episode_0133

“Boss, what on earth is going on?”

Jienna, who came to where I was with weapons, seemed embarrassed by the surroundings, as if they were preparing for war. It seemed like they hadn’t heard of the Minotaur approaching yet.

“There’s a Minotaur over there.”

“Ah, it’s true… … .”

When I pointed to the outside of the iron-wood book, Jiena’s gaze turned to the outside of the iron-wood book. And, upon seeing the Minotaur approaching from afar, he nodded very calmly.

“Why are you so calm?”

“Because the boss is there. Aren’t you going to hunt that Minotaur and turn it into an undead anyway?”

“… … That’s right.”

“Then there is no reason to worry.”

I felt a little strange when Jiena said that she didn’t have to worry because I was there. I was grateful that they trusted me infinitely, but at the same time, I was worried that it was okay to not have this sense of crisis.

The monster called Minotaur has enormous power as it is a large monster, and even entities that use mana appear frequently. Even in a situation where such a dangerous monster was approaching, he seemed very carefree, so I couldn’t help but be worried. Because I didn’t feel any sense of crisis.

But there was nothing I couldn’t understand about Jienna. The troll also suffered some losses, but somehow managed to fight it off without any casualties, and since there was a Death Knight, a high-level undead, by his side, it was not unreasonable for him not to feel a sense of danger.

In some ways, it could be said that he was quick to judge the situation, so he roughly shrugged his shoulders and took the weapons Jiena had brought.

And, among them, he took out a set of the most exotic weapons. It was the only thing in the box where the Arming Sword was, and inside it were two knuckles and two gaiters.

Of course, they were weapons exclusively for use by Death Knights. It was made for the Death Knight, who was said to have been a martial arts warrior in his lifetime, in case there were moments like now when he had to use the Death Knight with all his might.

When I took out the Death Knight-specific weapon, the Death Knight realized that it was his weapon and came closer.

“Is it a battle?”

“What… … . A battle is a battle. I have to catch the Minotaur over there.”

“Gurgling. Good!”

The Death Knight usually didn’t react much and just did press work, but when he heard the sound of battle, he twitched as if he was excited. As if my body was itching to jump out at any moment. In fact, the guy was repeatedly inflating and retracting the muscles of his entire body.

“You can show off your strength later, and take your weapons first. All Skeleton Knights also carry an armoring sword.”

The Death Knight, who had been puffing up his body at my words, stopped and immediately took his weapon. The Skeleton Knights who had been standing guard around the iron fence and came running to my call each carried an arming sword.

After confirming that the Death Knight had put on his own gaiters and even put his knuckles on his fists, he immediately sent the undead beyond the iron fence.

Although the height was several times higher than that of a human being, all of the undead held on to the railing of the ironwood fence and jumped down. The Skeleton Knights landed on the floor with a clattering sound, and the Death Knight landed on the floor with a thumping sound.

“Grrruk, it’s a battle!”

The Death Knight landed on the ground, clinked his knuckles together, made a loud noise, and immediately ran towards the Minotaur. The Skeleton Knights, who recognized the Death Knight as a superior entity, also ran hard after the Death Knight.

“Andrew, wouldn’t it be best to keep the Minotaur there if possible?”

“Why?”

“The Minotaur usually hits something with the horn on its head to launch it into the air, but sometimes it throws it a very long distance. It looks like a cow, but it walks on two legs, so if you bend down and straighten it and throw it, it flies very, very far.”

“… … If we fight up close, you can throw the undead all the way here, right?”

“Yes. I haven’t fought it myself, but I’ve seen it in the past in large-scale subjugation operations. One mercenary who was approaching me without knowing how to do it flew very far away. Still, I survived because my skills were good.”

It was said that the undead could fly in and damage the iron wooden fence, or that they could climb over the iron wooden fence and damage the stores inside. If you were unlucky, you might bump into a passing citizen.

Following Amy’s advice, I decided to set the place where the battle would take place very far away. Even though the undead are running, it is done in a way that ties up the movement of the Minotaur as it approaches the city.

“It ended up going well? There are three things buried over there.”

When I checked through the repeater skeleton, there were three skeletons buried around the Minotaur.

The closest one among them, the Minotaur, started controlling the skeleton that would be right below it if it came just a few steps closer.

And, the moment the Minotaur walked a few steps and climbed right on top of the skeleton, it made the skeleton rise up from the floor. The skeleton, which quickly broke through the dirt pile and came to the ground, attacked the Minotaur’s defenseless lower body.

“Mooo-!”

The Minotaur, allowing an unexpected attack, let out a roar so loud that even the iron wooden fence where I was was heard. However, judging from the surveillance skeleton nearby, it did not cause any major damage. All that was left was a small wound near the calf.

However, as if it was enough to make the Minotaur angry, the Minotaur immediately crushed the skeleton that came up to the ground. He clasped his two hands, which were the size of the upper body of a normal person, and then struck them down.

