Chapter 26

Chapter 26 : Cerulean Golem #3

The adventurers facing the Ancient Cerulean Golem were being driven into a bitter struggle.

“Damn it, sir Mage! That golem is trying to pull something again!! Hurry, do something!!”

“D-Damn it...! It must have a weakness somewhere! What about blunt weapons?! It does not matter if your weapons break, so focus on its joints like before!!”

“We already tried that, did we not?! Hurry and find another way...! Aaaaaaargh!!”

｢The adventurers have been seized by extreme terror. The effect of the skill [Chaos] has increased Strength by 4.｣

Painful groans rose from among the warriors rolling across the dirt floor.

Before an overwhelmingly powerful enemy, human resistance merely crumbled in vain.

Each time the golem took a step, another life was crushed beneath it, and the adventurers rolled over the mangled corpses of their comrades as they struggled desperately to survive.

“Gaaah...! My arm! My arm!!”

“Stop the bleeding somehow!! As long as you are still alive when we return to the Temple, that is enough!”

“I-I am out of arrows! The bow is not working at all!!”

“Shit! Why did something that absurdly monstrous suddenly appear?!”

｢The mercenaries are feeling extreme fear! The effect of the skill [Chaos] has increased Agility by 3.｣

“This cannot be...!”

An overwhelming gap in strength!

At this rate, total annihilation was only a matter of time.

As the adventurers ran through the gorge like rats in a trap, they slowly began to face reality.

“It is over... We are all as good as dead....”

One adventurer muttered as he dropped his weapon.

Despair spread like a plague, and one by one, they lost the will to fight and collapsed where they stood.

That was when it happened─.

Yo ho… yo ho….

Raise… every sail….

Yo ho… yo ho….

Haul… every rope….

｢You sang the Undead Hymn! Fighting Spirit and Will to Fight have increased!｣

“What is that sound...? It is almost like a funeral dirge....”

“It is a skeleton! D-Damn it...! It is singing, is it not? Judging by its intelligence, it must be a Death Knight!!”

“O-Of all times, a High-Ranking Undead had to appear now....”

It was truly one misfortune piled atop another.

Unlike a golem, which would simply kill them and be done with it, if they suffered the slightest harm at the hands of a Death Knight, they might become undead and wander the earth forever.

With its high intelligence as well, it was one of the most troublesome opponents imaginable.

On top of that, their retreat route was currently blocked, so they could not even flee.

‘...But why is a Death Knight in a place like this?’

A few adventurers wondered as much, but what happened next was shocking enough to shatter such thoughts entirely.

─Heh heh… This place is crawling with living corpses that failed to die properly.

The Death Knight had rescued an adventurer trapped beneath a broken log, lifted him onto his shoulder, and approached.

At the bizarre conduct of a monster—and an undead that should have been intensely hostile to humans at that—the adventurers froze on the spot.

“A D-Death Knight is saving someone...?”

“Wh-What in the world is going on...?!”

｢The adventurers are staring at you with blank expressions!｣

｢[Antagon’s Rune] devours the humans’ agitation and cackles! All stats temporarily increase by 3!｣

｢It is still not enough! To defeat the Ancient Cerulean Golem, you will have to secure even more stats!｣

｢If you can catch the adventurers off guard, they will become a splendid source of power!｣

‘It is so sweet that my teeth are going to rot.’

The reason he had transformed into a skeleton despite the risk of Radi discovering his ability!

In order to face the Boss Golem, his current state was nowhere near enough, so he had to raise his stats somehow.

And he also knew very well what he had to do to activate [Chaos].

Doran dropped the injured man among the adventurers with a thud and sneered.

─To think you are hovering at death’s door because you cannot even dispose of a single lump of stone like that… How lamentable! It seems this is all humans amount to these days!

When he leaned in with his hollow eye sockets and provoked them, the adventurers flinched.

Afraid of offending him, the people cornered against the walls trembled and avoided his gaze.

He poked them lightly with the tip of his sword, but the already terrified adventurers could not even utter a peep.

｢For a Dwarf, a beard is life itself! The Dwarf Warrior whose beard has been cut secretly wipes away tears!｣

｢The man pricked by the Curved Sword flinches! Agility temporarily increases by 2!｣

｢Strength has increased!｣

─Hahahaha, ridiculous!! The way you are all cowering makes you look like hermit crabs!

