Victory

The massive fireball shot out from the school grounds and slammed into the heart of the goblin legion, triggering a tremendous explosion.

With the goblin legion’s forces now focused entirely on our group, the guild members—who had been under relatively less pressure—switched from defense to offense. It seemed they had a mage on par with Si-eun; the power of the incoming flames was no joke.

The huge fireballs raining down among the goblin horde erupted again and again, swallowing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠nearby goblins whole with deafening blasts. Once the magic finally stopped, guild members wielding swords, axes, and other melee weapons charged forward to begin their assault.

Ten guild members rushed in, each wrapped in a pure white glow. It was the same buff skill I’d seen Guild Master Lee Soo-ah use back in the previous event dungeon. A ridiculous buff that granted each recipient strength on the level of a Ji-soo ranker. As the ten of them swung their weapons, the goblins collapsed helplessly.

And right in the middle of it all was Lee Soo-ah herself, swinging her sword and slaughtering goblins left and right. I’d thought she only handed out buffs from the back, but she could fight on the front lines too? And not just fight—she was insanely good at it.

Her blade wrapped in the same white light as her buffed guild members, she sliced through enemies with every swing. The moment Lee Soo-ah and her people began their frontal assault, the Goblin Lord—who had been blocking our attacks from the rear—began to show clear signs of panic on his face.

Now. This is the perfect timing.

I stretched my hand into the air and activated the skill.

A massive amount of mana drained out of me, and ten skeletons clutching goblin daggers tore up through the ground.

“Krrraaak!! Krrraaak!!”

“Krrraaaak!!!!”

Huh? What’s with them?

The goblins who saw my skeletons let out terrified shrieks and began backing away. My skeletons might look creepy as hell, but strength-wise they were only on par with regular goblins. Why were they so scared?

Well, if the enemy was feeling fear and running away, I wasn’t about to complain. I gave my skeletons the order to charge, then gripped my spear and rushed the enemy myself.

Whoa. The moment the charging skeleton soldiers appeared, the goblins screamed and fled in every direction. They tripped over each other, fell, and created total chaos. The goblin warriors at least tried to hold their ground, but their trembling legs made it obvious how terrified they were.

Did I just discover some unexpected new ability of the Legion of the Dead?

Thanks to that, we were able to push forward and advance without much trouble. Even though we were few in number, every single one of my thralls was powerful. Add in the skeleton soldiers who covered each other’s weaknesses through teamwork, and me—the weakest in the party but still strong enough to chew through mere goblins—and the enemy began to fall apart helplessly.

The Goblin Lord, face twisted in desperation, redirected some of the buffed goblin soldiers toward Lee Soo-ah’s advancing forces. But that was a mistake. The moment the pressure on us eased even slightly, Juniel immediately began pressing forward toward the Goblin Lord again.

The Goblin Lord hurriedly sent the reinforced goblins back toward Juniel. Once again, Juniel’s charge was stalled. But even while Juniel was tied down, my thralls and I were slaughtering goblins from behind, along with the skull-heads. From the front, Lee Soo-ah and her guild members charged in wrapped in white light.

In terms of numbers we were hopelessly outnumbered, yet we were the ones crushing and pressuring the massive goblin legion.

The Goblin Lord grit his teeth and raised his staff high. Another spell? If it looked like it was aimed at me, I’d immediately dive into the Cradle of Rest. Even while swinging my spear, I kept glancing at the Goblin Lord, ready to jump into the Gate of Rest at any moment.

But the staff wasn’t swung toward us—it was aimed at Lee Soo-ah’s guild members.

BOOOOM! BOOM! KABOOOOOM!

With a massive roar, three streaks of lightning flashed down from the sky and struck Lee Soo-ah’s formation. Four guild members who had been wrapped in white light were sent flying. Were they even alive after that? The power was terrifying.

Fortunately, Lee Soo-ah herself seemed unharmed. But the sight of her fallen comrades must have enraged her. With eyes blazing, she stared at the Goblin Lord and raised her sword high. The white energy gathered on her blade swelled enormously, flickering with power.

