Arpious of the Planes

SHING

I swung my sword up once, causing a blast of black mist to erupt from my blade and threaten to hit the man in the chest.

He managed to dodge it relatively quickly, but he didn't see the other five blades of black mist come from behind him due to his careless attitude.

"ARGHHHHH!" The man shouts after feeling waves of pain assaulted him.

"B-Brother! Are you alright?" The woman reacted immediately, but when she went to check for wounds, she saw nothing.

"Oh? Brother?" I mutter with my calm expression, slowly warping into that of a sadistic one.

I can use this...

Quickly, after I circled the tall man with short goldish-bold hair, I summoned a few undead from below them, catching them off guard as their ankles were held tightly down, restricting their movement.

The small woman with goldish-blond hair tried to summon a whirlwind that began to swirl around me, but my defense was so high that the wind did nothing. If she really did want to hurt me, though, she'd have to use the same attack from before where she mixed her wind with knives.

Krkkkkk

Just as I summoned a few more undead to grab the siblings' other limbs, ice began to spread from below me, almost like a wave of water threatening to wipe my balance away.

I quickly jumped up to avoid it and managed to just barely block an arrow the size and length of my arm from piercing straight through my heart.

A cool drop of sweat ran down the side of my cheek as I knew the presence approaching me was either at my level or a tiny bit stronger than me.

But for some reason, I wasn't scared. There was no anxiety. Not even any adrenaline. But I wasn't calm… I was excited. I could finally fight somebody at full power without getting destroyed like whenever I fight with Arpious.

Vwoom

I summon my soul equipment, causing a long black sword to appear in my hand.

The air around me began to grow heavy, not just because of the woman covered in thin, light blue and white robes, but also because of my sword, which began to absorb life itself from the surrounding atmosphere.

"Y-your highness!" I heard the siblings shout, and after I glanced back to see them kneeling, a spear made of ice was sent flying at me at almost point-blank range.

It tore the side of my torso off, but I didn't feel much pain, and blood didn't spill out due to my undead body.

But, my regeneration was pretty slow, and as I'm a particular type of undead with a heart, I can't just recklessly charge in.

My only option now was to put a bit of space between us which I immediately erected walls made from bone that blocked the icy woman's vision.

…

(Icy Woman's POV)

I'm losing… I, the empress of the Thidore Empire... am losing!?

When she first erected a wall made from this off-white substance which I assumed to be bone judging from her race which was connected to necromancy.

It was rare for necromancers to be able to wield bones, so I became much warier of her than I was a few seconds before that.

She was strong, but I thought I could beat her. I don't have [Inspect], but I know that my stats were much higher than her, and if I didn't underestimate her, then I wouldn't be able to use… Or so I thought.

I've fought necromancers in the past but never have they ever fought like the woman in front of me was.

Her fighting style consisted of using a sword, bones to create openings in my movement, and finally, the most of her style… She used her undead to make even more hindrances in our fight.

Whenever I landed on the ground, the jaws of what seemed to be a drake or dragon threatened to swallow me whole or at least bite me in half, so I was forced to create a platform of ice in the air, which the necromancer didn't seem to have trouble following.

Though it took me a while to realize, she intentionally let me lead her on like a trail of breadcrumbs.

But instead of a bird on the end of the crumbs, a monster even greater than a dragon followed.

"HUFF…. HUFF... HUFF…. HUFF,"

My breathing was so heavy that it felt like my lungs were going to explode.

Plus, with my frost-flower-laced body, my breathing became heavier and slower, so frost began to come out of my mouth with each heaving breath.

"Oh, already struggling?" The woman taunted, but it wasn't like she was doing any better.

She was missing her right arm, and a large chunk of the left thigh was gone, but as she had no blood, there was no threat of her dying any time soon.

On the other hand, I had various fractured bones, but nothing was broken, so I could still slightly move. But I'm pretty sure one of my lungs was pierced by a broken bone or something as my chest burned so badly I wanted to end my life.

"I heard necromancers use the soul stat and that it's a combination of their health, stamina, and mana…." I mutter while glancing at my status.

I didn't think I'd have to use it so early… This will drain my mana, so even if I win, I'll be incapacitated for quite a while… But it's better than dying.

"Yeah? And?"

'You're the destined empress of this empire, so don't bring shame,'

'You're destined for greatness,'

'Make sure to use 100% of your effort all the time otherwise; somebody will surpass you,'

'Never let anybody surpass you,'

The voices of the people surrounding me when I was young began to ring through my mind like an echo bouncing inside a large cave.

"So you must be low," I mutter with a blast of cold wind erupting my feet and swirling around me.

[Throne World: Desert Zero]

VWOOM

My vision went black, but after blinking once, I appeared on a frozen wasteland. Snow stretched for miles, but you couldn't see the end as thick frosty fog covered the icy desert.

No life existed here besides myself and the necromancer in front of me… Though she's not really alive.

The woman's expression in front of me didn't falter in the slightest as she just glanced around nonchalantly as if she's seen something like this before.

"Do you have a throne world?" I ask before reeling in my pinky towards the center of my palm.

The necromancer snickered a bit at my question but that pretty much answered it…

Adrenaline pumped through my veins at the thought of her using a death related throne world. Sweat lathered my back and temples. It felt as if my heart would jump up my throat and come straight out of my mouth.

FWOOSH… BOOM BOOM BOOM

A small gust of wind swirled around the necromancer before large thumps echoed through the air. They shook the ground, but she soon realized it wasn't from the sound, but from a physical being that had just begun to loom over her.

One shadow appeared over us like a heavy storm cloud rolling in. The shadow mixed with the blocked out sun made the surrounding area almost pitch black, but I could see perfectly as this was my domain.

"*sigh*... Is it worth using a throne world?" I hear a lower woman's voice say.

BOOM

"I really don't want to try so hard,"

BOOM

The necromancer glanced up, only to be met by a large foot made completely from densely packed snow.

It was impossible to escape it now as it was at least 25 meters in diameter and the actual snow giant was at least 200 meters tall.

SHING

With one upwards swing, she had cut not only the foot, but the leg, the torso- no, the entire body in half. Plus, her sadistic smile which didn't match her nonchalant tone sent a shiver down my spine.

This is a real monster…

Her eyes glowed a turquoise color which seeped into the thick icy fog which seemed to grow heavier around me.

I reeled in two more fingers on my right hand, summoning two more gusts of wind that swirled around the necromancer and then many more footsteps shook the ground.

OOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRR

Both giants cried out before throwing both of their fists towards the woman standing in front of me.

Suddenly, the sounds of bones cracking could be heard, almost making me gag as the sound was nauseating.

Large pillars of solid white bones sprouted from the snow below us, blocking the large fists made of snow and even denting them which is nearly impossible.

Even her previous cut was something I thought nobody could do.

SHING

Just as I began to recover from shock, I noticed a large blade of deathly mist cut towards me and struck me right in the face.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

I let out a blood-curdling cry as I fell to my knees in pain.