It had only been decades since the fall of the Empire, yet the city looked truly wretched. The bricks and cement that were supposed to be sturdy as well as the unknown materials used to build houses had mostly fallen apart.

The undead curse not only transformed living beings into undead, but also withered away and eliminated anything that was still alive, so it was only natural that the city would be in this state. It truly was a curse that killed the world itself. Whenever Lee Shin-Woo looked at it this way, he realized how frightening the curse actually was.

"The other cities we've gone to weren't like this," said Jin.

"Well, those cities were small and located on the outskirts of the Empire... They looked relatively okay since there wasn't much in those cities."

Lee Shin-Woo was right. The cities they'd passed through until now didn't have an abundance of goods, while this unknown city shut within great walls was an entirely different story. There was both a commercial district and a slum. There was a city hall, and crisscrossing streets ran between the houses and buildings. There were also traces of various trades left all over the city. Not only were there leftover goods, there were also people. Or undead, to be more precise.

[The weather's great. It seems like it'll rain soon.]

[Ha. Did you hear that the Lord is coming to visit this street today?]

The patrols had been the only undead they’d run into before entering the city, but now, they were surrounded by all manners of undead.

It might've been obvious, but just because it was a level 2 danger zone didn't mean there were high level undead everywhere. Most were level 1 undead, in fact, and there was nothing special about them. The only piece of information Lee Shin-Woo could glean from them was their title, [Lv1 Skeleton]. If they were still human, they probably would've shown up as [Lv1 Human].

[Haha, that costs 3 Perium. I can't give you a discount.]

[That's too expensive. Why don’t you throw in a smaller one?]

"...How is this possible?" Jin asked stiffly, momentarily forgetting that they were supposed to be stealthy.

Lee Shin-Woo could understand how he was feeling. The skeletons were haggling over a valueless rock.

"They're repeating what they did when they were still alive,” said Lee Shin-Woo. “The lower leveled the undead, the more they rely on their instincts..."

"... I was looking forward to the city a little," Jin said bitterly, raising his volume a little once he realized it wouldn’t break their Stealth. "Maybe it’s nonsense, but the skeletons you’ve made into your subordinates have abandoned their ‘living’ general to follow you as their Captain. They..."

"They're acting out of their own will."

"Yeah."

Anyone would be hard-pressed to call the Puals’ conditions normal, but even though they had been tricked by Lee Shin-Woo, they understood that they had become skeletons and were acting accordingly. That gave them the appearance of normality.

"I've restored their egos and even given them a name; I really am like their savior."

Jin shook his head. "No, that's not what I'm saying."

At the beginning, Jin had wondered why Lee Shin-Woo would set the skeletons free, but ultimately, Lee Shin-Woo had simply taken them under his wing when it seemed like they would be useful!

Lee Shin-Woo's fickleness was truly frightening. The only thing Jin could be certain of was that Lee Shin-Woo would always be true to himself. It felt a little weird following that line of thinking, so Jin decided to change topics.

"...Is killing them the only way to save them?" asked Jin.

"Don't look at this the wrong way. They're already dead. Even if you talk to them, they probably don't even remember their names."

"Then what about us? We're undead, too."

"We can say our names. That means we're not dead."

It sounded overly simplistic, but the statement was much more complicated than it seemed. Jin couldn’t help but admire Lee Shin-Woo when he gave out nuggets of wisdom like this, but he didn’t want to acknowledge that Lee Shin-Woo was the wiser one between the two of them in addition to being the stronger one, so Jin kept it to himself.

"There are a lot of level 1 undead here, but it's not a level 2 danger zone for nothing. The closer we get to the center of the city, the more tightly-guarded it'll be, so focus on your connection with me."

"Mine's at Beginner Lv7, so it won't be tough for me."

Of course, Jin didn't have the ability to learn Stealth the orthodox way, but while going through a few small towns, they had discovered a rural rat nest dungeon. Lee Shin-Woo gave Jin all of the rat bones they acquired, and as a result, Jin managed to learn rudimentary Stealth. Since both of them knew the same skill, it was easy to increase the effectiveness of Jin’s Stealth through their connection.

[Through the connection of Horseback Riding, Stealth’s effectiveness increases. The proficiency of the skill goes up rapidly under special circumstances.]

Lee Shin-Woo and Jin seized an opening to move away from the two skeletons stuck in their past without drawing notice. Slowly, the pair went around the city like ghosts. The shadows cast by the ruined buildings easily concealed them, and they observed the city like they were memorizing every facet of it.

"Level 2 undead shouldn’t be a worry, right?" Jin asked.

"There are level 3 elites over there. Anything short of that doesn’t really matter to us."

An overwhelming number of weaklings were still overwhelming and impossible to handle. That was how Lee Shin-Woo had thought in the past. However, the rule only applied to Earth. He was confident he could take on thousands of level 3 Golems all at once without even breaking a single bone.

Not only was there an insurmountable disparity between their stats, he also had unlimited stamina since he was an undead.

The same goes for the skeletons.

However, that also meant he would likely be completely helpless facing a higher leveled undead. Those were the ones Lee Shin-Woo had to find and kill first.

With a level 6 mage on their side, a frontal assault wouldn’t be that difficult, but relying on Kratia would lower their contribution to the victory. That was why Lee Shin-Woo was moving quickly.

