Chapter 68

-Foolish mortals.

A skeleton clad in dull ash-gray armor spoke.

Or rather, it would be incorrect to say it spoke.

Since skeletons, being made of bone, lacked the organs necessary for speech.

It wasn’t speech but a projection of intent.

What was strange was that, despite the absence of sound, the meaning was directly conveyed into one’s mind.

The sensation was filthy and uncomfortable.

For humans, it instinctively elicited a sense of rejection.

Due to the undead’s forceful transmission of intent.

-You all will die here.

The skeleton, which emitted an unpleasant intent once again, was different from the others.

Its stature was significantly larger, and its bones were much thicker.

It was an entity with a distinctly different presence.

Naturally.

It was the leader of the undead horde on the 10th underground floor.

A Skeleton Knight.

The Skeleton Knight felt neither anxiety nor fear.

It was well aware of the humans’ strength.

Though they had eliminated monsters, those were merely inferior creatures.

The undead, superior immortals, were different.

It felt no threat whatsoever from such a number of humans.

Hm?

The Skeleton Knight, having noticed something, let a silvery light flow from its empty eye sockets.

Precisely, three humans were charging towards the left of the formation.

Foolish.

Utterly foolish.

Like moths to a flame, they rushed towards their own demise.

The Skeleton Knight quickly dismissed them from its mind.

They were going to die soon anyway.

The Skeleton Knight’s gaze turned forward.

Towards the main body of humans.

-Slaughter them all without exception.

A suffocating murderous intent struck the minds of all humans.

“Ugh, such intense murderous intent.”

Annette frowned.

“Damn, that one?”

Camian’s face hardened.

He immediately recognized that it was no ordinary foe.

Only my face remained calm.

“Acting tough for a pile of bones.”

I let out an overt sneer.

A deliberate action to ease the tension of Annette and Camian .

But that wasn’t the only reason.

It was also a naturally formed expression due to overflowing confidence.

Having mastered the basics of swordsmanship and archery, and learned powerful new skills.

The protagonist, who had been feeding on experience points and growing in his own way.

Annette, the owner of a unique trait that possessed an almost cheat-like power against the undead.

It was impossible to imagine us losing.

Losing was out of the question.

“Don’t even think about getting tense. Even our dog at home wouldn’t get tense over ingredients for bone broth.”

“Pfft.”

Annette tried to stifle her laughter by turning her head and covering her mouth with her arm.

Camian let out a chuckle, finding it absurd.

“Aren’t we a bit too relaxed?”

“It’s okay this time.”

I said, spinning around and pulling out the Marcus Bow.

A bow made from the bones of the Skeleton King, to be used against the undead.

To catch an undead with an undead, as the saying goes.

‘The curse may not stick, but the fear will.’

Being undead, they are immune to the curse’s effect.

However, undead lower than the Skeleton King fall into a state of panic due to fear.

The world of the undead is strictly governed by the strong dominating the weak.

Thus, an instinctive fear of superior beings is ingrained in them.

Naturally, this fear intensifies with the greater disparity in power.

“Let’s scatter them a bit before we engage.”

I quickly loaded an arrow.

Swoosh!

Thud!

The arrow flew into the undead horde, embedding itself in a zombie.

At that moment.

“Grrrrr!”

The zombie let out a bizarre scream and began to move in the opposite direction, breaking away from the formation.

It was panicked by the lingering resentment of the Skeleton King.

“Nice reversal.”

I chuckled and nocked the next arrow much faster than usual.

Rapid-fire.

Thanks to the skill I recently learned from Hiresia.

Literally shooting arrows quickly.

For an archer, there weren’t many skills better than that.

Before the distance closed, I could pour out as many arrows as possible.

Swoosh!

Swoosh!

One arrow after another sliced through the air and fell upon the undead horde.

There was no need to aim with concentration.

They were an easy target, clustered together, and becoming fools due to the fear effect wherever the arrows landed.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

With each arrow that hit, the movements of the undead became erratic.

Some ran in the opposite direction to escape, some staggered left and right, and some even fell to the ground, trembling.

“Amazing.”

Annette exclaimed with wide eyes.

“How did you do that?”

Camian looked surprised as well.

“It’s all about skill, skill. But get ready.”

I saw the undead charging fiercely towards us.

