Ustengera, Verse 11

Ghouls are one of the undead endemic to Skyrim. They are usually the metamorphosis of ancient warriors left over from the Worship of the Dragons. It is characterized by its strength, hardiness, fearlessness, quick movements, blue light from its eyes, and high-ranking ghouls also have the power to use the unique combat skill of ancient Nord heroes - dragon roar. In Tamriel's lineage of undead, they occupy a high position.

Alice is not afraid of ghouls. She'd hacked to death in the Temple of Coldfall, and knew that they were mere mortals. As long as the head is chopped off, even the most powerful ghoul can be fatal in one hit.

However, that doesn't mean she can treat any number of ghouls as nothing.

If she encounters a lone ghoul or two, she can kill them at will.

If there are a dozen of them, then she will have to put some effort into it.

If we increase that number again to nearly a hundred. Then she can still win, but at the cost of a small injury.

But if hundreds of ghouls attack, and it's a situation where you're alone without reinforcements. She had to think about how to retreat.

And now there were hundreds of ghouls just in her field of vision. There are not a few high-level ghouls who can confront her head-on, and among them are more than a dozen archers with Gounod-style longbows. Not to mention the army of ghouls who are coming from afar, I don't know how many.

This is not a quantity that she can handle. Coupled with the burden of Minnie by her side, any plan of direct confrontation seems extremely stupid at this moment. Alice's only way out is to escape.

But how can you escape?

Didn't leave alone, but escaped with Minnie?

The moment the ghouls awoke, the brazier torches in the crypt were lit by some unknown mechanism. And this enough lighting also made Alice clear the grim shape of the moment at the first time.

You have to make a choice......

"Let me stay, I can't walk anymore." Minnie said weakly, her hands on Alice's shoulders as she tried to push her away.

She suffered a lot of injuries. The hands and feet are fine, but there may be a few broken ribs. Carter had abused her very violently before, and it was very likely that he had even injured her internal organs. It will be impossible for her to walk on her own feet for a short time.

So, to throw her down?

It is not too much to give up the life of a stranger who has only seen two sides and may also pose a threat to himself in exchange for his own safety. Isn't it?

After all, he saved her life. Then, according to the rules of equivalent exchange, she should also stay, and use her body and flesh to attract the attention of the ghouls in return for saving her life. Isn't it?

"Shut up!" Alice said to Minnie Mouse viciously, "Don't compare me to those cowards who are greedy for life and afraid of death!" All you have to do is give me a quiet look! ”

Her free left hand hugged Minnie Mouse tightly, and the long sword in her right hand slashed a lethal semicircle, forcing all the surrounding ghouls back with a single blow.

[There's always a way to go!] If the road ahead is not good, there is a back road, and if the road is not good, there is still a way to go! It's a big deal to die here, how can I leave an ordinary person to protect me from the disaster!! 】

[If I do that, 'I' may survive, but 'Alice' will definitely die and can't die again.] What is the difference between a warrior who has lost his glory and dignity and made a way for himself with the blood of innocents and a salted fish!? 】

"Hold on." The girl whispered. And then...... Spike!

There is always a place for gaps.

There's always a place to see the needle.

At least...... Fight to the end!

With a flash of the sword, several ghouls in front of Alice were cut in two. Several arrows struck, but she also deftly avoided them, and in the blink of an eye, she passed through a dozen coffins that had not yet been fully opened, and came to the other side of the burial hall.

This way...... It's not the way you came. However, you can't stay in an open place for a long time.

A series of roars rang out in the air, and with a small twist she pushed a low-rank ghoul off guard behind her. The next moment, a dozen sharp arrows shot through the poor fellow. The powerful arrows even pierced the ghoul's body, leaving a few blood marks on Alice's body.

[What a heavy arrow.] 】

She didn't hesitate, and rushed into the corridor in front of her as soon as she turned around. Let all the arrows coming from the rear miss.

The road wasn't very long, but in the blink of an eye she was on the other side of the passage. Waiting for her on this side of the passage was another group of ghouls who had awakened.

[Four on the left, six on the right, and two archers on top......]

The girl stabbed forward violently, and when the momentum was exhausted, the long sword swept abruptly!

Half-month-slash!

The hastily assembled array of ghouls shattered, and the narrow sword light slashed at the waists of several enemies that stood in front of Alice in an instant. Then, move on!

[There are dense footsteps behind them, and they are getting closer.] 】

"Let me go...... Run......" Minnie, who was hugged by the girl, shouted weakly, but Alice just pretended not to hear. Her gaze swept over the two ghoul archers standing on the heights, and she quickly scurried into the passage to the left.

Left, or right? It doesn't matter, the key is to make a choice in time. Anyway, there's no worse solution than staying where you are.

Left...... There are steps to go up......

Is it a path to the surface?

Alice didn't have time to think about it so much, she just swung her sword quickly and decisively again and again, destroying everything that stood in her way. She could only do this, and she only had time to do it.

