Chapter 27
Rumble.
The heavy stone door opened with a deep grinding sound.
Jeonghun and the skinny man entered the boss room brimming with confidence.
Among the loot they'd gathered by rummaging through their companions' corpses, there were plenty of useful items.
In particular, there were bomb items that could cause powerful explosions, as well as equipment that suited their skills well.
The skinny man had a throwing skill, while Jeonghun had a stealth skill that completely hid him for 10 seconds.
Neither skill was especially good against multiple enemies, but against a single boss they were devastating.
'Considering the monsters' strength so far, the boss probably won't be that strong.'
The skeletons were so flimsy you could beat them with a baseball bat instead of a special skill.
If they landed the first hit, even a boss felt manageable with just the two of them.
But the moment the space beyond the door was revealed, the two men's confident expressions stiffened.
"...Why are there two bosses?"
"Damn."
In the middle of the room stood a skeletal shield soldier bearing a massive steel shield, and a skeletal archer with a huge longbow as tall as an adult man.
They hadn't expected this.
Up until now, every dungeon had always had only one boss, so they had assumed this one would be the same.
But Jeonghun did not panic and immediately activated his stealth skill.
After all, if he used it after being spotted, its effectiveness would drop sharply.
Srrrk—his body melted perfectly into the shadows.
'I'll go after the archer first.'
Only 10 seconds.
Jeonghun held his breath and nimbly skirted the skeletal shield soldier's line of sight, slipping behind the skeletal archer at the rear.
He planned to take out the archer first, since ranged attacks like that were such a nuisance.
Just as he was about to drive a sharp dagger into the seam where the neck bones joined—
The sound of Jeonghun kicking off the ground to drive the blade in harder rang out.
At that single grinding sound, the shield soldier, who had seemed dull-witted, snapped its head around at a bizarre speed.
And at the same time, it swung its shield like a blunt weapon.
Pwaaaak-!
"Guhk!"
Before the dagger even landed, the absurdly huge steel shield sliced through the air and slammed into the invisible Jeonghun's side.
With that impact, his stealth was forcibly broken and his body was sent crashing into the stone wall.
The immense shock that struck his brain made it ring and sent his vision spinning.
"D-damn it!"
The skinny man waiting at the rear immediately used his throwing skill.
The spear he had taken from a companion's corpse left his hand and shot like an arrow toward the skeletal archer's forehead.
Clang-!
But even that fierce thrown spear was easily blocked when the shield soldier casually raised its shield.
The spear bounced off with sparks flying, and right after that, the skeletal archer hidden behind the shield drew its bowstring taut.
Kkikikik!
Fwip-!
"Aaaagh!!"
A thick arrow pierced straight through the skinny man's right palm and flew on.
In pain, the man bled and rolled on the floor, screaming.
It was a mistake.
If only he'd known, he should have killed them after clearing the boss.
The skinny man reached into his clothes with his trembling left hand and pulled out a black bomb.
Originally, he had planned to throw it into Jeonghun's back after the boss was dealt with and Jeonghun had let his guard down, blowing him to pieces, but now was not the time to care about that.
"Go to hell, you pile of bones!"
The skinny man shouted a curse and hurled the bomb item under the feet of the skeleton monsters.
Kwaaaang—!
A massive explosion shook the entire boss room.
Thick dust and bone powder scattered everywhere.
"D-did it work?"
"...Shit."
Coughing, Jeonghun and the skinny man barely managed to lift their heads, and shock filled their eyes.
Where the dust had cleared, the two boss monsters that had taken the explosion head-on were still standing on their feet.
The skeletal shield soldier had lost an entire arm, and the skeletal archer had half its ribs shattered, leaving it in a grotesque state, but both still stood there on their feet and glared at the men.
'...We can still win.'
The two men clenched their teeth and exchanged wary glances.
There was clearly a way to win.
Probably because of the explosion's aftereffects, the monsters were not attacking first.
If one of them drew the shield soldier's attention, the other could use a skill—throwing or stealth—to blow the skeletal archer's head off.
But a fatal problem was holding them back.
'How can I trust that bastard.'
'If I take on the shield soldier, I might die.'
Like the traitors who had plunged knives into their comrades' backs, neither man had any intention of volunteering for the life-threatening role of bait.
But just then, the skeletal archer, having recovered from the explosion's aftermath, was seen raising its bow.
In that moment, distrust and selfishness pressed heavily on the atmosphere of the boss room.
Step, step.
On the opposite side of the skeletal monsters, from the boss room entrance, heavy footsteps echoed out.
What emerged through the darkness was a young girl with a large iron mace slung over her shoulder.
"...Who?"
Jeonghun and the skinny man quickly exchanged glances.
Was she someone who had come after reading the trade post? Had she entered the dungeon alone?
Various questions swirled in their heads, but one thought ultimately remained in the minds of the two men.
