My Skeleton Soldier Is Strange - Chapter 139
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
139
Inferno
I stood atop the hill, scrutinizing the Fortress with meticulous precision. My gaze was as sharp as a hawk’s.
A colossal Castle Wall came into view.
Atop the towering ramparts, countless figures were visible. Archers conducting reconnaissance, mages preparing spells, heavily armored knights. Hostile NPCs maintained their defensive positions.
Most striking of all was the Tower that rose majestically from the center of the Fortress. Embedded in the highest level of the stone structure was an enormous crimson gem. Even from this distance, its overwhelming aura was palpable and unmistakable.
The radiance emanating from the Tower bathed the surroundings in a deep red hue.
“So we have to conquer that Fortress.”
Tension permeated my murmured words.
“That’s correct.”
Barcode, standing beside me, nodded in agreement.
As I turned my gaze, I observed the adventurers gathered in the surrounding area. Dozens of them clustered in small groups, conversing amongst themselves.
Yet their faces betrayed palpable dread. Their eyes, fixed upon the magnificent Fortress, were filled with hesitation. They clearly lacked the resolve to launch an immediate assault, their reluctance evident in every gesture.
Someone muttered anxiously.
“With our current strength, we can’t breach that Fortress….”
“Right. And there’s bound to be a boss. Just thinking about it is terrifying.”
A resignation as if hope had been abandoned. Quiet voices scattered into the wind.
Some sat down with heavy sighs, others stared blankly into empty space. Helplessness emanated palpably from those who hesitated to step forward.
Players who had lost their courage to conquer the Fortress. They remained rooted in their waiting positions, unable to advance even a single step, merely wasting away the hours.
I slowly shook my head.
―Snap!
And I moved forward.
The crimson robes billowed in the wind. The dark armor gleamed as it caught the sunlight. The steel Necromancer. A figure who had become the idol and hope of countless souls.
All eyes converged upon me. People held their breath, watching intently. Something overwhelming was about to unfold.
A resolute voice cut through the air.
“Barcode, Arulan, Dercan. We’re storming that Fortress.”
Those words were the signal that heralded the beginning of war.
“I’ve come to finish this Fortress conquest….”
My voice resonated powerfully.
* * *
I turned toward Arulan. My weighty voice cleaved through the silence.
“Summon the army.”
The skeletal mage responded instantly to his master’s command.
Clatter-clatter-clack!
The sound of jawbones clicking together. Arulan extended his skeletal arms forward.
That was the moment.
Crimson mist began erupting from Arulan’s form. Dark energy swirled upward, spreading rapidly in all directions. A wave of red light that engulfed the air and consumed the surroundings.
Everyone held their breath at the unfolding spectacle.
Within the billowing mist of magical power, silhouettes began to materialize one by one.
The massive silhouette alone commanded an overwhelming presence. It was none other than an Undead Ogre.
Surrounding the Ogres was an immense host of the Undead Legion.
Orc Soldiers with shattered skulls raised their blades and snarled. The Goblin Chieftain, now a shambling corpse, wielded a massive club with brutal sweeps. Even spectral archers and ghoul sorcerers were visible among the ranks.
An army of the dead spanning countless races. In life, they had been diverse, but now they shared a single banner—mine.
The Undead Legion surged forward with overwhelming momentum, filling the earth. Between crimson mists, emerald eyes gleamed like malevolent stars. Tattered armor and the reek of putrefaction ignited primal terror.
“Charge.”
As if awaiting my command, the Undead Legion shrieked and advanced. It was like a tidal wave crashing toward the Fortress.
Hundreds, thousands of corpses poured forward. Their footsteps made the ground itself tremble.
The snarling of skeletal warriors wielding blades and spears, the roar of the Goblin Chieftain swinging his club—it was as though death itself sang a funeral dirge.
From the Fortress came an immediate deluge of arrows. Terrified archers screamed and drew their bowstrings with desperate urgency. Thousands of projectiles darkened the sky as they streaked downward.
Sharp arrowheads pierced through corpses. Undead struck full-on collapsed and crumbled.
Yet no matter how many fell, the Legion did not halt. Over the broken bodies, fresh waves of the dead surged forward—a relentless tide of horror that advanced even as it was shattered and torn asunder.