‘...I am sorry.’

For a moment, a little blood seeped from the torn skin, but Doran acted as though he was satisfied and strolled among the adventurers.

As he exuded an atmosphere of terror and played the role of a Death Knight, he felt his stats rise at an unprecedented pace.

The adventurers were confused because, after rescuing a person just moments ago, he had suddenly started causing trouble again, but there was another reason for this behavior besides stats.

‘If they suddenly turn on me, it will be a serious problem...!’

They mistook him for a Death Knight, but in reality, he was nothing more than a slightly strong Skeleton.

If the adventurers suddenly turned on him and attacked together the moment he defeated the golem, he would be the one in danger.

He had to carve fear into them now and uproot any possibility that they might dare to rush him.

─Oh, that robe of yours looks rather fine!

“Y-Yes?”

─Hand it over.

“...Yes.”

｢The man tearfully offers up his robe! It is a new product from a famous brand!｣

｢Agility has increased by 2!｣

After draping the robe he had extorted from the adventurer over himself and wandering around, he noticed an unidentified bone fragment trampled beneath the golem.

‘Come to think of it… Skeletons could replace their bodies by swapping out bones....’

The remains of powerful warriors or mages were usually stronger, but unfortunately, there were no useful bones nearby.

As he looked closely at the adventurers’ remains, he sensed people recoiling in terror.

“N-No way... Is he choosing victims to make into his subordinates...?”

“Be careful!! If our eyes meet, he might conscript us as undead too! That vicious bastard...!!”

｢The adventurer group is horrified by your mercilessness!｣

｢Strength and Agility each increase by 2!｣

‘No, I was just looking around....’

Doran, who had been inwardly praying for the souls of the dead to rest in peace, shouted in a deliberately wicked voice.

─Hahaha! This place is full of fresh dead! Now then, whom shall I take with me?

｢The people are terrified, and Strength temporarily increases!｣

His stats rose once again, but Doran was not satisfied.

‘It is still not enough.’

If he charged in like this, he would fail to evade the golem’s strike and become a pile of bone dust.

Just a little more. It felt as though he only needed a very small amount more....

As Doran wondered how he could squeeze more stats out of the adventurers, something that had happened recently suddenly came to mind.

｢Some adventurers have acrophobia.｣

｢If you stimulate them properly, you will be able to cause even greater chaos.｣

─...Those among you with acrophobia, raise your hands.

“A-Acrophobia, you say? Why are you suddenly asking that...?”

─Enough of your prattling! Hands up!!

“…….”

A few adventurers, so frightened that they could no longer judge properly, awkwardly raised their hands.

Doran grabbed the men who had raised their hands and promptly hurled them into the trees.

｢Strength and Agility increase greatly!｣

｢Radi, who was watching you from afar, is horrified by your heinous cruelty!｣

｢Radi blurts out a foul curse without thinking! Strength additionally increases by 2!｣

“Aaaaaaaaargh!! Somebody save me! The D-Death Knight is juggling people!!”

“There is not a single sane bastard among the undead after all!”

─Heh heh heh! What a bountiful harvest of stats!

Doran threw the adventurers into the air one after another.

He grabbed people and hurled them, buried them in sand pits, and eventually tied up the ones with good reactions and left them dangling from ropes. 

As he did, his stats rapidly filled up.

When he roared with laughter and kicked the base of a tree, his stats rose once more.

As he ran around and caused chaos outright, pandemonium unfolded everywhere, with people screaming and fleeing in every direction.

─Hahahahaha!! Ridiculous! Ridiculous!! You look like a swarm of ants whose nest has caught fire!

In the midst of it all, his eyes met Radi’s from a distance, where the boy was hiding. Radi had covered his mouth and was staring at this tragedy with a blank, devastated expression.

｢A great Chaos has descended upon the earth!｣

｢[Antagon’s Rune] smiles with satisfaction! All stats temporarily increase by 5!｣

｢Radi, who witnessed the disaster you caused, denies reality. Right now, you are the perfect villainous Death Knight itself! Luck additionally increases by 1.｣

Deciding that this much was enough, Doran threw an adventurer who had been slowly climbing down from a tree back into the air and advanced toward the battlefield.

