ALL NOVEL Chapter 6
A pure white skeleton with a gaunt body. It sounds unimpressive just from the description. But if it’s close to three meters tall, who wouldn’t feel a sense of threat?
The source of the heavy footsteps was none other than the Skeleton Giant.
Thud.
Creak.
At the same time, nearby, there were Skeleton Mages and Archers flocking around, like loyal subordinates following a commander.
Their power was enough to make even seasoned hunters shrink back. For us ordinary folks, their presence was beyond imagination.
Gulp.
Perhaps realizing that getting spotted meant certain death, the girl next to me tightly shut her eyes and held her breath.
That was commendable.
But oddly enough, I was the one in danger.
Being tightly packed in this narrow space, I felt my stomach start to churn.
To put it simply, I felt like I was going to throw up.
“……”
Just as the agonizing time was dragging on, suddenly, the Skeleton Mage began to cast magic and conjure a fireball in midair for some unknown reason.
Creak.
Whoosh!
There didn’t seem to be any intent to attack. At least, we weren’t the target.
However, unlike me, who could momentarily assess the situation, the girl was completely tense and screamed at the sight.
“Eek!”
Creak.
At that moment, all the skeletons turned their heads back with the sound of bones grinding against each other, and the girl was utterly terrified.
“…Come this way.”
Thud.
The skeletons started moving, and I quickly grabbed the girl’s hand and pulled her along.
Clatter.
Despite how it looked, the Skeleton Giant was surprisingly fast. To be honest, it wouldn’t take long for it to catch up to us.
However, I clearly remembered a certain location from earlier.
A narrow passage that the Skeleton Giant couldn’t enter. If we could just make it there, we could somehow shake them off.
Ping!
Thwack!
“Aah!”
In the distance, a Skeleton Archer was shooting arrows, but given the slow speed of the arrows, they posed no threat at this distance.
The real problem was with the Mage.
Even if we made it into the passage, if it slammed a fireball in there, we’d definitely end up as charred corpses.
How do I handle that?
As I was running and pondering, a perfect material appeared right in front of me.
It was the corpse of the Skeleton I smashed earlier.
“Gah. Gah.”
Bounding over the skeleton’s remains to create distance, at the moment the pursuers crossed over it, I chanted a spell drawing upon the magic stone containing death energy.
‘Corpse Explosion.’
Boom!
Crunch!
That choice was spot on.
I couldn’t break the crucial skull, but the Archer and Mage, struck from the front, could no longer pursue us.
Thud!
Boom!
Having entered the passage we were aiming for, we finally managed to shake off even the Skeleton Giant.
“Huff. Huff.”
“Phew.”
Finally catching my breath, the girl and I hurried toward the other side of the passage.
After all, it would be troublesome if the Mage gathered itself and pursued us.
However, waiting for us on the other side was a crisis far beyond that of just a Mage.
Creak.
Creak.
“Ah. Ah…”
The girl couldn’t even form proper words.
And it was no wonder.
“Eeeeeek!”
“Grrr.”
There, surrounded by Skeleton Giants, Revenants, Devourers, and even the main Lizardmen—it was a gathering of mid-ranked Undead monsters staring at us with their empty eyes.
“Eep.”
Each one of them was a monster fluttering between C Rank and B Rank.
For ordinary humans, they were beings that defied the very notion of disaster.
The girl and I quickly turned back into the passage, but it was pointless. In truth, excluding the Giant, all of these creatures could leisurely enter.
Leaving the girl sitting helplessly on the floor, I quickly began to brainstorm.
The first thought that struck me was a question.
‘How did they know?’
Of course, if higher Undead existed in this dungeon, it made sense that they could communicate and maneuver their minions to corner us.
But it didn’t seem that way. From the moment we entered the dungeon, their movements had been rather disorganized.
At least, they weren’t acting as though they were being commanded with each and every action. That much was certain.
‘So did they simply sense us by some means?’
As I contemplated, I soon realized the answer and began to sweat profusely.
No, I’d forgotten this.
“It’s the magic stone…”
The one filled with death energy. Using that to cast the Corpse Explosion spell naturally meant that any sensitive Undead could detect it.
In the end, I had been trolling them.
‘……’
Honestly, I couldn’t help it, could I?
I had never thought I would be using such powers in my living days, and this was my first time in a dungeon.
Not noticing it beforehand seemed more bizarre.
I wasn’t at fault!
Yet, thinking that way, it did tug at my conscience.
“Mommy…”
Especially when I saw the girl next to me in despair, it stung even more.
“…Get up.”
