Bushes rustled audibly as the ambushers split into three groups to chase after the wooden dolls. Kang Yoon-Soo was the first to stand up and draw his black longsword, and Shaneth and Henrick followed afterward. Seeing some movement through the tall, dense foliage, Kang Yoon-Soo nimbly ran toward the rustling and swung his longsword.

“Graaaaahk!” The ambusher screamed in pain as he collapsed, blood spurting everywhere.

Henrick went over to examine the corpse, and his eyes widened as he exclaimed, “What? Isn’t this an orc?”

The green-skinned corpse holding a longbow belonged to an orc, and judging by the leather armor it wore, it seemed to have come with the intention to fight.

It was at that moment…

“Karuk!”

An arrow flew, let loose by another orc who had come over after hearing the sound of battle. The arrow came from quite a short distance and easily avoiding it was out of the question. Just as the arrow was about to lodge itself deep within Shaneth’s shoulder, Kang Yoon-Soo quickly swung his longsword in a lightning-fast movement.

Clang!

Kang Yoon-Soo’s longsword parried the arrow.

The orc who had fired the arrow crouched down as it maintained a low position, hidden within the bush. It continued to rapidly fire arrows at the group. However, Kang Yoon-Soo easily blocked all of the arrows with his longsword as he slowly walked toward the orc—not even one arrow managed to hit him.

The orc was stricken with fear as it roared, “Guriyaaak!”

The bloody longsword sliced the green-skinned monster in half. Kang Yoon-Soo flicked his longsword to rid it of blood as he walked back toward the group, not even having received a scratch.

Henrick stared at him with a look of wonder on his face. “That guy, is he even human?” he asked.

“You’ll get used to it soon enough…” Shaneth answered.

The rest of the orcs gathered after two of them were killed by Kang Yoon-Soo, and tens of them encircled the group, exclaiming, “Guri! Guriiik!”

The orcs surrounded the group and aimed their bows, letting loose several arrows at the same time. There were no gaps for the party to avoid the arrows even if they wanted to, and all that awaited them was to become a pincushion of orc arrows.

At that critical moment, Henrick suddenly put his hand in his summoning box and exclaimed, “Summon twelve shield dolls!”

Twelve large wooden dolls that held large, rectangular shields that resembled Roman scuta[1] surrounded the trio. Henrick imbued his mana into the threads connected to the shield dolls and they immediately went into a defensive stance; the arrows bounced off the large shields.

A normal Puppeteer who controlled two dolls was treated as an above-average Puppeteer. However, Henrick’s skill at easily controlling twelve dolls at the same time was unheard of.

“I want to ask you the same thing; are you even human, Mister Henrick?” Shaneth asked.

“Isn’t it laughable compared to that guy?” Henrick replied.

Kang Yoon-Soo jumped over the shield dolls and charged toward the orcs as they were speaking. None of the arrows shot by the orcs managed to even graze his clothing, and three or four orcs were beheaded in an instant when he swung Ravian’s Longsword.

“Guriiiik!” The orcs’ battle formation was broken, and they threw their weapons down as they ran away without even looking back.

Shaneth and Henrick finally joined the fray. Shaneth swung her Death Scythe in a crescent arc toward the back of one of the orcs who was running away; the scythe slashed the orc apart as if it were a bloodthirsty beast in a frenzy.

Henrick sent the wooden shield dolls back and summoned a different set of dolls. They were armed with shortbows—archer dolls.

“Longbows for a bunch of orcs? Not bad; I’ll make good use of them,” Henrick said as he moved his hands that were connected to threads imbued with mana. The archer dolls picked up the dropped bows and quivers and used them against the orcs. Whenever an archer doll let an arrow loose, it found itself buried in the back of an orc’s head, and the orcs fell down one by one.

Henrick’s control skills were nothing short of extraordinary. The fact that he was able to calculate the trajectory of the arrows from the perspective of his dolls was a nearly impossible feat by itself.

All of the orcs soon died one by one, leaving behind only a trail of blood. The loot the party obtained from the orcs consisted of a steel whip, several pieces of steel, and a large hexagonal crystal.

