Skeleton Master Chapter 042
Six sword skeletons and three archer skeletons concentrated their attacks on a single small Agni.
Kirik, kiririk!
The swung swords and fired bone arrows struck the Agni.
The stones that made up its body shattered and fell to the ground, but they immediately shot back up into the air and reattached to the small Agni's body, reforming its structure.
Though its HP recovered quickly, it took damage again from the continuous attacks.
Kyuu!
Kiririk?
As this situation kept repeating itself.
"Hup!"
Moo-hyeok was darting around nearby.
Right in front.
A tiny Agni jumped up.
He slashed his sword downward.
[Deals 160 damage.]
[Deals 16 damage to all enemies within 2m radius.]
Four tiny Agni in the vicinity disappeared simultaneously.
He could see the dropped diamonds.
Moo-hyeok quickly confirmed this before stabbing another one with his sword.
This time too, the area damage kicked in, allowing him to take out another one that was nearby simultaneously.
Great!
This must be why people learn skills.
This amazing feeling.
The overwhelming hunting speed too.
Pabat.
All he had to do was run around and swing his sword.
Seogek.
Then the tiny Agni in the vicinity would disappear, leaving diamonds behind.
Moo-hyeok, who had been moving roughly, stopped.
"Whew......"
It was because there were no more surviving tiny Agni.
It was the first time he had perfectly cleared about a hundred of them.
-
Several days passed.
Today too, Moo-hyeok killed small Agni and dealt with tiny Agni.
Whoosh.
With a single gesture, the tiny Agni burst apart.
[Deals 160 damage.]
[Deals 16 damage to all enemies within 2m radius.]
Two diamonds dropped.
After collecting them, he moved forward.
"Ah..."
He stopped walking with an exclamation.
Finally, stairs had appeared.
And there was even a merchant positioned in front of them.
It had been a tedious time.
This was only natural since 7 days had passed since entering the dungeon.
"You've made it this far."
He nodded at the merchant's words.
"Let's do an upgrade again."
Currently collected diamonds: 1,350.
Among them, 1,080 were used to upgrade the dungeon to level 50.
[Dungeon upgrade rises to 55Lv.]
[3rd seal is released.]
['Critical Rate' is 'adjusted'.]
[Even on non-weak points, there is a 5 percent chance of landing a critical hit.]
It was critical rate adjustment.
With this, penetration effect.
Area attack effect.
And now critical rate adjustment effect - a total of 3 seals had been broken.
The remaining diamonds...?
Should he save them?
Or should he use them?
Moo-hyeok knew that Phoenix Guild's exploration team had cleared the dungeon in 7 days.
Today was his 8th day.
For three of them to clear it in 7 days was impressive. That's how long and tedious this dungeon was.
But Moo-hyeok didn't think he was any weaker than them.
He prided himself that his hunting speed, thanks to his summons, was fast if anything, but certainly not slow.
Their composition was definitely good, and they must have had powerful attack skills.
Even taking that into account, he should be at a similar level.
Which means...
The 3rd floor must be the end.
A boss?
There was a high possibility that a final monster existed on the dungeon's 3rd floor.
And it would be an extremely powerful one at that.
Though it might not be the case, he needed to prepare thoroughly just in case.
Being able to compare time with Phoenix Guild's exploration team made such deductions possible.
If not for that, he would have had to fight a much harder battle without knowing anything.
"Let's look at other things too."
"Understood."
He slowly examined the items.
Yes, let's buy them.
Having made his decision, he called out the items.
"Give me 3 Explosion Orbs, 2 Explosion Lights, and one each of Strength Potion, Agility Potion, Health Potion, and Body Awakening."
"Here they are."
Of the remaining 270 diamonds, 260 were spent. He checked each item's information before putting them in his inventory.
With 10 diamonds left...
There was only one thing he could buy with this.
[Life Potion]
Instantly recovers HP(200)
[Required diamonds: 10]
After purchasing the Life Potion, he immediately went down the stairs. He pierced through the darkness and opened the closed door.
Creeak.
Along with the harsh spreading metallic sound, something chilling resonated and stimulated his eardrums.
-
How much resentment must have built up.
It was a groan that seemed to carry a weight equal to that of an endless abyss.
Perhaps it was just an illusion. After all, it was merely a 'virtual' creation of the system.
Yet it felt so real that it sent chills down his spine. Not from any change in weather, but from the eerie tremors that caused goosebumps.
Clop-clop.
The sound of hooves could be heard.
Clop-clop, hrrrrrr.
The two sounds mixed together, creating an strange, unsettling atmosphere.
A figure slowly came into view.
That's...
Moo-hyeok's Adam's apple bobbed heavily.
It was because he had confirmed the creature's identity.
While the unknown had been frightening, now that he knew what it was, he became even more tense.
Dark Knight...!
Its identity was none other than the Dark Knight, said to be the dream of every necromancer.
At least level 50.
Hmm...
This would be quite challenging even for Moo-hyeok.
In Illusion, high levels translated to high stats. And stats meant overwhelming power.
This was evident just from Kim Bada of the Guardian Guild. After all, he had nearly killed Moo-hyeok with just two skills, even though Moo-hyeok had been confident in subduing mid-40 level users.
"Haah..."
If it had been a regular monster beast, he would have been less worried. They had lower intelligence and acted on instinct.
With Moo-hyeok's current stats, even a 10-level difference wouldn't be too burdensome. But humanoid monsters were a different story.
Knights train their bodies through years of practice. This training could be seen as experience accumulated through knowledge.