Instead of his Cutlass, he picked up a Halberd from among the remains of the dead and stood before the golem. 

The Log Window refreshed.

DING─!

｢You have faced the Ancient Cerulean Golem!｣

｢It is a primordial golem that has steadfastly guarded this gorge for long ages. A grave secret must be hidden inside the brilliantly shining crystal!｣

─Now! Let us have some fun, you unfinished ancient creation!

When he spread his arms and shouted arrogantly, the golem turned toward him, charged in at once, and drove its fist down─.

But Doran was no longer there.

He had leaped nimbly away at the precise moment the massive crystal mass struck.

Doran sprinted up the golem’s forearm and struck its head with the Halberd, sending blue fragments scattering in every direction.

｢You have inflicted meaningful damage on the golem!!｣

｢Your body is in a highly strengthened state! The adventurers who witnessed your martial power are startled!｣

｢[Antagon’s Rune] is trembling! Due to the skill [Chaos], Strength increases by 3!｣

Thanks to having destroyed the core in advance, he was able to land an effective blow, but the adventurers, unaware of the circumstances, gaped in astonishment.

“He shattered that hard outer shell with a single blow!! When we struck it, we could not even leave a scratch no matter how hard we tried...!”

“A-As expected of a Death Knight, the highest grade of undead! What level is he? It must be at least three digits, right...?”

“It was a good thing we did not get cocky for no reason... If we had picked a fight, our heads would have flown off in an instant.”

─Hahahahaha!!! Ridiculous!!

Each time he unleashed a relentless assault with the Halberd, cracks appeared across the golem’s body.

Right now, Doran was several times stronger than usual, and on top of that, he had been strengthened by the Orb of the Evil God.

The golem tried to counterattack by kicking him, but Doran hooked the counterweight at the back of the Halberd like a hook, twisted himself away, and slipped out of the line of attack.

He widened the crack in its chest with the axe blade, then used the spearpoint to gouge deep into the gap.

It was possible because Doran had handled all sorts of miscellaneous weapons and techniques in the past.

─GRIIIIIND!!

When the golem reached for him with a pained roar, Doran did not dodge. 

Instead, he swung the axe blade straight down and severed its crystal fingers.

He ignored the shards striking him and pressed forward, and every time he drove in with a spear thrust, the Halberd bit ceaselessly into the golem’s body.

Its shoulders, neck, and chest were all battered by indiscriminate attacks.

As the massive frame lost its balance and began to stagger, Doran pressed in even more persistently.

The more the golem thrashed and shattered its crystals, the more the skeleton’s madness-laced laughter spread.

─Hahahaha!! Where has your sky-piercing might gone?!

─Gwo… Ooooo!!

As spear thrusts rained down, the cornered golem raised both arms and absorbed starlight.

It was the omen of powerful magic.

The adventurers, who had already suffered from it several times, screamed and fled─.

‘I expected this, so I destroyed the core in advance.’

He already knew that the thing could no longer use magic.

Doran laughed mockingly and kicked off the ground.

When he brought the Halberd down with all his might, the axe-spear dug into the golem’s chest.

Each time his violent spear strikes raged again and again, blue flashes and thunderous sounds erupted between the broken crystal fragments.

Every time the blue light leaking from the cracks eerily illuminated his bone joints, astonished cries burst out from every direction.

｢Everyone nearby is focusing on you!｣

｢Apart from their fear of you, they are praying for you to bring down the golem!｣

｢Charisma has permanently increased by 1!｣

His blows gradually grew heavier.

He paid no heed to the creaking of his bone joints and brought the Halberd down again and again, drawing dull, shattering sounds from the crystal.

─GRRRRRRRGH!!

As the crack in its chest gradually widened, the golem sensed danger and tried to shake him off by striking its own body, but─.

‘This is my chance...!’

Seeing the crack widen even further under the golem’s own fist, Doran brought the Halberd down with all his might and then jammed his Cutlass into the gap.

Every time he laughed madly and violently twisted the blade, crystal shards sprayed in every direction.

