Chapter 8 - Awakening...?
Chapter 8 - Awakening...?
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- Ppagak!
The walking masses of bones making dalgrak-dalgrak sounds couldn't last even a few seconds in front of Karl's punches.
She swung her limbs like a hurricane, pulverizing the skeletons' skulls!
Her momentum was so fierce that even I, an ally, couldn't easily approach her.
'I can't just stand here and do nothing either.'
As I stood by, I brought my falchion down onto the head of a skeleton trying to approach Karl.
"GRRRRR!"
The skeleton let out a bizarre cry as its skull was split open and disintegrated into a pile of bones.
Good. That's one down.
"The bones are weaker than I thought!"
Pulling the falchion stuck in the skull, I swung it hard to sever the thigh bone of a nearby skeleton, then kicked its face in with my combat boot.
Excellent. My newly bought combat boots were sturdy enough to easily smash the bastard's face.
"Great, at this momentum!"
Thanks to Karl going so wildly berserk, only five skeletons were left!
I couldn't just leave everything to Karl like this. I bravely leaped into the fray.
"GRRRR...."
"Die!"
Skeletons are bastards with very weak strength.
Naturally. To generate strength, you need muscles, but these bastards only have bones left.
That's why they can't even hold items and just wave their hands around.
Still, getting surrounded is equally dangerous. Mindful of that fact, I swung the blade of my falchion at the bastards.
-Ppagak!
"GRRRRR!"
With a single stroke of the falchion, the skulls of two skeletons were smashed. Fragments scattered all over the place.
After quickly correcting my posture, I swung again in another direction to shatter two more, then.
"Middle kick!"
With a fierce and fast front kick that even I thought was impressive, I smashed their ribcages to pieces and finished them off by driving my sword straight into their skulls.
With this, there were no bastards left around us.
"It seems to be over now."
"No, you're wrong. I still sense a presence."
"Huh?"
"They're coming. Brace yourself, Dennis."
No sooner had she finished speaking than the familiar sound of dalgrak-dalgrak movement echoed from far away.
Wondering what it was, I looked over... It was a skeleton legion.
"GRRRRR!"
Aren't there even more than the bastards we killed earlier?
I gripped my falchion tighter. No matter how weak the bastards are, a number like this—!
"Looks to be about seventy. No, judging by the presence, it seems to be a lot more."
"Wait a minute! That means there are at least over a hundred! There's no way a number like this could exist!"
It is a well-known fact that corpses abandoned in the forest revive as skeletons.
However, not all corpses become skeletons.
Most corpses naturally decompose and disappear due to microorganisms and the like.
Only a small number of corpses are affected by ominous mana.
"Whether such cases exist or not, anyway, they are right in front of us now."
"Oh, god!"
We need to run away right now.
They're puny enough to die from my sword, but with numbers like that, it's better to forget about it.
"Watch my back, little warrior Dennis."
"Huh? I don't have the skills for that. I'll just get in the way of your fighting."
"That's not true. My fists only target those bones. Cut down the bastards aiming for my blind spots."
Does she have no intention of running away at all?
She's insane! Of course, with Karl's skills, she might easily wipe out skeletons of that level.
But my skills are far from sufficient. While Karl is fighting, I'll end up crushed to death by skeletons!
'Damn it.'
Should I just run away? There's no way I can die here.
Karl is a strong woman. Even if I run away, she'll survive just fine.
"GRRRRR!"
While I was hesitating, the skeletons had already arrived.
Where on earth did their usual slow movements go as they rushed forward with nimble actions?
'Did they chug some drugs or something, fuck.'
Karl rushed in at once, waving her axe and hands to smash the skeletons to pieces.
However, the bastards rushed at me. As if Karl was just an obstacle, they came without a care.
'Why the fuck are they only acting like assholes to me!'
After barely dodging a hand swung at a terrifying speed to the side, I sliced the blade across a ribcage to split the bastard in two.
After kicking the skull to pieces with my combat boot, I crushed the skull of the one behind with my studded gauntlet.
"Please just fuck off!"
Eight or nine out of ten were shredded by Karl, but one out of every two charged at me.
Their numbers were only a dozen or so, but with my strength and equipment, it was too much to handle.
"Ugh!"
After smashing a skull with my gauntlet, my fist aches fiercely.
If it weren't for the leather gauntlets and combat boots... I don't even want to imagine it.
"GRRRRR!"
"Ah!"
At that moment, a skeleton tightly clamped its jaws onto the punch I threw.
It didn't hurt much since it didn't have a jaw, but without the leather gauntlet, chunks of my flesh would have been ripped off.
"Get lost, you motherfucker!"
