My Skeleton Soldier Is Strange - Chapter 157

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 157
Kim Jae-beom strode across the Grassland alongside the Giant Undead Goblin, with the massive Minotaur walking in step beside him.
The undead advanced deeper into the Grassland with the momentum of something devouring all in its path.
The players scattered about gazed upon the spectacle with eyes brimming with admiration. Someone uttered an exclamation.
“That’s incredible….”
Another murmured in astonishment.
“Is that the Necromancer?”
Gazes mingling awe and dread converged upon Kim Jae-beom.
Kim Jae-beom smiled faintly as he heard the players’ reactions. He turned his head toward Arulan and spoke.
“Don’t attack the players anymore.”
A terse command directed at Arulan.
Arulan clicked his teeth together with a sharp clack. His nod revealed unwavering loyalty.
The Necromancer and his undead continued their advance inward. As they crossed the sprawling Grassland, dense trees gradually came into view. A thick Dark Forest loomed before them, its verdant canopy casting an air of mystery.
Deep emerald leaves contrasting against the azure sky. Flowers of varied hues adorned the forest’s entrance.
Then it happened.
The Dark Forest began to undergo a grotesque transformation in an instant.
Crack! Screech!
What began as faint sounds grew louder, soon transforming into a thunderous roar. The earth trembled violently as trees groaned and twisted. It was as though a colossal beast slumbering deep beneath the ground had awakened and was rising to its feet.
Then something unbelievable occurred.
Massive mouths materialized from the trunks of the trees. They split open like wounds, widening progressively. Crimson flesh was exposed, and the stench of decay emanated forth. Within those maws, red tongues writhed. Between rotted gums, jagged teeth protruded menacingly.
The foliage of the trees began to lose its form. Verdant leaves withered and charred, transforming into blood-red thorns.
The thorns were saturated with crimson.
Crack!
Following the leaves, the trunks themselves underwent a bizarre metamorphosis. Rough, crude bark dissolved away, transforming into a bluish metal. It was neither dull nor rusted steel. A heavy metal suffused with azure luminescence.
The colossal trees before my eyes were no longer ordinary entities.
They had become tree monsters emanating sinister auras.
The transformed trees emitted low, rumbling growls.
“Grraaahhh….”
A bone-chilling shriek tore through the silent Dark Forest like shredding cloth.
The glowing eyes of the tree monsters fixed upon Kim Jae-beom and the undead.
Hostility-laden monster trees surged forward in a torrent. Their movements bore no trace of rational thought.
Screech!
Rage blazed across the contorted wooden faces, crimson sap dripping between their teeth. They snarled, baring pointed fangs.
The two undead hurled themselves at the oncoming horde of tree monsters. The massive, powerful bodies of the undead were more than sufficient to shatter and tear apart the trees. The Undead Goblin’s jagged claws raked across the bark. Muscles tensed throughout the goblin’s grip as it seized the monster’s trunk. Suddenly, it exerted all its strength….
Snap!
With the sound, the thick trunk shattered. Fragments of branches and sawdust scattered through the air.
The Minotaur pierced its foe with sharp, thick horns. Blade-like horns penetrated the tree’s bark in an instant. Where the horns passed, debris erupted and sap gushed forth torrentially.
The Minotaur wielded its horns in a slashing frenzy.
The wounded tree was brutally severed. The ground became heaped with fragments of shattered wood.
The undead’s furious assault shook the Dark Forest’s very essence. A path strewn with splintered and uprooted trees. The undead advanced relentlessly across it.
Crash! Boom!
Felled trees and severed branches lay scattered across the ground.
Yet the undead’s advance did not falter.
An endless expanse of woodland stretched before them. Once more, a colossal barrier materialized before the undead—far more numerous than the first wave. The once-stalwart trees, now corrupted by malice, writhed with unnatural vigor. Their grotesquely twisted branches bristled with thorn-like blades at their tips.
A roaring legion of tree monsters.
The Dark Forest clashed fiercely with the undead.
* * *
After twenty minutes of brutal, harrowing combat, the battle finally concluded.
Silence and darkness alone remained within the forest.
