The Mountain Bandit's Fury
No Okrim roared with all his might!
“Shit, come back!!!”
A chill ran down my spine as the voice came from right behind me at the same time.
“Shit… this guy is fucking strong…”
One swing of his giant axe and two or three skeletons exploded into pieces.
The saving grace was that his axe swings weren't fast.
But the real misfortune was that the spear attacks did absolutely nothing.
Whoosh!
The sound of air being sliced cut through.
Huuung! Huuung! Huuung! Huuung!
The noise grew louder and louder.
Kwang!!!
“Kuh!”
The source of the sound was No Okrim hurling his axe.
It had been aimed straight for my back, but the skeleton had twisted its body perfectly.
The axe missed, but the impact of it embedding into the ground couldn't be avoided.
The skeleton survived only thanks to that shockwave.
“Uweeek!”
Because of that impact, I lived. But it was a brutal blow.
- Master!!!
'No way…'
Yeongwon's panicked voice. But I wasn't about to die yet.
I tried to summon the remaining skeletons. However, the Dimension Gate had a cooldown.
- Five minutes needed…!
'… Alright.'
I wiped the drool from my lips and ran.
That idiot No Okrim. Because he had thrown the axe, the speed at which he smashed the skeletons slowed down.
The broken trees were in the way. With the artillery fire, all the surrounding trees had fallen or bent over.
Bang!
One step away. The ground nearby sank with a deep crater.
“T-That crazy bastard! He can shoot lasers too!”
While smashing the skeletons, he had used the opening to fire a laser at me.
Five minutes had dragged on forever. That crazy mountain bandit guy shattered the skeletons in the blink of an eye.
Two remaining skeletons.
If the next Dimension Gate opened, I could run. But by then, there would be no skeletons left.
The bastard wouldn't let me run to the gate without doing anything.
An axe to my back, a laser, who knows what else was coming.
I needed to think of another plan.
There was a sunken pit right in front of me. A tree uprooted by the artillery's shockwave lay on the ground.
The pit had been created because the roots had pulled out of the soil with a clump of dirt attached.
I hid my body inside that pit.
My leg that had been about to burst finally got to rest.
With my Agility 2 body, escaping the messed-up mountain path wasn't running. It was a desperate scramble.
“Shit… a monster-like guy…”
I had been naive. Maybe it was because I always had Yeongwon, an irregular subordinate by my side.
Or because I had been too close with the strongest Sky Hunter in the country.
I hadn't realized the true strength of a strong person.
I had been arrogant. Because I had become strong too quickly, I had thought other Hunters were trash.
And that they were trash who couldn't even clear Hard Mode.
The two remaining skeletons were also smashed to pieces.
“Hey, where are you?!?!”
Along with the thundering footsteps, No Okrim's voice rang out.
I shook my hands while opening my inventory.
I wondered what I was going to use this for, so I took out the dragon's dung and hid my body with it.
It was hard to breathe with the stench. My eyes were tearing up.
My mind was hazy. The aftereffects of the shockwave finally caught up to me.
My head was spinning and my vision was shaking.
Swooosh…!
I heard the sound of a jet from far away. Was it a hallucination?
Along with that sound, my consciousness cut off.
* * *
Yeongwon was anxious.
She wanted to run to her Master right then and there.
If only the Heavenly Realm's interference hadn't been there!
Grinding her teeth, Yeongwon forcibly suppressed her emotions.
What was needed now was not anger, but calculation.
“When I go out from the Necropolis, the Heavenly Realm's interference…”
If I went out, demons would sniff out the scent of my body.
Even if I was a ghost with no legs, they would devour my body voraciously.
“When I kill the human outside the Necropolis, the Heavenly Realm's interference…”
If I killed a human, the angels would sniff out the scent of my soul.
My body made of souls would be the ultimate delicacy for them.
It didn't matter.
If I lost my eyes, I would see with Master's eyes.
If I lost my limbs, Master would hug me.
Even if I lost my soul, it would remain in Master's memories and stay with me.
Yeongwon recalled the power scattered throughout the Necropolis.
The city fell silent.
The blue flame of death gathered at her fingertips.
The given time was fleeting.
Before the demon could intervene.
Before the angel could call his name.
