My Skeleton Soldier Is Strange - Chapter 85

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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 85
While Arulan held back the iron mace, Kim Jae-beom and Barcode moved in their respective directions, closing in on Casardin.
Crash!
Kim Jae-beom was the first to reach Casardin. Dodging the iron maces that Arulan couldn’t block in time, he closed the distance faster than Barcode.
“Die!”
—Whoosh!
My steel staff sliced through the air with a vicious swing. The heavy metal was aimed directly at Casardin’s head.
The blow descended with tremendous force, its power extraordinary. The impact seemed ready to shatter the Specter’s skull into fragments.
Yet Casardin didn’t flinch.
Dark energy coalesced around him, forming a barrier just before my attack struck.
A pitch-black wall unfurled before the Specter’s body.
That suffocating darkness, as if swallowing the very air itself, met my blow head-on.
Boom!
The sound of steel colliding with darkness echoed hollowly through the void.
The heavy staff bounced back as if repelled.
My eyes widened at the unexpected defense.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The Specter’s barrier remained unmoved.
Instead, the recoil from blocking the attack sent me staggering backward.
Pushed by the darkness, I lost my footing and stumbled back.
A bone-rattling impact coursed through my hands gripping the staff.
My palms trembled with a sharp, numbing pain.
I clenched my teeth at the helplessness of failing to pierce the barrier.
Flutter!
My cloak billowed as I lost balance and wavered.
The rippling black fabric seemed to embody my sense of defeat.
With each step backward, my silhouette grew more pathetic.
Boom!
A cold smile played at Casardin’s lips. Crimson eyes gleamed within the darkness, radiating contempt.
Before his unbreakable barrier, I was utterly defenseless.
Hiss.
“You fool. Did you think you were fighting me alone?”
That was when—
“My turn!”
Boom!
Barcode’s body soared into the air.
His white armor gleamed brilliantly, catching the sunlight.
The knight in white flew upward with the grace of a bird taking flight.
His heavily armored frame seemed to defy gravity itself.
Whoosh!
Barcode’s hand stretched behind his back, grasping the greatsword’s hilt.
Muscles swelled as tremendous force flooded into his arms.
The massive blade began to slide free from its scabbard with deliberate slowness.
Azure radiance flowed along the blade’s edge, illuminating the surrounding darkness.
Whoosh!
The greatsword, now fully unsheathed, soared overhead.
The heavy, colossal mass of steel cleaved through the heavens, its threatening presence unmistakable.
Blue light converged at the blade’s tip, shimmering like stars scattered across the night sky.
Barcode’s face burned with unwavering conviction.
Crack!
In that instant, Barcode’s arms moved with the speed of lightning.
Every ounce of his strength channeled through his muscles as he brought the greatsword crashing down.
The blade carved through empty air at terrifying velocity, its target—Casardin’s head.
Barcode’s movements as he wielded the greatsword resembled a tempest incarnate.
Boom!
The blade, imbued with devastating force, struck Casardin’s barrier with brutal impact.
The weighted blow seemed powerful enough to split Specter’s skull in two.
As steel and shadow collided, a deafening roar erupted through the air.
The violent impact sent shockwaves rippling through the surrounding atmosphere.
Crack!
Fissures began spreading across the barrier under the assault’s force.
The darkness, driven back by Barcode’s onslaught, slowly fractured.
Like shattering glass, spider-web cracks spiderwebbed across the barrier’s surface.
Faint azure light seeped through the widening gaps.
Shock flashed across Casardin’s face.
He hadn’t imagined the barrier could break—his expression betrayed utter disbelief.
His crimson eyes wavered with bewilderment.
Crash!
Barcode’s greatsword finally pierced through Casardin’s barrier, its blade meeting his face.
Bang!
The heavy mass of steel struck Specter’s face, the impact reverberating outward.
The dull sensation of blade meeting bone transmitted through Barcode’s hands.
Thud!
Yet the greatsword had merely grazed his face, failing to bite deep.
The force expended in shattering the barrier had depleted the blow’s potency.
―A hollow resonance echoed.
A thin secondary barrier spread before the blade had absorbed much of the attack’s force.
With a harsh collision, Casardin’s head snapped violently to the side.
A clear slash marked the exposed jawbone beneath.
Yet the bone remained unbroken, the wound shallow rather than deep.
It was merely a scratch—a wound no deeper than a blade’s graze.
Whoosh!
Casardin, having taken only a single blow, straightened his form.
His jet-black robes billowed as he hung suspended in the void, motionless.
Within those crimson eyes blazing in the air burned an undiminished hunger for battle.
The cold smile playing at his lips remained utterly unmoved.
Shiiiiing—
An even more intense darkness began to bloom around Casardin.
His momentum, which had wavered slightly from the previous attack, was surging back to full strength.
The pitch-black aura enveloping Specter grew denser and more sinister than ever before.
Within the darkness, the skull’s grin became faintly visible, its corners rising wickedly.
As though untouched by any blow, he continued to flaunt his overwhelming superiority.
A thick mist swirled around his form, churning violently.
Between the robes that fluttered in the wind, he appeared to drift weightlessly through the air.
“Damn it.”
Barcode clenched his teeth.
He had succeeded in piercing the barrier and drawing blood, but he had failed to deliver the killing blow.
The weight of the greatsword had caused his attack to go slightly wide.