Whoa, what the hell is that? It looks insanely strong.

Lee Soo-ah swung her sword down with all her might. A straight beam of white light shot from her blade and raced toward the Goblin Lord. Any goblins caught in its ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠path were completely vaporized. The Goblin Lord urgently shouted something while raising his staff, and the white light that pierced through the goblins was blocked by a translucent shield he created in front of himself.

CRACK!

The translucent shield shattered with a sharp sound, and the staff split in two. The Goblin Lord was sent flying backward.

“Kreeeeeeeek!!!”

The Goblin Lord screamed as he was blasted away—straight toward where Juniel was being held back.

I urgently sent a command to Juniel.

Juniel! Now!

There was no verbal reply, but she must have heard me. From within the black armor, a ferocious red aura surged upward.

“Haaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”

With a battle cry, Juniel swung her axe in all directions with astonishing speed. Even the buffed goblins were torn apart like paper. She shot forward like a bullet toward the fallen Goblin Lord. A chilling whoosh cut through the air as her axe swung, and the Goblin Lord’s head floated cleanly into the air.

Messages flooded my vision. Wait, what? First time defeating a boss-class monster? Double combat experience?

It hadn’t been easy, but this kind of reward was amazing. Thanks to it, my level—which barely ever went up—shot up two levels at once.

Oh, right. This wasn’t the time to be staring at messages. The battle wasn’t over ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠yet.

I dismissed the messages and turned my eyes back to the battlefield. But it could no longer really be called a battlefield. The goblins, having lost their leader, were wandering around in confusion and being slaughtered.

I watched my thralls and Lee Soo-ah’s guild members massacre the remaining goblins as I slowly approached the Goblin Lord’s corpse.

He had been the leader of the weakest monster race, the goblins, yet he hadn’t been an easy opponent. He was smart, and his magic had been powerful. If we hadn’t helped, Lee Soo-ah’s guild would have been destroyed.

With this, my plan to earn a favor from Lee Soo-ah and her guild seemed to have succeeded beautifully.

Then, shall we check out the side income?

I began examining the Goblin Lord’s corpse. The staff he had used was split in half after blocking Lee Soo-ah’s attack. It had looked like a good weapon too. What a shame. It would have been perfect for Si-eun.

I rummaged through the corpse’s clothes but found nothing of value. Was this guy seriously broke? All he had was some shabby clothes and that staff?

I let out a sigh and stood up. That was when something shiny caught my eye near the Goblin Lord’s severed head.

It was a pair of earrings the Goblin Lord had been wearing. Despite his shabby appearance, they were a set of small, sparkling silver hoop earrings that looked quite expensive. For him to be wearing accessories that didn’t suit him at all, they probably weren’t just for show.

I grabbed the Goblin Lord’s head and pulled out the earrings. They were covered in blood. I’d have to wear them myself to check their stats, but… I didn’t have pierced ears, and it felt kind of gross.

But there was no need to worry. I had an excellent meat shield, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠driver, and test subject named Dong-seok.

I sent a telepathic message to call Dong-seok, who was probably hiding somewhere. While waiting for him, I looked around and saw that most of the goblins had already been cleaned up. Goblin corpses were strewn everywhere.

A whole field of goblin corpses had been created right in front of the guild. Lee Soo-ah’s people were going to have a hard time cleaning this up. If left alone, the stench would be unbearable. It was early winter so bugs wouldn’t appear, at least.

As I was thinking about various things, Dong-seok finally appeared and trudged over to me. I walked up to him, handed him the earrings, and ordered him to put them on.

Dong-seok took the earrings and brought them up to his ears, but he didn’t go any further. Ah, right. All my mindless thralls were idiots. No helping it.

I took the earrings back and personally put them on him. It seemed Dong-seok had never worn earrings while alive—his earlobes had no holes. But that didn’t matter.

I forcefully pushed the earring straight through his earlobe. With a crunching sensation, the earring equipped itself. Black smoke rose from both of Dong-seok’s earlobes.

