In Another World with Absolute Awareness

Looking at the undying and immortal Undead, Aventine was hit by a pang of terror wrought by existential dread.

The fear of his own Gift, which he would always push down with the thrills of treasure and danger, resurfaced when he encountered the question of lifespan.

What would he do if his own, puny human lifespan prevented him from achieving what he had to do?

What if he died of natural causes right then and there?

Even suicide could not save him from that fate worse than death.

’... huh...’

Sighing at his own shackles, he focused on the present.

The members of Very Sighed were rushing through the remaining rooms, blasting apart every Undead they encountered and incinerating their bones.

The horde was breathing down their neck, forcing Li’lsuo to fall behind, busy collapsing the passageways behind them. If she hadn’t done that, they would have been surrounded long before they reached Kirivan’s chambers.

Aventine, Pulvir, and Ghush composed the advance party, incapacitating the skeletons before Shima obliterated their skulls and Quince burned them with an .

It was a good system...

But whether or not it was fast enough remained to be seen.

”We hold our ground here!” Aventine stopped Ghush and Pulvir before they crossed another door. ”There’s an intersection up ahead. We can’t cross it before regrouping with everyone.”

Otherwise, they’d be separated.

Skeletons were swarming in from all around the intersection. If the three in front proceeded onwards, their return would be cut off.

In the same vein, Quince, Shima, and most especially, Li’lsuo, would be unable to break through the horde and regroup with their tank and berserker.

Thus.

—Boom!

Pulvir slammed his shield down just as a dozen skeletons burst into the room.

”HRAAAAAH!”

Ghush slashed with his entire body, obliterating the front line before leaping backwards into Pulvir’s range of protection.

—Clang, clang, clang, clang!

A wave of skeletal limbs clattered against the tower shield and overflowed to its sides. Aventine still avoided battle—killing even a single skeleton would throw him up at least five levels, maybe more. All of the skeletons were around D-Rank, which was loosely equivalent to Levels 40-60.

Due to his inaction, they were pushed back one step at a time. Pulvir and Ghush fought as they retreated.

The berserker slashed in wide arcs, cleaving through dozens of skeletons at a time. Pulvir’s shields filled in the gaps whenever Ghush had to retrieve his sword. Then, they would rinse and repeat, mowing down the growing field of bones.

It was insane how many skeletons were rushing towards them now.

Aventine could still recall the perfectly efficient battle they fought against the Lesser Skeleton Assassin.

Now, they were fighting at least a hundred Lesser Skeleton Warriors, with several C-Rank specializations mixed in.

Ghush could only cleave again and again, dodging blighted weapons and doing his best to stay within Pulvir’s defensive range.

Luckily, Quince and Shima caught up before they were overrun.

[Blazing Shockwave]!

Quince unleashed a powerful burst of flame in the middle of the skeleton horde. At least a hundred skeletons were dismantled, with hundreds more burning in the magical inferno.

—Swish, swish, swish!

Meanwhile, Shima began to dig into her inventory of special arrows. Explosions and acid bursts flooded the room, annihilating the skeletons still pouring in.

Feeling the weight of battle lighten, Ghush grinned. His greatsword scraped against the ceiling as he launched himself into the air.

[Bloody Gleam]!

His berserker Martial Arts were naturally triggered by the exhilaration of battle.

”DIE!”

His thunderous roar was followed by a deadly rotating cleave as he slammed into the ground.

—BOOM! CRACK!

A circle of shattered skeletons appeared where he landed, and a cloud of disintegrated bone spread outwards.

Spells continued to rain down around him as he charged forward, clearing a path.

Pulvir stayed back, ensuring the safety of Quince and Shima as they carefully parsed through their repertoire of firepower.

Unlike Ghush, who could rampage for days on end, they had to be wise about their expenditure.

”Everyone! Thank you for waiting!”

Eventually, Li’lsuo arrived. Then, the party began wading through the flood of D-Rank Undead.

First, they crossed the intersection, obliterating nearly a thousand skeletons in the process. Then, Li’lsuo stopped supporting the party for a moment and collapsed every passageway as they proceeded according to Aventine’s guidance.

The horde of skeletons thinned out at this point.

Unfortunately, Ghush and Pulvir had incurred a few injuries.

Ghush, especially.

A blighted weapon had grazed a prior wound, polluting his blood with a deadly infection.

Luckily, this just made him stronger.

...But he was on a timer.

[Berserker’s Rage].

With the Berserker’s Class-unique activating, the members of Very Sighed fought with greater ferocity.

They had to keep up with Ghush as his mind grew increasingly clouded.

Li’lsuo chanted in haste.

—[O’ spirits of the psyche, lend this mad-minded child of nature a hand! Grant him... Clarity!]

With this shamanic spell, Ghush maintained the minimum amount of sanity needed to recognize friend and foe.

So, he charged forward with reckless abandon.

Though he’d been blighted, that was not a problem for a berserker in the pits of hell.

”DIE! DIE! DIEEEEE!”

Bones flew through the air, burning as they fell.

Skeletons fell to pieces en masse.

There was nothing that could bar the berserker’s path forward.

Of course, until they made it to the Skeleton King’s chamber.

They saw it, even before they got close.

The crypt’s previously carriage-wide corridors suddenly expanded into a grand, spacious hallway. The ceiling was no longer close enough for Ghush to rebound off of.

A massive pair of doors, gilded with plates of gold and embedded with cursed gemstones, loomed at the end of the grand hall.

Malevolent Miasma—a product of concentrated darkness-attributed mana made using Necromancy—poured out of its gaps.

Just being inside the miasma would erode one’s life force, fuelling the source of the miasma until all life was siphoned.

”The B-Rank Skeleton King, Kirivan, is behind those doors!”

Aventine, who had once again assumed invisibility, informed the party.

”He’s coming for us!”

There was no such thing as a boss room in this world. Such convenient positions were a product of video games, not reality.

The Skeleton wanted to devour more lives.

Therefore, it would always want to strike first.

—BOOM!