ASIN 06

Chapter 6

A pure white skeleton.

A gaunt, bony body.

By description alone, it didn’t sound particularly threatening.

But what if it stood nearly three meters tall?

Who wouldn’t feel intimidated then?

The source of the heavy footsteps was none other than a Skeleton Giant.

Thud.

Clack.

Clack, clack.

Beside it marched a Skeleton Mage and a Skeleton Archer, following their commander like loyal subordinates.

It was a force capable of making even veteran Hunters instinctively shrink back.

For ordinary civilians like us, its overwhelming presence was beyond terrifying.

Gulp.

Knowing that being discovered meant certain death, the girl squeezed her eyes shut and held even her breathing.

That much was admirable.

The real danger, however…

…was me.

Perhaps because we were crammed so tightly together in such a confined space, the side effects began acting up again.

My stomach churned.

To put it simply…

I felt like I was going to throw up.

“…”

Just as I was enduring the ordeal…

…the Skeleton Mage suddenly began casting a spell.

Clack.

Fwoosh!

A fireball materialized in midair.

It didn’t seem to be attacking.

At least, it wasn’t targeting us.

Unlike me, who recognized that immediately, the girl had been tense to her limit.

The sight made her scream.

“Kyaa!”

Creak…

Creeeak…

Every skeleton simultaneously turned its head toward us, their bones grinding together.

The grotesque sight completely shattered the girl’s composure.

“…Come on.”

Thud.

The skeletons began moving.

I immediately grabbed her hand and pulled her along.

Tap tap tap!

It was hard to imagine from its appearance, but a Skeleton Giant was surprisingly fast.

To be honest, it would catch us sooner rather than later.

Fortunately…

I remembered a place.

A narrow passage the Skeleton Giant couldn’t fit through.

If we could just reach it…

…we could shake it off.

Fweee!

Ping!

“Kyaaa!”

The Skeleton Archer began firing from behind us.

Fortunately, its arrows weren’t particularly fast.

At this distance, they weren’t much of a threat.

The real problem…

…was the mage.

Even if we reached the narrow corridor, one fireball fired inside would roast us alive.

How do I deal with that?

As I ran, something caught my eye.

The remains…

…of the skeleton I had destroyed earlier.

“Huff… huff…”

We sprinted past the broken bones, widening the distance.

The moment our pursuers stepped over the corpse…

…I borrowed the death energy stored inside the magic stone and cast a spell.

Corpse Explosion.

BOOM!

CRACK!!

It was the correct decision.

I hadn’t destroyed their heads…

…but the Archer and Mage, caught in the blast head-on, were no longer able to continue pursuing us.

THUD!

THUD!

At last, we reached the narrow corridor.

The Skeleton Giant could no longer follow.

“Haa… haa…”

“Heh…”

After finally catching our breath, the girl and I hurried toward the other end of the passage.

If the mage recovered and resumed the chase, we’d be in trouble.

But what awaited us there…

…made a Skeleton Mage seem insignificant.

Clack.

Creeeak.

“Ah… ah…”

The girl couldn’t even speak.

No wonder.

“Kieeeek!”

“Grrrr…”

Not only a Skeleton Giant…

…but also Revenants, Devourers, and even Bone Lizardmen.

A collection of mid-level undead monsters stared at us with empty eye sockets.

“Eek…”

Each one ranged somewhere between C-rank and B-rank.

For ordinary people…

…calling them disasters wasn’t even enough.

The girl and I immediately retreated back into the corridor.

It was pointless.

Other than the Skeleton Giant, every single one of them could easily fit through.

Leaving the girl collapsed on the floor behind me, I frantically began thinking.

The first thing that came to mind was a question.

How did they find us?

If a higher undead truly existed in this dungeon, then naturally it could share information and command its subordinates to herd us into a trap.

But…

…their movements hadn’t been coordinated from the very beginning.

At the very least, they weren’t receiving direct commands for every action.

I was certain of that.

Then did they simply detect us somehow?

After thinking for a moment…

…I suddenly realized the answer.

Cold sweat ran down my back.

Right.

I forgot about that.

“The magic stone…”

It was filled to the brim with death energy.

I’d even used it to cast Corpse Explosion.

Naturally…

…undead with sharp spiritual senses would notice.

In other words…

I was the one who had attracted them.

“…”

Honestly…

…how was I supposed to know?

I’d never imagined I’d be using death energy like this while I was alive.

This was also my first dungeon.

Not realizing it beforehand would’ve been stranger.

It’s not my fault!

Still…

…thinking that while looking at the despairing girl beside me made me feel incredibly guilty.

“M-Mom…”

“…Get up.”

I pulled her to her feet.

