How to Raise Your Skeletons

A fierce blizzard covered the entire area. At first, it was bearable, but the temperature gradually dropped.

I felt my blood freezing, and it became difficult to move. My fingers and toes swelled up.

One fortunate thing is…

Not only us, but the enemy’s speed also slowed down. The blizzard did not discriminate between friend and foe.

“Skeleton Lord!” Lee Sunah, who was in the middle of fighting, approached me. She had a complicated yet subtle expression on her face. “It seems it’s too much. I thought I could at least kill a few liches… I’m sorry. I might not be able to keep my promise to guarantee your safety.”

Her once-neat attire was now in tatters. It seemed her energy was also running low. Most of all, her face looked extremely tired.

Indeed, the eleven liches may have been too much for her… Was it a difficulty level hard for even a ranker to handle?

“It’s frustrating. I thought we’d get through easily since it’s an A-rank dungeon…” She muttered.

“Captain, are you alright?”

Kang Jihoo and the team members ran over to stand next to Lee Sunah.

Lee Sunah’s brow furrowed as she glanced over them. It was because she saw Kang Yoojung’s severed left arm.

“Kang Yoojung? What on earth happened…?”

“Hngh, it was an accident caused by my carelessness…” Kang Yoojung replied with a painful expression. The extreme cold seemed to make the pain worse.

“Are you okay? You need to get treated quickly…”

“My situation seems less urgent than everyone’s right now, Team Leader…” she sniffled.

“…That may be true.” Lee Sunah bit her lip.

She was a ranker, but she was also the leader of a group. There was no way she felt alright seeing her team members injured. Moreover…

It was uncertain whether we’d even make it out alive in this situation. The heavy responsibility weighed on her shoulders.

“For now.” Lee Sunah gripped her sword. “We must get out of the blizzard’s range. The fortunate thing is that the Blizzard skill drains a lot of energy. One of the eleven liches is probably incapacitated due to this single skill.”

If it was incapacitated, it meant that it was out of energy and unable to continue fighting.

“Vice Team Leader?”

“Yes.”

“Please take responsibility for our two team members and lead them. I’ll take care of Skeleton Lord. Get out of this area as quickly as possible.”

Lee Sunah reached her left hand out to me, nodding slightly, meaning to ask if it was okay.

That seems like the right decision.

I nodded.

She, a ranker, would be faster than me, who was still B-rank. If I delayed, my whole body could get frozen solid.

There’s nothing I can do for my subordinates.

There was no way to save my summoned subordinates and surrounding skeletons except to revive them once my energy was full again. We didn’t have enough time to run together.

—Clench!

She wrapped her left arm around my waist and then pushed off the ground. Lee Sunah’s strength was impressive. The weight of an adult man was nothing to her. It was as if she was carrying a grocery bag from the supermarket as she moved effortlessly.

—Swoosh!

She sprinted, stepping lightly over dullahans’ heads and death knights’ helmets with incredible speed.

“Are you alright, Skeleton Lord?”

“Yes, except for feeling a little dizzy.”

As we flew, I thought, How can we escape this crisis?

They say there’s always a solution in every dungeon. Isn’t there a way out?

“Black Sword, may I ask you something?”

“What is it, Skeleton Lord?”

“The skeletons from before. Those were summoned by the lich, right?”

In response to my question, Lee Sunah nodded. “Yes. One of the liches used it after its health dropped to about half. I’m not sure why it’d use such a useless skill… But it showed up in the status message, so I’m certain.”

“Hm.”

Useless, huh… It was true since it was a skill that benefitted us instead.

“To be honest, I thought it was strange while fighting,” Lee Sunah continued. “Even a thousand skeletons wouldn’t be of much help to them… So why go through the trouble of using energy to revive dead soldiers?”

It made sense. That was why I got a feeling.

“Could it be… a gimmick?”

“Pardon?” Lee Sunah tilted her head.

“Doesn’t it seem suspicious? For a high-ranking dungeon boss to use such a useless skill?”

I could feel the surrounding temperature rising. Her speed was astounding, and soon we reached the edge of the blizzard field.

“I’m a necromancer. Specifically a Skeleton Lord, one who reigns over all skeletons per the system.”

“…”

“But for him to summon skeletons in front of me…”

“Necromancer… Trials must be set according to one’s potential. Your latent power is extraordinary.”

Those were the words the lich spoke when it cast the curse. It felt like it was evaluating me.

If that’s the case…

The solution must lie with me.

“I see.” Lee Sunah blinked. “So, Skeleton Lord, you’re saying… the dungeon might be giving us a hint to use those skeletons to clear it?”

“Otherwise, it wouldn’t make sense.”

“Whether it makes sense or not, it’s also the only option we can hope for right now,” she agreed.

She had no other choice since she couldn’t take on all eleven liches individually. Her energy was almost depleted, and there was nowhere else to run. Now, there were truly no other options.

“Alright.” Lee Sunah nodded. “Getting the liches to half HP, let’s try that.”

—Swoosh!

The Black Sword turned in the direction of the liches.

The blizzard disappeared before we even noticed. Now it was only raining lightly.

“However,” Lee Sunah spoke up.

“Yes.”

“We have to go by ourselves. It’s overwhelming just facing one lich, so covering for all the members is impossible.”

She wanted to leave the team members behind.

