When Fennelis saw his action, her expression turned grim.
'No good. Why is he going offensive?' She soon realized that the young man had no battle experience like her and was at a loss!
Meanwhile, the Undead Wyrm perceived the danger and tilted its head.
The next instant, a clanging sound echoed in the wasteland as Nicolaus's sword clashed against Wyrm's metallic head.
"Sh*t! I missed it!" Nicolaus cursed inwardly and was about to activate his Lightning Boots but froze.
His whole body got stiffened up at that moment!
It was not only due to the upcoming danger sensation but also due to the appearance of an invisible pressure!
Aura of Dominance!
Simultaneously, he noticed that the Undead Wyrm's sharp tail bent at a weird angle and flew towards him at an incredible speed!
Before he could even blink, the sharpened tip of the metallic tail appeared before his head!
'I'm going to die!' He felt terrified for the first time.
As the tail's tip was about to pierce him, a flame layer appeared out of nowhere and covered his body like a forcefield!
It was Abium's [Blazing Shield] spell.
If it were any other zero-tier defensive spell, things would've gone in a different direction.
But Abium's unique spell managed to withstand the attack and made everything possible!
A loud bam noise echoed in the wasteland.
A second later, he was thrown backward along with the half-broken [Blazing Shield] spell and landed more than 30 meters away from the creature!
Slowly, Nicolaus opened his eyes and noticed that the whole world had started to go blurry.
'Argh! I'm losing consciousness.' He then felt a sharp pain in his head and soon noticed that he was on a reddish rock.
'I messed up.'
He soon coughed up a mouthful of blood and tried to get up but couldn't. His back also hurt terribly, and traces of blood flew out from both temples while drenching his chins.
In the meantime, Fennelis moved much closer to the Undead Wyrm's left side and thrust her sword deep into the wounded area.
Next instant, her long sword moved deep into the Wyrm's head and started freezing its head from inside.
A loud shrieking noise came out of the Undead Wyrm's mouth as it flapped its other wing and started moving its body to and forth to shake off the pain.
Due to this, Fennelis got hit a little, released her grip from the sword, and jumped backward.
She then glanced at the fallen Nicolaus and turned grim.
'What should I do now?'
While she was contemplating, a humanoid silhouette suddenly appeared before the Wyrm's head and raised its sword.
It was none other than Abium.
All this time, he stayed closer to the Undead Wyrm and studied its movement carefully.
'I thought these undead creatures wouldn't feel pain, but I was wrong.' He muttered calmly and was about to take action but suddenly froze.
At that moment, he noticed that his surroundings started to slow down at an incredible speed!
What shocked him more was that some invisible power enveloped his body and helped him move at a normal speed.
He had been in this 'Time-Decelerating' situation before. But at that time, he only managed to think at a normal speed.
But now, Abium felt that he could move willingly!
'I thought my thoughts accelerated at that time, but I was wrong.' He turned around, looked at the injured Nicolaus, and noticed that he was saying something slowly.
'He need to learn many things.'
Nodding, Abium shifted his gaze towards the Undead Wyrm, enveloped his sword in a reddish aura, and walked towards its head.
He then calmly raised his weapon, made a slash at the creature's metallic horn, and checked if he could injure this Undead Wyrm.
To his surprise, his weapon moved at an incredible speed, cut the metallic black horn into two like butter, and even created a rippling wave!
'Damn! What the hell is this broken power?!' At that moment, he also noticed slight mental exhaustion and turned solemn.
'I don't know what is happening to my body, but it's better to utilize this opportunity.' He nodded inwardly, moved towards its abdomen region, and made a slash while cutting metal-like skin, flesh, and even a bone!
He dashed towards the creature's wings, cut it neatly, and moved towards its tail.
...
A few moments ago, Fennelis noticed his appearance and was about to wave her hand but suddenly frowned.
She saw his body turn blurry and disappear like a ghost at that moment.
No, she saw him moving towards the abdomen, then towards the Wyrm's wing, its long tail, and continued to move like a lightning bolt!
Whenever he moved near the Undead Wyrm, he detached the metallic bones and rotten flesh and began destroying it with incredible speed.
The whole Undead Wyrm got separated into multiple pieces within a few seconds, leaving only a head-sized reddish core at the center!
"W-What the f*ck?" Fennelis couldn't believe what she was seeing and rubbed her eyes in shock.
