The sewer wasn’t exactly a good place for running around or hide-and-seek. Drain pipes burst and crumbled wherever the King Slime went, spilling dirt everywhere and causing chaos in general. The Pauls, who hadn't yet gotten used to their skeleton bodies, flinched whenever that happened.

[Gureureureuaaaaaaaaaaah!]

"There’s nothing to worry about as long as I can see it properly!"

Lee Shin-Woo moved away from the charging Great Slime and comforted the Pauls. When the King Slime collided with the drain pipes and triggered an area-wide collapse, however, the Pauls cried out in panic.

[If this goes on, the secret facilities will collapse!]

"What?"

Certainly, the entire sewer system could collapse at this rate, which didn’t really matter since the place was worthless to him. However, he couldn't allow all the research facilities to be buried before he had a chance to look over the documents.

"That leaves me with no choice."

Lee Shin-Woo nodded stiffly and retreated. The Pauls' attention remained completely fixed on him as they followed.

"I'll bring in reinforcements, so keep it occupied!"

[We can't. That's impossible!]

"No, you can do it. I'll make sure of it."

Pudding had knocked down the pipes, leaving the place covered in dust and its Acid Poison. Lee Shin-Woo sucked in a deep breath and turned to the Pauls, who looked like young chicks gazing up at their mother—Skeletons didn’t really have expressions per se, but that was the general sense Lee Shin-Woo got from them. He then shifted his gaze to the King Slime before screaming with all his might.

"I'm really sorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry!"

[By using Low Rank Shriek of the Dead, you have caused your enemies to fall into a state of frenzy and fear.]

[You have succeeded in using a skill against an enemy a higher level than you! Low Rank Shriek of the Dead is now Lv2.]

[Kurureureureureureureureu!]

[Ugh... Keuaaaaaaaaaahk!]

[Kihik...! I-It's an enemy!]

Lee Shin-Woo’s shriek had deprived the four Poison Skeletons of the rationality they had only recently regained. It was such a heinous act that it wouldn't be surprising for the Devil to call Lee Shin-Woo his brother.

While Lee Shin-Woo had expected the skill to work on the skeletons, he hadn't expected it to work on the level 4 King Slime as well! It might have something to do with the fact that the Slime had only evolved into a King Slime a short while ago.

"Good. You're going to die anyway; might as well shave off some of the Slime's health first!"

With that shameless parting words to his fellow skeletons, Lee Shin-Woo turned to the King Slime, which seemed to be struggling with the effect of frenzy and fear. He shot a Fire Bullet at it as farewell—that was what he named the combo of shooting his index finger with Catapult and igniting it with Flames of Revenge.

He wanted to see if it would react to the fire in the same way as the Great Slimes, but... it didn’t show any signs of self-destruction even as the fire spread through its body. Was it because it was frenzied? No matter the reason, Lee Shin-Woo was satisfied with its reaction. He made a run for it.

[You have run away from the target of your revenge twice. An Avenger will gladly bear the shame of a second escape should the circumstances call for it. When you encounter your enemy again, all stats increase by an additional 15%. However, running away the third time would be forbidden.]

[Quest failed.]

It makes sense that the quest would be a failure since I’ve run away from the target, but…I didn't know Avenger allows such flexibility.

Since running away the third time was forbidden, he couldn’t just flee from his enemy because of fear, or he might be penalized by the skill.

Well, he had thought the skill was way too powerful given the low risks, but it turned out there was a caveat he wasn’t previously aware of. Although he didn’t think that he would need to run away from the same enemy three times in a row, there was no guarantee that it wouldn’t happen. That put him in a difficult situation.

Should I really run away now?

If he fought the King Slime right now, he was confident that he would defeat it. However, he really wanted to collect all of the hidden documents in the sewers first. Since the buffs provided by Avenger stacked, his abilities would be strengthened further during the next fight. Considering the results, he wouldn’t be losing anything by running away this time.

