Chapter 26: The Song That Couldn’t Reach Me

Team members writhing in agony because of the harpies.

Some were crouched down with their ears covered, while others were harming themselves.

Watching them, I realized that this place was not heaven, but hell.

The pink clouds were all illusions; in truth, it was a horrifying hell.

Why am I…

Even so, why is it?

I was completely unaffected by the harpies’ song.

What could it be?

Why on earth was I immune to mental manipulation?

Even Cha Jihye was crouched down, clutching her head—why was I fine?

Could it be that I’m stronger than they are?

An absurd hypothesis popped into my head.

Could that really be true?

I had only just been promoted to the Silver attack squad—could I really have greater resistance than my seniors?

Even more than Team Leader Cha Jihye?

I knew the probability was high, yet I still found it hard to believe.

Let’s clean this place up first.

Hearing the screams of my teammates, I decided to take care of things here first.

The way to save them was simple.

Those devils with angelic appearances—the harpies.

I just had to kill that horrifying woman.

Come forth, skeletons.

I threw out every single bone I had on me.

More than thirty small bones.

As if they had suddenly come to life, they rapidly grew larger.

CLACK! CLACK!

In an instant, they transformed into thirty skeletons.

Skeleton soldiers and mages now filled the space around me.

Looking at the skeletons that had grown to the size of a decent platoon, I gave the order.

‘Go and kill her.’

At that moment, the skeletons began charging toward the harpy.

***

Nova Team Leader “Cha Jihye.”

She was a highly talented hunter.

It wasn’t just her own opinion—her talent had been genuinely recognized, earning her a place in Myth Guild, Korea’s number-one ranked guild.

That wasn’t all.

Despite her young age, her powerful combat strength and cool-headed judgment had quickly propelled her to the Silver attack squad and even the position of team leader.

But right now…

She was overwhelmed by an immense sense of helplessness.

“Damn it…”

Cha Jihye, crouched with her ears plugged.

She desperately tried to resist the harpy’s mental manipulation that kept burrowing into her mind.

“La la. La la la.”

Yet the harpy’s song continued, and Cha Jihye was on the verge of having her mind completely taken over.

Haa.

This isn’t right.

As the team leader, I can’t be like this.

Biting her lower lip hard, Cha Jihye struggled to endure the mental manipulation somehow.

But she simply couldn’t overcome it.

Even though she had trained her resistance quite a bit.

“T-Team Leader! Please help!”

“Arghhh! Damn it…!”

“Kyaaaa! P-please stop!”

“Ugh, heuk…”

Screams echoed from all directions.

Everyone was either struggling to fight the mental control or already under its influence and harming themselves.

The horrific screams, the smell of blood brushing past her nose, the cries of her teammates.

Cha Jihye felt utter despair at the prospect of the entire Nova team being wiped out.

That was when it happened.

CLACK! CLACK!

A clattering sound came from behind.

And it wasn’t just one or two—there were dozens of those clacking noises.

They rapidly approached from the rear, passed Cha Jihye, and moved forward.

S-Skeletons…??

Barely lifting her head, Cha Jihye could see.

The things rushing past her with loud clacks were a horde of skeletons.

“La la la la.”

Even then, the harpy did not stop singing.

The pure-white-winged harpy sang with a clear voice as if she were the world’s greatest soprano.

The devil’s song that controlled the minds of others.

Yet what was astonishing…

It’s not working!

The harpy’s song had absolutely no effect on the skeletons.

It was shocking.

Yes.

When she thought about it, it made perfect sense.

Skeletons were inanimate.

There was no way a mere song could control their minds.

CLACK! CLACK!

The swiftly running skeletons reached the harpy.

Of course, since the harpy was in the air, bone swords couldn’t reach her, but the skeletons didn’t seem to care.

Some among them held elemental magic in both hands.

WHOOSH!

One skeleton mage shot a fireball toward the sky.

The singing harpy quickly flapped her wings and dodged.

But there wasn’t just one skeleton mage.