Gripping the crude sword tightly, I assumed a fighting stance.

I wasn’t going to die here.

If that was the case…

…then I’d simply carve a path through.

Shing.

Holding my sword, I watched the Skeleton Mage and Skeleton Archers approaching from behind.

The Revenants and Devourers ahead were C-rank monsters.

If we wanted to survive…

…our only option was breaking through the weaker D-rank mage.

The longer we hesitated…

…the tighter the encirclement would become.

I waited for the perfect timing.

Then turned sharply…

…and charged.

Whoosh!

Fwoosh!

The Skeleton Archer nocked an arrow.

At the same time…

…the mage completed another fireball.

Judging by the speed…

…it needed roughly two more seconds.

I measured the timing perfectly while closing the distance.

My eyes focused on the skeletal arms of the Archer and Mage.

Waiting…

…for the exact instant.

A finger twitched.

Now.

Dash!

Fweee!

Fwoosh!

BOOM!

I lunged diagonally at full speed.

The fireball barely missed me.

For a split second…

…a handful of my hair caught fire.

A searing heat stretched from my right shoulder all the way down to my waist.

But…

…it hadn’t hit me.

The first arrow also missed.

Only the second Skeleton Archer still had one left to fire.

I lowered my posture as much as possible.

Calmly reading its aim…

…and the movement of its fingers.

Fweee!

Clang!

The instant it released the arrow…

…I raised my sword with both hands directly into its path.

The Skeleton Archer’s arrows weren’t especially fast.

Even so…

…the impact numbed both of my hands.

I had avoided every attack.

The Skeleton Mage was now right in front of me.

Without hesitation…

…I swung at its skull.

CRACK!

Crunch!

Frankly speaking…

…my current swordsmanship lacked power.

But low-level skeletons weren’t exactly durable either.

The clean, properly executed slash shattered the Skeleton Mage’s head.

One down.

And I was confident I could finish the other two before they attacked again.

Just then—

Someone shoved me from behind.

It was the girl.

…Why?

As I lost my balance and turned my head…

…my thoughts froze.

Whoooooosh.

Something was flying toward us.

Looking closer…

…it was the head of a Devourer.

Ah.

Now that I thought about it…

I’d once read online that certain Devourers attacked by launching their own heads.

They hadn’t existed in the other world, so the possibility never crossed my mind.

Life Devour.

Anyone bitten by a Devourer would have their life force drained…

…becoming a living corpse.

Standing directly in front of the incoming head…

…the girl had spread both arms wide, trying to shield me.

For just a brief moment…

I saw her face.

Regret.

And despair at the death she believed was about to come.

I’d seen that expression countless times before…

…in the other world.

“…”

A foul feeling welled up from deep inside my chest.

It wasn’t a side effect of crossing dimensions.

This…

…was entirely my own emotion.

Who gave you permission?

I was the Lord of Death.

Death was me.

And I was Death.

It wasn’t something a mere undead without true life had the right to invoke.

Nor was it something an ignorant human could choose for themselves.

Just because we met briefly…

…you think you can die for me?

Life wasn’t something to throw away so lightly.

Nor was death.

Both deserved respect.

This…

…was wrong.

An insult.

Forcing my twisted balance back into place, I violently twisted my body.

My ankle screamed.

My waist felt like it was tearing apart.

I didn’t care.

I thrust my arm in front of the girl.

The Devourer’s enormous jaws clamped down on it.

CRUNCH!

But—

“…She said it’d block one attack.”

Whoosh.

The razor-sharp fangs failed to pierce the white barrier that appeared instantly.

It was the one-time protective shield contained within the necklace Seoha had given me.

A moment later…

…something inside the Devourer’s mouth began to glow.

The magic stone in my hand.

The one filled with dense death energy.

Crack!

The instant I crushed it…

…I grabbed the Devourer’s head…

…and hurled it into the Bone Lizard ahead.

The moment it struck—

I spoke a spell I hadn’t uttered in a very long time.

“Undead Call.”

Overwhelming death energy flooded the narrow corridor.

Immediately…

…the Devourer and the Bone Lizard, serving as the spell’s catalysts, began to change.

“Kieeeek!!”

Crunch!

Crack!

Craaack!

The Bone Lizard’s body fell apart…

…as though it were being dismantled.

Each bone then reassembled itself into a completely different form.

Its facial bones became armor.

Its tail bones transformed into a sword.

At last…

…the newly completed headless undead reached up…

…grabbed the Devourer’s floating head…

…and slammed it down onto its own neck.

Clunk!

SPLASH!

Black mist erupted from the empty neck as the head fused into place.

Watching silently…

…I softly spoke the name that completed the spell.

“Halloween Knight.”