─Hahahahaha! Struggle all you want. It is useless!

CRACK! In an instant, the golem’s chest split open, and Doran thrust his hand into the gap.

Soon, the hand that emerged from the golem’s chest was gripping a fist-sized core.

─I finally reached it.

CRUNCH!

When he shattered the core, the golem completely collapsed, and at the same time, a blue ring hidden inside the crystal fell into his grasp.

｢You have defeated the Ancient Cerulean Golem!!｣

｢[Antagon’s Rune] devours the golem’s soul! Once digestion is complete, you will be able to disguise yourself as a Cerulean Golem!｣

｢You have obtained an extremely rare item, [Secrian’s Ring]!!｣

｢You have completed the Hidden Area Quest ‘The Secret Held by the Golem.’ Luck has permanently increased by 2.｣

｢You have obtained information about Secrian, a mage from the era of the Ancient Kingdom!｣

｢In the world at large, only a very small number of mages know of Secrian’s existence!｣

Standing atop the golem as it slowly turned into an ordinary lump of crystal, Doran stared at the ring in his palm.

‘Secrian’s Ring, huh… This is a windfall.’

Since a golem itself was practically a mobile fortress, it was common for ancient mages to store valuables inside a golem’s body.

─This Artifact is just perfect for me. Thank you, Secrian! I will put this ring to excellent use. Hahahahaha!

Skeleton Doran did not hesitate any longer and slipped the ring onto his finger.

With no flesh and only bare bones, the ring clattered loosely like an empty cart, but even that looked terribly undead.

For Doran, who had just entered a growth trajectory, this item had a value that could not be measured in money.

‘That was a satisfying battle. I gained another level too....’

Most importantly, he had learned how to transform into a Cerulean Golem, so he had obtained one means of resisting the vile mages of Velheim.

He had also gained a permanent Luck stat from completing the quest.

Now all he had to do was return and explain things properly to the kid....

─Well, I will manage somehow! Ridiculous! …Hm?

Just as he was about to climb down from the golem’s remains and leave, Doran suddenly noticed the adventurers staring at him with complicated gazes.

Their eyes contained fear, relief that they had survived, and anxiety about what would happen next.

─Tsk… One troublesome matter still remains.

His business with them was over, so he had to somehow smooth over this incident and keep their mouths shut....

‘...Wait. Is there any need to hide it?’

If he had been in his human body, that would have been another matter, but right now, he had transformed into an undead.

They seemed to firmly believe he was a Death Knight, so even if rumors spread, the possibility of his true identity being revealed was extremely low.

‘Rather, if I intentionally spread the rumors… I may be able to use them in reverse.’

If people heard that a Death Knight had appeared in the dungeon, caused havoc, saved adventurers, and then vanished, it would make the perfect story.

If the rumors had already spread by the next time he transformed into an undead, would he not be able to secure that many more stats?

As he slowly approached the adventurers, the notifications refreshed at a frightening speed. DING! DING!

｢The adventurers are feeling fear at your existence. Luck increases by 2.｣

“…….”

STEP.

｢The mercenaries are utterly terrified! Some of them cannot even bring themselves to look at you directly and turn their heads away! Intelligence increases by 2.｣

STEP.

｢The warriors are trembling in terror!! They appeal to your mercy, begging you to kill them painlessly instead! Agility increases by 3!｣

STEP.

─What are you looking at?

““…….””

｢The adventurers are feeling extreme fear!! Several of those who were thrown into the trees by you faint! Strength increases by 7!｣

Judging that he had frightened them enough, Doran laughed with a grin that seemed to split his skull and shouted.

─Hahahaha, ridiculous!! You bastards are lucky! Normally, I would kill every last one of you and make you my subordinates, but I hunted a golem today, so I will let you go!

“Th-That is....”

─If you understand, then be gone at once, insignificant mortals. And spread the great deeds of this body, Orgilian, far and wide across the earth!

“U-Uwaaaaaaah!!”

When he kicked the man hesitating in front of him back into the air, the terrified adventurers hurriedly carried the wounded on their backs and disappeared from sight.

At this point, it would surely be engraved into their minds.

It was the moment the legend of the Skeleton Warrior was born.