Chapter 21 – LV.Three Martial Artist Gaeulbi – [Two]

The swarm of mosquitoes that had been flying in one direction stopped moving. Gaeulbi, who had identified their location, shouted.

“This time, on top of the wall!”

Han Siwoo charged once more toward the spot where the Swarm Mage had appeared.

Perhaps judging it difficult to target the head since the creature was in a high position, Han Siwoo rammed the wall with his shoulder, causing it to crumble with a rumble. The Swarm Mage standing atop it also fell. As the creature floundered, Han Siwoo swung his sword at its head, and lightning crackled forth again.

The sound of countless mosquitoes burning to death echoed raucously even from a distance.

This time too, the Swarm Mage’s form scattered.

And the next moment, Han Siwoo, who had been about to chase after the mosquito swarm that had just formed the Swarm Mage’s shape, halted abruptly.

He looked around from where he stood, seemingly confused, unable to tell which direction to run.

“Where is it?”

This time, the mosquito swarm dispersed in all directions. Even to Seo Yun’s eyes, it was impossible to tell which group to pursue.

The mosquito swarms that had spread out in various places eventually vanished from sight.

The three of them looked around but couldn’t locate that mosquito cluster. The surroundings were obscured by the debris of collapsed buildings and walls. Now, there was no telling where the creature would reappear.

And the next moment, a muttering, incanting voice began to be heard from somewhere.

“A spell?”

Gaeulbi, standing beside Seo Yun, flinched. Seo Yun also sensed danger and bit her lip. From somewhere unseen, the Swarm Mage was casting a spell!

“Nothing… Where is it?”

Meanwhile, Han Siwoo was frantically looking around. Watching his flustered state, Seo Yun thought: I thought they were both veterans since their coordination was so smooth, but it seems they’re not quite at that level.

The sight of the panicked-looking guy, in turn, helped restore her own composure.

“Stay calm.”

Seo Yun spoke with clear, deliberate pronunciation.

“If we can’t see that bastard, then he can’t see us either. That means he can’t use attack spells or the like, so it’s not dangerous…”

However, that expectation was only half correct.

Indeed, the Swarm Mage did not launch an attack spell at these three. It couldn’t cast magic at a place it couldn’t see.

But the spell completed a short while later was sufficiently dangerous even if it wasn’t an attack spell.

The sound of the Swarm Mage incanting the spell was no longer heard.

As the three remained tense, clattering sounds began to ring out from various places.

Seo Yun, looking around, widened her eyes.

Three years ago, when a meteorite fell on the American continent and the sky was obscured by dust, countless people froze or starved to death. Their remains were left scattered on the streets, never properly cleared away.

The mage’s spell was raising the abandoned remains.

Grayish skeletons rose to their feet with movements almost lifelike. The natural-seeming act of rising displayed by these muscle-less bones looked all the more unnatural.

The dirt and dust clinging to the bones fell away with soft thuds.

Soon, the skeletons—Skeletons—had fully risen to their feet.

The Skeletons had been bare-handed when lying scattered on the streets, but now they all held weapons. Seo Yun recognized that the translucent, glowing spears and bows held by those Skeletons were spiritual bodies. Was that the kind of feeling the souls Oh Haengbok had brought in a glass vial for his Class Change about half a year ago gave off?

‘The mage’s Animate Skeleton spell…’

According to the Rulebook, a mage can command one Skeleton per Level, but the Skeletons now rising looked to number at least eleven at a rough glance.

“It’s okay, this much…”

Han Siwoo stepped forward, shielding Seo Yun and Gaeulbi. However, when the sound of spell incantation began to be heard from behind his back, he had to swiftly turn around.

Seo Yun also looked back and gripped her sword hilt.

The Swarm Mage, having appeared behind them unnoticed, was muttering, casting a spell. This time, it was undoubtedly preparing to cast an attack spell. This was serious. An attack spell cast by an 11th-Level mage would be considerable.

Seo Yun spoke quickly.

“Han Siwoo, charge at him.”

“What about here?”

It seemed a question asking what would happen to the two if he, the Warrior, left his position.

Seo Yun didn’t have the leisure for a long explanation either. Seo Yun raised the Burning Sword to show him. Whether he understood the meaning or not, Han Siwoo dashed out.

Meanwhile, the Skeletons were approaching the two.

Seo Yun stood protecting Gaeulbi, just as Han Siwoo had done earlier.

Amidst this, Gaeulbi drew her crossbow. Thwack! An exploding arrow shattered the spine of one Skeleton. The moment its body collapsed, as if that were a signal, Skeletons began rushing in from all directions.

The clattering sound of bones echoed from all around.

And Seo Yun raised her sword. The Burning Sword.

With that sword, she parried the shortsword of the Skeleton that had approached foremost and sliced through its waist.

It was a fire that had melted stone. The moment the flames touched it, the connection of the vertebrae snapped and the Skeleton fell. Seo Yun then used her raised sword to strike aside the shaft of a spear thrust by another Skeleton.