The skeleton was instantly damaged with no time for repair. The vertebrae were all broken off at each node, and the ribs were scattered here and there. Even the skull was shattered to the point where recovery was impossible.

“Wow, you’re strong.”

Even though they were ordinary skeletons, the skeletons buried outside were a kind of reinforced version created by pouring more black magic into them. However, since it was crushed in one attack, it was possible to clearly feel the Minotaur’s strength.

Of course, that didn’t make me dizzy.

“At that level, it should be able to withstand an explosion. As long as the bones aren’t damaged. Well, it’s not easy to find even if it’s slightly damaged, so you can restore it and use it.”

The stronger the opponent is, the more powerful the attack is. Until now, I didn’t use strong power because I thought I would lose money when turning them into undead, but now I felt like I could use a strong attack.

Deciding to use a powerful attack that I had never used before, I immediately used a type of black magic. A magic circle was drawn in the air as if dark magic were gathering together, and it was sent through the connecting passage toward the skeleton that had been reduced to rubble.

A change occurred in the remains of the skeleton that was continuously being struck by the angry Minotaur. The gray bones, which were a little brown due to the dust, began to turn black. There was such a change, but the Minotaur, who was still angry, did not notice the change.

At that moment, when the guy who didn’t notice the change became defenseless as he raised his hands up for the next attack, a large amount of black magic shook from the remains of the skeleton that had turned pitch black.

And soon, the skeleton’s bone fragments, which had been divided into dozens or hundreds of pieces, began to explode all at once. What had already been divided into small pieces was divided into even smaller pieces and exploded into the surroundings along with black magic.

Naturally, the only ones affected by the explosion were the ground and the Minotaur, which defenselessly raised its hands to attack.

“Muuoooo-!”

“Wow… … . Can you endure this?”

However, it must be said that it is a large monster with great power, and it appeared to be unharmed even by the black magic that blew up the entire skeleton. No, it wasn’t okay. The front part of the body was full of wounds caused by small bone fragments digging in.

I wondered how on earth it was holding on, but I saw blue energy dissipating like smoke from the Minotaur’s body. Even though it could not be fully handled, it seemed to be an object that could use mana to some extent. It seemed like he used mana to stop the skeleton from exploding.

Fortunately, it was a very powerful explosion with a lot of black magic, so even though it was defended with mana, it broke through and caused damage.

Of course, that was enough for now. This is because the Minotaur, whose body was covered in minor wounds, hesitated and stopped approaching the city.

And while the Minotaur was hesitating, the undead ran like crazy and got close to the Minotaur.

“Muooo!”

The Minotaur, who discovered the undead approaching me, let out a roar as if burning with anger again. This was because Skeleton Knights, who had a similar appearance to the Skeleton that had caused him great pain, were flocking towards him.

The Minotaur immediately started running toward the undead. Instead of the skeleton exploding and blowing away everything except a few bone fragments, it looked like it was trying to take out its anger on the Skeleton Knights.

But the Minotaur could not vent his anger. This is because the Death Knight, who ran at the forefront, encountered the Minotaur first.

Recognizing the appearance of the Death Knight approaching me before the skeletons, the Minotaur immediately threw out a huge fist. And, as if in response, the Death Knight also threw out his fist. Even though a fist as big as my head was coming at me, the fist went straight as if I didn’t feel any fear.

And then, their fists collided with a loud bang. It is said that the Death Knight’s fists are protected by metal knuckles, but it was never the sound that could be made when fists clashed with each other.

Anyway, the Minotaur and the Death Knight, who clashed fists like that, entered into a struggle of strength. They tried their best to push each other away, putting all their strength into their fists, arms, and waists.

Although the Death Knight was less than half the size of the Minotaur, it was not defeated by the Minotaur’s power. No, it’s not that I wasn’t being pushed back, rather I was overcoming it, albeit little by little. Even though he had metal knuckles on his hands, he gradually pushed away the Minotaur’s fist.

It was not simply the effect of the knuckles made using special iron plates, but the strength of the body, which became stronger than when alive. As I became a Death Knight, I used all kinds of materials, so I was able to generate tremendous power.

“Grrr! It’s a waste of size!”

Death Knight, who realized that his power was slightly superior, seemed to laugh at the Minotaur, and then used it as if it were an explosion of black magic, emitting even stronger power.

Death Knight, who forcefully repelled the fist that seemed to be trying to crush him, dug into the Minotaur’s body and punched with all his might. It started hitting hard, making a sound like leather bursting.

He struck the thick leather-covered abdomen with his fist with his knuckles, and used hard gaiters to kick the shins or knees with the force of shattering the bones.

The Minotaur’s bones seemed so shattered that I wondered if I should tell him to restrain himself a little. I thought that no matter how large the monster was, if it was hit this hard, the bones in its entire body could be shattered.