Chapter 44. Mock Battle (3)
"Report back, everyone!”
“Report back!”
Suddenly, a black Skeleton Soldier lunged forward to block the way. Eun-Ho swiftly slashed with his sword.
“Noooo!”
Swoosh—!
Swinging a longsword one-handed made precision difficult, but luckily, the heavy strike cut clean through the jet-black bone. With a sharp snap, he cracked and splitted it.
"Aaargh!"
This time, another Skeleton charged from the side, aiming for the flagpole in Eun-Ho’s left hand.
Should I twist myself to dodge? No, that would leave my other side open.
The rest of them were rattling with excitement, waiting for the slightest opening to swarm him. So, he gripped the long flagpole and swung it wide.
Thud!
Zing!
The cold, heavy steel pole reverberated through his palms all the way to his shoulder.
"Urgh!"
"Aargh! Stop!"
Several Skeleton Soldiers were knocked over by the pole’s wide arc. One, then two, then a whole group went tumbling down like dominoes.
Crack!
The cleared space allowed him to slip through the gap, crushing heaps of black bones underfoot as he ran.
"This way! Hurry!"
At the same time, he signaled toward the white-boned allies, who were still fiercely battling in their positions. They had followed him deep into enemy lines, solely trusting him to find a way out. Rather, it seemed like they knew he was their only way out.
They shoved aside the surrounding Skeletons and sprinted after him.
[The Crow from the Bureau of Management demands they wipe them all out, flag and all!]
Ignoring the all-out-war maniac’s commentary, Eun-Ho turned to retreat, only to hear a scream from behind.
“Waaaaait! Stop right there!”
The voice was more of a screech than a shout, like metal being scraped across stone. He knew that voice well.
It was the Skeleton Commander, staggering toward him.
But how?
Eun-Ho had shattered its vertebrae and severed its head completely, leaving no chance of reattachment. Other Skeletons would’ve collapsed into lifeless bone piles, so why was this one different?
"That look... You're wondering how I’m still moving, aren’t you?" The Commander grinned with its cracked jaw, adjusting its helmet.
Ssshhh—!
The helmet, forged from the skull of a horned beast, had been sharpened to a deadly point. A faint violet aura shimmered from it, seeping through the cracks in the skull, running down the neck. The bone that should’ve been severed had been restored somehow.
“Ah, I see,” Eun-Ho muttered.
That helmet had to be the source of the Commander’s life force. He would’ve to take it. Slicing the neck wouldn’t work—he had to cleave the head right through the middle!
As he tightened his grip on the sword, preparing to strike, the Commander suddenly grabbed a nearby Soldier.
“C-Commander!”
Then, it hurled the Soldier forward.
Clatter! Thud!
“Commander!”
The Commander roared, “Detonate it!”
“It won’t work,” Eun-Ho muttered.
Eun-Ho was sure the enemy had seen how he blocked every one of their attacks.
Is this desperation? A final attempt to take me down with it? Eun-Ho thought.
Whatever the reason was, Eun-Ho wasn’t about to take the hit, so he raised his shield.
“I said it won’t work.”
The bones of the Skeleton Soldier, who was on the ground, splayed out in a grotesque pile, beginning to hum ominously.
The pile had a twisted broken arm and a dislodged skull lying near the knees, along with a spine broken in half and folded unnaturally.
Huuum! Huuuum...!
Every joint glowed red, like embers catching flame, as if the bones themselves were about to explode. Then, a series of system messages appeared in front of Eun-Ho.
[The enemy Skeleton Soldier has used a skill, Bone Bomb!]
[Skill range has been expanded to full-body range.]
[Special conditions have been met!]
[Bone Bomb has evolved into Self-Destruct!]
“Self-destruct?!” Eun-Ho muttered and tried to remember what the skill could do.
[Bone Bomb(Lv. 1)]
- Allows you to detonate extracted bones. The greater the mass, the stronger the explosion.
- Use with caution.
So the power of Bone Bomb(Lv. 1) is dependent on the mass of the bones being used.
Back when he had tested it, detonating twenty rib bones generated a shock force of around ten. It could break through light armor, but not with his shield in place. Hence, that measurement felt accurate.
What if all the bones in the body were used?
Would that be ten times stronger? Or even twenty times more force?
The blast would easily exceed his current defense stat of thirty. There was no way he could block it.
I’ll have to dodge it!
The flag could be recovered later, but if he got hit, he was done for.
I’ll have to get out of range by using the Acceleration skill. I’ll just have to run for now.
“Acce—”
Snap!
Before he could finish, something hard, like a hooked claw, clamped around his arm. Startled, he turned and found himself staring into two, pitch-black holes set between clean white bones.
“Number One?”
It was Skeleton Soldier Number 1, yanking him back with its rickety hand. Its four fingers clacked awkwardly as they gripped tighter.
