Assassin necromancer

Chapter 07

Outside the house is dangerous(3)

A white skeleton with a thin body. Just from the description, it doesn’t seem special. But if it’s almost 3 meters tall, who wouldn’t feel scared?

Thud.

Creak.
Creeeak.

The sound of heavy footsteps came from a Skeleton Giant.

And right beside it, like loyal followers, stood a Skeleton Mage and a Skeleton Archer.

Even experienced hunters would hesitate against such enemies.

For normal people like us, their presence was beyond terrifying.

Gulp.

The girl tightly shut her eyes and even held her breath. She knew that if we were caught, we would die for sure.

That was smart.

But the real problem was me.

Since we were squeezed into a small space, the side effects started rising again.

My stomach churned.

To put it simply—I felt like I might throw up.

“……”

Time passed in silence. Then suddenly, the Skeleton Mage started casting a spell.

A ball of fire formed in the air.

Creak.
Fwoosh!

It didn’t seem to be attacking us. At least, it wasn’t targeting us directly.

But unlike me, who could see that, the girl was too nervous. The moment she saw the fire, she screamed.

“Ahhh!”

Creak.
Creeeak.

All the skeletons turned their heads toward us, their bones grinding together.

It was a creepy sight, and the girl was completely frozen in fear.

“…Come with me.”

Thud.

The skeletons started moving. I grabbed the girl’s hand and ran.

Tap, tap, tap.

Skeleton Giants might look slow, but they’re actually quite fast. Honestly, we would be caught soon.

But I remembered something from earlier.

There was a narrow passage where the Skeleton Giant couldn’t enter. If we could reach it, we might escape.

Whoosh!
Twang!

“Ahhh!”

From far away, the Skeleton Archer shot arrows at us. But they were slow, so they weren’t a big threat at this distance.

The real problem was the Mage.

Even if we entered the passage, the Mage could just throw a fireball inside. Then we would be roasted alive.

How should I deal with it?

As I ran, I spotted something useful.

The broken skeleton I had destroyed earlier.

“Huff… Huff…”

Tap, tap, tap.

I jumped over the skeleton’s remains, creating distance. And just as the chasing skeletons stepped onto it, I used the magic stored in my mana stone.

‘Corpse Explosion.’

Boom!
Crack!

It worked.

I didn’t destroy their heads, but the direct impact took down the Archer and the Mage. They couldn’t chase us anymore.

Thud!
Thuuud!

We finally reached the narrow passage and shook off the Skeleton Giant.

“Huff… Huff…”
“Ah…”

Catching our breath, the girl and I hurried toward the other side of the passage.

If the Mage recovered and chased us, we’d be in trouble.

But what was waiting for us on the other side… was something much worse.

Creak.
Creeeak.

“Ah… Ahh…”

The girl was too shocked to speak.

Of course, she was.

“Kieeek!”
“Grrrr.”

A Skeleton Giant.
A Revenant.
A Devourer.
And a Bone Lizardman.

Mid-level undead monsters.

Their empty eye sockets were all staring at us.

“Hic…”

Each one of them was between C-rank and B-rank monsters.

For normal people, they were disasters beyond imagination.

The girl and I tried to retreat back into the passage, but it was useless.
Except for the Giant, the rest could easily enter.

The girl collapsed onto the floor in despair.

I quickly thought.

First, a question—

‘How did they know we were here?’

If a higher undead was leading them, it would make sense. They could command their troops and drive us into a trap.

But from the beginning, their movements weren’t that organized.

That meant they weren’t being directly ordered.

‘Did they sense us through some other method?’

As I thought about it, I suddenly realized the answer.

Cold sweat dripped down my back.

Oh no, I completely forgot.

“The mana stone…”

The stone was filled with death energy. I even used it to cast Corpse Explosion. Of course, undead with sharp senses would notice it.

So… I had basically led them straight to us.

‘……’

But what else could I have done?

I had never used death energy this way before. This was my first time in a dungeon.

It would have been weird if I had noticed earlier.

It wasn’t my fault!

…But even as I thought that, my conscience felt guilty.

“…Mom…”

Especially when I saw the girl, overwhelmed by despair.

“…Stand up.”

I grabbed her hand and lifted her up, gripping my rough sword.

I couldn’t die here.

That meant I had to fight through.

Ssshh.

I held my sword tightly and faced the Skeleton Mage and Archer behind us.

The Revenant and Devourer in front were C-rank monsters.

If I wanted to survive, I had to take down the weaker D-rank ones first.

The longer I hesitated, the tighter the trap would become.

I waited for the right moment—then turned and charged.

Whoosh!

Fwoosh!

The Skeleton Archer knocked an arrow.

The Mage was forming a fireball.

It looked like the fireball would be ready in about two seconds.

I counted carefully as I closed the distance.

My target was their thin, bony arms.

Just a little more—

Now!

Tap!

Whoosh!
Boom!
Boom!

I dashed diagonally, barely avoiding the fireball.

In that split second, my hair burned slightly, and a searing pain spread from my shoulder to my waist.

But I wasn’t hit directly.

The first arrow missed me, and only one more remained.

I lowered my body and focused on the Archer’s aim and finger movement.

Twang!
Clang!

The moment it shot, I blocked it with my sword.

Skeleton Archers weren’t that strong.

Even so, my hands stung from the impact.

I had dodged everything. Now, the Mage was right in front of me.

I didn’t hesitate. I aimed at its head and swung my sword.

Clang!
Crack!

Honestly, my sword wasn’t very strong.

But the Skeleton Mage’s bones weren’t very durable either.

My clean strike shattered its head completely.

One down. I could handle the other two before they attacked again.

I charged forward—when suddenly, someone pushed me.

The girl.

‘Why?’

Losing my balance, I turned my head—and my mind went blank.

Whoosh.

Something was flying toward us.

A Devourer’s head.

‘Ah.’

I had read about this online. Some Devourers could detach their heads and attack with them.

Since these didn’t exist in my world, I never expected it.

‘Life Drain.’

Anyone bitten by a Devourer would have their life energy drained and turn into a living corpse.

And now, in front of the flying head—
The girl stood with her arms out, ready to shield me.

Her face showed regret. And fear.

I had seen that expression before.

‘……’

Something inside me twisted unpleasantly.

This wasn’t the side effect of dimension travel. It was my own emotion.

‘Who said you could die?’

I was the Lord of Death.

Death was me, and I was death.

Death was not something an undead could claim.

And it was not something a human could choose on their own.

‘You think you can die for me?’

Life wasn’t that cheap.

Death wasn’t something to be taken lightly.

This was wrong. It was an insult.

I twisted my body, ignoring the pain in my ankle and back.

I reached out—and grabbed the Devourer’s head before it bit the girl.

Chomp!

But—

“…I said I’d protect you once.”

Whoosh.

A white shield blocked the Devourer’s fangs.

A one-time barrier from the necklace Seo-ha had given me.

Then, inside the Devourer’s mouth, something shone.

The mana stone filled with death energy.

Crack!

I crushed it and threw the Devourer’s head at the Bone Lizardman.

Then I spoke a spell I hadn’t used in a long time.

“Undead Call.”

Dark energy filled the passage.

The Devourer and Bone Lizardman began to change.

“Kiieek—!”

Crack!

Their bones reassembled, forming something new.

A knight with no head.
A sword made from a tailbone.
Armor made from a skull.

It lifted the Devourer’s head and slammed it onto its own neck.

Snap!
Whoosh

Black mist poured out from the gap between the neck joints, and I calmly watched it, softly whispering the final name.

“Halloween Knight.”