Mages atop the Castle Wall chanted their incantations with frantic haste. Lightning crackled from their fingertips; fireballs streaked through the air.
—Boom! Crash!
As magical explosions erupted, the Undead scattered in all directions. Fissures opened in the overwhelming mass bearing down upon them.
But it was only momentary. From between the burning corpses, fresh waves of the Undead surged forth. Scorched and torn, they did not cease their advance—terror incarnate.
The soldiers of the Fortress gasped in horror. No matter what they did, the enemy came without end. Fear flickered in their trembling eyes.
By contrast, the eyes of the players inspired by the Undead Legion’s charge blazed with fervor.
“Excellent! We’re going in!”
Hesitation vanished, replaced only by the burning desire to surge forward. In the throes of exhilaration, the players cried out without thinking—a roar that shook heaven and earth.
In answer to their cry, the Undead Legion and players rushed toward the Fortress in a thunderous wave. Soldiers prepared to die scaled ladders and began climbing the Castle Wall.
Blood streamed from the bodies of these reckless warriors, and death screams tore from their throats, yet those who followed did not falter. Trampled and crushed, they still clawed their way up the Castle Wall.
A colossal Undead Ogre burst through the Castle Gate, while skeletal archers’ arrows pierced enemies upon the ramparts. Even amid the savage melee, the adventurers’ assault never ceased.
Humans and Undead intermingled, overwhelming the Castle Wall and drowning the defenders. The Fortress became a scene of absolute carnage in mere moments.
* * *
Atop the Castle Wall, chaos reigned. NPCs defending the Fortress and invading players clashed without restraint.
“Hold the Fortress!”
“Break through! If you die here, you restart from the 1st Floor!”
“Push forward—death means nothing!”
Spears and blades collided; arrows whistled through the air, seeking enemy hearts.
“Kyaaaah!”
“Grrrraaaagh!”
The Undead Legion joined the fray alongside the players. Reeking of blood, skeletal soldiers overwhelmed the NPCs. The sound of shattering armor and splintering bone mingled in a symphony of coordinated slaughter.
“Aaaahhhhh!”
Agonized screams erupted from all directions. Blood drenched the Castle Wall; corpses collapsed before their eyes. The Battlefield, drenched in gore, became indistinguishable between human and Undead.
“Nooooooo!”
From within the chaos, a solitary figure suddenly emerged. The White-Haired Knight, clad in pristine armor, appeared like a beacon of radiance—an aged warrior whose presence burned with the brilliance of a lighthouse.
“Fall back, invaders!”
His ringing voice shattered across the Battlefield. The knight wielded his long spear, driving the players back with powerful, precise movements that spoke of decades of warfare.
“Ugh!”
“Gah!”
Players slashed by the sharp spear blade shrieked in agony. Blood erupted from hearts pierced straight through. The corpses of those who had met their end tumbled down beneath the Castle Wall.
The White-Haired Knight charged forward without restraint. His pristine armor gleamed brilliantly in the sunlight. Yet what clung to his blade was nothing but the killing intent to slaughter by any means necessary.
“How dare you defile this place! I cannot forgive this!”
A roar bellowed with all his might. The knight’s strike was merciless. His blade cleaved through the air, and blue blood sprayed in all directions. The death cries of fallen players echoed across the Battlefield.
The White-Haired Knight continued his march of death. His long, sharp spear swept through the surroundings in violent arcs. None could survive before his weapon. What burned in the knight’s expression was righteous fury. His resolve to punish the invaders blazed with intensity.
“Repel them all! Leave not a single one!”
With a thunderous shout, the knight hurled himself toward the Undead Legion. Skulls shattered. Zombies were torn asunder. Skeletal soldiers were pulverized beneath his heavy mace. The sight of him single-handedly subduing dozens of undead creatures was awe-inspiring.
With the knight’s arrival, the offensive momentum suddenly broke. The tide of the Battlefield wavered.
Yet Kim Jae-beom could not hide his excitement as he cried out.
“A worthy specimen has appeared. Turn that one into undead!”
He issued orders to his Legion.
“Charge!”
At his roar-like command, the Undead Legion surged toward the White-Haired Knight in unison.
“Kuaaaaa!”
The merciless assault of the Undead Legion.
The White-Haired Knight gnashed his teeth as he beheld such creatures.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————