—Foolish Mortals.
A skeleton clad in dull ash-gray armor spoke.
Or rather, it would be incorrect to say it spoke.
Since skeletons, being made of bone, lacked the organs necessary for speech.
It wasn't speech but a projection of intent.
What was strange was that, despite the absence of sound, the meaning was directly conveyed into one's mind.
The sensation was filthy and uncomfortable.
For humans, it instinctively elicited a sense of rejection.
Due to the undead's forceful transmission of intent.
-You all will die here.
The skeleton, which emitted an unpleasant intent once again, was different from the others.
Its stature was significantly larger, and its bones were much thicker.
It was an entity with a distinctly different presence.
Naturally.
It was the leader of the undead horde on the 10th underground floor.
A Skeleton Knight.
The Skeleton Knight felt neither anxiety nor fear.
It was well aware of the humans' strength.
Though they had eliminated monsters, those were merely inferior creatures.
The undead, superior immortals, were different.
It felt no threat whatsoever from such a number of humans.
—Hm?
The Skeleton Knight, having noticed something, let a silvery light flow from its empty eye sockets.
Precisely, three humans were charging towards the left of the formation.
Foolish.
Utterly foolish.
Like moths to a flame, they rushed towards their own demise.
The Skeleton Knight quickly dismissed them from its mind.
They were going to die soon anyway.
The Skeleton Knight's gaze turned forward.
Towards the main body of humans.
-Slaughter them all without exception.
A suffocating murderous intent struck the minds of all humans.
"Ugh, such intense murderous intent."
Annette frowned.
"Damn, that one?"
Kamian's face hardened.
He immediately recognized that it was no ordinary foe.
Only my face remained calm.
"Acting tough for a pile of bones."
I let out an overt sneer.
A deliberate action to ease the tension of Annette and Kamian.
But that wasn't the only reason.
Some ran in the opposite direction to escape, some staggered left and right, and some even fell to the ground, trembling.
"Amazing."
Annette exclaimed with wide eyes.
"How did you do that?"
Kamian looked surprised as well.
"It's all about skill, skill. But get ready."
I saw the undead charging fiercely towards us.
They weren't just simpletons to be taken down like logs.
They were menacingly approaching to take me down, the root cause of their trouble.
"Let's hit them before they reach us. Let's smash them all before we get surrounded."
I sheathed my bow and drew my sword, charging into the enemy lines.
"Of course."
Kamian ran alongside me.
"I'm coming too."
Annette hurriedly followed us.
***
Stopping power.
Formations have stopping power.
Even if scattered, with this number, naturally.
Thud!
Thud!
Initially, Kamian and I easily smashed through the first few using their momentum, but soon our advance halted.
We were blocked by the formation of the undead.
"Groooar!"
The zombies swung their sharp claws fiercely.
"Be careful. They're poisonous. Even a scratch can cause the wound to rot."
I warned.
"So we must either block or dodge at all costs."
Kamian stiffened his face and swung his sword harder to block the zombie's attack.
Swoosh!
Swoosh!
Skeleton soldiers also made their moves.
Though their swordplay was somewhat clumsy, as if screws were loose, their numbers made them sufficiently threatening.
"We're going to get surrounded at this rate!"
Right after Annette spoke, two skeletons swiftly attacked her.
It was too late to activate an attack spell.
Annette froze.
"Yiiiihk!"
A shrill scream.
It was too late to turn around and block with the Imperial style 8.
I needed to be faster and stronger, immediately switching to attack.
There was only one technique capable of that.
The advanced strike of the Executioner!