My Skeleton Soldier Is Strange - Chapter 176

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

Chapter 176
I crossed the Blue Grassland, advancing northward. Lush grass rippled in the wind, and flowers bloomed in brilliant hues.
My footsteps across the vast plain were brisk and confident. The Undead Legion trailing behind me marched in silence, emanating the stench of death.
“Hmm?”
After walking for some time, the sound of rushing water reached my ears. I had arrived at the River. Cool water flowed serenely, and mist rose to paint the surroundings in dreamlike hues.
Yet that tranquility was short-lived. Suddenly, the water churned violently, and something erupted from the River. Pure white spray shot skyward, and the water roiled, creating waves. At the sight, I and the Undead Legion tensed, adopting defensive stances.
From the churning waters, mermaids emerged. Grotesque creatures with fish tails. Pallid skin, bloodshot eyes, razor-sharp teeth. Their ghastly smiles resembled demons crawling from the depths of hell. They were cannibalistic mermaids.
“Kiiieeeek!”
With piercing shrieks, they burst from the water. In their hands were barbed tridents and three-pronged spears. Their glistening, wet bodies thrashed as they charged toward me and my Undead Legion.
“Hmm.”
Yet I did not blink. Unmoved by the mermaids’ threatening onslaught, I issued a cold command.
“Kill them.”
At those words, the Undead Legion poured forth from the water. Snarling roars burned with vengeance. Monsters of bone and rotting flesh surged toward the cannibalistic mermaids.
Blades clashed against spears, and the sound of shattering bone echoed. The blue river waters turned crimson with blood. Screams and shrieks tore through the sky. An Undead Ogre seized several mermaids in one hand and crushed them instantly. The Giant Scorpion trembled with excitement at the slaughter.
Outnumbered, the cannibalistic mermaids fled in terror. Scattered in all directions, they presented a pathetic sight, begging for their lives. Yet all that awaited them was the Undead Legion. A breathless chase ensued. A bloody massacre continued along the riverbank.
Soon, the river waters churned with crimson blood. Fragments of flesh drifted upon the surface, and corpses washed ashore.
“That was quick.”
After the battle ended, I gazed down at the mermaids’ corpses in a daze. The blood-soaked ground was heaped with a mountain of crimson bodies.
I stared at the blood-stained Battlefield for a moment, then sighed and spoke.
“Aulan.”
From behind me, a whisper-like voice answered.
“Click-clack.”
With the sound of bone joints clicking together, my loyal subordinate Aulan approached my side. Beneath the skull mask, hollow eye sockets were revealed.
I examined Aulan carefully. His robe was drenched from the intense battle. Bright crimson droplets of blood clung densely to the black fabric. Dripping mermaid blood stained the earth red.
Seeing this sight, I let out a dry chuckle and spoke flatly.
“Clean yourself up.”
At my firm command, Aulan snapped his fingers lightly. An eerie sound cut through the air.
In an instant, mist rose and enveloped Aulan’s body. The essence of darkness consumed him entirely. His robe was wrapped in mist, writhing as if alive and breathing. Moisture began to evaporate from the damp fabric.
Moments later, as the mist cleared, Aulan’s form was revealed. His black robe was immaculate, without a single blemish. All moisture had vanished, and not a trace of blood remained. An impeccable neatness emanated from him.
I gazed at Aulan’s perfectly cleansed form for a long while. Deep satisfaction welled within me at the sight of my Undead subordinate’s pristine appearance.
“Excellent.”
Concise yet weighty praise flowed from my lips. A faint smile played at the corners of my mouth. Fine wrinkles etched across my sun-darkened skin.
“Click-clack.”
With the sound of bone striking bone, Aulan bowed his head in reverence. Creaking joints and rustling bone sounds evoked an eerie sensation. Hollow eye sockets were revealed between the skull mask. Only pitch-black darkness dwelt within—nothing else.
