Demons Among Gods

Panting heavily, Caius dodged another claw attack from Night Hag Arachnid.

Previously, it had been only the creature; later, even Rottgar joined the fight.

Even though Rottgar was only attacking occasionally, he had still pushed Caius into a corner.

Caius could only dodge, lacking even a single moment to retaliate. At this rate, he would soon be drained of both stamina and mana.

Rottgar was very perceptive; the moment Caius was about to unleash a powerful attack on the Night Hag Arachnid, the necromancer would cast a spell, forcing Caius right back into dodging non-stop.

Caius glanced toward his fighting teammates. They were all equally exhausted. But unlike him, they were in a much more severe condition, and a few of them were completely out of mana and stamina. It was hard to regenerate when one was constantly moving and fighting.

They were all in dire straits with no hope of survival. They had no chance of receiving reinforcements either, as they were too far from Batley City or any other inhabited towns and villages.

He deeply regretted accepting this mission during the current turbulent situation around Batley City. He also started to understand why so many guild members who had gone out during the last two months had died. These necromancer teams were not weak! They were far more experienced than the ones Batley City usually faced.

Leaving aside the high ranks of these necromancers, they were far richer in experience and knowledge. This fact made little sense, as people of such caliber should have no reason to journey so far to arrive in Batley City. They should belong to more active and resourceful cities or kingdoms elsewhere.

This battle also showed him the clear difference between Mages and Warriors. Most of the necromancers on the field were Mages, yet they held such a high advantage just by making advanced preparations that they didn't even need to fight personally. They hadn't even bothered bringing out their skeleton summon spells, for which they were famous. Just by releasing their disposable zombies, they were bringing death to five experienced Warriors without lifting a finger.

This clearly demonstrated the massive difference in their knowledge, experience, and resourcefulness.

Caius sighed with melancholy. He could only apologize to his team in his heart. He had overestimated himself, thinking they would be fine just because they had fought, survived, and solved many other missions together in the past.

He was weak and stupid—just a brainless brute warrior all along, who only knew how to fight head-on and could only depend on his physical strength to pass through all hurdles. Now, they had finally hit an impassable wall.

Caius rolled and dodged another attack from the Night Hag Arachnid, and just as he was about to counterattack, he saw Rottgar cast a spell at him from the corner of his eye.

He could only dodge the Ghostly Claw swiping at him.

He could deflect or block the Mage's attack, but that would give the creature an opportunity to attack his blind spot. Thus, he could only dodge, with zero opportunity to strike back.

After fighting for so long, he had started to sense that both the creature and the Mage were not going all out against him. He couldn’t guess the reason, but he did not like where this battle was heading.

After dodging, Caius stopped and started gasping for breath, vigilantly glancing at both of his enemies for their next move.

He needed to close the distance. If he could get a clean strike on Rottgar, he was confident he could kill him with a mana-imbibed strike from his low-grade Tier 1 longsword. As a Mage, Rottgar's constitution was much poorer, but his Mana Defense would likely be equally sturdy. Nonetheless, if he could close the distance, there was still some hope of crippling, if not killing, the necromancer.

Rottgar didn't attack further. Instead, he suddenly raised both hands sideways and started laughing maniacally.

The Night Hag Arachnid also paused.

Caius frowned. A foreboding feeling rose deep within him.

Just what is he planning?

Rottgar finished his laughter and pointed his hand, which was gripping his bone staff, toward the five struggling Mana Wielders.

He commanded, "My lovely Arachnid, go. Take your pick for your first meal."

Caius' expression changed. If that creature went after Brunhild and the others, they wouldn’t stand a chance! Perhaps if they were in peak condition, they could still provide some resistance, but right now, even Brunhild would be killed in a few attacks!

"W-wait—!"

Before Caius could speak further, the Night Hag Arachnid blurred and dashed toward the five Warriors still fighting the zombies.

Caius' face turned pale. He swiftly tried to give chase, but before he could take two steps, he had to roll sideways as a Bone Javelin spell nearly impaled him.

Caius glared at Rottgar with pure hatred. His hands shook with agitation as he held his longsword. He couldn’t bear to watch his teammates get killed one by one and then eaten by an abnormal creature, especially when it was his responsibility to hold that monster back!

He was furious but utterly helpless. He promised himself that he would kill this necromancer mage bastard no matter what! He would make Rottgar regret underestimating him and sending his melee fighter away.

Rottgar laughed, seeing Caius' rage. "Keke! Stay put; your time has not come yet. Let's first enjoy seeing my cute Arachnid feast on your teammates."

Caius was terrified for Brunhild and the others, but this was also his only chance.

He dashed toward Rottgar, using his entire strength to stab him with a straight thrust of his longsword.

