Chapter 44
When entering [Owl’s Ghost Ship], you can first feel the saltiness of the sea through your skin. After opening your eyes, the boundless expanse of open water stretched underneath the dark night sky.
When I first loaded into the Dungeon, I stood still, unable to properly adjust to the moving field–a specialty of the Ghost Ship Dungeon…My senses were thrown into disarray, as most Dungeon settings were placed in caves or forests. A huge boat wasn’t a normal setting for finding and defeating monsters.
‘Lackey’s’ appearance has changed to ‘Skeleton Soldier.’
[Clack Clack!]
Still, I had been to this Dungeon once before so I didn’t stand around stupidly and immediately called out Lackey. Afterward, I hid in the shadow of a gigantic mast. Lackey transformed into its Skeleton Soldier state and started crawling up the tallest watchtower at my command.
Since [Owl’s Ghost Ship] was so well-known, the proper method of raiding and various dungeoneering tips had already disseminated into internet repositories. I already knew how best to move.
A phantom pirate, a ghost-type monster, stood guard on the highest watchtower. If a party continued on without dealing with it first, the system would alarm [You have been discovered!], and other pirates would be summoned on board–making it quite difficult to proceed from the very start of the raid.
Therefore, it was common for Users with high mobility skills to climb the tower or Summoners to send their summons to deal with the monster. That’s why I had quickly mobilized Lackey.
“Oh~, It seems like you’ve been here before?” Seo Dawon complimented, noticing my swift ministrations. I slightly nodded in response and looked towards Kim Sangyoon, standing in front of me.
Holding Berserker in hand, Sangyoon had begun to cover me. I had no idea when he had summoned his weapon. If Lackey were to fall off the tower or if the phantom pirate were to discover us first, arrows would start raining from its location. He held his sword at an angle, like a shield, to counter that possibility.
??————- ————-??
Servant ‘Lackey’ has defeated the ‘Ghost Ship’s Sparrow.’
You’ve successfully made a ‘covert entry!’
‘Captain Owl’ is currently asleep…
??————- ————-??
Fortunately, not long after, a message popped up indicating Lackey’s success. At the same time, something splashed into the water, as if it were flung from the watchtower.
Afterward, a small shadow slowly descended the mast.
Since the ‘Sparrow’ was defeated, that shadow must be Lackey, right…?
I had thought that Lackey could succeed because of its recent strengthening…But this exceeded all my expectations. The Sparrow was defeated far sooner than I predicted.
When I first tried to break through this stage, I sent Lackey to the watchtower on the Party leader’s command. However, instead of overpowering the ‘Sparrow,’ Lackey broke halfway through, and someone else had to climb the tower to finish its job…
Looking at Lackey now, though, it seems to have gotten much stronger. Relieved of my worries, I rushed to follow Kim Sangyoon who had already taken the lead.
??————- ————-??
You have passed the ‘watchtower.’ Now entering the ‘Food Storage.’ Don’t let your guard down! The pirates here play poker until dawn.
??————- ————-??
The system message popped up to alert us of the new stage when Sangyoon and I meandered in front of a small door. When the door opened, sounds of conversation could be heard farther inside.
In the hallway beyond the open door, there was a small room–yellow lights from within brightening the otherwise dark hall. As Kim Sangyoon and I approached carefully, we could see ‘pirates’ sitting at a circular table within the room.
I’ve already seen it once before, but I’m still surprised…
Honestly, this wasn’t really a scene I could get used to no matter how many times I saw it. Since the monsters were classified as pirates, I had expected enemies with humanoid forms, but all three of them, sitting there and holding cards in their….hands…..were giant birds!
Then the ‘Sparrow’ from before was, probably, literally a sparrow?
The monster with its back turned completely to us was a ‘Crow.’ Next to him, a Crane sat, legs crossed underneath its chair. Across the table, sat the ‘Peacock,’ who could make eye contact with us if it just turned its head a little…Various kinds of birds were all sitting together and playing poker.
On unlucky runs, parties would have to deal with a fourth bird: a ‘Goose’ that appeared randomly…Fortunately, today the Goose was not present.
After taking stock of the enemies, Kim Sangyoon looked towards me. Is he waiting for me to signal an attack? Awkwardly, I nodded at him.
“Rending Cleave!” Kim Sangyoon rushed at the poker-playing pirates with his Berserker. With the force of the skill driving the greatsword–and the whistling sound of air–the table was split in two. Unfortunately, the birds agilely dodged, and only the table was halved.
