Bloodied, Covered In Mud, Raising A Blade

“――――!!”

“Hihi――――n!!”

The black horse carrying Dullahan charges off again.

Don’t try to block it, dodge!

――Slash!

I side-jumped to evade, but my right thigh was cleanly cut.

“This little scratch won’t even slow me down!”

I make a U-turn and dodge Dullahan’s follow-up attack—this time I completely avoid it.

I keep avoiding the third strike—fourth—fifth, and I’m getting the timing down.

Now I switch to offense—!

“――――!?!”

“Oraaaaaaaahhh!!!!”

As Dullahan swings, I manifest only the upper body of an Orc from the Shadow.

Using the Orc’s broad shoulder as a foothold I leap high—reaching the same height as Dullahan on the horse, and twist in midair to avoid the blade.

I close in on Dullahan and tackle.

――Crash!!

Dullahan is unseated, the black armor ringing out loudly.

I move into a mount position on Dullahan.

“Heh, you might be used to riding a horse, but not being ridden yourself, huh?”

“…!!”

――Thud!

“Gah!?”

Even unseated, Dullahan doesn’t let go of its sword and thrusts upward, piercing my side from below.

“Ouch… but now I’ve got you completely pinned.”

“…!?”

I put my weight on it while it’s still embedded, and the blade grinds deeper into flesh.

Now that Dullahan is lying on his back on the ground, he can’t pull the sword out.

It’s a trick only possible because I’m Undead.

All I have to do is endure the pain.

“Alright, then next—it’s my turn!”

I raise my knife.

Dullahan can’t move.

It is armored head to toe; there are no vital spots like a face or neck.

By process of elimination there’s only one place to aim.

Praying this is the weak spot, I stab the knife under Dullahan’s neck, which had been burning with blue flames.

“Oraaaaaaaahhh!!!!”

“――――!?!?”

――Thud!!

The gauntlet that had been raised goes limp and clangs to the ground.

The blue flames pouring from its neck vanish, and it falls completely silent.

“Hah, hah… A ‘Level up’ notification—did that mean I defeated it?”

“Dullahan’s weak point is under the armor, but aiming for the weak point of a mounted Dullahan is nearly impossible—yet you actually defeated it alone…?”

“If I hadn’t been Undead I would have died at least twice… I even used a Shadow as a foothold.”

“Hihin…”

As I get down from Dullahan and catch my breath, the black horse gives a mournful neigh and licks Dullahan’s armor.

It looked like it was mourning the death of its master.

There must have been that much of a bond between Dullahan and the black horse.

“Don’t worry, I’ll reunite you soon—though only as a Shadow.”

Plop――I bring my knife down on the crown of the black horse that shed a single tear.

“【Shadow Necromance】”

I immediately activate 【Shadow Necromance】 on Dullahan and the black horse.

“――――”

“Hihi――――n.”

Both Dullahan and the black horse are dark, so becoming Shadows doesn’t change their impression much.

When they become Shadows their bodies turn black like shadows and their eyes like red flames—however, Dullahan’s neck, which had been burning blue, has changed to red flames.

I check the two creatures’ stats.

Dullahan’s Combat Power is above the Goblin Lord and below the Minotaur.

The black horse, now called Dark Horse, is above an Orc and below the Goblin Lord.

“Got Dullahan and Dark Horse.”

The dungeon seems to confirm the Boss’s disappearance, and a pedestal appears in the center of the inner chamber.

On the pedestal sits a large Magic Stone—the Dungeon Core.

“This’ll sell for a pretty good price.”

It’s the reward for clearing the dungeon.

Of course I collect the Magic Stones from Dullahan and Dark Horse as well.

On top of that, this time there’s also a quest reward from the Adventurer’s Guild, so I can expect a decent sum.

“If you collect the Dungeon Core, everyone inside the dungeon will be warped back to the surface after a minute, so the trip back will be easy.”

“You also took it pretty easy on the way in, didn’t you?”

“I made up for it by moving my body fighting the Boss, so it’s fine.”

One minute later—we warp to the dungeon entrance.

And the dungeon, having lost its Core, collapses.

After a while, a completely new dungeon is born in its place.

“Alright, let’s head back.”

“For the return, you should ride Dark Horse you turned into a Shadow earlier.”

“I see, that idea would’ve worked.”

Following Ekarraat’s advice, I manifest Dark Horse.

Dark Horse, now in Shadow form, is obedient and lets me climb onto its back without fuss.

Though it’s a Shadow, it already has a saddle, so this should shorten travel time.

“But if you think about it, wouldn’t this technically be cuckolding?”

Dullahan… I’m sorry.

By the way, selling the Magic Stones, the Dungeon Core, and adding the quest reward came to a total of 800,000 G.

And for the feat of solo-clearing a B-Rank dungeon, I was promoted to a B-Rank Adventurer.