WHOOSH!

CRACKLE!

BZZZT!

Flames, ice, and lightning—the three elements flew toward the harpy.

The harpy twisted and turned in flight, desperately trying to evade.

She even stopped singing entirely to focus only on dodging.

Yet the skeletons’ attacks were far too fast, and she couldn’t avoid the downpour completely.

CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!

Eventually, an ice bolt struck the harpy.

That ice bolt froze her wing solid.

WHOOOOOOSH!

With a frozen wing, the harpy plummeted rapidly.

A harpy without wings was no different from a human.

The moment the harpy crashed with a SPLAT into the pink clouds.

CLACK! CLACK!

The skeleton soldiers who had been staring blankly at the sky charged at the harpy.

The harpy’s pupils shook.

“La la la la.”

She sang in panic.

But it had no effect on the skeleton soldiers.

SWISH!

One skeleton soldier leaped onto the harpy’s body.

Like diving, a single skeleton soldier threw itself atop the harpy.

At that instant, a blinding flash erupted from the skeleton’s body.

KABOOOOOOOOOM!

An explosion of terrifying scale occurred.

A blast powerful enough to raise a crimson mushroom cloud.

“…!”

Cha Jihye and all the team members blinked in shock at the overwhelming power of the explosion.

When the crimson blast and black smoke finally cleared, what remained was…

HISSSSSSS…

Shredded flesh that had once been the harpy and a few blackened feathers.

The skeleton soldier’s bone explosion.

That monstrous attack had instantly killed the harpy.

This can’t be real…

Cha Jihye and every team member stood with their mouths agape.

They were stunned that the harpy they couldn’t even touch had been so easily killed in one blow.

Then.

“Is everyone alright?”

A voice came from behind.

Cha Jihye and the team members turned their heads.

There stood Seo Juwon, his face calm.

“Many of you are injured as well. We need to administer first aid quickly.”

Seo Juwon said while looking at the teammates who had harmed themselves.

He was right.

First aid needed to be done even a second sooner.

Yet Cha Jihye, her judgment still clouded, asked the question burning inside her first.

“S-Seo Juwon Hunter. Was that… really you?”

“Yes.”

“R-really…?”

“Yes. As Team Leader knows, I’m the only necromancer on our team, right?”

At Seo Juwon’s words, Cha Jihye nodded like an idiot.

He was right.

Seo Juwon was the only necromancer in Nova team.

“Wow, that was incredible. We were all completely out of it because of the mental manipulation…”

“I just got lucky. Anyway, Team Leader, please direct the first aid quickly.”

“Ah, right! W-we have to do that!”

Finally coming to her senses, Cha Jihye began tending to the injured.

***

After Cha Jihye and the team finished treating the wounded.

Cha Jihye asked me.

How on earth had I been unaffected by the mental manipulation?

Truthfully, I had no answer to give her.

I simply felt nothing at all when listening to the harpy’s song.

At that explanation, Cha Jihye and the senior team members looked astonished.

They could understand skeletons being immune, but the fact that I—the main body—was unaffected truly seemed miraculous to them.

Anyway, after treatment was finished, the team continued clearing the gate.

The dreamlike space covered in pink clouds now looked like hell, but there were no problems with the raid itself.

Because my skeletons had swept away every harpy.

“Ha, Seo Juwon Hunter, you’re really amazing. You just wiped out dozens of harpies like it was nothing.”

“Juwon, you’re seriously strong. Honestly, I thought you were still a rookie since you only recently joined Myth Guild, but I take it back.”

“Juwon-ssi! That was so cool! You’re insanely strong! The skeletons are adorable too!”

“Juwon-ah, thanks. Because of you, we didn’t have to hurt ourselves and could clear it comfortably.”

“I never knew necromancers could be this strong. I’m looking at the class in a whole new light.”

“Ha, I feel bad like we’re riding the bus. Juwon-ah, I’ll buy you a huge meal when we get out.”

Cha Jihye and the team members praised me.

