Ivan and his newly formed raid crew stepped into the realm behind the gate. A floating holograph banner welcomed them: Welcome to the Vate Prison Realm.
The adventurers remained composed, despite some of them feeling chills cascade down their spines from gazing directly at the banner. The banner silently exploded into dazzling crimson bits like a firework, and the adventurers instantly focused their attention on what lay ahead of them.
Not too far from them, and directly ahead, was a gathering of undead skeletons. The group were assembled in an elliptic shape, clustered around two central figures. One of these two skeletons was on its knees, its head hanging low, while the other stood dominantly over it with a scary, menacing grin plastered across its bone-white face.
The menacingly smiling skeleton spoke, its voice raspy, "Rtina, you dared challenge me. Beg for mercy, and I shall spare you."
The other skeleton, still hunched, slowly raised its head to look directly at its towering tormentor. The adventurers, observing from a distance, could clearly see that a side of the battered skeleton's face was conspicuously missing—a stark testament to the brutal beating it had endured at the hands of the dominant figure.
"To hell with you! I will never concede against scum like you," the battered skeleton retorted, its voice sharp and unyielding, defying its broken state.
The dominant skeleton was visibly angered by its opponent's unyielding spirit. "I will send you to hell!" it roared.
It grabbed the battered opponent by the neck, lifting it clean off the ground. The dominant skeleton then pulled a bone sword from its rib cage and used it to clinically sever the head of its opponent with one mighty slash. Its adversary died instantly.
The adventurers were profoundly shaken, and they loudly gasped in horror, a collective sound of shock. Their audible gasp instantly caught the attention of the remaining skeletons.
Due to being momentarily entranced by the gruesome spectacle of the undead skeletons and not being shrewd enough to initiate an attack while the skeletons were preoccupied with their duel, the adventurers were caught completely off guard when the undead skeletons noticed them and promptly took the initiative to launch a concerted attack.
Ivan was startled, and his initial instinct was to flee, but he quickly reined in this powerful tendency for flight. He instead adopted a battle-ready stance, gripping tightly to his switch axe. He expected his fellow adventurers to stand with him, but he was disheartened. Seven of them immediately turned and fled, heading for the vortex they had entered through.
Ivan was left standing with only Baka and Wanyama.
"What the hell! Why are they running?" Wanyama yelled apprehensively, appalled by his teammates' blatant cowardice.
Wanyama lamented, 'Damn it, I can't face the undead skeletons head-on in close combat. They have swords, and I don't have a defensive or evasive item on me.'
Just like the two standing with him, Ivan's heart rate was shooting through the roof. He quickly racked his brain to find an advantage they could exploit. He suddenly remembered something. He said to Wanyama,
"Didn't you say that you have an AOE skill? You said it could obliterate things within a specific radius. Can't you use it now to deal with these skeletons since we're so outnumbered?"
Wanyama went silent, wrestling with the decision of whether to use the powerful skill. Wanyama possessed two types of AOE (Area of Effect) skills: the Aerial Obliterator and the Ground Obliterator.
The Ground Obliterator required him to stand on a surface connected to the ground. If he was standing on a surface suspended in the air, he couldn't make use of the Ground Obliterator AOE skill. In that scenario, he would use the Aerial Obliterator instead.
The Ground Obliterator dealt obliteration damage to objects or targets that were positioned on a surface connected to the ground. Conversely, the Aerial Obliterator dealt damage to objects suspended in the air.
The drawbacks of this skill were tied to Wanyama's rank. He was base-rank, like the rest of his teammates. The skills had a cooldown of ten minutes after a single use. However, his Ground Obliterator had two uses available before it entered its cooldown period.
Baka was about to prompt Wanyama to say something when Wanyama finally spoke up. He said, "Our teammates haven't gone far away from the impact radius. If I used the skill, they would suffer fatal damage, and that's me saying it lightly. The stark truth is that they would be reduced to mere bits."
Ivan immediately took off, chasing after his cowardly teammates. He yelled, "Let's catch up with them and tell them our plan! Since they're too scared to fight, at least they'll appreciate that someone can take their problems away."
Baka and Wanyama followed suit. The trio, however, couldn't quite catch up with the seven fleeing figures.
"Stop! We have a plan, and if you don't want to die prematurely, I suggest that you stop and listen!" Baka yelled to the seven, his voice possessing a dominant flair that seemed to compel instant obedience.
This 'dominant voice' stemmed from his aptitude as a Draconic. He also possessed an uncommon boon, which was a sub-aptitude: Royal Dragon. If he cultivated his powers to the pinnacle, he would be overtly powerful when compared with his peers on the same level.
Right now, his sub-aptitude was at the Bronze rank, but his overall stat was still at base rank. However, he was already notably more powerful than his peers.
The seven cowardly teammates reluctantly stopped, their fear still evident. Wanyama and Ivan also sensed the innate power in Baka's voice. Without needing to be explicitly told, Ivan knew he was originally supposed to explain the plan to the seven, but with the raw power Baka had displayed, it was clearly best that Baka did the talking.
The trio quickly caught up with their teammates. Baka concisely explained the plan. The seven teammates reluctantly agreed to the plan, their apprehension still lingering. The team, for the moment, was unified. They gathered close to Wanyama.
Wanyama took a deep breath and then exhaled. He half-kneeled and placed his hand firmly on the ground. The intricate runes on his torso and forehead glowed vividly in a dazzling crimson light.
He patiently waited for the encroaching undead skeletons to get closer; he didn't want to gamble on the exact degree of damage they would suffer. This caution was necessary in case any of the undead skeletons were above base rank. Those above base rank had a higher tendency to survive if they were away from the direct concentration point of the combustion blast.
The skeletons finally entered the optimal range that Wanyama desired.
"Go, Flame!" Wanyama yelled his favourite catchphrase as he activated his devastating attack.
A deafening explosion immediately rang out. The encroaching undead skeletons were incinerated and utterly consumed as if they had been rapidly eroded by a ferocious sea of flames.