Chapter 80
Chapter 80
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: Immortal Legion (4) Injury
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Injuries.
For hunters who ventured into dungeons, they were as commonplace as breathing.
‘Injuries? Honestly, it’s laughable.’
‘Yeah, what’s an injury? Waking up to find a hunter you knew yesterday hawking their wounds is everyday life.’
‘Don’t experienced hunters usually miss at least one body part?’
That was the honest public sentiment.
So I just furrowed my brow, without breaking formation.
I blocked the oncoming dullahans, keeping watch on the situation.
For now, the gates absolutely could not fall.
“Urk! Urrgh!”
Kang Yu-jeong’s eyes were clouded with shock.
The pain of amputation must have been immense, but the terror of losing an arm as a swordswoman seemed even greater.
Deputy team leader Kang Ji-hoo swung his sword and shouted.
“Hey, hey, you okay? For now, staunch that wound yourself!”
“Urk, y-yes!”
“Yu-jeong’s side is on you, Jin-soo! Cover her! Move fast! If we break, we all die!”
“Y-y-yes, sir!”
As expected of an S-rank hunter from the Heavenly Demon Cult?
The deputy team leader handled the sudden injury with practiced ease.
Even more astonishing was Kang Yu-jeong’s next move.
Rip!
Tears streaming down her face, she tore the hem of her clothes with her teeth.
Then she swiftly wrapped the wound.
The bleeding was so severe that her white garment was soaked red in seconds.
“Hnngh, hngh!”
Enduring the agony, she moved decisively.
It was almost instinctual.
Thwack!
Kang Ji-hoo smashed a ghoul’s head with his scabbard and yelled.
“Hurry and staunch it, then get back in! Sorry, but we can’t reshuffle the whole formation for you! Got it?”
“Y-yes, I got it!”
“The situation’s bad! We’re at an absolute disadvantage! Those soldiers up on the walls providing ranged support are the only thing saving us—if those bastards had siege weapons, we’d be done already!”
“…….”
I watched them with a bitter pang.
So this was the daily life of hunters with comrades.
No proper treatment even after getting injured.
Having to fight on while enduring the pain.
Why?
Because if they didn’t, the team would suffer.
Because their absence could shatter the formation and lead to a total wipe.
Ah.
It hit me anew just how amazing my skill was.
‘Skeleton Summoning….’
My bony minions didn’t suffer injuries.
Not even death.
As long as they had stamina, they could spring back to life.
That was the ultimate cheat class, Necromancer.
“S-staunching done! Returning to position now!”
“Does it hurt?”
“Hnngh, feels like I’m dying… but I’ll bear it!”
“Get over here fast! No left arm? Swing with your right! Hold the line!”
“Y-yes!”
Kim Jin-soo handed off the dullahan he’d been facing back to Kang Yu-jeong.
‘Wow, this.’
High-rank hunters weren’t high-rank for nothing.
To show that kind of will in an environment harsher than a battlefield.
Was that the minimum to join the Heavenly Demon Cult?
‘Of course.’
I would have done the same.
Pain?
I’d endured plenty.
Beaten daily by the old man to build tolerance.
And I was the one who hadn’t fallen even after letting Tae-yang spear my whole body.
Whoosh!
I swung my spear at full force again.
Clang!
The dullahan’s axe rebounded heavily.
Even alone, an A-rank dullahan was still too much for me.
I could only block with my weapon.
But Tae-yang beside me exploited the opening.
He darted in and mercilessly stabbed the severed dullahan head with his spear.
Stab!
“Kieeeek!”
Its weakness was the head clutched in its left hand.
It let out a horrific shriek and dissolved into black smoke.
“My lord, are you alright?”
“I’m fine. Thanks.”
“No, my lord’s spear…”
“Oh.”
I looked at the blade I gripped tightly.
The edge was chipped, and there were cracks too.
No wonder it hadn’t been piercing well lately.
Whatever.
Weapons littered the ground around us.
Clunk!
I tossed the spear aside.
As I reached for one of the nearby dullahan swords—
“O-over there!”
From afar, Black Sword Squad member Kim Jin-soo shouted.
“Look over there! New undead are surging in!”
Crazy, new undead?
More reinforcements here?
I whipped my head forward again.
And there—
“Huh?”
White bones marched in formation.
“Those are…”
I was stunned.
“Skeletons?”
[You witness the Skeleton Legion.]
Crack! Creak!
The horde charging with all sorts of gear was unmistakably skeletons.
“Ah, looks like it revived the fallen soldiers!”
“Seems so.”
I nodded.
The gear they wore, the weapons they held—all from the soldiers I’d seen on the walls.
‘But.’
Why were skeletons showing up now, when there hadn’t been any before?
I stepped up onto a mound of ghoul corpses nearby.
To survey the battlefield from high ground.
Then, far off—
Boom boom boom!
Lee Seon-ah, clashing with liches in a flurry of brilliant swordplay.
‘Did her push provoke the liches to summon them?’
Anyway.
I grinned.
‘Skeletons? Perfect for me.’
What was my epithet again!
Skeleton Lord.
Ruler over all skeletons.
I recalled the message from when I earned the title.
[You command all skeletons.]
[You reign supreme over all skeletons.]
