The Skeleton Soldier Failed to Defend the Dungeon-Chapter 38. The Reason Wings Rot in the Cave (6)

"Push forward!"

The first line of intruders who had entered the dungeon held iron shields. They jabbed fiercely at the skeletons with the sharp lower parts of their shields.

Crack, crunch!

For a moment, I had forgotten that sound. It was my first time hearing it in over a month. Yet, it was a sound I had grown all too familiar with over the past several decades. It was the sound of bones breaking.

"Pull! Yank it out!"

The dungeon's skeletons fell in a horrific state. The intruders pulled each skeleton one by one. They yanked out their cervical vertebrae and snapped their sternums. They grabbed the skeletons’ pelvises and flung them far away. The dismembered skeletons collapsed like sand.

No, it was a bit different. The sand scattered cleanly all at once. The remnants of the skeletons were more pitiful and miserable.

Thud. Thump. Thud. Thud.

Skeletons with their central parts pulled out turned into broken dolls. They rolled on the ground, kicked around carelessly, and scattered everywhere.

Clatter!

The sound of bones rolling echoed loudly in the dungeon. I heard the humans shouting to each other.

"What’s happening here?"

"It's just skeletons so far! Nothing special. How could so many adventurers have gone missing in a dungeon like this?"

Someone in the second line shouted, "No, this is the right place. Stay alert. Sweep the floor with spears, and advance again!"

The second line of intruders, holding long spears, swept the dungeon floor with their spears.

Crack! Crunch!

"Clear!"

"Advance!"

Thud. Thud.

They advanced slowly, one step at a time. I walked out from the inside, watching them.

"..."

It was hard to call them adventurers. They were a well-organized small army. The first line carried shields, and the second line held spears. A little further back in the third line were archers.

Their roles were well-defined. However, their clothing wasn’t uniform. The colors and styles varied widely, which was somewhat surprising. They looked more like mercenaries.

Each one seemed to be at least E rank and decently trained. They couldn’t be taken lightly. They weren't the impulsive and simple fools that Rena found easy to lure.

Did the lord make a move?

If they were mercenaries, it seemed the nearby lord had invested a considerable sum to solve this dungeon problem. But something seemed a little strange.

Many of them are injured.

They looked like they had been in some fierce battle somewhere. Many were bleeding from large and small wounds. They were limping. Even those who seemed uninjured had Weary expressions on their faces.

Thud. Thump.

The shattered and dislocated remnants of the skeletons blocked their steps. Some parts had flown all the way back here. I slowly moved forward. There was still quite a distance between us, but as the other skeletons broke, the intruders quickly noticed me and began to focus.

"He's here!"

"Isn't that the one?"

"Be careful! He must be the boss."

Ping.

They aimed at me. In unison, bowstrings were pulled tight with arrows ready, filling the air with tension.

Thump. Thump.

The first line of men with large shields slowly approached me. The distance between us narrowed. I felt the space around me gradually tightening.

They shouted to each other.

"Focus!"

"This is the dungeon where dozens died."

"Stay vigilant!"

Shing.

I drew my bastard sword and let it hang down.

Why did I stay here all this time? Why didn’t I listen to Rena?

I couldn’t understand my actions at all.

Thud.

The shattered skull of another skeleton caught on the tip of my sword. This one wouldn’t be clattering around again, not that I had any sense of solidarity as a comrade. I didn’t want to live like this. In fact, I wanted to escape from such a life.

But I couldn’t help feeling troubled inside. Among the fallen were some that I had placed in the sarcophagus to level up. They were defeated, too.

This won't be easy.

I turned my head and looked in Rena's direction. Rena was slowly emerging from the bend in the dungeon.

I asked, "Why don't you just surrender?"

"Ahaha, you’re joking, right?"

Rena took a step outside.

The intruders saw Rena and shouted, "A witch!"

"A witch who controls skeletons!"

"She might be a high-level necromancer. Everyone, be careful!"

They all murmured at once. Rena shrugged and signaled to me.

"See? It’s not exactly a surrendering atmosphere, is it?"

"Are you a witch?"

The fog in my head still hadn’t completely lifted. Perhaps because of that, I asked a rather stupid question.

Rena smirked.

"Maybe I am." Then she added, "If they don’t do some real witchy things, women end up at a huge disadvantage in life."

The intruders kept their cautious eyes on us. They were still advancing slowly, sweeping the floor. I watched them tensely.

Rena stood beside me and said nonchalantly, "Looks like in the next life, I’ll definitely have to learn some magic."

"..."

"Still, I like killing a lot before I go."

Whistle!

Suddenly, the archers in the third line simultaneously released their arrows toward Rena. A dozen arrows flew.

Whoosh!

I threw my armored body in their path. I swung my sword broadly to prevent the arrows from hitting her.