...Could this be an opportunity?
The same thought flashed through both of their eyes.
If it had been Awakeners barging in, they'd have been afraid the relic would be snatched from them, but the story was completely different if it was just a young girl who looked clueless about the world.
They could deal with the boss if they used this girl who'd fallen into their laps as a meat shield.
As if by agreement, the two men began to put on pained expressions.
"Ghk...! You! Help us!"
"Just buy us 10 seconds by drawing the shield skeleton's attention! Then we'll somehow handle that archer! If not, we'll all die!"
At those words, the girl looked down at them.
Her expression was icy and blank, with no emotion at all. The two men swallowed hard and broke out in a cold sweat.
'What is she thinking?'
'Don't tell me—'
Just as uneasy thoughts flitted through their heads, the girl silently moved forward and approached the massive skeletal shield soldier head-on.
'...Thank goodness!'
The shield soldier, having spotted the new intruder, rattled its jawbone, raised its remaining arm with the shield, and charged fiercely toward the girl.
"Now!!"
Jeonghun and the skinny man didn't miss the chance the moment the girl drew its attention.
They could deal with the girl and the shield soldier later; for now, they had to neutralize the skeletal archer.
The sharp spear thrown from the skinny man's hand sliced through the air viciously, and at the same time, Jeonghun's dagger thrust in to precisely target the seam where the skeletal archer's neck bones joined.
With its sturdy shieldbearer gone, the skeletal archer couldn't dodge the strikes coming from two directions and collapsed into dust right there.
"Got it!"
Having successfully taken out the archer and breathing a sigh of relief, the two men turned their heads to check on the girl.
She was probably dead.
To them, the shield soldier felt like a more authentic boss monster than the skeletal archer.
Its reflexes and strength were anything but ordinary.
But the sight that met their eyes was far removed from the scene they had imagined in their heads.
"...How?"
The enormous skeletal shield soldier had been reduced to white bone shards scattered across the floor.
Standing tall in the middle of those remains, the girl lightly brushed off the absurd iron mace and stared coldly down at the two men with steely eyes.
It had taken only a few seconds to reduce the shield soldier to powder.
The girl was no ordinary Awakened.
And the girl's expression made it obvious.
"...She seems to hate us?"
"..."
The moment the three of them looked at one another, the old coffin tucked away in a corner of the grave chamber like decoration rattled and opened.
From inside, a single orb radiating a brilliant light rose into the air.
Everyone in the room immediately sensed that the orb was the relic the Constellations had been looking for.
With the relic's appearance, an odd tension filled the air.
Without hesitation, Jeonghun activated his stealth skill and erased his body from sight.
"...That bastard."
The skinny man scowled.
It was obvious he was planning to use stealth to take the relic first, or perhaps to eliminate a rival.
As he looked at the young girl with the giant iron mace on her shoulder, the skinny man suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu.
'Mace... girl... where have I heard that before?'
The combination was so distinctive that it had stuck deep in his mind.
But he couldn't remember where he'd heard it.
'...The gallery?'
It definitely matched posts he'd once read on the Survivor Gallery.
Just as the man was trying to piece together the blurry puzzle in his memory—
Whiiing—
'A hornet?'
From a dark corner of the ceiling came the sound of something huge, as if a giant hornet were beating its wings.
Ppuk! Ppupupuk!
And then a series of unfamiliar popping sounds rang out in rapid succession.
"Aaagh!"
Blood sprayed from empty air as a scream burst out.
Jeonghun's form, writhing in agony while clutching one arm, flickered like a mirage, then his stealth was forcibly broken and his blood-soaked body was revealed.
Only then did the skinny man's face go pale as he spotted the drone aiming its muzzle from the ceiling.
'Shit, I remember now...!'
A girl with a mace, leading drones.
The man finally realized that the girl was the one who had briefly set the gallery ablaze.
The chances of winning against gun-wielding drones were slim.
Besides, the girl herself had been able to smash the shield soldier apart.
The man quickly abandoned the fight and raised both hands with a smile.
"H-hey, wait! Don't misunderstand, I don't want to fight! You came for the relic, right? Take it!"
The girl still didn't know her own skill.
When she goes to take the relic, if I throw my weapon then—
Without even giving that man a shred of response, the girl quietly flicked a finger into the air with an expressionless face.
The gesture seemed like an order being given to the drones.
Finish him.
The man's face twisted with rage and despair as he instinctively realized the meaning of the gesture.
"You, damn bitch!"
Cursing, the man twisted every muscle in his body, ready to hurl the weapon he was holding.
Just before the throwing skill could activate.
Kwaaaang-!
A sound like a cannon firing echoed through the dungeon.
The skinny man's violent motion froze in place.
The man slowly looked down at his chest.
In the middle of his torso, where a sniper round had passed through mercilessly, a huge hole had been punched clean through.