I had completely forgotten.
That there were terrible guys waiting behind us.
– The lingering hatred of the magic that invaded its territory awakens the forgotten memories of the Skeleton Knight.
‘Huh?!’
– The Fallen Knight ‘Natalan Jackman’ has awakened. All Attributes increase by 20%!
– The Fallen Knight’s [High Commander] trait effect increases by 30%!
– The previously incomplete [Forgotten Ancient Swordsmanship] is now fully awakened.
‘What the…? I’ve awakened to Nargul’s aura!’
“Are those the guys who were chasing us?!”
“No, what in the world—! All Attributes increase by 20%? How the hell do we win! Did they throw balance to the dogs?!”
The hunters, who hadn’t even taken a single step, began to sweat profusely.
It was already tough enough dealing with the Skeleton Knight, and behind us, Nargul was charging forward with an army at an absurd pace.
And even that Natalan Jackman, or whatever he’s called, the Skeleton Knight with a unique name was absurdly powered up.
It was clearly a balance collapse.
How high could that Skeleton Knight’s rank be now? He must have jumped to at least the lower C grade, beyond what we could even conceive.
‘One thing is certain: that guy is stronger than the Tooth Monster.’
In terms of total stats, he was about equal to ‘Tooth,’ but he was operating on a whole different level than that simple creature.
“Whatever it is, we definitely need to take down the Skeleton Knight quickly!”
Just like Yeom Tae-seok said.
If we got surrounded front and back, we were done for.
Anyway, Nargul’s troops had such a large number that it would at least take them a similar amount of time or a little longer to get here.
“Th-there’s plenty of time. Right?!”
“Y-yeah. Of course.”
The hunters resumed their advance, trying to alleviate their worries by leaning on reason.
Their conversation was quite normal.
There was no way a few thousand monsters could reach this place faster than the two-day route we took.
Besides, no matter how strong the Skeleton Knight was, the battle would hardly last more than two hours. We could put Nargul on the back burner.
“For now, let’s just focus on that Fallen Knight!”
Hong Yong-seok shouted as if it was no big deal.
The hunters steadied their shaken hearts and began to take one step forward.
Yeon-hee had already summoned all available creatures.
Yeon-hee had leveled up through this dungeon and received a reward for the summoning transaction, but perhaps out of consideration for the people around her, she hadn’t used them yet.
So the total number of summoned creatures, including me, was still 42.
But just summoning them gave everyone a great sense of security. Those summoned creatures looked solid just by appearing. The reason Yeon-hee hurried to summon was to provide some psychological stability.
“Alright! I’ll take the lead!”
Yeom Tae-seok insisted on being in front, even though he should have been caring for everyone in the middle. At that point, someone trustworthy needed to step up.
[Sworoooon─]
“Yikes!”
“Uh-oh! Here they come…!”
The chilling aura of death rode on the wind.
Upon the massive voice of the Fallen Knight, the thousand undead standing silently towards us all opened their eyes, filled with darkness.
Kuguguguguguuh-!
“Huh…”
“The undead must be longing for our fear! Brace yourselves!”
With Yeom Tae-seok’s shout, Ham Eun-young’s singing echoed throughout the widening corridor.
Thanks to that, the hunters’ gazes became sharp, and their hunched bodies began to straighten.
Before long, the roughly half-sized cave of the “Hook Bat Nest” revealed itself.
Thump thump thump thump- thump thump thump thump-
“Wow… it’s definitely… different.”
“Is that a Skeleton Soldier?!”
On the far side of the cave were the monsters we had to face.
The dominant presence of Skeleton Soldiers and Ghouls filled the space, but what felt different was the incredibly rhythmic sound of them moving across the ground.
Their ranks and rows were as straight as if measured with a ruler—it felt like watching a well-trained army march.
We almost felt like the summoned creatures were the weaker ones.
‘Is that [High Commander] trait at work…?’
An amazing trait to control lower monsters as per one’s will.
It was similar to how Yeon-hee managed her summoned creatures, but it could be seen as a more advanced ability since it corrected and controlled the creatures based on its own experiences.
But what was more worrying was that the Skeleton Knight, towering at nearly 3 meters tall, was leading the monsters charging forward.
‘Shall we try?’
Over the two days it took us to arrive, we had debated how to deal with the Skeleton Knight.
Rushing in numbers against a leader of thousands was not very efficient.
If we were to engage, we needed someone who could quickly synchronize with it and, if necessary, be able to escape.
But no one could take the initiative, and ultimately, all eyes turned to me, who had been quietly observing.
The hunters had their conscience, so they couldn’t bring themselves to voice it, but their gazes clearly conveyed their desires.
Pretending not to notice didn’t suit my temperament, so I decided to handle it by myself, under the condition of receiving a proper reward.
Of course, Yeon-hee was quite worried, but honestly, would I really die? The memory of suppressing ‘Tooth’ was enough to instill confidence.
“AAAAH— it’s coming right from the start!”
“Will Il-wol be able to handle it alone? Let’s just do a coordinated attack!”
“Trust me! He’s always done what he said he would!”
Bae Joo-ah showed strong faith and gave me a thumbs up.
‘Thanks.’
Receiving trust from my companions always tickled me yet also filled me with an unknown power rising from deep within.
‘That Skeleton Knight… last time he just orchestrated from behind before finally stepping in.’
