The Forgotten Dead One
No one could have imagined that an abandoned mine dungeon would slumber a boss of such absurdly powerful strength.
Even the conditions for his awakening were that he only stirred when accompanied by someone possessing the power of immortality.
Since the dungeon was born, he had never had reason to awaken.
But today, in the dungeon where he lay dormant, the young phoenix had entered together.
A phoenix that revives upon absorption, the young phoenix!
And the one who had even cradled him was the weakest living being in the entire team.
“Hand… over…”
A thick wave of death’s energy wafted from the lips that parted slightly.
Heungmi stood on high alert, fur bristled in a flurry, while Jed clutched his battle-axe with white knuckles despite his terror.
A withered, ghastly skeleton pointed straight at Baekya.
“Devour… life… and claim it.”
“!”
“So you want to… gain life?”
Perdikion asked, and a chill breath rolled out from the black shadow that was the skeletal corpse.
“I’ll swallow the world.”
Whether instinct or grudge, the intent was clear.
He had intended to take life through the young phoenix.
‘So that grim reaper’s target really is revival?’
No matter how strong, he was still nothing more than a monster wrapped in death’s aura right now.
A body that could truly live only existed in places where life overflowed abundantly.
But if it were the heart of a phoenix, he would surely obtain a powerful surge of life.
“Hand it over!”
Ki-iiiiing!
Death had spoken.
Perdikion braced his head against the piercing glare of the blade and stepped forward, sword aimed.
“Sorry. My fault for not properly scouting the dungeon in my own territory.”
“Brother.”
“Stay behind. You two aren’t capable of handling this. I’ll handle this guy one way or another.”
Perdikion’s gaze locked onto Heungmi.
‘If it were me, I could hold out until the curse’s effect wore off. I won’t let even a single hair on my little brother get scratched.’
And now he was already under the curse of weakening power.
He needed to buy time until the Black Dragon’s potion wore off.
“First, you and I will stall.”
“Kyaang!”
The pointed-to Heungmi stood beside Perdikion and glared at the skeletal corpse.
“All of you… die!”
At that moment, the skeletal corpse twisted its body in an unnatural way and spread its arms.
Inky black smoke poured out and swallowed them in a single breath.
“! Rune, don’t hold your breath!”
Crack!
The moment the rock golem fragment on the floor touched the smoke, it dissolved into nothing.
A corrosive curse.
Perdikion and Heungmi surrounded themselves with flames to blow away the smoke and fought.
Rune watched their clash and thought.
‘They actually work well together.’
Before the dungeon, Perdikion’s training of Heungmi had paid off in a big way.
Rune stepped back and memorized their fighting style.
“Block it, Heungmi!”
“Kuung!”
The skeletal corpse swung its hand wide, and dozens of black spears rained down like a meteor shower.
Bang! Boom!
Kwaaadduk!
There was no way to dodge countless spears that fell without even being visible, so Perdikion and Heungmi merged their flames into a pillar of fire.
Fwoosh!
Blue and red flames twisted together.
The pillar of fire created a raging hot storm.
Inside the flame storm that weakened the black spears, Perdikion swept them aside while Heungmi darted in for the opening.
Even stalling seemed impossible, yet both of them fought with desperate resolve.
Meanwhile, the one rolling on the floor to avoid attacks was Jed.
He sprang up with a determined face and clenched his fist.
“Lord Rune! Don’t be scared, okay? I-I’ll protect you somehow!”
“…Your hands are shaking.”
Jed trembled sweetly yet pulled out his battle-axe.
Sweat poured down his face, but the presence of a weapon calmed the shaking a little.
“Jed, aren’t you going too far?”
“Th-that’s scary, but…”
Jed exhaled thinly and looked down at Rune.
“Even though we’re different species, it’s not shameless enough to send a ten-year-old kid into this. B-but I still have the pride of a dwarf!”
He puffed his chest, yet his eyes already carried the scent of defeat.
Still, Rune looked at the child who smiled as if he wouldn’t fear an immature hatchling and answered calmly.
“Yeah. Thanks.”
Watching the face of an immature hatchling with no fear at all, Jed let out a dry chuckle.
“…Tsk. You have a talent for putting me at ease, hehe. Impressive. Your guts are definitely dragon… no, not dragon, but dragon-like bravery.”
Jed rambled on, then turned his back on Rune and gripped his battle-axe tighter.
Either way, seeing a little kid shake was far better for him.
Rune stared at Jed’s retreating back and made a tentative conclusion.
‘If I could use magic, I should have revealed it already. Right?’
Even if he had hidden his strength for some reason, he figured that if he wanted to live, he would have to reveal it on his own.
He didn’t know what exactly it was, but dying here would accomplish nothing.
Even if Jed survived alone, if Perdikion died, his father Pasiyas would not leave the son and the dwarf race alone.
‘I’ve confirmed everything. Time to start.’
Glancing at the situation, Perdikion was still pushing the skeletal corpse back, using even the leftover power he had while nursing.
It was a black sphere that absorbed life force.
He exploded in frustration.
“Damn it. Just when the damned curse potion is about to wear off…”
“Yeah.”
Rune answered calmly. Ignoring the glare from Perdikion, he poked the slightly bulging Jed.
“Baekya.”
“Piy?”
Peeking out, Rune whispered to the bird.
“What are you doing? Cry.”
