A while after leaving the village, I finally see the horde of skeletons in the distance.

Luckily, they had moved to a clearing in the forest, so they were the perfect target for me to attack.

“Here goes.”

I kept running at full speed and kicked the ground to fly my body at them.

And then–

[Absolute Blade Arts]

[Quick Strike, First Art - Vorpal Thrust]

I thrust my sword forward.

Immediately, dozens of skeletons that stood in my path broke down and crumbled.

After killing the skeletons like that, I stopped in their center and took a pivoting sword stance.

The other skeletons, as if sensing the presence of an enemy, began to surround me, but–

‘Perfect.’

In the first place, the sword strike I was about to use was meant to be used against a horde of enemies.

[Absolute Blade Arts]

[Power Strike, First Art - Sky Destroying Whirlwind]

I held the sword with both hands, poured my mana, and then spun around in a revolving manner, producing countless slashes around the surrounding area that decimated the skeletons, close and far.

And then–

[Blast]

I released the concentrated mana all a once and swung towards the sky.

“Fly up!”

Then, the ground caved in, and a blast of whirlwind soared towards the sky with me in the center.

The skeletons got blasted up towards the sky and were cut by the countless slashes within the whirlwind.

I took a moment of rest as I observed my condition.

‘As expected of the power strike, both the power and mana consumption are no joke.’

It was a great AOE skill that consisted of two parts.

‘[Sky Destroying Whirlwind Blast]’

A continuous spinning attack that sucks in the wind, followed by a final upward strike that blasts them at once.

Depending on the enemies, though, I might have to refrain from using the [Blast] strike too often.

‘Because it costs too much mana.’

I don’t know about the future, but currently, this body only has enough mana to cast this skill for a few more times at best.

‘But I can hold on for much longer if I just use the [Sky Destroying Whirlwind] part.’

And since the skeleton quantity is this large… I have no choice but to save up my strength.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

‘Alright, rest time’s over.’

Seeing that the whirlwind had disappeared and the cloud of dust was about to be cleared, I tried to sneak away from the encirclement.

[Perfect Stealth]

Fortunately, I found a way out so that I don’t have to open the way forcefully using [Vorpal Thrust] and cancel my stealth.

The remaining skeletons stopped in place as if confused by their inability to sense the enemy that was supposed to be there.

I put some distance between us and took out two daggers, imbuing them with mana.

If I use [Mana Thread] on these daggers, which is a basic mana manipulation technique that any 1-circle could use, and pull the flying daggers around, I should be able to reduce their numbers without consuming too much strength.

‘Two daggers is my current limit, but…’

I’m looking forward to the day when I tied a [Mana Thread] on each finger and flew ten daggers around like the creator of this skill.

[Lee’s Throwing Technique].

I immediately put my idea into practice and threw both knives forward.

Since I had just launched an attack, my stealth got undone, and the unsuspecting skeletons turned their attention to me.

However, everything was too late for them by then.

[White Dragon Vision].

The flying daggers flew around and pierced the skeletons only on their weak points.

After piercing a few skeletons, it would be normal for the daggers to slow down. Still, I didn’t even let that happen as I pulled around the daggers using the attached mana strings.

The skeletons crumbled helplessly as they tried to get close to me.

And finally, when they managed to get close enough to me. I retrieved my daggers and threw out a punch.

[Soaring Dragon Fist].

Then, a shockwave exploded and pushed the skeletons backward, far enough for me to take out my daggers a second time and launch another onslaught.

[Lee’s Throwing Technique].

The skeletons fell from the flying daggers and repeated the same pattern as before.

‘Luckily, they’re brainless.’

It would be different if the one who raised the skeletons took control or even if a commander-class undead like Death Knight was around to lead them.

Since they’re not here, I should probably reduce their numbers as much as possible while saving my strength for the final battle.

‘But seriously, where are they?’

The one who raised these skeletons.

Despite the favorable situation on the battlefield, I couldn’t help but feel bad about all this.

‘It doesn’t seem like they’re very powerful as a necromancer, but… If they were able to raise this many skeletons at once, then the amount of mana they have would be so vast.’

If such beings had another trick up their sleeve, the best I could do was prepare for an ambush.

While maintaining a sense of caution, I continued to defeat the skeletons in front.

However, my fear turned out to be unfounded after all.

The last skeletons fell as my dagger found its mark. I retrieved both daggers and tried to catch my breath, surveying the battlefield littered with bone and dust.

‘Is that it? Really?’

Though victory was assured, a sense of unease crept over me.

‘It was too easy that it’s suspicious.’

Are they looking down on the village, thinking that no one would be able to defeat the horde of skeletons?

‘It’s not impossible, but…’

There had never been a case where an enemy would be so easy during my days as a player.

‘Just in case, I should probably look around before heading to Bianca.’

It was when I had just activated my vision skills.

“What…?!”

The pile of bones that filled the surroundings lit up so brightly all at once.

I know this phenomenon. It was the prelude to the [Corpse Explosion] skill.

‘So that’s it! From the beginning, they didn’t care whether anyone stopped the horde or not.’

There was no need to raise a high-level undead either.

Because it’s enough to explode the corpses all at once.

And with this quantity of corpses and mana, be it the forest, the village, or even me.

It’s possible to destroy everything at once.

“Damn it!”

It’s too late to run away now.

‘I had no choice, the only way to survive is to use this sword skill.’

But can I even do it? Despite having failed so often?

‘No, I have to do it. There’s no other way around it.’

It was when I raised my concentration to the max and was about to unsheathe my sword.

“[Corpse Explosion]”

A cracked voice was heard from underground.

Then, a series of huge explosions occurred, and the world was filled with pure white.

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