The large force of undead probably consisted of wandering skeletons from outside the commercial city. Lee Shin-Woo acted calm and nodded as he said, "Is that the reason you’re leaving...?"

"To be honest, I couldn’t make up my mind to give up on this field even after reaching level 6. However, learning of the impending undead force made the decision for me. I asked Lloyd for his opinion, and he thought the troops may be under the twelve generals' command. You see, a force that large and disciplined is not that common."

Not only was a corps under the twelve generals' command dangerous, they might also end up tangled with the twelve generals if something went wrong. Therefore, it would be a good idea to avoid them for now... When Lee Shin-Woo heard her say all that, he honestly couldn't believe it.

That’s an opportunity to find out more about the twelve generals, but you're just going to throw it away?

Fighting a corps under the twelve generals’ command would not only yield a ton of information, but also impact the twelve generals in some way, which could be a huge plus in and of itself!

He wouldn’t be able to do anything if there were other heroes nearby, but he could at least consult the chatroom once beforehand. Lee Shin-Woo thought about mentioning it to Erian, but ultimately didn't express his doubts aloud. It didn’t seem like she would welcome the question.

"Fortunately, we still have some time before they arrive. I'm not bragging, but we elves have sharp eyes, so I could tell early on that they were on the move. Since it's a huge corps, they should take at least four days to reach here."

"What direction are they coming from?"

"Oh, share your minimap with me. They should be around here."

Lee Shin-Woo almost laughed when he saw the coordinates she'd marked on his minimap.

He had suspected as much, but...those coordinates were extremely close to the commercial city, Kehebe, that he had just left from.

"I see. We should leave before we encounter them."

"Ah, that's a relief. I was concerned that you might want to fight them..."

"I'm well aware of my limitations. I know the difference between courage and foolhardiness."

"Hoo... I'm glad. It seems like I'll be seeing you for a very long time."

Despite sounding somewhat pissed, Lee Shin-Woo nevertheless replied as though he'd made up his mind to avoid the threat. Erian seemed genuinely relieved and gave him a smile. She also brought up a worthy destination to go to.

"There's a highland in the west that's filled with level 4 Bronze Golems. I wanted to hunt them, but they aren't a good match for me... Moreover, I would like to join up with Lloyd as fast as possible, so I'll give that up to my junior. You're probably already well aware of this, but each Golem is connected to all the others in the group, so lure them properly and destroy them."

"Thank you."

This was likely an extremely generous offer for a hero who wandered around looking for strong foes.

Of course, Lee Shin-Woo knew more about these highlands than anyone, but he acted like he was thankful. Erian nodded in satisfaction and extended her hand to him.

"I pray that we will meet again someday. It'd be nice if Jin-Jin is with us then."

"Yes, I hope we all stay safe until that day comes."

Lee Shin-Woo shook her hand without hesitation.

Erian felt the warmth of a human, as well as the sense of comfort and serenity she always felt whenever she came across another hero. She smiled once again in relief, reminded that she wasn't the only one struggling and clinging to life in this death-filled world.

Lee Shin-Woo responded with his own smile, confirming that he had indeed fooled her, and the two parted ways amicably.

"Shin-Woo, what are you going to do now? Do you think that girl's already left?"

Erian had led them outside before departing. Lee Shin-Woo and Jin ran towards the west highland, and when they were sure that they were out of Erian's earshot, Jin spoke up. Naturally, he was talking about both Erian and Kratia.

"I feel like Kratia will just butt heads with anyone who comes her way."

"Yeah, it's a relief since it would've been difficult to hunt with just the two of us."

Jin spoke nonchalantly, and Lee Shin-Woo chuckled. From the very beginning, he never intended on simply running away like Erian had suggested. Jin was already well aware that there was no way Lee Shin-Woo would back off without even knowing their enemies' number and levels.

"Then don't we need to hurry back to the city?” Jin asked. “That girl wouldn't know if we changed directions now. We don't know how long Kratia will be able to hold them off..."

"You don't need to worry about Kratia. I already sent reinforcements."

The moment Lee Shin-Woo realized that an undead corps would invade Kehebe, he ordered the three Iron Golems to use the underground passageway to return to the city. If the Golems were there, it wouldn't be too difficult for Kratia to protect herself and fight off the undead.

