Swordsman's Regression: Reawakened as a Necromancer-Chapter 131: A Slicing Sound

"Formation!" Aethelstan bellowed, his voice echoing off the honey-slicked walls.

"Tanks, form the shield wall to protect our Healers! Do not let those Beasts pass! Mages, Arcanists, focus your elements on the flying units! Corisande, save your mana for the debuff in case we need it!"

He pointed his sword at the Empress’s porcelain face.

"Nessa, Dagna, Bromm, Vadrian! You are the distraction. Keep the smaller beasts busy. Knights! You’re with me"

Aethelstan was about to yell "Attack!" when Nessa called, "Wait!"

He paused, turning to her. "What is it?"

"The Aspect," she said, eyeing the boss. "A Gate World like this, the Aspect could be useful for a specific person’s Class. Since it’s the one who lands the killing blow that gets it, we have to choose carefully."

She turned to the rest of the team. "Does anyone think this Gate World’s Aspect could specifically aid their Class growth?"

"Hah! Is that a question?" Ugmar hefted his shield, grinning beneath his beard. "No one says no to a Gate World Aspect, girl. Give it to me, and I’ll turn my skin to iron. I’ll be unkillable."

"It would be wasted on a tank," Corvell interjected, stepping forward. The Healer Mage looked intense, his eyes scanning the Empress with professional hunger.

"Explain," Aethelstan said, tapping his sword hilt impatiently.

"It’s a Swarm Type," Corvell said quickly. "The fundamental power of the Hive is the Chorus: The ability to link multiple minds and bodies into a single unit. For a Healer Mage, that could be very useful."

He gestured to the group. "Right now, unlike Corisande who is a Talent Rank higher than me, I have to cast Heal or Buff on each of you individually. It drains mana linearly. But with a Swarm Aspect, I could be able to treat the entire party as one organism. If I heal one, the health is distributed to all. It would revolutionize our survivability."

Nessa nodded. The logic was sound. "Tactically, that is the highest value outcome."

She turned her gaze to the Prince.

"Aethelstan, were you listening? If Corvell gets the Last Hit, the drop priority for the Aspect shifts to him."

Aethelstan didn’t look back. He was staring at the Empress, his golden mana already flaring around his shoulders.

"Yes, I understand," he muttered, dismissing the strategy with a wave of his hand. "Just keep the bugs off me."

He raised his sword. "Now attack!"

The room followed into violence.

The Ants, Bees and Spiders attacked.

Teson and Ugmar slammed their shields together just as the two Iron Carapace Ants rammed them. The impact created a shockwave, but the tanks held, their boots grinding backward into the sticky floor.

"I’ll burn the little ones!" Liraeth screamed.

She unleashed a torrent of ⸢Firestorm⸥, engulfing the ten Wax Spiders that skittered across the walls. The spiders hissed as their wax bodies melted, dripping like burning candles onto the floor, but they kept spitting boiling fluid at the backline.

In the center, the Knights engaged the Queen.

Steel and chitin created motions of attack as they all swung at each other.

The Empress was deceptively fast for her size. Her four arms moved independently; the delicate human hands cast bolts of amber magic, while the massive scythe-claws swept the area with lethal force.

"DIE! DIE AND SPARE MY CHILDREN!"

"⸢Flash Cut!⸥"

Aethelstan charged with his glowing sword. He aimed for her human torso, but the Empress parried with her amber staff, and the collision was as loud as bells.

In the same motion, she swept a scythe-claw low.

It caught Aethelstan and Calarin, the Elf Knight, sending them flying and crashing into one of the hexagons, shattering hundreds of eggs.

"MY CHILDRENNNN!!!"

"Press her!" Deron shouted as he lunged in with Steppard, the Human Barbarian, giving him cover.

Together, they did their best to keep the Empress occupied until Aethelstan and Calarin were on their feet.

"Why don’t you try to stay out of my path, Elf?" Aethelstan growled at Calarin.

The Elf stared at it. "You hurled into me."