At worst, I'll be throwing the navigators I'd gained into the jaws of death. I’ll then have to go through the sewers blindly without knowing when it’ll collapse, though...

Still, he was confident he would be able to find his way around on his own, and he'd reproduced the pattern to unlock the hidden facilities' twice already. The only thing giving him pause was the impending collapse of the sewer...

Using Shriek of the Dead is a smart move. It's become considerably quieter.

The skill wouldn’t last very long, of course, so things would become hectic again pretty soon. It was imperative that he found the facilities before then.

Lee Shin-Woo pushed Combat Sprint to its limits and dashed. The Slime had cleared the sewers of all other monsters, so it was completely empty; nothing to get in his way except for the dirt that fell on his head every now and then.

"Found it."

In 2 minutes, he had found the third hidden facility. Without thinking, he opened the door. Surprisingly, there were five skeletons waiting inside with bated breath!

[H-He opened the door.]

[You idiot...!]

[Who are you? Are you part of the experiment? No, it doesn't matter who you are. There's a fearsome monster roaming around outside!]

That was unexpected. It seems the catastrophe the Great Slime brought about after decades of peace in the sewer had caused the skeletons to regain their reason without intervention.

"Are you planning to huddle together and wait for your death once the entire sewer comes crashing down? If you plan on burying the efforts of the general who had struggled to stop the curse, be my guest. Stay where you are and don’t do anything."

[Huh...!?]

[Who do you think you are, to speak of the general here!?]

"Does it matter who I am?"

Once he had collected all the research materials, Lee Shin-Woo shot them an icy gaze—or the approximation of it—and the skeletons responded by glaring hard at him.

"After I’ve collected all that was left of our resistance, I'm going to fight that monster in order to create a future for us. You may stay here, curling into your cursed bones until you disappear."

Without another word, Lee Shin-Woo exited the facility quickly; there was no point in wasting his breath.

[...]

[W-Wait a sec.]

One of the skeletons grabbed onto Lee Shin-Woo's arm bone. Lee Shin-Woo let out a silent sigh of relief. He had been worried that he might not have been harsh enough.

[I-If the facility is going to crumble, and everyone's going to die... I'll fight with you. Damn it, I’m not going to hell without achieving anything.]

[Same here. It’s depressing that we hadn’t been able to prevent the curse, but a knight of the Empire must fight their enemies without fear...!]

"...Talk is cheap. Prove it to me with your actions."

Lee Shin-Woo deemed it appropriate to reproach them further. His frigid response actually got the skeletons to hold themselves with more pride. They marched toward him with heavy footsteps.

Hoo, maybe it’s because skeletons don’t have brains, but I'm telling you, it's really easy to trick them!

"We have to check the remaining hidden facilities before we start a fight. Before that... Do you remember your names?"

[That's... I don't remember anything about myself...]

"Alright then, starting from this side, you’re Paul, Paul Two, Paul Three..."

The skeletons he had left to keep the King Slime busy were already dead in Lee Shin-Woo’s book, so he took their names and gave them to this new group of skeletons.

The naming ceremony was crude and somewhat morbid, but the Pauls weren’t aware of that. On the contrary, they were touched that Lee Shin-Woo had accepted them as comrades. They now saw Lee Shin-Woo as their temporary leader, so he didn't even have to make up another story for himself.

If I came on strong from the start, I could save myself the effort of coming up with lies.

That was another thing Lee Shin-Woo learned from the experience. By utilizing the difference in strength between him and his targets, he would be able to stop them from probing him for information with a few choice words, all the while establishing himself as their superior!

...That’s not something a hero should do, though. Even I feel a bit ashamed of it.

As Lee Shin-Woo pondered whether he had strayed from his rightful path, he arrived at the last hidden facility. There were seven Poison Skeletons within, and they obediently joined up with him. With that, he had gathered a total of twelve level 3 skeletons.

"I've collected all of the materials. Let’s take care of the monster now!"

[Let's go!]

Being in a bigger group seemed to have emboldened the skeletons. Even after regaining their senses, they were still fundamentally idiots.