[No skeleton can attack you.]
[You are the ‘Skeleton Lord.’]
A smile tugged at my lips.
Ah.
In any dungeon, if you seek the answer, you’ll find it—that’s the golden rule, huh?
“Deputy team leader!”
I called to Kang Ji-hoo.
“Yes?”
“This game—we might actually win!”
“What do you mean!”
“Could you escort me to the front of those skeletons?”
The skeletons appearing was great.
But.
The packed ghoul and specter legions kept them from reaching me.
“Hmm? Don’t tell me.”
Kang Ji-hoo seemed to recall my epithet, his face lighting up with realization.
“You sure about this?”
“Can’t guarantee it, but we’re not holding this line anyway, right?”
“Even so, breaking through that force means everyone moves. The gates could fall!”
I got what he meant.
If it wasn’t certain, we’d just get surrounded.
But on the flip side.
If it worked, the tide could fully turn.
Strong or weak skeletons didn’t matter.
What mattered was the shift in formation.
We could use them as meat shields.
And they’d widen the front line, letting our skills hit more foes.
“What do we do? If we go, we all go. If I move, you’re all dead.”
Without Lee Seon-ah, it was just three of them.
One injured.
As I spoke, I kept scanning ahead.
Time was short.
The undead horde grew fiercer, pressing the gates.
“Damn it!”
Kang Ji-hoo yelled.
“Sitting tight just means dog death anyway. Let’s move out!”
“Good call.”
I didn’t trust them.
But I’d cleared S-rank-plus dungeons three times already.
And every time.
My instincts had been spot on.
* * *
With the wall at our backs gone, the assault intensified.
“…….”
“Huff, huff!”
No time for talk.
We mindlessly hacked at the enemy waves crashing like a tsunami.
Not even precise, sharp cuts.
No time to stay calm.
Just instinctual stabs, stabs, and more stabs.
Sometimes smashing with the flat of the blade.
“Back to back, don’t break! Follow the Bone Master’s lead—move as one!”
Our goal: the skeleton legion’s position.
At the vanguard, the Bone Master and his minions bashed enemies aside with shields.
The rest of the bones, me, and the Black Sword Squad members stuck behind, slaying flankers.
“Huff, hngh! This… we’ll make it out alive, right?”
Kim Jin-soo panted.
I snapped back.
“Focus! No luxury for doubts—no time for it.”
“Impressive. Still B-rank, but you seem S-grade at least. Huff, huff!”
“…….”
Kim Jin-soo was impressed, but I didn’t reply.
Busy channeling Tai Ching Heart Method and Ten Thousand Arts, moving my body.
‘One thing’s sure.’
In this fight alone.
Mentally and combat-wise, I outclassed those A-rankers.
‘System.’
This enough justification?
Awaken me already!
“Skeleton Lord!”
“You called, deputy?”
“We’re almost there.”
“Oh?”
I saw them.
The skeleton legion charging toward me at tremendous speed.
Creak! Grind!
Their joints squeaking as they ran—definitely…
‘Huh?’
They were attacking the ghouls and specters of the Immortal Legion.
“I-it’s true! The Lord was right!”
Kim Jin-soo shouted.
“R-real… Sniff! The skeletons are really attacking the ghouls and specters!”
Kang Yu-jeong chimed in.
About 1,000 skeletons unleashing a barrage.
[You are the ‘Skeleton Lord.’]
[You command all skeletons.]
Ah.
I felt their energy.
‘These aren’t.’
Basic skeletons.
At least ghoul-level, no—slightly stronger than ghouls.
That’s what they were.
From earlier.
They’d been instinctively racing toward me, from afar.
‘To protect.’
To safeguard their lord—me.
Undead, fearless, they pressed forward.
Slowly pushing back the enemy encirclement.
“As expected… This your hidden ace?”
Kang Ji-hoo exhaled in admiration.
“Hoo, no wonder the leader’s interested. Way better than this S-rank. So…”
He swallowed hard and continued.
“Whatever. Save our asses.”
Of course.
“Spread out wider, bones! Form a front line so our skills can hit better!”
Honestly, the tide hadn’t fully turned.
Just over 1,000 skeletons.
But.
We’d held without them.
At least now we could breathe.
- Necromancer.
That’s when it came.
- Holding up well. But we haven’t shown the Immortal Legion’s true power yet…
One of the eleven liches’ voices rang in my ears again.
Probably the one who’d cursed us first.
- Let’s see you endure this. The merciless dark magic…!
Whumm!
Suddenly, the drizzling rain stopped.
Whoooosh…!
With a fierce wind.
The temperature plummeted.
Far off, Lee Seon-ah—fighting other liches—sensed something wrong, halted, and raced our way.
Frost formed in the air instead of raindrops.
Whooosh!
A blizzard howled in.
“I-it’s getting cold!”
“This is…”
The lich’s ultimate AoE skill.
A massive blizzard showering the area with ice shards to freeze foes—a top-tier grand magic!
Blizzard.
Crack! Craaack!
The moving skeletons began slowing.
Crunch!
I instinctively huddled.
Kang Ji-hoo shivered, muttering.
“Damn, is this really a clearable dungeon?”
Who knows.
That’s what I wanted to ask.