I also nodded. “Yes, that’s what I wanted to say.”

Guerilla tactics were usually carried out with a small team anyway.

We quickly approached where the lich was.

Even though I was in Lee Sunah’s arms, I felt no particular way about it. My mind was entirely occupied with survival and combat—only those two words filled my head.

Lee Sunah seemed the same; her serious expression focused on the front.

“Skeleton Lord, how much energy do you have left?”

“Enough to cycle through five minions once.”

“Good. Both you and I, we’re using up all our remaining energy here.”

“Yes.”

There was no room for hesitation, no planning for the future, only clashing with full power!

—Swoosh!

I squeezed out my remaining 50 energy. At the same time, I summoned all the battle-type skeletons, from Boney 1 to Boney 5.

“My Lord!”

“Oh dear, we’re airborne this time, Master.”

Sunny and Eldrin flew in the air. Boney 1, Boney 4, and Boney 5 too.

Just a few meters below, they charged toward the lich with gleaming red eyes.

[‘Bonehead 5’ used the skill ‘Air Shield’ (Lv. Max).]

[‘Bonehead 5’ used the skill ‘Haste’ (Lv.4).]

With the shield and buffs I received, I also leaped down.

“I’m coming too, Skeleton Lord!” Lee Sunah, who had thrown me, adjusted her grip on her sword and began pouring all her energy into it.

—Crackle!

Electric currents flowed along the dark blade.

Black Sword Flight Arts.

Area-Wide Technique.

Third Form: True Clap of Thunder.

—Boom!

Once again, she summoned thunder, bringing it down on the liches. The downside of the Black Sword Flight Arts was that it was weak against single targets, so it wasn’t effective for one-on-one fights.

“But you needn’t worry, Skeleton Lord! I still have a trump card!” Her sword moved.

“My lord, let’s join forces!” Sunny joined too.

Although it was only 10% of the power of the original Sun Spear, their spear’s energy was enormous.

—Swoosh! Swoosh!

The style of a desert spear evoking yellow sand and withered vegetation—a commanding aura only a ruler of a world could have!

“Kyieeeee!”

The lich shrieked, emitting red light from its eyes. An unknown power repelled Sunny and trapped Eldrin’s feet.

But their fighting spirit did not falter. They held on, clinging even tighter.

—Boom! Boom!

Boney 4, holding only a shield, charged as if it felt no pain. Boney 1, wielding a sword, fought as if it was unwilling to be outdone by Lee Sunah’s slashes. And from behind, Boney 5 tirelessly supplied buffs and shields.

“Indeed, your potential is amazing to control skeletons like these.”

—Boom!

Lee Sunah’s sword struck the lich’s neck.

“And so I honestly feel regretful. I brought a promising talent into such a dangerous dungeon…!”

By now, she had maneuvered to the lich’s rear.

—Boom! Boom!

Her strikes continued one after another at what seemed like lightspeed.

“That’s why I won’t give up hope until the end! I’ll fight so that we can survive somehow!”

Black Sword Flight Arts.

Area-Wide Technique.

Fourth Form: Annihilation of Heaven.

“Cough!”

Black blood poured from Lee Sunah’s mouth.

“Black Sword?” I was startled.

Since I was using the Great Blue Heart Technique, I immediately understood the nature of her skill.

True innate ki. A pure and powerful energy one is born with. Far stronger than ordinary energy, but it came at the cost of one’s lifespan.

So her trump card was the Annihilation of Heaven technique she just showed?

“Are you okay?”

“Well, yeah. I don’t use it often because it drops my ranking every time I use it… But what good is the ranking if we can’t survive this, right?”

“…Black Sword.”

Ah.

I couldn’t imagine how it would feel for a ranker to lower their rank. Was it similar to a B-rank Hunter dropping to C-rank? Actually, that would still be considered fortunate. Right then, she had undoubtedly sacrificed some of her life.

—Rumble!

The sky turned pitch black. Just like her title of Black Sword, a rain of swords fell upon the world.

“Skeleton Lord.”

“Yes, Black Sword.”

“I can’t deal with them all, but I can at least take half of their HP, as promised.”

—Crackle!

Countless black blades charged toward the eleven liches, exploding upon impact.

[The lich’s HP is at 50%!]

[The lich used the skill ‘Revive the Dead’ (S-rank).]

[The lich’s HP is at 50%!]

[The lich used the skill ‘Revive the Dead’ (S-rank).]

[The lich’s HP is at 50%!]

[The lich used the skill ‘Revive the Dead’ (S-rank).]

“Our prediction…”

Was correct. As expected, the lich’s aura began to cover the wasteland, targeting the bodies of soldiers who had fallen to the Immortal Legion.

—Rattle! Rattle!

One by one.

The sight of approximately 9,000 skeleton soldiers simultaneously lifting their weapons was truly a spectacle.

I opened my mouth to say, “No need to apologize to me, Black Sword.”

—Rattle!

The skeletons aimed their weapons at the lich.

“Entering this dungeon was entirely my choice. Watch. No matter what trials they throw at us… I’ll overcome them and grow even stronger.”

Simultaneously, a new message appeared in my field of vision.

[Hidden condition achieved!]

[This is the hidden condition for ‘Unique Authority: Cursed Necromancer’!]

Good. It gave a reason for awakening. This was the news I’d been waiting for.