I will kill No Okrim.
Yeongwon extended her hand.
Ah, this power that surpasses even transcendent beings!
With this power alone, I could confront the guy that the demons and angels serve as their god.
But Yeongwon was the Necropolis.
Going out from the Necropolis was like cutting open your own stomach and pulling out your own heart.
Even if I went out quietly and came back quietly, I would have to bear tremendous pain and damage.
But that wasn't enough; it was combined with the Heavenly Realm's interference.
It was unreasonable. Yeah, the world was originally unreasonable.
I was born as a strong person and had been unreasonable to the weak until now.
It was time for me to feel the unreasonableness in reverse.
“Huu…”
I fixed the dimension right next to my Master.
'I will tear both the dimension and No Okrim apart at the same time. I must create two results with one action.'
I took a deep breath and checked No Okrim's scent.
“Huh…?”
The guy was running. He was distancing himself from Master. He was fleeing from something.
“Ah…!”
A fighter jet was pursuing the guy. No Okrim disappeared into the mountains in an instant.
Yeongwon scattered the gathered power again.
The tension eased. Realizing her own appearance, she laughed in disbelief.
* * *
“Ugh…”
A headache that felt like it would break. Legs that felt like they would burst.
And fucking shit stench.
- Master!!! No Okrim has run away!
Yeongwon's voice came through.
“Yeah? Alright… Let's go home.”
I tried to put the dung back into the inventory, but it wouldn't go in.
Seriously. Was it a one-time consumable item?
I barely squeezed out the hardened dung.
I didn't know where my shoes had gone; my feet were bare. My legs were scratched, and my body was covered in dung.
“Haha…”
Squish… Space cracked open. Let's go back. I collapsed into the gap.
Shuuk.
“Master!!!”
“Uuuung… I'm here.”
Poof. I leaned my body into Yeongwon's embrace.
“Really…!”
“I'm sorry…”
A lot had happened. But we didn't need to talk.
The intense emotions we felt were fully transmitted through our connected souls.
“Dung is all over me.”
“Take it off quickly!”
I took off my clothes and washed my body. I didn't notice when I was running… but my legs were scratched all over by twigs.
There was no way I had something like ointment. I had to apply soybean paste.
“…”
From the kitchen, I took out the soybean paste, opened the lid, and closed it again.
“Dung…”
Instead of soybean paste, I applied saliva. Then I walked with my saliva-covered feet and lay down.
Yeongwon quietly followed and lay down too.
“…”
“…”
Without saying a word, we exchanged emotions. I felt how much she had worried about me.
“Master.”
“Yeah…”
“I squatted for a moment to jump.”
“Uuuung…”
“It can be used as a growth platform.”
With Yeongwon's body on top, her sincere intention to comfort me added power to the words.
“Yeah… I thought too lightly.”
I said it with sincerity too.
“So, actually… I need a subordinate with a slightly higher rank.”
“Like me?”
“A subordinate with a similar rank to me… um… that might be difficult. But if it's a bit lower than me, I can make a grand dragon lord using the Dragon Rod. Something like a Grand Sword Master-class Death Knight…”
“Uuuung… Just hearing it sounds tough.”
“Yeah. You can slowly climb the stairs. Adding ghouls or zombies is safe…”
“No. They smell like rotten flesh.”
“True. Corpse stench is their passive. Um, race would be safer.”
“Race?”
“Yeah. Undead of the ghost type similar to me. The advantage is that they recover on their own and absorb magic.”
“Uuuung… I'd like that.”
It was frustrating. My summon skill was only for skeletons.
“I know what you're thinking. So I thought of how to do it.”
“Uuuung?”
My clever wife. She wouldn't have brought up such words for nothing!
“For now, stop summoning skeletons and make and sell them as armed skeletons.”
“Ong…?”
“I looked it up, but C-rank shields trade for an average of 30 million. So make exactly 10 and sell them.”
“Heh…! Then 300 million? Then…”
If I kept making and selling shields, I would become a rich person!
But Yeongwon shook her head.
“If you make too many, the value drops. Bone shields are light and elastic, so only 10. Each for 50 million.”
“Heh! 500 million?”