I then turned to gaze upon the blood-stained Battlefield. Along the river where the slaughter had ended, the shattered corpses of cannibalistic mermaids lay strewn about. From the waters stained with crimson blood, the stench of gore still vibrated. A horrific reek blanketed the world.
I savored that sight for a moment, then issued a terse command.
“Resurrect the dead mermaids as Undead.”
A sharp voice that seemed to cut through the air swept across Aulan’s spine.
Aulan walked forward without a word, his robe fluttering in the wind. Without hesitation, he stretched both arms into the empty air. His fingers raked across the atmosphere. It was a gesture as if clawing from the depths of hell itself.
In that instant, pitch-black mist erupted from Aulan’s hands. Dark energy reeking of damnation consumed everything around it. The damp, cold essence carried with it the stench of blood and decay.
The black mist surged forth in undulating waves toward the cannibalistic merfolk, a dark curtain descending upon the crimson corpses. The sight was breathtakingly beautiful and utterly horrifying in equal measure.
Then something miraculous began to unfold.
The bodies of the cannibalistic merfolk underwent a grotesque transformation. At first, the flesh writhed and convulsed, then began to dissolve. Bright scarlet tissue streamed from bone, pooling upon the ground. Muscle and viscera mingled into a repugnant morass. Blood and bodily fluids fouled the river waters.
Before long, all flesh had melted away, leaving only bleached white bone. Muscle tissue vanished as if scrubbed clean, and skin and scales dissolved into nothingness. Only pristine skulls remained, standing stark and alone.
Yet this was not the end.
The scattered flesh began to writhe of its own accord, reattaching itself to the skulls. Pulverized muscle crawled along ruptured sinews, severed organs filled the hollow cavities. Decomposed flesh wrapped around bone, reclaiming form. Shattered scales regrew across the skin.
Slowly, the very essence of these death-touched beings transformed. Their bloodshot eyes began to gleam with crimson radiance, and fangs jutted forth between their teeth. Fish tails thrashed, spraying water.
The cannibalistic merfolk had been resurrected as undead. Reborn as corrupted entities, they rose from the river and stood at attention.
Skeletal merfolk wrapped in decaying flesh. An oppressive, demonic presence emanated from them, their foul-smelling scaled armor completing the picture. They were now elite soldiers of the Undead Legion.
A glorious warrior’s resurrection. The cannibalistic merfolk, risen as undead, would now obey Kim Jae-beom’s every command.
Kim Jae-beom, witnessing this spectacle, wore a grim smile. His expression, teeth bared in satisfaction, radiated an unsettling, oppressive aura.
Another hour passed. Darkness deepened within the Dark Forest, and even the moonlight filtering through the branches grew faint. In the silence, the Undead Legion advanced slowly but steadily toward the North.
Leading the way were the cannibalistic merfolk undead. Their soulless eyes blazed with crimson madness. They crossed through the Dark Forest, their scale-covered tails swaying. Ragged breathing escaped from mouths lined with sharp teeth. An eerie phosphorescence dimly illuminated their surroundings.
At a distance, a horde reeking of death’s miasma followed in their wake. Undead composed of bone and putrefied flesh. Their hollow eye sockets, filled with malice, stared into the darkness. Rust-covered armor and blades gleamed with blood-red patina. Time itself seemed frozen, like an hourglass turned upside down.
Kim Jae-beom walked among these undead. At the end of their relentless march, they arrived at the Great Chasm. A deep, dark Cave yawned between towering cliffs. From its entrance, a breath-stealing cold emanated.
Even amid this eerie landscape, one thing stood out unmistakably: the crimson mist rising from the depths of the Pit. Blood-red vapor seeping through cracks in the black stone was terror incarnate. A red aura slowly engulfed all directions, surging upward.
Thud.
Kim Jae-beom halted and gazed slowly into the Chasm. He beheld the red mist, luminous even in the darkness.
Within his sunken eyes, not even a seed of fear remained.

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