Thunk! Thunk!

Most of the arrows struck and bounced off my armor. A few got caught in my sword. I blocked them all.

"Why didn’t you leave earlier?" I asked Rena, my eyes still on the intruders.

The intruders were overly cautious, and their advance was too slow. They could trample and destroy me if they rushed in all at once, even if they had to sacrifice some.

However, they were only breaking the skeletons that came at them first, slowly advancing while sweeping the floor with their spears.

I muttered to myself, "Why are they like this?"

Rena answered in a sing-song tone, "One question at a time. I guess the traps worked a bit. I set up dozens of traps around the dungeon, so it seemed like something was off. Some were poisoned, some weren’t."

Then, she giggled and shouted at the intruders, "Did my traps grip you well, folks? You like a tight grip, don’t you? Am I right?"

The adventurers or mercenaries approaching us seemed furious, their faces turning red.

"Witch!"

"We’ll burn you alive!"

"Hehe... We’re not the end. Stupid witch, we're just..."

"Shut up. Want me to cut off your tongue?"

The dungeon was filled with the sound of them shouting to burn the witch.

I asked Rena, "You set up dozens of traps?"

"I don’t know, I didn’t count. It could be over a hundred, anyway." She shrugged and added, "I spread them pretty wide."

I had no idea. Suddenly, I remembered the enormous backpack she had been carrying that was larger than her torso.

"Were all those traps in that backpack?"

Rena nodded. Her smile had a hint of sadness. "Yeah, they were all traps. I was going to lay them all out before I left."

"Why bother, since you were leaving anyway?"

"Haha. Well, after staying here for over a month, I got a bit attached. I wanted to give those intruders a hard time."

All this while...

While I had been idly hanging around in the dungeon, aimlessly clattering away, she had been doing that outside. She had done that for me, who stayed stubbornly inside, not listening and acting stupidly.

Thump! Thump!

The intruders stepped cautiously. As they slowly realized there were no traps in the dungeon itself, they began to quicken their pace. The heavy atmosphere of the dungeon quivered with their hostility and tension.

"Why... didn’t you leave earlier?"

Rena chuckled softly and replied, "I was really going to leave you behind today... but it got a bit delayed. I guess it didn’t work out."

As we spoke, we retreated further inside.

Clink!

I quickly picked up the greataxe lying on the ground. With one hand, I could wield the bastard sword. I had the strength for that.

Effective level: 70.

Strength stat: 40.

"Fire!"

Whoosh!

With the leader’s command, a dozen arrows flew again. I raised a large iron shield and threw myself to shield Rena.

Thunk, thunk, thunk!

Dozens of arrows struck the greataxe, which was large enough to cover my entire body, and bounced off. The iron-coated shield remained intact.

"Come a little further in!" Rena shouted.

I stepped back and reached her side.

"Sorry.”

"It’s no use saying things like that. If we survive this, let’s try saying some nicer things, okay?"

I poked my head out to look at the dense crowd. The intruders were still cautiously feeling their way forward with spears. They must have been caught in the traps quite a bit.

"Since they’re packed so tight, this is perfect."

Rena pulled something out from her chest. It was a small object with a short fuse attached.

"A bomb?"

"It’s a crude one. This is all I could get with my connections."

Rena pulled out a large glass bottle from her back pocket. Her hands moved swiftly as she strapped it to the bomb with a band.

Thump!

The transparent glass bottle sloshed with a pitch-black liquid. Even at a glance, it looked dangerous. I didn’t need to ask to know it was poison. Rena finally pulled out a small matchbox from her back pocket.

Fwoosh!

The freshly struck match flared up, emitting a pungent sulfur smell.

Fwoosh!

She lit the end of the short fuse, which was no longer than a fingertip.

"A farewell gift for closing up shop!"

Whoosh!

Rena hurled the bomb straight at the intruders.

Boom! Shatter!

A loud explosion rang out, accompanied by small flames, glass shards, and acrid smoke spreading over the intruders. Visibility was obscured for a moment.

“Cough, cough!”

People coughed. The explosion was loud, and the smoke was thick. The ranks of the shield-bearing intruders were disrupted. Many were writhing and screaming, likely due to the poison in the bottle.

In the confined, narrow dungeon, the effect was maximized. But the smoke quickly spread toward us. Rena covered her mouth and nose with a towel soaked in water from her canteen.

She nudged me urgently. "We only have one shot. The smoke will clear soon, so let’s get out quickly!"

The smoke filling the dungeon seeped through my armor.

"Cough, cough!"

"Fall back, fall back!"

The intruders shouted in confusion. The toxic smoke seeped through their armor, but it had no effect on me. Only humans breathed.

Whoosh!

I kicked off the ground and ran. Rena stuck close behind me.