The blade of the sword, severing the withered bones. The half-solidified dark blue slurry flowed like a small river, dyeing the otherwise wide and clean corridor an unsightly color. The walls on both sides of the corridor are covered with hand-excavated grave pits. Every moment, a new ghoul awakens from above.

They are not qualified to have a black coffin, and naturally they are more vulnerable than those who live in coffins. However, they are more numerous than the elite ghouls.

Killed one, and two.

Hack five to death, and ten more.

When Alice finally broke through this corridor with only fifty steps at most and reached the upper end of the second floor of the dungeon, the remains of the ghouls behind her were already large enough to make up the amount of meat for thirty people.

[Delayed......]

She flew up before rushing out of the hallway, kicking a half-chopped ghoul out like a ballista. Sure enough, the guy who was already half-dead was shot into a honeycomb by more than a dozen arrows the moment he appeared, and he was instantly dead and couldn't die again. And with this opportunity, she has quickly crashed into the group of ghouls beyond the stairs!

"Give it all to me...... Dead open! ”

A low-level ghoul who bore the brunt of the blow was immediately smashed to the front and back ribs, tossed high like a rag doll, and then fell. The ghouls, who are slightly behind, face the edge of the Forge Sword. In the blink of an eye, the shield bearer guarding the ghoul archers was sent flying with their shields. After that, the archers who had not had time to reload the second arrow were also killed one by one.

[Back...... It's a little cold......]

The girl subconsciously jumped to the side, and several ice spears pierced through the direction where she was just now, stringing several shooters who were used as meat shields into rock sugar gourds.

"Tsk, a wizard among ghouls? It's getting more and more troublesome. Alice snorted and ran decisively into the nearest tunnel. Let a large wave of ice that ensues blast the entrance to the passage to pieces.

"These guys...... How many more, exactly? ”

In the distance, in the distance, the roaring and howling of the ghouls came and went. Maybe it's not a meaningless pronunciation, but a way of communicating. If it weren't for that, it's hard to imagine that they would be so numerous and so densely distributed.

You have to run out of their reach......

The girl walked as fast as she could, and there were fewer ghouls in this passage than elsewhere. She only kills those who block the way she must pass, and spares the enemies who are far away.

Soon, she was in another hall and faced another problem. The puzzle isn't more ghouls, it's a few nearly identical crossings.

"There are actually five intersections......"

There is no doubt that this place in front of you is similar to a transportation hub. However, sooner or later, the ghouls will make it here, so the choice now will be crucial.

But which side to choose?

"Right...... The second ......" Minnie Mouse said with all her might, "The symbol...... It means bridge. ”

[Can she read the Gunnold script?] 】

A grump of doubt rose in Alice's heart, but her body had already reacted before more ghouls could surround her, and she rushed into the second path on her right hand.

[Hope you don't make a mistake......]

She scurried into one lane, and soon followed Minnie's instructions to rush into another. And as time passed, the number of ghouls not far behind her grew, and soon, it reached a number that she would never be able to handle.

Then she saw the bridge.

The narrow, slender marble straight bridge.

Beneath the bridge was the abyss of a black hole, with no light or wind, like the mouth of a pre-epoch beast, filled with silent silence and fear. Above the bridge, hundreds of heavily armed ghouls were on standby.

[Did they know I was coming, so they waited for me here?] 】

Behind him, the voices of the ghoul hordes grew closer.

Is there no road?

No, there's one more.

Alice took a deep breath as she looked at the hundreds of heavily armored ghouls on the bridge.

“Fus－Ro————Dah！！！！！”

The moment he blurted it out, the ancient dragon's words turned into a substantial storm of power! The air pressure projectile, comparable to the heaviest battering ram, was created zào. Then, smash it at the ghoul on the bridge!

'Boom Boom Boom Boom T

With the roar of their armor being torn, the ghouls were repelled by an irresistible force as they were baroforced. They howled, struggled, and fell into the abyss. Even the stone bridge itself was affected by this force, and the cracked lines soon took up the hundreds of feet of pathway.

However, it did not collapse.

And when the pursuing group of ghouls followed the trail left by Alice, they rushed to this end of the stone bridge. Alice and Minnie were already on the other side of the bridge. Unlike the other side of the bridge, this side of the bridge was quiet, and there was no ghoul roar. Maybe it's not a burial area, but a ritual place where ghouls are not allowed to set foot in it.

Then, there is only one thing that needs to be done.

Alice placed Minnie Mouse under a stone pillar beside her, and the forge-sword in her hand was also inserted into the stone gap. She raised her hand, and as she felt the drastic loss of her magical power, a powerful magical energy that she had never used before began to take shape.

"Incineration."

The roaring flames slammed into one of the largest cracks in the bridge. The roar of the gears was immediately heard.

Stone bridge, collapsed.