"But we don't know how large the corps is,” Lee Shin-Woo added. “So I'm thinking of sending over some 'shields' as well."

"Shields? What are you... Ah, aah."

As usual, Jin was quick on the uptake. He realized that they were heading towards the highlands, where the Bronze Golems lay dormant! That had been what Lee Shin-Woo was after by following Erian’s suggestion!

"We'll arrive soon, so get ready," Jin said.

"It doesn't even feel like it's been a few minutes. You're frighteningly fast."

No matter how often Lee Shin-Woo had witnessed Jin's speed, it was always a thrilling and new experience. They arrived at the highlands instantly; the nearest Bronze Golem noticed them and stood up... At that moment, the Steelworker seal emerged above Lee Shin-Woo palm, as if he were an inspector taking out his badge.

[Welcome, Steelworker.]

[Welcome.]

[Welc...]

The Golems' chorus of greetings resounded across the highlands! As expected, they seemed to share this characteristic with the Iron Golems. Lee Shin-Woo got off Jin and immediately issued a command.

"Sprint mode! Release mana limiter!

[Releasing mana limiter. Minimizing bulk as much as possible to use sprint mode.]

Unfortunately, the Bronze Golems didn't have the ability to significantly downsize their bodies like the Iron Golems. Instead, there was a command that caused them to remove their armaments to increase their speed; Lee Shin-Woo placed those armaments into Jin's inventory since he still had space.

The Golems were tearing parts off themselves at great speed like they were running drills. Speechless, Jin kept his inventory open. After storing all of their armaments, Lee Shin-Woo turned around and yelled vigorously!

"Nice. Let's go to the city now!"

[Following Steelworker!]

"You always exceed my expectations."

Hundreds of Bronze Golems marched behind a running horse whilst Lee Shin-Woo maintained a human disguise. He had kept the skill up in case Erian Ruparte was following them.

Halfway to the city, they became certain that Erian Ruparte had left, and Lee Shin-Woo dropped his disguise.

"...Shin-Woo, are you going to keep acting like a human from now on?"

"At least when we encounter heroes, yeah. Wouldn't it be easier for us if I act like a human in front of them?"

So long as he possessed a means to disguise himself as a human being, there was no reason to approach other heroes as an undead and risk repulsing them; instead, it would be better to make their acquaintance as a human. He didn’t care if others attributed that to his inferiority complex.

He was doing well as a Skeleton Hero, and was satisfied with himself now; if someone else sympathized with him in this regard, he wouldn't be able to take it. He didn't want nor need pointless hostility or consideration.

Yeah, he didn't want to feel inferior to the other heroes.

There's nothing I can do about people who already know, like Kratia or Ye Jin-Jin, but... I suppose I've been lucky.'

Be it a good thing or a bad thing, the two young women seemed unaffected by the bias permeating the Underground Empire. Well, they were newbies, so it made sense Lee Shin-Woo would be able to befriend them as who he was now.

Following the train of thought, Lee Shin-Woo requested a private chat with Ye Jin-Jin and told her that he had not only met Erian Ruparte, but also successfully fooled her into thinking he was human. Ye Jin-Jin got worked up and pestered him about how he had done it, but he didn't have the time to respond.

[I feel... I feel a living being's energy! There's an impudent living being occupying a castle of the Empire!]

[Attack... For our ever glorious Empire! That living being… We must kill all who rebel against the Empire!]

Jin had already arrived at the castle walls, where an intense battle was taking place. The three Iron Golems were spread out in a line at the center of the gates, and were taking a beating; countless undead were charging at them and attacking them in order to get into the city.

"Whoa..." Jin gasped, disheartened. It was a huge force of more than 10,000 strong! Even though he and Lee Shin-Woo had defeated about 10,000 soldiers inside the city before, these soldiers were in a completely different league!

It makes sense that Erian would run away, Lee Shin-Woo thought. That's...?

Lee Shin-Woo could understand why Erian had assumed it was a force under the direct command of the twelve generals. He was surprised to find that all the soldiers were level 3 or higher!

There was one level 4 Skeleton Knight in command of every one hundred level 3 soldiers, and every ten of those knights were commanded by a level 5 officer. Now he knew what Erian meant by ‘disciplined’. Even a group of heroes would have a hard time defeating such a force.

