Chapter 221
Chapter 221
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 221
Chapter Title: The Uncle Who Was a Death Knight
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Chapter 221
The Uncle Who Was a Death Knight #1
Clack, clank, clang—.
From the darkness where the manticores had fled, the loud racket of metal and iron plates clashing echoed out.
It didn't sound like the natural noises beasts would make. No, anyone could tell it was the sound of man-made tools rattling around.
Who the hell would be in this deserted valley cliff?
That thought had barely crossed my mind when—
Flash—.
Two bluish glowing lights pierced the darkness, like will-o'-the-wisps. It was an eerie sight, but it snapped me out of my frozen daze a bit.
Whatever it was, it felt dangerous. So I drew my club and assumed a seasoned swordsman's stance.
One hand with a torch, one with a weapon. Pretty good balance. But you shouldn't try coming at me. If you do, I'll have no choice but to kill you, Necromancer.
The voice from the darkness was thick and chilling, like cold hands stroking my back.
It definitely had that gloomy vibe unique to monsters or the undead.
And since it spoke with more logic and coherence than I'd expected, I tensed up even more.
Something that hadn't lost its mind lurking in a place like this? That was even more reason to stay on guard.
Clang, clack—.
The blue lights drew closer until my torch illuminated the figure clearly.
And there it was: the source of the blue glow—eyes.
Glowing eyes in a bizarre skull.
A skeleton clad in rusted brass armor emerged toward me, its blue eyes flashing. I knew right away this was the infamous Death Knight.
Less like a skeleton soldier and more like a skeleton knight or even a skeleton noble.
Skeleton noble fit that baron guy I met last time, so yeah—this was a skeleton knight.
Anyway, what threw me off wasn't that it was some mindless monster like I'd imagined, but that it was speaking so logically.
Enemy?
Or maybe we didn't have to fight?
As I racked my brain to figure out friend or foe, the skeleton knight in rusted brass armor swept its bony hand over the fallen manticore corpse on the ground.
A manticore, and a young one at that. Still, to take one down... You command some decent minions, halfwit.
That manticore was a young one?
And halfwit?
"Halfwit? You talking about me?"
Who else would I be talking to? Honestly, that's generous—you're barely half a wit.
Maybe because it lacked warm flesh and blood, the skeleton knight's tone came off a bit curt.
But it didn't seem outright hostile toward me. It just grabbed the manticore corpse's tail with its bony hand and started dragging it off somewhere, slink, slink.
Less like it had no intention of seeing me as an enemy and more like it wasn't even registering me as one.
Either way, not having to deal with or take down this skeleton knight was a huge relief for me right now.
This guy had scared off those young manticores I'd have needed my all to beat, just with sheer presence alone.
No doubt it was ridiculously strong.
What are you doing? Follow me.
"Y-Yes...?!"
I'm going to make an offering of the one you killed.
An offering?
Like holding a ritual or something?
I got what it was saying, but not why we had to or why I should follow this skeleton knight.
Stay here too long, and monsters smelling the blood might crawl up from deep underground. If you wanna be monster chow, stick around.
Now I got it.
This skeleton knight was pretty good at teaching lessons.
Even so, I hesitated about following this creepy undead guy.
Grrr...
My Bone Wyvern—which I'd just named Agumon—started following behind the skeleton knight. Not wanting to be left alone, I reluctantly moved my feet.
"Hey, Agumon, wait up—!"
* * *
How far into the deep cave did we go following the skeleton knight?
My torch finally burned out, so I activated Grace's Shining Hand to light up the surroundings.
All I saw were hard, cold stone walls, weird moss, freaking scary spiders, lizards, and the like.
As we trudged down steep declines deep into the cave—deeper than deep—I started questioning if following this skeleton had been the right call.
What if it tries to eat me or something?
With those thoughts swirling, I boarded what looked like a gondola.
Groooan—.
The gondola, hanging from frayed ropes in midair, was packed tight with me, the skeleton knight, Agumon, and the young manticore corpse.
If it were an elevator, the capacity warning light would've been blaring, but the skeleton knight didn't care. It slowly pulled the rope, descending.
Creak, craaack—.
Rusty pulleys and ropes that looked ready to snap any second.
And below, an endless abyss—if we fell, we'd be screwed. As that fear crept in—
Don't stare too deep into the abyss.
"Y-Yes...?"
If you pay the abyss too much mind, Erebos will stare back at you.
I had no clue what that meant, but the vibe was clear: don't look down.
It reminded me of that time in guerrilla training when the instructor told us not to look down from on high.
Crunch, graaunch—.
But seriously, if this rickety gondola broke or the rope snapped, we'd be goners. I clung to anything I could—
Whoosh—.
When suddenly, light began to brighten, and the scenery shifted. For a moment, I forgot my fear.
Deep in the darkness lay a world glowing with strange blue light.
Blue mold and moss luminated the space, fish-like creatures fluttered through the air emitting light, jellyfish, bizarre birds, and a cool breeze even wiped the cold sweat from my brow.
The manticore valley. Or as it's also known, the Valley of Life. Countless creatures make their home on this massive corpse.
"Corpse, you say?"
This valley and its cliffs are part of the great monster Typhon's body. See that over there?
The skeleton knight pointed to a massive pillar-like thing stretching up from the darkness. If I exaggerated a bit, it looked like a beam from a star's core to the surface.
That's Typhon's shinbone.
"Whoa, shit—."
