Salra took out the bow she was carrying on her back and aimed it at the creature, immediately shooting an arrow.
The arrow, slicing through the wind, flew towards the back of the skeleton captain, Pron.
Swish! Swish!
Pron swung his sword to deflect the incoming arrow.
As Salra’s arrow flew through the air, it instantly changed direction, hitting Pron’s thigh bone and bouncing off.
“That’s quite sturdy.”
“The strength of the bones has become stronger than before.”
“That’s right. My bones are currently extremely tough!”
I began to understand a little why Jie and Wikes’ attacks had no effect.
I gripped my sword and approached Pron, bringing it down from above.
A bolt of lightning struck down from above, which Pron blocked with his sword.
“I can feel a really unpleasant energy from that sword. You must be the one who struck us with lightning last time.”
If it were an ordinary skeleton, it should have already been charred or shattered by such power.
Even while being struck by lightning, Pron looked at me, recalling who I was, and spoke leisurely.
“You are the one who sent lightning upon our legion.”
“Your bones are indeed quite hard.”
“Sturdiness is my asset.”
As I was blocking Pron’s movements, Jie and Wikes attempted to attack again.
Clang!
“Oh, you three plan to take me on together?”
While blocking my sword, Pron pulled out one hand to intercept Jie and Wikes’ attack.
To be precise, he only blocked Wikes’ attack and took Jie’s strike to his ribcage directly.
Judging by his swordsmanship skills alone, I realized I could no longer break his bones with ordinary sword techniques.
“I’ll hit you until you break!”
Jie’s sword ignited in flames and began to strike at one of Pron’s legs.
Instead of cutting through the bone, it was like hammering a red-hot piece of metal.
Clang! Clang!
Sounds that felt more appropriate for a blacksmith echoed in the middle of the city.
Pron, boasting his sturdy body, swung his sword without caring about defense.
Jie seemed slightly anxious at the fact that his attacks didn’t seem to be effective.
“You’re swinging your sword far too recklessly.”
“I can’t help it. He’s that sturdy.”
Wikes adjusted his grip on his sword and took his stance.
“Being tough is the kind of characteristic that sword-users would rather avoid.”
“That’s not bone; it’s hunk of metal!”
“Then we just need to cut through the metal.”
Wikes’ remarks didn’t sound like nonsense at all.
A blue energy gathered around his sword.
“Certainly, these high-ranking ones are something different.”
“This, this can’t be!”
The skeleton captain, Pron, couldn’t hide his confusion at the unforeseen event.
The sword he had been using to block Wikes’ attack was smoothly severed.
The sword made of the very bones he had bragged about for being sturdy had broken, which must have been very perplexing.
“With this, I can take you down too.”
“Wait, hold on to the sword for a moment!”
Wikes began to cut Pron’s body from the legs.
Unlike a sword, the bones didn’t cut easily.
“This is annoyingly tough to cut!”
Cursing under his breath, Wikes was slicing off one of Pron’s legs.
“So, which side shall I cut next?”
The bones that made up his body crumbled, leaving only the head behind.
When Wikes tried to smash the head, it had already disappeared.
“Huh? Did it just run away?”
“They can detach and reattach their heads at will.”
“Then… I should have smashed the head first.”
Thanks to Wikes’ efforts, the skeleton captain, Pron, was now unable to move for a while.
“Are the remaining two captains at this level as well?”
“I don’t know.”
I had yet to see Gira’s true skills.
I knew he used a staff, but it didn’t seem like he was using magic.
Taking a moment to rest, I checked the condition of Jie and Wikes, who had sustained injuries in the earlier battle.
“These wounds are fine. But where did our senior go?”
Iwan, Jie’s senior, had been completely absent since before the battle began.
We would have to move again soon, so if he didn’t return, we had to act separately.
“Please understand that our senior has some circumstances.”
Jie seemed to have an idea of why Iwan had vanished.
Even though we were a special task force filled with oddballs, the most peculiar among them was undoubtedly Iwan.
His behavior could easily lead to misunderstandings, including not speaking and being wrapped up tightly in clothing.
After that, we searched within the city to support our allies, who were outnumbered, while looking for the skeleton captains.
The war, which began at sunrise, was still ongoing as the sun began to set.
We managed to hold on throughout the day, but they would continue roaming the city.
Now I understood why we had split the troops into two at the start of the strategy.
War doesn’t follow a concept of a regular work schedule.
If needed, battles can continue at night.
Especially against the undead who neither eat nor sleep.
It was probably to contend with them, we divided the forces into two.
“What are we going to do?”
“We need to stay in the city unless we have separate orders.”
Our special task force has no concept of retreat.
