Right now, I don't know what I am supposed to do. Everything in my surroundings tells me how screwed we are. My mind is racing at full speed due to adrenaline. I feel jittery enough that I feel like I have drunk ten cups of coffee.

  Even though all of this, I still can't keep the grin from your face. (I have had to take care not to show my face to the Aegis. The damn idiots already are thinking that this is some grand scheme of mine to prove the wrong.) There is one thing in all of this mess that gives me happiness. Happiness enough that I can overwhelm my anxiety.

  That one thing is the expression on Anthony's face. That mixture of panic and realisation that makes all of my pains worth it. Right now, I want to see his face when he sees that the responsibility of this will fall on his head.

  The man is crouching next to his sleeping bag, trying his best not to move. I am tempted to just run out now to see the man's expression fall into true despair. Do you know just how much the man has been annoying me in the last couple of hours?

  Everything that I had warned the man would go wrong has gone wrong. It almost feels like I have somehow manifested its existence. Every single suggestion of mine that the man has not followed is coming back to bite his ass.

  That also means that there is no way that the man would be able to pin any of this on me. He will still try to, but that is just going to backfire on the man. After all, I have been advising the man even though he has been ignoring it.

  After all, I have been going above and beyond what I needed to do in this situation. I guess that I should explain our present situation before gloating anymore.

  To put it simply, we are being attacked right now. Well, attacked would be the wrong word. We are being ambushed right now. (Though I don't know if you can call it an ambush when you know it's happening well before it happens.) If I had not kept an eye out with my mana sense, Anthony would have had no idea.

  Even right now, I am sensing undead in both the northern and the western tunnel. I can't see the creatures, but it looks like there are quite a few of the undead. I would say that the entire force that has been stationed in the two tunnels is here right now.

  That is enough to overwhelm us completely. Just one troop would have been enough to make things very unpleasant for us. With both troops, the only option that we have left is to retreat. Granted, retreating has always been a part of the plan.

  Right now, the only reason that we are not being attacked is that the skeletons don't know that we know they are there. At least the minotaur doesn't know that we know. Right now, all of the undead must be moving at his command. Otherwise, they would have already attacked us in their hunger.

  If we were to try and run away, that would tip off the minotaur, and then it would send its creatures at us. Well, while my warning has been useful, it doesn't really give us the time to prepare. There was barely enough time to get everybody awake. (Before you go about blaming me, mana sense has limited utility at the best of times.)

  I wonder what the creatures are waiting for. Does the minotaur have an idea of what the searchers have left for them in here? Well, if it did, the creature would not have bothered to send its troops like this. After all, it would just be a waste of its creatures. Unless it got desperate. Then there is hope that the group has already begun to get rid of the minotaur. Then we just need to focus on holding the creatures back.

  All in all, we are screwed. Still, looking at the expression on Anthony's face makes all of this worth it. Even right now the man I can see the plans forming on the man's face. He has decided to pull off something, probably suicidal. Looks like I have enjoyed this enough for now.

  I guess that I should make my move. The thing is, I have a plan. The problem is that it is so crazy that I don't want to be the one to execute it. To be clear, I wasn't being lazy right now. I was just using this time to try and figure out a better plan. Granted, I have not figured out a plan in all of this while so that leaves me with the one plan.

  As I am thinking this, I finally get up. Right now, all of us have been trying to make as little movement as possible. Too much movement would have warned the undead (or more precisely, their master.) That is why we have been keeping as still as possible.

  As I look at Anthony's face, it has morphed into pure panic. (That is so nice to see.) I don't get to look at it for long, though, as I move towards the axe wielder.

  "Play along with me, will you?" I tell the man as I gesture for him to follow me to the edge of the camp.

  "Draw your weapon, you idiot.", I scream, so loudly that I am sure the undead can hear it. (It is not exactly hearing based on what I have heard. I can't say beyond that, though. I have never dealt with the undead of the bone pits before.)

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  As I do so, I pull out my sword. Not the rock sword, but the bloody fang. Right now, the thing is at about seventy percent capacity. That should be enough for a decent fight.

  I look at the axe-wielder, hoping that he will get my hint. Thankfully, he draws his axe as he whispers to me.

  "Do you think that this will fool them?" he replies. "The creature seems as dumb as a rock."

  "Well, the creature must be controlled by something intelligent. The minotaur most likely." I reply, as I level my sword at the man. "Have you ever seen the undead being this still, otherwise?"

  "Well, that is true.", the man replies. "I hope that you know what you are doing."

  Saying so, the man swings at me. It is a half-hearted swing, one that I can block very easily. I don't, though. I need to make the duel somewhat believable. That can't happen with me blocking every strike of that man. Thus, the two of us keep sharing blows. Neither of us is trying to fight each other. Still, I can tell that the other man is trained. (I wish that I could fight the man properly one of these days.)