What a shame. I wanted to take my time and look around since this is the first city that seems big enough to be called a city.

They had pretty much finished clearing the outskirts of the Empire, so now it was time to deal with the level 2 danger zones. It wasn't a bad idea to go through the cities and ascertain their levels while they still had the assistance of a level 6 mage. Though of course, each city would have their own unique circumstances...

There are a lot of knights. I count at least ten skeleton knights above the walls, and there are five that periodically go on a patrol. Thirty of them are on standby inside their private barracks, waiting for their shifts...

A hero without companions would be getting intimidated right about now. Since they only had one life, they would never boldly infiltrate the city like Lee Shin-Woo, let alone attack the city by themselves.

It would definitely be impossible for a level 4 hero, and even if they were level 5... Only a handful of level 5 heroes would be capable of such a feat.

Lee Shin-Woo suddenly realized why heroes preferred going through dungeons. The cities were huge, and undead that were difficult to kill popped up without rhyme or reason. By contrast, there was a pattern to the spawning of monsters in dungeons, and the rewards were predictable, making dungeons a much more attractive option.

[Shino Rendu: Even though it's only a level 2 danger zone, it would still take a small group more than a year to fully clear. Take down the high priority targets first, and then look for the right opportunity to take down the rest. Remember, Lee Shin-Woo, nothing is more important than your survival.]

Shino Rendu was the most hot-blooded amongst his seniors, and yet that was what he had said about the cities. It dawned on Lee Shin-Woo why his seniors had been growing so slowly. And it made sense that they would cheer whenever they discovered a dungeon...

"Shin-Woo."

Jin’s voice jerked him back to reality. When Lee Shin-Woo looked up to see what had made Jin so nervous, he froze as well.

Sitting above a sloping road slightly askew to the city’s central square was an imposing mansion, and a giant monster roamed around before its entrance... No, it was a Golem, and it wasn’t a regular one they had encountered countless times, but a monstrosity around 4 meter tall with an unrivaled presence...!

[Lv5 Iron Golem - I0918 (Elite)]

"A level 5 Golem...!?"

As he had worried about, after the Bronze Golems came the Iron Golems. Its level was only one higher than its lesser counterparts, yet it seemed significantly more powerful. When he thought about it, the difference between level 4 and 5 individuals was night and day, which would explain the Golem’s tremendous power.

"You haven’t seen it yet, Shin-Woo. The Golem's not the problem."

"It is a problem. Why is the Golem outside of where it was produced... No."

Lee Shin-Woo stopped, groaning at his stupidity. Why were the Golems created from the very beginning? It was probably to protect the Empire.

Of course, after the fall of the Empire, the Golems were abandoned and had nowhere to go, but many of them must have been sent to various regions of the Empire already! That particular Golem must be one of them.

"There's something controlling that Golem," Jin said.

"Something controlling it!?"

Fortunately, his Stealth didn’t break even though Lee Shin-Woo had shouted out loud in shock, which was more surprising than the revelation itself. Even more surprisingly, his skill leveled up as a result!

[Low Rank Stealth had reached level 10 and evolved into an Intermediate skill. You can yet to covertly kill your opponent, but you do possess the ability to move secretly and quickly. You have learned Intermediate Shadow Sprint. Agility and Magic have increased by 10. The higher the skill level, the lighter the shadow you’d need to conceal yourself.]

Combat Sprint was replaced by Shadow Sprint....

Moreover, the skill could be used in tandem with his connection to Jin to draw out its full potential, making it even more effective. Lee Shin-Woo smiled, satisfied by what his negligence had brought about. Jin called out to him with a steely voice.

"If you're done checking your skill, would you take a look at that guy now?"

"Ah, my bad."

Lee Shin-Woo scratched his hairless head and looked where Jin had pointed at. On the mansion's balcony stood a level 5 undead, and it was none other than the lord, the Skeleton Commander! Gripped within its emaciated finger bones, there was...

A core...?

Realization hit Lee Shin-Woo like a truck. Why hadn’t he thought of it? The Golems’ mana couldn’t be manipulated from the outside, but they could instead control the core that produced their mana! Lee Shin-Woo had never used an object as a magical focus, so the possibility had never dawned on him.

But is that the only option available?

If the core could change even an undead's mana to that of a Golem's, wouldn’t someone who had absorbed the knowledge on Golem’s mana and everything else be able to do the same?

He had been going about it in a roundabout way, hadn’t he? Guillotine Steelworker might have caused the tunnel vision, making him believe that only Golems could create that seal. As a result, he had been approaching the matter in an unnecessarily complicated way. It was time to start fresh.

"I feel like I'll be able to know for sure after killing that guy and examining the core..."

"Hold on, Shin-Woo. Shriek of the Dead doesn't work on Golems."

"...Yeah, that's a good point."

They could only see one outside, but considering the same quality of mana they were sensing from the mansion, there must be more than a couple more inside. They didn't know if they could take care of the Golems quickly enough to avoid drawing the attention of the knights. There were a lot of them around the mansion. It would be best to retreat for now.

"...You’re right,” Lee Shin-Woo said. “Let's give up on killing the lord for the time being and start somewhere else."

"That's a good idea."

There were several parts of the city they hadn't checked yet. Lee Shin-Woo and Jin backed off from the lord's mansion for now in order to conquer the city without injury.

Forty minutes later, horrific screams resounded throughout the city. The battle had just begun.