiral staircase leading down to the final floor of the dungeon wasn’t difficult to spot, as similar to those skeletons, these powerful skeletons had similarly experienced a clear strengthening from the main necromancer in charge of the battle.
Although... Different from those skeletons that were so weak that the strengthening didn’t make much of a difference, these skeletons were already powerful to begin with and with the strengthening of the necromancer in control of the battle, their strength had grown from that of a lower level S Rank Skeleton into Skeletons at the very top of the S Rank and some even directly breaking past the barrier separating the S Rank and reaching the SS Rank.
Even though it was also clear that these skeletons were weaker compared to that of a skeleton that hadn’t been strengthened and had reached the same level, it didn’t matter much considering the sheer number of these powerful skeletons reaching close to a hundred and the fact that they seemed to be strengthened through some mysterious connections when working together. Making up for any weakness they might suffer from after having their strength elevated by so much.
This kind of terrifying lineup was not something she felt the slightest bit confident in confronting with her current strength and even the monsters that seemed eager to jump at the opportunity to clash with the main army of undead seemed to hesitate for a moment before throwing themselves forward into the meat grinder.
Having originally believed she wouldn’t have to wait around for more than a few seconds before the battle below entered a state of chaos she could take advantage of, Scaly ultimately found herself awkwardly lingering around in the air above hidden by the thick clouds for over five minutes before the group of adventurers managed to successfully push past the crypt lord rank necromancer that had been blocking their path forward.
Strong as this necromancer was, the number of powerful undead available was ultimately limited and as the adventurers pushed forward towards him, he was ultimately forced to retreat and join up with the main army to ensure his own safety. Showing no intention of staying behind to fight until his last breath.
The only real confrontation that the adventurers had with this powerful necromancer before he retreated was the necromancer throwing curses and dark magic towards them before quickly hiding away when the mages on the adventurers’ side responded in kind.
Finally, they broke through...
Seeing this, Scaly felt a sense of growing anticipation watching the group of powerful adventurers officially breaking past the encirclement formed around the main battlefield by the countless weaker undead and skeletons.
And like she had predicted, the battlefield that had been orderly so far with one side attack and the other defending, was soon enough thrown into a state of chaos as the carefully engineered battle lines created by the necromancers of the Eternal Life Sanctum broke apart and entered a state of chaos as monsters broke through the shattered battle lines and surged towards the backlines, causing everything to descend into a state of chaos as monsters now began appearing beyond the carefully created battle line created around the dungeon core by the necromancers of the Eternal Life Sanctum.
This kind of chaotic situation was exactly what she had been waiting for and a prime opportunity for her to target some of the powerful injured monsters, undead and skeletons she had been targeting-
RUUUUMBLE–!
But just before she could dive down from above towards the closest target she had picked amongst the countless undead, skeletons and monster battling to the death below her, a loud rumbling sound from afar caused her to pause mid dive as she turned around to try and stop the origin of the loud rumbling sound. Fearing that it might be some secret trap created by the necromancers of the Eternal Life Sanctum for the adventurers once they got to the main battlefield.
However, what she saw upon turning towards the origin of the loud rumbling sound wasn’t some intricate trap prepared by the necromancers of the Eternal Life Sanctum...
[Dweller of the Deep Mist, lvl 218]
Instead, it was an old friend that she and Verdell had escaped from not long ago. The large mist monster in the shape of a massive serpent that, now out of the sea of mist, looked like it was entirely made up of a thick mist that couldn’t be seen through.
But... None of this was what mattered.
Rather, it was the fact that the gaze of this terrifyingly powerful monster that had emerged from the sea of mist wasn’t focused on the endless hordes of undead nor even the group of powerful adventurers who had all frozen with the emergence of this powerful monster that exceeded the SS Rank. Instead, its gaze was focused on her and Verdell who had remained hidden from the battle playing out below so far.
Clearly, this monster had come caring a grudge against the two of them after they had escaped from it...
RUUUUMBLE!
And it made this clear as the second it crashed through the vast number of undead and skeletons that could do nothing but be crushed under its enormous body, it surged towards the two of them.
Whoosh-!
Even if it had shown no signs of being able to fly so far, Scaly didn’t doubt in the slightest that this powerful monster would be able to reach her and Verdell. Showing no hesitation as she dove downwards in an obvious attempt to use the countless undead, skeletons and monsters below to hide her presence from this terrifying mist serpent that had come chasing after her bearing a grudge.
Even if this powerful monster had originally shown up to help protect the dungeon core, it was clear that the dungeon core itself was nowhere near powerful enough to command such a powerful monster yet.
Originally, everything would have been fine, and the powerful mist serpent would have been more than happy to lend a hand protecting its home.
Unfortunately for the dungeon core that had just barely managed to call over this powerful monster, the mist serpent forgot about its original goal once it saw the two tiny creatures that had managed to escape from it in the past and instead decided to chase down the two of them to get its revenge.
"This- A monster above the SS Rank!?"
"Where did such a powerful monster come from!? How is it possible for the swirling sands dungeon to give birth to such a powerful monster!?"
"Impossible... There is no way to kill this kind of monster..."
Unsurprisingly, the emergence of the mist serpent caused no small amount of panic amongst the necromancers and adventurers alike, as both sides realized that this kind of monster completely exceeded anything either of them could handle, as the divide between the SS Rank and that the mist serpent had reached was insurmountable and not something that could be closed with numbers alone.
A fact that became clear, as a skeletal death guardian that had reached the SS Rank in terms of strength got in the way of the mist serpent by accident and was casually squashed to death by the mist serpent as it passed through. Not able to mount the slightest bit of resistance in the face of the monstrous mist serpent that made its way through the chaotic battlefield like it was moving through its own back garden.