  Regardless, this sham duel of ours finally ends. We stop as the man's axe hit my left hand. The blow is not strong enough to affect my combat ability. Especially if I were to use my sword.

  "Take your people and retreat to the eastern tunnel.", I say. "Whatever happens, don't look back. Whatever you do, hold the line. You can't let the undead escape into the eastern tunnel. Otherwise, we all will die."

  Saying that, I begin to walk towards the northern tunnel. I guess now is the best time to explain what the plan is. The plan is that I am going to one of the tunnels and break the rock that I have in my hand. Once that rock is broken, it will be enough to attract the attention of the undead towards me. After all, the minotaur would feel this place collapsing. I am betting that he will focus his attention on the man who pulled it off. I am also gambling that I can make use of my sword to survive the onslaught that is going to happen here. Once the minotaur realizes what I am doing, the man will send everything he has against us.

  Even now, I can feel the panic rise in my throat. All of my instincts are telling me to run away right now. I am having to fight my instincts every step that I take.

  Now that I am closer to the tunnels, I can see the undead. Well, when one thinks of undead, one thinks of many things. They think of shambling zombies, chaotic but following you with persistence. They might think of a skeleton moving, ominous beyond belief. They might even think of abominations (multiple corpses stuck together), slow and lumbering.

  I don't think anybody has ever thought of these undead as disciplined. That is all I can think of as I look at the horde in front of me. Most of them are merely skeletons. A few of them have armor, though it is ancient. I would be surprised if it survived a single blow. Their weapons are similarly ancient.

  Yet the only thing that I can think of when looking at them is their discipline. The creatures are just standing there like they are just statues. I have to rely on my mana sense to even tell that the creatures are there. Somebody with a weaker mana sense would not be able to tell where they are.

  Well, I am going to see them move soon enough. I think that I have gone far away. Now is the time to break that rock. As I am recording this, I have pulled out my rock. I flex my arm as the rock crumbles in my hands. I hear a muffled bang above me, which must have been the scholar's spell finally activating. I can already see clumps of the ceiling falling as I focus my attention on the tunnels.

  The undead explode as they swarm outside of these tunnels. The instant that they do so, I activate the blood fang. I can feel my senses sharpening as the undead charge towards me. I have about five minutes to retreat from my present position. I don't dare to look behind me at the soldiers. Looking at them might remind the minotaur that the idiots are still there.

  Right now, the undead are focusing on me. For the next couple of minutes, that is how I want it to be. If they were to hit the Aegis during their retreat, it would screw them up really badly. That is why I am the bait. I am much more durable than any person here, after all.

  I jump to the left as one of the undead attacks me. I stab my sword as I hit the creature in its spine. The force of my strike is enough to break it as the skeleton crumples. Even as I am retracting my sword, two more undead have come within range of hitting me. I take a step back, cleanly dodging the creature's attack.

  I don't get to attack them, though, as a third undead appears. This one I strike on its legs, shattering its left leg into a thousand pieces. A sword stabs into my right leg, though, as I retract my sword. Taking a defensive stance, I retreat.

  I can feel my blood mana coursing through my wounds, fixing them. I glance at the battlefield around me as I keep retreating. Even as I am retreating, I see that the undead have begun to catch up with me. How long has it been since I started the fight?

  I would say that at least a minute has passed right now. Regardless of how much time has passed, I can't hold this position. I have to start retreating now. Even as I record this, five more undead have come within range of me. Paradoxically, this makes dodging them a bit easier as the creatures get in each other's way.

  I just maintain my defense, making sure to protect my vitals. I also make sure to clear my back. I can't get surrounded now of all times. I have taken a few injuries, though I have stopped feeling the pain of those wounds. My focus is on just maiming the creatures as much as possible while protecting my vitals. It almost feels like I am not the person down here fighting the undead.

  I would say that this is downright peaceful. The only annoying thing in all of this is the shuffling of the undead feet.

  I don't know why, but the damn thing is beginning to get on my nerves. Even this annoyance is kind of in the periphery. I don't need to maintain this for long, though. I have already retreated halfway through the pit. I must say I am making good time right now (not really, this would have taken me like half a minute.) I am sure that I have spent at least a couple of minutes by now.

  The ceiling of the place has already begun to collapse. Giant pieces of the ceiling keep falling. Well, I am shutting the thought logger for now. My injuries are growing serious enough that I need to focus on the fight.

  (About a minute later.)

  Fuck, I have finally reached the eastern tunnel. Even as I enter the place, I am happy to see that the idiots have the sense of mind to hold the enemy in the tunnel. The collapsing tunnel will get rid of them if they hold here for a few minutes. Thinking this, I promptly collapse as the world darkens around me.