But before she could say another word, Abium suddenly arrived before her and started to fall backward.
As Abium fell with a thud, Fennelis snapped out of the daze and checked his pulse.
But the next moment, she sensed someone's presence behind her and grew alert.
She instantly grabbed Abium's sword, made a sword slash, and cut the round thing that flew towards her face without any delay.
But a moment later, she saw the black thing's appearance and went pale.
'Shit, it's that infected fruit.' She saw the black smoke filled with spores appearing suddenly and tried to cover her nose but couldn't due to the sudden dizziness.
Before Fennelis could take a clear look at the enemy, she stumbled forward and fell before going unconscious.
...
"Ugh."
Abium slowly opened his eyes after an unknown amount of time, glanced around, and soon discovered that they were locked up in some dark room.
'Where are we?' He frowned deeply.
Simultaneously, pain appeared all over his body.
'I feel tired.' As he glanced at his body, he noticed multiple wounds and scratches.
'Someone beat me up while I was unconscious? Why? To weaken me physically?' He furrowed his brows and checked the surroundings first.
A small fire torch was installed near the entrance, lightening the gloomy room. Abium also noticed that the walls appeared to be made of stones but looked neater like concrete.
He also saw carvings of animals, graffiti, and a few other symbols throughout the walls and felt more curious about his current location.
'Where the hell are we?'
While he was asking himself, a groaning noise emerged from the edge of the gloomy room and startled him deeply.
Abium paused in surprise and soon realized that Nicolaus was lying on the ground and appeared to be in a half-conscious state.
He noticed that Nicolaus's mouth was covered with some black cloth, making it hard for him to breathe or utter a noise.
He was also badly beaten, and there were bruises and wounds all over his body.
'The kidnappers are smart.' He was astounded a little.
As he shifted his gaze, Abium saw Fennelis and Umi lying on his left side and in a deep sleep.
What made him startle more was that the other party hadn't touched them, and both appeared in good shape.
'The kidnappers also knew about humans. At least, they seem to be aware of the difference between men and women. But where is gender equality?' He shook his head and felt relieved inside.
'I hope the kidnappers are soft-hearted ones.' He muttered inwardly and tried to stand up.
But before that could happen, the entrance gate of the darkroom opened with a screeching noise and revealed the outside world to Abium's eyes.
At that moment, a humanoid skeleton figure walked in and observed the surroundings while holding a silver-like sword in its bony hand. The humanoid skeleton had blue-fire eyes, a pure white skull, and bones, and it even held a strange bag in its other hand.
It calmly looked at Nicolaus first, then towards sleeping Fennelis and Umi, and finally locked its gaze on Abium.
But as soon as it noticed that Abium was already awake, it immediately retreated a few steps and was ready to battle him.
Meanwhile, Abium calmly released his spirit power, activated the [Spiritual Scan] ability, and looked at its status.
'It's a skeleton warrior with Strength, Agility, and Vitality being 4, 4.6, and 4.9. But man, how does an Undead Skeleton even have Vitality? Does that mean these skeletons aren't immortal and energetic but can also be exhaustible? Strange, these undead skeletons not only get the feeling of pain but also seem to have other traits of humans. What a wonderful world are we in?'
While he was in deep thoughts, the skeleton warrior regained his calm, stepped into the darkroom with some courage, and kicked at Abium's chest. Although Abium attempted to evade the kick, the range was too small.
As the kick landed on his chest, Abium dropped backward and showed a stiff smile.
In the meantime, the Skeleton Warrior looked down at him and showed an emotionless look.
After a short silence, it opened its lower jaw and tried to speak to him in some unknown language.
Unfortunately, Abium couldn't understand a single word and looked confused.
On the other hand, the Skeleton Warrior started to mumble in some foreign language for the next few moments and soon gave up.
It then took out the poorly looking book from its bag and tossed it in front of his face.
That book had a mottled bronze exterior cover with a strange star-shaped lock on its side and looked mysterious.
Although that book appeared old and eerie, Abium felt some spiritual power coming from it and furrowed.
'From my knowledge, these undead skeletons are puppet-like beings and only be used by necromancers for fights. But things are different in this world.'
Abium let out a deep sigh, slowly sat on the ground, and looked at the book with a frown.
Meanwhile, the skeleton warrior turned around, walked out of the darkroom, and sealed the entrance door from the other side.