[Is that ‘Sparrow’ bastard sleeping?]
[Oh my? It seems I have no choice but to fold this round.]
[Don’t make me laugh. You’re making excuses because you were losing.]
[Did Crane plan for these guys to be here?]
[Ohohohohohoh!]
The birds, scattered in all different directions, turned towards us.
The peacock displayed its flamboyant tail, the crane began to stretch out its legs, and, finally, the Crow put glasses on its beak…All three did not hide their disdain for us in their conversation, but I could feel the bloodthirst emanating from their lustrous eyes.
Kim Sangyoon and I stood back to back and began to confront the three birds.
Seo Dawon seemed to be mumbling something meaningless. “Why, of all times, are there only three enemies?” He raised his hands, fingertips already gathering golden light.
Seeing Dawon’s combat-ready stance, I shouted, “Summon Lackey!” Finally, I would battle as a proper Necromancer.
[Clack Clack!!]
However, as soon as Lackey appeared beside me, my heart grimaced.
My skeleton may have gotten larger and received a hefty, blunt weapon, but I wondered if the current situation was going to overwhelm it…However, thinking again, I suffered far too much humiliation here…Treating the fight like a chance for revenge, I steeled my heart and gave Lackey an order.
“Lackey, Bite!”
Simultaneously, the pirates, who had been observing our every movement, rushed at us.
Lackey opened its mouth incredibly wide–to the limits of its jaw joint–and snapped it shut with a loud ‘Clack!’ The ringing sound was on a different scale than its previous bite attack. Heart beating fast, I looked forward to the results.
The first pirate to attack was the ‘Peacock.’
The innumerable ‘eyes’ on its tail moved–disgustingly–observing me before I had even summoned Lackey. When Lackey snapped its mouth shut, the Peacock rushed in; the tail feathers trembled and shot something at Lackey with a ‘Bang!’ sound.
Lackey avoided the attack by lying flat on the floor, showcasing its new flexibility. Judging by the tiny black holes left behind after Lackey dodged, the Peacock’s tail could utilize a skill that released bullet-like destructive power.
Lackey did not hesitate to pounce and ‘bite’ at the peacock’s tail.
[Ugh! I’m getting mad!]
Unfortunately, the location of the bite was not very painful, and the peacock did not suffer too much. The tail, however, proved to be important to the peacock; it stepped back and began to trim the tattered tail nervously.
Lackey chewed on the colorful feathers in its mouth and spat it out. Slowly, crouching like a frog, the Skeleton Soldier opened its mouth wide and leapfrogged at the peacock again. Perhaps the peacock judged those tail feathers to be too precious, the bird continued the battle with its wings and beaks instead–unwilling to let more precious feathers get bitten.
In response, Lackey did not hesitate to pounce and ‘bite’ at the peacock’s tail.
Lackey was a skeleton and was superior in hand-to-hand fights. It was almost laughable to see the peacock’s beak pierce Lackey’s empty eye sockets. Those kinds of attacks won’t work!
[Kreeeeee!]
The peacock bashed Lackey’s head with its wings. Such a blow might mean a mortal wound to an ordinary User, but Lackey’s skull simply spun around on its spine. The skeleton pulled out the peacock’s body feathers with its bone-white arms.
This time, the attack was quite painful, so the peacock shrieked. Blood dripped at the ends of the plucked feathers.
Lackey, you little rascal…You’re doing much better than I expected?
Relieved by Lackey’s performance, I looked towards Kim Sangyoon…Sadly, the Warrior was still struggling in his battle against the ‘Crane.’
Just then, for example, the crane’s fierce kick grazed Kim Sangyoon’s cheek. The crane generally attacked with its long legs, and Kim Sangyoon was unable to adapt to the fast pace and stumbled around in confusion.
[Ohoho. How dull and heavy, let me put you in your place!]
“Ahhh! Why can’t I catch you! Fuck!”
Though the crane’s legs look thin at first glance, the fierce sound of air splitting rang in the room whenever Kim Sangyoon avoided the kicks.
Additionally, using its white wings, the crane floated in midair; the legs would brush past Kim Sangyoon’s head several times…..If those were direct hits, wouldn’t the skull have burst?
TL: I feel like a proud mom watching Lackey T_T
Bonus chapter courtesy of LeoHP! Thanks so much for the kofi~
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