Chapter 82 - Clash of the Beyonders (1) (Patreon)

Valkorion eyed the leading Necromancer cautiously, but that didn't stop him from attacking the Cultist of the Cult of the Damned. When they noticed them, it was clear that the Cultists were going to fight to the death because the entire area was already filled with the Undead that they had risen or taken control of.

However, he would still bet that they were the ones that the Cultists from the Cult of the Damned brought with them.

Though some of the Undead were wearing the garbs of the Cult of the Damned, most probably the goons of the Cult, who were killed during their mission here and were raised as Undead by the Cult's necromancers.

Rather pitiful fate...

Valkorion redied the Sealed Artifact Excalibur as he gathered all of the power in his legs; he appeared in front of the Amuleth in a flash and swung his sword that was radiating a mild light at the head of the leading Cultist from their little group.

Much to his surprise and shock, the Cultist of the Cult of the Damned dodged in almost a split second, while at the same time, several Skeleton Knights appeared next to Alumeth and swung their weapons at Valkorion. 

The Sequence 6 Necromancer was very powerful, especially the one that had fully digested the potion and was ready to advance to the Middle Sequences. 

Valkorion had some rudimentary information about the Death Pathway, which was something that most of the members of the Cult of the Damned chose. The lowest Sequence was the Sequence 7 Corpse Collector, whose basic abilities were:

1st Corpse Characteristics: They gain certain corpse characteristics. They would develop a gloomy presence and lower body temperature. These characteristics prevent them from being attacked by undead creatures and spirits. They also gain resistance to the cold, decay, and corrosiveness of cadaveric auras. And as the last, they will also gain enhanced physical attributes when drinking the potion. 

2nd Spirit Communication: They are able to communicate with a small number of spirits that are near their surroundings. This can be used to either scout an area or help them with certain tasks.

3rd Enhanced Spiritual Vision: They can use Spirit Vision to see non-physical things, such as ghosts and specters. They could see the different parts of a Soul, deduce a person's health and emotions, and determine if something has a magical aura. They are able to directly see spiritual bodies, including a portion of Evil Spirits and restless wraiths, even without activating their Spirit Vision.

Due to these aspects, they were rather apt in close combat to the point where they wouldn't be ambushed out of nowhere.

When the Sequence 7 Corpse Collector advanced to the Sequence 6 Necromancer, they would gain a frightening aptitude towards Necromancy and would be able to use it as freely as breathing.

Necromancy, which was also called The Dark Arts or The Black Arts, is the study and use of magic to raise and control the dead. In the Cosmology of the Faerûn, necromantic magic is the manifestation of Death, and the primary source of magic used to practice Necromancy.

Obviously, the Beyonders of the Death Pathway were not the only ones that were able to use Necromancy; other Beyonders from the adjected Pathways, like the ones from the Darkness Pathway or the Faceless Pathway, could use the very same magic to a certain degree.

It is not like they would be using it to the degree that the Beyonders of the Death Pathways.

If the Necromancer were smarter, they would be utilizing their enhanced physical capabilities, not to have the weakness like most of the similar Beyonders, which was that they were typically one-shot killed when someone ambushed them.

With his eyes, he quickly located the Alumeth, who was in the background and casting some Spells on the Undead because he was supporting the Undead. Skilled necromancers and Beyonders of the Death Pathway could enhance their Undead with their Necromantic Magic.

While Necromantic Magic is mainly used to perform Necromancy in order to raise and control the dead, necromancers can also bestow a number of dark enchantments upon their fellow undead warriors and greatly accelerate an undead's movement and attack rates.

However, those under the influence of this spell find themselves moving so quickly that their bodies begin to burn and ache, slowly dying from the effects of their unholy frenzy. They can cause their enemy's muscles to suddenly spasm and quake, leaving them immobile and effectively helpless.

Obviously, this was something that only the experienced and very skilled Beyonders could do and use the plethora of dangerous spells of the Dark Arts. As he had previously heard that Alumeth Alard was the disciple of the High Deathpriest Isidorus, it must mean that he was very skilled in the Necromantic Arts. 

He continued using Excalibur to fight against the Skeleton Knights, who were getting stronger and faster with each passing moment due to the enchantments that they were receiving from their masters, which made the situation rather troublesome.

And if it wasn't enough already, he was being harassed by other Undead, but the ones that were occasionally attacking him in bigger numbers were not the Extraordinary Undead, but rather ordinary Undead.

It's not like the Skeleton Knights that were at Sequence 6 Extraordinary Undead.

Both of them.

So fighting them both at the same time was certainly hard-pressed to a certain degree, while also disposing of the ordinary Undead that were attacking him in the tens. Fortunately enough, due to Excalibur, he needed only one hit to kill the ordinary Undead, which wasn't an Extraordinary Undead. 

The power of Excalibur was already too much for the Sequence 7 Extraordinary Undead handle, much less being said about the Undead that were not really Extraordinary Creatures.

He was rather lucky that he managed to advance to the Sequence 6 Beast Tamer before he went to the mission to the Orange Shore, because now he had officially confirmed that without even more enhanced physical capabilities, he would have for sure perished in this dammed place.

This entire place was far more dangerous than he had initially predicted, and Mellisandre's information about the Orange Shore was misleading, or it would be more precise to say, it was incomplete.

It seemed that not even the Red Temple was aware of the presence of the Cult of the Damned at the Undead Asylum Catacombs. He was sure that if not for the presence of those dammed cultists who wanted to bring doomsday, then the situation wouldn't be that dangerous. 

Indeed, every powerful foe that they have encountered till now was from the Cult of the Damned, or it was the Undead under the control of the Cult of the Damned. According to the information of the Red Temple, these areas of the Izalith shouldn't be supposed to have such powerful Undead. 

The Cult of the Damned was thus the only logical solution.

He hacked the Excalibur towards one of the Skeleton Knights as he narrowly dodged the rusty sword that was headed for his head. Even though the Skeleton Knights looked like they would fall apart at any given moment, they were surprisingly powerful and agile.