Chapter 22

A desert drenched in rain.

The child standing blankly in the downpour looked ragged.

Grotesque.

Eyes scarred as if stabbed, body covered in wounds.

And the pitch-black wings sprouting from their back.

A monster.

Indeed, the child’s appearance was befitting of that word—“monster.”

Grrrgh.

A bubbling sound came from their throat.

Clench.

The child was gripping something in both hands.

A long, hard object.

A sharp metal point at the end.

The child instinctively knew.

The beings in front of them feared this object deeply.

They called it a spear.

“You hideous freak! Get out of here!”

“Filthy, lowborn wretch!”

“A half-beast like you wants to mix with us? Just die already!”

“……”

The child said nothing.

Only sensed the people shouting in front of them.

The child could not see.

From the moment they first opened their eyes to the world.

Their sight had been forcefully taken.

They had to surrender their eyes to the people who rejected them.

“……”

A world without sight.

The child thought maybe that was better.

They didn’t have to look at those noisy people.

Didn’t have to face the malice hurled directly at them.

Swaaah!

The heavy rain evaporated the moment it hit the ground.

Whoosh!

At the same time, the spear was thrust forward.

The people yelling in front of the child never opened their mouths again.

Squelch!

The metal pierced straight through their hearts.

The movement was precise and clean.

In a single motion, dozens of bodies were ripped apart.

Splurt!

Blood spilled, flesh was torn.

The pouring rain washed everything away.

Silence fell over the once-noisy place.

It was peaceful. The child liked that.

“……”

The child thought to themselves.

What am I?

What kind of being am I?

Am I really the ‘monster’ they say I am?

Am I something that can’t be loved?

Tears welled up on the child’s face.

They evaporated the moment they fell.

* * *

“Goddamn it.”

The hopeless situation made me swear without thinking.

But I couldn’t just stand there.

I had to make a decision fast.

Rumble rumble!

The floor was trembling, and the walls were shaking.

A hundred skeletons charging at me—pure terror itself.

[Warning! Warning! Warning!]
[One hundred D-rank Ancient Skeleton Spearmen are charging in!]

“Bone Four! Move forward!”

Creak! Boom!

In a rush, I pushed my shield bearer ahead.

If there was any silver lining…

At least the enemies were only coming from the front?

‘I just need to hold my ground here.’

The terrain wasn’t bad.

If it had been a wide-open space, we would’ve been surrounded instantly.

But this was a narrow corridor.

Only a set number of enemies could come through at once, which meant we could hold them off for now.

“Everyone, get ready.”

I directed them.

Bone One and Bone Two flanked Bone Four.

Bone Three and Bone Five took the rear.

‘No rushing. Take them down one at a time.’

Maybe because the dungeon had transformed to match my class?

Normally, skeletons max out at E or F rank.

But these guys—each one was D-rank.

That meant they might be special like my own skeletons.

‘It’s just a possibility.’

Still, I had no doubt.

My guys were aces. Theirs were just monsters. Blind confidence, sure—but it worked.

‘I don’t believe all D-ranks are the same.’

My skeletons had been trained by the old man of the Legacy of the Ten Thousand Arts.

And that wasn’t all.

They each carried a different weapon.

My skeletons were a team with a perfect balance of offense and defense.

Rumble rumble!

The tremors grew louder.

‘Come on.’

Gulp.

As I swallowed—

Ruuuumble!

The skeletons began flooding into the corridor.

The first wave jabbed their spears at Bone Four’s shield.

Bone One and Bone Two struck their neck joints, slicing and stabbing.

Skulls rolled across the floor.

[‘Bone Four’ uses skill: Low-Level Taunt (Lv.6).]

Thanks to Bone Four’s aggro draw…

Bone One and Bone Two hadn’t taken any direct hits yet.

‘But still.’

I couldn’t afford to get careless.

Bone Four’s durability wasn’t infinite.

And the pressure from the enemy—crowding closer and closer—was intensifying.

“Pull back slowly!”

Thunk! Clang! Boom!

Bone Four held his shaking shield as he retreated step by step.

[‘Bone Four’ consumes 10 Energy.]
[‘Bone Four’ consumes 10 Energy.]

The stronger the impact—

The faster Bone Four’s energy drained.

Soon, Bone One and Bone Two were clashing steel with the enemies—

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Bone Three fired arrows nonstop from the back.

“One by one! Make sure they’re down before moving on to the next!”

I shouted.

It was concentrated firepower.

In simple terms—gang up on them.

If we overwhelmed each one in a 5:1 ratio in this tight space—

We could beat more of them using less strength.

Creak!

“Huh?”

A spear slipped through a gap in Bone Four’s shield, flying straight at me.

Back in the day, I’d have panicked.

But now?

‘I can dodge that.’

I tilted my head and twisted my body slightly.

Whoosh! Boom!

The spear whizzed past and slammed into the floor behind me.

Creak?

The skeleton that lost its weapon tried to back away.

“Tsk. You think there’s space to run?”

Typical low-IQ undead.

Crunch!

As if in revenge for daring to target me,

Bone One’s greatsword crushed its skull.

“Nice one, Bone One!”

Clack clack!

Was it my imagination, or did he just smile at the praise?

Not to be outdone, Bone Five’s eyes lit up.