“It's... dangerous...!”
No, it’s not.
“You should run... I’ll get hit instead...”
Eun-Ho knew he had enough time to run, as he had a twenty-second speed boost from his Acceleration skill. That was more than enough time to get himself to safety.
You’re making me want to save you.
"Acceleration! Petrify!"
Instead of using his legs, Eun-Ho swung his arm.
Crackle!
He grabbed wildly at the inflating mountain, which swelled to the point of bursting. Even with the Petrify skill, he still felt a sharp sting of heat.
It wasn’t going to explode just yet. He had about 0.1 seconds before detonation, meaning a full two seconds in slowed time.
Whoosh!
With all his might, he hurled the skull, the shinbone, the foot bones and even the mostly intact torso at a dirt mound.
Tick.
When time resumed its normal flow, the dirt mound glowed red. It seemed like some fragments had been left behind, which he hadn’t spotted in time.
Fwoooosh!
A blinding light exploded upward, intense enough to sear the eyes if looked at directly. It was like watching the sun rise over a black ocean in a flash.
Babababam—!
Then came a detonation, so slow it almost seemed graceful. However, the impact was unrelenting and inevitable, as it was a delayed fury.
Then, I’ll have to block it.
It was too late to dodge, so Eun-Ho gripped the green audit pass tightly and shouted, "Summon! Activate!"
Fwoosh—!
A massive iron door materialized before him from thin air. The explosion hit it with a brutal force, its cold, smooth surface crumpling inward in slow motion. It dented deeply, before finally shattering through entirely.
Like a sieve, the remnants of the blast poured through, crashing into him.
[Impact force exceeds defense threshold!]
[Wooden Shield has absorbed part of the impact!]
[Chitin Breastplate has absorbed part of the impact!]
“Urgh!”
The heavy impact tore through his titles, his armor, and even his shield.
Craaaaack—!
At the same time, a hairline fracture split the center of his shield.
[Caution!]
[Wooden Shield has been destroyed due to repeated impacts!]
Then, it shattered completely.
Nearby enemy Skeleton Soldiers collapsed in unison. They suffered the same fate as the broken shield. The iron door could always be resummoned with the audit pass, while the shield could be bought from the shop.
The real issue was the once-pristine white flag had been snatched by the towering enemy Commander, clad in pitch-black armor. The same bastard who had detonated dozens of its own underlings with its bare hands.
[Black energy has tainted the white flag!]
[You have lost the Victory Flag!]
The flag darkened instantly, swallowed by inky blackness.
“That son of a—”
Eun-Ho surged forward, but his legs buckled. His strength was knocked right out by the explosion.
Damn it.
“Commander!”
His own Skeleton Soldiers ran to support him, arms reaching out. Meanwhile, the enemy Commander clutched the fallen flag pole and slipped back through the ranks.
Clatter—!
The crowd of jet-black Skeletons stared at Eun-Ho with strange, hollow eyes.
The black-bone Skeletons who were left behind writhed in place. They were those who’d lost limbs, torsos, or entire halves of themselves in their ally’s suicide blast.
They groaned, unable to stay upright, collapsing under the weight of their own shattered forms.
“Ugh...”
“It hurts...”
Just then, Eun-Ho’s own white-bone troops came rushing to him.
“Are you all right, Commander?”
[Skeleton Soldier’s loyalty has surged due to your self-sacrifice!]
[Current loyalty: 95%]
“Should we go after them?”
“You guys would be able to catch up but...”
[Skeleton Soldiers are awaiting your command with great anticipation!]
“You’d be risking your lives,” Eun-Ho said firmly.
The white Skeleton Soldiers remained silent.
“If they blow themselves up again, I won’t be able to save you,” Eun-Ho added.
Charging in unprepared may earn him some well-earned rewards, but it’d only cost him more soldiers.
Think. There has to be a way, a strategy that would minimize casualties and still win the fight.
Right then, an announcement rang out like a divine cue.
[Skeleton Soldiers offer boundless trust to you for understanding the heart of bone!]
[Their loyalty toward you has reached its peak!]
Wait, what?
Ding!
[Congratulations!]
[You may now command Skeleton Soldiers to embrace sacrificial duty.]
[You may demand noble rest.]
Sacrificial duty and noble rest?
Then, another series of system messages appeared in front of him.
[Due to your powerful demonstration of cross-racial influence, your parameter collection speed is increasing.]
[All the parameters required for skill activation have been collected.]
I’m getting a new skill?
[Congratulations!]
[Thanks to your charismatic leadership, transcendent influence, and latent potential as a ruler, a new skill has been unlocked.]
[Leadership(Lv. 1) has been unlocked.]
Huh? Command?
Eun-Ho remembered seeing that subject listed back at the Training Institute.