It seemed fire was effective against souls as well. As the spear shaft made of spiritual body melted away like liquid, Seo Yun brought her raised sword down, cleaving the Skeleton’s shoulder. The creature, its ribcage completely melted, lost its form and crumbled.

She turned her gaze to the one that had approached beside it, holding a sword and shield. She had just confirmed that the Flaming Sword was effective against their weapons as well. If so, there was no need to hesitate.

The Flaming Sword, piercing the shield without any resistance, shattered the creature’s spine.

She also easily severed the waist of another wielding a mace that attacked in succession. Just like that, she had brought down four in an instant.

It had happened within three breaths.

Even amidst the fight, Seo Yun was surprised that the battle against so many was this easy, and that the power of this Flaming Sword exceeded expectations. Wasn’t the spell imbued in this Flaming Sword one that a Priest could learn upon reaching a higher Level? When the time comes, she might have to learn it without fail.

Meanwhile, even in this urgent situation, Gaeulbi was calmly firing her crossbow, one shot at a time. Since Skeletons weren’t living creatures, hitting any random spot would be useless, yet it was remarkable skill how she managed to hit precisely the spots that would instantly collapse their forms. It was a talent completely unrelated to martial combat, but impressive nonetheless.In an instant, all the approaching creatures were brought down, leaving only two Skeletons remaining.

Seo Yun saw two Skeletons holding bows standing far away.

One of them drew its bowstring. The released arrow grazed past Seo Yun’s hair.

Seo Yun’s chest tightened, but she didn’t even have the luxury to flinch. Trying hard not to dwell on what just happened, she focused on the other one.

The other Skeleton Archer still had an arrow nocked on its bowstring.

There was nothing she could do against that. Should she hope it misses like the last one? If not, then what?

Seo Yun stood shielding the space between that Skeleton Archer and Gaeulbi. And the moment the arrow left the Skeleton Archer’s bowstring, she thrust her palm forward.

She knew that deflecting arrows like in novels or comics was actually nonsense. It was said that with an Agility Stat of around 8 or 9, one could truly perform the miracle of deflecting arrows, but her Agility was a slightly lacking 7, wasn’t it?

However, it seemed that while she couldn’t catch or deflect the arrow, she could at least react roughly to it.

A sound vibrating the air pounded against her eardrums, followed by a pain piercing through her palm. The pain traveled up her arm and spread throughout her body.

Ugh…

Gritting her teeth as she looked at the arrow embedded in her palm, Seo Yun heard a groan—not from her own mouth, but from Gaeulbi’s.

“Ah…!”

Seo Yun was about to charge at those two archers with her sword now, but it wasn’t necessary.

Han Siwoo had already rushed over here. He closed the distance to the two archers in an instant. After crashing into them and striking them down with his sword one after another, destroying them, Han Siwoo looked at Seo Yun.

Seo Yun met his gaze and asked.

“The Mage?”

Han Siwoo answered vaguely.

“Killed it. But, you…”

The eyes inside Han Siwoo’s helm were wide open, but Seo Yun paid no attention to his gaze.

So the situation’s over, huh. Relieved by those words, Seo Yun forcefully pulled the arrow out of her palm.

The pain, as if her nerves were being severed, made her frown again, but that was all. The wound pierced by the arrow healed instantly, leaving only a bright red bloodstain on her palm.

Was he watching that? Han Siwoo’s already wide eyes opened even wider.

“Just now, that…?”

“Don’t mind it. It’s because my Health Stat is high. Anyway, you really killed it, right?”

“Huh? Yeah…”

It seemed those words were true.

‘Experience Points’ began flowing in. To be precise, it was the absorption of the souls of the defeated enemies, but Players often expressed it that way.

Seo Yun closed her eyes for a moment, savoring the sensation of this moment. The feeling of something filling her head and heart—a sensation Seo Yun was experiencing for the second time…

Gaeulbi had been staring at Seo Yun’s palm with a dazed look until now, but that sensation seemed to have momentarily driven the worry from her mind.

Gaeulbi shouted with an expression full of exhilaration.

“I… I leveled up!”

Seo Yun, still facing Han Siwoo who was blatantly staring at her, asked.

“Did you level up too?”

“Huh? Yeah.”

“Damn, I’m jealous. Mine didn’t go up.”

Han Siwoo kept his mouth shut as if unsure how to respond. But his eyes remained fixed on Seo Yun, and his gaze probably meant something like this: ‘How can the girl who just got hit by an arrow complain about not leveling up?’

Actually, some pain still lingered, but she didn’t want to show weakness in front of this guy. While Seo Yun was trying hard to maintain an indifferent expression…

Perhaps having belatedly recalled the earlier situation, Gaeulbi opened her mouth.

“Ah, more importantly! Is your hand okay?”

Gaeulbi grabbed Seo Yun’s wrist and examined her palm. Then, seeing the hand with only a bloodstain left, her eyes widened in surprise, and Seo Yun had to reassure her by pouring water over the bloodstain to wash even that away.