“Yeah. And tell the Sky Hunter to sell the items and shields he entrusted this time and use the money to buy skill books. A skill book costs about 200 million, so you can buy 3.”
“Really? But what if the same skill comes out…?”
“Since the skill rank goes up, that's good too.”
“It's just that it's always good. Alright, from now on I'll enter production mode!”
“Yes! And with the corpses I recovered this time, instead of Master, I will make soldiers. I can make 5 skeleton warriors.”
“Skeleton warriors…?”
“Yeah. Balanced skeletons holding a one-handed sword and shield.”
“Good.”
A short schedule was set like that.
I made 5 shields, and Yeongwon made 5 skeleton warriors.
It took 5 days, and it was time to climb the tower.
My forces were 5 skeleton shield soldiers, 5 skeleton spearmen, 9 skeleton archers, and 5 skeleton warriors.
As a guy leading nearly 40 troops, I was naturally uneasy.
That crazy No Okrim, that mountain bandit bastard. How could he destroy 20 skeletons so easily?
Plus, the 4th floor was an unknown area with no information.
“Don't worry.”
Yeongwon comforted my anxious heart.
“The skeleton warriors were made quite well.”
“They can even fight against orcs by themselves.”
“This should be enough for the 4th floor.”
I nodded.
Nodding my head, I moved to the tower like a man.
When I opened my eyes to the scene in front of me, I sighed.
There was a fence ahead. Although it was made as a shabby and low wooden stockade, it was a fortress of sorts.
The monsters guarding the fortress were goblins.
The difference from the goblins I had faced so far was that they had fairly decent equipment.
Instead of sticks, they carried swords, axes, spears made of metal.
Their heads were covered with helmets that were too big and loose, and their bodies had armor that reached down to their knees.
The original owner of that equipment was definitely a human.
Perhaps the hunters who died here.
- Five seconds until the barrier disappears. Prepare for battle.
“Haa… only the 4th floor…”
The difficulty spike was severe. The saving grace was that there seemed to be fewer goblins than skeletons.
Clink, clink.
The skeletons gathered around me.
Five shield soldiers stood in front.
Behind them were five spearmen.
Nine archers spread slightly left and right.
The skeleton warriors stood beside me as if protecting me.
And…
“Kieek!”
The goblins beyond the fence also moved.
They didn't flee.
They didn't come running with their sticks either.
Clatter.
The metal shields were raised in the front row.
Behind them, the tips of spears poked out.
On the fence, goblins with small bows were feeding arrows.
“……”
For the first time.
The goblins had formed a formation.
Shuuu… The barrier disappeared.
I remembered what the Sky Hunter had said.
From the 4th floor, there was no information.
“Haa.”
A laugh came out.
Hard Mode 4th floor. As expected, there would be no information. Many hunters must have reached their limit here.
Pew! Pew! Pew!
The first to move were the goblin archers.
“Shields!”
Before the words even fell, the shield soldiers moved forward.
Ting! Ti-ding! Tang!
Arrows embedded into the bone shields and bounced off.
“Archers!!!”
The skeleton archers pulled back their bowstrings.
The bone bow made from the dragon's teeth bent strangely.
Kkikikig.
The next moment.
Puk!
One goblin on the fence had its head thrown back.
“Oh.”
It was definitely strong.
But the goblins didn't stay still either.
“Kieeeek!”
A drumbeat echoed from behind the fence.
Dong. Dong. Dong.
Goblins holding shields opened the gate and rushed out.
Instead of charging at my skeletons, they spread out to both sides and widened the distance.
“Surrounding me?”
I frowned.
The goblin spearmen attached themselves behind the shield soldiers.
The archers continued shooting arrows from the fence.
They weren't trash.
They had intelligence and had acquired human knowledge.
“Shield soldiers, advance. Spearmen, stick close.”
Clatter!
The skeletons moved.
Shields interlocked with shields, and between them spears extended.
Two small armies advanced toward each other.
Kung!
Shields collided with shields.
At that moment, the goblin archers on the fence drew their bows all at once.
“Ah.”
Their arrows weren't aimed at the shield soldiers.
They shot curved arrows high into the sky.
A rain of arrows fell over my head.
“Shit.”
I realized too late.
The enemy on this floor wasn't goblins.
It was an army.