Their training method makes this experience faster than one might expect.
In other words, it makes the body move before the brain even gives the command.
Humanoid monsters were bound to be tricky because such lifetime experiences didn't disappear but carried over.
However...
Tension wasn't the only thing in Moo-hyeok's eyes.
There was also desire.
Because dungeon bosses had a high chance of dropping rare materials.
Hoping that 'it' would drop...
"Summon."
He summoned a skeleton.
After coating weapons with various poisons, he ordered the archer to shoot arrows.
Twang! Bang!
Four arrows split the air.
They struck the Dark Knight's chest directly.
Clang!
But the Dark Knight, approaching on horseback, appeared completely unaffected. The arrows simply bounced off powerlessly.
Hrrrrrr!
When the Dark Knight let out what sounded like a howl, the black-armored horse roared and stomped the ground hard.
The distance closed rapidly.
All bone archers, change target.
All bone archers, rapid fire.
The bone archers' target changed from the Dark Knight to the horse. Bone arrows were fired, aimed at the charging horse's face.
The horse reared up in surprise, raising its front legs.
Neeeeeigh!
In that moment, Moo-hyeok took out an Explosion Orb he had bought from the merchant and threw it.
Boom!
[Deals 75 damage to all enemies within a 5-meter radius.]
While they were startled, he issued his command.
"All bone swordsmen, charge!"
Kirik, kiririk!
The charging bone swordsmen collided with the approaching horse. Seeing that the bone swordsmen weren't easily pushed back, the horse let out a roar and raised its front legs.
"Bone swordsmen 2 and 3, fall back!"
Thanks to their timely retreat, there were no casualties.
With relief came opportunity.
From below the neck to the belly.
The horse, covered in armor, didn't take much damage even when struck by the bone swordsmen's swords. Though its HP was wearing down slightly, at this rate, the hunt would be difficult.
However, when it just raised its front legs, he noticed that the area below its neck and belly wasn't protected by armor.
That's where to aim.
Of course, it wasn't easy. The Dark Knight riding the horse couldn't be ignored either.
Whoosh.
The enemy's sword struck Bone Swordsman 5.
Kiririk!
Even though he blocked with his shield, he was pushed back significantly.
And his HP dropped quite a bit too.
"Bone Swordsman 5, retreat and rest."
"Bone Swordsman 2, forward."
"All bone archers, change target."
While the bone archers kept the Dark Knight in check, the bone swordsmen and Moo-hyeok focused on targeting the horse he was riding.
Hiiiiiing!
The horse whinnied again and raised its front legs.
Now!
Moo-hyeok, who had been waiting for this moment, pushed hard against the ground. He thrust his sword between the falling front legs.
Squelch.
He felt it connect.
[Deals 185 damage.]
Moreover, Moo-hyeok's sword was coated with hallucinogenic poison.
The effect was immediate.
The armored horse's pupils became hazy.
Moving beneath the immobilized creature's neck, he raised his blade to its belly. The bone swordsmen's swords flew toward the areas unprotected by armor.
The effects of the slowing poison, tears of bleeding, and weakening paralysis must have stacked.
He stopped lifting and swung his sword while lying prone on the ground.
An eerie sound rang out.
Hiiiiiing!
Even though the horse regained consciousness, the attacks didn't stop.
[Deals 185 damage.]
[Deals 186 damage.]
Fortunately, perhaps its HP wasn't that high. After a few more attacks, it turned gray.
"Corpse Disassembly."
Just before it disappeared, he used the skill to obtain bones and hide. After putting them in his inventory, he looked at the Dark Knight who had dismounted.
The enemy stood proud.
Or rather, should he say dignified?
He'd have to use them.
The items he bought from the merchant.
"All bone archers, rapid fire."
While the bone arrows interfered with the Dark Knight's approach, he used his items.
[Weapon is imbued with 'Explosion Damage' for 3 minutes.]
[Strength increased by 3 for 10 minutes.]
[Agility increased by 3 for 10 minutes.]
[Health increased by 3 for 10 minutes.]
[All stats increased by 5 percent for 5 minutes.]
His base stats and item-enhanced strength was 38. With the strength potion adding 3 and the additional 5 percent increase, it reached a total of 43.
His agility went from 18 to 22 with the potion and body awakening, while his health transformed from 24 to 28.
Along with this, the skeletons' strength, agility, and health stats also increased by at least 1 each.
This was thanks to the Gangster Necromancer trait, which added 30 percent of Moo-hyeok's stats to them.
It couldn't get any better than this.
If he lost in this situation, he'd have no choice but to accept defeat.
"Let's go!"
He shouted loudly as he moved forward.
Kiririk!
Thanks to none of them being recalled yet, all twelve skeletons were stepping forward together from all around Moo-hyeok.
That alone filled him with strength.
The opponent was just one.
He unleashed his attacks with confidence that he could win.
"Bone archers, rapid fire."
"Bone swordsmen, shield charge!"
Bone arrows filled the air while the bone swordsmen's swords gleamed in the dungeon.
Moo-hyeok's sword, visible in between, delivered the most powerful damage as they pushed back the Dark Knight.
Huuuuuu...
The slowing poison made the enemy slower.
Blood endlessly flowed from the wounds.
Physical abilities decreased.
While it was hallucinating, they easily took 10 percent of its HP.
They continued to dominate afterward.
He was certain they had seized the advantage.
He thought just a bit more attacking would bring it down, but he was wrong. As its HP decreased, the enemy gradually became faster and stronger.
Was it because he was too excited?
Moo-hyeok still hadn't realized this fact.