“!”
The eyes of Baekya, who had met Rune’s gaze, filled with teary droplets.
“Piiiii…”
Pong.
A radiant Phoenix Tear rolled down.
‘Good.’
The child bird did exactly as commanded.
Rune poked the tear with his finger and licked it.
Swallow.
‘I never thought this experience of mistaking a mandragora for ginseng would come in handy.’
The moment the Phoenix Tear entered his throat, the curse of the potion began to fade.
A purifying effect.
Rune felt his strength slowly returning and drew up the dark mana he possessed.
Hooook!
At that instant, the entire space was swallowed by darkness.
“Ugh!”
“W-what…!”
Thud!
Perdikion, who had turned to look at Jed’s scream, took a chop to the back of his neck and fainted.
‘I’m sorry, brother. I couldn’t tell you yet that I had this kind of power.’
Leaving the skull on Jed’s head and the fainted Perdikion behind, Rune walked forward.
“Rune-ssi…?”
Heungmi, exhausted and panting, looked at Rune.
“Good job. Leave the rest to me and rest.”
“Yes.”
The Heungmi who had fought the skeletal corpse until the end fell back with a plop.
In the depths of darkness, the lone black skeleton remained.
The existence of a grieving ghost was as small and shabby as dust.
That was when.
“Gueugh…!”
His body began to shrink as if being crushed by an invisible force.
Whoosh!
One side of his skull was swallowed by darkness and vanished.
Sssuueeh!
The bones that had been his arms were shredded as if by a wild beast.
“Guaaaaaah!”
Black spots appeared all over the skeletal body, turning it pitch black before it was swallowed by darkness.
And how much time passed?
Wooaak!
The vast night crushed death.
The skeletal corpse, crumpled like a sheet of paper in his hand, fell to the floor.
Like a toy that a child had grown tired of playing with and thrown away.
‘I remember this from the past.’
Rune, who had watched it all from the darkness, slowly pulled up one corner of his mouth and smiled.
The Imugi of the black dragon.
The reason it had been alone while the object of fear.
Because the darkness it controlled had swallowed even fear and despair, leaving it with the fear that it could not maintain itself.
“Piyak!”
“…?”
At that moment, a small white light flashed.
The round light spread wings and flew over to perch calmly on the darkness’s head.
Baekya, whose body had shivered as if cold, flapped its white wings and chirped.
“Pii!”
“…”
Rune slowly dispelled the darkness, and the dungeon’s structure was revealed once more.
A corpse of death devoured by darkness lay sprawled about.
“That was too boring an ending.”
“Pii!”
Baekya gently nuzzled Rune’s head with its wings.
“You were worried?”
“Pii.”
“You did everything.”
Rune shrugged and scanned the surroundings with a smile.
Right nearby, Heungmi was seen asleep peacefully, as if the darkness posed no threat.
He carried the sleeping Heungmi to his side.
“Uuu, Rune-ssi, Heungmi’s hungry…”
When he placed her at the place where Jed was, Heungmi smacked her lips and mumbled in her sleep.
Rune, furrowing his brow, carried the groaning Perdikion who had collapsed nearby as well.
Only after tending to the whole group did Rune rummage through the tattered skeletal corpse.
The skull where the lost core had gathered like a green ghost.
Even though it had cracks, the other bones were sturdy enough.
‘Well, this is worth keeping. At least it’s payment for a life.’
The principle was to distribute dungeon-acquired items equally within the team according to contribution.
Even if Rune took the boss’s remains as a reward, it didn’t break the principle.
He opened the leather pouch he had received from Christina and stored the bones inside.
‘There’s bound to be a use for them.’
At that moment, a small window with information appeared before his eyes.
[Victory in the first battle against a since the dungeon’s creation!]
- A ghost who forgot everything in the vast passage of time.
- Once a superhuman with powerful strength, he fell into death and became a ghost filled with resentment.
‘So his name really was .’
Rune stared at the skeletal remains with new eyes, as if he had just remembered that the corpse was called a skeletal corpse because it was a corpse.
The renewed information didn’t end there.
* Word of Power magic available list
- Apple
- Potato
- Milk
- Salad
- Onion
‘Why is this even showing up? There’s no need to look at these trivial things.’
He skimmed over them roughly, and the final list popped up.
- Cliff goat
- Ghost’s spirit (acquirable)
“!”
His eyes widened.
‘This… can I revive him?’
Rune couldn’t hide the excited expression as he looked inside the pouch.
“Pii?”
“Ah, yeah. Good work, Baekya.”
The Black Dragon’s weakening curse potion.
Even though he had brought Baekya along to purify the curse just in case, the young phoenix had performed its role perfectly.
Rune, smiling, offered the potato chips he had made as a reward to Baekya.
After gathering the rest of the reward items, they escaped the dungeon exit.
The fainted group began to wake up.
“Uuu… Where am I?”
“Kuwoaah. Save the dwarf…”
Excluding the endlessly snoring Heungmi, everyone else woke up and looked around.
Perdikion was the first to assess the situation.
“So you cleared it? A hidden dungeon?”
“Yeah.”
“How? That skeleton was supposed to blind my eyes and attack. I thought I was completely helpless.”
Perdikion had never even considered the possibility that Rune had attacked.
Since the darkness had been pitch black even an inch ahead, he simply hadn’t seen who was attacking.