They weren’t just simpletons to be taken down like logs.

They were menacingly approaching to take me down, the root cause of their trouble.

“Let’s hit them before they reach us. Let’s smash them all before we get surrounded.”

I sheathed my bow and drew my sword, charging into the enemy lines.

“Of course.”

Camian ran alongside me.

“I’m coming too.”

Annette hurriedly followed us.

***

Stopping power.

Formations have stopping power.

Even if scattered, with this number, naturally.

Thud!

Thud!

Initially, Camian and I easily smashed through the first few using their momentum, but soon our advance halted.

We were blocked by the formation of the undead.

“Groooar!”

The zombies swung their sharp claws fiercely.

“Be careful. They’re poisonous. Even a scratch can cause the wound to rot.”

I warned.

“So we must either block or dodge at all costs.”

Camian stiffened his face and swung his sword harder to block the zombie’s attack.

Swoosh!

Swoosh!

Skeleton soldiers also made their moves.

Though their swordplay was somewhat clumsy, as if screws were loose, their numbers made them sufficiently threatening.

“We’re going to get surrounded at this rate!”

Right after Annette spoke, two skeletons swiftly attacked her.

It was too late to activate an attack spell.

Annette froze.

“Yiiiihk!”

A shrill scream.

It was too late to turn around and block with the Imperial style 8 .

I needed to be faster and stronger, immediately switching to attack.

There was only one technique capable of that.

The advanced strike of the Executioner!

“Haaap!”

I let out a full-throated yell.

Whoosh!

The move I had practiced countless times with Hiresia, to cut down an enemy behind me in one swift motion, was executed perfectly in real combat.

Crack!

The bodies of the two skeletons were shattered in half at once.

Broken bone fragments scattered in all directions.

Tremendous power.

Indeed, it was the greatest thrill I could currently experience.

The 20% proficiency gained through training further doubled its power and speed.

Moreover,

This strike had no blind spots.

An added description to the evolved strike.

‘I think I get it now.’

My eyes sparkled.

Originally, the Executioner’s Strike had power but was too simple to instantly respond to attacks from behind.

It was difficult not only to be accurate but also to properly channel power.

However,

I just did it.

Perfectly, at that.

It was the ability brought by the evolved strike.

Now, I could perfectly respond to enemies from all directions, not just the front.

Literally, the Executioner’s Strike now had no blind spots.

“Phew… Th-thank you, senior.”

Annette thanked me with a face that barely survived.

“Enough of that, if you don’t want to end up in such a situation again, start singing.”

“Ah.”

“Quickly.”

“Yes!”

Annette hurriedly began to sing.

Her voice was clear and pure.

A beautiful melody.

The song, utterly out of place on the battlefield, spread around us.

Of course, it wasn’t just any song.

It was imbued with a mysterious and holy power.

The Song of Healing.

“Does this really work?”

Camian was skeptical.

“Do you still not trust me?”

I chuckled.

No need to wait.

The effect had already begun to show.

“Grrrrr!”

The painful screams of the zombies.

Clatter, clatter!

The bones of the skeleton soldiers seemed to shrink.

They were suffering due to the power of the Song of Healing.

Lower-level undead affected by such a severe debuff?

Now, they were easy prey.

“You’re finished, you scum.”

Whoosh!

Crack!

The Executioner’s Strike obliterated five undead at once.

The feeling was immensely satisfying.

It was a pity I couldn’t use it consecutively.

Well, these creatures were not worth wasting energy on now; the Imperial style 8 was enough to sweep them away,

Crack!

Thud!

The Imperial style 8 decapitated zombies and shattered skeletons, but they couldn’t resist as before due to the powerful debuff.

“What, what’s going on? Why have these guys become so weak?”

Camian muttered incredulously.

Naturally, he felt the undead had become significantly weaker.

“I told you to trust me, man.”

I casually slapped Camian on the shoulder.

“Se-seriously, I didn’t expect it to be this effective…”

“Right, right.”

Annette agreed.

No, you’re not supposed to agree right now.

•The song will stop.

“Hey, junior Annette. The song, the song.”

“Oh, sorry. I was just so surprised.”

Annette hurriedly resumed her song.

The undead, which had a moment of relief, again fell into disarray.

“Hey, Secon seat.”

This time, I called Camian .

“Yes?”