“However, I don't need your faith either.”
...
Li Xiuman remained silent, quietly listening to the God of Darkness.
“As the price for rescuing you, I need you to do something for me,” the God of Darkness said.
“My absolute pleasure, my sublime Lord.”
“This matter will require your action in the future. For now, you are incapable of it.”
“As you are, continue to hone yourself.”
As the God of Darkness finished speaking, endless tentacles surged toward Li Xiuman, wrapping around him and dragging him into their writhing depths.
It felt like falling into an ocean of tentacles, plunging boundlessly into a bottomless abyss.
Not until his feet touched solid ground did the surrounding darkness and squelching sensation fade away.
Li Xiuman was back on the surface.
Nearby lay the corpses of the succubi and the Skeleton Dragon Beasts.
Li Xiuman didn't bother looting the bodies. Under the circumstances, he knew what was important and what wasn't.
Picking a direction, he dashed forward, covering an unknown distance.
Then, he quickly pulled out the materials for setting up a teleportation magic circle and began drawing it on the ground.
After spending a long time drawing the circle, he produced his Dungeon Core and locked onto the location of the White Bone Dungeon.
“Teleport!”
The world warped, and his body lifted off the ground, floating in midair.
After a dizzying spell that turned his world upside down, he arrived in the boss room of the White Bone Dungeon.
Severe nausea and dizziness washed over Li Xiuman, and he had to lean heavily against the wall to keep from collapsing.
However, this was no time to delay.
Whenever he was present in the White Bone Dungeon, its boss room entered a conquerable state.
If adventurers stumbled upon the boss room right now, he would be completely finished.
He had to teleport again immediately!
Li Xiuman raised the Dungeon Core high.
“Teleport—Iron River City Dungeon!”
The world twisted once more, feeling as though his body were being tossed in a washing machine on full spin, before slamming down onto the 30th floor of the Iron River City Dungeon.
He could no longer feel his body at all and was completely immobilized.
To make matters worse, a few Flame Goblins were slowly creeping toward him.
Even a dragon falls prey to ants in shallow waters—or whatever the saying was, this was precisely that kind of pathetic situation.
And to think it was goblins, of all things.
If he were a woman, what followed next would probably be strictly R-18 content.
Unfortunately for them, he was a skeleton.
“Number Zero!”
Number Zero was the only one Li Xiuman could rely on now.
Having lost both arms in the earlier battle, Number Zero materialized and clamped her teeth onto the Rib Sword, engaging the goblins in fierce combat to protect Li Xiuman.
Li Xiuman struggled desperately to regain control of his body, but it was completely impossible.
He could only watch as Number Zero fought bitterly with the sword held firmly in her mouth.
Once all the surrounding goblins were slain, Number Zero returned to his side, bit onto his clothing to haul him onto her back, and set off to find a safe location.
Perhaps all his luck had been exhausted during his narrow escape.
In the Iron River City Dungeon, Li Xiuman suffered an unending streak of misfortune.
Flame Goblins, which were usually rare, appeared in swarms, and every single one was at an extremely high level.
Armless, Number Zero guarded Li Xiuman while fighting with Crystal Orchid between her teeth, leaving her body battered and torn.
Through a gaping wound near her shoulder, her glowing Golem Core was nearly exposed.
They finally located a secluded grotto.
In the middle of the night, Li Xiuman's body suddenly entered a state of accelerated bone decay.
As if infected by a virulent decay, his pure white bones began turning yellow and black, rapidly deteriorating.
Li Xiuman wanted to dump his saved Free Stat Points into Constitution to save his own life, but he discovered he couldn't even summon his status panel.
Executing two consecutive teleportations seemed to have triggered some horrific anomaly inside his body.
Li Xiuman looked at Number Zero.
He wanted to instruct her, but he realized he couldn't utter a single sound.
Number Zero stared down at Li Xiuman, her red glowing eyes appearing to contemplate the situation.
Then, for the first time without receiving a command, she took independent action.
Biting down on Crystal Orchid, she turned and left the grotto.
Notifications for slain monsters and gained experience flooded Li Xiuman's vision continuously.
Since he couldn't open his panel, he couldn't check how much experience was required to level up.
That was until a long-awaited notification finally popped up in front of him.
[EXP pool full. Level increased to Lv. 30.]
[Constitution +1, Spirit +2]
[Free Stat Point +1]
[Dragon-Blooded Skeleton Strength Modifier: Strength +1]
The surges of leveling-up energy filled his entire body, followed by two separate torrents of power surging into both arms.
For the first time since losing sensation, Li Xiuman felt energy flowing so smoothly into his arms.
[Strength +1, Constitution +1]
Sensation returned to his body inch by inch, starting with his arms.
Li Xiuman forcefully pushed himself up with his arms and retrieved his wand.
“Golem Creation!”
An earthy yellow magic circle expanded, and rocks rose from the ground, shaping themselves into a Golem.
“Carry me!”
Li Xiuman dragged himself forward using his arms and crawled toward the Golem.
The Golem picked him up and hoisted him onto its shoulder.
“Go outside! Quickly, find Number Zero!”
Controlling the Golem to carry him, Li Xiuman rushed out of the grotto.
Left or right?!
Emerging from the grotto, Li Xiuman surveyed both directions.
He quickly pulled out the Silverlight Bow and bound a scrap of Number Zero's clothing to an arrow.
Nocking the arrow, he drew the bowstring and fired.
The moment the arrow flew out, it curved sharply in midair, pointing toward the right.
“Right! Head that way!”
Li Xiuman patted the Golem beneath him, urging it forward toward the right.
At this point, the experience notification popups from Number Zero had ceased, leaving Li Xiuman extremely anxious.
Following the guidance of the Silverlight Bow, he finally found the battered, crumbling Number Zero.
They exchanged a distant gaze.
“Golem Creation!”
“Tier 2 Magic—Multiple Undead Reanimation!”
“Tier 2 Magic—Fire Arrow Rain!”
He squandered what little mana he had remaining in an instant.
...
Inside the dim grotto, Li Xiuman repaired the heavily damaged Number Zero.
Due to a lack of materials, he could only perform basic, preliminary repairs.
Number Zero couldn't speak, simply staring quietly at Li Xiuman with her glowing red pupils as he worked on her.
“Open your mouth. Let me check if your teeth got chipped.”
Li Xiuman wobbled to his feet and lifted Number Zero's chin.
Number Zero obediently opened her mouth.
Sure enough, several of her teeth had developed hairline cracks.
After repairing her teeth, Li Xiuman set down his wand.
“This is the best I can do for now. We'll have to wait until we get back to White Bear City and gather more materials before finishing the rest.”
“Take better care of your body. Do you have any idea how expensive you are?”
“There's no need to protect me so recklessly. If I get hurt, I can recover, but if you get damaged, it costs cold hard gold coins to fix you.”
As if sensing Li Xiuman's scolding tone, Number Zero hung her head, listening silently to his lecture.
“I'm not yelling at you. How did you suddenly get so smart all of a sudden?”
“You used to never understand any of this before.”
Li Xiuman patted Number Zero's head and turned around.
Although a numb sluggishness still lingered throughout his body, he could move again.
“Next, we need to make a trip to White Crystal City.”
White Crystal City possessed a grand cathedral dedicated to the Goddess of Light.
He was going to dump that Evil God Statue straight into the Goddess of Light's wishing pool.
As for whatever promise he made? Screw that.
She was an evil god, after all.
Rate on N.U.