"Because you were in my path!"

Calarin narrowed his eyes. "I was behind you."

Aethelstan glared at him for a moment, growling. Then he turned around in frustration and called Corisande below.

"Princess, use the Skill now!"

Corisande looked up at him and shook her head.

"Her mana is still low, my Prince!" Corvell said as they both continued to heal and buff. "Even the elixirs aren’t enough."

Aethelstan narrowed his eyes in anger and frustration. "Weaklings!"

He leaped out of the hexagon, aiming his sword for the Empress’s head. "Die!!"

His sword connected with her raised arm, severing it as he landed with an explosion of light, causing the Empress to stumble backwards.

"She’s weaker at her joints!" Deron noticed. "Strike the joints!"

The Knights swarmed her. Calarin joined from above, using his thin blade to carve her insectoid backside. Deron slid under her guard to slash at the ligaments of her scythe-arms. Steppard hammered her flank. Aethelstan cut chunks out of her porcelain armor with golden carves

The Empress roared in pain, her serene mask cracking.

Aethelstan charged up a powerful sword attack, but the Empress activated her Death Throe.

It pivoted with terrifying speed at that moment, unleashing such power and strength that others were pushed away from the explosion.

Her massive lower body whipped around.

WHAM!

Her abdomen slammed into Aethelstan like a wrecking ball. The Prince was launched backward, the air driven from his lungs. He hit the ground hard, his sword clattering away.

Before he could recover, the Empress was on top of him. She reared up, pressing her massive bulk down, pinning him to the floor. Her human face leaned close to his, the compound eyes glittering with malice.

Undeniably, it was him she wanted to kill the most.

She raised both scythe-claws high, ready to skewer him.

"Aethelstan!" Liraeth screamed from the back.

The Prince stared up at death, his arms pinned, his face pale. For the first time, genuine terror flashed in his eyes.

"No!"

But just then, two swords came to his rescue.

"⸢Piercing Thrust!⸥" Deron and Calarin roared.

They drove their swords deep into the soft tissue under her armpits, then they twisted the blades.

The Empress shrieked, her body spasming from the dual critical hits. Her grip on Aethelstan loosened as she thrashed, trying to dislodge the two Knights.

It was just enough space for the Prince.

He ripped a dagger from his belt and thrust it upward with all his remaining strength.

It sank into her soft underbelly.

The Empress recoiled, staggering back.

Deron and Vadrian grabbed Aethelstan by the arms, hauling him to his feet.

"You alright?" Deron panted, blood running down his forehead.

Aethelstan shoved them off, retrieving his sword. He was breathing hard, his golden armor smeared with slime, his pride bruised.

The Empress was faltering.

She stood in the center of the room, swaying. Her beasts were all killed, her armor was shattered. Green blood poured from a dozen wounds. With her HP bar flashing red, she was one hit away from death.

"Wait!" Nessa shouted.

The battlefield froze. Nessa looked at Corvell. She tossed him one of her daggers.

"Corvell! The Aspect! Finish her!"

Corvell caught the dagger. His eyes widened. "Me?"

"Go!" Nessa ordered. "You need it, don’t you?!"

Corvell nodded, determination hardening his face. He gripped the dagger and turned toward the dying Empress.

But right then, they heard a SCHWING!

A slicing sound.

Corvell froze. Everyone turned to the monster just in time to see the line of golden light appear on her neck.

Slowly, agonizingly slowly, her porcelain head slid sideways.

It toppled from her shoulders, hitting the resin floor with a wet, hollow thud. It rolled, stopping right at Corvell’s feet, the compound eyes staring up at him blankly.

The massive body of the Empress collapsed a second later.

Standing behind the corpse, his sword extended in a perfect follow-through of a horizontal slash, was Aethelstan.

He slowly lowered his blade, flicking the green blood off the metal with a casual wrist motion.

A holographic notification sang cheerfully in the dead silence.

⸢Aethelstan (Lvl 102) has slain the Boss, Hive Empress⸥