Chapter 24 Part6 (1/2)
<chapter 24.=”” operation=”” -=”” bro,=”” why=”” are=”” you=”” there?=”” -=”” 6=””>
”It's them!”
Lee s.h.i.+n Woo yelled, as if he'd found the bully who had taken his short rib patties.
”Those wicked beasts are our enemies!”
[The lord has given the order: annihilate them!]
[Follow the lord's command!]
Once the Knight Leader repeated Lee s.h.i.+n Woo's command, the surrounding undead responded by raising their weapons and advancing. It was as if their spirits could even topple a mountain! However, a few of them hadn't been caught up in the mood, and timidly asked.
[I feel a living being's energy in front of them...]
”Is that really important right now!?”
[Kuheok!]
Lee s.h.i.+n Woo yelled. To an undead, being hostile to the living was paramount over all else; no, he supposed that their deeply ingrained instincts were just as important, so they wouldn't just meekly nod their heads and obey his order when a living being is present!
Therefore, he needed to request that they overcome their base instincts.
”We're upholding the imperial command! We can take care of them later!”
[I-I understand!]
Because of how intimidating Lee s.h.i.+n Woo was, the thunderstruck undead halted any hostilities towards Kratia and Jin, and focused their attention onto the Golem Chimeras.
Lee s.h.i.+n Woo sent a message, telling them to take this opportunity and get out, and Jin, though dumbfounded, instinctively moved his body out of range of the undead. Though they were well within the range of the undead magicians, the undead magicians were now focused entirely on the Golem Chimeras and thus, let Jin and Kratia go unscathed.
[Un...dead...?]
[We... will... enemy...]
[Kuhik... Kill them, kill them!]
[You're... trying to kill us again...!?]
[I'm sick of... the Empire... and the Emperor...!]
[Kill them! Kill them all!]
Around that time, the Chimera troops, which had been chasing after Jin and Kratia like madmen, turned their attention towards the undead troops led by Lee s.h.i.+n Woo.
Though the Golem Chimeras, who had been asleep within the facility and recently awakened by magic stimuli, deeply resented Kratia, who possessed a healthy, living, and intact body while they themselves did not, their resentment towards the knights and soldiers that charged in the name of the Empire was considerable as well.
'Jin and Kratia sure did well gathering those guys.'
Whether it was a chimera with a normal golem's body, but with human limbs attached, or one with two cores inserted into a human body's twisted flesh, all the chimeras had a similarly bizarre fighting spirit, which was truly an astonis.h.i.+ng sight. However, the undead troop's morale was no joke either.
[How dare you murder the Magician Leader! Kill them with extreme prejudice!]
[As you command, my lord!]
[Stop these awful beasts from reaching the rest of the Empire! We have to take care of them ourselves until one of the 12 generals comes!]
[Kill themmmmmmmmmm!]
Thus, thousands of level 5 Flesh Golems, and the undead force, six times the size of the Chimeras and averaging at level 4, crashed into each other!
”Hoo... Nice. Shall I try acting like the Undead Commander?”
In this world, numbers alone cannot overcome a qualitative difference in strength; thus, it was quite obvious that Kadinan's forces should lose. However, Lee s.h.i.+n Woo's level 7 intermediate Command, as well as his Instigate skill could make up the difference! Now was the time for him to test just how much better his Command skill had gotten after absorbing the Undead Commander's bone and leveling up!
[They're just worms rebelling against the Empire! Are you going to lose without even fighting back!?]
[Kuheuk...Kuaaaaaaaaahk!]
[We are... knights of the Empire! The swords of the Empire!]
[The swords of the Empire! We are the swords that cleave evil! [1]]
The synergistic effect between Instigate, which steered people's emotions a certain way and amplified them, and Command, which boosted the morale and combat abilities of his troops, was ridiculously high.
But the effects were so p.r.o.nounced that even Lee s.h.i.+n Woo himself was thunderstruck; almost as if on cue, organized messages courteously appeared before him.
[Instigate amplifies the effect of the Command skill. All friendly forces' morale has almost been raised to its limit. All offensive and defensive capabilities of your forces increase by 20%! A part of your subordinates can now use Bone to Bone; staking their lives to inflict a critical injury upon their enemies no matter what.]
His voice reached all of his troops due to his Instigate skill, and a faint red energy covered their bodies. Moreover, a portion of his troops, picked at random, would gain a skill that would even enable level 4 Skeleton Knights to inflict a critical injury onto level 5 enemies!
'A skill? Does this effect manifest when my Command skill levels up even more? If not, then is it because of the Instigate skill? ... And more importantly, Bone for Bone is kind of...'
It wasn't flesh for bone, but bone for bone [2]. Lee s.h.i.+n Woo didn't really feel like that change was necessary, but he soon realized that it would be incredibly disrespectful to the skill if he kept thinking like that.
He heard the sound of bones cracking across the battlefield, as well as powerful strikes that caused the Chimeras to clearly falter and retreat.
[Proud knights of Kadinan! Give up your lives for the lord!]
[If I can help the lord, even with this rotten body, then I will do so for so long as he asks it of me!]
[Should this body die again and again a hundred times over...! [3]]
Lee s.h.i.+n Woo was deeply moved as he saw the weak knights resolve themselves and sacrifice themselves to inflict damage upon the Chimeras. What a profit!
[Knights of Kadinan, show them your loyalty towards the Empire! Magicians of Kadinan!]
[Uoooooooh!]
[We'll burn all those wretched worms and show our loyalty to the lord!]
[We (Kadinan) are one!]
Lee s.h.i.+n Woo enthusiastically raised his voice, inciting the troops further, and the undead responded in kind; they raised their swords and wands, and shouted along with him. An outside observer might think that Lee s.h.i.+n Woo had been their lord for 30 years!
”Is that really s.h.i.+n Woo?”
”Yep.”
”Why is s.h.i.+n Woo there?”
”I don't know. But I'm kind of curious as to who the 'Bro' would be in Plan B...”
”Huh!?”
Meanwhile, Jin and Kratia had successfully completed their mission and had escaped from the battlefield. They watched as the undead troops led by Lee s.h.i.+n Woo, and the Chimeras that they'd gathered from the facility fiercely fought against the other, and cordially voiced their opinions vacantly.
Upon reuniting, they both instinctively watched the other (obviously, there was no ill will there) and even argued with each other, but upon watching the spectacle laid out for them by Lee s.h.i.+n Woo, they had no other choice but to put aside their differences.