I grabbed the girl to help her up and steadied myself with my shabby sword.
I couldn’t die in a place like this.
If that’s the case, I had to fight my way out.
Swish.
I gripped my sword and focused on the approaching Skeleton Mage and Archer from behind.
The Revenant and Devourer up front were C Rank monsters. If I wanted to survive, naturally, I had to break through the D Rank Mage first.
The longer I hesitated, the tighter the net would close around me.
I quickly gauged for the perfect timing and then turned around to dash forward.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
The Skeleton Archer nocked an arrow to its string.
At the same time, the Mage conjured a fireball.
Looking closely, there were only about two seconds left until the fireball was complete.
I timed it perfectly, closing ground, and waited for the moment to strike at the thin skeletal arms of the Archer and Mage while peering at them.
Click.
It moved.
Right now!
Clatter!
Ping!
Boom!
I dashed diagonally, narrowly evading the fireball.
In that one second, a few strands of my hair caught fire, and I could feel a searing heat from my right shoulder to my waist.
But I didn’t get hit.
In the midst of this, the first arrow also missed me, and all that remained was the second arrow from the still-loaded Skeleton Archer.
I lowered my stance and carefully observed its aiming point and the movement of its fingers.
Ping!
Thud!
At the moment of release, I aimed for where the arrow was headed, holding my sword with both hands.
The Skeleton Archer’s arrow wasn’t very fast.
Even so, my whole hand was tingling.
Having dodged the entire round of attacks, the distance to the Mage in front was now right in front of me.
Without any hesitation, I targeted its head and swung my sword.
Clang!
Smash!
To be honest, my current sword strike was pathetic.
But the defensive capabilities of low-level Skeletons were equally lacking.
The smoothly executed swing cleanly destroyed the head of the Skeleton Mage.
That was one down. I was confident I could deal with the other two before they could even prepare for another attack.
As I rushed forward, someone pushed me from behind. It was the girl who was with me.
‘Why?!’
Losing my balance, I turned my head and froze in place.
Whoooooosh.
Something was flying toward me.
Upon looking closely, it was the head of a Devourer from the opposite side.
‘Ah.’
Now that I think about it, I had read online that some Devourers could attack by launching their own heads.
Since it was a type of Undead I hadn’t seen from the other side, I hadn’t considered it at all.
‘Life Drain.’
Those who fell prey to the Devourer’s fangs would lose their life energy and become a living corpse.
And standing there, arms wide open as if to protect someone, was the girl.
A hint of regret for her actions mingled with the despair of imminent death shone through her face when I caught a glimpse.
I had seen that kind of expression many times before.
‘……’
In that instant, an unpleasant sensation surged up from deep within my chest.
It wasn’t a side effect of dimensional shifting. It was purely my own emotion.
‘Who do you think you are?’
I am the Lord of Death.
Death is me, and I am Death.
It was not something a mere Undead without a shred of life could utter, nor was it a realm that the ignorant human could involve themselves in of their own will.
‘Just because we spent a little time together and helped out, you’re willing to die for me?’
Life shouldn’t be thought of so lightly, nor treated so carelessly.
Likewise, Death was the same.
That was improper behavior and an insult.
I twisted my body, forcing my wobbling balance back into check.
My ankle twisted painfully, and my waist screamed, but I didn’t care.
I reached out my hand before the girl, and the massive head of the Devourer sank its teeth into my hand.
Ka-thunk─!
However.
“I said I’d block it once.”
Whoosh.
The sharp teeth couldn’t pierce the instant white shield that sprang up. It was the disposable barrier embedded in the necklace Seo Ha had given me.
Right after, something began to sparkle inside the Devourer’s mouth.
Thanks to the magic stone filled with death energy I had been holding in my hand.
Crunch!
The moment I smashed it, I flung the Devourer’s head at the main Lizardman in front of me.
And as that head made contact, I uttered the long-forgotten spell of death for the first time in a while.
“Undead Call.”
An overwhelming flood of death energy filled the narrow passage.
Simultaneously, the Devourer and the Lizardman, which had acted as the spell’s catalyst, underwent a transformation.
“Kyahhhh─!”
Thud!
Crack!
The body of the Lizardman began to disassemble as if being dismantled, each part reshaping into a new form.
Bones from its face became armor, the bones from its tail became a sword.
Finally, the headless abomination completed its construction by sharply impaling the head of the Devourer still floating in midair onto its neck.
Creak!
Boom!
The black mist collected in the empty neck spilled out between the joints, and as I solemnly watched the transformation, I quietly called its name to complete the spell.
“Halloween Knight.”