[Undead loyal to the Empire. A powerful living being is inside the city. We should give them the gift of eternal life as well!]

[Eternal life, the light of the Empire!]

More importantly, there was a level 6 elite in the rear giving orders to the entire army, and it was guarded by several level 5 knights! Lee Shin-Woo took a look at the elite; it seemed to be a mage.

"...Shin-Woo, what are you going to do?"

"For starters, let's take down the leader."

"Yeah, I thought you'd say something like that."

Lee Shin-Woo's confidence had soared after reaching level 5. It hadn’t been long since he said that he didn't want to fight a level 6 opponent head-on, yet here he was, suggesting that they take down a level 6 elite!

Of course, Lee Shin-Woo had something in mind. If he was up against a physically powerful knight, he would've used Avenger and fought only after making various preparations. A mage, though? A mage with greater magic than endurance, and was lacking in offensive power? He felt like he could kill it.

That impenetrable wall of knights guarding him is a problem...

Meanwhile, the undead corps were blindly charging the castle walls! Lee Shin-Woo instructed Jin to throw all of the Bronze Golems' armaments onto the floor and ordered the Golems to equip them once more.

Before the undead corps noticed them, Lee Shin-Woo and the Golems went their separate ways. The Golems dashed forward towards the city walls, while Lee Shin-Woo and Jin aimed for their leader.

"Let's distract them with the Golems and kill their leader."

"Will it work? It's a really simple plan."

"I considered having the Golems take care of the knights, but...we should be fine. I don't know about the undead army, but Kratia should've noticed us by now."

The moment Lee Shin-Woo said so, an enormous clump of ice rose into the air. It was Kratia's Catalyst Magic!

"Doesn't it look a bit different from last time...?"

"It'd be nice if Kratia knew what I was aiming for, but for now... Run, Jin! Shadow Sprint!"

"Hoo... Alright. I had a life to lose anyway! Let's go!"

That was how frightening it was to get used to taking risks! When Lee Shin-Woo and Jin were far enough from the Golems, Lee Shin-Woo activated Shadow Sprint and Assimilation at the same time. Instantaneously, they were concealed within the darkness, and they dashed towards the leader.

If they were the only ones here, more sensitive undead might've discovered them, but the huge clump of ice in the sky had monopolized the attention of all of the undead.

And to add to that...

[Following Steelworker's command.]

[We will lay down our lives to defeat Steelworker's enemies!]

Lee Shin-Woo activated the final command programmed into the Bronze Golems, 'Core Release', and sent the Golems dashing towards the undead corps. By melting the core, which both produced and managed their mana, the Golems would be able to exceed their maximum power temporarily, and only those with the Steelworker seal could order them to do so!

[Golems!?]

[Stop them! The Golems are going crazy!]

No, this isn't enough.

Lee Shin-Woo had already taken out his Drake Horn Lance. With his teeth gritted, he gripped the lance tight. Despite the sudden change in the battlefield, the knights hadn’t moved an inch from the mage’s side.

Even if the Bronze Golems exploded all at once and attacked the knights, what would happen if they couldn't break through? An ambush became a greeting at best without the element of surprise. If they got surrounded by the knights, it would be tough for even Lee Shin-Woo to get away. A level 6 mage’s spells would also add to the trouble.

[Grand Ice Spear!]

"Huh...!?"

However, when Lee Shin-Woo was thinking about how he would get past the knights and attack the mage, the floating clump of ice slowly began to transform. Hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of ice crystals stuck to the clump of ice and created a single enormous spear!

It wasn't a large-scale spell meant to attack the entire undead corps. That overwhelmingly cold clump of ice was aiming for only one enemy—the army's leader, the Ghoul Wizard!

"Is that her way of saying that she won't lose it to us?"

"Uhh... Maybe. Probably not."

The knights guarding the mage tensed and unsheathed their swords, changing formation to circle their leader. Lee Shin-Woo tightened his grip around the lance, waiting for the right moment.

"In any case, there's one thing I'm certain of."

Lee Shin-Woo aimed his lance at the mage’s head with a thin smile, clenching his jaw in concentration.

"We'll start this battle by taking out the leader."