Chapter 16 Part2 (1/2)
<chapter 16.=”” a=”” joker=”” is=”” born=”” -=”” 2=””>
[You achieved the feat of executing a higher leveled (elite) foe. Strength has increased by 10. Skill proficiency in Bursting Thunder has increased.]
Lee s.h.i.+n Woo watched as the Iron Golem scattered into pieces in front of him (or at least, where it was) and couldn't even react. That's because the recoil at the moment of impact was too much for them to handle.
At the very least, the lance broke apart at the moment of impact so the recoil was dispersed as much as possible. If it hadn't, Lee s.h.i.+n Woo's arm bone or Jin's leg bone would've broke. It was definitely an absurdly powerful technique, but without coming up with a proper countermeasure, it was unusable.
[Who are you? If you're a knight of the Empire, how dare you not recognize me... there's no way you'd fail to recognize who I am and do something so wicked!]
It seemed as though it couldn't help but be shaken after watching one its most powerful forces get destroyed so quickly, as the Skeleton Commander yelled in a quivering voice.
As expected, it possessed a clear ego, perhaps due to being level 5, but it inevitably couldn't remember its own name! When Lee s.h.i.+n Woo became aware of that, he instinctively yelled.
”Do you really not know why I'm here?”
[I-I don't know...!]
There was no way it'd know. If there were some special reason, Lee s.h.i.+n Woo would like to know himself.
He just spoke whatever came to mind and circulated his mana to help him and Jin cope with the acc.u.mulated shock. Surprisingly, Mana Bone, which circulated the mana, could be applied to Jin through the a.s.similation skill. It truly was a cheat skill.
However, he was slyly lying to the Skeleton Commander even while being astonished by how far his skill had developed.
”Bah. There should be a reason you can think of. We're not dispatched just anywhere.”
[D-Dispatched...!? Were you perhaps sent by the imperial family? L-Look here. Stop attacking for now. Stand by! I said to stand by!]
Huh? He'd just haphazardly said that to buy time for them to heal, but their reaction was much better than he'd expected. While the lord was fl.u.s.tered, Lee s.h.i.+n Woo collected the loot with a relaxed posture without giving anything away and even approached the lord, dragging Jin with him.
The golems acted like obedient hunting dogs, and when they heard the words 'stand by', they immediately stepped back; on the other hand, the knights looked uneasy and were unable to easily approach.
[You have acquired 17,500 Perium.]
[You have acquired a Deteriorated Original Bone Core.]
'Oh.'
As expected, the drops changed at around level 5. He felt as though they were being way too stingy with the Perium for an elite level 5 monster, and despite the Original Core being 'deteriorated', it was still an Original Core!
He was extremely satisfied and raised his head. Lee s.h.i.+n Woo saw the lord's hand not leaving the core, even while fl.u.s.tered, and was impressed; he then decided to put out a feeler.
”So are you going to talk now?”
[I... I haven't done anything wrong! They offered it to me first! I wanted to leave the underground!]
”...”
Hearing the lord's unexpected response, Lee s.h.i.+n Woo was momentarily speechless. What the h.e.l.l is this senile skeleton even saying? They offered it to me first? He wanted to leave the underground? This wasn't just some common corruption from a n.o.ble, but something a lot bigger!
”Still... that doesn't lessen your crimes.”
Lee s.h.i.+n Woo strived to not let the confusion show on his face, and had to try really hard to adapt to what the lord was saying. Just because a skeleton's face didn't change didn't mean that there was nothing else to do. He had to prevent himself from being quiet for too long, or speak with a fl.u.s.tered tone, or even control the pattern by which his goblin fire swayed.
If he interrogated him for a bit longer, it seemed like he'd be able to learn something new. Perhaps it would be about the relations.h.i.+p between the underground empire and above ground!
[...You're not, huh?]
However, despite Lee s.h.i.+n Woo acting with his entire body, the Skeleton Commander had somehow figured him out!
[Yeah. If you were the Golden Shadow, then you wouldn't have destroyed a golem! You're not! You aren't! Who the h.e.l.l are you!]
”s.h.i.+t!”
[Ugh!?]
He didn't know where he'd gone wrong, but it was pointless to continue acting after he was caught. Before the lord, who had figured him out, could retreat, he quickly stretched out his hand and stole the lord's core. It was only possible because the lord's close combat abilities seemed fairly low!
[Die!]
[We won't let you touch the lord!]
”Tch!”
The moment he'd reached out his hand, the Elder Knights came at him from both sides. Fortunately, because Jin acted quickly and retreated, Lee s.h.i.+n Woo wasn't cut by their swords filled with tumultuous death energy.
”What the h.e.l.l were you thinking, you idiot!”
”Sorry. I went overboard thinking that I'd found some kind of hidden quest or something...”
[Catch him! Take the core back!]
The lord, or rather the Skeleton Commander, shrieked, and the three level 5 Elite Skeleton Elder Knights, as well as the twelve level 4 Skeleton Knights charged at Lee s.h.i.+n Woo all at once.
At that moment, a bizarre black light surged from the Skeleton Commander and was absorbed by the knights; Lee s.h.i.+n Woo could see that their mana was being amplified. It was a special Command type skill!
[The lord has given us his command. I'll bury my sword in his heart!]
[How dare you put your filthy hands on one of the lord's possessions!]
”Tch...!”
The Skeleton Knights attacked quickly, as if the lord had increased their strength by 50%, and made it so that Lee s.h.i.+n Woo and Jin were busy running away. If Lee s.h.i.+n Woo were alone, he would've just given up an arm to the oncoming swords in all directions.
[How is it that we can't take down that one guy! Why can't we hit him when he's right in front of us!]
[Connection with commander has been lost.]
[Standing by.]
However, the golems didn't respond to the Commander's shrieks. He was certain that the lord couldn't issue commands without the core. Lee s.h.i.+n Woo decided that that's where his hopes lie.
”What do we do? Do we run first?”
”No. We're ending it here! If that b.a.s.t.a.r.d goes outside and starts getting set up, we're screwed.”
”Ah, d.a.m.n it!”
Even while matching their breathing, and dodging the incoming swords tinged with death energy by hectically moving their bodies around, Lee s.h.i.+n Woo yelled confidently. At the same time, he concentrated on the core that he'd swiped from the lord.
Of course, the core had transformed into bone the moment he'd stolen it from the lord, but grasping the original flow of mana within wasn't difficult.
[Limited Order Bone Core]
[With your superb a.n.a.lytical skills and knowledge, you recognized that this is a transformed Original Core. The Original Core records a person's mana, and when that mana is injected into the core, it is changed to a particular frequency, enabling you to order the registered ent.i.ties, I0918, I0919, I0920, I0921.]
[In the process of changing into bone, the original commander's registration has been erased. It is unknown whether the core will activate normally.]
'In other words, the core registered the lord's mana and locked it so that only he could use it, and it also possesses a lock that enables him to control all of the golems here. Fortunately, one of those locks have been released...'
And the only ones who could tamper with that set-up were level 7 golems like Guillotine Steelworker. Lee s.h.i.+n Woo suddenly thought the system of manufacturing golems in the Empire was messed up.
So how tough would it be to control all of the golems without a core? While being vaguely frightened of doing so... at the same time, he couldn't help but feel happiness welling in a corner of his heart.
'I came here for a change of pace to take my mind off of the administrative seal, yet I found a crucial part here. I hadn't believed in it before, but I guess fate does exist.'
With Jin's help, Lee s.h.i.+n Woo was able to avoid the Skeleton Knights' attacks and while moving extensively, infused his mana into the Limited Order Bone Core.