Instead of belonging to a unit, we had to pay the price for a certain degree of freedom.
The three already knew this, so they didn’t really complain.
Attacks from the undead would happen during the shift changes between the day and night troops.
As night fell, strange creatures began to appear among the undead, not just skeletons.
They crawled along building walls, showing a daring appearance as they pounced on soldiers from above.
When I pulled one off a soldier, a terrible stench wafted up.
Jie severed the neck of a creature that lunged at him with long claws.
“Ugh! Ugh!”
Even with its head removed, the creature didn’t stop moving.
Finally, when Wikes stabbed it in what was presumed to be its heart, it completely ceased its movements.
“What on earth is this?”
“It felt like a corpse.”
Jie, who had severed the neck, spoke as if he had cut into a corpse before.
When the skeleton legion entered the city, such creatures were definitely not present.
They must not have snuck in from somewhere.
It can be speculated that when night falls, the bones of the skeletons sprout new flesh, transforming into those sorts of beings.
If not, it’s a terrible thought, but it may be that our soldiers who died in the war turned into these.
If it’s the latter, as the war drags on, our allies’ spirits would grow more and more depleted.
Just the fact that they were being attacked by a former comrade would be a considerable shock.
It would be nice to deal with them quickly, but their movements were hard to see in the darkness.
They were fixated on the soldiers returning from their shifts with a tenacity that was almost predatory.
It appeared they were not just moving by instinct, but also thinking to some extent as they moved.
“Ugh!”
“That’s ten down.”
Wikes counted the numbers with an expressionless face as he wiped the blood off his sword.
“Not many, but they’re consistently appearing.”
“There are already soldiers who have fallen.”
We briefly looked at the body of a soldier who had been taken down by the newly appeared undead.
Some time had passed since his death, but there seemed to be no signs of him turning undead.
This confirmed one thing for sure.
The enemy had not transformed from our fallen comrades!
The undead who had ambushed the retreating soldiers only became more numerous over time.
The creatures that had been wandering alone began to pair off, or even gather in groups of four or five.
“These creatures seem like they’re forming packs.”
Salra expertly shot arrows into the brows of the creatures as she spoke.
Unlike the skeletons with just bones, these creatures had skin and were therefore easily subdued by my lightning.
First, I would stun them one by one, and then Jie and Wikes would finish them off with their swords.
Sometimes, I increased the firepower to burn them black before moving on.
There’s nothing as futile as moving without a destination.
We searched the city wildly for several hours, looking for the skeleton captain who might be hiding somewhere.
“I’ve found it, all of it!”
An undead wielding a sword appeared before us.
“It’s the first one I’ve seen with a sword.”
Until now, all the new undead had attacked using their claws and teeth.
This was the first undead other than the captains that used a sword or spoke.
“I am Pron! The swordman who will bring about the end of the world!”
I wondered where the head had escaped to, only for it to appear with a new body.
“I may not be fully satisfied! But this is still acceptable.”
A murky blue aura gathered around Pron’s sword.
Swaaa!
Two arrows shot by Salra flew toward Pron’s head and torso.
Swoosh!
“I’ll take care of the one firing arrows first.”
Despite his heavy body, his movements were extremely agile.
He bypassed Jie and Wikes in front of him and swung his sword down toward Salra.
Slice!
“What is this now?”
“If I burn all of that meat off your body, will it just be bones that keep moving?”
That was a question born from excessive personal curiosity.
“If you want to find out, then go ahead and burn it!”
His confidence suggested he could still move even with just bones left.
Just as Pron aimed his sword at Salra, I effortlessly extended Last Ape and blocked his sword.
Crackle!
The flash of lightning emitted from Last Ape electrocuted Pron.
I could clearly see his hand and arm muscles twitching.
Even if he wanted to let go of the great sword now, his body would not obey him.
Not missing the opportunity, Jie and Wikes struck for Pron’s vital points.
Wikes’ sword sliced halfway through Pron’s neck, while Jie’s blade gouged deeply into his side.
“Those bits of flesh that will rot away anyway…”
Pron’s head bobbed as he detached the swords that had been facing me.
His body was already dead.
Even if there were some reaction, it was merely a simple response without any real impact.
“Indeed, to get rid of them, do I have to blow the bones away completely?”
“Do you think you can do that? With your skills, you won’t succeed.”
Pron boasted that we could not defeat him.
Certainly, among us, Jie and Wikes were the most skilled in swordsmanship.
They had only managed to tear away some flesh, even after their combined efforts.
Furthermore, Pron was in a completely unguarded state, and he wasn’t even defending.
He was certainly strong enough to instill a sense of helplessness!