Seeing him take action while it should be a critical moment made me quickly rush forward.
Swoosh─
The distance between us quickly shrank, and soon our gazes were coldly crossing each other.
‘Let’s test how much you’ve changed.’
[Skeleton Bomb]
Right before confronting the Skeleton Knight, I dropped 40 bombs I had stored evenly into their formation.
KABOOM──!
Bone fragments and ghoul pieces exploded in all directions.
I felt the knight’s eyes, which had been solely focused on me, falter for a moment.
I had originally pondered whether to use the bombs on the Skeleton Knight.
But this would be more effective than exploding them with that beast’s mindless swordsmanship.
– Kweeeeek…
The undead affected by my bombs exceeded 200, but I had barely taken down about fifty. They really had gotten sturdier.
[SWOOSH─]
Despite the tremendous explosion, the fact that its minions were unharmed made it mumble something.
‘What’s it muttering… seems like it still has some leeway, but I won’t let any others be a bother!’
Setting aside the dagger, I firmly gripped the club I received from Ddung-i and swung it towards its torso.
CRACK──!
The giant sword it pulled out from somewhere clashed against my swinging club, creating enormous flames that lit up the cave, and the reverberation caused the hunters to inadvertently cover their ears and stumble to their knees.
Clang─! Keng─! Kagaragaga─
The club made of Unidite, a mineral usable only if one’s strength exceeds 70. Naturally, it was an immensely heavy weapon, and its sword was no lightweight either.
‘The moment we collide, I’m pushing him back… but something feels…’
Clearly, I was stronger.
The weapon was also made for undead, which made it even more so.
I could feel him slightly faltering backward with every time he countered my attack.
Bang! Kagaragah─! Boom!
Booming sounds pierced the air incessantly.
The sharp shockwaves felt like they could stab someone to death with just one sound.
After dozens of those metallic noises burst forth, I uneasily became aware that I was gradually being pushed back.
‘Tch— so pure swordplay isn’t sufficient.’
The ancient swordsmanship that Hyeon Joong-gil had studied and referenced was so refined and flowing.
The lines it crafted were exceedingly beautiful.
He was undoubtedly a master of that swordsmanship.
My attacks often seemed to slip away, while his concise thrusts made coin-sized holes all over my bone armor.
‘That penetration is ridiculous. What the hell is that swordsmanship.’
The amount of health I was losing was minuscule, but seeing my body riddled with holes infuriated me.
Even as an undead now, he was clearly that powerful; I could easily guess how formidable he had been in life.
In just a few minutes, the two of us exchanged dozens of strikes, both testing each other’s skills, and his movements grew bolder and bolder.
Technically, he was several steps ahead of me.
In fact, I started feeling a desire to prolong the battle with him to learn swordsmanship directly through collisions.
Fortunately, despite clearly recognizing he was far ahead of me, the Skeleton Knight only slightly increased the proportion of movements where he could infuse more power into them, but he didn’t recklessly try to finish me off.
‘What is he doing? This guy… even so, isn’t he being overly cautious?’
Landing effective blows was not easy. No, right now, it felt impossible.
Even grazing my attacks would allow me to accumulate [Flame Cut] charges, but that swordsmanship displayed brilliance in both attack and defense, a perfected sword style.
‘His footwork is eerily sublime; if I come to my senses, my attacks are just slicing through the air.’
Of course, I wasn’t just going to be amazed.
What I needed to do was restrain this guy, but I wasn’t going to do that without limits.
[Fireball]
While swinging the club with one hand, I concentrated the Fireball in the other.
And I continued layering Fireballs.
When in a losing battle, it was a very obvious technique to turn the tables.
But this should force some changes on the Skeleton Knight, who had been gradually gnawing away at my health.
[…!]
Unexpectedly, he widened the distance and showed wariness.
‘He’s still holding back? Trying to conserve energy, huh?’
Based on the message I’d seen earlier, he might want to preserve strength until Nargul arrives.
But I wouldn’t let that happen.
I would force a decisive battle, even if it meant stretching my limits.
Crap—
I mimicked Ah-rin’s Lightning Step, unleashing mana at my toes.
In an instant, my movement speed more than doubled, with a sound echoing behind me like an afterimage.
[Reckless Charge]
Then adding power to my speed with Big Boar’s skill, I outpaced the retreating knight by a long shot.
[…?!]
The Skeleton Knight was severely taken aback, and from its first moment of disbelief, its attack sprang forth. I couldn’t even think of dodging as I struggled to control my speed.
Wahh─!
Once again, multiple wind holes burst in my body, and simultaneously, my swing flashed twice.
Swoosh- Thud-!
The first attack grazed it, and the second blew off a part of one knee.
‘Gotcha!’
Staggering—
The Skeleton Knight’s knee buckled to the ground before it stood back up.
– Leaving a Flame Mark!
– Leaving a Flame Mark!
‘Haha, you’re done for, you bastard.’
Just three more stacks to go—
[SWOOSH─]
‘Huh?! Danger—’
Whoosh─!
Suddenly, blue light threads shot out from its entire body in all directions, and an unseen thrust aimed for my face.
Whoosh─!
I managed to dodge its greatsword by a hair’s breadth.
Had I not been wrapped in layers of senses around my body, I wouldn’t have reacted to that insane pinpoint attack.
‘What was that? Was it its foot?’
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