[Charismatic Leadership Class]
- In this chaotic age, who will lead the lost masses? Begin your journey into the imperial art of rule, designed for the leaders of tomorrow!
- Completion Reward: Unlocks Leadership(Lv. 1) skill
Well, that saves me an audit pass.
Back then, he’d wondered what kind of idiot would bother using something like that.
I’ve never thought I’d be able to earn this skill this way and make use of it, Eun-Ho thought.
[Due to your skill Leadership(Lv. 1), your influence over subordinates has increased.]
“Commander!”
“If you order me to die, I’ll do it!”
“Your orders, please!”
The new Leadership skill, sacrificial duty, as well as the black Skeleton Soldiers who winced as they looked down at their broken, scattered limbs...
Besides, Eun-Ho still had the emergency item he’d been saving for a moment just like this.
“Got it.”
Considering every variable, weighing the risks and rewards, he’d run the numbers again and again. The equation always yielded the same conclusion: Victory.
***
Clatter!
The Skeleton Knight trembled with delight. From his skull to his toe bones, every joint buzzed with pure, electric thrill.
Clatter!
Not since his death had he felt this alive.
“We’ve proven that Skeletons are superior to humans!”
Sure, a few Soldiers and a handful of bones had returned to the earth, but that was a noble sacrifice for a greater cause. Now, the entire world would see that fragile flesh and feeble blood meant nothing before the truth of death.
“Rejoice, O’ Great Creator!”
Clack!
The Knight raised the Victory Flag high above its head.
“The era of humans is over!”
Surely, the Great One would take pride in seeing his humble creations rise to such strength, so worthy of his vision. The Knight trembled with a shiver of joy, until one of its Soldiers stumbled into view.
Clatter...
“What is it, Soldier?!”
The Knight had given orders to Soldiers to defend the line, so its sudden presence surprised it.
Wait a minute... the Knight thought.
“Your bones are a mess. Don’t tell me the enemy is that strong—”
“Don’t care,” the Soldier replied.
“Don’t care?!”
How dare a mere Soldier cut off its commanding officer. The Knight clenched its bony fists, preparing to teach this insolent wretch some manners.
However, the Soldier muttered an unknown word and swung a gleaming metal object, “Summon.”
Whssshk!
Then it chopped clean through between the Knight’s eye sockets and its teeth.
“W-what the—keugh!”
Just like that, the Knight’s skull was split clean in half. Its helmeted head hit the dirt with a thud—or to be more precise, half its helmeted head did.
“Huh?” The Soldiers, who were watching this, tilted their skulls. “A coup? Is that what this is?”
“This guy’s still alive after that?” The Soldier muttered.
“You... you ignorant wretch! How dare you reject the divine purpose given to you by the Creator!” the Knight howled with fury.
Clatter—!
Even without a head, it thrashed wildly. The speaking hole and the seeing hole were far apart now, which was inconvenient, but nothing a bit of repair couldn’t fix.
The traitorous Soldier calmly approached the wreckage of its body. Then, there came another strange word.
“Petrify.”
Crack—! Crunch!
It smashed the Knight’s lower jaw, crushed its ribs and stomped down hard on both shins. Every bone in the Knight’s body was shattered and buried in the dirt.
The knight’s broken mandible barely moved as he tried to form words, “Nooo! M-my body!”
“Damn, you’re persistent,” said the Soldier.
“You Psycho!”
This lunatic has to be some divine mistake. The Creator has accidentally made a madman, but once I put myself back together I’ll be able to fix things, the Knight thought.
“Should I start by taking your helmet?” the Soldier asked.
“No! That’s the sacred token of knighthood, gifted by the Creator Himself!” the shattered jawbone practically screamed.
It was impossible for even a Knight to recover from this level of damage without a helmet. Therefore, it had to stop!
“Stop! What do you want?! Do you want the squad leader position? No, I can even offer my adjutant position! It’s yours!”
“Nah, I’m not interested.”
The Soldier walked right past the Knight and toward the flag.
Wait. The flag? the Knight thought.
“You bastard! What are you—” the Knight said.
Clack!
As the Skeleton grabbed the flag pole, the beautiful black hue began to fade, replaced by an ugly, sickening white.
[The energy of White has imbued the flag!]
“White?!” the Knight muttered.
“That’s right,” the Soldier replied.
[You have lost the Victory Flag!]
Clatter!
Thud—!
Shock hit the Knight so hard that its jawbone almost fell off.
“W-wait a minute! Y-you’re...!” the Knight said.
“Oh, me? You figured it out?” the Soldier replied.
If it still had eyes, they’d have popped out of its skull.
“Who are you...?!” the Knight croaked through his dislocated jaw.
The mysterious Soldier paused for a moment, then answered, “Hmm...”
Crack—!
The Soldier stomped down on what was left of the Knight, crushing it further.
“Skeleton Soldier Number 101?”
What?!