Chapter 172: Help from the Other Side

’’Ghosts?’’ Titus paused for a moment, initially thinking the silver beings rushing out of the gate were simply more of Narcissa’s summoned soldiers.

But soon, his thoughts were completely reversed by the next scene he witnessed.

The silver specters swept through the air and rushed straight toward the skeleton army.

The first one crashed into a skeleton with enough force to shatter its entire body, sending pieces of bone flying in every direction.

More followed right behind it, and within moments, the battlefield had completely changed. Thousands of skeletons still covered the area, but now countless silver specters were flying among them, tearing through their ranks and breaking their bodies apart.

The sounds of bones shattering filled everywhere as silver figures constantly flashed through the sea of undead. Some skeletons were crushed from behind, while others were struck from above, their bodies kept breaking apart.

Seeing a few ghosts also rushing toward them, Titus immediately put his body in front of Celeste to defend her.

Before the ghosts could crash into him, they changed their paths, not even touching the two and only rushing toward the skeletons behind them.

Titus lowered his shield as he muttered. ’’Are they on our side?’’

The specters weren’t attacking Narcissa either. Whatever had brought them here, they seemed to have no interest in anyone except the skeletons.

That was enough for Titus.

Not wanting to figure out what was going on anymore, he immediately held Celeste, who still seemed too shocked and tired to even speak, by her waist and put her over his shoulder.

Holding his massive frost shield in his other hand, he started to run.

—

’’What spell is this?’’ Rowena muttered, watching the silver lights floating in the air and constantly crushing every bone they saw.

Their bodies looked transparent, and they could even phase in and out of the ground from time to time, passing through solid objects. However, whenever they crashed into the skeletons, they seemed to briefly take on a solid form, shattering the skeletons apart with a powerful impact.

In her century-long life, she had witnessed countless powerful spells and fought more battles than she could remember, yet she had never seen anything remotely similar to this.

Corvo, meanwhile, had already collected himself and started moving his body. ’’We need to run.’’

When he looked toward the Skeleton Lizard and saw the enormous beast beginning to move again, he knew they couldn’t afford to remain there.

He wrapped his remaining arm around Rowena and lifted her onto his shoulder before breaking into a run.

For a moment, he could only hope the lizard would ignore them.

Unfortunately, that hope didn’t last long.

The lizard wasn’t like the other skeleton soldiers, as it wasn’t frozen by the presence spreading around them.

It shook its enormous body, sending the remaining flames and pieces of charred bone falling from its frame. Once the fire pillar had completely disappeared, its fire burning eyes immediately locked onto the two fleeing figures.

It didn’t even hesitate for a second as it clawed at the scorched, burned ground with its bone claws and instantly lunged at its prey.

The ground trembled beneath its weight as it charged after them, crushing everything in its path.

Rowena glanced over Corvo’s shoulder and watched the distance between them disappear far faster than she hoped. ’’We won’t make it at this speed.’’

’’I’m aware.’’ Corvo continued running without slowing down. They had already used up too much mana during the battle, leaving the Witches’ reserves with not enough to cast a spell that could increase their speed.

His only hope was the intact part of the forest ahead.

If they could reach the dense trees, the Skeleton Lizard’s enormous body would have difficulty moving between them. At the very least, they might be able to slow it down or lose it among the trees.

Rowena kept looking back as the beast continued to close the distance.

Her brows furrowed when she realized just how quickly it was approaching them, and the exhaustion weighing down her body was beginning to disappear as the power of her bloodline trait started to awaken again.

Her skin gradually grew warmer, and thin trails of smoke began rising from her body.

’’If you’re too tired to run, just let me carry you.’’

She was also very strong physically because of her bloodline trait, so she could even run faster than Corvo currently.

The man, probably feeling quite ashamed and not wanting to hurt his pride, actually sped up even more. ’’No need. We almost made it.’’

Rowena stared at the back of his head for a moment before letting out a frustrated sigh.

Even when they were about to die, this man’s pride wouldn’t let him admit he was tired.

The forest was already within sight when the Skeleton Lizard suddenly accelerated behind them.

Its massive body tore through the scorched ground, and its enormous maw opened wide as it closed the remaining distance.

Rowena could already hear the grinding sound of its countless teeth when something caught her attention.

’They finally decided to come for this as well?’

She had watched the ghosts attacking the skeletons so far, thinking they weren’t interested in the Skeleton Lizard.

But now, seeing one of them rushing toward them quite quickly to help, she felt quite relieved.

The silver figure crossed the distance in the air at incredible speed, leaving behind a faint trail of light as it rushed toward the Skeleton Lizard.

It struck the massive skull from the side with tremendous force, causing the creature to lose its balance and crash heavily into the ground.

’’What happened?’’ Hearing the impact, Corvo asked, unable to turn around to look.

’’Nothing. Just keep running.’’ Rowena’s eyes remained on the fallen lizard for a moment before shifting back to the silver specter.

Its body was hovering above the fallen lizard, glowing faintly in the darkness of the night.

For a brief moment, Rowena felt its gaze settle on her.

She couldn’t help feeling that the ghost looked quite familiar.

She wanted to make Corvo stop so she could take a better look at its features, but the ghost’s body soon started to lose its shine and, not long after, disappeared completely from her sight.

Leaving behind only a small ache in Rowena’s chest.