CHAPTER 82: NECRO ARCHMAGUS GRIMOIRE X

But just as their confidence sparked, Fenric’s silver eyes glowed brighter.

He raised a single hand, and the enemy squad responded like a single organism. The three knights suddenly shifted formation, shields locking together, blades thrusting in perfect rhythm. The skeletal mage in the back raised its staff high, weaving fire and shadow into a spiraling orb, while the heavy warrior’s hammer swept in a brutal arc.

Aria’s stomach dropped. "They’re not just skeletons... they’re soldiers."

"Correction," Fenric said coldly, "they are mine."

The hammer smashed down. Her knight barely blocked, the shield cracking as bones splintered apart. One of Laxin’s warriors tried to intercept, but the glowing orb of the enemy mage burst across the field—knocking it flat, smoking.

Laxin cursed. "Oh, come on! That was my good one!"

Aria grit her teeth. "No—we can still do this!" She focused hard, channeling her mana. Her Soul Shackles snapped out, black chains lashing across the floor. They caught one of Fenric’s knights, binding its sword arm.

Her mage seized the opening, launching a firebolt into its chest—bones shattered, fragments flying.

"Yes!" she cried.

But in the same breath, Fenric’s voice whispered, cold and merciless: "Adapt."

The enemy warrior grabbed the bound knight and used it as a club, swinging its still-shackled body into Aria’s squad. The impact bowled over her second knight like bowling pins, scattering them across the floor.

Aria gasped. "That’s cheating!"

Laxin groaned. "Cheating is just advanced strategy." He scrambled upright, mana flaring wildly. His mage lifted both arms, and this time lightning speared down with surprising force, striking Fenric’s hammer-wielding warrior.

The giant skeleton convulsed, dropping to one knee, sparks crackling over its bones.

"NOW!" Laxin shouted. "Aria—finish it!"

Aria pushed her energy into her warrior, and the hulking skeleton charged, axe raised. It slammed into the crackling enemy, cleaving its spine clean in half. The hammer wielder collapsed into a pile of ash-white bones.

They both froze.

They’d... actually taken one down.

Aria’s lips parted in awe. Laxin pumped his fist. "YES! Victory Number One!"

But Fenric only flicked his wrist.

The fallen bones began trembling... then rose again, reforming. Only this time, runes glowed across its surface, burning with silver fire. The warrior was stronger. Heavier. Faster.

Aria’s hope vanished. "That’s not fair—"

"It is reality," Fenric said, his voice cutting like ice. "Your enemy does not stay dead. Until you break their will... they rise again."

The reforged warrior roared, charging with twice the force.

Aria and Laxin both screamed.

The reforged warrior thundered forward, silver runes flaring with each step. Its hammer came down like a falling mountain.

Aria’s knights raised their shields in unison—but the blow shattered both, bones exploding outward. She staggered, clutching her chest as the backlash of broken control tore through her.

Laxin panicked. "Okay, okay—new plan: run away screaming!"

Aria barked, "Shut up and FIGHT!" Her voice cracked, but her eyes burned. She forced her focus into her mage, weaving its hands upward. Ghostly blue fire ignited and shot at the rune-covered warrior.

The flames hit—but the runes absorbed them, glowing brighter.

Laxin swore. "Of course it eats magic! Why wouldn’t it?!"

Fenric’s voice, maddeningly calm: "Stronger enemies demand stronger will. What will you do, little necromancers?"

Aria’s mind raced. We can’t match strength. Not head on.

She turned sharply to Laxin. "Scatter shot!"

He blinked. "Scatter what—oh! Right!" He grabbed his bone lance, funneled mana, and three jagged spikes erupted from his hands. He launched them at the warrior—not to pierce, but to force it back.

The warrior staggered half a step. Just enough.

Aria lashed out with Soul Shackles, binding its legs in a web of black chains. They strained, cracking, but held for a moment.

"Now what?!" Laxin shouted, sweat flying.

Aria’s eyes darted. Their warriors were down. Their knights shattered. Only...

Her gaze fell on the pile of bones strewn across the floor.

"...Then we rebuild."

She thrust both hands forward. The bones rattled, then leapt together—not into knights, not into mages, but into a crooked, hulking abomination of mismatched limbs.

Its skull was sideways. Its arm was too long. It carried a sword in one hand, a shield in the other, and half a ribcage for armor.

It looked ridiculous.

Laxin’s jaw dropped. "That’s... hideous."

Aria grit her teeth. "Hideous or not—GO!"

The abomination roared like a dying donkey and tackled

Fenric’s warrior full-force, smashing it to the ground. The two clattered across the floor, bones against bones.