Even the team leader and seniors seemed quite sorry for relying on my help.

At the same time, they were fascinated watching the skeleton soldiers systematically hunt down the harpies.

I’m pretty amazed myself.

Of course, I was just as amazed.

A gate at Silver attack squad level naturally contained strong monsters.

Yet the harpies fell like autumn leaves before my skeletons.

Sure, they resisted or tried to flee, but they could never escape the pursuit of the skeleton soldiers and mages.

The moment they were hit, they either collapsed or turned to ash from bone explosions.

While stepping on the pink clouds and pressing forward, we discovered a gigantic presence.

[Siren].

The monster’s name was “Siren.”

A monstrous bird with a woman’s face attached to an enormous avian body.

The grotesque creature flapped its massive wings, waiting for us.

“It’s a siren. The boss monster of this place. It possesses mental attacks ten times stronger than the harpies, along with various other dangerous abilities…”

Cha Jihye told me.

Mental manipulation ten times stronger than the harpies.

Certainly, most hunters wouldn’t even be able to lift a finger.

“Understood. I’ll handle it.”

Even so, I stepped forward.

Because I was the only one here who could face the siren.

“Seo Juwon Hunter, are you really going to be okay?”

“I have to do it even if I’m not. We can only leave after hunting that thing.”

“That’s true. Haa, I’m sorry. We can’t help at all.”

“It’s fine. Please leave it to me.”

Saying that, I gave the order to the skeletons.

To take down the boss monster of this place—the siren.

CLACK! CLACK!

At that moment, the now-forty-strong skeletons charged forward in unison.

The number of skeletons had ballooned so much that calling them an army wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

“Ahh. Aaaaaaah.”

Noticing the skeletons approaching, the siren began to sing.

Hearing that song from a human face attached to a giant bird sent chills down the spine.

CLACK! CLACK!

Yet the skeletons advanced on the siren without the slightest hesitation.

Perhaps flustered by that?

The siren’s human-like face narrowed its brows.

Then it changed its attack pattern.

ZIIIIIIING!

The siren’s eyes flashed, shooting out laser-like beams of light.

BOOM! The pink cloud ground exploded with a loud noise.

Two skeletons in that spot were instantly shattered into bone fragments.

Do not retreat.

Even so, I ordered the skeletons to keep advancing.

There were plenty left anyway.

ROOOOAR!

BZZZT! CRACKLE!

CRAAAAACK!

The skeleton mages that had closed the distance unleashed a barrage of magic.

Flame, ice, and lightning attacks.

They poured down like machine-gun fire.

BOOM! KABOOM! KABOOOOOM!

Magic hammered into the siren’s body.

The siren screamed, and in that opening, the skeleton soldiers rapidly closed in.

ZIIIIIIIIIING!

The siren’s eyes glowed again as it fired lasers wildly.

Once more, BOOM! Several skeletons exploded.

Yet countless skeleton soldiers still remained, and the siren took to the air to evade them.

However…

SWISH!

One skeleton soldier nimbly leaped up and grabbed the siren’s tail feathers.

Then the next skeleton grabbed the leg of the one hanging on.

Another grabbed that leg, and another, and another—forming a long “skeleton ladder.”

“KIYAAAAAK! KIYAAAAAAAH!”

Perhaps because of the weight of the skeleton ladder.

The siren couldn’t rise into the air and only flapped its wings frantically.

In that gap, the skeleton mages unleashed their spells.

BOOM! KABOOM! KABOOOOoOM! KABOOOM!

The three-element magics struck the siren’s body directly.

The siren let out even more horrific screams.

Unable to withstand the bombardment and the weight, the grotesque bird finally crashed into the pink clouds.

CLACK! CLACK!

At that instant, the skeleton soldiers that had formed the ladder swarmed over the siren’s body.

Dozens of skeleton soldiers covering the massive siren.

Looking at the shape that now resembled an igloo, I silently muttered to myself.

Bone explosion.

At that moment, an explosion of unimaginable scale swallowed everything around it.