With my shoulder, I violently shoved the bastard's ribcage to push it away, then brought my blade down on its mouth area to crush it.
'There really is no end to this.'
Before I knew it, the forest floor had been dyed pure white, but the bastards' numbers showed no sign of decreasing.
Where on earth did this many numbers come from? Even though Karl was running amok like a madwoman, there were still plenty left.
"Dennis. Are you still alive?"
"Yes, I'm still alive. Hoo... There's damn-well a lot of them."
"I'm going to break through all at once. Follow me."
Saying that, Karl gripped her axe with both hands and swung it wide.
With every single swing, ten skeletons fell in droves.
It looked like cutting meat with a sharp knife. Graceful yet heavy.
From the moment she started swinging her axe, the skeletons rushing toward me stopped approaching.
'I really don't think she's human.'
About five minutes later? By the time we had gotten far away from the graveyard, hundreds of skeletons lay scattered in pieces.
"There's no end to this. It seems like all the bastards in the forest have flocked here."
"Do you know why?"
"How would I know? Usually, the kind of person who can do this is a black magician..."
Yet the procession of skeletons had no end or bottom.
"It's fine right now since it's just before dusk, but once night falls, we'll be at a disadvantage. Because those bastards don't eat, rest, or sleep."
"That's certainly true."
My words were just a roundabout way of saying let's run away. But Karl showed no intention of doing so whatsoever.
If anything, it seemed to have provoked her competitive spirit, as she readjusted her grip on the axe.
"GRRRRRRAAAA!!!"
Right then. From across the forest, something came stomping forward with an eardrum-splitting roar.
"What the!"
The thing that came charging through, snapping even ancient giant trees, was a massive skeleton.
...Are those a giant's bones?
Its height looks to be about 8 meters! It was to the extent that even the giant Karl looked like a doll next to it.
"Grrrr!"
The skeletons let out eerie cries and simultaneously rushed at Karl.
Earlier it seemed like they were only rushing at me?! Suddenly the target changed.
"Get lost-!"
Of course, the swarm of skeletons quickly dissolved. No special technique was needed for that.
Just grab the axe and swing it wide, and they all break. That's all.
"GRRRRRAAAA!"
"Karl! Watch out!"
The giant skeleton had approached Karl before she knew it.
But she had been fiercely swinging her axe, and it was too late to evade.
"Ugh!"
Karl soared high up into the sky like a pebble on the roadside, then slammed hard into a tree trunk behind her.
This is the first time I've ever seen Karl take a hit...
"I'm fine. Little warrior Dennis. Look after your own body."
"What kind of nonsense is that!"
She was embedded after being blown into the air for almost 10 meters or more. How can she say she's fine?
No matter how sturdy a person is, that's an impact that would turn anyone into pulp.
'Karl probably can't move anymore.'
Defeat is certain. If she can't win, I should at least run away and preserve my life—
"Hey! You bag of bones! Over here, not there!"
I can't do that. Fuck!
I might be a coward and a timid person, but I'm not ungrateful.
If Karl hadn't dragged us this far, I would have lost my life long ago.
Ignore that and just run away? I wouldn't even be able to lift my head in shame.
"GRRRAAAA!"
"Good... It's looking this way. Come running at me with that fucking sluggish body!"
I don't know if it understood my words or if it chose me as its next target.
Anyway, the important thing is that the giant skeleton bastard started leaping toward me along with its horde.
'Fuck! It's too fast. Stop. Just stop!'
It's too fast. It looks pissed off to no end, taking on a full-on sprint.
What do I do? If we collide like this, I'll die. But it's already too late to dodge.
Damn it... Is this how I die? I showed useless bravado.
Mother, Father! Your unfilial son is going first. Please forget about me!
"...Stop!"
I was truly desperate. Terrified out of my mind by the giant skeleton charging at a monstrous speed, I squeezed my eyes shut and shouted reflexively without realizing it.
But would the opponent spare me? Absolutely not. 3 seconds from now, my body will soar up into the air like it was hit by a truck.
3 seconds.
2 seconds.
1 second.
"Huh?"
I didn't fly away.
What is it? Did Karl save me? Or did Isabel, passing by, me...
"Little warrior Dennis."
The voice that reached me was Karl's.
Did we amicably end up in heaven together by any chance? I haven't done many good deeds. I occasionally dropped coins at the church, though...
No, for starters, Karl is a barbarian. It should be normal for her to go to the heaven where the god she believes in resides.
"No, a little more naturally:"
"...What on earth are you?"
"Huh?"
At those words, I realized that I hadn't died.
Wondering what was going on, I opened my eyes.
The giant skeleton and its minions were standing right in front of my nose.
"Those things... they're following your orders."
No.
For real...?