A Rattling Monster

Chapter 72: Battle inside the Houses

I have already tried to make a connection between my mind and the mind of number one. I was thinking that, if this is a success, I can finally see what he thinks or even see by his eyes, or whatever he uses to see. That was a total failure, I can communicate with them even at a huge distance like three hours of walk. But I can't see what they see or what is in their minds. Maybe it is to protect their privacy or maybe I need to create another spell just to do that. However, in the current situation, except when I clearly see my skeletons warriors, I have no idea how the battle is going. Now only ten bandits are visible inside the corridor, all pointing their crossbows on me. I have seen some reinforcements passing through the doors, but they didn't stop and they are probably fighting at this very moment.

The only thing that is telling me that my undead servants are winning is the white face of the man who was speaking previously. At first, he was just a little pale, but he was confident. Now, he is looking at me with more fear than he should. I hear a lot of bandits saying that this man is hurt, this other man is injured or even that a third had died. They are also saying that my warriors are unstoppable, and don't even feel tired. Well, that is what an undead is. But even if we are winning, I don't see it as a massacre but more as a close battle. Now that my skeleton warriors are smart and have a mind, they will not charge recklessly, but more fight a war of attrition. In that case, we will win with almost no casualties, that would be the best.

As for the battle currently playing inside the long corridor, well it hasn't moved at all. No signs of retreat, no signs of firing, no signs of the magicians. Just me and them, looking into each other eyes, well mostly me since they can only see a shadow in front of the previous entrance door. While I can be patient for a good time, the faces of the closest crossbowmen are showing signs of heavy stress. They are targeted by my [Cause Fear] for a few minutes already, and I never had the time to see the effect in the long term. Every two seconds, I can see them touch their eyes like it is hurting them. Those farther away don't feel the same power as them, they are only lightly shaking. Only the present leader is unaffected, that means he is already at another level compared to the mob.

But as minutes passed and the battle keeps going, now I can see a lot of injured criminals retreating in the back. The lower limit of the local leader will nearly be breached. I have heard at least five deaths for the moment, maybe more but no one screamed about it. The skeletons warriors have gained the control of two additional rooms, one in each side. The bandits in front of me are now looking very frequently at two locations, my guess, it's the place where the two magicians are standing. But there are at least four walls between me and them. Counting the additional magic shield, there is no way I can kill them. When I hear someone scream that another bandit died, the leader finally does something.

He orders everyone to back off and retreat toward the next house. As for the injured that are too slow to make it, well he doesn't talk about it, but everyone understands what will happen. Some friends are literally carrying them, and with the help of the threat posed by the crossbows, they make it. As for those that were too close to my skeletons, well, no one can save them anymore. I order my undead servants to kill everyone in the rooms in front of them, but do not follow the survivors that are in the corridor. Because I can now see the two magicians looking at me and the surrounding rooms, prepared for anything. Without some bandits to shield us from their spells, they can slaughter my skeletons without any problems.

It was quite a good retreat, but the final outcome was decided the moment I entered the house. After everyone flees away, another door is locked and reinforced. I can hear some hammer sounds, probably fixing some plank of woods on it. They should have put quite a number of chairs, tables, and cabinets behind, to slow me down. So they think that I will walk in through the front door once again?

I did that because there were the missing magicians and the crossbows at the windows. Now that they are blind, why should I walk from where they expect me to enter? No, I notice that the next house is really built next to this very house. That means, the door is between the two houses, but the walls surrounding it are too. I split my skeletons into two group and order them to retreat to the previous rooms. Then, I approach the wall in the left room, activate my aura and quickly rush to the room on the right to do the same. After that, my undead servants quickly begin their attacks on the surprise bandits. No long corridor to control me anymore.

This time, I follow number one and number two in their fight. My very presence is a disaster for the fighting criminals. Before, their vision was blocked by countless obstacles, mainly some walls. In that way, they were spared from my [Cause Fear]. Now that I am standing behind my two favorite undead, well, that's another story. I really want to see the face of the leader when he will learn that they fail to defend this side for more than fifteen seconds. Because that was the time that my skeleton warriors took to slaughter everything living in front of them. Except for some screams, the outlaws didn't have to time to warn their companions.

With such speed, our group of three strides toward the deeper rooms. Taking by surprise the injured that were resting and getting healed. But they still manage to shout our position, preventing a surprise attack on the true targets. The leader and the two magicians. By now, only a little more than ten criminals should be alive, and at least half are fighting the other group of skeleton warriors. So the chances that one of the two magicians begins to cast some spells is quite high. And I don't really know if my undead servants can take a hit and still survives. Probably one, but definitely not two.

The fact that they are beating the criminals are mainly due to their lack of fear and their incredible stamina. Every human, especially some criminals like that, wants to live and will most likely lack the motivation of my skeleton warriors. While the outlaws have to care about any injuries or even death itself, my troop can take some small hits or even got their armors pierced and still be fine. Without those factors and the situation where the bandits can't swarm my groups of undead, I will have probably retreated a long time ago.

Seeing the last injured bandits die near me, I order my skeletons warriors to go toward the main corridor. Before immediately cancel that order. I don't know why, but I feel something weird. I cast a new shadow with [Nightfall] and let it walk through that door. My senses were right, a huge fireball destroyed the shadow and even the door frame. Now, it will be tricky. The only good point of my situation is my position inside the house. I have a direct vision on the next heavy door, meaning they can only exit by the windows on the other side of the house. But if they do that, first they will be noticed by the entire slums as running cowards, and I will hear it. The true leader, Shadow, has already left the building, that's for sure. With a name like that, he won't be like Oktar and try to kill me in a direct confrontation.

No, he has left, maybe right after the first retreat but who knows. I can hear some small noises, probably the screams of the fighting bandits. The second group of skeletons warriors is still responding to me, that means they have not yet won, but are not dead. Apparently, they tell me that only two bandits are alive, and in a few seconds they will win. I order them to not pursue the fleeing survivors, to stay inside the room they are. But they don't see anything else besides swordsmen. That means, no magicians in sight. I cast another shadow, to see their reaction. And another fireball blasts it. I can't bet on some low mana pool. I mean, the first lich I saw had more mana than the current me, two magicians have probably more mana combined than that lich. Oslo? Any help?