Laxin cackled. "Oh my gods—it’s winning!"

"Don’t just stand there!" Aria yelled.

"Oh, right!" He funneled his mana into his mage, and for once the lightning shot straight, spearing into the rune warrior’s skull. The runes flared... then cracked, one by one.

The massive skeleton twitched, convulsed, and finally collapsed into stillness.

Silence filled the chamber.

Both Aria and Laxin panted, doubled over, barely able to keep standing.

Fenric’s silver eyes swept over the field. His grimoire closed with a heavy thud.

"...Better," he said. "You adapt. You survive. Barely."

Laxin flopped onto his back, groaning. "Barely is my specialty."

Aria collapsed beside him, still shaking, but a small, defiant smile tugged at her lips.

For the first time, Fenric did not look disappointed. He simply turned, shadows wrapping around him, and left them in the wreckage of their battle.

Laxin whispered, staring at the ceiling, "Aria... we just beat a skeleton super-soldier with a bone... donkey."

Aria closed her eyes, exhausted. "...Don’t name it that."

"I’m naming it that," he said smugly. "Victory Donkey the First."

Despite herself, she laughed.

The next morning, the chamber was darker than usual. The torches barely flickered, shadows clinging to the stone like living things.

Fenric stood in the center, grimoire already open, his silver gaze fixed on them. Without a word, he raised his hand.

The floor shook. Bones rattled, but this time they didn’t rise into crooked soldiers or clumsy knights. A single figure emerged—towering, plated in corroded armor, a rusted but massive blade in its gauntlet grip. Its skull glowed faint crimson, a mockery of life.

An Undead Knight.

Aria froze. "...That’s... not just a skeleton."

Laxin’s face drained of all color. "That’s the thing you send when you hate someone. That’s the boss fight at the end of a dungeon, Fenric!"

The knight lifted its blade and slammed it against the ground with a sound like thunder. The shockwave alone sent their weaker skeletons tumbling apart like dominoes.

Aria cried out, forcing hers back together with sheer will. "It’s too strong!"

Laxin shouted over the quake, "How is this even fair?! How did you summon that?!"

Fenric’s expression didn’t change. His voice was cold, almost amused."I created the spell. So I did it."

Both of them gawked.

"You—" Laxin nearly choked, pointing. "You just made it up?!"

Aria snapped at him, "Stop panicking and MOVE!"

They scrambled, sending knights and warriors forward, but the Undead Knight cut through them like paper. Shields shattered. Blades cracked. A single swing obliterated two mages in one sweep.

Aria clenched her fists, forcing her Soul Shackles to coil around its legs. For a heartbeat, it slowed. She shouted, "Now, Laxin—Bone Lance!"

Laxin hurled a scatter shot, three lances streaking at once. They hit—one in the chest, one in the shoulder, one right through its skull.

The knight... barely staggered. Then it roared, crimson fire bursting from its eye sockets, and tore free of the shackles like they were threads.

Laxin’s jaw dropped. "It shrugged it off! That was my good shot!"

The Undead Knight raised its sword, aiming straight for them.

For the first time, Fenric’s voice carried a challenge."Then adapt. Or be broken."

The blade came crashing down.

Aria screamed, throwing up a wall of bone shields. They shattered instantly, the impact slamming her to the floor.

Laxin dragged her up, pale and gasping. "We can’t win this!"

Aria gritted her teeth, sweat dripping. "...Then we don’t win."

He blinked at her. "That’s... encouraging."

"No—we don’t win. We survive." Her eyes narrowed. "Together."

She poured everything into a twisted mass of bones, forcing them to rise into another abomination, hulking and misshapen. Laxin, teeth clenched, backed her up—his spectral hands erupted, dragging at the knight’s blade, slowing it just enough.

The bone abomination tackled the knight, locking it in a brutal grapple. Sparks flew as blade met shield, bone against rusted steel.

Aria screamed from the strain. Laxin fell to one knee, blood at the corner of his mouth from mana backlash.

The knight was still winning. Slowly. Inevitably.

Fenric watched, silent. His eyes gleamed like silver fire.

The chamber was shaking.

The Undead Knight’s blade hacked down, sparks hissing where it bit into Aria’s bone abomination. Its shield arm cracked under the pressure, splintering like firewood.

Aria’s veins burned with strain. "Hold—damn you, hold!"

Laxin knelt beside her, forcing his spectral hands to claw higher, clutching the knight’s shoulders. They held for a second—just a second—before the undead shrugged and tore them apart in a spray of silver wisps.

He coughed blood, groaning. "I think it just bench-pressed my soul."