Chapter 265 - Price Of Time

As the flashes began to fly out of the crystal, the ground shook. 

"Looks like the second stage has officially begun." Undead said slowly, staring intently at the crystal.

Tremble.

When the first flash reached the bones of the long-dead beast, they suddenly glowed brightly and soared into the air. The bones began to join together into a skeleton, and the missing parts that had been lost or destroyed began to regenerate.

A few seconds later, an entire skeleton of a massive beast was floating in the air, but that was only the beginning. Flesh and blood, tendons, muscles, veins, and other important elements of any body began to appear on the bones.

Eventually, when the reconstruction of the beast's body was finished, the monster's eyes filled with life, and a bloodthirsty and ancient aura began to emanate from it. The monster looked something like a huge tiger, but with blue skin and bony growths on its back and paws.

The tiger looked at the challengers and walked slowly toward Wain. The beast sensed that Wain was stronger than the others, so it attacked him.

The ground shook from the tiger's footsteps and left deep marks on it. In the distance, the bones of the other beasts also soared and began to recover as if they were going back in time.

"What the fuck?" The girl exclaimed warily, looking at the tiger and the soaring bones. She couldn't believe her eyes that something like this was possible.

She knew that some people who were familiar with the elements of darkness and death could use the bodies of the dead for their purposes. They were called necromancers, but necromancers did not know how to resurrect their subjects fully.

Necromancers could resurrect a skeleton and use it as their warrior but not restore its flesh and blood. Resurrection was a true miracle, beyond the control of anyone but time.

"Well... it's actually weird, but if we want to go any further, we have to fight them and kill all the monsters. I suggest we postpone our duel for now, or none of us will pass forward." Undead said coldly and stepped forward.

His silhouette blurred, and a moment later, he was in front of a tiger. The beast had no time to realize that Undead's blade was at its neck and could not block the attack.

Whooooosh.

Undead turned sharply and, with the speed of lightning, struck two cuts on the tiger's neck, cutting off the beast's head.

Bam.

The decapitated monster rumbled to the ground, and a pink soul flew into Undead's body.

'He was able to kill an Epic Rating monster so easily and quickly... not bad, not bad at all.' Wain pondered, 'But, if the first monster had such a valuable soul, then what awaits us next?'

The Ring of Damned glowed, and a platinum sword appeared in Wain's hand. He used the Shattered Part and linked the dark sword with his weapon. That was enough for now. Wain didn't want to use his powerful skills ahead of time.

Undead and the girl also prepared for battle and activated one of their skills. A ghostly spirit appeared next to Undead and headed for his bone dagger. The weapon glowed brightly and began to change.

It became longer, sharper, and more deadly. Several energy lines also appeared on the dagger, from which white flames flashed at times.

The girl waved her arms and changed her fighting stance. The sign on her chest shone brightly, and the moon symbol appeared on her palms, her hands were covered in blue energy, and her aura increased.

Several of the monsters had already risen and were heading toward them by this point. The girl decided to act first. She ran toward the huge ogre-like monster and swung a powerful palm strike to the stomach.

She was swift, and the Ogre did not have time to react to this attack. Then she continued to attack, and with each blow, she broke the monster's bones and turned its internal organs into a bloody mess.

Before the last blow, the girl took a step back and sprinted with her fist, throwing the multi-ton monster dozens of meters away.

'Sven was right. Axalt does indeed have phenomenal physical stats. Not only is she strong, but she knows how to use her physical power and how to strike. Honestly, she excels at that.' Wain pondered.

He had never studied any martial arts and had no teacher to show him how to fight. As a child and teenager, Wain fought to survive. He relied on his instincts to win time after time and slowly move toward his goal.

"Rgh!"

Suddenly a monster roar was heard behind Wain. Wain turned sharply and swung his sword from top to bottom. He sliced the monster in two and hung his sword, knocking away the clinging blood.

The number of monsters increased with each second, and the further they appeared, the stronger their auras became. They looked menacing and deadly.

The Undead and the girl were ready to fight and use their strong skills in the future, but something was worrying Wain.

'Last time, there were exact conditions for passing to the next stage, but the condition is blurred and veiled this time. I need to find the way to the Eternal River of Blood, but how do we do that? Do we have to fight monsters until one of us is left alive? It doesn't make sense.'

Wain decided that the condition for passing the test was something else. If only one of them had to stay alive, then there was no point in moving them to a place where there was a crystal that could resurrect monsters.

It was just a matter of putting the three challengers in a restricted area, and they would fight each other unconditionally. That's exactly what Undead would do before the crystal became active.

Also, Wain didn't think that the condition for passing the second stage was to kill all the monsters. Sure, they could do that, but then it would go back to the first option. The three of them would be left, and they would have to fight each other again.

Wain had one theory about the crystal in the distance. Not only could it be the catalyst that resurrected the monsters, but it could also be a clue to passing the test or even a key.

He didn't run straight to the crystal; Wain wanted to do it carefully and discreetly. If the crystal was a clue, he needed time to figure out how to use it. The Undead and the girl didn't have to get in his way.

"Roooooaaaaaaaarrrrr!" A huge beast with powerful front paws like two hammers roared in the distance.

It was over twenty meters tall, and this monster was one of the strongest resurrected ones, at least for now.

After its roar, the eyes of some of the monsters lit up in red flames. Their strength increased, and they pounced on the challengers like madmen.

"Tsk, scum." Undead said coldly, and his eyes sparkled.

Energy began to emanate from his hair, and he turned into a blur. Like a white flash, he moved from one monster to the next, leaving a path of corpses behind him.

The girl folded her palms together, and a phantom lotus bud appeared above her, slowly opening. Dozens of petals sprang from it and rained down on the monsters like projectiles. They exploded, leaving craters and bloodstains on the ground.

Wain nodded and also decided to take part in this battle. That way, he wanted to get to the crystal unnoticed by the Undead and the girl. If he would fight the distraught monsters, his actions would not make them suspicious.

"Huh, it looks like it's time to try out my new skill. This is going to hurt..." Wain muttered, and his eyes turned icy.

A large amount of energy appeared around him and headed for his back, and then Wain felt intense pain. He clenched his teeth and heard his flesh tearing. The energy slowly began to turn into bone wings that grew from Wain's back.

The bones proliferated and gradually emerged horrible wings that were brutal weapons for killing. 

Wain could hardly restrain himself from screaming, as the basis for the wings was his nerves. It gave him partial control over them and gave him the instincts of an ancient beast.

When the skill activation was finished, Wain spread his wings apart and took a deep breath.. His eyes resembled those of a wyvern or even a dragon.