“Where do you think these orcs came from?” Shaneth asked.

“I’m guessing they lived in the nearby woods, and by the looks of them being equipped with longbows and leather armor, I’m guessing they were hell-bent on hunting for humans. Something’s not right though; orcs usually never leave their burrows…” Henrick answered.

Kang Yoon-Soo silently raised his right arm and said, “Mass Raise Dead.”

The dead orcs rose from the ground as undead.

[14 zombie orcs have been sent to the summon dimension.]

[Summons currently stored in the dimension: 14 zombie orcs, White, and Sally.]

[Remaining space for additional summons: 684]

Henrick looked on in horror as he tapped Shaneth’s shoulder and remarked, “Hey, little miss nag, I think it’ll take quite a while to get used to that guy…?”

“I was initially the same, but it’s not that bad once you get used to it,” Shaneth replied.

“Hmm… Is that so?” Henrick mused.

Shaneth and Henrick felt a strange sense of companionship.

Kang Yoon-Soo stared at the hexagonal crystal dropped by the orcs; it had the same color as the ‘Ring of Life Suppression’ he had.

[Mysterious Crystal]

A mysterious mineral. It seems to be composed of a different material from other crystals.

A message suddenly appeared on the wrist device the moment Kang Yoon-Soo picked up the crystal.

[You have discovered the real value of the crystal due to your commencement of the legendary quest.]

[Crystal of Darkness]

A crystal made by the Death General Kalriven. The power to dominate life forms is stored within it. You will find the path to the Castle of the Dead if you break it. However, the Death General will be hostile to you.

The Death General was an undead general that boasted great leadership, and it was also considered to be a top-class monster among the violent and vicious undead. It was also infamous for its deadly swordsmanship, as well as its ability to command a large legion of undead.

‘I need to meet up with this guy to strengthen my Necromancer abilities,’ Kang Yoon-Soo thought to himself.

The Death General was not a monster that could be faced in their current state, but Kang Yoon-Soo did not even think twice before breaking the ‘Crystal of Darkness’.

Crack!

Kwachik!

[Gyaaaaaaah!]

An ear-splitting, hair-raising scream flowed out of the crystal after it was broken by Kang Yoon-Soo, and numerous translucent souls flowed out of the crystal, forming a fog—they were lost souls. The lost souls gathered together to form an eerie-looking white road.

Kang Yoon-Soo confidently followed the road. Shaneth and Henrick, on the other hand, were shocked out of their wits.

“H-hey, Mister Kang Yoon-Soo?” Shaneth called out.

“Hey, you punk! Where are you going?! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!” Henrick screamed at him.

However, Kang Yoon-Soo nonchalantly replied, “We have business here; follow me.”

The two looked at each other before sighing and following behind Kang Yoon-Soo.

Henrick ground his teeth as he grumbled, “It hasn’t even been a day since I traveled with you guys, but I’ve decided. If I die, it’s that punk’s fault.”

“I agree,” Shaneth grumbled next to him.

Kang Yoon-Soo quietly followed the road; it was unknown whether he was aware of the killing intent(?) his companions were emitting behind him. 

The sound of the lost souls wailing in agony echoed with every step they took on the road, and it felt as if the scenery was getting darker and more sinister the farther they went down it. They walked quite a distance along the eerie road, passing into a secluded forest; eventually, a vast transparent lake greeted them. The lake was so vast and wide that they could not see the other side of it.

“How will we cross this lake?” Shaneth asked.

Kang Yoon-Soo pointed somewhere with his chin as if he had been waiting for her to ask that question. Just as he gestured, the eerie road made by the lost souls continued over the lake, and its clear waters froze over to form a road made of ice.

“This is getting very creepy…” Henrick muttered under his breath.

The trio walked across the vast lake on the icy road paved for them by the lost souls. The top of the lake was deathly silent, and neither the cries of beasts nor insects could be heard in the entire vast place. Even after they traveled across the surface for quite some distance, there seemed to be no end in sight.

Henrick suddenly raised a suspicion that had been bugging him. “Isn’t it supposed to be morning by now?”

