Even with blood coming out from his mouth, Cygnus was still grinning. The creature in front of him was something he had not seen in a long time. The distinct smell of corpses around him and the aura of death that was surrounding him, there's no mistaking it, the man in front of him was a necromancer.
Cygnus had seen his kind in a different world. They were powerful and they could summon an army of undead with just one spell. They could even summon dead dragons to their fullest potential which made them difficult to defeat. The only weakness they had was their ability for close combat. It was practically close to none.
Although he had faced necromancers who could fight with a sword, those were only a few and they lacked the sharpness and intuition that a swordsman has. The reason why he was grinning even after getting stabbed was because the necromancer before him was different. He was more powerful, a worthy opponent, or not. He should be the judge of it.
Cygnus gripped the handle of the lance and with his dark energy, the lance disintegrated and became ashes. He softly landed on the ground and wiped the blood on his lips. He then let out a loud laugh that echoed inside the mine.
"Very well, very well, something came out that is worth my time!" His eyes were wide as his face contorted into that of a mad man. "Let's begin!"
Cygnus disappeared from where he was standing and appeared above them. He raised his hand and let his palm face a certain direction then a black beam appeared and destroyed that particular part of the mine. The explosion caused the ground to shake and pieces of rocks fell from the mine's ceiling. The hanging bones rattled at the force of the impact.
Ezio and Isaiah were blown to the side and they went to the side to avoid the falling rocks. They couldn't help but look up to see what Rigel was doing. They saw several lances and spears that were floating in the air and attacking him but he easily swatted them to the side.
His face was smiling and in the blink of an eye he was in front of a certain section of the cavern. Ezio and Isaiah were confused at his actions then they saw him lean his head forward. They saw him mouthing some words but they failed to hear what he had said.
Cygnus then straightened his head. He pulled back his arm and clenched his fist then he punched forward. His fist hit the wall which slowly cracked under the force of his punch.
The crack started from the point of contact as it slowly spread outward. The master watched in glee as the wall in front of him slowly fell apart to reveal a hidden cavern. That place was much darker than the original cavern they were in.
What was more terrifying than the darkness was the distinct sound of breathing coming clearly from it. It was the same sound that they heard while they were still in that tunnel. The only difference was that the breathing was like a rumbling thunder, loud and full of pressure.
There were also growls coming from the depths of that place. They were not sure what it was but it was enough to bring fear to their hearts. It made their bodies numb as they froze from where they were standing.
Thundering footsteps came from the inside of the cavern followed by a thud as the creature that was making those sounds collided with the unbroken part of the wall. Another thud and the whole wall finally broke down. One heavy footstep followed by the other and out came a creature that they had not seen even before. It was something considered as a legend in their world and on any worlds that the master has visited.
It was a chimera, with the head of a lion and a goat and a tail of a snake that ended with its head. The monster was roaring as it started to breathe fire towards the Cygnus. The fire did not reach him though because he was protected by an invisible barrier.
"I've been burned alive so that attack won't be effective with me, you need to do more if you want to at least give me a scratch." Cygnus chuckled as he sent a blue flame towards the chimera.
The goat head of the creature produced lightning that effectively put out the fire before it reached them. The snake head collected the evil energy in the air and compressed it in front of its mouth before releasing it as a beam aimed towards Cygnus. The master sliced off the beam using his palm, which he covered with something dark, in the middle which changed its trajectory. The halved beam of evil energy split in two and bypassed him, hitting the wall behind Cygnus.
In that enclosed space, all attacks caused the mine walls to tremble and because they were under a mountain, if this exchange of power continued there was a chance that they would be buried alive. Ezio and Isaiah didn't know what they should do. If they stayed, they would surely get caught up with the fight but if they leave then they wouldn't know what would happen to Rigel.
While they were still pondering what they should do, Cygnus lifted his hand and pointed at the chimera in front of him. Several black orbs made up of the evil energy around them started to form in the air. Once these orbs became stable, he snapped his fingers and the orbs started firing towards the chimera.
This time it was the chimera that went on defense. All of their attacks were now focused on disintegrating the beams of black light that were about to pierce through their body. Flashes of lightning struck down, the blazing fire burned even the ground and the snake's own black beam negated the other attacks.
These chaotic mess of attacks finally brought down the mountain and opened the mine. They entered when the sun was still in the sky but now it had begun to set which gave the enemy more leverage in fighting. The last rays of the sun slowly disappeared in the horizon and even the attacks ceased.
The dust created by the fallen mountain filled the whole which obstructed the vision of everyone in there. The rumble echoed through the early evening sky scared away any living things within the vicinity of the abandoned mine. Its sound even reached the town, its people and the sentinels who were left behind.
It brought fear and uncertainty in the hearts of the people as they stared where the rumbling came from. "I hope that they are okay," the leader of the town whispered in the air.
"They'll be fine," one of the sentinels answered. He was confident with the abilities of those young masters and besides the son of Duke Ginehart was someone who was extraordinary in talent.
At the site of the fight, Isaiah scanned his surroundings because he got separated from Ezio. Both of them were not in the condition to fight, especially because they knew that they couldn't defeat the enemy that Rigel was currently fighting. "Ezio!" Isaiah started to shout the man's name but it was still difficult to see through the cloud of dust.
"I'm here!" Ezio answered and he did not know if the other heard him. He couldn't find his way because there were a lot of broken pieces from the collapsed wall that were strewn all over the place. It took them a couple of minutes before they found one another. They then started to look for Rigel but they couldn't find him either.
"Where is he?" Isaiah asked while coughing because of the dust. They tried to look around but they couldn't really find Rigel.