Rottgar smiled. Contrary to how Caius had imagined a Mage would be helpless against an early-stage Rank 3 Warrior in close range, Rottgar was more than capable of handling a same-rank Warrior up close.

The reason he had kept the Night Hag Arachnid close by for so long was simply to let the horde reduce the party's Mana and Stamina, making them less resistant to becoming nutrition for his beast.

His goal had never been to kill anyone quickly.

Rottgar raised his bone staff. A gray, rotating magic circle flashed at its tip, and a protective barrier made entirely of bones appeared just before Caius' attack arrived, easily blocking it.

Sparks flew with the collision as if the bone shield were made of the toughest metal, and Caius' attack didn’t even leave a dent.

Spells could also be cast using any weapon; a Mage just needed to be able to properly handle and control the object. Rottgar's staff was more than just a simple tool; it had runes inscribed that helped him cast Tier 1 and Tier 2 necromancer spells far more efficiently and successfully.

After deflecting the attack, another dark magic circle appeared on Rottgar's free hand, covering his fist with a dark, eerie glow that stayed clutched within his palm like a ball of energy.

Suddenly, Caius felt a horrifying weakness spread throughout his entire body, as if his remaining stamina and his very life force were being robbed from him at a rapid pace. He quickly jumped far back, and only after crossing a distance of ten meters away from Rottgar did the haunting experience finally disappear.

Caius had never experienced anything like that. It felt as though an invisible hand were grasping his heart and sucking away everything from him, even his life.

"W-what was that?" he asked with a trembling voice.

Rottgar laughed. He didn't hesitate to answer, "Life Leech—a Tier 1 Necromancer spell that sucks my enemy’s life and energy to replenish my own Mana."

"Did you honestly think that I alone would be helpless against a Warrior like you? Kekeke! Forget you; I can win against a foolish, unskilled Warrior like you even if you were at the late stage of Rank 3!"

After saying that, Rottgar raised his staff, and another gray spell circle flashed and disappeared within moments.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a flock of skeletal crows appeared, flapping their bony wings as they hovered beside Rottgar.

Rottgar smiled coldly and pronounced his spell for Caius: “Carrion Call—Tier 2.”

Caius could only open his eyes wide in shock and dread.

He knew Necromancer Mages could summon skeletons, but usually 'human skeletons' and only a few in number. It normally took quite some time to cast that spell, but Rottgar had finished casting within a short few moments, and the number of skeleton crows that had appeared was a full dozen!

Human Skeleton summon spells of necromancers were usually slow and clumsy, though they possessed a very high constitution. They were troublesome, but not nearly as much as flying birds which were clearly agile as well as lethal—and to mention, there were too many of them!

It would be difficult and time-consuming to dodge and destroy so many birds, and Rottgar could easily attack with other spells in between.

Caius fell into deep despair.

At this exact moment, both of them suddenly felt that something was strange and amiss.

The previous loud noises of continuous fighting, yelling, and clashing weapons seemed to have completely vanished all of a sudden, as if someone had paused all sounds from their surroundings.

They whipped their heads toward where the Night Hag Arachnid had gone off to. Upon capturing the sight, they couldn't help but widen their eyes, standing completely dumbfounded.

---

Brunhild and the others had been killing the zombies non-stop, and over time, they grew extremely exhausted.

Not all of their attacks were mana-imbibed, as they needed to pace themselves or their Mana Control would collapse, wasting too much of their mana pointlessly. After that, it would require extreme focus and concentration to make their Mana Control stable again. Because of this, it was taking far too long to kill these zombies, which only resulted in them losing more stamina.

Mortal zombies, perhaps, but their attacks were nothing to make light of.

Brunhild and the others had been defending themselves, but even then they had received numerous scratches and bite marks. These injuries were nothing major to Mana Wielders, but the toll had drained even more energy out of them.

They had already killed over 150 zombies, and barely a few dozen were left. They had taken refilling potions, but those didn't regenerate their reserves quickly, especially during mid-fight.

In secret, both Brunhild and Thorne were saving a fraction of their mana and stamina, planning to retaliate against the four who were quietly watching them fight without interfering.

Garrick threw an empty bottle of a Tier 1 Mana Potion to the ground after drinking.

"Damn it!" he grumbled, heavily short of breath.

He had been saving that last potion bottle for quite a few years already. Even though the current situation was deadly, he was still very reluctant to drink it. Now, after consuming the potion, he felt like a beggar just before his death.

The others were also out of potions. In fact, Brunhild had some left, but she was already suffering a headache from drinking three back-to-back. If she took another, she might not even be able to fight, and sharing it with others would result in the same, so she stayed silent about it.

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