“I agree, but this place is still dark, and there’s no trace of life anywhere,” Shaneth added. The place was not only creepy; it also made one feel fear creeping up their body.

At that moment, Shaneth suddenly exclaimed, “It’s a castle!”

An enormous black castle stood in front of them in the middle of the lake. The castle was quite luxurious, except for the fact that the whole place was uniformly a single color, and that color was black. The castle was also surrounded by a dark fog that resembled storm clouds.

Henrick could not help but grimace at the sight of the castle as he muttered, “A castle in the midst of a frozen lake. I don’t know who the lord of this castle is, but they must be quite romantic.”

The castle was not visible from a distance, and it was certain that only those who walked along the road paved by the lost souls would be given the privilege to enter it. It was definitely a grand and majestic castle, but it also gave off an eerie atmosphere.

“Don’t you think the castle will be filled with corpses?” Henrick asked.

“Don’t say that. It’ll actually happen if you say that kind of stuff…” Shaneth grumbled.

Then, Kang Yoon-Soo, who had been quiet for quite some time, suddenly said in his usual emotionless voice, “It’s a castle the dead reside in.”

“…”

***

As they walked toward the black castle, they could see that the water surrounding it was frozen solid. At the very moment they reached the castle gates, however, a group of knights wearing rusted armor suddenly fell down from the castle walls.

“Halt…! Who… goes… there…?!” A voice that definitely did not belong to a human resounded. The knight beneath the armor was none other than a skeleton, and it was one of the high-tier skeleton variants—a Skull Knight.

“Clack! Clack…!”

“Filthy… intruders…!”

“Stop… the… intruders…! Foolish… humans…!”

The other skeletons also spoke.

“Get lost,” Kang Yoon-Soo demanded.

“We… re… fuse…!” the skeletons responded.

“Then die,” Kang Yoon-Soo said coldly.

The party prepared for combat as Shaneth readied her Death Scythe and Henrick summoned his combat dolls from his summoning box.

The Skull Knights, that numbered around twenty, also drew their swords as they exuded an immense amount of killing intent; the way they wielded their swords proved that they would not be easy opponents. They were around Level 90, and charged toward the party in a single group.

Kang Yoon-Soo stood on the vanguard and blew away the Skull Knight at the forefront. He stabbed the collarbone of the Skull Knight and subsequently swung his Staff of Lightning, and a flash of blue lightning struck from above.

Bzzzt! Boom!

Five skull knights received a significant amount of damage as they retreated, and Henrick did not miss this opportunity as he controlled his combat dolls to smash the skull knight’s bones.

Shaneth, on the other hand, used her most recently acquired skill, calling out, “Pyrokinesis!”

Flames suddenly appeared and wrapped themselves around the Death Scythe. She swung her scythe in a large motion, and sparks of fire flew across the entire area as it passed by. The flame surrounding the Death Scythe was hotter and much more powerful than average fire magic.

Five Skull Knights were set ablaze by the attack, and they staggered around while covered in fire. “Fire… hot…!” they exclaimed as they hurriedly retreated to the rear.

Suddenly, a catastrophe occurred. Cracks began to form across the thin portions of the ice.

Cr… Crack…!

The whole ice sheet started to wobble as one portion of it broke apart, and Henrick could not help but jump up furiously, exclaiming, “You stupid miss! Where the hell did you get the idea to use fire on top of ice?! Ack!”

“I’m sorry! It was my first time using this skill… Kyaahhh!” Shaneth exclaimed.

The ice tilted heavily to one side as it lost its balance.

Cr… Crack…!

The Skull Knights fell into the hole that formed from the cracks in the ice as they fell into the water, struggling to stay afloat. Shaneth and Henrick were no exception, as they too struggled to keep their balance and stay atop the ice.

However, only one person was exempt from that struggle. Kang Yoon-Soo leisurely walked across the ice as if he were taking a stroll around his neighborhood.

“Come here,” he said.

1. The scutum is a rectangular, iron-rimmed shield, usually made of wood or wicker covered in leather, used historically by the Roman army. ☜