He must have expended too much strength shattering Casardin’s shield.
With the remaining power in his arms, it was impossible to land a fatal strike against Specter.
Kuuuaaaargh!
The roar that erupted from Casardin’s maw sounded as though it echoed from the depths of hell itself.
The ear-splitting shriek shook the air and reverberated across the Battlefield.
A soundwave so overwhelming that it numbed the senses swept across all directions.
Within the screaming specter’s gaping maw, darkness writhed and twisted.
Whiiiiing—
In response to the roar, the surrounding darkness began to convulse.
The pitch-black mist surged with even greater ferocity.
The earth beneath trembled, sending forth waves of shadow. Swirling darkness converged and coalesced around Casardin.
Boom— Boom—
As the roar subsided, a heavy resonance filled the space. Like a heartbeat, rhythmic and thunderous vibrations shook the ground.
In time with the pulsing sound, formless shadows emerged from the darkness, taking shape.
These entities were fundamentally different from the undead.
There was no stench of decay from corpses, no sight of bleached bone standing on end.
They were beings composed solely of darkness itself.
The pitch-black shadows, as though crawling forth from an abyss, emanated an ominous presence.
Shiiiiing—
The shadows of darkness vaguely held the shape of humans.
Yet their bodies were nothing more than insubstantial shadows.
They roiled like mist, howling through the air.
Beneath their feet, only crimson eyes flickered with an eerie glow.
They were less Specter and more living darkness itself.
They revealed their silhouettes, exhaling an aura of absolute black that seemed to devour light itself.
Entities of pure terror crawling forth from the abyss.
Casardin’s subordinates roared in unison, as if answering their master’s call.
Kuuuaaahhh―!
A horrific shriek echoed from all directions.
The wailing Specters resembled demons bursting forth from the depths of hell itself.
In an instant, the Battlefield was consumed by legions of darkness.
Writhing tentacles of shadow surged upward from every direction.
A swirling vortex of black mist devoured the sky.
The sight of densely packed crimson eyes flickering brilliantly was shock incarnate.
Shiiiiing―
In moments, the legion of dark Specters assembled around Casardin.
They formed ranks with perfect synchronization, then assumed an offensive posture as one.
Within the pitch-black shadow that consumed the heavens, they were like living weapons of darkness.
“Hmm…”
Barcode let out a brief sigh upon witnessing this.
“This won’t do.”
His expression shifted with sudden realization.
A mischievous smile played across his face.
It was clear he intended to deploy a trump card.
Swiftly.
Barcode’s hand quickly opened the pouch hanging at his waist.
Blue light began seeping through the gaps between his fingers.
What he withdrew was a beautifully luminous crystal.
In Barcode’s palm, the crystal radiated an ethereal brilliance.
The blue crystalline formation bore a hue reminiscent of the ocean—deep and mysterious.
The piercingly blue radiance even evoked a sense of cold.
Complex and intricate patterns were etched across the crystal’s surface.
Mystical runes reminiscent of ancient script filled the entire surface of the formation.
Fine lines of blue light flowed along the patterns.
It felt as though life itself dwelled within the crystal.
Shiiing―
As Barcode raised the crystal high, the blue light intensified dramatically.
“This is a consumable item that allows me to summon Guild members. Will you permit me to use it?”
“Yes.”
Kim Jae-beom nodded at Barcode’s question. After all, if he died here, he’d have to restart the Quest from the beginning. Or worse, the Quest might disappear entirely.
Summoning Barcode’s Guild members to clear the Quest was far the better choice.
Crack!
Barcode’s hand clenched the crystal with all his might, muscles tensing to their limit as power surged through every joint of his fingers.
Gritting his teeth, he squeezed with every ounce of strength he possessed, his face etched with unwavering resolve.
Crack!
The crystal shattered under the tremendous force, fragmenting into countless pieces.
The delicate blue crystalline structure, once inscribed with intricate patterns, crumbled into dust.
Within Barcode’s palm, the shattered remnants of the crystal lost their radiant blue luminescence, fading into a dull, colorless powder.
Ding!
[Crystal has been consumed.]
The moment the crystal shattered, a System Message materialized in the air above.
The blue text inscribed before Barcode announced his action to all.
He had sacrificed a precious item to summon his Guild members.
Whoooosh—
Blue fragments of light scattered through the air.
A luminous blue mist rose from the shattered crystal, ascending toward the heavens.
The mist soon spiraled downward, descending to the ground where it began to trace a circle.
Whiiiish—
The blue energy coiled around the earth, its rotation accelerating with each passing moment.
Gradually, intricate patterns began to manifest upon the ground.
A mystical formation reminiscent of ancient magic circles materialized in brilliant blue light.
The luminous trajectory steadily filled the ground, completing an enormous magical circle.
A radiant blue magic circle, blazing with resplendent brilliance.
Geometric patterns arranged in deliberate stages created a harmonious, otherworldly composition.
At the center of the formation stood the Guild’s emblem—a lion, positioned with elegant grace.
The lion figure, rendered in flowing curves, emanated an air of noble dignity.
Whoooosh—
The completed magic circle blazed with brilliant blue light, launching a pillar of radiance skyward.
Like a beacon summoning the Guild members, the blue column of light pierced through the clouds, soaring to tremendous heights.
[32 Guild members have answered the summons.]
It was the moment when overwhelming numbers deployed their ultimate tactic.

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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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