Whatever it was, it was insanely powerful and huge. A shinbone hundreds of meters long? The thought of a creature like that roaming outside was horrifying.
But aside from the terror, the glowing scenery around us had a certain beauty.
Even in harsh conditions, life persists and forms its own ecosystem.
It adapts and evolves.
Just like me, dropped into this world, scraping by however I can—living according to its circumstances.
Creak, clunk—.
Lost in those thoughts, the gondola stopped at the bottom. Ahead was a sloped path carved into the cliffside.
Pretty spacious.
Beyond it stood crude huts plastered with huge pillars like dinosaur bones, moss, and ragged hides.
No explanation needed—I knew that was the skeleton knight's hideout.
Slink—.
The skeleton knight, dragging the manticore tail, stood before its hut.
It spoke.
Necromancer. You won't understand, but life—and corpses—deserve respect.
Then it placed the manticore corpse on a weird altar-like thing and lit a fire.
Whoosh—.
As the flames rose, long-necked crane-like birds waiting nearby swooped in to tear into the corpse.
Crunch, munch—.
I couldn't see where the "respect" was in any of that.
An undead lecturing about respecting corpses?
It felt off, like a chicken mascot drawn cutely on a fried chicken sign.
I asked,
"Are you that famous named monster around here, the Death Knight?"
The skeleton knight, eyes flashing at the burning corpse, clacked its jaw shut. Laughing? No face, hard to tell.
Death Knight. Named monster. So that's what they call me out there? I just chased off a few cocky intruders, that's all.
It clenched its fist in the air.
What do they call me out in the world?
"Uh, honestly, I don't know."
Figures. Names aren't that important anyway. Once you die and vanish, you're forgotten by all. Karma, glory—all distant tales of the past—.
Flicker, flicker.
Seeing its blue eyes light up, I realized the skeleton knight was lost in thought inside its empty skull.
Dressed in shabby rusted armor now, but back when it lived, it must've been someone big. Famous knight? Noble?
As I pondered that, my revived Bone Wyvern—Agumon—rubbed its head against the skeleton knight's torso.
Stroke, strooooke—.
Damn, this minion I revived likes the skeleton knight more than me. Fellow bones giving it kinship? Fair enough.
This Bone Wyvern has a will, for an undead. Your necromancy feels a bit different from what I know.
"Different how?"
The skeleton knight, petting the Bone Wyvern's head like taming a huge horse, continued.
It's not raising mindless minions—it's more like granting life and birthing something new.
"Birthing?"
This one's closer to a living Bone Wyvern specimen than a proper undead.
Not undead, but undead-looking living thing? That's how I took it.
Squelch, what?
I didn't even know I had that ability.
From your reaction, you don't know your own power well. Not innate—acquired talent? Or from some artifact?
Sharp guy.
As I thought that, the skeleton knight stood and said,
Well, perfect timing. You might be able to help with my request. Do that, and I'll train you in return.
"...Training? What training?"
...Like the others, you didn't come seeking my teachings?
"Nope."
Then what did you come here for? How'd you even reach this deep in the demon realm?
If I said I came to subjugate the Death Knight, I had a feeling that bony fist would smash my head.
"Just followed a snake and found a hole."
A snake? You followed a snake all the way here? Ridiculous. This place isn't something just anyone stumbles on.
But it was true—I'd just followed Luna and the snake.
The skeleton knight let out a doubtful hum, and I felt the same. We were speaking the same language, but the conversation wasn't clicking.
Anyway, fine. Help me, and I'll make you a warrior unmatched in the world. That's my rule. Rules must be kept.
So, this skeleton knight wanted my help, and in exchange, it'd train me.
Training, huh. Already doing endless sessions with Hippolyte, and now more in this dark hole?
But it seemed pretty confident in its skills, so I got a bit curious what kind of training it'd offer.
"What do you need help with?"
I'm growing a flower. Help me sprout it. Won't be easy. Come in. Leave the Bone Wyvern outside.
With that, it led me into the hut. Inside were just an old pot, traces of a campfire, a ragged hide bed—bare bones.
Looking closer, on a desk was a tiny flowerpot the size of my palm with some soil.
The lived-in feel told me this skeleton knight had spent a long time alone down here.
At least over a year.
How does it live alone so long? Undead perk? Doesn't feel loneliness? And why grow flowers?
Pondering all that as I glanced around, I spotted a drawing in charcoal on a hide canvas in the corner.
Looked like a long-haired woman. Before I could look closer, the skeleton knight covered it with another cloth.
So, can you do it?
"Growing a flower? Just water it and wait, right?"
This flower's special. It needs nymphs' love to bloom. Without that, Ceres' mana or equivalent life force. Your weird necromancy might work.
Some special flower, huh.
Needs magical power or something?
But I had no idea how.
Telling it to sprout wouldn't do shit.
So I grabbed a nearby water pitcher and sprinkled some on the pot.
You idiot! You don't pour that much! That's River Styx water! Too much and the seed dies!
I'd only used about a cup's worth, but the watching skeleton knight freaked out.
And we only have a few seeds left...
It told me to try something, then yells? Typical poorly raised undead.
Feeling awkward, I hesitated, then remembered the nymph talk.
I pulled out the stamina potion Luna gave me from my belt and dripped a few drops on the pot.
Right then—
Psshht—.
Something weird happened in the pot. A sprout pushed through the thick soil grains.
What the...?