I looked at Dong-seok, who was now wearing the earrings, and opened his status window.

Ooooooh!

I couldn’t stop grinning with satisfaction. Just as I expected, the earrings the Goblin Lord had been wearing were an item. They raised INT by 10, mana by 100, and even doubled mana recovery speed. This thing would probably cost a fortune if bought from a shop.

I had been disappointed thinking the broken staff meant no decent side income, but this was fantastic. This item… I should give it to Si-eun. I already felt a little guilty for taking the Ring of Protection we got as a reward from the event dungeon and wearing it myself. This worked out perfectly.

I took the earrings back from Dong-seok, put them in my pocket, and healed his earlobes.

When I looked around, there were no more living, moving goblins in sight. It had been quite a large battle, but it ended well. That was a relief.

The ten skeleton soldiers, Si-eun, Ji-yoon, Ji-soo, and even Juniel in her black armor all gathered around me.

“Everyone worked hard. No one got hurt, right?”

At my words, Si-eun stepped forward.

“We’re all fine. What about you, oppa?”

“Me? There wasn’t anything that could even scratch me. I’m perfectly fine.”

While I was talking with Si-eun, the sound of armor being released came from Juniel. I looked at her and asked,

“Any aftereffects from Berserk? You okay?”

She had used the Berserk skill briefly while tearing through the reinforced goblins and when she cut off the Goblin Lord’s head. It supposedly doubled all stats, and the power really had been incredible.

Juniel answered with an expressionless face.

“I only used it for a very short time. My whole body just feels a little stiff. If I had used it any longer, black smoke would be pouring out of me right now.”

It really didn’t seem like a skill that was easy to use while still alive. Still, the power was very much to my liking. It didn’t drain my own body, and even if it hurt, it was Juniel who would feel the pain. I should make her use it often from now on.

As we were wrapping up the battle together, a crying sound came from one side. Someone was sitting on the ground, covering their face and sobbing. It was Lee Soo-ah.

It seemed the four guild members hit by the Goblin Lord’s lightning magic hadn’t survived. In front of the four charred corpses, Lee Soo-ah was weeping bitterly while her guild members tried to console her.

Aigoo… What a bitter sight.

I clicked my tongue softly and waited until Lee Soo-ah’s crying subsided. After crying for a long time, she seemed to have calmed down somewhat. She ordered her guild members to collect the bodies, then walked over to our group.

Her eyes were bloodshot and swollen. Both she and the guild members escorting her flinched and stopped in their tracks.

Why were they reacting like that? Oh, right. Our skull-heads. Even though we had fought together as allies against the goblins, they were still terrified of them. How strange.

I waved my hand forward, and the skeleton soldiers collapsed with a clatter before sinking into the ground and disappearing. Only then did Lee Soo-ah and her guild members approach us with relieved expressions.

They stopped in front of me, bowed deeply at a perfect ninety-degree angle, and greeted me.

“Thank you so much. If it hadn’t been for Min-gu-nim’s help, our guild would never have survived. Really… I cannot thank you enough.”

Lee Soo-ah and her guild members bowed once more. At some point my title had changed from “Min-gu-ssi” to “Min-gu-nim.”

I looked at them with a benevolent expression and said,

“There’s no need for thanks. Isn’t it only natural for fellow humans to help each other?”

At my kind words and actions, Juniel made a face like she had bitten into something rotten. That rude brat. But that was strange. For a second, it looked like Si-eun, Ji-yoon, and Ji-soo made similar expressions. Must have been my imagination.

Anyway, after hearing my warm words, Lee Soo-ah and her guild members looked at me with moved eyes. Lee Soo-ah stepped forward and spoke.

“For now, please come inside. The sun is starting to set… Yu Seong-ajeossi, could you please guide Min-gu-nim and his party inside? I’ll clean up here and join you shortly.”

“Yes, understood.”

At Lee Soo-ah’s command, a large middle-aged man guided us. And so we were able to enter the school that served as the guild’s base.