Ragged breathing and the stench of blood hung heavy in the air. The undead stood resolute amid the Battlefield, their feet buried beneath towering heaps of splintered wood—fragments so pulverized they were unrecognizable. Shattered branches, roots, and broken leaves scattered in all directions.
The Giant Undead Goblin and Minotaur stood breathing heavily, their bodies bearing the unmistakable scars of combat. Gashes as though rent by blades, crushed flesh. Dark blood dripped steadily from countless wounds across their forms. From the deepest lacerations where bone lay exposed, a mixture of blood and pus oozed forth.
Though the undead knew no fatigue, this battle had clearly exacted a considerable toll. Their violent exertions had left their bodies cracked and their teeth shattered.
Tap… tap… tap.
A solitary figure emerged through the eerie silence. It was Arulan, the skeletal sorcerer.
Arulan approached the undead with faltering steps, moving slowly. Emanating an unsettling aura, he took his place beside the wounded creatures. Azure flames flickered within the hollow sockets of his skull.
Arulan raised his gaunt hands and placed them upon the bodies of the two undead. Darkness began to ripple from his fingertips.
The power of shadow gradually flowed from Arulan’s hands into the undead’s bodies. The dark mist enveloped them, seeping deep into their wounds.
As a bone-chilling cold permeated their very essence, the wounds began to mend. Ink-black energy sutured the cracked flesh and fused the shattered bones.
In harmony with Arulan’s incantation, something miraculous transpired within the undead’s forms. Blade-cut wounds sealed shut, and crushed muscles regenerated. It was a potent magic that even reversed death itself.
Enveloped in black energy from head to toe, the undead swiftly regained their former wholeness. The wounds vanished without a trace, as though they had never existed.
The regenerated undead were a marvel to behold. Their restored bodies radiated vitality and brimmed with power.
Whoosh!
Then it happened.
Kim Jae-beom swept his hand through the air, conjuring crimson spheres from the void. Following his command, brilliant scarlet energy coalesced into tangible form. Within the swirling maelstrom of glowing power, rounded shapes took shape.
The suspended spheres trembled violently, accelerating toward the Forest Center.
As the spheres reached their target, a cataclysmic explosion erupted. A towering pillar of flame shot skyward. The earth shook with a deafening roar as trees were uprooted wholesale. The blast convulsed the ground and filled the air with debris.
Engulfed in the explosion’s fury, the Forest Center’s semi-transparent barrier shattered into fragments. The mystical Barrier crumbled as though oxidized away.
As the explosion’s remnants settled and smoke cleared, the true nature of the center came into view.
At the heart of the Dark Forest lay a vast, ominous Pit. Walls carved as though by a vertical blade, corridors descending endlessly into darkness.
Ancient runes were densely inscribed across the walls. Upon the crimson-glowing stone, depictions of demonic forms were rendered with striking clarity.
“Found it. The Secret Dungeon.”
A smile spread across Beom-su’s face.
Kim Jae-beom gazed upon the Dungeon entrance before him and called out a name tersely.
“Arulan!”
His commanding voice pierced the silent forest like a clarion call.
Arulan, the skeletal sorcerer, strode forward with great strides. Azure flames flickered within the eyes of his skull, which radiated formidable power.
Arulan stretched his gaunt arms wide and began to chant. His murmured incantation, sinister and low, caused the air itself to tremble.
In an instant, black smoke billowed from his mouth. Dark mist gradually rose around Arulan’s form.
The mist spread with terrifying speed. A black curtain consumed the forest floor, spreading like an engulfing tide. The haze was thick and ominous.
Something began to take shape within the heart of the mist.
It was an undead army.
Skeletal soldiers with bleached bones laid bare,
flames flickering within their eye sockets. Their hands, gripping swords and spears, posed an aggressive threat.
A sinister smile played at the corners of Arulan’s mouth as he commanded the legion of corpses.
“Hmm. This should suffice.”
Kim Jae-beom nodded with satisfaction as he surveyed the undead army Arulan had summoned.
The preliminary preparations for exploring the Dungeon were complete.
“Now let us enter the Dungeon.”
The undead army began to move.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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