Anyway...

While Lee Shin-Woo was encouraging the skeletons and advancing forward, he caught a glimpse of the end of the dungeon. It was located across from the final hidden facility and the adjoining passageway. There lay the ruins of what seemed to be the boss room. The wall had been torn down, and he didn’t feel anything left in there.

What happens in this case? Would killing the King Slime then be recognized as killing the boss...?

My experience in this dungeon has been nothing if not strange, he thought idly as he ran. The experience should come in handy later, though. In no time, he had reached the area where he first encountered the King Slime.

[You have found the target of your revenge. When you fight it, all abilities increase by 45%. Flames of Revenge receive an additional bonus of 45%. It is your opponent's last chance as well as yours.]

[Kureureureuaaaaaaaaaaaaah!]

The King Slime let out a powerful howl when it discovered Lee Shin-Woo. It didn't have any trace of Flames of Revenge left on its body anymore. Lee Shin-Woo had assumed as much when he sensed the connection of mana severed halfway through his search for the hidden facilities.

"You weren't able to shake it off at the right time, so your body has gotten a lot smaller, huh?"

[Kuaaaaaah!]

The King Slime’s temper flared like it could understand what Lee Shin-Woo was saying. It had gotten considerably smaller compared to when he first saw it. To the point that Lee Shin-Woo wouldn’t question it if someone said it was a slightly larger Great Slime.

However, the smaller it got, the more concentrated its strength became; it could now rival the Acid Ghoul's in strength alone.

[Kuaaaaaaaah...!]

[I-I can't believe it.]

[Those bones...]

The twelve Pauls murmured to themselves when they noticed the four sets of skeletons scattering across the battlefield. They belonged to the original Pauls, and they were all dead.

They had fought so desperately; there was no way they'd survive a battle with the King Slime.

"They chose to sacrifice themselves in order to keep the results of our experiments safe, as well as to hide us from the enemy. They were the reason why I could save all of you."

Lee Shin-Woo spoke calmly about his previous companions even though they had suffered an unjust death; if the original Pauls could hear him after becoming heaps of bones, they would've returned as evil spirits to haunt him. That would be a fun prospect.

"You're not going to let their sacrifice go to waste, are you? For the Empire, and for ourselves... We must step over their corpses and fight!"

[Ouooooooooh!]

[I'll survive no matter what! Even though I'm a skeleton, there's hope as long as I survive!]

[I'll crush that gooey monster!]

The effect was amazing! The morale of the twelve Pauls soared, and they each raised their weapons before charging at the King Slime! The King Slime seemed to find it laughable and spewed Acid Poison at them. It wasn’t that effective though since they were Poison Skeletons.

"Think back to when you were warriors! Dying to a mere Slime is disgraceful!"

Lee Shin-Woo encouraged the skeletons while staying in the rear. Using Flames of Revenge would cause the Slime to self-destruct, so for now, he planned to only fire his Grenade—That was what he called the combo of Catapult and Self-Destruct—to weaken the slime.

"Then... fire!"

[Gguaaaaaaang!]

The resulting explosion inflicted tremendous damage to the King Slime, causing it to go on a rampage; unfortunately, the twelve Poison Skeletons had been fighting without reservation, so Lee Shin-Woo couldn't attack freely without them making way.

As it had done before, the King Slime bounced around with its giant body, but its attempt to crush the skeletons was hindered somewhat by the heaps of dirt everywhere. Moreover, its huge body made it difficult to maneuver in the sewer!

"Hmph, it's all going according to my plan...!"

Lee Shin-Woo didn’t actually have a plan beforehand, but he was sure if he had had one, it would’ve perfectly predicted what was happening; he regenerated his index finger and prepared his second Catapult. None of the skeletons had died yet.

I hope you guys last until the King Slime dies.

Lee Shin-Woo stood behind his meat shields...well, his skeleton shields and leisurely fired Grenades at the Slime with a grin. Thus commenced a one-sided battle fought in the most cowardly way possible.