[‘Bone Five’ uses skill: Fireball (Lv.8).]

Fwoosh!

Boom!

Thanks to two weeks of training—

Bone Five’s Fireball was now top-tier.

It was the only splash magic I had.

Which made it especially effective right now.

Boom boom boom…

A cluster of skeletons got blown to pieces by the powerful fireball.

A mountain of bones was formed.

Of course, more skeletons crawled over it.

Crunch! Crack!

The chaos raged on.

Block the enemy attack.

Then slash, stab, and smash.

I even grabbed enemy weapons and swung them.

Putting the old man’s teachings to use worked surprisingly well.

‘They’re not as strong as I expected.’

But there were a lot of them.

Naturally, my skeletons’ durability started wearing down too.

[‘Bone Four’s’ energy reaches 0.]
[‘Bone Four’ has been unsummoned.]

My sturdiest tank disappeared.

But—

[Using skill: Awakening Skeleton Summon (D-rank).]
[Consumes 10 Energy.]
[‘Bone Four’ is summoned.]

I brought him right back.

‘I should focus my energy on Bone Four as much as possible.’

I still had 60 energy left.

If I used it all to keep summoning the tank, I could manage.

The fewer enemies left—

The less strain on our energy.

“Yeah! Keep coming, you bastards!”

I swung my spear with all my strength.

Muscles burning nonstop.

When one spear broke, I grabbed another.

The skill the old man taught me—‘Stab’ (C-rank).

Crackkk!

I gripped the spear with both hands and thrust it forward with everything I had.

In my own style, in my own stance.

My whole body trembled.

Veins bulged from my wrists and ankles.

Thigh and calf muscles screamed.

As time passed, my strength started to wane.

But that only made me grit my teeth harder.

“Die already!”

My heart pounded like crazy from the nonstop movement.

Come to think of it—had I ever fought this intensely before?

Honestly, I was having fun.

Call me crazy, but I was enjoying it.

In this desperate moment where death was around the corner—

I felt truly alive.

[‘Sun Spear,’ who slumbers in the pyramid, begins to awaken.]
[‘Sun Spear’ is watching you.]

“What now?”

I paused mid-swing.

Sun Spear.

The boss of this stage.

A warrior and absolute ruler of the Ancient Desert Empire.

[‘Sun Spear’ scoffs at you.]
[‘Sun Spear’ asks if you think you can face him with such pitiful strength.]

“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”

Sends a few D-rank skeletons and has the nerve to mock me?

‘Sun Spear, huh.’

I guess I’ll have to show you what’s what.

Squeeze.

I gripped my spear tighter.

I didn’t know who Sun Spear was—

But I was the guy who cleared a tougher dungeon.

The guy who convinced even the old man of the Legacy of the Ten Thousand Arts—a Ranker couldn’t do that!

“Bone Four, from now on—no more retreating. We push forward.”

I said with determination.

Creak?

He tilted his head, confused.

“That Sun Spear bastard is taunting me from up ahead.”

The goal of this dungeon was to reach him anyway.

And I couldn’t keep backing up forever—not with limited energy.

“No matter what’s up ahead, we push through.”

Abandon caution.

Charge forward.

Just like when I earned the old man’s trust.

Sometimes, you have to go all in.

I marched forward without hesitation.

* * *

The battle dragged on longer than expected.

And it only got more brutal.

By the time we’d almost wiped out the first hundred skeleton spearmen—

[Warning! Warning! Warning!]
[One hundred D-rank Ancient Skeleton Spearmen are charging in!]

Another wave of a hundred came.

“Son of a bitch.”

Turns out I was right.

Until I reached the destination, the dungeon would keep spawning skeletons infinitely.

The problem was—

“When the hell are you showing up, Sun Spear?!”

Whoosh!

I swung my spear.

Whoosh! Crack!

Beside me, Bone One and Bone Two smashed skulls.

My breath was ragged, muscles drained of strength.

And still, about forty skeletons remained.

I only had 20 energy left.

[‘Sun Spear’ looks at you with surprise.]
[He thinks you’re holding out better than expected.]
[But still believes your skills are trash.]

Damn it.

Trash again?

Just like the old man always said.

Well… he’s not wrong.

Compared to the goals I’ve set, I really am trash.

[‘Sun Spear’ says you’re almost there.]
[He tells you to hang on a little longer.]

Almost there?

I looked around.

Still just an endless corridor.

Only difference now—the hallway was getting wider.

Which made things worse.

Enemies started slipping to the sides, trying to surround us.

I checked on my skeletons.

From Bone One to Bone Five—

Not one was unscathed.

They were all running on empty, ready to collapse.

‘I can cover two of them at best.’

At this rate, there’d be no end.

I needed to end this quickly.

“Bone Four.”

Creak?

“Give me your shield.”

I took the shield from him.

It was a bit heavy, but I’d trained with it before—it was manageable.

“Next, Bone Five.”

Creak!

He turned to me after deflecting a spear with his staff.

“We’re breaking through now. Every time Air Shield breaks, restore it. As for the rest of you…”

I lowered my stance, shield braced in both hands.

“You guard my back, no matter what.”

The skeletons formed up behind me.

A desperate charge toward Sun Spear’s throne.

Will my feet reach the goal first—

Or will I collapse before then?

Time to roll the dice.