Chapter: 814

Sure, from Lamp to Blue to Jay, it was a small chain of command, but a useful function on a small scale would be just as effective on a larger one, if not more so.

Jay counted the incoming enemies, and he was surprised at the small response force after he had cut off the nutrient supply root.

“Hmm, another group of seven. I wonder if that’s the optimal number.” Jay gazed at the incoming soldiers from behind some large roots of a tree.

Three were in the front with three behind them, following along the root. Another one was at the very back, which stood out from the other six as it held a two-handed sword - and unlike the others, the one at the back was the only one which was periodically looking down, checking the large flesh-like root they were all following.

To Jay it seemed more animated, more intelligent compared to the others, like it retained part of what made it conscious somehow.

Suddenly, contrary to Jay’s expectations, the skeletons attacked.

“Huh?”

Oddly, it was not a sneak attack at all, making Jay wonder just what exactly Blue was thinking.

While there was no warning, the skeletons didn’t attack from the back. The knights easily saw them coming and readied their weapons in time, meeting the offensive with clashes of their own swords.

Five skeletons verses seven knights - the odds were not in their favor, and as the battle started, the skeletons were quickly put on the defensive.

“Just what is Blue doing here… it knows better than this…”

Swords clashed and rattled, and Handy was the first to fall; being lower level without armor had its drawbacks.

While the skeletons had learnt that weak spots of the knights was the parasite living in their spine, it was a difficult task to slip their swords between their armor to sever their spines - especially when the knights were facing them. They couldn’t reach their backs.

Jay already had a mound of skeletons at his feet, green mana swirling through it as a skeleton rose from the shifting bones and assembled; Handy reanimated and sprinted back to the battle instantly, albeit without a weapon.

The spectral armor of the higher level skeletons gave them longer endurance in the fight, but it was a losing battle as the numbers were not in their favor.

Red was fully focused on defense, and held the aggression of three knights. Their swords clanging against Red’s new metal chest piece, the swords scraping and sparking across its surface as its skeletal body underneath was protected - but for how long?

Sweeper was about to perish, having to deal with two knights now that Handy was slain; Handy was still sprinting back to battle.

Blue and Lamp each dealt with one knight, though Lamp was coming to terms with fighting the dual-wielding knight who seemed more intelligent than the others.

While the skeletons could fight on mostly equal terms with the knights, the dual-wielding knight proved to be a problem for Lamp who had similarly unique weapons. Perhaps this was why the dual-wielding knight chose to fight Lamp.

It’s shepherds crook was slapped around as if it was a child’s wooden practice sword, while its gut knife was going practically no damage at all; not only was the blade short, but even getting into range to land a hit was proving to be a monumental task. The two-handed sword simply had too much range. The only upside was that the shorter knife made for quick parries, and having two weapons helped with defense; Lamp was more annoying than troublesome to the knight.

The sweeping swings caused Lamp to jump back, while other times the knight rested the blade on the back of its gauntlet and charged forward as if it were wielding a heavy spear.

Clearly, it was well-trained - or at least, the knight was well trained before it became infested with parasites that took over its body, and perhaps, its mind.

Jay continued to watch from the sidelines, wondering if this was a fight the skeletons could win - nothing would change if they were forced to fight a defensive battle, and Jay didn’t have the mana to endlessly raise skeletons.

“If no knight’s die, then nothing will change...” Jay thought, glancing at his sword, and then looking into the forest, as he found himself with two options.

“Do I fight or run…” he wondered.